Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. will commit $750 million to private-equity investments in the Asia-Pacific region, where the International Monetary Fund predicts economic growth will outpace that of the U.S. this year.

The third-largest U.S. bank hired Varun Bery and John Troy, co-founders of TVG Capital Partners, to head the Asian arm of its private-equity business, New York-based JPMorgan said in a statement distributed by PRNewswire. It will take non-controlling stakes in Asian companies including consumer, retail, industrial, health care, technology and natural resources, it said.

JPMorgan joins Blackstone Group LP and Citadel Investment Group in announcing plans to step up investment in Asia, where fast-growing economies have driven corporate profits higher. Developing Asian economies will expand an average 8.6 percent this year, compared with 1.5 percent for the U.S., according to IMF estimates.

JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon on Feb. 7 said the firm's private-equity business won't post any gains in the first quarter, following gains of $712 million in the previous three months. The business will most likely be profitable for the year, he added.

To contact the reporters on this story: Zachary R. Mider in New York at zmider1@bloomberg.net; Tomoko Yamazaki in Tokyo at tyamazaki@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 18, 2008 21:47 EST