Funds Can't Find Friends in Anti-Tax Fight

Wall Street's hedge-fund and private-equity titans are looking for allies in their fight to prevent a tax hike on profits—but they're having trouble recruiting, today's Journal reports. As the first Senate hearings on the proposed hikes get under way, representatives from venture capital, public pension funds, and investment firms are seeking to distance themselves from their lightning-rod siblings.

Other industries don't want to risk the additional congressional attention that an alliance might draw, and that's leaving a hodgepodge of private equity and hedge fund types to wage their own PR battle. They call the proposed hike—which could raise taxes on profits by as much as 20%—an "investment tax" that will affect everything from pensions to low-income housing. (More hedge fund stories.)