Carlyle to Close Two Mutual Funds in Liquid Alternatives Setback

(Bloomberg) -- Carlyle Group will shut a pair of mutual funds started last year in the latest setback to private equity firms’ pursuit of individual investors.

The Washington-based firm next month will liquidate the Carlyle Core Allocation Fund, which had about $53 million in assets at the end of November, and the Carlyle Enhanced Commodity Real Return Fund, according to regulatory filings filed April 17 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The commodity fund hadn’t started accepting money.

Carlyle and other managers of alternative assets, which traditionally cater to institutions and the very wealthy, are testing ways to attract money from individuals seeking to diversify beyond stocks and bonds.

KKR & Co. last year shuttered two funds that invested in high-yield debt and distressed companies, after they attracted $33 million from outside investors in about a year. KKR, Carlyle and Blackstone Group have said they will continue to create offerings for individuals as they seek to eventually access the market for 401(k) retirement plans.

Chris Ullman, a Carlyle spokesman, declined to comment.

Carlyle in 2013 started a fund with New York-based investment firm Central Park Group that accepts as little as $50,000 from wealthy individual investors. The pool, with $550 million in assets as of Dec. 31, allocates money to funds run by Carlyle, the second-biggest alternative-asset manager.

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