Overview
Co-Head of Investment Funds, London. Advises entrepreneurial and institutional investment managers, other financial services firms and investment funds, especially hedge funds, credit funds, hybrid funds, co-investment funds and distressed funds.
Chris joined the firm in 2002 to establish the London office.
He has over 30 years of experience advising many of the highest profile and most innovative private funds across a wide range of strategies. He provides practical and strategic advice on the structuring and operation of funds and investment management firms, including fundraising, strategic transactions and seed investments, investor issues, investment transactions and financing as well as regulatory and compliance matters.
Chris is named in the “Hall of Fame” by The Legal 500 UKand has received an “Outstanding Contribution” award for his services to the hedge fund industry (The Hedge Fund Journal Awards 2017).
He has also been named as a leading funds lawyer in:
- Chambers UK
- Chambers Europe
- IFLR1000
- PLC Cross-Border Investment Funds Handbook
- Expert Guide to the Best of the Best (which named him as one of the top 25 funds lawyers worldwide)
- Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Banking, Finance and Transactional Law Lawyers
- Best Lawyer
- Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Private Funds Lawyers
- Who’s Who of Professionals.
He has been described by clients in Chambers UK as “fantastic – practical, commercial and knows his stuff”, “a first-class mind and brings a high value-add as a lawyer”and as a “go to lawyer for dealing with a complicated hedge fund” and in The Legal 500 UK as “excellent” and “knows the industry inside out.” Clients praise his “huge breadth of knowledge” and “brilliant commercial awareness” as well as his “deep knowledge and experience in the fund industry.”
Chris has participated in the UK Financial Services Authority’s Legal Experts Group in respect of AIFMD and has been an active participant on various AIMA and other industry committees on matters relating to the hedge fund industry.
He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and seminars, including invitation-only conferences for clients of prime brokers and other industry participants.
Chris has also written on a wide range of hedge fund and regulatory topics. He was the first general editor of the Chambers Alternative Funds Guide – a guide examining key industry trends and regulatory and tax matters impacting funds, managers and investors.
Recognitions
- The Hedge Fund Journal Award for Outstanding Contribution
- Named as a leading hedge fund lawyer in:
- Chambers UK
- Chambers Europe
- IFLR1000
- PLC Cross-border Investment Funds Handbook
- The Legal 500 UK
- Expert Guide to the Best of the Best – Investment Funds
- Expert Guide to the World’s Leading Banking, Finance and Transactional Law Lawyers – Investment Funds
- Best Lawyers
- Who’s Who Legal: The International Who’s Who of Private Funds Lawyers
Community
- Law Society
- City of London Solicitors Company
- International Bar Association
Credentials
Education
The College of Law, Common Professional Exam and Law Society Finals
Pembroke College, University of Oxford, MA, honours
Admissions
England and Wales
Prior Experience
Maples and Calder
Simmons & Simmons, London and Hong Kong
