Hedge funds cleared to advertise publicly under SEC plan

Hedge funds may go from soliciting individual investors behind closed doors to conducting wide advertising campaigns without restrictions under a rule proposed Wednesday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC commissioners voted 4-1 to invite public comment on a proposal for how to end decades of limits on the pursuit of investors by private funds and startups. The proposal is driven by a law that repealed a ban on pitching such investments to all but a select few investors, such a...