Recognized as one of the most active and highly regarded investment management practices in the United States, our group represents all types of asset managers across the liquidity spectrum, including private equity funds, credit funds, hedge funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds, hybrid funds and family offices. We have successfully raised hundreds of billions of dollars for our clients, who benefit from our extensive market knowledge, industry-leading networking events and strong relationships with all major market participants.
Our Practice
We help our clients achieve their most important strategic priorities, aligning each step of the fundraising process with our client’s goals. The practice leverages the expertise of partners across the firm to provide the full range of investment advisory services, including:
- Fund & Management Company Formation
- Strategic Partnerships
- Seed Capital Arrangements
- Advisers Act & Regulatory Compliance
- Partner Arrangements & Employee Compensation
- Investment Management M&A
- Risk Assessment, Crisis Management & Private Funds Litigation
- Regulatory Investigations & Dispute Resolution
The qualities that set us apart include:
Quality Oriented — Our group is structured to deliver a quality-driven legal product as opposed to a quantity (or volume)-driven legal product. We are discerning about who we partner with and target a few quality and long-term relationships. Our team is comprised of skilled and experienced private fund lawyers at every level who work in a collaborative environment in order to deliver an efficient and quality legal product to our investment advisory clients.
Full Service Experience — Our team offers a "full service" approach. We seek to deliver world class counsel in every practice area and every phase of the life of an investment advisor, from fund formation, maintenance and regulatory issues to crisis management and dispute resolution.
Innovative Team — Our practitioners have been at the forefront of product development and innovation in the marketplace, and have the requisite expertise to help execute the most complex investment strategies. Our team has worked on some of the first hybrid funds, pioneering the convergence of investment objectives, structures and terms in the investment funds world.
Unique Diversification — Although the marketplace is generally divided between law firms representing private equity funds and those representing hedge funds, our investment advisory practice is uniquely diversified with a strong presence in both areas. Our practitioners have helped to raise some of the largest and most well-known private equity funds and hedge funds in the marketplace.
Networked Lawyers — Our nationally-recognized lawyers have broad industry knowledge and are routinely on the front lines of industry issues. We often lead or comment on the many challenges confronting the alternative asset management industry. We offer our investment advisory clients our market insights and knowledge based on our experiences, proprietary database and strong relationships with industry participants, including the many investors that we deal with on a daily basis.
Fund & Management Company Formation
Our practice is unique in the marketplace in that we have selectively assisted with the sponsorship and formation of a wide variety of both well-known private equity funds and hedge funds. We have deep experience in all aspects of structuring and bringing to market all categories of private funds. Our clients span the range of fund types, including:
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Our team is pioneering strategies to accommodate a new wave of partnerships in the investment funds marketplace among major public investors and brand name fund advisors. These arrangements are re-shaping the relationship between fund advisors and major strategic investors and our team is at the forefront of the market and legal issues.
We are well-versed in executing successful seed capital arrangements for investment advisory firms throughout the fund community. Our team includes professionals who are experts in investment management “seed and stake” transactions and have advised both the providers of seed capital and start-up enterprises. This experience provides us with a holistic view of the transactional landscape and enables us to negotiate the best terms for a successful partnership.
Advisers Act & Regulatory Compliance
Our team is skilled in providing guidance to our clients on regulatory and compliance issues. We frequently interact with all major U.S. regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), to ensure that our client’s businesses align with industry rules and standards. We also take a proactive approach to protect our clients from potential regulatory scrutiny by developing tailored compliance tools, policies and procedures.
Partner Arrangements & Employee Compensation
We routinely negotiate partnership agreements among the principals and investment professionals that comprise our investment advisory clients. Over the years, we have advised a multitude of funds with a wide variety of investment strategies and can therefore offer clients a broad perspective on structuring upper-tier arrangements that limit liability, maximize after-tax returns and maintain income allocation flexibility. We structure these agreements with each client’s unique management philosophies, investment objectives and plans for growth and succession in mind — protecting the long-term viability of the firm, as well as the interests of its stake-holders. We also routinely collaborate with specialists in our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Practice on the structuring, implementation and operation of funds whose investors include employee benefit plans subject to ERISA.
Paul, Weiss has one of the leading investment management transactions practices in the United States. We regularly represent a wide variety of industry leaders in the full range of asset management transactions, including:
- Acquisitions & Majority Investments — Our partners regularly represent some of the most sophisticated repeat buyers of asset management firms in domestic and cross-border transactions, including many industry-shaping acquisitions and majority investments.
- Minority Investments — As both traditional and alternative asset managers in recent years have sought to maintain independence while benefiting from affiliation with larger organizations, our partners have worked with numerous industry-leading clients on minority investments.
- Sales & Spin-Outs — When asset management businesses are sold by their founders or parent companies or spun out of larger organizations, our partners have regularly represented the sellers, financial institution or management team.
Risk Assessment, Crisis Management & Private Funds Litigation
Our Investment Management Group is frequently approached by alternative asset managers to assist with crisis management and other firm-defining events. We take a proactive approach to helping our clients prepare for risk or navigate enterprise-threatening challenges by developing a thorough understanding of our client’s strategies that aligns with their short and long-term business goals. Supported by our world-class Litigation Department, we provide the necessary support to our clients to resolve any conflict. [read more]
Regulatory Investigations & Dispute Resolution
Drawing upon the deep bench of experience within our Litigation Department, we are well-equipped to handle a variety of franchise-threatening disputes and investigations, including SEC enforcement, derivative and class actions and other litigation matters. We have also successfully represented fund executives in the full range of white collar matters, including insider trading allegations and in investigations brought by almost all conceivable governmental and regulatory agencies including the SEC, Department of Justice and self-regulatory organizations.