In his whistleblower lawsuit, ex-hedge fund manager Nikhil Dhir claims that the Carlyle Group fired him for complaining that the global asset management group\u2019s executives had allowed close to $2B of investment funds to shrink to less than $50M without notifying account administrators. The Carlyle Group disputes his accusations.<\/p>\n
According to the complaint, Dhir was initially hired by a company called Vermillion as an energy portfolio manager for the Viridian Fund. The fund was supposed to concentrate on trading derivatives, physical commodities, and stock options in the soft commodities, metal, freight, and energy industries.<\/p>\n
When the Carlyle Group purchased a 55% stake in Vermillion, Dhir became a Carlyle employee, while the Viridian Fund was marketed as a diversified investment fund with low volatility and the promise that no more than 30% of the portfolio ever would be allocated toward just one commodity.<\/p>\n
The fund invested in freight position four years ago. According to Dhir, between \u201912 and \u201914, the percentage of the Viridian Fund that went to freight reached over 90%. Yet, said Dhir\u2019s lawyer, the fund\u2019s partners continued to tell investors and the portfolio manager that the position was liquid and there would be \u201cminimal market impact\u201d if it were to be exited.<\/p>\n