SiS unit launches new fund that targets distressed residential assets in Singapore

Singapore

A NEW fund has been launched targeting distressed residential assets in Singapore, joining the likes of private-equity funds by Blackstone and SC Capital Partners.

Its manager, the newly set up SiS Asset Management (SiSAM), a unit of Hong Kong-listed SiS International, said its maiden fund will opportunistically "swoop in" on distressed or undervalued homes amid a softening property market here.

The SiS Real Estate Opportunity Fund will also look at other residen-tial, commercial and hospitality assets in Singapore and other key Asian markets such as Japan and Hong Kong. In Singapore, the commercial property sector has also suffered due to loan curbs.

The plan is to buy these properties, give them spruce-ups and reposition their tenant mixes, and then exit them at a profit at the right time. It can choose to exit before the five-year deadline is up and re-invest that capital into other properties or return capital early to investors. That said, the five-year time frame help…