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Stuart E. Fross

Partner
Boston
+1.617.261.3135
Fax +1.617.261.3175

Primary Practice

Education

  • J.D., The University of Chicago Law School, 1985
  • A.B., Middlebury College, 1981, (cum laude)

Admissions

  • Bar of Massachusetts
  • Biography Overview
  • Additional Background
Stuart Fross is a partner in K&L Gates’ Boston office where he concentrates his practice on securities laws and regulations, as part of the Investment Management Practice Group.

Mr. Fross’ main focus is investment managers and pooled investment vehicles, including US registered open-end, closed end and exchange traded funds, bank collective investment funds (with an emphasis a stable value funds), UCITS funds, as well as private funds, organized in the US and offshore. Mr. Fross has extensive experience in equity, high-income and fixed income trading operations, as well as with distribution related issues for registered and unregistered funds.

Professional Background

Prior to joining K&L Gates, Mr. Fross was Deputy General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Strategic Initiatives with Fidelity Management & Research Company and Assistant Secretary of the Fidelity Group of Funds. Mr. Fross held several additional positions at Fidelity, including four years as Deputy General Counsel and Senior Vice President to the Legal Product Management division, during which time he was responsible for all registration statement filings for the Fidelity Funds. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Fross was General Counsel and Senior Vice President for Fidelity International Limited, where he supervised Fidelity's legal, compliance and administrative staff located in Europe, Asia and Bermuda. At various times, Mr. Fross supported Fidelity’s transfer agency, fund accounting, institutional distribution, Canadian and Latin American businesses. In 2002 to 2004, Mr. Fross was the Senior Vice President – Strategic Initiatives of Fidelity Brokerage Company where he was responsible for initiating Fidelity’s strategy for retail distribution of fixed income securities.

Mr. Fross is also a co-inventor of a business method patent related to active ETFs. The patent covers technology for an ETF to invest in an actively managed mutual fund and for the ETF sponsor to create a creation and redemption basket that approximates the holdings, risks and return characteristics of the mutual fund without disclosing its entire portfolio.

Achievements

  • Boston's Top Rated Lawyers, AV Preeminent 10 Year Rating by Martindale Hubbell
  • Listed in 2011 Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, Private Funds 2011
  • In 2010 John S. Baerst Award for Excellence in Teaching at Boston University’s Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law
  • Edwin F. Mandel Award for Clinical Legal Studies, The University of Chicago, 1985

Professional/Civic Activities

Mr. Fross is a Lecturer in Law at the Boston University School of Law in the Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law.

He is a frequent speaker at industry events on such topics as the history of the fund industry and related regulation.

Speaking Engagements

  • “It’s a Small World After All” - A Digest of Foreign Legal Developments Affecting US Money Managers, presented to 2013 Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference, sponsored by the Investment Company Institute and the Federal Bar Association, March 18, 2013
  • Speaker, 2013 Boston Regional Meeting, “Current Hot Products,” Boston, MA, March 4, 2013
  • K&L Gates Seminar, “Preparing for AIFMD: Some Practical Tips for U.S. Managers,” Boston, MA, March 4, 2013
  • Panelist, State Street Global Services Chief Compliance Officer Forum, "Regulatory Developments - Staying Ahead of the Rule Changes," November 2012
  • "Managed Accounts –Regulatory/Compliance Update,” 10th Annual Managed Accounts UMA Summit, Boston, MA, September 13, 2012
  • "The Uncertainty of Financial Reform," Deloitte’s New York Hedge Fund Symposium, New York, NY, September 20, 2012
  • "The Uncertainty of Financial Reform," Deloitte’s Boston Hedge Fund Symposium, Boston, MA, October 17, 2012
  • NICSA 30th Annual Conference & Expo, "Engaging Investors in a Hyper-Connected World – Intermediary Oversight Panel," Miami, Florida, February 14, 2012.
  • K&L Gates Seminar, “Competing Globally in the Asset Management Industry,” Boston, MA, October 25, 2011.
  • Executive Briefing “Mastering AIFMD Challenge” Conference, “The Transatlantic View: AIFMD – Do US Managers Care? AIFMD and Dodd-Frank, Convergence, Divergence or Co-incidence,” Luxembourg, October 11, 2011.
  • American Conference Institute, Broker Dealers and Investment Advisers Conference, “Federal Regulation of Investment Advisers – Registration & Its Consequences,” New York, NY, March 31, 2011.
  • Investment Company Institute: 2011 Mutual Funds and Investment Management Conference, “Post-Crisis Regulatory Change – It’s Happening Outside of the US, Too,” Palm Desert, California, March 28, 2011.
  • K&L Gates/CACEIS Webinar, “Management of Global Private Placements in a Rapidly Changing World,” December 14, 2010. 
  • Investment Adviser Association, IAA Compliance Workshop, Remarks on Form ADV Part 2 and Massachusetts Privacy Regulations; “A Dodd-Frank Primer for Investment Advisers,” Los Angeles, CA, November 30, 2010.
  • K&L Gates 2010 Investment Management Conference, Boston, MA, November 17, 2010.
  • Investment Adviser Association, IAA Compliance Workshop, Remarks on Form ADV Part 2 and the Custody Rule; “A Dodd-Frank Primer for Investment Advisers,” Chicago, IL, November 10, 2010.
  • K&L Gates Seminar, “Competing Globally in the Asset Management Industry,” Boston, MA, October 19, 2010.
  • Boston University, IM Basics, “ETFs/Wrap Accounts/Money Market Funds,” Boston University, Boston, MA, October 14, 2010.
  • K&L Gates/Deloitte Seminar, “Pan European Regulation - an update on UCITS IV and AIFM Directives,” Boston, MA, October 6, 2010.
  • Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry, 19th Annual Global Investment Funds Forum, “Fund Governance-Developments in the U.S. and Europe and What the Industry Should be Focused On,” Luxembourg, September 28-29, 2010.
  • K&L Gates Financial Services Reform Seminar, “Practical Implications of Changes to Derivatives Trading under Dodd-Frank,” Boston, MA, September 21, 2010.
  • Financial Research Associates, LLC, 6th Annual Marketing & Advertising Compliance Forum for Investment Advisers, “International Marketing & Advertising: Global Perspective,” The Princeton Club, New York City, September 16-17, 2010.
  • International Bar Association, 21st Annual Globalization of Investment Funds, “Global Distribution Panel,” Boston, MA, May 18, 2010.
  • International Bar Association, Presentation on Global Distribution Issues, May 3, 2010. 
  • National Society of Compliance Professionals: 2009 National Membership Meeting, “Valuation of Fixed Income,” Philadelphia, PA, October 5, 2009.
  • Webinar, “SEC Mutual Fund Summary Prospectuses - Implications and Compliance,” Boston, MA, March 10, 2009.
  • Risk Management Association Forum, “Managing Risk and Innovation: Top Ten Learnings,” Boston, MA, April 21, 2009.
  • National Society of Compliance Professionals: National Membership Meeting, “International Compliance Issues,” Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 26, 2008.
  • Investment Company Institute: Mutual Funds Conference, “Markets in Financial Instruments Directive and the Registered Investment Adviser,” Phoenix, Arizona, March 18, 2008.
  • The Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry and The National Investment Company Service Association: The 16th Annual Global Investment Funds Forum, “US Investment Company Corporate Governance Outline,” Kirchberg, Luxembourg, September 26, 2007.
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