The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness (“Chamber”) appreciates the opportunity to share our views on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“Commission”) request for comment on “Certain Information Providers Acting as Investment Advisers” (“Request”).
The Request seeks input to help the Commission determine whether the actions of certain information providers, such as index providers, model portfolio providers, and pricing services, meet the definition of investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (“Advisers Act”). The Request notes that indices have historically been associated with passive investing, but that index providers increasingly used specialized factors when creating indices. While the Request does not specifically address questions regarding passive versus active management, the Chamber reiterates our position that investors can benefit from both approaches depending on their particular needs and circumstances.