Removing the hedge fund advertising ban will serve to “flatten the playing field,” says April Rudin, chief executive and founder, The Rudin Group.

As reported last week,
the Securities and Exchange Commission will on Wednesday vote to lift - as
required by the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act - an 80-year-old ban
that bars the general solicitation and advertising in certain private securities
offerings.

Hedge funds will only
be able to accept funds from “accredited” investors with a net worth of at
least $1 million, or who earn at least $200,000 a year, but critics argue that
removing the advertising ban will expose small and/or inexperienced investors to fraud as a
result of loosened investment protections.

However, it will also
serve to “flatten the playing field,” says April Rudin, chief executive and
founder, The Rudin Group.

“Larger funds
typically sell on track record and return, so I think what this new provision
will do is to flatten the playing field between larger, more established funds,
and smaller emerging funds,” she said.