Reech CBRE Alternative Real Estate LLP, the USD156 million joint venture hedge fund owned by CB Richard Ellis and Reech AiM, aims to double its assets over the next twelve months by tapping into Asia’s high net worth individuals, reports Bloomberg. The Iceberg Fund, launched in May 2007, uses a relative value investment strategy, focusing on real estate securities and the inherent mis-pricings between different financial instruments in commercial real estate. The fund, which also hedges using a number of equity L/S positions, was down 3 per cent in August according to Stephen Ashworth who heads up the joint venture. Asia is seen as a lucrative market for growing the fund, which began with USD12.5 million; China had the fastest growing number of millionaires last year, whilst the World Wealth Report 2010, compiled by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth and Capgemini SA, ranks Japan second, behind the US, with 1.65 million rich individuals. To help capture this money the joint venture has teamed up with Hong Kong hedge fund services provider, Triple A Partners, and Tokyo-based OGI Capital Partners Ltd. “Asia is an area of global influence and wealth and for our business; for the longer term it makes sense to have relationships,” Ashworth told Bloomberg. “The more assets under management we have the wider the scope of our investments can be.”