In the case of Streep and the Simons, the SEC accepted the family’s plea, which argued that the former sister-in-law is an integral part of the family whose assets were managed by them for more than two decades, according to the filing. That familial relationship shouldn’t mean that the firm is a commercial investment adviser, according to the petition, which didn’t disclose the assets overseen by the firm.
Peter Simon, a son of William E. Simon and a co-founder of their namesake firm in Morristown, New Jersey, declined to comment. Streep’s publicist at 42West, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The Simon’s family office was among a handful of firms who filed applications with the SEC after the rules related to in- laws changed in 2011. They are also among the first to have their requests granted, after a more than two-year process.
Duncan Family
The SEC approved in July a petition from the Duncan Family Office, which sought to keep advising a mother-in-law who had been a part of the family for at least 16 years, according to the filing. The firm serves billionaire descendants of Dan L. Duncan, who founded the Houston-based energy company Enterprise Products and died in 2010. Duncan’s four children have a combined wealth of $22.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
That same month the regulator granted an exemption for the Gruss family. The financier founded New York-based Gruss & Co. and specialized in oil and gas industry mergers. The family office won concessions to keep advising sisters-in-laws and their families.
Martin Lybecker, an attorney at Perkins Coie in Washington, who represented the Duncan and Gruss family offices in their applications, declined to comment on the families or the SEC’s decision.
Wick Family
Families have to apply to the SEC on a case-by-case basis. There’s at least one application pending, from D-W Investments, which provides services to the descendants of Myron A. Wick, Jr. The petition asks to keep advising a sister-in-law and a trust that she’s a beneficiary of, according to the document. Wick was the former chief executive officer of Dominick & Dominick, the investment banking house, according to a 1990 obituary in the New York Times.
The 2011 rules will be an issue for more family offices over time who want to expand their clients without registering. That’s because the designation of a common ancestry will affect in-laws on one side of a familial lineage with each successive generation, Lybecker wrote in a 2013 book titled “Investment Adviser Regulation.”