In the managed funds sector, John has formed and represents institutionally-sponsored and entrepreneur-organized hedge funds ranging in size from smaller funds with state-registered advisers, to larger domestic and international funds and funds of funds with billions of dollars in assets under management, employing diverse equity, debt, and risk arbitrage strategies in structures ranging from simple domestic investment vehicles to multi-tiered offshore master-feeder complexes.  On the operational side, he works hand-in-hand with managed funds clients on navigating the full gamut of securities laws impacted by their marketplace activities. John frequently advises fund managers on investment advisory, prime brokerage, and professional service relationships, as well as relations with their investors and affiliates. He has represented both Boards of Directors and Fund investors in connection with high-profile SEC and CFTC enforcement and seizure actions.

In the venture capital and private equity arena, John has formed venture capital and private equity funds and has closed close to 100 private equity transactions since 2000, resulting in the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars between enterprises and stakeholders, often coupled with substantial cash liquidity events for founders and management. He represents public investors, venture capital and buyout funds, SBICs, investment banks, broker-dealers, private enterprises and their founders/principals in the full range of investment transactions from seed through later stage equity and debt investments; PIPE financings; mergers, acquisitions and divestitures; IPOs and public offerings of equity and debt; buyouts, roll-ups, and recapitalizations; and joint ventures and strategic alliances. He has negotiated and structured formation documents for private equity funds organized as SBICs, and represents SBIC licensees in connection with their licensing, fund raising, regulatory compliance and investment transactions.

John is a member of the Banking Commissioner's Securities Advisory Council, and from 1990-1995 he served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Finance and Antitrust Divisions under Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. He is a frequent panelist at hedge fund industry conferences worldwide.

Publications and Speeches

Co-author, "Obama Proposals Could Have Major Impact On Private Fund Managers," FINalternatives, June 24, 2009.

Testified before the Senate Banking Committee on new bills that would dramatically reverse Connecticut's longstanding hands-off approach to regulating its once booming but now shaky hedge fund industry.  February 27, 2009.

"More banks may become private." USA Today, January 5, 2009.

"John Brunjes, head of the fund formation practice in the Hartford, Conn., office of Houston's Bracewell & Giuliani, recently gave a presentation on the difficulties of regulating pension fund participation in hedge funds at the U.S. Department of Labor, which oversees the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)." The National Law Journal. December 1, 2008.