Hamilton Lane nears final close for latest flagship secondaries fund

Hamilton Lane expects to soon hold the final close for its latest flagship secondaries fund, just over two years since the firm launched what could be its latest such vehicle.

“We are on target to meaningfully surpass the prior fund size with this current fund,” co-chief executive Erik Hirsch said on the firm’s fiscal Q3 2024 earnings call on Tuesday. “We expect to hold the final close for this fund over the coming weeks.”

Hamilton Lane Secondary Fund VI launched in 2021 with a $5 billion target, according to Secondaries Investor data. The fund held its fifth close last June, securing $2.5 billion in total from investors including Boston Retirement System and Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho.

Fund VI has amassed $3.5 billion from investors to date, according to Hirsch.

Hamilton Lane raised $3.9 billion for its predecessor fund, Hamilton Lane Secondary Fund V, which closed in early 2021 against a $3 billion target. Fund V received capital from Cathay Life Insurance, Employees’ Retirement Fund of the City of Dallas and Fubon Life Insurance, among other investors.

Hirsch said historically the firm’s final closes have tended to be its largest funds and he expects that to be true with this latest raise.

Fund VI brought in over $485 million in the quarter ending December 2023 and generated $6.1 million in retroactive fees, according to Hirsch.

Besides investing from the secondaries flagship funds, Hamilton Lane has also been pursuing secondaries opportunities through some of its inaugural vehicles. These vehicles include the debut Infrastructure Opportunities Fund, which closed on $590 million in July 2022, and Hamilton Lane Venture Access Fund I, which launched in November 2022, according to data from affiliate Private Equity International.

The secondaries market hit a new fundraising record last year, with a total of $117.92 billion raised across all asset classes, according to Secondaries Investor data. That figure is more than double the prior year’s $53.28 billion and almost 17 percent higher than the previous record set in 2020. In total, 92 secondaries funds held their final close last year, marking the second-highest year by vehicle count close.