New York (HedgeCo.Net) - Fortress Investment Group, who oversees more than $18 billion in assets, is starting a new hedge fund that will invest in markets throughout the Middle East and North Africa. 

The new fund, Fortress MENA, is set to launch near the end of September and seeks returns of 20 percent annually, according to insider documents obtained by Bloomberg.  Headed by Philippe Peres, who has run the company’s Drawbridge Global Macro funds for the past five years, the fund will use a “significant” amount of its employee’s personal capital to launch.  The documents did not state how much money the fund aimed to raise up front.

Fortress MENA will deal with equities, fixed-income securities and currencies throughout regions seeking to reduce their oil dependencies.  This includes countries such as Lebanon, Qatar, Pakistan and Turkey. 

This will be the fifth hedge fund in the company’s portfolio.  Fortress went public in February, but has seen shares decrease 36 percent this year compared to the 13 percent decline of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.  Shares are trading almost 50 percent below their initial offering of $18.50.

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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