January 31, 2007
I thoroughly disagree with your proposal to raise the bar for "accredited" investors to $2,500,000. Indeed, I propose that you petition congress to eliminate this discriminatory classification of investors entirely. If a small investor worth less than some arbitrary amount of net worth can understand the risks of the limited markets available to him now, why could he not understand the risks and strategies of hedge funds? Indeed, being restricted to long-only mutual funds is the higher strategic risk. Most investors utilize the services of "sophisticated" advisors in those markets available to them; why would they not use "sophisticated" advisors in the hedge fund realm? If governmental regulators were to discriminate against minorities or gays in this way, a hue and cry would ensue, and rightly so. Why discriminate against the small investor, and limit his access to more investing options now available to the rich? If I am accredited under the current rule, but will not be under the proposed rule, will I be less "sophisticated", and need coddling and protection from government? I think not. Please allow me to be free from such governmental coddling; free to make my own decisions from the same options that you now reserve for the rich. I promise you that I will continue to utilize the services of a sophisticated advisor, just like I do at the present.