Kees Groffen specialises in investment management including providing regulatory advice to domestic and foreign investment funds and asset managers, and advising on the structuring and restructuring of investment funds, including retail and private equity funds. He also advises asset managers and pension funds on discretionary and fiduciary asset management agreements and asset pooling.
Recent work includes advising:
· ING Real Estate Investment Management Europe (ING REIM) on the structuring of European Property Strategy NV, an investment fund regulated in the Netherlands through which institutional investors are offered the opportunity to invest in ING REIM’s 14 non-listed property funds with total assets under management of more than EUR 18 billion (first closing with Swiss based investor Helvetia).
· APG Asset Management on the establishment by Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP and the Canadian based pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System of INKEF Capital. INKEF Capital aims at investing EUR 200 million in predominantly Dutch and Canadian based companies and technologies at defined stages of their life cycle, from the early stage phase through product development, commercialization and growth and market expansion phases. This innovative investment approach is referred to as life cycle investment.
· Rabobank on the structuring of Rabo FARM Latin America Fund, a Luxembourg FCP aimed at investing in farmland in Latin America.
· VPV Bankiers on the listing of VPV Value Fund at Euronext Amsterdam by NYSE Euronext (Euronext Fund Services).
Kees is a member of the asset pooling and asset management committee of Holland Financial Centre, a joint initiative set up by organisations from throughout the financial sector with the purpose of strengthening the Dutch financial sector. He is the co-author of the standard documents used by the Netherlands Ministry of Finance to promote a Dutch vehicle for the purposes of cross-border asset pooling. The standard documents serve as a reference for foreign tax rulings. In addition, he advises the Dutch Ministry of Finance on the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and the implementation of the UCITS IV Directive.
Clients say: “Kees Groffen is a notably high-profile figure who ‘knows about the changes and developments in the sector and is often involved in bringing them about.’ He is ‘very well connected in the industry’ and a ‘very skilled lawyer with excellent drafting skills’.”