Hong Kong-based CLSA Capital Partners is currently raising $400 million to $500 million for use in its fourth 'pan-Asia value-add' real estate fund. According to Deal Street Asia, the brokerage and investment firm would launch 'Fudo Capital IV' in the second quarter this year, with investments targeted at the northern part of Asia.

CLSA isn't without challenges while completing this fund-raising round. CLSA former CEO John Pattar left in 2018 to join KKR, a private equity company, which then spread rumors about the state of the Fudo franchise. 10 executives have since followed Pattar's departure, making the rumors take on a life of its own.

The company appeared unfazed, continuing on with the Fudo franchise and making the funding round despite the challenges. The franchise still possessed a veteran management team that helped in building the franchise to where it is today, composed of the head of Japan Hirotaka Uchiyama, head of China and Taiwan Byron Zhao, and chief financial officer Yeu Liong Ching.

There are other ways to make cash, and there's plenty of fundraising going on in the Asian region. SoftBank is one such firm raising funds for their ventures and, according to Financial Times, the Japanese telecoms and internet group is offloading its stake in the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. The sale will raise at least US$7.9 billion for the firm.

It is a symbolic reversal for the Japanese firm, which had been acquiring properties left and right over the past years. More than that, however, it is a change in direction for the firm; Nikesh Arora, the current president and successor to founder Masayoshi Son, planned on focusing more on investments in technology companies that show promise through growth.

With the shares reduced, the company is still expected to be one of the largest shareholders in the Chinese tech company. The stakes of SoftBank is expected to shrink by as much as 28 percent--from 32.2 percent--as of the end of March.

Other fund-raising efforts in the Asian region remained hooked up on the real estate. GreenOak Real Estate is looking to raise US$1 billion for its third Asia-focused real estate-backed fund, GreenOak Asia III. Meanwhile, Singapore-based SC Capital Partners is focused on completing its fifth Asia opportunistic fund, targeting an end to the round by the second quarter of 2019 and with a target value of US$1 billion.