Dave Keating

Kuwaiti-based property developer Abyaar has partnered with the fashion icon to build an avant-garde residential tower in Dubai.

Former CPI fund manager Stephen Coyle will lead the firm’s new fund of funds initiative.

The vehicle, sponsored by New York-based Falcon Real Estate, will seek capital from Europe, Asia and Latin America but is excluding US investors.

The New York investment firm will reportedly launch a dedicated India real estate vehicle later this year.

The new company, Capitala, will focus on developing residential projects in Abu Dhabi.

The National Pension Service has reportedly set aside a large stockpile for investing in distressed property in the US and other markets.

In a sign that German open-ended funds are continuing to look to emerging markets, the firm is steadily expanding its Latin American portfolio acquiring a 20-story property in Santiago de Chile.

Popken joins from Netherlands-based pension fund manager PGGM Investments to help build out ING’s multimanager platform in the region.

The private equity group will take a stake in the German property lender following its admission in January that it was more exposed to the global credit crisis than previously thought.

The fund has closed at $1.2 billion, having attracted 16 LPs in Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East.