Sunday, October 8, 2017

Retail Rush for Carlyle: History Suggests Otherwise

The Australian reported:

A growing number of retail investors are joining superannuation funds, sovereign wealth funds and high net worths in moving money into private equity funds, as the sector looks to deploy record levels of capital, according to one of the world’s top private equity executives. 
Carlyle courted retail investors before with little success.

In May 2015 Carlyle closed Carlyle Global Core Allocation Fund, a mutual fund with $50 million in net assets.   The fund had a mandate to invest across equities, debt, real estate, commodities and currencies using exchange-traded funds.  It also ceased Carlyle Enhanced Commodity Real Return Fund, which had a mandate to invest in assets like energy and metals. (source: Reuters)

Carlyle's hedge fund clients took a bath across many offerings.  Carlyle closed most of those offerings in 2016.

Carlyle Capital Corporation retail investors lost big in March 2008 when Carlyle put CCC into bankruptcy.  FT's headline read "Carlyle fails to save $22bn CCC fund."  A more accurate title would've been Carlyle drowns CCC in debt. 

Carlyle co-founder David Rubenstein called for a PEU retail investor boom that hasn't materialized over the last four years.  Given how many Americans have been taken apart by the greed and leverage boys I am not sure it ever will.