Practice Areas
\Michael Caccese is the co-chair of K&L Gates and a former leader of the global Asset Management and Investment Funds practice, one of the largest and most prominent in the United States with more than 150 lawyers across Asia, Australia, Europe, and the US. He counsels mutual funds, closed-end funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, registered fund-of-hedge funds, investment advisers, and broker-dealers on complex issues involving investment management, securities law, and regulatory compliance. His practice spans fund formation and governance, broker-dealer regulation, lift-outs of investment management teams, soft-dollar arrangements, advertising and marketing regulation, Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS), and investment performance reporting.
Recognized as a leading authority in the field, Michael is ranked by Chambers USA (2014–2025) for Hedge & Mutual Funds in Massachusetts and Registered Funds Nationwide (2021–2025), and by Chambers Global (2024–2025) for Registered Funds in the USA. He is recommended by The Legal 500 United States (2014–2025) in Mutual/Registered/Exchange-Traded Funds, Alternative/Hedge Funds, Private Equity Funds, and Financial Services Regulation, and also recognized by The Legal 500 EMEA (2025) for Investment Funds in Ireland and The Legal 500 UK (2024–2025) for Financial Services: Non-Contentious/Regulatory. Michael has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2014 in Mutual Funds Law, honored with the Acritas Star designation (2021), and recognized by The International Who’s Who of Private Funds Lawyers and Intercontinental Finance Magazine Leading Lawyers. He is also a two-time recipient of the BTI Client Service All-Star Award, based solely on direct client feedback from Fortune 1000 corporate counsel.
Michael has held various licenses over his career including Series 7, 14, 24, and 63, and has served as a compliance officer for NYSE and FINRA registered broker-dealers. He brings a rare combination of legal insight and practical industry experience. His leadership roles at the CFA Institute and Russell Investments further shaped his experience in global regulatory standards and performance reporting. Today, clients rely on him for strategic, business-focused solutions to the most pressing regulatory, compliance, and operational challenges in the global investment management industry.
Publications
"Key Components of the New Marketing Rule: Part 2," The Investment Lawyer, May 2021
"Key Components of the New Marketing Rule: Part 1," The Investment Lawyer, April 2021
“Navigating the New Marketing Rule: Updated Testimonial Rule and Differences From the Proposed Advertising Rule (Part One of Two),” Private Equity Law Report, 16 February 2021
“GIPS 2020 Exposure Draft: What Every Firm Needs to Know,” The Investment Lawyer, Vol. 26, No. 3, March 2019
Modern Compliance: Best Practices for Securities and Finance (three chapters on advertising under SEC, FINRA, CFTC and GIPS) Wolters Kluwer, 2015
Practical Considerations for Performance Advertising by Advisers, (co-authored with Christina Lim) Chapter 7 of Investment Adviser Regulation, A Step by Step Guide to Compliance and the Law, Third Edition, April 2011
GIPS 2010: An Overview, Investment Adviser Association Newsletter, Issue Number 220, April 1, 2011
The Amended Custody Rule: Will the Changes Make or Break You?, Schwab Adviser Services Article, March 2010
Practical Considerations for Performance Advertising by Advisers, (co-authored with Christina Lim) Chapter 7 of Investment Adviser Regulation, A Step by Step Guide to Compliance and the Law, Third Edition, April 2011
Practical Considerations for Performance Advertising by Advisers (co-authored with Christina Lim), Chapter 7 of Investment Adviser Regulation, A Step by Step Guide to Compliance and the Law, Third Edition, August 2006
Corporate Disclosure: Enron Reforms Begin to Take Hold, Mass High Tech, April 1, 2002
Revised Performance Presentation Standards, The Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation, February 27, 2002
AIMR Issues Revised Performance Presentation Standards, NSCP Currents and the Schwab Institutional Compliance Review, September 2001
Revised AIMR Advertising Guidelines, NSCP Currents, August 2001
Performance Standards Go Global, Signal Rise in Competition, Boston Business Journal, May 18, 2001
Investment Basics: AIMR’s Performance Presentation Standards: Gaining Global Acceptance, South Africa Investment Analysts Journal, December 1997
AIMR Performance Presentation Standards: Their Needs and Acceptance, Securities Analysts Journal of Japan (published in Japanese), December 1997
Insider Trading Laws and the Role of Securities Analysts, Financial Analysts Journal, March/April 1997 and INSIDERRECHT fur Finanzanalysten, November 1997
Investment Adviser Performance, National Society of Compliance Professionals Currents, May/June 1997
Ethics and the Financial Analyst, Financial Analysts Journal, January/February 1997
Plaintiff Attorneys vs. Analysts, Pension & Investments, December 11, 1995
Standards in Performance Presentation, The European Federation of Financial Analysts’ Societies Insider, September 1994
