CapitaLand (CATL.SI: Quote, Profile, Research), Southeast Asia's most valuable developer, plans to launch two more property funds worth a combined S$1

CapitaLand (CATL.SI: Quote, Profile, Research), Southeast Asia's most valuable developer, plans to launch two more property funds worth a combined S$1 billion ($651 million) as part of its financial services expansion.

The group's assets under management would hit S$17-18 billion by the end of the year -- up from about S$14 billion now, Chief Executive Liew Mun Leong said on Monday.

"Our financial services make up less than 10 percent now but I would like our fund fees to be about 15-20 percent of our EBIT (earnings before interest and tax)," Liew told the Reuters Real Estate Summit in Singapore.

"We're still a real estate company essentially, but this would help us in our overall domain knowledge," he added.

The two new property funds, which will join CapitaLand's existing line-up of 10 funds, will invest in India and China with initial funds of S$500 million (US$325 million) each.

CapitaLand, 43-percent owned by Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL], has been aggressive in expanding its financial services business and controls five real estate investment trusts (REITs), including CapitaMall (CMLT.SI: Quote, Profile, Research) -- Singapore's most-valuable property trust.

Liew said the group could launch another five property trusts based on its global portfolio, which includes office buildings in China and apartments in Japan.

He said CapitaLand's next REIT would likely be one based on its properties in China as its assets there offered high yields.