Debevoise has advised investment firms on the formation of, and investors on the investment in, investments funds in all major investment strategies for more than 35 years, as well as acted as counsel for the independent directors of major mutual funds and closed-end funds. One of the largest and most diverse practices of its kind in the world, the team has acted on behalf of sponsors of, or investors in, more than 3,300 investment funds with committed capital of well over $4.3 trillion.
The Investment Management Group has an unrivaled understanding of the private and registered fund market/industry in all major jurisdictions. With a global regulatory network and deep international experience, the practice counsels across the entire life cycle of these complex products and vehicles – covering organization and economic arrangements for sponsors, private and registered fund formation, downstream transactions, exits, firm and fund restructurings, buy-side work, secondaries and wind downs. The practice is on top of all aspects of the marketplace and responds quickly to, and even anticipates changes in, the market, offering clients a significant competitive advantage.
This outstanding level of financial and legal sophistication has made Debevoise the trusted advisor to sponsor after sponsor. Indeed, the Group possesses what Chambers refers to as “a delightful personal touch, very user friendly” and places “client service at a premium – responsiveness has been ingrained into their psyche.”
Debevoise represents the full range of investment firms, from first-time funds, to independent boutiques and institutionally sponsored private equity businesses, to multi-strategy alternative asset firms investing in every corner of the globe. The Group has helped clients develop much of the fund technology that is now considered the industry standard, and has created a proprietary database that searches economic and legal terms included in over 2,800 global investments funds – providing clients with fast, efficient and credible intelligence. Additionally, the practice has created a global survey of the securities and investment management laws relevant to the offer and sale of fund interests in more than 70 countries, as well as an extensive library of flexible model forms, memoranda and precedents.
The Debevoise funds team includes one of the largest and most experienced group of lawyers in the world focusing on private funds, registered funds and investment management, and has been roundly considered “a market leader in fund formation for decades” (The Legal 500). With offices in New York, Washington D.C., San Francisco, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Luxembourg, Hong Kong and Shanghai, and more than 150 corporate lawyers worldwide devoting all of their time to fund formation, its understanding of the laws and business implications both on a regional level and globally make the Group, according to Chambers, quite simply “one of the best in the business.”