Edelweiss raises USD 205 mn for secured lending fund

Brokerage firm Edelweiss today said it has received commitments of USD 205 million from investors for a fund which will do secured lending.
Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors has announced the first closing of Singapore-based EW Special Opportunities Fund II (ESOF-II) at USD 205 million, a statement said.
"It will seek to invest in privately-negotiated collateralised credit transactions with a focus on earning strong risk-adjusted returns," the statement added.
The fund follows the USD 230 million ESOF-I which was announced in 2010, it added.
The new fund, which is being advised by Edelweiss Alternative Asset Advisors, Singapore, garnered interest from a group of new and existing institutional investors, including public pensions and insurance companies, it said.

"We are delighted with the response we have received to this fundraising, mostly from existing investors. The activity in the alternatives space in India has picked up significantly over the past year and we are seeing exciting opportunities, especially in the credit space," its head of Credit Alternatives Ananth Shenoy said.
Its executive director and co-head global asset management Venkat Ramaswamy said acceleration in growth has led to an increasing requirement of capital by business owners and the fund will meet their needs along with avoiding equity-like risk.