The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has removed longstanding constraints that limited retail investors’ access to private funds. With this practice now withdrawn, demand for alternative strategies is set to rise, thus creating a larger addressable market for products that package private equity, private credit, and hedge-style exposures. However, realising the opportunity will still hinge on rigorous due diligence and clear education on fees, liquidity, and risk.

For more than two decades, retail closed-end funds that invested 15% or more of assets in underlying private funds were, in practice, steered toward accredited-investor sales and a $25,000 minimum. The SEC has now ended that approach. This means more private equity, private credit, and hedge-style exposures can now be wrapped in registered closed-end vehicles marketed to ordinary brokerage clients. READ MORE