Subject: Re: New rules, what would Buffett say?
And then you are literally "outraged" that private markets are different from public markets!
I am not outraged that they are different. I am not even outraged that fees could be higher because of liquidity and active management. But the fees go way beyond that and are designed to fleece people who do not read the fine print. For example, high fees for a fund of funds that invests in the funds of the same company. Which are also charging high fees. Public funds of funds, like target date Blackrock ETFs or Vanguard mutual funds don't do that.
On top of that, valuations are made up. Public companies have accounting rules that require level one, two, or three validation of asset values. No such disclosure needed for private companies.
Plus, as Jim mentioned, the artificial smoothing out of volatility.
So in summary, it's not that they are just different, they are actively taking advantage of retail investors, in sharp contrast to somebody like Berkshire, who consider themselves to be a sort of fiduciary for their less savvy shareholders.