HedgeCo.Net — The Securities and Exchange Commission on September 30, 2026 voted to propose rule amendments aimed at expanding retail investors’ access to private-market strategies through regulated fund structures, according to the agency’s release. The package would broaden the ability of registered investment advisers to earn performance-based compensation from certain client categories, including regulated funds, calculated on capital gains or appreciation, and would add disclosure requirements for those fees in fund registration and reporting forms.
The proposals would also modernize the interval fund framework, including allowing repurchases to be scheduled at times that better match a portfolio’s liquidity profile, and would replace case-by-case exemptive orders with a rules-based framework for closed-end funds to issue multiple share classes. Separately, the Commission requested comment on new accredited-investor pathways: passing a FINRA-developed accredited investor exam, or holding in good standing a CPA license, a CFA charter, a CFP certification, or FINRA Series 79, 86 or 87 licenses.
Chairman Paul Atkins tied the effort to growing demand for private-market exposure and to the administration’s executive order on alternative assets in 401(k) plans. Comment periods run 60 days after Federal Register publication, so none of the changes is final. CNBC noted the timing comes as semi-liquid private credit vehicles have faced elevated redemption requests this year.
For hedge fund, private equity, and private credit sponsors building wealth-channel products, the practical signal is that the SEC is targeting the two frictions that have kept incentive-fee strategies out of registered funds: adviser compensation and liquidity mechanics. Managers should expect the comment process to focus on how fee disclosure and repurchase flexibility interact with investor protection, particularly after a year in which gating has become a live issue for retail-facing credit funds.