Asset Manager M&A Counsel in 2026: A Rare Client for the M&A Bench

A general counsel who shortlists M&A law firms for asset managers is buying from a bench that spends little of its time in the sector. Sartori & Partners data show 2,337 deals for asset managers and funds in the 12 months to October 2026. Corporate and M&A lawyers were on 14.8% of them, 346 deals in all. Those same deals were only 3.1% of the 11,230 deals the corporate and M&A practice worked on across every sector. Both readings sit below the market: corporate and M&A lawyers worked on 23.3% of all dated deals, and asset managers were 4.9% of all dated deals. Each side is a smaller part of the other's work than the market average would suggest, and that shapes the next mandate. The sections below set that gap against the other benches on the sector's work, the deal mix, the cities and the firm lists.

Practice labels on each deal show which benches staff the sector. Funds and investment management lawyers were on 33.6% of asset manager deals, corporate and M&A lawyers on 14.8% and capital markets lawyers on 13.3%. Real estate lawyers followed at 6.7% and banking and finance lawyers at 5.5%. One deal can carry several practices and many carry none, so these shares overlap, are never added and are not a market share. The market-wide shares look different. Corporate and M&A lawyers worked on 23.3% of the whole market's deals, more than their share of this sector, while funds lawyers worked on just 2.5% of all deals. Corporate lawyers are a regular presence on asset manager work, but less often than on the average deal. For a general counsel, the M&A partner on a sector matter will usually be working beside a funds team, so ask at the pitch who leads the file and how the two benches split it.

The M&A practice's own client mix runs below the market as well. Of the 11,230 deals corporate and M&A lawyers worked on, 3.1% were for asset managers and funds, against 4.9% of all dated deals, a gap of 1.8 points. Technology and software was 14.0% of the practice's deals and pharma and biotech 6.8%. The pattern is not unique to asset managers. Financial sponsors were 6.9% of all deals but 2.7% of corporate and M&A deals, and corporate lawyers sat on 9.1% of sponsor deals, beside private equity lawyers on 32.8%. Both financial client groups lean on a specialist bench and call in the M&A practice for part of the work. The consequence for a buyer is that sector experience inside an M&A team cannot be assumed from the firm's overall deal volume. Ask the proposed partner how many asset manager matters they personally worked on in the past 12 months, not how many the firm did.

By deal type, M&A was 16.9% of asset manager deals, close to its 19.3% share of all dated deals and to 17.4% for financial sponsors. Capital markets work was 15.7% of the sector's deals against 25.7% market-wide, and fund formation 8.3% against 1.3%. Disputes and investigations were 7.6% of the sector's deals, against 25.0% of all deals; the market count includes many court and trademark-office records. Type and practice are recorded separately, and in this sector the M&A type share runs above the share of deals with corporate lawyers on them, the reverse of the whole market. That gap does not show who staffed which deal, but it is a reason to confirm before engagement that an M&A matter will carry a corporate team. Where a value was disclosed, on 14.8% of sector deals, the median was $750 million; that median covers all the sector's deals, not only M&A. Over the latest settled 12 months, at 2,349 against 2,335, the asset manager deal count held flat (+0.6%), while the count of corporate and M&A deals rose 9.5% (11,170 against 10,198) and lateral partner moves in the practice rose 12.2% (873 against 778). With practice-wide deal counts rising and the sector steady, book the team early and name the partners in the engagement letter.

Sartori & Partners also record where the lawyers on each deal work. 41.3% of the sector's deals were handled with lawyers in New York, and 27.0% with lawyers in Washington, DC. For financial sponsors the two figures were 43.2% and 24.0%, so Washington weighs more on asset manager work. London followed at 18.1% and Boston at 11.4%. One deal can count in several cities, so these shares overlap and describe where the work is done, not how many lawyers sit there. The corporate and M&A hiring market points the other way in Washington. Washington took 2.9% of the practice's lateral moves, an index of 52 against the market, while New York took 17.3%, an index of 117. A company whose matter needs Washington input should check that the M&A partner can draw on colleagues there, because the practice's lateral hiring there runs below the market's share.

The two firm lists answer different questions, and no list is published for asset manager M&A itself. The sector list ranks firms by all deals for asset managers and funds, fund formation, capital markets and disputes included. The corporate and M&A list ranks firms by all the practice's deals in every sector. Checked name by name, three firms sit on both: Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins and DLA Piper. The firm at the head of the sector list sits in the 151-250 band of sector deals, while the head of the practice list sits in the 401-700 band of corporate and M&A deals, a measure of how small the sector is next to the practice. Kirkland & Ellis sits in the 101-150 band on the sector list and the 401-700 band on the practice list. A shortlist drawn from one list alone mixes sector work with practice work; start from the overlap, then ask each firm for its asset manager M&A matters by team.

Three steps follow. First, staff for two benches: with funds lawyers on 33.6% of sector deals and corporate lawyers on 14.8%, an M&A mandate that leaves out the funds side risks handing work across mid-deal. Second, test sector depth person by person: asset managers were 3.1% of the M&A practice's deals, so a large M&A firm can still field a partner with few sector matters. Third, plan for Washington and New York coverage, where 27.0% and 41.3% of sector deals had lawyers working. Sartori & Partners data, drawn from public law-firm announcements, firm websites and professional profiles, checked monthly, will show in the next edition whether the steady sector count moves.