London-based investment manager, Polar Capital, founded in 2001 and running USD3.9billion as at end-September 2011, has announced plans to launch a new Dublin
London-based investment manager, Polar Capital, founded in 2001 and running USD3.9billion as at end-September 2011, has announced plans to launch a new Dublin-domiciled UCITS – Polar Capital North American Fund – on 15 November 2011. Andrew Holliman, who joined the firm in August this year with Richard Wilson, is to be lead manager with Wilson as co-manager. The fund will invest in all-cap US equities and run a long-only portfolio of between 40 and 60 stocks. Holliman was previously manager of the USD2.5billion Threadneedle American Fund and brings 14 years’ investment experience to the table. Wilson was also at Threadneedle where he worked as deputy fund manager to the Threadneedle American Fund and also managed over USD4.5billion of institutional American equities. He has 12 years of investment experience. Holliman said that there were numerous “entrenched behavioural inefficiencies” that the investment process and philosophy takes advantage of. “These inefficiencies include: an increasingly short-term investment horizon from most market participants, a focus on short-term top line growth rather than normalized and sustainable cash profits, and the tendency to overpay for short-term growth,” commented Holliman. Polar Capital’s chief executive, Tim Woolley (pictured), said: “The launch of the fund marks the continued growth of Polar Capital’s business and its continued efforts to offer clients best-in-class teams and products.”
