It’s a big win for the asset industry — giving financial managers access to some of the $12.2 trillion in Americans’ 401(k) and related retirement plans.

Knut Rostad, co-founder and president of the nonprofit Institute for the Fiduciary Standard, also fears private assets in 401(k)s could put retirement savers at risk of big losses.

“I think in practice, there’ll be many fiduciaries who ignore this directive because they understand precisely what will result from it,” he said, referring to Trump’s executive order. “The result will be a massive train wreck where many people are seriously hurt. Their retirement accounts will be annihilated.”

Trump paves path for private equity and crypto in retirement accounts