“Eliminating placement agents as a group because there were a few bad actors who have tarnished the industry is analogous to eliminating Major League Baseball because several of its players behaved illegally.”
Steven Schwarzman, The Blackstone Group’s chairman and chief executive, has submitted a comment letter on the SEC’s proposed ban on placement agents interacting with public pensions. He comes squarely down on the side of placement agents. In fact, he credits placement agents with being essential to his fund-raising success.
The proposed SEC rule is fallout from investigations by the SEC and the New York District Attorney into a pay-to-play scandal involving “fixers” and prior scandal in New Mexico
References:
- Schwarzman’s comment letter
- Proposed Rule (IA-2910) Political Contributions by Certain Investment Advisers
- All comments on proposed rule
- Placement Agents Fight Bans – prior post
- New SEC Rule on Political Contributions by Certain Investment Advisers – prior post