With the statutory changes from Dodd-Frank, the Securities and Exchange Commission started gathering basic information about private fund managers and their funds on Form ADV.
The SEC increased that information flow by requiring Form PF. Unlike Form ADV, Form PF provides detailed information about the private fund’s activities and performance. That left many reluctant to release this information.
Apparently many managers followed through on this reluctance. According to a story in IA Watch, the SEC is matching up Form ADV Filings for private funds and identifying the lack of filing in Form PF.
You need a private fund identification number for the private fund in Form ADV. That makes it easy to search through the Form PF database for those filings or lack thereof. Someone in data analytics at the SEC decided to do just that.
That has resulted in at least a few dozen firms getting a letter from the SEC explaining why they didn’t file Form PF.
I understand why some firms may have had confusion over how to identify their funds on Form PF. Those definitions are problematic. But I have not run into anyone saying that they didn’t have to file.
Sources:
- Settlement talks follow SEC sweep targeting advisers that failed to file Form PF in IA Watch (subscription required)
- Proposed Changes to Form ADV
- Real Estate Funds and Form PF