Eric F. Fess

Eric Fess is a partner and head of Chapman’s Corporate and Securities Department which includes the Investment Management Group. His practice is focused exclusively on investment companies, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), unit investment trusts, offshore investment companies (UCITS), interval, variable annuity and open-end and closed-end funds. Eric serves as counsel to investment companies and their boards of directors, registered investment advisers, and broker-dealers in all manner of matters pertaining to the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, and other securities laws. His work includes advising clients on product development, registration, and launch; shareholder communications and proxy statements; ongoing regulatory, board governance, compliance, and operational matters; and responding to activist investors. Eric’s prior experiences also included advising on securities law issues related to bank holding companies, stock and bond public offerings, real estate investment trusts (REITs), and taxable and tax-exempt municipal finance transactions.

In addition to overseeing Chapman’s Corporate and Securities Department, Eric chairs both the firm’s Retirement Plan Committee and the firm’s Audit Committee, and previously served multiple terms on the firm’s governing Policy Committee.

Eric joined Chapman after graduating law school and has been practicing at the firm his entire career. He is also a CPA (inactive status).