Fortress Investment Group, a US-based alternative investment firm with more than $24bn (£12.6bn) in assets under management, is set to file next week for an initial public offering that could value it at up to $8bn.

The Fortress IPO will be the first public listing of its kind in the US. The float will provide the first test of investor appetite for publicly traded hedge funds in the US and represents a tipping-point for the rapidly growing $1,200bn market.