US buyout firm The Carlyle Group has stepped in to help one of its fixed income funds for the second time in a week and a conduit for German lender IKB warned it can not expect further liquidity support, as investment vehicles continue their struggle to weather the sub-prime fallout.

Carlyle Capital Corp secured a $100m (€73.2m) loan facility from Carlyle last week to help the fund meet its margin calls in the wake of the US mortgage-backed debt crisis. Yesterday, it received a second handout from the buyout group in an effort to boost its liquidity.