Sidley Expands in London with Hiring of Hedge Fund and Financial Markets Partner, Bruce Gardner
LONDON – Sidley Austin LLP announced today that Bruce Gardner has joined the firm's London office as a partner in the Investment Funds, Advisers and Derivatives group. Gardner will continue to focus on hedge funds, alternative asset management and related matters as he has for the last ten years.
Gardner advises on all aspects of the structure and operation of hedge funds and other "alternative" investment products including their marketing and distribution, trading and transactional documentation and the creation of structures or repackaging arrangements to access specific markets or investors. He also advises upon the establishment of asset management businesses in the United Kingdom, their structure and regulation, arrangements for executive incentivisation and acquisitions, joint ventures and restructurings within the financial services sector generally.
In addition to his representation of mainstream hedge funds and other financial markets participants, Gardner has recently represented a range of innovative hybrid and crossover funds investing in a diverse range of assets including shipping and freight derivatives, real estate derivatives and international infrastructure projects. Gardner was educated at Liverpool College and has an LLM from the London School of Economics. He is a frequent speaker at industry forums.
"Bruce is one of the most respected lawyers in the UK hedge fund and financial markets arena and we are pleased to have him join us to lead the hedge fund practice in Europe," said Tom Cole, Chair of the firm's Executive Committee. "Bruce significantly deepens the pool of talent we have in our internationally recognized hedge fund practice, which is already a market leader in both the U.S. and Asia."
"Sidley has one of the leading investment fund practices in the world with internationally recognized experience in both the United States and Asia," said Gardner. "The opportunity to contribute to the hedge fund and financial markets capabilities in London so as to create an integrated global practice at Sidley is extremely exciting. I look forward to working with my new colleagues in the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo together with the rest of the team in London to that end."
Sidley has a premier, international practice in structuring and advising investment funds and advisers. In 2006 and 2007, the Alpha Awards(TM) for hedge fund service providers ranked Sidley as the number one onshore hedge fund law firm. In 2007, Sidley also was named Investment Funds Law Firm of the Year by Asian Legal Business. The Investment Funds, Advisers and Derivatives practice group consists of more than 100 lawyers in New York, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Sidley Austin LLP is one of the world's largest full-service law firms, with more than 1800 lawyers practicing in 16 U.S. and international cities, including Beijing, Brussels, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. Every year since 2003, Sidley has been named to Legal Business' Global Elite, their designation for "the 15 finest law firms in the world." BTI, a Boston-based consulting and research firm, has named Sidley to their Client Service Hall of Fame as one of only two law firms to rank in the Client Service Top 10 for seven years in a row.