A resurgence of investor interest in natural resources has prompted Kimura Capital, a London-based provider of trade finance credit for commodities, to start a new commodity-focused hedge fund, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The new Kimura Gaspara Fund1, with ex-Trafigura Group traders John Bell and Jonny Allen leading a team brought in from Gaspara Asset Management, is set to start trading in the second quarter of the year with $150m in assets and a focus on on market fundamentals.

The report cites Chief Executive Officer Kristofer Tremaine as saying in an interview that the fund's goal is to increase assets to around $2bn in two years.

Kimura has expanded its core credit business in recent years and the firm now lends around $500m per month against physical commodity trades. According to an unnamed Bloomberg source, the firm's private credit strategy returned 8.6% last year, net of all fees to institutional managed account investors.