JAMES C. MUNSELL is a partner in the firm’s Investment Funds, Advisers and Derivatives Practice Group in the New York office. Mr. Munsell counsels investment advisers and investment funds in connection with a broad range of corporate, securities, derivatives and regulatory matters. His clients range from small, closely held start-up investment management businesses to the investment management divisions of global financial institutions.
Mr. Munsell’s principal areas of practice include:
- Pooled investment product design and development;
- Private investment funds, including hedge funds, private equity funds and hybrids (domestic and offshore) using a broad range of investment styles and strategies and targeting a broad range of asset classes, including securities (equity, debt, convertibles, ABS, MBS, CMBS), loans, futures & derivatives, physical commodities, aircraft, tax liens, movies, life settlements, volatility and other asset classes;
- Public and private commodity pools;
- Public and private closed-end registered investment companies;
- Funds of funds;
- Private equity and hedge fund feeder funds and feeder fund platforms;
- Special purpose or single investment funds;
- Fund restructurings and workouts;
- Seed capital transactions;
- Secondary market transactions in interests in private investment funds;
- Regulation of investment advisers, commodity trading advisors, investment companies and commodity pools;
- Spin-outs and lift outs;
- Compensation plans;
- Organization and re-organization of closely-held investment management businesses, including the negotiation and drafting of organizational documents addressing economic sharing arrangements, management and control, and succession issues;
- Mergers and acquisitions of investment management businesses, including change-in-control transactions and acquisitions of minority interest; and
- Joint ventures between investment management businesses.
Mr. Munsell was involved in the successful development and launch of the first commodity pool to be listed on a securities exchange in the United States and continues to work on innovative commodity ETFs.
Mr. Munsell and his colleagues were ranked as either the first or second place "onshore" (U.S.) law firm for hedge fund legal service providers in each of the four years that Institutional Investor’s Alpha Magazine published its rankings of service providers (2006 - 2009). The Alpha Awards™ were based on a polling of more than 650 hedge fund firms, which collectively managed more than $1.1 trillion. In both 2011 and 2010, the group also received first-tier national rankings for its Private Funds / Hedge Funds, Derivatives & Futures and Mutual Funds Practices in the U.S.News - Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” survey, published by U.S.News & World Report. Sidley was also recognized as the “Best North American Law Firm” in the 2011 Hedgeweek Awards and as “Investment Funds Team of the Year for the U.S.” by Chambers and Partners in 2008.
RECENT SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
- Panelist, Fundamentals of Mutual Funds and Exchange-Trade Funds, Practising Law Institute (June 2012)
- Panelist, Fundamentals of Mutual Funds and Exchange-Traded Funds, Practising Law Institute (June 2011)