The proposal to modernize interval funds and expand multiple share classes for closed-end funds was published in the Federal Register on Monday. Comments are due Dec. 4, and a linked proposal on performance fees has yet to start its own clock.
Fund managers building products for individual investors now have a deadline.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal on interval fund modernization and the expansion of multiple share classes to registered closed-end funds was published in the Federal Register on Monday, Oct. 5. The 83-page release, which runs from page 63388 to 63470 of volume 91, states that comments "should be received on or before December 4, 2026." The proposal is filed under S7-2026-34.
Interval funds are one of the main structures through which private credit and other illiquid strategies are sold to wealth clients in the U.S. They offer periodic repurchases, typically quarterly, rather than daily redemptions, which allows them to hold assets that cannot be sold quickly.
A link to performance fees
The release ties itself to a separate proposal. In its discussion of costs, the SEC notes that funds would need to "jointly manage liquidity demands from repurchases and any performance fees assessed on unrealized capital gains." That refers to a performance-based compensation proposal the commission issued in September, which would let some funds charge fees on unrealized gains.
The two proposals are moving on different timetables. The performance fee proposal's comment period runs for 60 days after its own publication in the Federal Register, which has not yet occurred. That means the comment windows will end on different dates, and managers responding to one will not yet know the final shape of the other.
Two more notices on the same day
The same issue of the Federal Register carried two related notices. One concerns the potential designation of a FINRA-developed exam as a way for individuals to qualify as accredited investors. The other concerns whether holders of the Series 79, 86 and 87 professional licenses should qualify as accredited investors; comments on that notice are also due Dec. 4.
Together, the three documents expand the routes through which individual investors can reach private market products: by passing a test, by holding a license, or by buying a registered fund with redesigned liquidity terms.
Why it matters now
The timing is pointed. Several semi-liquid funds sold to wealth clients have limited withdrawals this year, with quarterly repurchase caps of 5% of assets becoming binding at some large vehicles. In Australia, unlisted Metrics funds remain closed to redemptions. The SEC's proposal will be read against that backdrop: as an attempt to make liquidity terms more robust, or as a loosening that expands access just as stress is showing.
What to watch: The publication date of the performance fee proposal, which will set its separate deadline, and the volume of industry comment letters before Dec. 4. Comments from large interval fund sponsors on repurchase mechanics will show where the industry wants the rules tightened or eased.