A rulemaking notice logged with the White House budget office would open registered funds to private-market exposure and revisit performance-fee rules, though no formal proposal exists yet.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has logged a rulemaking notice with the White House Office of Management and Budget aimed at modernizing performance-fee rules under decades-old investment-adviser and investment-company statutes, and creating a mechanism for retail investors to access private markets through registered funds. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins is described as the driving force behind the effort.
This is a planned, not-yet-formal proposal. No rule text has been issued, and no timeline for a final vote has been set. A partner at K&L Gates and the advocacy group Better Markets have both raised cautionary notes about the idea.
If it advances, the rule would meaningfully expand the pool of capital available to private funds, from business development companies to interval funds to traditional private equity, venture and credit vehicles, by giving retail investors a regulated path into an asset class that has largely stayed institutional. That is a structural question worth tracking closely once an actual rule text appears.