Private equity and credit assets are coming to 401(k) plans, and Your Survival Guy has been warning you for a while now to get prepared and to be diligent about knowing what you’re getting into if you buy them.

Now there is concern in Washington, D.C. that demand for these assets might be fake, or overstated, and concern in markets that perhaps Americans don’t even want the option to buy them in their 401(k)s.

Democrats are calling for an investigation into support expressed in a public comment forum for the Department of Labor’s proposed rule on alternative investments in 401(k) plans. The possibility of the fake comments was publicized by Bloomberg News reporters Noah Buhayar and Jeff Kao, who wrote:

Heath Oderman was surprised to learn that a comment supporting a plan to get more Americans’ retirement plans invested in private equity and other “alternative” assets had been submitted to the federal government in May under his mother’s name.

She couldn’t have done it, he said, because she died in December.

“That’s not my mom,” he wrote in an email to Bloomberg News after being alerted to the comment, which was submitted to the US Department of Labor on May 3 under the name Danna Oderman. “The language is nothing she would ever have used while on this Earth.”

The comment was one of nearly 12,000 showing signs that they may have been manufactured to resemble grassroots support for the controversial measure. Unlike the more than 30,000 submissions that opposed the proposal, these supportive comments lacked any personalization, such as signatures, and had no variation in the text. And while almost all of the anti-rule comments included the commenter’s city, state or email address, the pro-rule form letters didn’t include that information.

Bloomberg attempted to contact dozens of the people whose names were attached to the 12,000 comments and found five cases in which people said they — or their family members — did not submit them. Like Danna Oderman, all of them had unique names that allowed Bloomberg to identify people through a national search of public records. While it’s possible that others have those same names, reporters could find no evidence that they exist.

In The Daily Upside, Griffin Kelly notes that asset managers have found mixed interest in the products. He writes:

• 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.

Action Line: Retirees becoming a dumping ground for assets that institutional investors no longer want is one of the scenarios Your Survival Guy has been warning you about. I don’t want you left holding the bag while institutional investors cash out. If private equity or credit assets hit your 401(k), please do your due diligence and understand exactly what they are before you make any investments. And when you want to roll over your 401(k) into an IRA with more freedom of choice for your investments, and you want to work with a fiduciary who puts your best interests first, email me at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com. And click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.

Read the entire series here.

Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.