Ropes & Gray Advises Highland Capital Management Fund Advisors in Industry’s First Open- to Closed-End Fund Conversion

In The News
November 6, 2017

On Nov. 3, 2017, shareholders and the Trustees of Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund approved a proposal to convert the Fund from an open-end to a closed-end fund.

Originally announced by Highland on Sept. 25, 2017, the proposal sought to protect the interests of shareholders in the event that the Fund's previously-disclosed judgment against a leading global financial services company is upheld on appeal. The magnitude of the judgment and its potential impact to the Fund relative to the Fund's NAV is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, in the mutual fund industry. The conversion of the fund from an open- to a closed-end structure is the first of its kind in the registered fund industry.

Ropes & Gray acted as counsel to Highland Capital Management Fund Advisers and its affiliates, which advised the Highland Fund complex on the conversion. The team was led by investment management partner Brian McCabe and included investment management attorneys Kate Nichols and Jessica Reece.