Reed Smith has added a partner to its financial industry group in Washington, the firm announced Wednesday.
W. Thomas Conner, formerly a partner with Sutherland Asbill and Brennan, specializes in securities-based and commodities-based exchange traded funds (ETFs) and insurance-based investment products, including variable annuities and variable life insurance. As part of his practice, he represents financial service companies as they navigate federal laws overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The ETF industry is increasingly becoming very globally oriented,” Conner said in an interview. “There are U.S. ETFs that sell their products around the world.”
Conner said that in the last three-to-four years, ETFs have become very popular, with some investors eyeing oil and gas. He has been practicing in the area of insurance-based investment products since 1994, when he was part of the SEC’s Office of Insurance Products.
“He has a tremendous reputation and extensive connections both inside and outside the Beltway, and we are looking forward to working with him as a colleague,” A. Scott Bolden, Reed Smith’s Washington office managing partner, said in a written statement.
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