Carlyle Group (CG) started trading on the NASDAQ on May 3, 2012

Carlyle Group’s shares opened up less than 1% after pricing its IPO below expectations Wednesday. The largest U.S. IPO of the year, as measured by the $671 million the offering raised, inched higher to $22.35 in recent trading, up 1.6%.

The private equity group cut its IPO price to $22 from its expected range of $23 to $24, which WSJ said was a move intended to create a first-day gain and make sure it was successful.

The DC-based private equity firm is the second largest asset manager in the world.

David Rubenstein, right, Bill Conway and Daniel D'Aniello, center, founded the Carlyle Group. The private-equity firm is soon expected to file documents that would turn it into a public company. Overnight, Carlyle's 99 partners will become millionaires and billionaires, with individual stakes valued from $3 million to $2 billion and up.