Paul McGowan, Partner

Paul joined Iron Road Partners as a Director in 2022 and was named Partner in 2024. Before Iron Road, he was a Senior Compliance Examiner and Staff Attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, where he worked for nearly 20 years. While at the SEC, Paul held various roles within the Division of Examinations and Enforcement, interacting with hundreds of registered investment advisers and broker-dealers. Paul began his SEC career conducting examinations of large, complex broker-dealers focusing on various trading and investment banking risks and compliance challenges. He then focused on enforcement investigations involving registered broker-dealers and investment advisers.

Paul finished his SEC career working for the Division of Examinations Private Funds Unit leading many high-profile investment adviser and private fund exams. Deficiencies identified included breaches of fiduciary duty, violations of the Investment Advisers Act’s anti-fraud provisions, valuation, fee and expense allocation, real estate/real asset issues, carried interest calculations, co-investment policies, private credit conflicts, and related party transactions. Several of these examination deficiencies resulted in significant financial recoveries for investors.

Before joining the SEC, Paul was a compliance analyst for Linsco Private Ledger and worked in operations and trading for Mellon Private Asset Management.

Paul holds a Juris Doctorate degree with a Business and Financial Services concentration from Suffolk Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Connecticut College. Paul is also a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association.