It's official.

Wells Fargo is launching an alternative mutual fund and enlisting the help of The Rock Creek Group, a Washington, D.C.-based fund of hedge funds, to do it. MFWire first reported the news in March and Wells Fargo officially announced the launch yesterday. The offering makes sense, as it's in conjunction with Wells having acquired a 60 percent stake in Rock Creek earlier this year.

Karla Rabusch, president of Wells Fargo Funds Management, said in the news release that out-of-the-box strategies have been in demand among clients, and Afsaneh Beschloss, president and chief executive of Rock Creek, added that her firm can bring its expertise in research and selection of institutional-quality hedge fund managers to the table.

The firm also submitted an SEC filing on the new Wells Fargo Advantage Alternative Strategies Fund on April 29, where it revealed the fund's sub advisors. They include hedge fund brand names like Chilton Investment Company, Mellon Capital Management, Passport Capital, Pine River Capital Management, River Canyon Fund Management, Sirios Capital Management and Wellington Management Company.

Many other funds of funds have been launching mutual funds with parent firms or forming partnerships with big retail shops for distribution. These include Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, Arden Asset Management, K2 Advisors, Morgan Creek Capital Management, and, most recently Larch Lane Advisors, which formed a joint venture with Rothschild Asset Management last week.

The underlying hedge funds don't have to set up their own '40 Act funds to be a part of these offerings, though they have to run daily liquid, '40 Act compliant versions of their strategies. So if they start running these managed account strategies, it'd make sense for them to sub-advise several mutual fund trusts. Wellington, for instance, is also a part of Blackstone and K2's mutual funds, while Chilton is included in Arden and K2's.

River Canyon, a subsidiary of event-driven credit specialist Canyon Capital Advisors, is also a part of Permal Group's Permal Alternative Select Fund, which the firm launched in February. Don't be surprised if some of the other firms soon turn up as sub advisors in other alternative mutual fund offerings.

 

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