Overview

• The executive order is under review and would direct the Labor Department and SEC to draft rules for employers and plan administrators on private-market 401(k) investments.
• Apollo Global Management, State Street and Blue Owl Capital have already launched target-date and 401(k) funds that include private-equity components.
• Private equity firms have lobbied to tap an estimated $12.5 trillion in retirement savings currently held in 401(k) accounts.
• Moody’s Investors Service and other experts caution that illiquid, high-fee private assets could expose savers to liquidity strains and increased fiduciary liabilities.
• The order reinstates and expands a 2020 Labor Department policy permitting private equity in retirement funds that was reversed by the Biden administration in 2021.