Keppel Land’s subsidiary raised a commitment of over US$460 million

The fund will be open for further closings with investors over the next 12 months.

According to a release, Keppel Land Limited's wholly-owned real estate fund management arm, Alpha Investment Partners Limited (Alpha), has announced the first closing of its Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund II (AAMTF II).

The AAMTF II raised a commitment of over US$460 million (S$556 million) as at end June 2011 from eight institutional investors including pension, endowment and sovereign wealth funds and fund-of-funds. The fund will be open for further closings with investors over the next 12 months.

Following the success of the US$1.2 billion (S$1.6 billion) Alpha Asia Macro Trends Fund (AAMTF) that was incepted in 2007, AAMTF II carries a similar investment mandate as AAMTF and focuses on executing proven profitable real estate strategies that leverage prominent macro trends in Asia.

The target markets for the AAMTF II are Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and Hong Kong, as well as the fast emerging markets of China, India and Vietnam.

"Building on the strong performance of the AAMTF, the successful closing of the AAMTF II reflects the confidence of institutional investors in Alpha's proven track record.

"AAMTF's return to-date has exceeded 26% p.a since inception. The 2007 vintage funds have generally recorded poor performance, with many affected by the global financial crisis, but we were able to significantly outperform our peers and our absolute return benchmark. Having the discipline not to invest too early and having the courage to act when the markets were down in 2009 has helped AAMTF's performance. Similarly, today's environment has become more uncertain and whilst we have to be more cautious in our approach, we do expect to see some good opportunities emerging in our target markets for AAMTF II," said Mr Loh Chin Hua, Managing Director of Alpha Investment Partners.

Riding on the back of its first closing, AAMTF II has made its maiden investment by entering into an agreement to acquire a 142-room boutique Central Park Hotel in Hong Kong for HK$515 million (S$80 million).

Central Park Hotel is located along Hollywood Road on Hong Kong Island, within walking distance to an MTR station and close to the business district in The Central. The immediate vicinity includes the Soho and Noho districts as well as Lan Kwai Fong, which are popular with both tourists and locals due to its wide array of dining and entertainment options. The hotel has benefitted from the influx of mainland Chinese tourists to Hong Kong and the current occupancy is around 90%.

With AAMTF II, Alpha currently manages five funds with gross assets under management (AUM) of about US$7.3 billion (S$8.8 billion) when fully invested.

Headquartered in Singapore, Alpha currently operates from offices in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Taipei.