Professional Biography
Gwendolyn Williamson

Gwendolyn A. Williamson Partner

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Overview

Gwen Williamson advises clients on the full range of governance and compliance responsibilities arising under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the Investment Company Act of 1940. She represents traditional and private fund advisers, as well as registered investment companies and their independent directors. Gwen has significant experience in the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and principles-based investing space.

Representative matters across Gwen’s nearly 20 years of experience counseling asset management industry players include fund launches, mergers, and liquidations; compliance programs, vendor oversight programs, and risk assessments; U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) examinations and investigations; applications for exemptive relief; changes in control; investment company status issues; succession planning and other family office matters; reporting under the federal securities laws; and ESG programs and reporting.

An active speaker and writer, Gwen serves on the editorial board of The Investment Lawyer. Recent pieces she has authored cover the SEC’s new rules for private fund advisers, ESG investing frameworks, the ESG standards gap, exchange-traded funds (ETF) governance, and the evolution of mutual fund distribution arrangements. Gwen serves on Perkins Coie’s Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Committee.

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Professional Leadership

  • Perkins Coie Strategic Diversity & Inclusion Committee
  • Perkins Coie Associate & Counsel Committee, Partner Chair
  • Lambda Legal National Leadership Council

Community Involvement

  • Stewardship Committee, Foundry UMC, 2022 – present
  • Management Board, Foundry UMC, 2015 – 2021
  • Governance Committee, Foundry UMC, 2014 – present

Related Employment

  • K&L Gates LLP, Washington, D.C., Associate 
  • Morrison & Foerster LLP, Washington, D.C., Associate
  • Alston & Bird LLP, Atlanta, GA, Securities Litigation Clerk

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Bar and Court Admissions

  • District of Columbia
  • Georgia

Education

  • University of Georgia School of Law, J.D., 2005
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, B.A., 1999