Overview
Robinson Bradshaw’s Private Funds & Investments Practice Group guides sponsors and institutional investors through the full life cycle of private funds, from fund formation and capital raising to ongoing operations, transactions and liquidity events. Because we represent both general partners and limited partners across asset classes, we offer a nuanced view of current market terms, negotiation dynamics and regulatory expectations.
On the sponsor side, we advise fund managers and investment firms across buyout, venture capital, private credit, real estate, hedge, and fund-of-funds strategies on sponsor and general partner organization, fund formation, capital raising, ongoing operations, governance and regulatory matters. Our clients include emerging managers launching their first vehicles, as well as established firms managing multi-fund platforms across multiple strategies.
For institutional investors, we manage the full scope of portfolio fund investments, and we structure and negotiate bespoke arrangements, including separate accounts, funds-of-one, co-investments and hybrid vehicles. Our investor clients include university endowments and investment offices, public pension funds, health systems, foundations and family offices, many of whom rely on us as long-term partners as their portfolios grow in complexity.
Our Private Fund Insights blog provides timely perspectives on market trends and regulatory developments, helping sponsors and investors anticipate change rather than react to it.
Experience
Fund Formation & Sponsor-Side
- Represented a fund manager in the formation of a middle-market buyout fund with over $900 million in commitments, following three prior funds totaling approximately $2.1 billion.
- Assisted an outsourced investment office services firm with the formation of a multiseries investment vehicle with more than $1 billion in initial-series commitments.
- Represented a fund of funds manager with approximately $2 billion in assets under management in the sale of its business to a global private equity manager.
- Advised on the spinout of a prominent state university’s investment office and creation of a multistrategy fund of funds for endowment and foundation assets.
- Represented a sponsor in the formation of a mezzanine fund with $105 million in commitments, including a drop-down SBIC subsidiary and associated sidecar funds.
- Represented an investment manager in the formation of a secondary fund of funds holding interests in 26 buyout funds with commitments exceeding $700 million.
- Represented a sponsor in the formation of a $270 million hybrid fund focused on publicly traded securities and private company investments.
Investor-Side & Institutional Advisory
- Negotiated and reviewed over 1,000 fund investments on behalf of institutional investors in private equity, venture capital, real estate, energy, hedge and other fund types since 2000.
- Drafted and negotiated documentation for hundreds of direct investments and co-investments in portfolio companies.
- Structured hundreds of separate account arrangements using special purpose vehicles, funds of one and direct investment management agreements.
- Negotiated dozens of cornerstone and anchor arrangements between institutional investors and fund sponsors.
- Developed board policies addressing governance, fiduciary duties, investment guidelines, compliance and operational matters for public and private institutional investors.
Accolades
Honors & Recognitions
- Best Law Firms, national Tier 3 for private funds/hedge funds law, 2016-24, 2026; Charlotte Tier 1 for private funds/hedge funds law, 2011-24, 2026; Raleigh Tier 1 for private funds/hedge funds law, 2018-21, 2026
