Nicole Runyan

Partner, Investment Funds at Kirkland & Ellis

Roundtable Host

Nicole M. Runyan is an investment funds partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and heads the Firm’s registered funds practice. Nicole has over two decades of experience advising clients on the formation, registration, operation and oversight of nearly every type of registered fund as well as business development companies (BDCs) and other non-investment company retail vehicles.Nicole M. Runyan is an investment funds partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and heads the Firm’s registered funds practice. Nicole has over two decades of experience advising clients on the formation, registration, operation and oversight of nearly every type of registered fund as well as business development companies (BDCs).

Nicole has a broad background representing mutual funds, ETFs, listed closed-end funds and other traditional registered funds investing across a variety of asset classes and strategies, including: public and private equities; private credit, structured credit, asset-based/backed lending and other income-producing strategies; and real estate and infrastructure assets.

She also commits significant time to counseling clients on the design and offering of alternative investment products, such as BDCs; REITs; interval funds and tender offer funds; and holding company and other 1934 Act reporting vehicles, which offer access for retail and high net worth investors to a variety of traditional “private market” asset classes, such as private credit, private equity and infrastructure, including on a primary, secondary, direct or co-investment basis, both in control and non-control arrangements.

Additionally, Nicole advises clients on the full range of issues facing retail funds, including regulatory and compliance matters, SEC exemptive relief applications, seed capital and other funding transactions, financing arrangements, and extraordinary events such as restructurings, acquisitions and activist matters.

Clients value Nicole’s practice advice and experience. Chambers USA reports that clients say she is “very knowledgeable, business-minded and a great partner to have in your corner” and is “a rock-star and extremely good at cutting through difficult-to-understand concepts.”

Nicole’s representative clients include Adams Street Partners, Alger, Apollo, Ares, Bain Capital, BDT & MSD Partners, Blue Owl, Cliffwater, Coatue, Crescent Capital, Fortress, Macquarie, Neuberger Berman and Vista Equity Partners.