Cillian is a Partner in the Asset Management and Investment Funds Department. Cillian is an investment funds specialist, advising clients on a wide range of legal and regulatory matters. Cillian specialises in the establishment and ongoing operations of Irish domiciled regulated investments fund structures, including UCITS and open-ended and closed-ended alternative investment funds (AIFs), and Irish fund management companies. Cillian’s clients include privately-owned and institutional investment managers representing a wide range of asset classes. Cillian has particular expertise in complex international fund structuring and the regulation of sustainable investing.
Cillian has over 15 years’ experience advising clients on a broad range of legal and regulatory matters pertaining to Irish regulated funds and Irish management companies. The types of strategies and asset classes on which Cillian advises include: private credit, private debt, liability driven investments (LDI), liquid alternatives, index trackers, money market funds (MMFs), emerging markets, hedge funds, funds of funds, real estate, private equity, ESG funds, and traditional and alternative UCITS. Previously, Cillian was seconded to the legal department of a major US asset manager in London and to Dillon Eustace’s Cayman Islands office. Cillian leads the Dillon Eustace cross-departmental ESG advisory group and regularly publishes thought leadership insights in this area. Cillian sits on the Dillon Eustace European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) advisory group and is a member of the Irish Funds Specialist Group on MMFs. Cillian is recognised as a leading lawyer by a number of international legal directories including Chambers & Partners and Legal 500.
Cillian’s representative transactions include:
- Advising on the formation of a number of multi-jurisdictional master-feeder structure Qualifying Investor AIFs for large US based private credit managers.
- Acting as the lead advisor to one of the world’s largest asset managers on their range of Irish domiciled UCITS and AIFs, including index trackers, money market funds and LDI strategies.
- Advising multiple regulated management companies and their funds on the establishment of new Article 8 and Article 9 Funds (“ESG Funds”) pursuant to the Sustainable Finance Disclosures Regulation (“SFDR”) and related disclosure obligations as well as on the categorisation (including re-categorisation) of existing funds pursuant to SFDR.
- Acting as lead adviser on the establishment of the first dual authorised UCITS management company and AIFM (commonly referred to as a “Super ManCo”) authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland post-Brexit.
- Advising one of North America’s largest platform managers on the establishment of a multi-manager Qualifying Investor AIF platform to be distributed by the asset management arm of one of the world’s most prominent insurers.
- Advising a well-known US private equity firm on the structuring and establishment of a QIAIF investing in Irish property and property related assets.
- Advising a number of UK headquartered hedge fund managers on the structuring and establishment of their Irish Qualifying Investor AIFs.
