DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Investcorp could

consider a public listing in the next three to five years, its

vice chairman said on Friday, as the Middle East's biggest

alternative investment firm targets a doubling of its assets

under management to $100 billion.

Rishi Kapoor, who is also Investcorp's chief investment

officer, told the Reuters Global Markets Forum that it could

consider London or New York as a listing venue.

There were "multiple paths" open to Investcorp, which

floated its investment vehicle as a separate company on the Abu

Dhabi stock exchange in 2023, Kapoor said on the sidelines of

the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

"Three to five years is appropriate for us ... to build that

scale. I think that puts us in a good spot ... to seek an

opportunity to provide liquidity or value crystallization to our

shareholders," he added.

Investcorp, which was founded in 1982 in Bahrain, currently

manages assets worth $55 billion. It is best known for listing

luxury goods brands such as Gucci and Tiffany & Co, but it has

branched out into other areas, such as private credit.

The alternative investment industry saw a flurry of deals

last year as giants such as BlackRock ( BLK ), General Atlantic

and TPG sought acquisitions to grow and add new asset

classes to their business.

In the Middle East, the alternative investment business of

National Bank of Kuwait was acquired by global asset manager

Janus Henderson ( JHG ).

401(k) NEXT?

Global private equity has so far tapped into high-net worth

individuals and institutional investors, but they are yet to

attract investments from the pool of 401(k) retirement savings

of U.S. workers, estimated at around $12 trillion.

The Financial Times this month reported that the industry

planned to lobby the new Trump administration to allow 401(k)

plans to include alternative investments and classify private

equity as professionally managed funds.

Kapoor said Investcorp could seek to participate either

directly or in partnership with others, should the initiatives

be allowed.

"There is a natural progression towards democratization of

private market assets ... and the next natural evolution for

that would be for it to be an integral part of that 401(k)

system," he added.

Unlike public markets, alternative assets are illiquid and

would need to be prudently allocated to manage risk, both from a

volatility and liquidity perspective.

"So it won't be a big number, but when you're taking a small

percentage of a very large number, (it's a) large dollar

figure," Kapoor said.

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