Despite the ongoing catastrophe in Japan, Aberdeen Asset Management is pressing ahead with its plans to launch a third Asian fund of funds this year, according to Alessandro Bronda, head of global property at Aberdeen Asset Management.

The fund, which has a target size of around $400 mln, is expected to have its first closing in the second quarter. Around 40% of the fund will be able to invest in Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan; 40% in China and India and 20% in markets such as South Korea and Malaysia, Bronda told PropertyEU. The fund has a target net annual return of 17%.

The fund manager will wait and see how it ‘plays out’ in Japan before deciding what to invest in there, Bronda said. ‘But we remember the Kobe earthquake in 1995, which didn’t have a big impact on the Japanese property market,’ he said. He added that it is very much business as usual at the fund manager’s existing two Asian fund of funds, which had around $1bn of AUM combined as of end-February.