AQR Capital Management [see profile] plans to make its mutual funds available solely through financial advisors, founding principal David Kabiller confirmed to The MFWire.com. AQR's plan was first reported by InvestmentNews.

The change will take effect October 30.

The Greenwich, Connecticut-based hedge fund firm, an affiliate of AMG, entered the mutual fund business last year and now manages $2 billion across its eight mutual funds.

"We think that we have a responsibility to educate," Kabiller said, noting that AQR's products are not plain vanilla offerings.

Around 95 percent of assets in AQR's funds flow through FAs. Advisors, he said, are "open-minded in looking for ways for portfolios to behave better."

"Different products require education," he said. "We think that we need to get in front of people. With FAs, there's a way to do it," citing the company's AQR University initiative as an example.

The education program, aimed at advisors, was held in May at the University of Chicago. Next year, AQR plans to conduct the program on the East Coast. 

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