| joea... | More options are almost always better! Growth is almost guaranteed when people invest in a broad portfolio, with many types of assets! |
| ned.... | Worked well at Yale ! |
| ronb... | We need to educate citizens, but if 401k investors don’t feel good about they don’t have to change anything. |
| jong... | Another obvious cash grab from corrupt oligarchs. |
| joes... | Long term investment strategy should always include a portion in higher risk, higher potential return securities. |
| buzz... | Another stupid idea to let people gamble with their retirement |
| gand... | Yes if the employee have the option |
| mrse... | Most people are not sophisticated enough to profit from this |
| thom... | This presents a significant challenge for ERISA dictated fiduciary responsibility by plan sponsors. History has shown this is important - just think Enron 401(k) plans... |
| skel... | Was in the business 37 years. High fees, high commissions and lousy returns in the name of "diversification" is a bad recipe. Saw it first hand. Did a couple in the first 2 years and never again. Could have made more money but clients would have paid for it and got lousy returns. |
| jrv1... | As a Financial Advisor for over 45 years, this makes no sense and is only appropriate for a small number of investors. Most should be in core index holdings to increase their wealth. |
| brod... | How is it that this very important change to a very large market can be enacted by one person? Where is Congress? Where is the SEC? Where is the Fed? |
| hoop... | Market freedom may have consequences in terms of increased risks. However, maximizing choice and the Freedom to Choose is superior to nanny-state protectionism. That said the introduction of private-market assets should also hopefully come with a decrease in the opacity of retirement fund fee structures, which currently demolish individual investor gains. |
| pjpa... | Farm Land & Real Estate have been providing great returns |
| dona... | Anything that Trump supports only benefits HIM |
| pete... | The average investor will not be able to to effectively choose wisely amid a flood of private-market assets - about half of which will be out and out scams. Also the fees associated with private-market assets will further erode the earnings potential of these types of assets. |
| barr... | It will encourage the contribution of non-performing assets being contributed vs liquid assets, which are often what is needed in retirement. Valuation issues will be a manipulated and a nightmare for both sides. |
| cfmi... | These private funds tend to come with much higher fees. I fear they will get their claws into retirement funds to bleed them of returns instead of actually getting growth for the retirees. They’ve done this with pensions previously where it wasn’t clear they were present and might be murky to the average 401k contributer. It would be fine IF there was always an option for purely index fund based 401ks as well so that people can opt out of this scam. |
| jule... | I don’t trust the “private” equity firms. |
| mmon... | Folks will ALWAYS buy High and sell Low. This will be a disaster. |
| kkur... | Anybody approaching retirement or already retired can’t afford to take that kind of risk. There are risk takers who will love it, but, I am not one oof them. |
| lros... | Older people will get ripped off-remember 2007 |
| kwil... | People who have pensions have exposure to private markets. Most pension include 10-20 percent allocation to private markets. They are essential to achieving long term returns that are needed for retirement. It is naive to call them too risky since most people who used to have pensions have always had exposure and it is a great disadvantage to those who have been forced into 401ks not to have access to these asset classes. |
| krip... | Too risky! |
| rich... | Private investment formats are more profitatable for the investment companies that create them, and stoke the egos of many high net wirth investors, but aren't intrinsically more rewarding to investors. 401(k) participants already have more options than they need, assuming they have an appropriately long-term perspective. |
| irvi... | I think it should require great education to investors to make sure the risks are understood. As with any higher growth and higher risk stock investments it should be made while younger and less risky options made while older. More options are better. |
| siga... | Need more channels with risks clearly stated to make the dollar go further for the right appetites. |
| rtet... | Professional financial planners advise against placing retirement funds in the asset classes that Trump regime is empowering. They advise against because the market values are volatile. Loss of principal can decimate a retiree's nest egg. |
| atli... | Just another way to shift money form the middle class to the rich. |
| lkdn... | Perhaps a small part of a retirement portfolio could be invested in private equity |
| walk... | I think private investments offer a great opportunity for investors. However, guardrails need to be put in place to make sure every investor understands the risks of the private investments. |
| jjai... | Equities provide enough risk in investing, there is no need to include more volatile investments. If people want them, they can invest outside of their retirement. I will also add I am immediately suspicious that "real estate" is included as it seems self-serving to our real estate speculating president. |
| pfor... | The vast majority of people do NOT have the skill or knowledge to wade into these very risky options. They risk losing it all in the one area that should be a safer haven for 30 years down the road. Will make people more dependent on the already concerning social security. |
| blhi... | It will increase bank's power, draw more man-pawer and best minds to to finance and insurance industry, which would make American GDP even more lopsided and will decrease the wealth of ordinary working people. |
| lisa... | For a savvy investor, this makes sense but most younger investors could be led down a dangerous past and end up with nothing later in life |
| eagl... | It’s another scheme by the rich to steal from the poor. Most people who have 401k accounts don’t need risky investments in order to have money in retirement and many aren’t seasoned enough investors to use these investments. |
