WSJ: DIGO Brands Hedge Funds

By SUZANNE VRANICA, JULIET CHUNG and JESSICA HOLZER

“Invest in hedge funds: because you are worth it.”

“Alternative investments are it.”

“It’s not your father’s hedge fund.”

Those are just a few hypothetical slogans that could appear on a billboard near you as a result of a planned relaxation of a ban on hedge-fund advertising.

While many hedge funds say they aren’t rushing out to buy up TV ads and rename sports stadiums like their more visible brethren in the banking world, they are testing the waters for what the new freedom could mean for this opaque industry.

U.S. regulators are expected Wednesday to propose loosening restrictions banning private-investment firms from advertising—a provision contained in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups, or JOBS, Act.

The new law, passed in April, directs the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to reverse a long-standing ban on general solicitation for certain private offerings so long as firms take reasonable steps to verify investors in these deals are “accredited investors,” institutions or people who meet certain lofty income or asset thresholds. Some hedge funds adhere to stricter criteria. Read the full article here.