HSBC Fund Management (Malta) Ltd has launched a new Investment Fund, the HSBC Property Investment Fund.

This new investment opportunity will be a fund of funds and will initially be investing in six to 10 other sub-funds. The fund's exposure will consist, in the main, of direct investments in property and property-related assets such as property financing companies, property holding companies and other similar investments.

The fund will not be constrained by any particular sector, region or currency and will be initially targeting the UK and continental Europe (including central and Eastern Europe) along with other regions such as the Pacific Basin. The fund will have an exposure to direct property situated outside Malta and property-related assets will provide an even more balanced portfolio to investors.

The HSBC Property Investment Fund will be managed locally by HSBC Fund Management (Malta) Ltd, which currently has around Lm300 million in assets under management. In this role, the local manager will be supported by, and will receive advice from, HSBC Specialist Fund Management Ltd., which is HSBC Group's Centre of Reference in the UK, responsible for the review of third party property funds on behalf of HSBC Group worldwide.

The fund is in the form of a professional investor fund and is denominated in MTL with a currency of expression in euro, requiring a minimum investment of Lm7,000 or equivalent. Investors can choose to place their funds in either an accumulating class or, if they require regular income, into an income class of shares, with dividends being paid as at the end of March and September.

More information on the fund offered by HSBC can be found on HSBC's website www.hsbc.com.mt, by calling Customer Service on 2380-2380 or by visiting one of the bank's branches in Malta and Gozo.