Kevin Booth joined San Francisco-based RS Investments on November 2 as co-portfolio manager of the RS High Yield Bond Fund. Booth, a former BlackRock managing director, will manage the fund with Marc Gross and Howard Most.

Pat Harden, a spokeswoman for RS, confirmed that Booth's position is a new one at the firm.

Booth left BlackRock/Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in January. He served as co-head of BlackRock's leveraged finance business, and managed five closed-end and two open-end high-yield funds with $2 billion AUM.

A BlackRock spokesperson was not immediately available to comment on how Booth's duties are being handled.

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Company Press Release

San Francisco, CA (November 6, 2009) – RS Investments (RS), a San Francisco-based investment management firm, today announced that Kevin Booth, CFA, has been named co-portfolio manager of RS High Yield Bond Fund (GUHYX).

“Kevin’s decades of experience are reflective of the strength of the team supporting RS’s fixed income funds,” said Leslie Barbi, who heads fixed income investing for RS Funds and Guardian Investor Services LLC, the sub-adviser for RS fixed income funds. The RS fixed income team consists of more than 30 investment professionals who, on average, have 15 years of investment experience.

Prior to this, Mr. Booth was a managing director at BlackRock/Merrill Lynch Investment Managers and was co-head of BlackRock's leveraged finance business through January 2009, specializing in portfolios consisting of leveraged bank loans, high yield bonds, and distressed obligations. He managed five closed-end and two open-end high-yield funds with assets under management of $2 billion. He joins co-portfolio managers Marc Gross and Howard Most on RS High Yield Bond Fund.

Mr. Booth holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from The State University of New York and a MBA in Finance from New York University. 

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