New York (HedgeCo.Net) – Thomas Walek, President of communications and marketing firm Peppercomm, has put out a new whitepaper on the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act or JOBS Act, a law intended to encourage funding of United States businesses by easing various securities regulations.

“The private world of hedge funds is looking more like Madison Avenue.” Walek says.

Hedge funds today are everywhere – in daily headlines, social media, public web sites, live TV coverage, and even highly visible Las Vegas bashes. They are also increasingly in the portfolios of institutional and retail investors.

Once a shadowy, inaccessible and little understood part of the asset management world, hedge funds are growing, diversifying, extending product lines, acquiring competitors, targeting new markets, stepping up client relations – in short, acting more and more like the large, sophisticated businesses they’ve become. Driving and supporting this business transition is a changing attitude toward and approach to marketing communications. As hedge funds have grown to $2-trillion-plus in assets, they are tackling issues and opportunities like brand, visibility and reputation, all in the face of stiff competition.

September 23, 2014, marks the first anniversary of the enactment of the Jumpstart Our Businesses (JOBS) Act, and provides an opportunity to look at how hedge fund communications have evolved. The JOBS Act was designed to spark U.S. economic growth in part by allowing hedge funds to solicit accredited investors. As a result, hedge funds are now allowed to employ tactics such as engaging the media, building accessible web sites, advertising and even social media.

And while neither we nor others point to the JOBS Act as the sole driving force behind the implementation of new communications strategies by hedge funds in recent years, no one denies that these changes are taking place.

So what has changed in hedge fund communications since the JOBS Act went live? Here’s a run-down of the key areas that are most affected, including social media, web sites, traditional media, advertising and executive hiring.” Walek concludes.

Read the full whitepaper from Peppercomm, The JOBS Act at Year One: A Changing Hedge Fund Communications Landscape.