January 26, 2007
SEC,
My net worth is less than $1M. I'm the first in my family to have attended college (then went on to grad school at UNC Chapel Hill for an MBA). In my job I routinely put together large business deals that involve tens of millions of dollars for a high-tech company. And yet, my government is regulating my ability to invest in hedge funds - why? Why is it that every wealthy high tech exec I know has their money in hedge funds, almost always the ones that are out-performing what I can invest in? Is there any reason you don't want me to have the same choices as the few lucky tech execs who hit it big on options but aren't any smarter than I am (or you are)?
Someone in the US Government should take a step back and ask themselves how the heck the youngest country in the established world went from nothing to the richest in such a short amount of time. The answer is, in case you were wondering, that there wasn't much of a US Government to interfere with the freedoms of the individual to maximize what they achieve in life - for better or worse. I don't need or want the SECs help in deciding what I can and can't invest in.
I know the SEC does many good things for the US investor, but there is no justification in limiting investments in hedge funds. If you want to help a large number of Americans who shouldn't be wasting their money on things that are much riskier than hedge funds, you should outlaw every state lottery. You'd be doing the people who need the financial guidance a lot more than I do a much bigger favor.