There may be a place where alternative facts meet alternative investments.
Members of Congress are calling for an investigation into thousands of public comments made in support of the Department of Labor’s proposal allowing 401(k) plans to more easily offer alternative investments, including private equity and cryptocurrency.
Last week, Reps. Bobby Scott and Jamie Raskin and Sen. Bernie Sanders asked the Justice Department and FBI to investigate nearly 12,000 comments that show signs of being manufactured. In some cases, people whose names were attached to comments said they never submitted them; in others, the names belonged to people who had died, per Bloomberg. The supportive comments also generally lacked identifying information included in many of the more than 30,000 comments opposing the proposal.
The lawmakers’ request raises a broader question: How much genuine demand is there among workers for these investments, and how much of the push is coming from the industry? “Let’s be serious. There is hardly anyone in the 401(k) investing public who is interested in or knowledgeable enough about alts to clamor for them, or for that matter, to oppose them,” said Chris Chen, owner of Insight Financial Strategist. “So 12,000 fake comments? The opposite would be surprising.”
Cost of Freedom
The Trump administration has promoted greater access to alternative investments as a matter of investor choice. But private assets can also have higher fees, limited liquidity and less transparency than public-market investments.
“My concern is that the average 401(k) investor wouldn’t have the resources or experience to properly evaluate them,” said William Lofley, a CFP with HBKS Wealth Advisors. “It would be difficult for an individual investor to discern between a genuine opportunity and simply being the ‘exit liquidity’ for an investment that institutional investors no longer want.”
Asset managers have found mixed interest:
- Invesco’s 2026 survey of 517 defined-contribution plan participants found private equity was the private-market strategy participants expressed the most interest in, but 40% reported neutral, confused, intimidated or negative reactions.
- Meanwhile, DC consultants and advisors expect private assets to gain ground in 401(k)s, according to a recent T. Rowe Price study. Outside of hedge funds, respondents expect broad use of alternative investments over the next two years, with private credit and private equity leading the way.
Follow the Money. At the end of June, private equity firms held 33,575 unsold portfolio companies, according to PitchBook. That backlog could create an incentive for private equity firms to seek new sources of capital, said JP Geisbauer, founder of Centerpoint Financial Management. “Offering these alts in 401(k) plans gives these PE companies access to capital that they would not otherwise have,” he said.