Tom is a partner in the firm’s asset management group and co-leader of the firm’s ETF Innovation Lab, which advises clients at the cutting edge of novel exchange-traded fund products, including share class relief. Described in Chambers as “super knowledgeable and razor-sharp” and valued for his business acumen, Tom counsels investment advisers, registered investment companies, and independent trustees and directors on the full range of regulatory, compliance, and transactional matters under the Investment Company Act of 1940, with particular depth in ETF formation and structuring, fund governance, and registered fund product innovation.
Tom has extensive experience across all types of registered fund products, including mutual funds, closed-end funds and ETFs. He regularly advises on affiliated/joint transactions; complex fund-of-fund structures; director duties relating to advisory agreements and Rule 12b-1 plans; investment adviser registration, fiduciary duty and conflicts of interest; closed-end fund activist matters; and fund reorganizations including mutual fund to ETF conversions. Tom is at the forefront of developments in ETF share class structures, advising fund sponsors on the design and implementation of dual share class funds that enable mutual funds to offer exchange-traded share classes.
Experience
- Advises leading fund sponsors on the structuring and SEC registration of dual share class funds, including the development of ETF share class structures that enable mutual funds to offer exchange-traded share classes alongside traditional fund shares.
- Advises leading fund sponsors on mutual fund-to-ETF conversions, including amendments to fund organizational documents to facilitate the offering of mutual funds and ETFs as part of the same legal entity.
- Advises leading closed-end fund sponsors on a range of activist-related matters, including defensive measures and proxy contests.
- Advises leading fund sponsors on fund-of-fund structures and complex fund investments