Hamilton Lane, a leading private markets investment firm, has entered into a partnership with digital securities exchange ADDX to tokenize shares issued by Hamilton Lane Global Private Assets Fund (GPA). This will enable a broader segment of investors in Asia to access private markets.
With this partnership, Hamilton Lane marks the first time it has tokenized a fund, and is one of the first leading private markets firm to do so. This move reflects the company’s enduring commitment to innovation and expansion of investor participation and access to assets.
With this partnership, Hamilton Lane’s GPA fund will be available to ADDX investors with a minimum ticket size of USD 10,000, substantially lesser than the usual USD 125,000 for investors using traditional non-tokenized subscription channels.
ADDX, Asia’s largest private market exchange, has individual accredited investors from over 39 countries, across Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin America. Over half of these investors are from Asia. The innovative platform automates the process of issuance, custody and distribution of private market products through the use of blockchain technology and smart contract technology. The efficiency derived from tokenization of assets enables the exchange to fractionalize investments in a commercially viable and scalable manner.
Global Private Assets Fund
Hamilton Lane’s GPA fund was launched in 2019, and since its inception, has returned 16.11 percent, with assets of more than USD 1.8 billion as of January, 2022.
The open-ended fund’s underlying assets primarily comprise direct equity and secondary investments, and direct credit. Till date, the fund has invested in the assets of nine industries, with approximately half the investments in the IT and Industrial sectors. The remaining investments span several sectors, including communications, healthcare and energy.
Hamilton Lane
Due to deep expertise developed over 30 years in private markets, and extensive relationships within the industry, Hamilton Lane is able to access a proprietary deal pipeline, thereby enabling the investments team to cast a wide, yet highly selective net. Hamilton Lane is also one of the worlds largest investors of capital to private markets, having invested over USD 37 billion in capital in 2021.
Juan Delgado-Moreira, Vice-chairman and Head of International at Hamilton Lane, said that the company is dedicated to provide access for a broader group of investors to private markets, without the challenges normally faced by small investors. He said that the company will continue to seek partnerships with organizations that utilize the latest in technology to drive the industry forward. He added that Hamilton Lane was excited to offer its investors access to GPA through the innovative new ADDX platform.
ADDX
CEO of ADDX, Oi-Yee Choo said that many investors do not realize that private markets are bigger in size than public markets. He mentioned that more than 90 percent of companies with a turnover higher than USD 100 million, are private companies. He added that ignoring private equity would be a big mistake. Choo also said that while private equity adds value to investor portfolios, till now investors lacked the access to such markets. Using tokenization and fractionalization, ADDX aims to fill the gap, and partnering with Hamilton Lane would only further that resolve and commitment.
ADDX was licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2020, and has since listed more than 26 deals on its platform. Some of these include blue-chip companies like Investcorp, UOB, Mapletree, Azalea and SeaTown. The classes available on the ADDX platform include venture capital, private debt, private equity, hedge funds, real estate, crypto funds and structured products. For issuers, the advantage of the ADDX platform lies in providing access to previously-untapped capital pools, reducing the cost and minimum threshold of fundraising projects.
About Hamilton Lane
Hamilton Lane is a leading private markets investment management company that provides innovative solutions to global institutional and individual investors. Hamilton Lane has been dedicated exclusively to private markets investing for 30 years. The company currently employs more than 500 professionals across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Americas. Hamilton Lane currently has over $851 billion in assets under management and supervision, composed of over $98 billion in discretionary assets and nearly $753 billion in advisory assets, according to data provided by the company.
About ADDX
ADDX was founded in 2017, and is a full-service capital markets platform licensed to the Monetary Authority of Singapore for issuance, custody and secondary trading of digital securities. In January 2021, the fintech company raised USD 50 million in its Series A round of funding. The shareholders of ADDX include Singapore Exchange, Heliconia Capital, and Japanese investors JIC Venture Growth Investments and the Development Bank of Japan. ICHX Tech Pte, Ltd. Owns and operates ADDX and is a Recognized Market Operator (RMO) approved by MAS