A high-level panel of hedge fund experts are planing a forum to discuss and debate the state of hedge fund advertising and marketing in the alternative investment management community.
Panel-participant Phil Goldstein, the plaintiff who single-handedly defeated a plan to require hedge funds to register with the SEC, has even discussed suing the SEC on First Amendment grounds, which could lead to major changes in the industry.
The 1,600-member Managed Funds Association, represented on the panel by Benjamin Allensworth, senior legal counsel, has long advocated for a loosening of the SEC's restrictions.
Jay Gould, head of the Investment Funds Practice at Pillsbury said, "Hedge funds typically rely on provisions of the securities laws that prohibit general communications with the public, as those provisions are interpreted by the SEC, and also because legal counsel has drilled them on the need to 'fly below the radar' and keep their investment strategies solely for qualified investors."
"The panel also will discuss what hedge funds can and should do to effectively market themselves, while staying within SEC guidelines." Gould concluded.
Other forum participants are: Pillsbury's Terry Davis, who will provide a regulatory update; and Richard Dukas, president & CEO of Dukas Public Relations, which has long provided proactive publicity and media relations services to top hedge funds.
The panel is set to meet April 16th at the law offices of Pillsbury in San Francisco.