Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia has raised $1.5 billion for its third fund to invest in companies in Asia. The fund will have a five-year investment period followed by a five-year harvest period. Chin Chou, chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia, said the fund aims to find investment opportunities in China, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan, where the company has an established track record. The fund will also explore investment opportunities in Japan, India and Australia. Around 80 per cent of the investors in the new fund are institutions. Other investors include banks, insurance companies, corporate pension plans, select high net worth clients and Morgan Stanley and its employees. The book was closed in six months. In 2005, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia raised $515 million for its first private-equity fund dedicated to Asia. Previously it had raised $300 million for an emerging markets private equity fund, which ended up being 95 per cent invested in Asia, in 1999. Both funds have been fully invested. Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia has not invested in Japan, India or Australia. The company, which currently has a team of around 30 professionals in the region, will be building out its teams in those three markets. As well as established teams in Hong Kong, Seoul and Beijing, Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia now has “a team on the ground in Japan and plans to open an office in India next year," said a spokesman for the firm. Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia is part of Morgan Stanley’s global private equity group within the merchant banking division.