Ellen Paulus specializes in matters involving investments, financial markets, financial institutions, and valuation. Dr. Paulus consults to financial services firms, including asset managers and broker-dealers, with a focus on matters involving the performance, pricing, trading, portfolio allocation, and alleged manipulation of a wide range of investments and financial products. She also focuses on valuation, including matters before the Delaware Court of Chancery.
Dr. Paulus supports clients and experts through all phases of litigation, including mediation, deposition, class certification, and trial. She has published research in the Journal of Empirical Finance.
Investments
Dr. Paulus has assessed a range of issues arising in portfolio management firms. She has supported firms in regulatory investigations led by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice. She has worked on class action litigation matters involving Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
Dr. Paulus has extensive experience with issues related to trading and portfolio allocation, pricing of mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, and a range of structured products. Her expertise includes:
- Analyzing portfolio allocations to address claims of cherry-picking
- Analyzing mutual funds’ performance, fee, scale, and profitability data to address claims of excessive fees under Section 36(b)
- Conducting valuation of odd-lot holdings of securities by ETFs
- Analyzing trading in ETF basket securities by an authorized participant
- Evaluating defined contribution plan performance and fees, as well as individual-level transaction data, in the context of ERISA
- Assessing performance attribution and portfolio risk for a family of corporate and municipal bond funds
- Identifying cross-trades in mutual fund transaction data, and estimating appropriate remediation under Rule 17a-7 of the Investment Company Act of 1940
- Evaluating proposed SEC rulemaking on sales practices on behalf of an ETF sponsor
- Conducting valuation of structured products, including the tranches of synthetic collateralized debt obligations (CDOs)
- Conducting credit risk assessments for a variety of fixed income and hybrid instruments
Collusive conduct in financial markets
Dr. Paulus has assessed the alleged market manipulation of bid-ask spreads, asset prices, and benchmark prices in FX markets, over-the-counter markets for corporate bonds, and the primary market for ETFs. She has worked with major financial institutions to analyze large transaction-level datasets and conducted forensic analyses of specific trading episodes.
Dr. Paulus has addressed antitrust issues arising in commercial litigation as well as regulatory and internal investigations. Her experience includes:
- Addressing alleged market manipulation and collusive conduct in FX markets, both in the contexts of class certification and liability and damages
- Consulting on multinational regulatory investigations into the alleged manipulation of precious metal derivatives
- Analyzing alleged manipulation of a pricing algorithm for corporate bonds in the context of internal investigations
Valuation
Dr. Paulus has led teams to conduct company valuations, notably in matters before the Delaware Court of Chancery and the United States Tax Court. Her expertise includes analyzing the complex financial structure of high-growth technology companies.
Cornerstone Research Announces Senior Staff Promotions to Vice President and Principal
Cornerstone Research Promotes Four to Principal in Boston, Chicago, and Washington