After a near 16-month hiatus, strategic investors are once again warming up to the real estate sector. A few foreign funds and local asset management companies have hit the road for raising money to be invested in real estate companies. Interestingly, even high net worth investors are flocking to these funds, say industry watchers.

Mutual funds raising funds towards realty investments include ASK Investment Holdings, Milestone Capital Advisors, Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company and the Singapore-based Morgan Stanley Investments. While ASK Investment Holdings has launched a Rs 500-crore PMS fund (that will invest into live realty projects through an investment vehicle), Milestone Capital and Birla Sunlife AMC are planning to raise Rs 600 crore and Rs 2,500 crore, respectively, for focused real estate investments. Almost all these funds are promising annualised returns in the range of 20-25%.

Both Morgan Stanley and Birla Sunlife are floating offshore real estate funds.

Times of India