Ropes & Gray has enhanced its exchange-traded fund (ETF) capabilities with the addition of Edward Baer, who has joined the firm’s investment management practice as counsel in San Francisco.
Formerly the chief legal officer for BlackRock’s US iShares, Baer has a in-depth experience with ETF and mutual fund governance and compliance, and related business and operational issues.
Baer’s 20-year career includes 11 years of in-house registered funds experience, during which he was involved with ETF product development, fund distribution and marketing, acquisitions, and other strategic business matters. Prior to his in-house role, Baer focused his practice on counselling clients on issues arising under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and advising mutual funds on organization, registration, operations, governance and regulatory matters.
“We expect Ed’s extensive day-to-day experience in the ETF industry to be of great value to our clients,” says Bryan Chegwidden, co-chair of Ropes & Gray’s investment management practice.
“As a firm with an outstanding reputation in the fund industry and strong relationships with many of the largest and best-known funds, joining Ropes & Gray is an exciting opportunity for me,” says Baer. “I look forward to helping the firm’s clients with both the strategic and practical issues involved in launching and managing ETFs, as well as advising clients on all their 1940 Act issues.”
The arrival of Baer at Ropes & Gray’s San Francisco office follows the steady expansion of the firm’s investment management practice in 2015, with the promotion to partner of Sarah Clinton and Pamela Glazier, the additions of partners Paul Dykstra and Paulita Pike in the firm’s Chicago office, and the addition of counsel David Tittsworth, the former president and CEO of the Investment Adviser Association, in Washington, DC.
