Investment consultants play an important and growing role in the investment decision-making processes of institutional investors.  See “Goldman Prime Brokerage Survey Relays the Views of Institutional Investors on Hedge Fund Fees, Manager Selection, Due Diligence, Return Expectations, Liquidity, Managed Accounts, UCITS and Alternative Mutual Funds,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 6, No. 25 (Jun. 20, 2013).  Therefore, hedge fund managers that seek institutional investors for their hedge funds must understand who investment consultants are, how they operate and how they think, as well as the legal risks and benefits of working with consultants.  This article, the second in a two-part series, analyzes those legal risks and benefits, focusing in particular on pay to play, lobbying, general solicitation, advertising, fiduciary duty, conflicts of interest and related concerns.  The first article in this series provided an overview of the services and service models employed by consultants, discussed how consultants are compensated and explored how consultants think about manager selection.  See “Getting to Know the Gatekeepers: How Hedge Fund Managers Can Interface with Investment Consultants to Access Institutional Capital (Part One of Two),” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 6, No. 27 (Jul. 11, 2013).