We often receive questions from financial advisors about interval fund liquidity. Perhaps you’ve found a fund with a top notch sponsor, and a strategy that fits perfectly in your client’s portfolio, but have concerns about how easy it is to exit. Understanding the nuances of interval fund liquidity will help you make use of this […]
On this day in 1940, President Roosevelt signed the Investment Company Act of 1940. Previously, both houses of congress had approved the ’40 Act unanimously. The ’40 Act, is the primary source of regulations for the multi-trillion dollar investment industry. The ’40 act defined and regulated investment companies, and provides investors with protections against conflicts of interest, misappropriation of funds, excessive fees, and undisclosed risks.
As he signed the bill, President Roosevelt declared:
We have come a long way since the bleak days of 1929…. I have great hopes that the act which I have signed today will enable the investment trust industry to fulfill its basic purpose as a vehicle to diversify the small investors risk.
The investment companies that the 1940 Act protections apply to are known as 1940 Act Funds, or ’40 Act Funds Broadly speaking, there are three types of ’40 Act Funds: Closed End Funds, Open End Funds, and Unit Investment Trusts. Open end funds and closed end funds are the most common type of
A key defining feature of an interval fund is that they are regulated under the 1940 Act. This provides critical protections for investors. DLA Piper released a handbook discussing the 1940 Act and related statues and regulations that apply to and otherwise bear on the interval fund operations. The information covers the key regulatory framework for 40 Act Funds, as well as the impact of recent regulatory changes.
According to DLA Piper:
….an interval fund can be a suitable vehicle in which to run “alternative” strategies – i.e., strategies that are designed to produce returns that are not highly correlated to the broader stock and bond markets. Interval funds also mesh well with certain noteworthy regulatory initiatives – for example, FINRA’s new customer statement rule (RN 15-02), and the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule and accompanying BIC exemption – making them attractive vehicles for use by independent broker dealers and other financial advisors that must operate within the complex regulatory environment.
Additionally, Griffin Capital, which operates the Institutional Access Credit Fund, and the Institutional Access Real Estate Fund…
Most publicly traded interval funds do not trade on an exchange. Many people in the industry speak of interval funds as if they are always non-traded. However it is possible for an interval fund to be publicly traded. Currently, of the ~40 active or and recently launched interval funds, the Blackrock Enhanced Government Fund (EGF) is the only one that is publicly traded. Or put differently, of the >500 publicly traded closed end funds, EGF is the only one that is structured as an interval fund. It offers to repurchase 5-25% of its shares annually, and charges a repurchase fee of 2%. Since it is an interval fund, the repurchase plan can be suspended only with shareholder approval.
Interval funds may seem like a new concept, but they were originally created as a result of a SEC recommendations in its landmark 1992 study : “Protecting Investors: A Half Century of Investment Company Regulation.” This study concluded that the rigid delineation between “open end” funds, providing daily liquidity, and “closed end funds” , which do not offer daily liquidity, limited the ability of sponsors to offer innovative investment products to investors:
The Division has concluded it would be appropriate to provide the opportunity for investment companies to chart new territory between the two extremes of the open-end and closed-end forms, consistent with investor protection. >
As a result of this recommendation, the Rule 23c-3 under the 1940 Act, known as interval fund rule was adopted in 1993. Under the interval fund rule, closed end interval funds are required to offer to repurchase between 5% and 25% of shares at NAV at predetermined intervals(quarterly, semi-annually, or annually). The Fund is required to provide advanced notice to shareholders between 21 and 42 days in advance of repurchase offer . Interval Funds also file N-23c-3 with the SEC within 3 days of sending shareholder notification of a tender offer.