As investors struggle to keep up with changing rules and overlapping regulatory schemes, the latest firm to expand its investment management practice is McCarter & English. The firm has added a partner and a special counsel to its team of investment funds professionals in Philadelphia.
Laura Anne Corsell comes to the firm as a partner from Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, where she chaired the investment management practice. Prior to joining Montgomery McCracken in June 2007, Corsell worked at Corsell Law Group, the boutique she founded after her departure from Ballard Spahr in 1994. Corsell possesses vast expertise when it comes to advising clients on the rules and requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. She provides counsel to fund managers on the formation and management of registered funds as well as alternative investment vehicles. Corsell told IFLR1000 that the path her career has taken is not one she had always envisioned.
“When I left Ballard Spahr, I planned to take time off, possibly even retire,” Corsell recalled. “One of our investment advisory clients called and asked why I couldn’t still do their work. I liked them quite a lot, so I continued to represent them as a solo. That complex is still a client, only instead of $500 million, they now have upwards of $20 billion under management, and some 19 investment portfolios,” she said.
“Most of my relationships with clients over the years have been long term—10, 15, 20 years—something that made working with these clients more fun. And it’s very satisfying to know that month after month, year after year, clients have placed trust and confidence in my advice,” Corsell added.
Corsell alluded to a long-term plan to expand the investment management capabilities of McCarter & English, integrating the knowledge and talents of lawyers in different locations and areas of specialization.
“Given the broad range of specialty areas, whether ERISA, tax, privacy, anti-money laundering, SEC, or CFTC, being able to identify all those within a single firm can make for very strong capability and that is what we are hoping for here at McCarter,” she commented.
Corsell described an environment in which regulators at different levels of government are behaving increasingly aggressively while adopting new approaches to enforcing statutes. She gave the following analysis:
“The overlapping regulatory schemes have always been there, but regulators are flexing their muscles: the Fed is coming into play, state attorneys general are increasingly vigilant as to what investment managers are whispering into the ears of their clients. There is so much going on that it is much more difficult for a boutique firm to keep up. In some cases, it’s a matter of technology. One thing technology has done is make it easy for regulators to access vast amounts of information, and so they continue to ask for other broader ranges of data.”
“The availability of online resources makes it much easier for smaller firms and individual practitioners to access information that previously wouldn’t have been available unless one had a vast library or expensive subscriptions,” she added.
Don Felice joins McCarter as special counsel from Montgomery McCracken, where he was of counsel. Felice advises clients on the compliance aspects of fund formation and registration.