The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted rules and form amendments that are designed to require mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to transmit concise and visually engaging annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. The updated approach to funds’ shareholder reports will highlight key information that is particularly important for retail investors to assess and monitor their fund investments.

In this summary, we will provide an overview of the major changes affecting open-end and exchange traded funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted rules and form amendments that are designed to require mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) to transmit concise and visually engaging annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. The updated approach to funds’ shareholder reports will highlight key information that is particularly important for retail investors to assess and monitor their fund investments.

The new Rule will amend Rule 30e-3 to exclude open-end funds, including ETFs. Closed-end funds, unit investment trusts and other open-end funds that do not file Form N-1A are not affected by this rule change.

In this summary, we will outline the format of the new annual and semi-annual report. Funds must prepare a separate annual report for each fund in a series and each class in a multi-class structure. The reports should be concise and visually engaging but will not be subject to any page or word limits.

BBD's Industry Insights video series offers our clients and industry friends a brief look into important and timely developments in the investment management industry.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has long enforced consistency between the name and strategy of a regulated investment company.

The original “Names Rule,” Rule 35d-1 of the Investment Company Act of 1940, was issued in 2001 and was intended to help ensure a fund’s name does not misrepresent the fund’s investments and risks to investors. It generally requires that if a fund’s name suggests a focus in a particular investment type, industry or geographic region, the fund must adopt a policy to invest at least 80% of its assets accordingly. Similarly, if the fund’s name suggests that its distributions are tax-exempt, for example, the investment policy must adhere to this claim.

BBD's Industry Insights video series offers our clients and industry friends a brief look into important and timely developments in the investment management industry.

Welcome to Industry Insights, BBD’s new video series that offers our clients and industry friends a brief look into important and timely developments in the investment management industry.

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:

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.