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England - London • Investment fund formation and management
2

Listed funds

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Dentons

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Spread across London and Edinburgh and specialising in regulatory work, the listed funds group at Dentons is co-headed by Guy Norfolk, a key contact for a range of prominent asset managers, and fellow co-head Claire Armstrong, who has broad experience advising closed-ended funds on advisory and transactional matters. Offering services to a wide range of funds, brokers, managers, and other interested parties on various actions within the sector, such as mergers, takeovers and shareholder activism, corporate governance, buybacks, and more, the team includes listed funds tax specialist Alastair MacLeod, who is a key name for REITs, and Stuart Fitzsimmons, who advises on debt finance transactions for investment trusts. Cameron Half specialises in matters involving US securities, and Owen McLennan is familiar with a range of fund instructions, while the ‘hardworking’ Sarah Wylie is highly recommended for an array of asset management and investment fund-related matters.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Very deep talent pool amongst partners and associates with an excellent knowledge of the closed end fund sector.’

  • ‘Guy Norfolk - always available for clients, great knowledge of sector. Claire Armstrong - great knowledge and creative in ensuring tasks are completed. Sarah Wylie - very hardworking, good drafting and knowledge of the sector.'

  • ‘Guy Norfolk - extremely experienced, knowledgeable and easy to communicate with. Sarah Wylie - likewise. Both are great to work with and a credit to the firm, and why I keep coming back to Dentons.’

  • ‘Broad team with diverse range of skills that combine to give a good range of advice to the client.’

  • ‘Guy Norfolk, Claire Armstrong, and Sarah Wylie are all excellent.’

  • ‘Very professional and tailored service with individuals focused on our specific sector and issues. Excellent communication before, during and after the specific assignment; they seek to build an ongoing relationship.'

  • ‘Guy Norfolk knows his specialist area well and likes to work closely with his clients, their stakeholders, and also his internal team. Although a very busy partner, he has worked hard to build the relationships with me and the wider board (and our other suppliers and advisers) not only during the project we worked on, but beyond. Sarah Wylie has the perfect combination of technical skills and commercial experience. They provide excellent communication and practical advice, together with some appropriate challenge to boards on issues they may not have considered in sufficient depth.’

Key clients

  • The North American Income Trust plc
  • Invesco Global Equity Income Trust plc
  • Cavendish Capital Markets
  • The PRS REIT plc
  • Baillie Gifford & Co
  • Hansa Investment Company Limited
  • Invesco Bond Income Plus Limited
  • Edinburgh Investment Trust plc
  • abrdn UK Smaller Growth Companies plc
  • Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust plc
  • Impax Environmental Markets plc
  • CQS Natural Resources Growth and Income plc

Work highlights

Acted for two of the 'Saba Seven' in relation to the requisition notices received by Saba Capital in December 2024.
Acting for The PRS Reit plc on the negotiated withdrawal of a requisition notice received for a group of its shareholders.
Finalised the simplification of Invesco Select Trust plc following a general meeting and meetings for each class, where it was agreed to consolidate the four share classes into one share class: Global Equity Income.

Practice head

Guy Norfolk; Claire Armstrong

Other key lawyers

Alastair MacLeod; Stuart Fitzsimmons; Cameron Half; Owen McLennan; Sarah Wylie