Kirkland Adds Leading Registered Funds and BDC Team
Nicole Runyan, William Tuttle and Brad Green lead team with focus on products for high net worth and retail investors.
Kirkland & Ellis is excited to announce that Nicole Runyan, William Tuttle, Brad Green, Erin Lett, David Marcinkus and Lisa Goldstein have joined the Firm as partners in the Investment Funds Group. The team focuses on advising registered funds and business development companies (BDCs) — as well as their investment advisers and independent board members — and investment banks, with a particular emphasis on products designed for high net worth and retail investors.
“Nicole, Will and Brad are at the forefront of a cutting-edge growth area for the asset management industry as firms continue to expand and diversify their investor base through retail products, and they are widely respected as one of the leading teams in the space,” said Jon A. Ballis, Chairman of Kirkland’s Executive Committee. “We are thrilled to welcome them.”
“I’m elated that this talented team of partners has joined us,” said John O’Neil, the head of Kirkland’s Investment Funds Group. “We continue to see heightened interest by our private fund sponsor and asset management clients for sophisticated advice related to structuring and managing investment vehicles targeted at high net worth and retail investors, and the team’s deep experience in this area will help us meet this growing demand.”
“Kirkland offers the most dynamic global alternative asset platform in the world. This is an incredibly exciting opportunity to help clients continue to grow and diversify their investment platforms and investor bases,” said Ms. Runyan.
“We are excited to partner with our clients and our new colleagues to continue developing innovative products and permanent capital solutions for the high net worth and retail markets,” added Mr. Tuttle.
Ms. Runyan advises on the creation, registration and operation of registered products designed for retail as well as institutional investors. In addition to advising on more traditional open-end and closed-end fund matters, she regularly counsels clients on the formation and offering of alternative investment products — such as BDCs, funds of funds, and interval and tender offer funds — offering access to a variety of asset classes, including private credit and private equity. She also advises clients on regulatory and compliance matters, trading and conflicts issues, disclosure matters, financing transactions, seed capital transactions and extraordinary events such as restructurings, acquisitions and activist matters. Ms. Runyan is recognized as a leading lawyer by Chambers USA, Chambers Global and The Legal 500 U.S., among others.
Mr. Tuttle advises BDCs, closed-end funds, investment advisers and investment banks on a wide range of public and private capital markets transactions and other corporate matters. He regularly counsels on the establishment and ongoing operation of public, private and continuously offered BDCs, consolidation transactions in the BDC industry and the formation and structuring of asset managers. Mr. Tuttle has been recognized for his work in The Legal 500 U.S. and IFLR1000 and was named one of the ‘Best LGBTQ+ Lawyers Under 40’ by the National LGBTQ+ Bar Association.
Mr. Green counsels clients in connection with structuring, registering and operating publicly offered and privately placed investment vehicles that provide access to retail and high net worth asset management platforms. His practice focuses on the representation of registered closed-end funds — notably, alternative products, such as private equity, private credit and hedge funds, and funds that directly employ hedge fund strategies — as well as traditional, exchange-listed funds. He also serves as counsel to investment advisers and sponsors, and advises them on a broad range of transactional, regulatory and compliance matters under the federal securities laws. Mr. Green has been recognized by The Legal 500 U.S.
Ms. Lett advises issuers and underwriters on public and private capital markets transactions, with a particular focus on BDCs, closed-end funds and registered investment advisers. She also counsels BDCs and asset managers on a wide range of corporate matters, ranging from formation and structuring to corporate governance and compliance with SEC filing obligations.
Mr. Marcinkus advises BDCs and other types of closed-end funds, as well as their sponsors, on a wide range of regulatory and compliance issues with particular experience in co-investment and affiliated transaction matters. He formerly was a Branch Chief in the Chief Counsel’s Office of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, where he was involved in nearly every significant, novel or complex matter affecting BDCs and their sponsors.
Ms. Goldstein advises on a wide range of regulatory and transactional matters involving registered open-end and closed-end investment companies and their investment advisers, including with respect to alternative capital funds. She has counseled clients through large scale transactions in response to marketplace and other extraordinary events, including addressing SEC examination matters, private litigations, change of control transactions and activist threats.
Kirkland is a global leader in providing sophisticated advice to investment fund sponsors, institutional investors and other market participants in the alternative investment fund space. The Firm offers clients the unsurpassed resources of a large, integrated, multidisciplinary, global team across offices in the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific offering comprehensive services including private fund formation; liquidity solutions; investment management and regulatory counsel and support; and strategic GP advisory services. Since January 2016, Kirkland has advised over 1,000 funds with total capital commitments in excess of $1.32 trillion.
