The choice of investment vehicle can have unexpected but meaningful implications for the business of managing a portfolio, affecting audit and accounting processes, financing decisions, taxes, liquidity, and even investment performance. This report provides an overview of the basic U.S. laws and regulations governing investment advisers and investment funds, discusses investment vehicles available to U.S. institutional investors, and outlines considerations in selecting each of these types of vehicles to implement an allocation to traditional assets (equities and fixed income) and alternative assets (hedge funds and private investments).