Dr Bela Jansen
Areas of practice
Dr Bela Jansen has more than 15 years’ experience advising German and international clients on regulatory and (investment) tax issues in relation to asset management and in connection with all types of fund investments. He advises providers and institutional investors on the creation, structuring or restructuring of regulated and non-regulated investment funds and other investment products (securities, real property, certificates, bonds, NPLs, private equity, hedge funds, derivative instruments, open-ended and closed-end funds). He further specialises in advising on the structuring and implementation of pension assets and pension liabilities.
Vita
Dr Bela Jansen studied law at the University of Mainz and obtained his doctorate from Saarland University (both Germany). He was admitted to practise as a tax advisor in 2004.
After passing his second state law exam, Bela Jansen worked for many years as a lawyer and tax advisor in the international law firm Clifford Chance and, most recently as Managing Partner, at WTS in Frankfurt and Munich (both Germany), where he was responsible for the Asset Management & Financial Services practice. From 2016 to 2021, he was a Partner at EY and responsible for the Transaction Tax - Investment Funds & Pension Assets team.
Bela Jansen speaks German and English. He regularly holds lectures on topics such as the taxation of investments and, in 2016, was heard as an expert before the Finance Committee of the German Bundestag on the investment tax law reform. Furthermore, he is a frequent author on tax, regulatory and pension law topics, including in Berger/Steck/Lübbehüsen and Moritz/Jesch/Mann (both commentaries on the German Investment Tax Act) and in Kirchhof/Söhn/Mellinghoff (commentary on the German Income Tax Act). He is a co-founder and professional co-manager of Arbeitskreis Investmentanlagen, an investment working group established in 2019 with numerous participants from DAX companies, large family businesses, multinationals and family offices.
Honors and distinctions
- The Legal 500 Germany 2025: Recommendations in the categories "Banking and Finance Law - Investment Funds" (first recommendation in 2022) and "Tax Law" ("Bela Jansen: His solutions are always of the highest calibre, tailor-made and cutting-edge.") and mention in "City Focus Frankfurt" (first recommendation in 2023)
- Best Lawyers 2026: Recommendation in "Tax Law" and “Regulatory Practice” (first recommendation in 2016) and "Regulatory Practice"
Clients
- Advice on the restructuring of the liquid funds of an internationally operating group of companies and setting-up of a corresponding fund platform.
- Advice on the structuring of the liquid and illiquid investments of an internationally operating family-owned group of companies.
- Advice on the creation of a European real estate fund and assistance with the individual acquisitions in various target jurisdictions.
- Comprehensive assistance with various fund investments and their tax treatment in tax audits, appeal proceedings and lawsuits.
- Regulatory and tax law advice to diverse investment management companies in connection with the creation of investment funds and the acquisition of real property and other alternative investments by these funds.
- Comprehensive assistance with the creation and structuring of an international hedge fund portfolio.
- Advice on the creation and structuring of a master-feeder fund structure taking into account diverse classes of assets (real property, securities, alternative investments and hedge funds).
Lectures
Partner
![[Translate to English:] Managing trade barriers](/fileadmin/user_upload/reciprocal_tariffs.jpeg "[Translate to English:] Managing trade barriers")
Dr Stefan Altenschmidt, LL.M. (Nottingham)
Partner
Dusseldorf
Dr Gregor Wecker
Partner
Cologne
Bernhard Burkert, LL.M. (Stellenbosch)
Partner
Berlin
Dr Eberhard Vetter
Of Counsel
Cologne
Dr Jörgen Tielmann, LL.M.
Partner
Hamburg
Christiane Frye
Counsel
Essen
Dr Karl-Christian Stopp
Of Counsel
Leipzig
Ulrich Siegemund
Of Counsel
Frankfurt a.M.
Nicole Fröhlich
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.
Prof Dr Florian Schulz M.B.A. (Nimbas)
Partner
Hamburg
Stephan Gittermann
Partner
Frankfurt a.M.
Dr Thomas Gohrke
Partner
Hanover, Leipzig
Frank Gutsche
Partner
Stuttgart
Dr Richard Happ
Partner
Hamburg
Dr Benjamin Hub
Partner
Hamburg
Dr Andreas Kloyer
Partner
Frankfurt a.M., London