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The Department of Labor's proposal to add private equity funds to 401(k) plans made headlines and raised concerns in June. But it will take a lot of time for these funds to work their way through the regulatory system and be made available to accredited investors, let alone retail clients, according to a panel of experts who spoke recently at this year's virtual Morningstar Investment Conference.
In February, when Vanguard broke the news that it would be introducing private equity funds to investors, the fund giant startled those who feel this type of fund should be limited to high-net-worth investors.
A panel of experts explored this and other issues in detail during a discussion led by Bethany McLean, the journalist who broke news of the Enron escapades. She began by asking Vanguard's global head of portfolio construction and principal, Fran Kinniry, why the fund giant is making this move.
His response: "Vanguard's entire history has been to take institutional asset classes that we believe and research shows improve investor outcomes."
Kinniry pointed out that index funds were originally institutional products, but Vanguard was able to bring them to retail investors. "We 'retailized,' or democratized, indexing," he explained.
"We believe there's a strong investment case for private equity. It's been limited to the largest asset pools, and … with our brand, our scale, our size, we can deliver a world-class private equity offering," he added.
Chadd Evans, managing director and chief investment officer of Altera Investments, who used to work in private equity, thought Vanguard's move "made sense."
However, Morningstar's John Rekenthaler, vice president of research, has been "puzzled" by Vanguard's move, especially as it services retail clients at a low expense ratio. Private equity is neither retail nor low cost, he said during Thursday's session.
He also wondered how Vanguard will price private equity funds daily. "Computing total returns on private equity is a whole different matter" from index funds, he said.
Kinniry argued that Vanguard has managed "tax-exempt bond funds on the active side [where there's] not a lot of transparency, not a lot of trading, not a lot of liquidity, so there are … other [similar] areas where we've entered the market, including high-yield corporate bonds … . This is going to be a broadly diversified offering [made] through HarbourVest."
The fund giant's institutional advisor services unit will allow investors to invest directly into the PE fund, while HarbourVest itself will invest in private equity funds that are geographically and strategically diversified. Kinniry called it a "turnkey" solution for the private equity market, which will have between 600 to 800 holding companies.
McLean wondered about the fee structure, especially with another layer added to the direct investments.
