Singapore – K&L Gates Straits Law LLC, the Singapore office of global law firm K&L Gates, welcomes Jason Nelms as a partner in the Asset Management and Investment Funds practice. He joins the firm’s Singapore office from Morrison Foerster, where he was instrumental in building their regional Investment Funds practice.

With two decades of experience in Asia and the United States, Nelms focuses on advising Asia-based and US sponsors and investors in the structuring, formation, and offering of private investment funds, including private equity funds, real estate funds, hedge funds, co-investment vehicles, and other alternative investment products.

He also advises fund sponsors regarding management company structuring, carried interest plans, shareholders’ agreements, and related internal governance matters, and has counseled investment firms and their principals in the purchase and sale of significant minority interests in asset management businesses.

“Jason’s addition to the firm bolsters our global asset management capabilities and enhances our private funds and transactional experience,” said Michael Caccese, K&L Gates chairman and a leader of the firm’s AMIF practice group. “We look forward to leveraging his wealth of knowledge in this space, as well as his fund-related private equity, real estate, and technology sector insights. Jason choosing K&L Gates to further develop his highly-regarded funds practice is a further endorsement of our long-held strategy in and commitment to Asian markets. Jason will be working closely with our global clients and fund lawyers throughout Asia.” 

“We are delighted to welcome Jason to our AMIF practice,” said Sreenivasan Narayanan S.C., Managing Partner of K&L Gates Straits Law LLC. “He has a deep and long-standing connection with Singapore and the region, having advised sponsors and investors across all types of open and closed ended private fund strategies for two decades. As Singapore continues to grow as a global asset management hub, he will strengthen our Pan-Asia practice and bolster our existing regional AMIF capabilities and profile.”

K&L Gates’ AMIF practice has more than 50 years of experience in the financial services industry and comprises more than 150 lawyers throughout Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America. These lawyers provide advice to investment companies and advisers, broker-dealers, emerging managers, and institutional investors across a range of areas, including on investment, hedge, private equity, and real estate funds, regulated funds and exchange-traded products, capital markets and derivatives, ERISA, ESG, and global regulation and distribution, among others.

Nelms is one of numerous partner additions to K&L Gates’ global AMIF practice in recent months, which also include lawyers in Dublin, Boston, London, New York, Chicago, and Sydney. Nelms joins Singapore partner Edward Bennett and his team and will be further supported by associate Charmaine Mok, who joined the firm’s Hong Kong office in January from Morrison Foerster.