New Star Asset Management Share Discussion Threads

[grahamite2] 01/12/2008 08:48

How come trades are going through?

[gazzastrip] 01/12/2008 08:32

I guess your question has been answered by todays announcement!

[mike24] 30/11/2008 21:38

gazza if the share is a good buy then why ain't the
directors piling in, having sold out as high as 455p

hsbc who offloaded the NF building a yr ago may offer 260ml
less to buy back,if they walk away metrovesca might have to drop
asking price by another 200ml, those in the know say wait till dec 09
before touching prop again, and possible 20% further fall in residentual
mfi landlords rent loss about 15ml on 80stores so far!
dyor

[thedinnerlady] 27/11/2008 15:04

Thanks gazzastrip. I would tend to agree. The only worry I have is that their institutional clients will be keeping a close eye on New Star's financial status and there is a risk that the recent covenant issues cause these clients to pull out. Performance in this business has been fine though I believe.

[gazzastrip] 27/11/2008 11:45

I think the shares are a decent buy at these prices. There are of course lots of negatives around, but heres some positives:

-The company are currently undergoing aggresive cost cuttings that will help the bottom line

-They still have a lot of funds and significant funds under management and not all are dogs, some of the performance is fine

-They have funds trading in areas where at present other managers are not exposed and thus have a head start.

-As interest rates fall, the risk for institutions and private investors moving back into equities will fall and there is likely to be a flow from cash to equities. This will help stocks recover and thereby grow the value of new star funds and their income.

-As interest rates fall and as credit begins to flow smoothly again they should get the opportunity to renogitiate the debt and again improve the bottom line.

-They will look like a decent takeover target, which may not be the case now, but is more likely when things retunr to "normal".

I am a holder and at these prices i am buying more, but as ever DYOR.

[westcoastrich] 27/11/2008 08:08

anyone know what the bank covenants are

[utsushi] 26/11/2008 13:48

pame100-never, ever average down, we all have made and will continue to make mistakes, and try not to make correlations that have no significance.

It maybe worth holding on now-depends totally to the servicability of the debt and is a hard call at these rock bottom levels.

[undertaker] 26/11/2008 09:34

I feel sorry for the long serving Mid/Back office employees of Newstar who were paid peanuts and given share-options as compensation for bonus and meagre salary increases!

Some of them from the Jupiter days were sitting on a nice retirement fund up until the start of this year....think how they must feel!

Screw the fund managers.... they are all a bunch of w@nkers anyway!

[pame100] 25/11/2008 18:10

santori, Yes, you're right of course. I lost heavily on these by averaging down from over £4. You pay for your learning as they say. One of the reasons for my buying was that my husband has held New Stars European Growth fund for five years or more and it always beat the index-and my investment performance!
I just did't look enoough at what the other funds were doing.

[utsushi] 25/11/2008 17:59

pame100, only good companies get taken over-as warned earlier there will be no come back tour here, no star manager to rescue the company, long only funds will struggle in these markets and mediocre ones will just suffer redemptions and eventual default.

[pame100] 25/11/2008 17:55

Actually I think I got the noughts mixed up, now get a figure of 2p for every £1 under management. But still, times are tough, and a competitor may not want to pay that for what he may be able to pick up cheaper shortly.

Any better evaluations welcome. I multiplied the 16p share price by the no of shares of 269m, then added the debt of £236m. Then divided all that into the assets under management of £14.3b. That means that you buy £51 of assets for every £1, or, £1 of assets for 2p

[westcoastrich] 25/11/2008 17:33

natural course of action that is, it is so

[pame100] 25/11/2008 17:29

I don't think that there will be a takeover.

Any buyer will in effect be paying about 21p for each £1 of assets under management, as they would be buying the £236m of debt too.

You would just wait for them to go bust wouldn't you?

[westcoastrich] 25/11/2008 17:28

wouldnt want to be NSAMs banker right now

[macsam] 25/11/2008 17:26

Yeah, closing the fund just guarantees the fee income during the closure period.

[gazzastrip] 25/11/2008 16:54

These are once again getting hammered today.

The only reason i can see is due to the announcement of the temporary closure of the property fund. If that is the case then now might be a good time to pick up some cheap shares as many other managers have closed their property funds prior to new star and without the knock-down on share price.

Realistically, other than a bit of bad press it doesnt affect the companies earnings or balance sheet, so why the dramatic drop in the sp?

At these prices new star must be candidates for a takeover bid and i know Aberdeen have been linked recently. Could be an interesting one for a while?

[westcoastrich] 20/11/2008 07:52

Fidelity to axe one in seven of its staff as investors exit



Another heavy round of redundancies was unveiled on Wednesday, with over 1,500 jobs being axed at three companies.

[babylon3] 19/11/2008 13:13

Can you post the article?

[westcoastrich] 18/11/2008 08:49

looks ready to get pounded, horrible article in eve standard recently

[moob] 17/11/2008 20:18

8p same price as RAB, and then down some more

[slj] 14/11/2008 08:40

New Star hit by redemptions
Fri 14 Nov 2008

LONDON (SHARECAST) - New Star Asset Management's funds under management fell by 16% to £16.7bn in the three months to September and have since fallen further to £14.3bn currently.

"The fall in markets since the summer and increased redemptions across the asset management sector have had a significant impact on our business. Our banks understand our position and are supportive. We are taking further action to cut our costs significantly," chairman John Duffield said.

The fall in assets is mainly a result of the fall in asset prices (£1.8bn). Net outflows of assets since 30 September 2008 are approximately £523m.The rate of redemptions from UK mutual funds has increased in recent weeks as retail investors have reduced risk in reaction to the high volatility of the capital markets.

New Star added it has also renegotiated its financial covenants to better accommodate the current unsettled trading environment. This amendment has immediate effect. As a consequence of the amendment the interest rate on New Star's debt has increased by 1.5%.

As a consequence of the downturn in capital markets New Star intends to restructure its business and reduce costs. Total annual savings of approximately £20m have been identified compared with the expected level of costs in 2008.

[stsws] 12/11/2008 16:40

Another Chief Investment Officer has come and gone since his departure too!

[undertaker] 12/11/2008 10:49

Miller left the company over a year ago

[moob] 11/11/2008 08:31

Have the lost any other mandartes to manage money?

New Star is also saddled with £236m of debt.