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Failure to Adequately Oversee Service Providers

Citing what it called “wholly inadequate” oversight of a faraway subadviser, the Securities and Exchange Commission fined and ordered repayment of advisory fees by Morgan Stanley Investment Management. According to the settlement, Morgan Stanley will repay its client, the Malaysia Fund, $1.8 million for fees it paid from 1996-2007 for “research, intelligence, and advice” that  [...]

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Real Estate Funds and the Investment Company Act

Traditionally, private fund managers have looked at the section 3(c)(1) or section 3(c)(7) exemptions from the definition of “investment company” to avoid the restrictions of being regulated under the Investment Company Act. Dodd-Frank defined a “private fund” as being “issuer that would be an investment company as defined in Section 3 of the Investment Company Act, but [...]

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Are you an Investment Company?

Fund managers are dealing with Dodd-Frank and the requirements under the Investment Advisers Act made by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Of course, a fund manager needs to focus on other areas of financial regulation and enforcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fund managers need to keep focused on how they comply with the [...]

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The Knowledgeable Employee Exemption for Private Funds

When operating under the Section 3(c)(7) exemption from the Investment Company Act, the issue then becomes how a private investment fund can provide an equity ownership to key employees. Its unlikely that your key employees will have the $5 million in investments needed to qualify as an investor. (Each investor in a 3(c)(7) private investment [...]

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Qualified Purchasers under the Investment Company Act

In a private fund exempt under 3(c)(1) investors only generally need to be accredited investors (and “qualified clients” if the fund manager is SEC registered. If you have more than 100 investors in the fund you will need to fall under the 3(c)(7) exemption. That means all of your investors must be “qualified purchasers.” A [...]

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Private Fund Exemptions under the Investment Company Act

Private investment funds primarily use two exemptions to avoid being defined as an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940: Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7). Less than 100 Investors Section 3(c)(1) of the Investment Company Act excludes from being an investment company any issuer whose outstanding securities are beneficially owned by not more [...]

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Supreme Court Rules on When Mutual Fund Fees are too High

Supreme Court Rules on When Mutual Fund Fees are too High

The Supreme Court issued its opinion in Jones v. Harris Associates, addressing the standard for when mutual fund fees are too high. Background Under §36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 the “the investment adviser of a registered investment company shall be deemed to have a fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of [...]

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If you want to have a good fishing, go where the fish are

Mutual Fund Advertisements and Social Media

Much has been made about FINRA’s Regulatory Notice 10-06 and how that will affect the social media use by registered representatives. Looking beyond the broker/dealers, I thought it would be interesting to see what mutual fund companies are doing with social media. I’ve started seeing some mutual fund companies starting to dip their toes into [...]

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Private Fund Investment Advisers Registration Act Status

OpenCongress allows you to create custom widgets for the status of bills in Congress. I decided to play around and create one for the House version of the Private Fund Investment Advisers Registration Act. I’ll create one for the Senate version once they formally introduce the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2009.

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Will the Supreme Court Affect Mutual Fund Fees?

On Monday, the Supreme Court heard the arguments on a case involving mutual fund fees. The case is trying to reconcile the standard for when mutual fund fees are too high. Under §36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 the “the investment adviser of a registered investment company shall be deemed to have a [...]

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