Luther wins Financial Services Team from Dechert

8 May 2019

With three new partners and one counsel, Luther strengthens its Capital Markets & Banking practice in Frankfurt and Cologne: Achim Pütz, Martin Hüwel and Dr. Frank Wilbert from Dechert LLP and US lawyer Steven Kirberger started work on 1 May 2019.

The Pütz/Hüwel/Wilbert team has been advising institutional investors and asset managers as well as banks and other financial service providers in the areas of investment and asset management, supervisory law and related areas for many years. Specialist areas include structuring national and international funds and investment platforms for institutional investors, advising institutional investors on supervisory law, advising national and international asset managers on structuring investment products and providing cross-border financial services, and securitizing AI assets. At the same time, Steven Kirberger, a former US colleague of the team, will join the team, contributing his many years of expertise in the area of private funds.

Achim Pütz (58) has extensive experience in advising German and international clients on traditional and alternative investment funds, distribution and insurance supervision law. A special field is the conception, documentation and distribution of structured financial products and packaging solutions. He is a board member and founder of the Bundesverband Alternative Investments e.V. (Federal Association of Alternative Investments).

Martin Hüwel (45) has many years of experience in advising German and international clients in the areas of asset management, financial services as well as investment and insurance supervisory law. He advises both providers of cross-border financial services and the structuring and distribution of investment products as well as institutional investors on the acquisition of such investment products and the establishment of their own investment platforms.

Dr. Frank Wilbert (38) has extensive know-how in advising institutional investors on complex investments, in setting up investment platforms and in advising international managers on the requirements of German regulated investors.

US attorney Steven Kirberger (48) has also been advising clients for many years in the field of asset management, with a particular focus on structuring private funds and other investment products in the alternative investment segment and advising institutional investors on investing in such products.

Luther's focus and client base suit the firm, which counts institutional investors and asset managers among its clients. Luther sees great potential for its clients in the cooperation with its new colleagues, who can now increasingly be advised in the areas of fund structuring and asset management. Luther's Luxembourg office, which currently has over 25 professionals, will also play a central role in this. The local experts in the fields of asset management, investment and supervisory law will offer advice from a single source together with their German colleagues.  In addition, the team plans to recruit further professionals in the coming months.

"With Achim Pütz and his team, we are not only gaining a professional beacon, but also four highly experienced colleagues in the field of institutional investment and asset management as well as in advising institutional investors," explains Dr. Markus Sengpiel, Managing Partner at Luther. "We are looking forward to working together with our new colleagues and are convinced that their in-depth understanding of the industry and sectors will enable us to take our full-service consulting offering in the Real Estate and Infrastructure sectors to a new level," adds Elisabeth Lepique, also Managing Partner at Luther.