Registered Investment Funds

Our investment management practice used to be called the securities department!

In the 1970s, investment management was part of our then corporate department (which itself transitioned to the business department and now back to corporate). There were two “Youngs” in the group — named partner Andrew (Andy) Young and Stu Young (no relation to Andy) — who decided that our growing practice in investment funds called for a dedicated department to suit the ongoing nature of the work. The idea gained traction with Andy Young’s work advising on the Investment Company Act of 1940 (1940 Act), and the securities department was born.

Andy Young

Betty (wife) and Stu Young

Phil Fina, another lawyer who was well versed in the 1940 Act, mentored others on understanding and applying this complex body of law, including Mark Plafker, who chaired the securities department from the late 1970s until 1994. Following Mark’s tenure, the next chair was executive partner Bruce Leto, who would give the practice the investment management moniker in the mid-1990s because he thought it more accurately reflected the group’s services. Bruce also went on to serve as part of the Investment Company Institute’s steering committee advising on the modernization of the 1940 Act. 

Dave Rosenbluth (former Stradley lawyer), Phil Fina and Mark Plafker

From those modest beginnings, our investment management practice has grown steadily and now boasts more than 75 lawyers, a testament to those who laid the groundwork and led the practice — regardless of its name — with a steady hand.