Bertrand C. Fry

Over the course of his distinguished career, Bert has launched and advised on a broad array of U.S. and non-U.S. investment products. His clients manage vehicles engaged in many strategies including macro, distressed, private equity, venture capital, real estate, debt origination, reinsurance, and quantitative trading of securities and futures.

Bert counsels both new investment managers and established asset management complexes. New managers seek Bert’s assistance to launch or grow their investment funds, negotiate and document seeding arrangements, and structure their management companies. Larger firms count on Bert not only in structuring new funds but also when they need advice on specific transactions, agreements, regulatory developments, or legal issues, drawing on Bert’s deep industry knowledge and familiarity with the complex structures used to navigate tax, regulatory, operational and trading constraints.

Bert served as a senior member of the D. E. Shaw Group’s legal department for more than 14 years (including as acting General Counsel), when that firm grew from having substantially less than $1 billion under management in two investment vehicles to nearly $40 billion across multiple funds and with several SEC-registered investment advisers. Similarly, when he was based in the London office of one of the largest international law firms, Bert worked with investment funds and fund managers from around the world.

When his clients’ transactions encounter obstacles, Bert seeks to open opportunities through creative and novel solutions. Across his practice, he offers strategic, goal-oriented counsel, whether structuring a fund to originate loans, advising a firm’s marketing unit on the JOBS Act, assisting a portfolio management team in their spin-out, or crafting a compliance department’s responses to Dodd-Frank Act reforms.