Investment Management Regulatory: Partner Hiring Rose, Total Held

The market for investment management regulatory lawyers has changed shape without growing. Sartori & Partners data show that lateral partner moves in the speciality went from 39 in the 12 months to September 2025 to 57 in the 12 months to September 2026: partner hiring rose 46.2%. Over the same two periods, hiring at all levels held flat (+8.1%), at 107 moves against 99. More of the lawyers who change firms in this work are partners, and fewer slots in the flow go to associates and counsel. For a firm that advises fund sponsors and asset managers on registration, compliance and examinations, that means the next hire is likely to be a priced partner search, not a junior bench build.

The two readings point in different directions. The partner count rose 46.2%, from 39 to 57. The all-level count held flat (+8.1%), from 99 to 107. The parent practice moved differently: funds and investment management partner hiring rose 29.7% and its hiring at all levels rose 23.7%. Across the whole lateral market, partner moves rose 8.4%.

So the speciality is not riding a broad wave in fund work. Its total held flat while the practice around it grew, and the partner rise came from a change in who moves. The calendar years tell the same story. The speciality recorded 46 lateral partner moves in 2026 through October, against 48 in all of 2025 and 35 in 2024. The highest year in the series is still 2022, with 55. A firm planning a regulatory partner hire should expect more competition from other bidders than a year ago, even though the pool of lawyers moving overall is no larger.

In the 12 months to October 2026, partners were 54.4% of investment management regulatory lateral moves. In funds and investment management as a whole the partner share was 36.7%, and across all practices 27.7%. The gap to the parent practice is 17.7 points. Associates carry the difference: they were 34.0% of the speciality's moves against 51.7% in the practice. Counsel sit at 11.7% and 11.1%.

The tilt is recent. Over 3 years, partners were 45.8% of the speciality's 286 lateral moves, against 33.6% in the practice. Few of these partners were made up on arrival: lawyers who joined at a higher title than the one they left were 13.6% of moves, near the market's 12.9%. The practical point for a hiring partner is that the regulatory lateral is usually a sitting partner with an existing client base of advisers and funds, and the offer has to be built for that person, with origination credit and a home for any associates who may follow later.

Over 3 years, the cities that took the most investment management regulatory lateral moves were New York at 18.9%, Washington, DC at 15.0%, London at 11.9% and Paris at 7.3%. The capital stands out. In the funds practice as a whole, Washington, DC took 5.5% of moves over the same 3 years, while London took 18.0%. Regulatory advice sits close to the regulator; fund formation and transactions sit close to the sponsors.

In the latest 12 months New York alone took 24.3% of the speciality's moves, an index of 164 against the market's city mix. These lawyers rarely relocate: 12.7% changed city when they moved, against 20.4% in the funds practice and 20.5% across the market. A firm that wants a regulatory partner in Washington, DC has to find one already there; a London or Paris opening is a separate search with its own, smaller pool.

Sartori & Partners recorded 67 firms hiring investment management regulatory lawyers in the 12 months to October 2026. Among hires where the firm's size is known, firms of 1,000+ lawyers made 68.9%, against 53.6% across the market and 75.8% in the funds practice. Firms of 400-999 lawyers made 20.4%, above their 15.0% in the practice. The ten firms that hired most took 31.1% of individual hires.

For a firm of 400-999 lawyers, that share is a sign that a regulatory partner can be won against larger bidders, since that class takes a bigger slice here than in the wider funds practice. For a firm of 1,000+ lawyers, the competition is mostly its peers, and terms will be set against them.

The client base behind this work is narrow. Of the investment management regulatory matters on record over 3 years, 91.2% were for asset management and fund clients, with financial sponsors next at 6.7%. Partners in this speciality are rarely generalists who can be moved onto other mandates when fund regulation slows; their value is tied to one client industry. Internal promotion is a slower route: the median time to partner was 10.0 years in the speciality over 5 years, and only 14.5% of those promoted got there within eight years of practice. A firm that needs regulatory partner cover inside 12 months will mostly have to hire it.

In the Sartori & Partners lateral database, the speciality's partner hiring rose 46.2% while total hiring held flat (+8.1%). Four consequences follow. First, budget for a partner, not a team: partners are 54.4% of the moves, and associates are a smaller part of the lateral flow here than in the funds practice as a whole. Second, search in Washington, DC as seriously as in New York, because the capital's share of these moves is far above its share in fund work generally. Third, expect to compete with firms of 1,000+ lawyers on most candidates, and move early when a partner becomes available. Fourth, test the candidate's client base against asset management and fund clients, since that is where the work sits.