Clifford Chance has devoted considerable resources and senior expertise to its thriving investment funds practice. It represents a long list of regional and international fund managers, along with a number of sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. It has a primary focus on private funds, with additional expertise in retail funds and regulatory matters. US qualified Kai-Niklas Schneider, ‘the most genius lawyer in the universe’, is a long-serving partner in Singapore, who has built a fine reputation in private equity, real estate, infrastructure funds and credit funds. Daryl Liu is Singapore qualified and another pivotal member of the team. Lena Ng leads the financial regulatory practice in Singapore, while Luke Chen and Chloe Cheng are key figures at counsel level.
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Awesome team, always responsive and creative with solutions.’
‘Kai-Niklas Schneider is the most genius lawyer in the universe. I have never met as creative, fast, business minded lawyer who really focuses on his client's needs and even budget.’
‘Strong capabilities in Singapore for funds, tax and carbon markets. Very responsive, commercial and client-focused.’
‘The Clifford Chance funds' practice is very international in nature and the breadth of the funds work that they do is impressive. They have offices and experienced attorneys in the key jurisdictions where funds are usually established. This enables the firm to provide legal services to their clients with cross-border fund products in a seamless and efficient manner.’
‘Kai-Niklas Schneider is a very experienced funds lawyer with an excellent grasp of both technical expertise and what is current market practice. He is also very client-focused and will always try to his best to help his clients meet their objectives.’
'The Clifford Chance investment funds team led by Kai-Niklas Schneider has grown from strength to strength over the years. They are a leading investment fund formation team and well-recognised in the market for driving transactions forward, for their knowledge and experience on fund structures and for their commercial approach to transactions.'
'Kai-Niklas Schneider is well-recognised as an industry leader for closed ended funds. He has expanded the Singapore team and has developed deep relationships with leading GPs, sponsors and investment managers in the region. Kai has deep relationships with his clients and is a trusted adviser.'
‘Luke Chen is an outstanding regulatory and funds lawyer. Very responsive and technically competent.’
Key clients
- ESR Singapore
- Pierfront Capital
- MEC Global Partners Asia Pte. Ltd.
- Export–Import Bank of China
Work highlights
- Advised ESR on the successful first closing of ESR Japan Income Fund, a US$750 million open-ended fund investing in core logistics assets in Japan with commitments from several institutional investors.
- Advised Pierfront Capital on the formation and subsequent closing of a US$700 million real asset private credit fund focused on providing debt solutions to corporates or projects in the real asset sectors across Asia-Pacific.
- Advised MEC Global Partners Asia Pte. Ltd. as fund manager in respect of GIC's US$150 million investment into MECGPA's pan-Asian open-ended core plus fund, and the formation of GIC's US$150 million sidecar vehicle that will invest alongside the fund.
Lawyers
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Kai-Niklas Schneider, Daryl Liu