Riyadh-based investment management and advisory firm Jadwa Investment has launched a SR1 billion ($266 million) Shariah-compliant real estate fund to develop more than 1,500 homes in the Saudi capital.

The Aldar Investment Fund has been set up in partnership with Almajdiah Group and Riyad Bank and will have a term of three years plus two one-year extensions.

The fund aims to develop more than 1,500 residential units at sites throughout Riyadh, targeting mid- to high-income Saudi households, and forms part of the government’s wider Vision 2030 ambition to increase home ownership in the Kingdom to 70 percent, up from 50 percent in 2018.

Haitham Al-Ghannam, managing director and head of real estate at Jadwa Investment, said: “The record demand shown during the fund’s offering period demonstrates the attractiveness of the local residential real estate market today, particularly in Riyadh, where we intend to expand further.”

Jadwa Investment last year saw its investment advisory practice cross the SR30 billion milestone in assets under advisement, a significant rise on last year’s SR13.4 billion.

Ghanem Alghanem, managing director of investment management advisory at Jadwa Investment, told Arab News last year that the firm had plans to launch a number of new funds in 2021.

“Our international infrastructure fund and international leasing fund will respond to increased client appetite for diversification into asset classes with a lower correlation to public markets.

“Our international multi-strategy private equity fund will respond to the need for growth assets in a low-yield environment. All three funds should be launched during 2021,” he said.