NewSmith Asset Management has won assets totalling $2.8bn (€2.2bn) less than a year after it launched and hired a team of star managers, led by Steve Thompson from Merrill Lynch Investment Managers.

The UK fund management group is run by Stephen Zimmerman, former co-head of MLIM. It is part of NewSmith Capital Partners, which provides financial advice to companies under the lead of Michael Marks and Paul Roy, who also used to work at Merrill Lynch. Zimmerman said: "We are off to an encouraging start. Our priority is to produce superior results for our clients."