BlackRock, which oversees $3.56 trillion, is trying to expand by attracting assets rather than making transformational deals. It started a five-year branding campaign earlier this year telling clients how to invest in an uncertain market. Chief Executive Officer Laurence D. Fink and other executives have said publicly that investors need to diversify and can be harmed by staying in cash-like products.

The third phase of BlackRock's branding initiative starts today, with advertisements appearing in the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times and on digital media sites such as Bloomberg.com. The advertisements suggest investors consider a broader mix of assets and put money in exchange-traded funds, high-quality stocks and products that generate more income.

Private-equity and hedge funds can be important sources of portfolio diversification and should be readily accessible to those who are eligible to invest, Novick said in a May 3 comment letter to the SEC.

Last year, BlackRock expanded its alternatives division, which manages real estate, private-equity and hedge funds, and had $104 billion under management as of June 30.

Banks including JPMorgan provide traditional mutual funds as well as alternatives such as hedge funds and private-equity investments. New York-based JPMorgan's asset-management unit was the world's third-largest hedge-fund manager, with $46.6 billion in assets, as of Oct. 31, 2011, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The unit manages $1.3 trillion.

Other money managers that sell alternatives include Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Pacific Investment Management Co. and Franklin Resources Inc., which said it agreed to buy a majority stake in K2 Advisors Holdings LLC, a fund-of-hedge-funds manager, in September. Spokesmen for the firms declined to comment on the advertising opportunity provided by the JOBS Act.

'Barbell' Strategy
"This is going to allow larger fund complexes to offer a wider array of products to their current clients," said Adam Sussman, partner and head of research at Tabb Group, a New York- based research and consulting firm. "It opens the door for the retail investor to gain access to new asset classes and new types of investments" as they learn about them.

The advertising change may spur wealthy investors to follow a strategy favored by institutions, Sussman said. Pensions and endowments increasingly are using a so-called "barbell" approach: They invest part of their money as cheaply as they can in passive, index-tracking strategies including ETFs. When they do pay higher fees for active management, it's for alternative investments such as hedge funds with the most flexibility.

Traditional Firms
The advertising provision in the JOBS Act was part of a package designed to make it easier for young companies to grow. The loosening of rules regarding the marketing of unregistered securities was meant to help startups and small businesses including fund companies raise money and then hire more workers.

Many traditional hedge funds won't be well-positioned to market to the general public soon after the rules become official because their capacity for new capital is limited and their infrastructures aren't designed to double or triple the number of investors, said Ray Nolte, chief investment officer at SkyBridge Capital LLC, a fund-of-funds business based in New York.