Home -> Location -> Germany -> Practice areas -> Alternative Investments

The increasing globalisation of the world's financial markets, coupled with technological advances, are creating opportunities to trade a greater range of financial products and instruments across international borders and to monitor and control risks more effectively. These developments are now being reflected in the emergence of individual fund managers and traders pursuing a progressively wider range of "alternative" investment styles and strategies.

The German hedge fund group advises German and international clients in relation to the setting up and licensing of non-domestic and domestic hedge funds for the German market. The German group was intensively involved in discussions relating to the new Investment Act and has established close links to the relevant German supervisory authorities.

The German team advised on the first German single hedge fund and one of the first fund of hedge funds licensed in accordance with the new Investment Act.

Moreover, we advise on all aspects of the structure and operation of alternative investment managers and hedge funds and other alternative investment products issued by such managers, including:

• the structure and tax treatment of funds and special purpose vehicles
• the tax efficient structuring of performance fee and other incentive arrangements
• margin, collateral, brokerage and other trading arrangements
• the specialised regulatory issues attached to the operation, marketing and distribution of alternative products
• repackaging of alternative investment vehicles and products to access specific markets, investments and/or investors
• obtaining regulatory authorisation and the provision of compliance support for managers of alternative investment funds
• competition law/anti-trust matters affecting merger arbitrage fund managers