We often have conversations with portfolio managers who have experience managing a portfolio in a large shop and decide to break away and start their own investment advisory business. Many of these managers have an interest in launching their own pooled investment vehicle, often a product that they have been working “on the side.”

When investing in a SPAC, at the IPO or after, you are not investing in an actual company with fundamentals. 

Given that mutual funds and ETFs are both types of regulated investment companies with audits subject to the requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, there are certainly many similarities in the audit process for both. However, there are some key differences to note, particularly in the areas of:

As the saying goes, "You don't know what you don't know."  Below we have detailed eight investments that could cause a tax headache if not approached carefully.

In BBD's latest Webcast, John Braun and Cory Stewart teamed up with Karen Aspinall from Practus and Terry Gallagher from UMB for a dynamic discussion on the SEC's new Derivatives Rule.

Join our webcast on February 17 at 2:00 p.m. EST for an important update regarding this new Rule and how to navigate potential impacts to your funds.

On December 3, 2020, the SEC voted to approve Rule 2a-5 (the “Rule”) to address valuation practices and the role of the Board of Directors for registered investment companies and business development companies relative to the fair value of investments. The new Rule is meant to modernize existing SEC regulations that have not been comprehensively addressed by the SEC for 50 years. BBD has summarized the Rule in a previous post.

On October 28, 2020, the SEC adopted a new rule designed to address the investor protection purposes and concerns underlying Section 18 of the Investment Company Act of 1940. More specifically, Rule 18f-4 provides an updated and more comprehensive approach to the regulation of funds’ use of derivatives. This Rule is effective for all funds February 19, 2021, with a compliance date of August 19, 2022. While the final Rule offers a more than 450-page comprehensive framework for funds utilizing derivatives, management and Boards of funds not employing derivatives, or utilizing them on a limited basis, still should be aware of the impact of certain key points of the Rule.

On October 28, 2020, the SEC adopted a new Rule designed to address the investor protection purposes and concerns underlying Section 18 of the Investment Company Act of 1940. More specifically, Rule 18f-4 provides an updated and more comprehensive approach to the regulation of funds’ use of derivatives. This Rule is effective for all funds February 19, 2021, with a compliance date of August 19, 2022.

In BBD's latest Webcast, John Braun and Cory Stewart teamed up with Steve Connors from SEI and David Freese and Sean Graber from Morgan Lewis for a dynamic discussion on the SEC's new proposed filing and disclosure modernization.