On March 4, 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged venture capital fund adviser Alumni Ventures Group, LLC (AVG) and AVG's CEO with making misleading statements about AVG's management fees, among other charges. According to its website, AVG is the No. 1 most active U.S. venture investor (Pitchbook 2020). The SEC found that AVG made materially misleading statements in describing its management fee in marketing materials, emails to prospective fund investors, and on its website. The SEC found that AVG had violated Section 206(2) and 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act) and Rule 206(4)-8 thereunder and that AVG's CEO had caused AVG's violations of such Sections. To settle the charges, AVG repaid $4.7 million to affected funds and agreed to pay a $700,000 penalty and AVG's CEO agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty. The full Press Release and SEC Order are available here. This action comes in light of the SEC's continued scrutiny on the regulation of investment advisers, including its recent Proposed Rule under the Advisers Act to more closely regulate private funds.
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