Matthew Baker

CAREER PATH: Baker started at ATP-PEP in 2004 after specializing in finance at law firm Slaughter and May in London. He spent one year on secondment at Danish law firm Gorrissen Federspiel Kierkegaard, and has been living in Copenhagen ever since. Baker graduated from Sussex University and has a law degree from the College of Law in London.

MOvE TO IN-HOusE: Becoming an in-house counsel was something that Baker decided on at the beginning of his career. After five years at Slaughter and May he felt he had enough experience to make the move to in-house. He was attracted by the relaxed but professional culture of ATP-PEP and by the idea of becoming more involved in the commercial side of the business.

NEGOTIATION: Baker's primary responsibility at ATP-PEP is negotiating fund documentation. He is also involved in negotiating tax aspects of the firm's deals, as well as resource management and reporting to its investor ATP. One of the attractions of the job for Baker is that the legal team at ATP-PEP gets exposure to every stage of a deal. He job is also about to get busier ?ATP-PEP recently opened a New York office.

COHEsIvENEss: One of the other attractions of ATP-PEP for Baker is the cohesiveness of the team. Whereas in some firms, teams like legal counsel and investor relations can be slightly sidelined from the firm's core operations, Baker says that ATP-PEP works hard to bridge the gap between its legal and commercial teams. Although he is not part of the investment committee, Baker is frequently asked for his judgment on potential deals ?so that ATP-PEP's legal team is as in-house as it gets.

ENERGy: Baker says the most interesting deal he has worked on at the firm is an energy deal. Apart from participating in the commercial due diligence in New York, Baker found the deal particularly interesting because it posed certain structural and fiscal challenges. Now that ATP-PEP is expanding its strategy beyond the US and Europe, Baker will start to see different fund structures and strategies, and he is looking forward to learning more about the market on a global basis.

LANGuAGE bARRIER: Baker spoke not a word of Danish when he moved to Copenhagen, but takes regular lessons and practices with his Danish wife and two children. Professionally, his lack of Danish skills is not much of a problem because the vast majority of ATP-PEP's business is conducted in English. But learning Danish, says Baker, is more important socially. He also enjoys the relaxed Scandinavian professional culture – quite a change from the hectic atmosphere of London.