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January 07, 2022
Cadwalader’s market-leading Fund Finance practice has expanded its leadership team with the naming of partner Wesley Misson as Head of Fund Finance, U.S., and London-based partner Samantha Hutchinson as Head of Fund Finance, UK.
Widely regarded as the largest and most experienced team in the market, Cadwalader’s transatlantic Fund Finance practice represents credit providers on Subscription Credit Facilities, NAV-Facilities, Hybrids, Pref Equity Structures, GP Financings, Venture Debt and Capital Relief and Risk Transfer Trades for private equity, real estate and other investment funds of all sizes and vintages sponsored by many of the world’s preeminent fund sponsors.
Both Misson and Hutchinson are widely recognized as leaders in the fund finance space who have helped shape the sector and drive its growth, including, most recently, in the emerging areas of ESG-linked facilities and back-leverage structures. Over their several decades of combined experience, they have advised clients on many of the market’s largest and most complex subscription and leverage deals.
“We are thrilled that Wes and Sam will take on these newly-created roles,” said Mike Mascia, Co-Chair of Cadwalader’s Finance Group. “They are seasoned as both practitioners and as leaders, and their appointments reflect the continued growth of our Fund Finance practice.”
He added: “Wes and Sam are practically synonymous with the Fund Finance market, as their many years of innovative work, excellence in client service and contributions to industry thought leadership and talent development have established them as true industry leaders. The timing for this expansion of our senior leadership team is purposeful, as our Fund Finance practice has experienced 13 straight years of growth and comes off a year where we were fortunate to grow over 25% year over year.”
Misson’s practice focuses on the representation of financial institutions as lenders and lead agents in subscription credit facilities and other fund financings. His experience encompasses subscription, hybrid and ESG facilities and includes working with fund-related borrowers on the negotiation of third-party investor documents with institutional, high net worth and sovereign wealth investors. He was recently featured in the Financial Times North America Innovative Lawyers 2021 Report in the “Sustainability” category for his representations on nine ESG-related fund facilities in the U.S., including his work last year advising Bank of America on a $4.1 billion ESG-linked credit facility tied to Board diversity for funds managed by The Carlyle Group.
Hutchinson’s practice focuses on advising both financial institutions and private markets managers on the full range of fund finance products across all asset classes, including subscription lines, primary and secondary leverage and liquidity lines, GP and executive financings and co-invest facilities delivered via a number of different structures including framework and umbrella facilities. She, too, was recognized in the Financial Times Europe Innovative Lawyers 2021 Report in a spotlight on “forward-looking legal practitioners,” as one of just 10 attorneys profiled who are “recognized for having helped clients by thinking about the future as well as the challenges of the present.” The FT credits Hutchinson as a “pioneer of fund finance.”
“I am honored to assume the leadership of our U.S.-based fund finance team,” Misson said. “Sam and I look forward to continuing the tradition of close collaboration among our U.S. and UK teams so that our attorneys can share best practices and align on our clients’ transatlantic goals, during a time of notable industry innovation and expansion.”
Added Hutchinson: “I am so pleased to become head of our UK-focused fund finance practice. It has been a true privilege to help develop the European fund finance market from the early 2000s and, with so much potential ahead, we are eager to help our clients navigate and succeed during an especially dynamic period for private markets lending.”
Beyond their client work, Misson and Hutchinson are very active in broader industry initiatives, as regular contributors to the firm’s weekly newsletter, Fund Finance Friday, and as year-round speakers at and participants in related events, including as part of the Fund Finance Association (FFA), the industry’s main networking association.
