Iron Road taps member of the SEC Private Funds Unit for new role

Iron Road Partners, a regulatory consulting firm started by the former co-head of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s private funds unit, Igor Rozenblit, has turned to the regulator for one of its latest hires.

Paul McGowan joined Iron Road Partners as a director after 18 years at the SEC. McGowan held various senior roles within the Division of Examinations, the Private Funds Unit and the Division of Enforcement, where he assisted and led numerous high-profile examinations and investigations of complex alternative investment managers, large broker-dealers and registered investment advisers.

He is based in Boston and will focus on advising real estate, private equity and hedge fund managers navigating the current regulatory environment.

McGowan said he joined Iron Road because was looking for something new and a “bit of a different challenge.” Rozenblit had reached out with the opportunity at Iron Road, and McGowan said the position was just what he was looking for and a great opportunity.

“My goal is to be able to take some of the difficult and involved, interesting and idiosyncratic clients off Igor’s plate so he can really focus on business growth and business development,” McGowan told Private Funds CFO.

“I hope to share my expertise from working at the SEC with Iron Road’s clients and help out clients work through some of their unique challenges,” McGowan added.

As director, McGowan’s main focus will be on client engagements, although he plans to do “a little bit of everything.”

McGowan believes the biggest change in moving from the SEC to Iron Road will be the mindset.

“At the SEC, we strived to have a constructive dialogue with registrants, but we understand that some conversations with these firms can be difficult simply because the SEC is a regulator. At Iron Road, I can really peel back the layers with clients a bit more to really understand what some of their business motivations are and help them work through their problems in more of a collaborative way,” he said.

Also joining the firm is KC Tai as a consultant. Previously, KC was a director of compliance at Oppenheimer & Co, where he focused on implementing and administering an investment adviser compliance program. KC will be based in New York.

Iron Road Partners remains the only regulatory consulting firm to have former members of the SEC’s Private Funds Unit on staff.

“Both Paul and KC embody our values of excellence, rigorous analysis and a desire to positively impact our clients. We are thrilled to have them on board,” said Rozenblit.