Overview
Paul Felsch is a former government attorney who has served as Chief Compliance Officer and Senior Counsel at some of the world’s leading retail and institutional investment management firms, including Edward Jones, Allspring Global Investments, and Galliard Capital Management. He is a thought leader, speaker and content contributor for organizations such as the Investment Company Institute (ICI), Mutual Fund Directors Forum (MFDF), Investment Management Education Alliance (IMEA), and National Society of Compliance Professionals (NSCP), among others. He also teaches law school courses on investment management regulation.
He founded Helios because he believed there was a need to redefine traditional GRC consulting with an emphasis on simplicity and creativity, and making sophisticated expertise available in a more accessible and cost-effective manner. He brings two decades of combined legal, regulatory, and compliance experience working with investment managers on their most critical GRC challenges.
Extended Professional Profile
Before founding Helios, Paul served as Chief Compliance Officer for Allspring Funds Management, a global $400B retail and institutional SEC and NFA-registered asset manager. He was responsible for leading Allspring Funds Management’s compliance function that supported the firm’s retail-managed accounts business, as well as the firm’s mutual fund, closed-end fund, CIT, UCITS, and AIF products. While at Allspring, he led Allspring Funds Management’s compliance program through several critical initiatives, including the launch of Allspring’s first-ever suite of ETFs, as well as a process optimization effort that led to a 30% reduction of processes with corresponding economic savings and increased employee engagement. He also led the development of Allspring Funds Management’s compliance program to support the firm’s $60B retail managed account platform.
In addition to Allspring, Paul has served as Chief Compliance Officer for Galliard Capital Management, a global $90B stable value and fixed income SEC-registered asset manager with approximately 90 employees. Galliard offers separate account, CIT, and private fund products to institutional investors such as corporate retirement and benefit plans, foundations and endowments, insurance reserves, operating funds, public entities, and Taft Hartley plans. While with Galliard, he assisted the firm with launching its first-ever set of private funds and enabling Galliard to expand its domestic distribution of its US fixed-income strategies to global jurisdictions such as the UK, Canada, EMEA, and APAC. He also led the merger of Galliard’s compliance program with its new global parent across people, processes, and technology segments.
Prior to Allspring and Galliard, Paul began his industry career at Edward Jones. While there, he served as Chief Compliance Officer & AML Officer for Edward Jones’ proprietary mutual fund complex, overseeing the launch and growth of the complex from one fund with $5B in assets to 8 funds with $180B in assets. Prior to serving as Chief Compliance Officer for Edward Jones’ mutual funds, he held numerous other roles with the firm, including Senior Compliance Counsel where he supported Edward Jones’ retail investment advisory, transfer agency, and distribution business lines and worked with financial advisors nationwide.
A former government attorney as well, Paul began his legal career as an Assistant Attorney General with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office. Upon the Attorney General being elected the Missouri Governor, Paul was asked to serve in the Governor’s administration as Assistant General Counsel at the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Before transitioning into industry, he also held the role of Special Assistant Attorney General & Legal Counsel for the Missouri Department of Revenue.
Affiliations
- Adjunct Assistant Professor – St. Louis University School of Law
- Board Member – Missouri State Council for the Arts (appointed by Missouri Lieutenant Governor)
- Missouri Bar Member
- FINRA Series 7, 9, 10, 24 & 66 Licensee
- Member, CCO Committee – Investment Company Institute
- Member, Regulatory Advisory Committee – National Society of Compliance Professionals
- Member, Investment Advisers Association
Education
- JD – University of Missouri Columbia – School of Law
- MFA (Creative Writing) – University of Southern Maine
- BA (Cum Laude) – College of the Holy Cross
Personal
Paul lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and two children. He enjoys reading, camping, fly fishing, snowboarding, and (every so often) running.