MLA Places Susan M. Boccardi as General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer at Clarion Partners LLC

Hanover, MD (August 1, 2019) — Major, Lindsey & Africa (MLA), the world’s leading legal search firm, today announced the placement of Susan Boccardi as general counsel and chief compliance officer at Clarion Partners in New York. The search was led by Dimitri Mastrocola, a partner in MLA's In-House Counsel Practice Group in New York.

Susan will lead the firm’s legal and compliance team, overseeing the firm’s legal function and providing legal perspective and advice to the senior management team and the firm’s investment professionals on a wide variety of regulatory, compliance, strategic and tactical issues. She will be a member of the firm’s Operating Committee and several other governing bodies that form the framework of Clarion’s governance. She will be reporting to Chief Executive Officer David Gilbert. 

“It was a pleasure working with Clarion's senior leadership team, which was clearly committed to finding the right leader for their legal and compliance team. Susan is an ideal fit to be Clarion Partners' new general counsel,” said Dimitri Mastrocola. “She has extensive experience counseling CEOs and management teams in complex global investment advisory businesses. Her core expertise is SEC-registered investment advisory issues, and she is also an excellent transactional attorney.  Susan brings exceptional legal acumen and sound business judgment derived from years of training at top institutions, and I will believe she will be a huge asset for Clarion.”

“This role is a critical one for our firm, and we have been highly selective in finding the right talent and fit for our organization,” said David Gilbert. “Susan brings to Clarion a unique combination of both law firm training and in-house experience, deep financial industry acumen and international legal expertise that will complement our high-performance leadership team and support our future growth.”

Prior to Clarion Partners, Susan was global head of legal for WM Managed Investments at J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, which provides investment advice to retail, ultra-high net worth and institutional clients around the world. Before that, she was the head of the legal team supporting Investments at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. There Susan advised internal clients in diverse product areas in an industry-leading dual registrant investment advisor and broker-dealer. Susan started her career at Davis Polk & Wardwell where she advised investment management clients on a wide range of complex regulatory and transactional issues including: Investment Company Act and Investment Advisers Act; mergers & acquisitions of investment advisors; and formation of hedge funds.