Regulatory scenarios of Harris vs. Trump (Crain Currency)

Depending on who is sitting in the White House next year, there are likely several regulatory implications for various sectors of the market. Differing impacts could be felt by family offices, institutional and individual investors, and asset managers. Amy Lynch, FrontLine’s Founder and President, comments that Harris’ regulatory approach is likely to closely align with the current Biden administration agenda and believes that family offices would remain exempt from registering as investment advisers with the SEC. A Trump regulatory agenda may include a “loosening of strings” around private offerings, she states, but if power is stripped away from the SEC and other regulators, it could lead to chaos in the markets. A Harris agenda would seem to indicate a status quo of regulations that maintain stability in the markets, whereas Trump’s plans may create more uncertainty and volatility. Ms. Lynch notes that investors normally like to stay on the right side of the table, and it is harder to know if you are on the right side of the table under a Trump administration because the playing field would be very uneven. In a more volatile market, she adds, it would be more difficult to feel confident that your investing decisions are profitable. That could benefit hedge funds who seek volatility but would be more challenging for family offices trying to maintain their wealth. See Crain Currency, “How a Trump or Harris administration could affect family offices”