John Ward Featured in Private Equity Law Report as a part of "Withstanding the Coronavirus Pandemic – Three Part Series"

John Ward, Managing Director in the Alternative Asset Advisory service line, was featured in Private Equity Law Report’s three-part series: Withstanding the Coronavirus Pandemic. In the series, legal professionals discuss how private equity sponsors can mitigate the risks stemming from the coronavirus pandemic. The series covers the SEC’s relief from Form ADV and Form PF filings, private fund-specific matters implicated by the coronavirus and business continuity and general operational risks.

In the third part of the series, “Withstanding the Coronavirus Pandemic: Business Continuity and Other Operational Risks,” John discusses several business continuity plans (BCP) and the systems in place for dealing with this crisis. According to John, “Fund managers might not have planned for officewide call forwarding; remote tech support; or any number of other issues that can arise without a central headquarters and tech team to turn to for support. I assume many managers developed their BCPs for a temporary problem (e.g., a fire or a power outage) so that within a couple of days or weeks they would either have a better plan in place or the ability to return to the office.”…“If that situation becomes a protracted pandemic, however, people may have to work remotely for weeks at a time.”

“Certain organizations are very team oriented and are used to working in a bullpen environment where people freely communicate with each other,” he continued. “How successful will those managers be when their employees are all isolated? Will there be a decrease in the effectiveness of the manager? That’s almost unknowable, but it is a concern that fund managers should try to evaluate.”

Read the three part series.