Friday, November 19, 2004
Hamilton Lane HFOF Biz - WSJ
Hamilton Lane Widens MandateBy Acquiring Hedge-Fund Firm
By HENNY SENDER Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNALNovember 18, 2004; Page C6
Hamilton Lane, a firm that invests in private-equity funds on behalf of major institutional investors, is broadening its mandate by acquiring Richcourt Group, which invests in hedge funds on behalf of wealthy families and institutions.
The deal, which is expected to be announced this week, is the latest indication of the demand for hedge funds from institutional investors.
Hamilton Lane, based outside Philadelphia, is hardly a household name. Yet it has $34 billion under management and helps investors including endowments and pension funds channel money into private equity. But studies show that demand for hedge funds is expected to soar as investors seek more yield than traditional money managers generally have been able to produce amid low interest rates. For example, in the U.S. alone, demand for hedge funds from institutions is expected to swell to $300 billion from $60 billion within five years, according to a September report from consultancy Casy, Quirk & Acito and Bank of New York.
The deal will bring Hamilton Lane an operation that manages more than $1.5 billion in hedge-fund assets. Richcourt was previously owned by Citgo Group Ltd., which describes itself as the world's largest provider of back-office services to hedge funds. Terms couldn't be determined.
"Now that hedge funds have become a legitimate asset class for institutions, we want to be part of the dialogue and give our clients an educated point of view," said Hartley Rogers, vice chairman of Hamilton Lane.
Such so-called hedge-fund-of-funds management firms charge fees on top of the already hefty fees of hedge funds themselves. Bank of New York acquired Ivy Asset Management in 2000 in one of the most successful acquisitions to date of such a fund-of-funds operation. At the time, Ivy had assets of more than $2.4 billion. Today, the figure is close to $14 billion. A few weeks ago, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. announced it was acquiring hedge-fund firm Highbridge Capital Management.
Write to Henny Sender at henny.sender@wsj.com1
URL for this article:http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110073323173777286,00.html
Hyperlinks in this Article:(1) mailto:henny.sender@wsj.com
By HENNY SENDER Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNALNovember 18, 2004; Page C6
Hamilton Lane, a firm that invests in private-equity funds on behalf of major institutional investors, is broadening its mandate by acquiring Richcourt Group, which invests in hedge funds on behalf of wealthy families and institutions.
The deal, which is expected to be announced this week, is the latest indication of the demand for hedge funds from institutional investors.
Hamilton Lane, based outside Philadelphia, is hardly a household name. Yet it has $34 billion under management and helps investors including endowments and pension funds channel money into private equity. But studies show that demand for hedge funds is expected to soar as investors seek more yield than traditional money managers generally have been able to produce amid low interest rates. For example, in the U.S. alone, demand for hedge funds from institutions is expected to swell to $300 billion from $60 billion within five years, according to a September report from consultancy Casy, Quirk & Acito and Bank of New York.
The deal will bring Hamilton Lane an operation that manages more than $1.5 billion in hedge-fund assets. Richcourt was previously owned by Citgo Group Ltd., which describes itself as the world's largest provider of back-office services to hedge funds. Terms couldn't be determined.
"Now that hedge funds have become a legitimate asset class for institutions, we want to be part of the dialogue and give our clients an educated point of view," said Hartley Rogers, vice chairman of Hamilton Lane.
Such so-called hedge-fund-of-funds management firms charge fees on top of the already hefty fees of hedge funds themselves. Bank of New York acquired Ivy Asset Management in 2000 in one of the most successful acquisitions to date of such a fund-of-funds operation. At the time, Ivy had assets of more than $2.4 billion. Today, the figure is close to $14 billion. A few weeks ago, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. announced it was acquiring hedge-fund firm Highbridge Capital Management.
Write to Henny Sender at henny.sender@wsj.com1
URL for this article:http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB110073323173777286,00.html
Hyperlinks in this Article:(1) mailto:henny.sender@wsj.com
# posted by Tom @ 9:19 AM 
