Robinhood Ventures II - has anyone taken a look at the fund?

Clever marketing to get retail investors hyped up on companies that no one else wanted a piece of

I'm interested in the fund, however, there's a more than 4% expense ratio which is a bit too much for me

Sounds like the real winner of that fund is Robinhood.

Can you elaborate because I’m still learning.

What part don't you understand? A fund is a regulated PIV - pooled investment vehicle. In the US, a public fund is commonly organized as a RIC or regulated investment company. In order to manage the fund including transaction costs - there is a cost that is borne by the investors. This expense includes things like a sales load to investors, administrative fees, transaction costs, interest on borrowing if the fund is leveraged, marketing fees, etc. etc. This particular investment is technically not a fund but a close-ended business development company. This BDC is expected to have a sales load of 4.5% with an annual expense ratio of 4.18% or higher. That means that for every $100 invested - the BDC extracts at least $4.18 for operating the BDC. You can find the details of the offering in the preliminary prospectus here - https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2131040/000162828026051516/ck0002131040-20260803.htm

Meh - it's just a BCD that's targeted at people that don't really understand that BCD's already exist and accessible. The whole "democratizing access" is just marketing with a high-risk fund.

Do you mean a BDC ('Business Development Company')?

Yes - thanks for catching that - I meant BDC.