Trump Heaps Praise on SEC's Paul Atkins for 'Helping Millions' of Retirement Investors With ETF Rule Change: 'Total Revolution for Savers'
President Donald Trump praised Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins on Monday for allowing mutual funds to offer exchange-traded fund share classes, a move Trump framed as a “total revolution” that will help millions of retirement investors keep more of their money.
‘Huge win’
“Now, another huge win,” Trump said on Truth Social, crediting Atkins with slashing “Taxes on ETFs” and helping “millions of Retirement Investors keep more of their own money.”
“Great job Paul, you’re a STAR,” he added
Atkins thanked Trump on X, saying the SEC is “working hard to return the SEC to its core mandate.”
What The Rule Actually Does
The SEC said last year that it would grant exemptive relief for these dual-class funds in late 2025, allowing asset managers to attach ETF share classes directly to existing traditional mutual funds.
In a Washington Post op-ed in February, Atkins said mutual fund investors often face an unexpected “year-end tax surprise” when a fund sells securities to meet redemption requests from other shareholders, a taxable event that gets passed on to all fund investors, even those who didn’t sell.
ETF investors typically avoid this because they trade shares with other investors on the open market rather than redeeming directly from the fund, and the SEC’s rule extends that same tax efficiency to mutual fund holders.
Despite Trump’s emphasis on “retirement investors,” financial analysts note that the SEC rule change provides little direct benefit to 401(k) and IRA accounts.
Mutual Fund-To-ETF Conversions
A record 60 mutual funds converted to ETFs in 2025, according to Morningstar, pushing converted assets past $260 billion and the five-year total above 200 conversions.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo: IAB Studio / Shutterstock – ek