There was an unusually thorough explanation of the end of the Wildermuth Fund. Wildermuth was, by their description, an illiquid, closed-end interval fund that launched in 2014 but also a series of open-end funds that launched in 2017. In November of 2022,
the fund lost its status as a registered investment company; the filing notes that a tax hit was coming but I don't see any explanation of how they managed to lose their legal status. Odd.
An SEC filing enumerates the pieces of the dismantling:
Effective November 1, 2023, Wildermuth Advisory, LLC was terminated adviser to the Fund.
Daniel Wildermuth and Carol Wildermuth each resigned from the Board of Trustees.
Daniel Wildermuth also resigned as Chairman of the Board.
Daniel and Carol Wildermuth also resigned from their positions as officers of the Fund, including Daniel’s resignation as portfolio manager.
An interesting side note is the existence of a specialty industry in managing fund liquidations The Wildermuths have been succeeded by BW Asset Management Ltd, a sort of undertaker for condemned funds which has overseen liquidation of over $1 billion in assets. Currently they’re providing end-of-life / beginning-of-death services for a Mauritius regulated fund with $110 million AUM; five private funds under voluntary liquidation with combined assets of $120 million; and “various funds in provisional or official liquidation with combined assets of $300 million.”
Maximizing returns of the remaining portfolio assets and distributing the results is an honorable task.
At the same time, it brings to mind the work of the prison cook charged with preparing last meals for condemned prisoners. I'm sure they try hard but, really, who's going to report that they put way too much salt in the ragout?
