Grosvenor Capital Management, one of the largest and most secretive funds of hedge funds in the world, has been in talks with investors and hedge fund managers about launching a mutual fund version of its offering.

The firm has already filed an application (in May) for exemptions from the Investment Company Act of 1940 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and sources familiar with the firm tell MFWire that Grosvenor expects to roll out its liquid fund of funds later this year.

Funds of funds, including Grosvenor, have been hard pressed to find new assets in recent years, so branching out into the retail world has become a popular new growth strategy among them. Chicago-based Grosvenor, which manages $24.4 billion in hedge fund assets, also acquired Credit Suisse's $20 billion private equity investment unit, the Customized Fund Investment Group, earlier this year, boosting its total assets to over $40 billion.

In rolling out a liquid mutual fund, Grosvenor would be joining a growing number of funds of funds that have recently launched liquid alternative strategies or are planning to do so. Those include The Blackstone Group, K2 Advisors, Arden Asset Management, Permal Group and Aurora Investment Management, among others.

Most of these firms have been partnering with their parent companies or other large firms for retail distribution. It's not yet clear whom, if anyone, Grosvenor will partner with for this venture. Executives at the firm did not return calls seeking comment.

 

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