German and Middle Eastern institutional investors have committed €480m to Pramerica Real Estate Investors’ latest Asia-Pacific real estate fund.

The investment management arm of Prudential Financial has achieved a first close for its Asia Property Fund (ASPF) III, exceeding an initial fundraising target of €400m.

ASPF III, which is expected to hold a final close early next year, is the third in a series of real estate funds investing in the region across the risk-return spectrum.

The latest fund will invest in office, retail, residential and logistics assets in both mature and emerging markets. Target markets include Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.

The fund will invest in core, value-add and select opportunistic real estate investments, to create a “well-balanced portfolio that has the flexibility to adjust to the dynamic Asia Pacific markets”.

Benett Theseira, head of Asia Pacific for Pramerica, said: “The maturing markets in Asia-Pacific are offering the opportunity to add value through quality asset management, innovation and strategic partnerships.”

ASPF II closed in 2007 with approximately €949m in commitments. ASPF I closed in 2003 with approximately €655m in commitments. Combined, ASPF I and ASPF II have acquired or developed more than €3.6bn in gross assets across 56 transactions.

Pramerica said the latest fund will utilise the resources of is Asia-Pacific platform, which employs approximately 80 professionals in Singapore, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong and Sydney.