IMpact: Investment Management News

Welcome to IMpact: Investment Management News. In this regular bulletin, DLA Piper lawyers share their insights on key developments that are impacting the investment management industry.

1. The rise of the family office 

As the accumulation of wealth by individuals and their families has accelerated, family offices have become an increasingly important source of capital for our sponsor clients. With growing assets under management, family offices are reaching higher ticket sizes per investment and hiring a larger staff of investment professionals, which enables them to make sophisticated investments across a broader range of alternative asset classes. Family offices typically do not have rigid investment criteria and are more open to bespoke investment opportunities. They do not have the same layers of procedures as institutional investors and can often approve and execute transactions more quickly. Investment managers may consider the family office channel a key component of the fundraising process.

2. CFTC QEP exemption updates

New Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) no-action relief provides additional flexibility for SEC-registered advisers seeking to exceed the de minimis thresholds for commodity interest trading. A CFTC-issued no-action letter provides temporary relief from Commodity Pool Operator registration for certain SEC-registered investment advisers managing private funds offered solely to “qualified eligible persons” (QEP) (including private funds limited to qualified purchasers). The relief also extends to commodity trading advisers and effectively reinstates a portion of the previous exemption found in the former Rule 4.13(a)(4). The relief remains available until the CFTC completes formal rulemaking to reinstate the exemption on a permanent basis. Advisers that choose to rely on this relief must send an initial email notice to the CFTC and annual emails thereafter. If firms are satisfied with the existing exemptions (including the de minimis exemption found under Regulation 4.13(a)(3)), there is no need to make any changes to existing practices. 

3. New York “blue sky” filings relief period ends July 1, 2026

The New York Real Estate Finance Bureau has opened its electronic submission portal for filing NY Form 99, ending the filing relief period on July 1, 2026 (the end of the grace period), which began during the COVID-19 pandemic. Filing NY Form 99 is required for real estate funds or other issuers of real estate-related securities in advance of offering or selling from New York or to prospective investors in New York. Filings are not required for offerings that concluded during the relief period or will conclude prior to July 1, 2026. NY Form 99 must be submitted electronically and accepted (i) prior to July 1, 2026 for any offerings continuing on that date and (ii) in advance of new offerings in or from New York after that date. Offers and sales of securities that are not related to real estate continue to be under the purview of the New York Investor Protection Bureau, which has required issuers to file a copy of Form D instead of NY Form 99 since December 2020.

4. Federal housing legislation affecting institutional investors and build-to-rent

On March 12, 2026, the Senate passed the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act (HR 6644) by a vote of 89–10. The bill would generally prohibit future acquisitions of single-family homes by “large institutional investors,” defined as entities with investment control over 350 or more single-family homes nationwide. The bill is prospective only and does not require divestiture of existing portfolios. In addition, the bill includes several carveouts, including certain statutory exceptions (“excepted purchases”) for build-to-rent (BTR) acquisitions, which are permitted only if the homes are sold to individual homebuyers within seven years of acquisition, with tenants granted a 30-day “first look” period. Other notable carveouts include renovate-to-rent programs, rent-to-own programs, institution-to-institution transfers, foreclosure and short-sale acquisitions, and relocation services. The bill has strong bipartisan Senate support but faces significant resistance in the House, largely driven by objections to Senate-added provisions unrelated to housing policy, leaving its final form uncertain.