The Carlyle Group (CG), a leading alternative asset management firm, has been under pressure in the most recent quarter with the stock declining approximately 10%. We took advantage of the weak share price to add to our position. Carlyle manages approximately $200 billion for its clients in diverse strategies and numerous products. Its history of providing solid risk adjusted returns to its clients has enabled it to build sticky relationships with clients who invest in multiple funds. The current decline in its share price is the result of concerns regarding increased regulation and higher rates impacting fund performance. While these factors may affect the company in the near term, they do not alter the long term thesis that we believe Carlyle Group can continue to broaden its product offering and manage considerably more assets. Carlyle Group is a dominant firm in the alternative space, which is growing at twice the rate of traditional managers. Additionally, we feel that Carlyle could grow faster than the industry as limited partners (clients) consolidate their manager selection. While Carlyle’s earnings are more volatile than the earnings of traditional asset management firms, the company’s diverse product lineup should bring some stability to its high margin profits. We believe Carlyle will continue to broaden its product offerings and expand its distribution channels and can significantly increase its assets under management and earnings power over the next few years. (Michael Baron)
From Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio)’s Baron Partners Fund Q3 2014 Report.
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