Schulte adds to investment management group with hire from Perkins

Schulte Roth & Zabel has hired Michael Didiuk as a partner and member of its Investment Management Regulatory & Compliance group, an important addition to its practice following the SEC’s adoption of the private funds rule.

The law firm said that Didiuk arrives with more than two decades of regulatory experience in investment management. He most recently worked at Perkins Coie, which he joined in 2017 and where he was co-chair of its Private Investment Funds group.

Prior to Perkins, Didiuk worked at the SEC for about seven years and held roles including senior counsel for the Division of Investment Management’s counsel office. He was also investment counsel for two of the regulator’s commissioners and worked in the regulator’s Division of Examinations.

Before joining the SEC, Didiuk confirmed, he spent time at law firms Willkie Farr & Gallager, Shearman & Sterling and Dechert.

In an interview with Private Funds CFO, Didiuk noted that he has held the firm in high regard going back to early in his legal career.

“I always looked to Schulte as the gold standard,” he said.

Didiuk said that he joined Schulte after becoming acquainted with Marc Elovitz, who is a managing partner and co-chairs the group. The two first spoke in a January call and kept in touch.

A spokesperson for Perkins did not respond to a request for comment regarding what will happen with Didiuk’s former role.

The law firm noted that Didiuk’s arrival is the latest recent change in the investment management group.

In 2022, Schulte hired Allison Bernbach, whose experience includes working at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and internally at private equity firms. And this year it elevated Chris Avellaneda to partner from associate.

Schulte’s investment management group faces challenges that come from the significant growth of private markets over the years, Elovitz told Private Funds CFO.

“With that huge shift of capital comes a growth in the regulatory space,” he said.

Elovitz pointed to the increase in SEC regulations under chair Gary Gensler as an example.

“In the last two years, there have been a slew of rules directly focused at private investment funds,” he said.

Elovitz touted Didiuk’s related experience, which includes his “substantial and important work at the SEC itself from a policy and regulatory oversight perspective.”

And Didiuk pointed to the SEC’s recently adopted private funds rule as a place where his background will come in handy. He cited his related experience with the Investment Company Act in both private funds and registered fund products.