Barclays Capital is gearing up to launch the first real estate-flavored retail structured fund in Singapore. "Real estate has been a strong theme in the market," said Peter Hu, head of capital solution sales in the Lion City. The upcoming fund, dubbed Asian Real Estate Income Fund, is linked to a basket of 25 REITs and Asian property stocks from Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore, for which Barclays will use OTC puts and calls to generate additional returns, noted Hu, declining to elaborate further on the derivative trading strategies.
The Singapore dollar open-ended fund will provide a minimum initial coupon of 8%, followed by a target coupon of either 8% or three-month SIBOR plus 3%, whichever is higher. "We're trying to create a stable return plus potential growth," Hu continued. The fund will kick-start mid-April.
The British house kicked off its retail structured products business last year in Asia and launched a CPPI commodity-themed product for its first effort (DW, 8/19).
