YCharts is adding a suite of private markets benchmarks from Hamilton Lane to its platform, a move aimed at giving advisors more consistent ways to analyze and explain private investments alongside traditional holdings. The integration arrives as more RIAs and broker-dealer reps look to private markets as a key differentiator in their practices and a growing piece of client portfolios.
The new benchmarks are built from Hamilton Lane’s proprietary fund- and deal-level data, based on limited partner cash flows from around the world. Rather than relying on ad hoc or one-off performance figures, advisors using YCharts’ Professional license will be able to draw on standardized performance series across private equity, private credit and private real assets, broken down by strategy, vintage year and geography.
“YCharts is focused on helping advisors make more informed, confident decisions for their clients,” said Caleb Eplett, chief product officer at YCharts. “With the addition of Hamilton Lane benchmarks, we’re giving advisors the context they need to understand and explain private markets investments within client portfolios.”
For many wealth firms, private funds are still modeled through proxy tickers or blended portfolios that only approximate underlying exposures. YCharts said the Hamilton Lane data is meant to serve as a more relevant comparison point for those proxies, so advisors can stress-test diversification, compare performance, and show clients where a private allocation fits within a broader plan.
Hamilton Lane’s benchmarks are already used by institutions, general partners, advisors and researchers to measure performance and spot trends across the asset class. Griff Norville, head of technology solutions at Hamilton Lane, said the firm is “excited to partner with YCharts to make our proprietary private markets benchmark data more accessible to financial advisors,” adding that broader access is part of its push to support investor education in private markets.
The launch follows a broader industry push to build tools that bridge public and private assets. Morningstar and PitchBook last year rolled out the Morningstar PitchBook US Modern Market 100 Index, which combines 90 large US-listed companies with 10 late-stage, venture-backed private companies in a single benchmark. That effort is similarly framed as a way to put public and private holdings on the same footing for performance measurement and potential product development.
Advisor demand appears to be there. A November survey of 400 advisors from AssetMark found that 91% view access to private markets as critical for differentiation, while 68% of those not yet using private investments planned to add them within a year. Nearly 60% of that group said they would consider switching firms to gain access, highlighting how central private markets have become to competition among platforms.
“Advisors are signaling that private markets are no longer an optional service – they’re a strategic necessity,” said Michael Kim, CEO of AssetMark.
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