Zurich-based Swiss Capital Alternative Investments has launched a fund of hedge funds designed to take advantage of new investment opportunities appearing in the global real estate market.

The SC Alternative Real Estate Fund is invested in managers active in a range of strategies in the real estate space including long/short, relative value, distressed and asset-based lending. The fund invests on a global basis but may have a regional bias in underlying funds, which have exposure to real estate sectors including office, residential, leisure, retail, infrastructure, industrial, logistics and development or new site land.

Investment and trading opportunities for the developing segment of alternative real estate managers is expanding fast with the increased availability of indirect property investment and trading products and a strongly growing property derivatives market.

In combination with the current opportunities in the area of distressed real estate and asset based lending, as a direct result of the credit crisis, Swiss Capital says this positions the SC Alternative Real Estate Fund in a sweet spot.

The fund has been developed over the past year, with the design of the final product having received significant input from seed investors. Swiss Capital says the fund benefited from 2007 proving to be a classic 'test' year for property markets, especially in terms of obtaining a better understanding of property hedge fund managers and identifying the skills they possess.

The SC Alternative Real Estate Fund is an addition to Swiss Capital Group's family of single strategy and thematic funds of hedge funds, which include distressed and growth sector strategies such as technology and health care, and draws on the firm's manager selection capability as well as in-house real estate expertise.