Catherine Heath from Altium Securities has stuck her neck out and become the first independent analyst to initiate on Polar Capital Holdings, she starts her coverage with a ‘buy’ recommendation.

Up until now the the fledgling fund manager was only covered by Katrina Preston over at house broker Landsbanki. Preston has been diligently banging the drum for Polar, a company whose shares have come off sharply following a 13% fall in Assets Under Management (AUM) since January.

Heath is now also pointing out a value opportunity highlighting the 7% plus dividend. The analyst says there is potential for earnings upgrades too if new funds (UK Absolute Return Fund scheduled to be launched on 3 June) help offset redemptions from the older portfolio range.

‘We believe there is scope for our estimates to prove conservative both as regards fund flows and investment performance,’ says Heath. She has set a 140p price target compared with their current 109.25p.

by Simon Keane