Presidential DocumentExecutive Order 143302025-15340
Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors
Primary source
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Published
August 12, 2025
Signed
August 7, 2025
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 153 (Tuesday, August 12, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 153 (Tuesday, August 12, 2025)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 38921-38923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-15340]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 90 , No. 153 / Tuesday, August 12, 2025 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 38921]]
Executive Order 14330 of August 7, 2025
Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for
401(k) Investors
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered:
Section 1. Purpose. Many wealthy Americans, and
Government workers who participate in public pension
plans, can invest in, or are the beneficiaries of
investment in, a number of alternative assets. Yet,
while more than 90 million Americans participate in
employer-sponsored defined-contribution plans, the vast
majority of these investors do not have the opportunity
to participate, either directly or through their
retirement plans, in the potential growth and
diversification opportunities associated with
alternative asset investments.
Fiduciaries of 401(k) and other defined-contribution
retirement plans must carefully vet and consider all
aspects of private offerings, including investment
managers' capabilities, experiences, and effectiveness
managing alternative asset investments. They do so to
protect the Americans whose retirement accounts they
administer and for whom they have fiduciary duties to
invest safely and prudently.
During my first term, my Administration issued a 2020
information letter, recognizing that prudent Federal
action could encourage the proliferation of investment
strategies under which a portion of retirement plan
participants' interests are allocated to alternative
assets, as is the case for institutional investors.
Burdensome lawsuits that seek to challenge reasonable
decisions by loyal, regulated fiduciaries, and stifling
Department of Labor guidance issued since my first
term, however, have denied millions of Americans
opportunities to benefit from investment in alternative
assets. Such assets are an increasingly large portion
of the portfolios of public pension and defined-benefit
retirement plans and offer competitive returns along
with diversification opportunities.
A combination of regulatory overreach and encouragement
of lawsuits filed by opportunistic trial lawyers has
stifled investment innovation and largely relegated
401(k) and other defined-contribution retirement plan
participants to asset classes whose returns lack the
very same long-term net benefits allowed for and
achieved by public pension plans and other
institutional investors.
My Administration will relieve the regulatory burdens
and litigation risk that impede American workers'
retirement accounts from achieving the competitive
returns and asset diversification necessary to secure a
dignified, comfortable retirement.
Sec. 2. Policy. It is the policy of the United States
that every American preparing for retirement should
have access to funds that include investments in
alternative assets when the relevant plan fiduciary
determines that such access provides an appropriate
opportunity for plan participants and beneficiaries to
enhance the net risk-adjusted returns on their
retirement assets.
Sec. 3. Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets. (a)
For purposes of this order, the term ``alternative
assets'' means:
[[Page 38922]]
(i) private market investments, including direct and indirect interests in
equity, debt, or other financial instruments that are not traded on public
exchanges, including those where the managers of such investments, if
applicable, seek to take an active role in the management of such
companies;
(ii) direct and indirect interests in real estate, including debt
instruments secured by direct or indirect interests in real estate;
(iii) holdings in actively managed investment vehicles that are investing
in digital assets;
(iv) direct and indirect investments in commodities;
(v) direct and indirect interests in projects financing infrastructure
development; and
(vi) lifetime income investment strategies including longevity risk-sharing
pools.
(b) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the
Secretary of Labor (Secretary) shall reexamine the
Department of Labor's past and present guidance
regarding a fiduciary's duties under the Employee
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended
(ERISA) (29 U.S.C. 1104), in connection with making
available to participants an asset allocation fund that
includes investments in alternative assets. When
conducting this reexamination, the Secretary shall
consider whether to rescind the Department of Labor's
December 21, 2021, Supplemental Private Equity
Statement.
(c) Within 180 days of the date of this order, the
Secretary shall further, as the Secretary deems
appropriate and consistent with applicable law, seek to
clarify the Department of Labor's position on
alternative assets and the appropriate fiduciary
process associated with offering asset allocation funds
containing investments in alternative assets under
ERISA. Such clarification must aim to identify the
criteria that fiduciaries should use to prudently
balance potentially higher expenses against the
objectives of seeking greater long-term net returns and
broader diversification of investments. The Secretary
shall also propose rules, regulations, or guidance, as
the Secretary deems appropriate, that clarify the
duties that a fiduciary owes to plan participants under
ERISA when deciding whether to make available to plan
participants an asset allocation fund that includes
investments in alternative assets, which rules,
regulations, and guidance may include appropriately
calibrated safe harbors. In carrying out the directives
in this section to further the policy set forth in this
order, the Secretary shall prioritize actions that may
curb ERISA litigation that constrains fiduciaries'
ability to apply their best judgment in offering
investment opportunities to relevant plan participants.
(d) In carrying out the directives in this section,
the Secretary shall, as appropriate, consult with the
Secretary of the Treasury, the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC), and other Federal regulators as
necessary to carry out the policy objectives of this
order, including as to parallel regulatory changes that
may be incorporated by such other Federal regulators.
(e) The SEC shall, in consultation with the
Secretary, consider ways to facilitate access to
investments in alternative assets by participants in
participant-directed defined-contribution retirement
savings plans. Such facilitation may include, but not
be limited to, consideration of revisions to existing
SEC regulations and guidance relating to accredited
investor and qualified purchaser status, to accomplish
the policy objectives of this order.
Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
[[Page 38923]]
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(d) The costs for publication of this order shall
be borne by the Department of Labor.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
August 7, 2025.
[FR Doc. 2025-15340
Filed 8-11-25; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4510-FN-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on August 12, 2025.
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