Product Lawyer - Private Assets

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Job description

Who we're looking for
An experienced private funds lawyer to join the legal team supporting Schroders Capital, the private markets division of Schroders. The successful candidate will have five years or more private funds legal experience either with a leading funds practice or in-house at an asset management firm. We are looking for an individual who has excellent technical skills, a can-do mentality and commercial approach, is inquisitive and able to develop creative legal solutions, has the confidence to assess business and legal risk to prioritise workload demands, and possesses strong interpersonal and communication skills required to build constructive working relationships with various internal stakeholders and external advisers.

About Schroders and Schroders Capital
Schroders is a global investment manager. We help institutions, intermediaries and individuals around the world invest money to meet their goals, fulfil their ambitions, and prepare for the future.
We have around 5,000 people on six continents. And we've been around for over 200 years, but keep adapting as society and technology changes. What doesn't change is our commitment to helping our clients, and society, prosper.
Schroders Capital is a new brand, launched in 2021, and it combines all of the private markets businesses within Schroders. Currently comprising approximately 450 people across North America, UK, continental Europe and Asia, Schroders Capital manages in excess of $70 billion of assets for its clients in private equity, real estate, infrastructure, insurance-linked securities, securitised credit and impact investing.

The base
We moved into our new HQ in the City of London in 2018. We're close to our clients, in the heart of the UK's financial centre. And we have everything we need to work flexibly.

The team
The legal team supporting Schroders Capital currently comprises ten lawyers of which five or six are focused mainly on fund/product-related matters - structuring, fund-raising, investor negotiation, etc. The team is headed by Ed Smith, who has been with Schroders since August 2018 and prior to that spent ten years as a partner in the Linklaters funds practice in both London and Hong Kong.

What you'll do
Working as part of the Structuring Hub within Schroders Capital, you will manage all legal aspects of the fund and product structuring process including:
• Participate in discussions with investment desks to refine new product ideas;
• Work alongside internal tax team to identify appropriate fund and management structure and prepare outline fund terms;
• Act as principal point of contact with external lawyers;
• Participate in internal project working groups alongside investment team, product development, distribution, compliance and operations;
• Lead internal review of fund documentation prepared by external lawyers, and review and negotiate service provider (eg depositary and administrator) documentation;
• Advise internal teams on legal and regulatory matters relating to marketing of funds including general disclosure and specific requirements of AIFMD and SFDR, in particular;
• Advise investment and distribution teams on points arising in investor negotiation and work alongside external counsel to manage investor negotiation process; and
• Liaise with internal governance teams and external service providers in relation to fund closings.
In addition to new product related work, you will also likely be involved in the following tasks:
• Supporting Schroders' corporate development team and Schroders' corporate legal team with product specific due diligence and input on strategic M&A opportunities;
• Advising on impact of regulatory change and participating in regulatory implementation projects;
• Advising on intra-group arrangements relating to the distribution of funds and other products, and supporting Schroders Capital compliance team on legal aspects of marketing and distribution of funds;
• Developing template documents, manuals and other documents aimed at improving efficiency of internal processes; and
• Generally providing legal support to Schroders Capital business.

The knowledge, experience and qualifications you need
• Demonstrable PQE gained in private / alternative investment funds in a leading City or international law firm or in-house within the asset management industry.
• Familiar with a range of private funds and underlying investment structures (including Luxembourg structures) across different private asset classes with, ideally, strong focus on direct lending and other debt investment strategies.
• Excellent working knowledge of AIFMD and SFDR.

The knowledge, experience and qualifications that will help
• Experience of, and a familiarity with the rules relating to, regulated fund structures such as ELTIF, LTAF and other structures for distributing private assets products to HNW investors.
• Knowledge of a major European language (ie French or German) would be useful

What you'll be like
• Creative problem-solving skills and intellectual agility, along with good judgment and excellent communication skills (both oral and written).
• Strong interpersonal skills, including the ability to build constructive working relationships with internal stakeholders, external advisers and business contacts.
• Excellent organisational/project management skills, including the confidence to assess business and legal risks to prioritise competing workload demands.
• Willingness to engage in self-learning and other learning opportunities in new areas of law relevant to Schroders Capital.
• A high standard of professionalism and integrity.

We're looking for the best, whoever they are
Schroders is an equal opportunities employer. You're welcome here whatever your background, race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, age or disability.