SEC proposes wider retail access to private-market strategies and new routes to accredited investor status

The US Securities and Exchange Commission voted on 30 September 2026 to propose rule changes meant to let more retail investors reach private-market strategies through regulated funds. In a separate request for comment, it asked whether people should be able to qualify as accredited investors by passing an exam or holding certain professional credentials.

The fund proposals

Performance-based fees are typical of hedge fund, private equity and venture capital strategies, which the SEC says has in practice kept those strategies within a narrow group of eligible investors. The proposals would:

• let registered investment advisers take performance-based pay, calculated on capital gains or appreciation, from more kinds of clients, including regulated funds;
• require fund registration and reporting forms to disclose that pay;
• modernise the interval fund framework, including allowing repurchases to be scheduled to better match the liquidity of the portfolio;
• replace individual exemptive orders with a rules-based framework letting regulated closed-end funds issue several share classes.

The SEC’s reasoning is that if advisers to regulated funds can earn incentives similar to private-fund managers, they may be more likely to offer private-market strategies in those funds.

New ways to be an accredited investor

Accredited investor status decides who can buy many private offerings. The SEC is asking for views on two non-financial routes. The first is passing an accredited investor exam, which FINRA would develop. The second is holding, in good standing, one of these credentials: a US CPA licence, the CFA charter, the CFP certification in the US, or the FINRA Series 79, 86 or 87 licences.

SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins said making it easier for individual investors to take part in private markets is one of his priorities, “while at the same time protecting those investors from bad actors and fraud.” He linked the work to the executive order on alternative assets in 401(k) plans.

What it means for investors

Nothing changes yet. These are proposals and requests for comment, not final rules. If adopted, retail investors could see more regulated funds, such as interval and closed-end funds, offering private-market strategies, alongside more disclosure of how the managers of those funds are paid.

What happens next

Each comment period runs for 60 days after the proposing releases and notices are published in the Federal Register.