Interim Management Statement

NEW STAR INVESTMENT TRUST PLC                         

                         INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT                          

                     Unaudited Interim Management Statement
                      for the quarter ended 31st March 2009

This is the Company's interim management statement for the quarter ended
31st March 2009. The statement is being made solely to comply with the
requirements of the UKLA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules and should not be
relied upon by third parties for any other purpose.

Investment Objective

The Company's objective is to achieve long-term capital growth.

Benchmarks

The Board has agreed that to measure the extent to which the Company is
achieving its investment objective, reference should be made to the returns of
the FTSE World Index and the FTSE All-Share Index.

Financial Summary

                                         31st March 2009   31st December 2008
                                                                             
Net asset value per share (bid)                    83.7p                87.0p
                                                                             
Net assets (bid)                             £59,469,000          £61,771,000
                                                                             
Share price                                        54.0p                59.0p

Financial performance

                                           Quarter ended            Financial
                                         31st March 2009         Year to date
                                                                             
Ordinary Share NAV                                (3.8)%              (38.3)%
                                                                             
Share price                                       (8.5)%              (48.8)%
                                                                             
FTSE World Index                                 (10.2)%              (30.5)%
                                                                             
FTSE All-Share Index                             (10.9)%              (20.6)%

Ten largest holdings at 31st March 2009

                                                Value at      % of Net Assets
                                         31st March 2009                     
                                                                             
                                                 (£'000)                     
                                                                             
Blackrock Gold and General Fund                    4,324                 12.8
                                                                             
Lyxor Gold Bullion Securities ETF                  3,481                 10.3
                                                                             
Natixis Loomis Sayles Multisector                  3,280                  9.7
Income Fund                                                                  
                                                                             
Investec Africa Fund                               2,560                  7.6
                                                                             
Skandia UK Strategic Best Ideas Fund               2,496                  7.4
                                                                             
Global Property Fund Ltd                           2,262                  6.7
                                                                             
Synergy Fund Limited B Acc                         1,940                  5.7
                                                                             
Matrix Ascension Closed End Fund                   1,881                  5.6
                                                                             
Ishares Xinhua/China 25                            1,577                  4.7
                                                                             
Occam Umbrella Asia Focus Fund                     1,420                  4.2
                                                                             
TOTAL                                             25,221                 74.7

Board of Directors

At his request, Mr James Roe stepped down as chairman of the Company with
effect from 13 May 2009. Mr Geoffrey Howard-Spink has been appointed Chairman
in his stead.

The Board of New Star Investment Trust PLC would like to thank Mr Roe for all
his hard work for the Company and is very pleased that he is continuing as a
Director.

Manager

The Company's Manager is New Star Asset Management Limited. On 9 April 2009 the
parent company of the Manager, New Star Asset Management Group PLC, was
acquired by Henderson Group plc.

Portfolio Manager

The Company's portfolio manager is Mr Simon Akroyd. Mr Akroyd was appointed
portfolio manager on 10 December 2008.

Capital Structure

The Company has a simple capital structure consisting of Ordinary shares. There
have been no changes to the Company's issued or authorised share capital which
remains: 305,000,000 Ordinary shares of £0.01 authorised and 71,023,695
Ordinary shares of £0.01 issued.

Material Events

There have been no other any material events or related party transactions
between 1st January 2009 and the date of this statement's publication.

Further Information on the Company, including fact sheets and annual and
interim reports of the Company can be obtained from the Manager's website at 
www.newstaram.com

By order of the Board

New Star Asset Management Limited

Company Secretary

13th May 2009