The fund, which closed in nine months, attracted an investor base of insurance companies, regional banks, sovereign wealth funds and high net worth individuals, including customers of OCBC Bank’s private banking subsidiary, Bank of Singapore, the bank said.
The vehicle is a joint effort by OCBC Bank and Lion Global, the bank’s asset management arm.
The fund will target SMEs in the agriculture, commodities and consumer industries.
“Alternative investments have found a growing audience among investors seeking alpha solutions in an uncertain global economic environment,” said Gerard Lee, chief executive officer of Lion Global.
Rapid urbanisation and economic growth in China, Indonesia and Malaysia are expected to drive massive demand for real estate, telecommunications networks, utilities and other infrastructure projects, he added.
Lion Global Investors is part of Singapore-based OCBC Bank. Lion manages Asian equities and fixed income strategies and funds for both institutional and retail investors. The firm had assets under management of $26.7bn at the end of June.
