Third-party management company and fund regulation and governance solutions provider Carne Group (Carne), and institutional investment solutions business WTW, have secured regulatory approval for the launch of a private equity-focused Long Term Asset Fund (LTAF).
The new fund, named the CG WTW Private Equity Access LTAF (CG WTW PEAL), will offer institutional and professional investors dedicated exposure to private equity primarily through co-investments, allowing them to invest in a range of opportunities.
This comes following regulatory approval by the FCA. After the fund’s proposed launch was first announced in April 2024, Macfarlanes LLP (Macfarlanes) provided legal advice to Carne and WTW. Carne Group’s UK authorised Fund Manager will act as the fund’s Authorised Corporate Director (ACD).
CG WTW PEAL is the first private capital evergreen, semi-liquid LTAF launched by WTW, which has further plans for other solutions to follow for savers across the UK, Europe and internationally. WTW has a successful track record of investing in private equity for its institutional client base.
The fund across Europe has approximately $850m of client interest to date. LifeSight, WTW’s defined contribution (DC) pensions master trust with 420,000 individual members, has agreed to allocate up to 5% of its LifeSight Equity default fund into private equity.
The launch of the new private equity LTAF supports broader industry initiatives to better align the long-term investment needs of many end investors, including DC pension savers, and invest into private equity assets that have historically been difficult for DC and private investors to access.
