The firm is developing a private-equity product that would be available to investors other than just the high-net-worth, which may be available as soon as this year, the person said, declining to give further details.
KKR competitors Carlyle Group LP and Blackstone Group LP, as well as funds-of-funds manager Pantheon Ventures LLP, are also trying to access the market for retail money.
Blackstone, Carlyle
Blackstone, the biggest manager of alternative assets, offers a fund of hedge funds with daily liquidity on Fidelity Investments’ platform and an exchange-traded fund with State Street Corp. to invest in speculative-grade loans. Across its funds, New York-based Blackstone raised $7.5 billion from individual investors last year, compared with $600 million in 2009, President Tony James said last month.
Carlyle, based in Washington, last year started a fund with New York-based investment firm Central Park Group LLC that accepts as little as $50,000 from individual investors. Central Park Group plans to allocate money from the pool to funds run by Carlyle, the second-largest alternative-asset manager, including to the firm’s leveraged-buyout funds, according to regulatory filings.
Pantheon, a London-based firm that oversees more than $25 billion in private-equity assets, last year started a platform to allow target-date funds within corporate 401(k) plans to invest in private-equity funds managed by other firms. The interest from companies has been “fantastic,” spokesman Carsten Huwendiek said last month. The process of signing up retirement plans “is a very slow one,” Huwendiek said.