(Reuters) - Permal Investment Management, the hedge fund investment division of U.S. asset manager Legg Mason Inc , is aiming to raise up to $500 million to take advantage of a boom in distressed sales of hedge fund holdings, the Financial Times said.
Hedge funds investors have been selling their holdings at a discount to escape restrictions on withdrawals amid a global rush for cash, according to the paper.
The new fund has been "designed to take advantage of investors' need for liquidity," Omar Kodmani head of Permal's London office, told the paper.
"There is an unusual number of sellers out there and those who are holding funds with a one-year lock-up or even a three-month wait to the next redemption window need to get out at a discount," Kodmani was quoted as saying.
Kodmani told the paper that Permal had occasionally bought holdings in hedge funds at a discount, but by launching its own fund it would be able to pick up more bargains.
Permal was not immediately available to comment.
(Reporting by Shradhha Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Erica Billingham)
