Hedge Fund Attorney - Senior Legal Counsel

State of Wisconsin Investment Board • Madison, WI

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) is seeking an experienced investment management attorney to join its Legal Division. This role will primarily support SWIB’s hedge fund and external manager investment activities. The attorney will work directly with portfolio managers and investment professionals on legal diligence, structuring, negotiation, execution, and ongoing management of alternative investment relationships. The position also offers cross-asset support for complex investment transactions based on the attorney's background and SWIB's evolving needs. This is an investor-side role with significant responsibility and direct exposure to investment decision-makers. The successful candidate will possess deep private-funds expertise, practical judgment, strong negotiation skills, and the ability to differentiate material risks from manageable issues. The attorney will join a collaborative legal team supporting a sophisticated institutional investment platform.

Requirements

• A J.D. from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• Approximately 8+ years of relevant legal experience at a nationally or internationally recognized law firm, institutional investor, asset manager, hedge fund, investment bank, or other sophisticated financial institution. Candidates with materially greater experience are also encouraged to apply.
• Significant experience with private investment funds and, in particular, hedge fund investments or hedge fund matters, including reviewing and negotiating fund governing documents, subscription materials, side letters, and related investment documentation.
• Strong working knowledge of the legal and regulatory framework applicable to private funds and investment management. Experience advising governmental, pension, tax-exempt, or other institutional investors is a plus.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct focused legal diligence, analyze complex investment structures and documentation, identify material issues, and provide practical, commercially oriented advice to investment professionals.
• Excellent drafting, negotiation, communication, and relationship-management skills, including the ability to work directly and credibly with portfolio managers, senior investment professionals, external managers, and outside counsel.
• Strong judgment, attention to detail, and the ability to manage multiple sophisticated matters independently in a fast-paced investment environment without unnecessarily impeding investment activity.
• Ability and interest in developing expertise across investment products and legal disciplines as SWIB’s investment strategies evolve.
• Requires U.S. work authorization.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with separately managed accounts, funds of one, investment management agreements, or other customized institutional investment arrangements is strongly preferred.
• Experience with one or more adjacent areas—such as private credit, structured finance, derivatives, securities financing, public markets, or private markets—is desirable but not required.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a lead legal advisor to SWIB’s hedge fund and external manager investment programs, including investments in commingled hedge funds, funds of one, separately managed accounts, and other customized or strategic investment arrangements.
• Lead legal due diligence and the review, drafting, and negotiation of investment documentation, including offering memoranda, limited partnership and LLC agreements, subscription agreements, side letters, investment management agreements, managed account agreements, and related ancillary documents.
• Negotiate investor protections and institutional terms relevant to a large governmental investor, including provisions addressing transparency and reporting, fees and expenses, liquidity and withdrawal rights, key-person and change-of-control events, conflicts, indemnification, confidentiality and public-records considerations, regulatory matters, and compliance with SWIB policies and applicable law.
• Manage side-letter and most-favored-nation processes, including evaluating available elections and coordinating implementation of negotiated rights with investment, operations, compliance, tax, and other internal teams.
• Advise on amendments, restructurings, liquidity events, redemptions and withdrawals, transfers, wind-downs, manager or strategy changes, and other matters arising during the life of an investment.
• Identify and evaluate legal, structural, regulatory, tax-sensitive, counterparty, and operational issues in proposed investments and provide clear, practical advice to investment professionals regarding material risks and potential solutions.
• Support the structuring and negotiation of new or bespoke external-manager relationships and investment strategies, including arrangements that cross traditional hedge fund, public market, credit, and private market boundaries.
• Based on experience and team needs, advise on other sophisticated investment transactions, which may include structured credit, leveraged finance, securitized products, private credit, strategic or opportunistic investments, and related financing arrangements.
• Provide support and backup coverage on public-markets and trading matters, including agreements with banks, broker-dealers, custodians, and other counterparties and, as appropriate, derivatives, securities financing, and related documentation.
• Collaborate with SWIB’s other investment attorneys on transactions involving private equity, real estate, infrastructure, venture capital, co-investments, or other private-market characteristics.
• Partner directly with portfolio managers and senior investment professionals to structure and execute complex or novel investment opportunities and translate legal requirements into commercially workable solutions.
• Work closely with Compliance, Risk, Operations, Finance, Tax, and other internal teams on investment-related legal and regulatory matters, including implementation of negotiated investment terms and ongoing obligations.
• Monitor and advise on legal and regulatory developments affecting private funds, investment advisers, institutional investors, and SWIB’s hedge fund and external manager activities.
• Manage and coordinate outside counsel on specialized transactions and matters, exercising judgment regarding when external expertise is appropriate and ensuring efficient use of external legal resources.
• Develop and maintain institutional knowledge, templates, diligence standards, processes, and legal frameworks that allow SWIB to evaluate and execute investments efficiently and consistently.
• Support other activities over which the Legal Division has primary responsibility.

Benefits

• Competitive total cash compensation, based on AON (formerly McLagan) industry benchmarks
• Comprehensive benefits package
• Educational and training opportunities
• Tuition reimbursement
• Relocation assistance

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior