Wall Street firms seeking to boost their share of the $48tn in US retirement accounts are salivating at the prospect of selling even more high-risk “alternative investments” to so-called “mom and pop” investors. McCauley and Shubert are not alone in finding their lives changed after being persuaded to invest retirement savings in alternative financial assets. Today’s deregulatory momentum seeks to tear down even more of the modest safeguards that limit advisers’ ability to sell alternative investments. Amid these shifts, experts expect sales of alternative investments to the public will soar. Both Trump and Atkins, the SEC chair, have described their quests to open alternative investments to everyday investors as righting a wrong.

Source: The Guardian February 18, 2026 02:01 UTC