CLIH Cross border Issues

28 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse DEPARTMENT PROFILE GLOBAL PRIVATE markets investment firm, Northleaf Capital Partners, has been adapting to a new governance structure following a strategic transaction. In the fall of 2020, Mackenzie Financial Corporation and Great-West Lifeco Inc. collectively acquired 49 per cent of the firm. "A lot of my time is spent navigating our new strategic partnership and making sure we are on top of everything, from our board reporting to integrating our compliance," says Katherine Gurney, general counsel at Northleaf. The relationship has provided Mackenzie and Lifeco with a significant presence in the growing private markets investment industry and Northleaf with the opportunity to accelerate its growth strategy. The legal department at Northleaf is fully integrated within the firm, taking a seat at the table in all investment team meetings across private credit, private equity and infrastructure matters. They work with sales and investor relations teams, the tax team and operations. "It's a very dynamic, collaborative approach," says Gurney, who has been with Northleaf since its inception in 2009. She has seen the firm grow from 35 to 165 employees. "We are often brought into things that are not traditionally legal, but more for strategic advice." Finding efficiencies to support business growth Gurney's team is currently supporting the business in the launch of Northleaf's first open-ended infrastructure fund. They are also working with new strategic partner, Mackenzie, to launch two retail-focused private markets funds: the Mackenzie Northleaf Private Credit Fund and the Mackenzie Northleaf Infra- structure Fund. "Those are pretty unique funds, so it's been an exciting initiative," says Gurney. "A lot of this comes down to understanding the regulatory restrictions and structuring with tax, so there's a lot of legal involvement in these new fund initiatives." Legal has supported the organization throughout the pandemic crisis and helped offices in different jurisdictions understand local laws. Since the pandemic's start, the legal team implemented several systems to make processes more efficient, including DocuSign and Process Maker — a tool used for tracking transactions such as legal invoices. The team is also in the process of onboarding and launching a new compliance tool to assist with all compliance-related matters with employees. The tool will allow all quarterly attestations, annual certifications, trade pre-clearance, gift and entertainment reporting to be completed Legal department at Northleaf Capital Partners focuses on compliance in multiple jurisdictions amid new strategic partnerships FAST FACTS: NORTHLEAF Founded as TD Capital, a subsidiary of TD Bank Financial Group, and transitioned to a management-owned firm in 2009 US$17 billion of private equity, private credit and infrastructure commitments under management More than 150 employees The global company has offices in Toronto, Montreal , London, New York , Chicago, Menlo Park and Melbourne Clients include corporate, public and multi-employer employee pension and benefit plans, endowments, foundations, government agencies, financial institutions, family offices and high net wor th individuals Portfolio includes more than 400 active investments in 35 countries

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