| chai... | Just another way for the rich corporation execs to get richer at no risk with the elderly risking their retirement savings. |
| k8ek... | The current administration has shown us that they are all-in with insider trading, and this is yet another opportunity for them to fleece the public and line their own & their friends' pockets. |
| rali... | This seems like another opportunity to steal our hard earned money. |
| 8rbo... | 401(k)s are bedrock retirement resources with limited risk. Important now that pension funds are largely passé. Perhaps a small portion of retirement funds could be allocated to a distinctly separate more riskier program that could be developed. |
| rbad... | Those investments are for more sophisticated investors, are illiquid, and have significantly more risk. |
| milt... | I have been a investment advisor for the last 20 years. These alternative investments are quite a bit riskier than current options and, just as importantly, they will not function the same in the "mass market" as they do in niche markets. Also, some of these categories have not performed nearly as well as ordinary investments. Remember Warren Buffett's bet with any hedge fund that they could not beat the S&P 500 over ten years? Only one hedge fund took him up on the bet and it got clobbered. Nothing has changed. |
| fnpn... | It’s their retirement funds, it should be their choice to take the risk, not the government. |
| jeff... | This is a payoff to Blackrock and others. These firms will stuff these retail products with high risk junk. |
| jbee... | The fiduciary duty of the plan sponsor is to operate the plan in the best interest of the participants- When an investment fails the lawsuits will follow. Unless there is a release of liability this is a risky move for a plan. |
| byro... | Too many non-regulated bad actors who will take advantage of people’s life savings. |
| jame... | Yes - because it allows folks to determine their own choices. Note: this approach should only be coupled with the understanding that the US government (i.e., taxpayers) will ONLY provide a MINIMUM living standard in the event folks take on took much risk and loos "everything". |
| patt... | There is a reason most of these type of investments require “accredited investor” status. Most people don’t even understand what a mutual fund is let alone more complex investments. |
| dklo... | Trump’s string pullers want another source for investment in their interests. It’s not about helping 401(K) owners. |
| dili... | Previous brokerage employee here - most participants in 401K's do not have the knowledge of markets and need protection from high-risk. Simple enough. |
| cara... | Anyone who has taken an intro to finance course can tell you why this is a bad idea. Most consumers cannot stomach that degree of risk, especially with their retirement nest eggs. |
| lisa... | Given the wide dispersion in returns and lack of transparency of these largely illiquid offerings, private market investing requires thoughtful fund manager selection. This benefits private market firms / fund managers (whether their investments perform or not) because increased flows will elevate AUM and in turn they will generate more management fee income. Access could help from a diversification and return standpoint if the accounts are managed by experienced investment professionals. If retail investors are left to pick the best options, there may be negative outcomes due to lack of due diligence expertise and thin net returns relative to current 401k investment options. How will 401k borrowing work when the underlying pools are illiquid? |
| kaga... | No trust in this administrations decisions |
| spac... | It’s 12 trillion dollars that can be stolen. |
| bett... | My kids had 401k's out of college. With AI and encouraging savings people could potentially be able to save the money they need for retirement. |
| lind... | I appreciate the ability to invest in private markets, but this will probably lead to some type of speculative bubble in private equity. |
| adam... | Let people take the risks they want to take. Its not like its mandatory to put your money into these riskier options. But if you want to - you should be able to |
| shal... | 401k’s act as a financial safety net for the majority of participants who may not have the time or experience to be financially literate. Conservatively structured rules governing 401ks is there to protect the participants long term interests rather than offering short term, risky investment options, which could easily wipe out a participant’s holdings in volitile markets |
| ronm... | After a 30 year career in the retirement industry I am fully aware of the general lack of investment knowledge in our society. Offering uneducated participants a riskier investment option is not prudent. |
| alec... | It's not about risk of investments. It's about the rich getting richer through retirement plans and deferring taxes even further. It will be mitt Romney's 401k from Bain Capital on steroids. Especially if there are opportunities to do backdoor IRAs |
| rand... | For those employed full time who have 401k plans, I think the employer 401k “match’ or contribution should have to go into the traditional employer sponsored acct. There should be more flexibility in the employees mandatory contribution amount. I think that the employee should have to put 50% of their contribution into the standard 401k, but the other 50% should be up to the employee. They can chose to open a separate acct with the employer and invest in whatever they want, bitcoin, gold, etc. or have an option to invest outside the companies sponsored programs After all, it the employees money, not the employers I also believe there should be options within social security for alternate investments |
| gegl... | How about 403b accounts? I want ETFs, CEFs and stocks in my 403b accounts, not just ridiculously expensive and restrictive mutual funds. |
| dbpa... | It’s going to be a way for founders to out their private shares into a 401k and never pay taxes on all the gains. |
| erwi... | I think it is a great idea. If done correctly with the right firms, the ROI returns are so much higher. The risks are higher but the paybacks are good. This approach is not new. Police, Fire, and teacher's funds already go through this process. |
| n.ma... | It's individual choice. You do not have to invest in private-market assets. |
