Carlyle to offer new fund of funds vehicle

Washington D.C.–based Carlyle Group is reportedly returning to the qualified purchasers market with a new vehicle for smaller investors. According to a New York Times piece, the firm is crafting what looks like a fund of funds called Private Equity Access 2014, which would give high net worth individuals a way to access Carlyle’s private equity strategies.

Investors would need to be qualified purchasers and will have to commit at least $250,000. That investment will be spread across four of Carlyle’s current funds.

Private Equity Access requires a substantially smaller minimum allocation than Carlyle’s flagship funds. KKR and Blackstone are also making similar efforts to go after individual investors. However, Carlyle has been here before (albeit through slightly different terms) and already pulled back once.

The Times report notes that Blackstone has already raised approximately $10 billion through feeder funds, which draw capital from ultra-high net worth investors that maintain brokerage accounts at the bulge brackets.

Carlyle is said to be meeting with independent wealth advisers and clients of registered investment advisers with a goal of raising $200 million for the vehicle. Similar offerings are in the pipeline for the future.