Hamilton Lane launches private secondary market fund for US investors

High-net-worth investors will have a new route to private market investments thanks to a new fund launch by Hamilton Lane.

Following its myth-busting report on the $19 trillion private markets space, the firm has announced the launch of the Hamilton Lane Private Secondary Fund which will be open to sufficiently qualified investors and their advisors and other accredited clients in the US.

The fund will provide access to the firm’s secondary investment platform which includes closed-end funds and SMAs totaling $24.1 billion in assets under management and supervision as of December 31, 2024. The new fund is aiming for favorable risk-adjusted returns and will focus on high quality middle market buyout funds and assets, with significant near-term distribution potential.

Recently, Bob Long, CEO of StepStone Private Wealth, joined InvestmentNews anchor Gregg Greenberg to highlight the most effective ways to add private market assets to a portfolio.

Ryan Cooney, managing director on Hamilton Lane’s secondary investment team, said that the market has a broader and more attractive offer than ever, sparking a record level of volume in 2024.

“This part of the market offers a number of unique benefits to investors, especially those newer to the private markets, including knowledge of underlying assets, an increased pace of capital deployment and J-curve mitigation,” he said. “We look forward to enabling access for more investors to capitalize on what we believe are the attractive long-term growth trends of the secondary market through a dedicated investment vehicle that offers the potential for liquidity.”

Demand for innovative private markets exposure is growing among retail investors and their advisors and State Street is among the firms addressing this burgeoning market with the launch of a novel ETF providing exposure to private credit, in a partnership with Apollo, although the SEC expressed some concerns about the new fund.