FundFire Quotes Asset Management Partner Joel Wattenbarger on Disclosure Issues for Hiring Employees with Felony Convictions

Asset management partner Joel Wattenbarger (New York) is quoted in an article published in FundFire on Oct. 21 regarding the hiring process of those with criminal records. The piece discusses how asset managers must balance social justice goals with disclosure when considering whether to hire or retain employees with convictions and criminal charges. 

“If you’re an [asset manager] and you have an employee … that’s part of the investment process, or they’re in finance or operations in something that’s above the level of basically a secretary or a clerk, if they have been convicted of a felony within the last 10 years from the date on which the form [ADV] is filed, … [the firm] has to include supplemental information on its form ADV that describes what the nature of that conviction was, and what penalties were imposed, and some sort of fairly basic information about the felony, ” Mr. Wattenbarger says. “If an existing employee is charged with a felony, the manager will have to make the same disclosure while the charges are pending.”