Few in asset management can claim to have shaped fund innovation in the way Dalia Blass has.
As assistant chief counsel at the SEC, Blass oversaw ETF and other new product approvals in the Division of Investment Management's Office of the Chief Counsel — a key effort being the approval of Eaton Vance's NextShares application.
During her tenure at the SEC, she was also involved in developing new rules related to liquidity risk management and data gathering.
"These innovations and changes impacted the asset management industry but, more importantly, were designed to serve fund investors well," Blass says.
In recognition of her work, Blass received a number of awards from the SEC, including the regulator's Manuel F. Cowen award, which is given "to a younger lawyer who has displayed outstanding legal ability and performance."
After a decade-long stint at the SEC, Blass joined global law firm Ropes & Gray in September, buttressing strengthen the firm's regulatory and ETF capabilities.
Looking back on her SEC tenure, she says she left one important legacy at the regulatory agency.
"I am very proud of my role in hiring, mentoring and promoting a number of women in leadership positions at the SEC," Blass says. "Fostering the development and advancement of women lawyers is woven into the very fabric of the SEC.
"I have benefited throughout my career from very strong and highly capable women mentors, and I am excited to do my part by continuing to promote women in leadership roles at a firm that places high value on inclusion."
