Our Asset Management team advises asset managers, investment funds and institutional investors on all legal, regulatory and tax aspects of the asset management industry.
The industry is going through a period of change as a result of the increasing overlap between the alternative investment sector and the traditional retail long-only sector, the evolution of investment strategies, regulatory change and the opportunities arising from the changes taking place in the banking sector. We are ideally placed to assist clients in positioning their businesses and tailoring their investments to take advantage of these new trends.
We have particular capabilities in relation to infrastructure, debt, real estate, private equity, hedge, structured regulated (including ETFs) and sovereign wealth funds.
The team assists both asset managers and major institutional investors on:
setting up new investment funds and managed account structures, including tax matters, fund structuring, drafting offering materials and constitutional documentation, joint venture arrangements, negotiating with investors and handling closings.
advising on investment management agreements, appointing custodians and broker-dealers, establishing securities lending programmes, prime brokerage agreements and setting up fund platforms.
all regulatory matters. The international nature of the team makes us very well placed to advise on the cross-border impact of regulations affecting the industry, from the Dodd-Frank Act and Investment Adviser regulations in the U.S. to the
Alternative Investment Fund Manager's Directive, EMIR and Solvency II in the EU. Our asset management team is part of our wider regulatory team and so provides regulatory advice on a seamless basis.
secondary transfers (often on a portfolio basis) of interests in funds.
Notably, the group also advises a broad range of institutional investors on their investments in funds and their appointment of asset managers. We are therefore very much in tune with market standards across a range of asset management products. This also provides a benefit to our asset manager clients, since this market knowledge makes us more efficient in structuring funds, negotiating side letters and closing investors into a fund.
The team works closely with lawyers in other practice areas to advise on:
M&A transactions for asset managers or providers of services to asset managers;
financings and hedging for funds;
LLP agreements for asset managers;
asset management related disputes (e.g. misselling claims); and
employment, remuneration and data protection matters.
Working with Allen & Overy's well developed sector teams in areas such as real estate, private equity and infrastructure we are also able to offer asset managers full life-cycle support in dealing with the assets you chose to invest in.
Recognition for our work
"Allen & Overy LLP’s ‘very experienced and responsive’ team works across the higher end of private equity, real estate, infrastructure, hedge and listed funds, and certain UCITS." Legal 500, 2011
"Allen & Overy LLP has ‘good depth, a sufficiently large team and the ability to bring in specialists in the US, the UK and across the EU’." Legal 500, 2012
- "This firm provides a full suite of services to asset managers and institutional investor clients, such as advice relating to fund establishment, regulatory matters, structuring fund vehicles, investment management and undertakings for collective investment transferable securities (UCITS)." Chambers & Partners, 2013