Silke Bernard > Linklaters > Luxembourg, Luxembourg > Lawyer Profile
Linklaters Offices
AVENUE JOHN F. KENNEDY 35
L-1855 LUXEMBOURG
Luxembourg
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Silke Bernard
Work Department
Investment Funds
Position
Silke is a Partner in the Luxembourg Investment Funds Group and is currently heading the practice.
Silke specialises in alternative investment funds, being the key contact for some of the largest global fund sponsors in private markets.
Her practice covers the full range of investment funds including retail and professional funds, with special expertise in alternative investment funds such as private equity, real estate, private credit and other alternative asset funds and investment management arrangements. Silke has been the counsel for several ground-breaking deals for some of the largest asset managers. Her practice includes the structuring, establishment and regulation of funds and asset management businesses, including the setting-up of co-investment structures, tailored managed accounts e.g. for sovereign investors and regulatory work (e.g. licensing and passporting procedures) in the asset management sphere. Silke covers all types of diversified, regulated, unregulated and tailored investment structures including beyond a typical fund set-up.
Besides her alternatives business Silke further has deep knowledge of retail investor funds (UCITS and UCIs) and is the legal counsel to a number of flagship funds distributed by some of the biggest asset managers around the world.
Languages
French, English, and German
Memberships
Silke is heavily involved in the activities of the fund industry organisations in Luxembourg. She is chairing several working groups of the Luxembourg fund industry association (ALFI) and of the Luxembourg Private Equity Association (LPEA). She has been leading Luxembourg’s industry efforts on European Long-Term Investment Funds (ELTIFs) and currently on the Pan-European Personal Pensions Product (PEPP). Her industry involvement further covers various other fields such as e.g. infrastructure, private equity or private debt. She is a committee member of the European asset management association (EFAMA) in Brussels and is a regular speaker at various national and international conferences and industry roadshows.
Country of Admission: Germany and Luxembourg
Education
>2004 Second State Examination, Germany
>2001 Master of Law (D.E.S.S.) in France
>2000 First State Examination, Germany
Lawyer Rankings
Luxembourg > Investment funds
(Leading partners)The ‘very strong’ team at Linklaters ‘covers all the relevant areas of expertise’, particularly for fund managers in the alternative asset space, as well as a growing offering for insurance companies and pension funds as fund investors. The ‘very accomplished and collaborative’ team head Silke Bernard effectively marshals the office’s resources, often working in unison with lawyers from throughout the firm’s vast international network of offices on cross-border matters. As well as fee-earning work, Bernard spearheads the office’s industry efforts promoting the retailisation of private funds. ‘One of the leading experts in the field of fund formation in Luxembourg’, Martin Mager is across all relevant alternative asset classes, including impact funds, and is also spearheading the office’s growing investor-side offering. The ‘commercial’ Claire Prospert ‘has a flexible mindset to try and make client objectives work’, including for some high-profile US private equity sponsors, as well as in the context of retail products. Now in his position as of counsel following his retirement from the partnership, Hermann Beythan has vast knowledge across a broad range of fund mandates, including the creation of AIFMs and other regulatory issues.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Banking, finance and capital markets
- Commercial, corporate and M&A
- Dispute resolution
- Investment funds
- Private equity
- Real estate and construction