Islamic fund manager KFH Asset Management will launch a $300 million fund to invest in consumer, healthcare and education businesses by end 2012, its private equity head has said.

KFH Asset Management, a subsidiary of the Malaysian unit of Kuwait Finance House, would raise money from Gulf investors for the fund which would also invest in waste management and light manufacturing companies, Lew Oon Yew said.

Generally the deal flow is still very strong,' he said.

He said KFH Asset Management also hoped to attract investors from Singapore and Japan, diversifying its investor base from the current Kuwait, Malaysia and Brunei funds.

The new fund would look to invest in businesses in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and China, he said.

'(In) Indonesia, we need to build up a stronger local presence for us to get a more robust deal flow out of the market,' Lew said.

'The market is still very much controlled by big families and in order to penetrate the market, we have to get good local partners. That's something we've been working on for the last two years.'-TradeArabia News Service