AC Investment Management, a New York fund of funds firm with a focus on commodity managers, has called time on a fund of emerging managers and is in the process of returning money to investors. The AGR Scout Fund managed $45-50 million and ceased trading in December.
The fund invested in small emerging managers and was not limited to the commodities sector. The firm decided that the fund of funds was therefore a distraction from its field of expertise, according to an individual familiar with the decision. He noted that AC’s other two funds of funds—the commodity-only AGR Master Fund and AGR Power Fund—both invest in early-stage managers, making a third fund somewhat unnecessary. Performance was not a factor in the decision to shut down Scout, he said.
Inquiries were referred to founder Ernest Scalamandre, who declined to comment. The firm is understood to have managed around $500 million earlier this month, including the assets that were held by Scout.
—Robert Murray