Hedge funds  ·  Private equity  ·  Family offices  ·  Founders

The adviser
behind the
outcome.

Principal-led strategic communications counsel for the investment community and ambitious founders. Senior-level thinking, delivered personally, without agency overhead or junior handoffs.

Who we work with
Scroll
Who we work with

Hedge funds, family offices,
founders, and the professionals
who serve them.

Financial services & investment

Senior counsel for
the investment community.

Hedge fund managers, venture capital and private equity firms, family offices, and alternative asset managers. David has long-standing relationships with financial and business media in London and New York, and the market fluency to advise credibly on both sides of the Atlantic.

  • Hedge funds & alternative investment managers
  • Venture capital & private equity
  • Portfolio companies at any stage
  • Family offices & private wealth
  • Asset managers & financial services businesses
Private companies & founders

Any sector.
Any stage. Any size.

Private companies from early-stage growth to mature businesses. Whether the priority is raising capital, building brand, attracting talent, or preparing for a strategic exit, Burlton Advisory fills the gap that a chief marketing officer alone cannot cover, providing strategic counsel and hands-on execution as an extension of the leadership team.

  • Technology, consumer and business services
  • Building brand and establishing market presence
  • Attracting talent and growing a client base
  • Raising financing and managing investor relations
  • Preparing for a strategic exit or public listing
  • Navigating complex or regulated environments
Professional services & adjacent businesses

The firms that serve and support
the investment community.

Professional services businesses operating in or closely adjacent to investment management: fund administrators, legal and compliance practices, accounting and audit firms, and specialist consultancies whose work brings them into regular contact with institutional capital. For firms whose clients are the investment community, communications that demonstrate genuine sector fluency carry particular weight. Burlton Advisory understands the landscape from the inside and can help position your firm with credibility in a market that rewards it.

  • Fund administrators & fund services providers
  • Legal practices serving the investment community
  • Compliance & regulatory consultancies
  • Accounting, audit & tax firms in financial services
  • Technology providers to investment managers
  • Specialist consultancies in alternative assets
What we do

Counsel shaped
to the situation.

Close to two decades advising across the full spectrum of high-stakes communications: capital markets, investor relations, crisis, reputation, and growth. Each engagement is bespoke. The brief defines the work.

01
Capital Markets & Investor Relations

When reputation and capital are at stake, the quality of your communications determines how markets and investors respond. Strategic counsel across the full cycle: IPOs and listings on AIM, the Main Market, and NASDAQ; M&A and cross-border transactions; fundraisings; and ongoing investor relations for listed and pre-IPO companies.

02
Crisis & Special Situations

Confidential, senior counsel for situations requiring immediate attention and experienced judgement: regulatory scrutiny, activist pressure, litigation exposure, reputational threats, leadership transitions, and sensitive matters that cannot wait. Available at short notice. Experienced in the terrain.

03
Stakeholder & Reputation

Building and protecting relationships with the audiences that shape value: institutional investors, Tier 1 media, regulators, and counterparties. Strategic positioning for organisations seeking to establish, strengthen, or defend their standing in demanding and competitive environments.

04
Investment Management & Alternatives

Strategic communications for hedge fund managers, private equity and venture capital firms, and alternative asset managers. Covering investor relations, fundraising communications, media profile, and sensitive situations where discretion matters as much as execution. Extended to portfolio companies across their full growth journey.

05
Founder & Executive Counsel

Direct advisory for founders and senior executives building something that matters. Operating as strategic counsel or as a fractional head of communications embedded in the leadership team: from establishing brand and market presence, to growing a client base, securing financing, attracting talent, and managing the demands of a strategic exit or public listing.

How we work

Principal-led.
No handoffs.
No junior teams.

Burlton Advisory is not structured like a traditional communications firm. There are no account teams, no layers, and no delegation. Every mandate is led and delivered personally by David Bass, supported by a curated network of senior specialists engaged selectively as the mandate requires. For some clients, this means retained strategic counsel alongside existing leadership. For others, it means operating as a fractional head of communications, embedded in the leadership team and executing alongside them.

01
Principal-led

Every engagement is led and delivered personally throughout. You work directly with David Bass from the first conversation to delivery. No account managers, no handoffs, no unsupervised junior teams working on your mandate.

02
Specialist network

Access to a curated network of senior specialists across law, finance, government relations, and digital intelligence, engaged selectively as the mandate requires. The breadth of a large firm without the overhead or the conflicts.

03
Technology-enabled

AI-assisted research and analysis brings greater speed and depth to background work. All strategy, editorial judgement, and advice is provided directly and personally. Technology amplifies the work. It does not replace it.

About

Close to two
decades at the
intersection of
counsel and
consequence.

Burlton Advisory was founded by David Bass, a strategic communications adviser with close to twenty years of experience advising founders, CEOs, boards, and leadership teams across capital markets, financial services, highly regulated industries, and international growth businesses.

Career experience includes serving at No.10 Downing Street and within the Foreign & Commonwealth Office during the Arab Spring, leading international media operations at the United Nations during Somalia's first democratic elections in over two decades, and a secondment to NATO as UK Communications Liaison Officer during the Libya conflict.

In the private sector, David has advised FTSE 100, Main Market, and NASDAQ-listed companies, U.S. hedge funds and alternative investment managers, founder-led businesses, and international growth companies across IPOs, M&A, crisis situations, and complex regulatory environments in the UK, Europe, and the United States.

He has held senior in-house leadership roles within high-growth businesses, building communications and corporate affairs functions from the ground up across multiple international markets. Most recently, he advised MetaWealth on strategic communications and institutional investor engagement surrounding the launch of its European battery energy storage strategy, securing coverage with Tier 1 international infrastructure, wealth, and financial media.

Having lived and worked in both London and New York, David has direct relationships with UK and US financial and business media and a thorough understanding of both markets: a genuine differentiator for clients who need senior counsel with credibility on both sides of the Atlantic.

David holds an LLB in Law from Durham University.

David Bass — Burlton Advisory
~20
Years at senior level
AIM–
NASDAQ
Listed market experience
10+
Countries operated in
LLB
Durham University, Law
Sectors
Capital Markets & Financial Services Hedge Funds & Alternative Investments Fund Administration & Fund Services Legal, Compliance & Professional Services Energy Transition & Infrastructure Real Assets & Private Markets Natural Resources Highly Regulated Consumer Industries Technology & Growth Businesses Family Offices & Private Wealth
Contact

A conversation
costs nothing.

If you are navigating a significant decision, a transaction, a crisis, or a change of direction, or building something that requires strategic communications counsel from the outset, we would welcome the conversation. All enquiries are treated with complete discretion.

E david@burltonadvisory.com
T +44 (0) 7583 683 589
Li linkedin.com/in/davidwbass