Nicola is a senior lawyer (Of Counsel) in our Financial Services Funds group, focussing on financial services regulation and regulated investment funds. She has extensive experience relating to the establishment and operation of investment funds, including both retail and institutional products.
Nicola has expertise with respect to establishing open-ended fund structures intended for the DC pension market, advising on the entire life cycle of the vehicle, including structuring, authorisation, distribution and product governance. Due to her time inhouse at an asset manager within a large financial services group, Nicola is used to acting as legal lead on a range of cross-group projects including: the development and embedding of sustainability strategies; back-office and custody transition; and the launch of flagship product lines. She also has extensive experience in the platform market, working on the launch and ongoing operation of direct-to-customer asset management and banking platforms, as well as advising on wrapper products.
In addition to advising on the legal and regulatory aspects of structuring funds and other financial products, Nicola regularly reviews and negotiates fund service contracts, including investment management agreements, depositary and custody agreements, fund accounting agreements and auditor engagements. Nicola advises on regulatory change projects, recently advising asset managers on their response to the EU’s SFDR and the UK’s SDR. Nicola regularly engages with the UK FCA’s policy, authorisations and supervisory teams.
