Insurance-focused law firm DLA Piper has appointed leading corporate lawyer Jon Ireland (pictured) as the new head of its Australian funds practice, effective Oct. 9.
Ireland is an expert in asset management, financial services, and investments. He moved to DLA Piper from Norton Rose Fulbright Australia, where he served as a partner in the corporate team and led its national funds and financial services practice. He is also a regular participant on government and peak industry body working groups and has worked with ASIC and Treasury on material policy development.
“I'm excited to be joining DLA Piper's market-leading investment management and funds offering. Investment management and funds is an increasingly global sector driven by cross-border funds flows and investment and, in my view, the global advisory teams will be those best placed to deliver exceptional results for clients, which is what I'm after,” Ireland said.
Amber Matthews, Australia managing partner at DLA Piper, said Ireland complements the firm's global offering and enables it to support clients across the full lifecycle of fund formations, deals, and transactions across the globe.
“Jon is an important addition to our thriving investment management and funds (IM&F) offering in Australia and globally,” Matthews said. “He combines strong technical knowledge of the local legal environment and global market, with a solution-driven approach.”
Shane Bilardi, Australian head of corporate at DLA Piper, added: “Jon is one of the market leaders in Australia for investment management and funds and, together with Emma Kendall and Martin Jamieson, will give us one of Australia's leading investment management and funds teams.
“We believe that the shift from public markets to private capital is a persistent one, and we're keen to ensure that DLA Piper remains at the forefront of this shift. Jon's experience advising fund investors and sponsors on investments, co-investment, fund raising, secondaries, mergers and acquisitions as well as fund formation across all asset classes and his work with global asset managers, sovereign wealth funds, superannuation and pension funds, and other institutional clients on cross-border investment will position us exceptionally well in this space.”
Ireland joined DLA Piper after the appointment of a new partner in the Melbourne office.
