UPDATE 1-Singapore invests $300mln in US property hedge fund

(updates with GIC comment)

SINGAPORE Jan 16 (Reuters) - The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) said on Wednesday it has committed $300 million to a U.S. hedge fund for investing in real estate securities, as it sees opportunities amid a U.S. housing slump.

GIC's real estate investment arm will also acquire a minority stake in the fund, California-based Rosen Real Estate Securities, which is run by Kenneth Rosen, a professor of real estate and urban economics at the University of California in Berkeley.

"With the recent downturn in the U.S. REIT market, we believe this could be an opportune time to invest in selected REIT investment opportunities that may arise in the current environment," said Michael Carp, GIC Real Estate's regional head for the Americas told Reuters.

The investment comes as property values have dipped sharply in the U.S., pummeled by a deepening mortgage crisis and fears of a recession in the world's largest economy.

GIC, which invests more than $100 billion of Singapore's foreign reserves abroad, has also injected funds into major banks including nearly $7 billion in Citigroup Inc (C.N), announced on Tuesday, and $9.75 billion for Swiss bank UBS AG (UBSN.VX).

GIC's sister firm Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] took a $4.4 billion equity stake in U.S. brokerage Merrill Lynch MER.N last month, as global banks face massive write-downs from the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis. (Reporting by Daryl Loo, editing by Neil Chatterjee)