Margarida Ferreira

Margarida is one of a growing number of industry specialists within Macfarlanes that bring market insight and investor intelligence into our advisory work.

Tell us more about your role at Macfarlanes

As industry specialists, it’s our responsibility to provide a commercial overlay to the firm’s legal advice, built on our understanding of the market and our clients’ businesses, their growth story and direction of travel. We have specialists who are focused on several non-legal activities such as investor and sector research, accounting and valuations, and even AI. To my knowledge, that’s unique to Macfarlanes.

How did your career begin at Macfarlanes?

I had been working in transaction advisory at a consultancy firm when I met someone from Macfarlanes at a conference. I learned that the firm was building a new commercial insight and investor intelligence capability in-house and it suited my skillset well. More than three years later, our work in this area really sets us apart and we’re adding significant value to the legal advice that Macfarlanes already provides its clients. We’re doing something different and it’s a great example of the entrepreneurial spirit at Macfarlanes.

How has the firm supported you in your role?

I’ve felt very supported here and it’s manifested in lots of different ways, from time and resources to senior sponsorship. There are weekly education and training sessions across the firm, and I’ve also had strong support to grow my own professional qualifications. Before I joined, no one at Macfarlanes had needed to pursue the Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst qualification, but when I proposed it, the answer was an immediate “yes”, and I was given what I needed to achieve it. 

How international is your work?

Our client base is global so I spend a lot of time understanding investors’ expectations across Europe, as well as in the US, Asia and South America. A good example is the work we’ve done to analyse the needs of investors in the Middle East, where we have supported clients in structuring products for the different types of Sharia investors.  Our global reach gives me great exposure to international work.