HONG KONG ING Group NV’s asset management unit Monday launched a fresh Asia real estate fund in Hong Kong that invests in listed real estate securities across the region.

Most of the portfolio will be invested in real estate companies and real estate investment trusts, ING said. The fund is at first being offered only to retail investors in Hong Kong, but ING is looking into offering it in other regional markets.

Portfolio manager Justin Pica said the sector is poised to gain from continued solid economic growth in Asia. He said Asian real estate markets are less mature and therefore have greater possibility to grow.

The market capitalizations of Singapore- and Hong Kong-listed real estate companies are expected to increase by 61 percent and 46 percent, correspondingly, through 2013. Furthermore, real estate has a low correlation to equities and bonds, Pica said.
ING Investment Management currently manages more than US$2 billion in real estate portfolios in Asia.