David Grim, director of the Division of Investment Management at the Securities and Exchange Commission, will leave the agency in September after more than 20 years of public service. 

Grim, who joined the Division directly from law school and rose to become its leader, has left a legacy of regulatory policy reforms and legal guidance that have shaped the Division and the industry it regulates, the SEC stated. The Division oversees the $70 trillion dollar asset management industry, which includes mutual funds; exchange-traded funds; closed-end funds; variable insurance products; business development companies and investment advisers.

As Director, Grim led the Division’s policy-development; legal-interpretation; data-analysis and disclosure-review functions. Key initiatives advanced under his leadership as Director included:

Commission adoption of a modernized, comprehensive data-reporting regime for investment companies to improve the access and quality of information available to the Commission and the public about fund investments;

Commission adoption of rules to enhance liquidity risk management by mutual funds so that funds stand ready to meet investor redemptions while also minimizing the impact of those redemptions on remaining shareholders;

Issuance of guidance providing important and timely transparency of staff views on issues including cyber-security and robo-advisers; 

Issuance of an interpretation permitting “clean shares,” to further enable the sale of mutual funds at a transparent price subject to market competition;

Orderly implementation of money market fund reforms to protect against risks from potential investor runs;

Improved integration of data-analysis to better inform policy-development, disclosure-review, and industry oversight related to funds and advisers;

Enhanced public disclosure of aggregated data regarding private fund advisers to improve public understanding of those advisers and the funds they manage;   

Commission proposal of rules regarding funds’ use of derivatives; electronic delivery of fund shareholder reports; and business continuity and transition plans for investment advisers.

Grim joined the SEC in 1995 as a staff attorney in the Division’s Office of Investment Company Regulation. In 1998, he moved to the Division's Office of Chief Counsel, where he served in a number of positions, including being named Assistant Chief Counsel in 2007. Mr. Grim was appointed as Deputy Director of the Division in 2013, and Director in 2015.

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