UBS has raised more than $1.5bn for a new long-term infrastructure investment fund and plans another offering for next year in a move that underlines the sector’s relative resilience to the financial crisis.

The bank’s global asset management division said the committed capital it raised was more than its original target and involved a minimum investment period of 15 years. Infrastructure funds were one of the success stories of the boom years, but worries about the debt needed to fund the biggest projects, and the leverage already taken on by funds, have tarnished the sector’s appeal.