Investor Advisory Committee Meeting Agenda

Panel Discussion: Examining the Use of Mandatory Arbitration Clauses by Registered Investment Advisers

Building on a June 2023 report from the SEC’s Office of the Investor Advocate and the Office of the Ombuds, this panel will discuss the use and scope of mandatory arbitration clauses by Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) and examine the impact of such clauses.  This panel will continue the examination of this issue from the perspectives of various stakeholders and will compare the use of mandatory arbitration clauses by state-registered Investment Advisers and FINRA registered broker-dealers.  

Moderated by:

• Christine Lazaro, Professor of Clinical Legal Education, Vice-Dean of Academic Affairs, and Director, Securities Arbitration Clinic at the St. John’s University School of Law

Panelists:

• Stacy A. Puente, Ombuds and Assistant Director, Office of the Investor Advocate, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC OIAD Report on Activities: Fiscal Year 2023
• Kevin Carroll, Deputy General Counsel, Litigation and Private Client (Legal), SIFMA
• Robin Traxler, Senior Vice President, Policy and Deputy General Counsel, Financial Services Institute (FSI)
• Adam Gana, Partner at Gana Weinstein LLP and President of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA), Presentation
• Nicole G. Iannarone, Associate Professor of Law, Thomas R. Kline School of Law at Drexel University 
• Stephen Brey, State of Michigan, Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs, Corporations, Securities, and Commercial Licensing Bureau, Securities and Audit Division and Vice-Chair of the Investment Adviser Section Committee and Co-Chair of the Investment Adviser Regulatory Policy & Review Project Group at NASAA

Panel Discussion: Mainstreaming of Alternative Assets to Retail Investors
 

Retail investors have increasingly been offered investments in alternative assets which encompasses non-traditional assets such as private equity, venture capital, private real estate, commodities, and private credit. Alternative assets potentially offer uncorrelated, less volatile returns to traditional investments in the stock or bond markets but also may face issues around valuations, fees, loss of invested capital, and conflicts of interest.  This panel will examine those issues as well as the various ways retail investors, who typically are not able to directly invest in alternatives, are now able to do so through, among other vehicles, closed-end funds, interval funds, business development companies, non-traded REITs, and exchange traded funds.

Moderated by:

• Andrew Park, Associate Director Private Equity & Capital Markets, Americans for Financial Reform

Panelists:

• Phil Bak, Chief Executive Officer, Armada ETFs
• Craig McCann, Principal, SLCG Economic Consulting
• Benjamin Edwards, Professor of Law, William S. Boyd School of Law University of Las Vegas
• Neal Newman, Professor of Law, Texas A&M School of Law. Presentation
• Melody Wang, Director, Head of Global Private Markets Product Commercialization Strategy, BlackRock 
• Rajib Chanda, Head of Registered Funds, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Presentation

Closing Remarks