Fortress Investment Group is looking to raise as much as $8bn for its latest credit opportunities fund, according to 9fin sources.

The firm is aiming for a 20% gross return on the Fortress Credit Opportunities VI vehicle, which has a hard cap of $8 billion, the sources said. Fortress is aiming for a first close in November, the sources said.

The fund will target investment in areas including distressed securities, financial institutions, specialty financing companies and structured credits. If the target is hit, Fortress will surpass the $7bn that it raised for its previous credit opportunities fund.

Opportunistic credit has become an increasingly popular strategy of late. For example, last week 9fin reported that direct lending giant Blue Owl has begun tapping investors for its own opportunistic credit fund.

For its part, Fortress has been eyeing up opportunities stemming from tighter borrowing conditions amid a higher rate environment. It recently bought around $1 billion of office loans from Capital One in a bet that New York City’s office market would recover.

The firm is also among a group of lenders set to acquire Vice Media out of bankruptcy in a deal valued at $350m, although that process has recently hit a snag a snag as the media company is still burning cash.

Drew McKnight and Josh Pack, who were appointed as Fortress’s co-CEOs in May, oversee the firm’s credit arm. Fortress declined to comment for this article.