Private funds caught up in SEC chair’s unwavering pursuit of transparency

An industry traditionally known for being quite opaque, hedge funds and private equity firms have become increasingly transparent with their investors and regulators since the financial crisis. As competition for client mandates intensified and regulators clamped down on shadow banking activities, alternative asset managers had little option other than to be more open about their strategies and operations. While the industry has made huge progress in terms of its overall transparency, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) argues more work is still needed.