A new fund from Singapore-based OCBC Bank lets external investors share in the returns generated by the bank's internal private equity team.

Launched in partnership with OCBC's asset management subsidiary, Lion Global Investors, the Lion-OCBC Capital Asia Fund I will invest in small and medium-sized companies in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and China.

Lion Global will manage the fund alongside OCBC's Mezzanine Capital Unit (MCU), which has managed the bank's private equity investments for 12 years and invested in 77 companies.

"Investors in the fund were attracted by the superior returns that MCU has consistently delivered for OCBC of more than 20% internal rate of return in the past six years as its private equity unit, as well as by the fund's unique positioning as a bank-sponsored investment fund," says Daniel Kwan, head of MCU, OCBC Bank.

The fund launched for investor subscriptions nine months ago and has closed at 550 million Singapore dollars ($390 million).

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