US hedge fund manager DB Zwirn has said the sale of a $5bn (€6.5bn) portfolio of illiquid assets could take up to two years longer than previously predicted, in an indication of the difficulties some hedge funds are having disposing of investments quickly in falling markets.

The sale of the DB Zwirn assets could take three to five years, according to Tom Patrick, DB Zwirn's general counsel in the UK, who confirmed a separate source's information. This would mean the sale at best would be completed at the far end of a two to four year prediction made to investors in February last year.