Nicholas Ridley is Counsel in the Firm’s Investment Funds Practice. Based in the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office, Nicholas focuses on complex regulatory and transactional matters including providing sponsor and adviser clients with practical and creative solutions to regulatory, compliance, and enforcement issues. Named a 2024 “Rising Star” in the investment funds space by With Intelligence, Nicholas has extensive experience collaborating with clients to develop innovative retail products, pursue novel applications for SEC exemptive relief, and address emerging compliance and regulatory considerations impacting asset managers, private funds, registered funds, business development companies (BDCs), and fund boards. In addition, Nicholas frequently counsels both asset management and operating company clients on complicated “status” issues under the Investment Company Act. He has represented preeminent sponsors and investment managers such as AMG, Apollo, BC Partners, Blackstone, Carlyle, JPMorgan Asset Management, KKR, PIMCO, and SkyBridge Capital, among others.
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Work Highlights
- Counsel to sponsors of operating companies that own real estate, infrastructure or private equity assets, including KKR, Apollo, Blackstone and others
- Counsel to sponsors of private funds and registered funds, including Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle, JPMorgan and others
- Representing leading multibillion-dollar asset managers in relation to SEC investigations focused on compliance with the Advisers Act and/or the 1940 Act
- Co-investment exemptive relief applications and interpretive advice to clients such as Apollo, BC Partners, Blackstone, Carlyle and others
- Representing operating companies including Lyft, Airbnb, Alibaba, Ant Group and others regarding investment company status in connection with both capital markets and credit transactions
- Structuring investments into asset management firms, including several investments by each of Affiliated Managers Group and Blackstone Strategic Capital Holdings
- Acquisitions and sales of asset management businesses, including representing Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in its sale of OppenheimerFunds to Invesco
Prior to rejoining the Firm, Nicholas served as in-house counsel at a global asset manager where he was principally responsible for legal, regulatory, and compliance affairs relating to $80 billion in client assets managed through domestic and offshore private funds, registered funds, UCITS funds, AIFs, and separately managed accounts.
Accolades
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With Intelligence, 2024 “Rising Star”
Education
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George Washington University Law School, 2014 J.D. with Honors
Associate, The George Washington Law Review; Member, The George Washington Moot Court Board
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University of Maryland, 2009 B.Sc. Cognitive Neuroscience
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University of Maryland, 2009 B.A. Philosophy
Admissions
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District of Columbia 2016
Languages Spoken
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English
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American Sign Language
Nicholas Ridley is Counsel in the Firm’s Investment Funds Practice based in Washington, D.C. Nicholas focuses on complex regulatory and transactional matters including providing sponsor and adviser clients with practical and creative solutions to regulatory, compliance, and enforcement issues. Named a 2024 “Rising Star” by With Intelligence in recognition of his work advising prominent asset management firms, Nicholas has extensive experience collaborating with clients to develop innovative retail products, pursue novel applications for SEC exemptive relief, and address emerging compliance and regulatory considerations impacting asset managers, private funds, registered funds, business development companies (BDCs), and fund boards. In addition, Nicholas frequently counsels both asset management and operating company clients on complicated “status” issues under the Investment Company Act. He has represented preeminent sponsors and investment managers such as AMG, Apollo, BC Partners, Blackstone, Carlyle, JPMorgan Asset Management, KKR, PIMCO, and SkyBridge Capital, among others.
Nicholas began his career at the Firm. Prior to rejoining Simpson Thacher, Nicholas served as in-house counsel at a global asset manager where he was principally responsible for legal, regulatory, and compliance affairs relating to $80 billion in client assets managed through domestic and offshore private funds, registered funds, UCITS funds, AIFs, and separately managed accounts.
Historical representative examples of Nicholas’ work includes:
- Counseling sponsors of operating companies that own real estate, infrastructure or private equity assets, including KKR, Apollo, Blackstone and others
- Counseling sponsors of private funds and registered funds, including Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle, JPMorgan and others
- Representing leading multibillion-dollar asset managers in relation to SEC investigations focused on compliance with the Advisers Act and/or the 1940 Act
- Structuring investments into asset management firms, including several investments by each of Affiliated Managers Group and Blackstone Strategic Capital Holdings
- Counseling on co-investment exemptive relief applications and/or interpretive advice to clients such as Apollo, BC Partners, Blackstone, Carlyle and others
- Representing operating companies such as Lyft, Airbnb, Ant Group and others regarding investment company status in connection with both capital markets and credit transactions
- Acquisitions and sales of asset management businesses, including representing Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company in its sale of OppenheimerFunds to Invesco
Nicholas received his J.D. from The George Washington Law School in 2014 with Honors where he was an Associate of The George Washington Law Review and a Member of The George Washington Moot Court Board. He received his B.S. in Neuroscience and B.A. in Philosophy from University of Maryland, College Park in 2009. Nicholas is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.