Hamilton Lane tops $500 mln in its largest fund-of-funds

Hamilton Lane Advisors LLC said it held a final closing of Hamilton Lane Private Equity Fund IX LP with $516 million in commitments, 29 percent above its $400 million target, as the largest fund-of-funds in its 24-year history.

The Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, alternative specialist with $37 billion in discretionary assets under management drew support from new and existing LPs including public pension funds, endowments, foundations and other institutions.

The new fund comes about two years after Hamilton Lane wrapped up Fund VIII with $427 million in commitments.

With an eye on small- to mid-market GPs, the fund will build exposure to a mix of core PE funds. Many of the LPs in the fund are smaller institutions seeking access to PE as an asset class.

“Our approach is always dynamic — each fund changes with the market,” Jackie Rantanen, managing director and co-head of the product-management group at Hamilton Lane, said in a phone call. “Historically, we’ve had a mix of longstanding relationships with some new managers and existing managers, and we’d expect that to continue with this new fund.”

The fund will seek managers capable of driving value by improving operations at the portfolio-company level. It’ll include a blend of primaries, co-investments and secondaries.

“While everyone knows the secondary market is competitive, our approach allows us to find interesting opportunities where we’re able to get good pricing,” she said.

Rantanen didn’t specify terms of the new fund. “We think that our investors in this fund like the whole package, and the terms are a piece of it, along with our approach and our team, which is large in the fund-of-funds world,” she said.