ATLANTA & DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aisha Hunt, veteran fund industry attorney, is today announcing the launch of Kelley Hunt, PLLC, a new law firm offering a full range of legal services to asset managers of exchange-traded funds (ETFs), mutual funds, interval funds and other investment products across a wide variety of asset classes.
The launch of Kelley Hunt is a spinout from Vident Financial, LLC, the parent company of Vident Investment Advisory (VIA), and is the latest building block to be put in place by Vident as they seek to form a full-service ecosystem that can provide an asset management solution with the complete range of services needed to take an investment thesis from the idea stage through all of the steps involved in product development and on to the creation and implementation of a successful branding, sales, and marketing initiative.
Ms. Hunt brings more than 21 years of legal and industry experience to her role as founder of Kelley Hunt, having worked with some of the largest and most respected asset management and law firms in the space, with a particularly strong track record playing an integral role managing the business and legal affairs of financial services firms, including asset managers, private and registered investment companies (including both ‘33 Act and ‘40 Act funds), fund boards and broker-dealers.
Prior to her most recent role as General Counsel for Vident Financial, Ms. Hunt was General Counsel for ALPS and a Partner with Dechert LLP. She has also held senior in-house legal counsel roles with Wells Fargo and Dodge & Cox. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California Berkeley, Haas School of Business.
“It is with great pride that I transition my legal practice at Vident representing its ETF investment advisory, sub-advisory and index provider business to launch my own law firm,” said Ms. Hunt. “I am excited that my firm Kelley Hunt is joining the ecosystem that the Vident team, led by Vince Birley and Amrita Nandakumar, have built and are continuing to build to provide nothing short of the leading single source for every service and insight an asset manager might need to be successful.”
“We are thrilled for Aisha both personally, because we know her to be one of the most business friendly, practical and relentlessly creative lawyers in this space, and professionally, because though she is spinning out her practice she will remain an integral part of the VIA and Vident family,” added Vince Birley, CEO of Vident Financial. “Her services will remain invaluable to all of our partners, and she has kindly arranged her fee structure to ensure our partners receive her most competitive rates.”
This news about the launch of Kelley Hunt comes on the heels of an announcement made earlier this year that saw Vident and FLX Distribution announce an innovative new partnership that saw Vident as the first ETF firm to adopt FLX’s fast-growing distribution platform.
Both Vident and FLX note their plans to continue to draw on Ms. Hunt’s legal acumen and industry experience, with Jillian DelSignore, Head of ETFs & Indexing for FLX, adding, “My colleagues and I could not be more excited for Aisha and for the expertise we see her bringing to our network as well. Our industry-leading distribution solutions, Vident’s full range of services in portfolio management, trading, operations, and capital markets, and Aisha’s legal acumen all form the bedrock of an entirely new fund ecosystem that gives potential partners access to the best-of-the-best in all of the essential service provider categories.”
More information on Aisha and Kelley Hunt can be found here: www.kelleyhuntlaw.com
About Kelley Hunt, PLLC
Kelley Hunt is a women and minority owned law firm founded by Aisha (Kelley) Hunt. The firm leverages asset management industry expertise and relentless legal creativity to provide practical and cost-effective legal advice to asset managers, investment funds and their boards. Kelley Hunt specializes in helping asset managers launch and manage ETFs, mutual funds, interval funds and other investment products across a wide variety of asset classes, including ESG and crypto. The firm is notably committed to providing pro bono legal services to assist in the launch of a non-profit to increase diversity on publicly traded company and fund boards.
About Vident Investment Advisory
Vident Investment Advisory (VIA), a subsidiary of Vident Financial formed in 2014, provides sub-advisory services for a variety of index-based and actively managed strategies. VIA’s capabilities extend across multiple asset classes, including U.S. and international equities, fixed income, commodities, as well as long/short, inverse, and managed futures strategies. More information is available at videntinvestmentadvisory.com.
