- Latest capital infusion underscores heightened demand for alternative investments access amid growing economic uncertainty
NEW YORK — (BUSINESS WIRE) — CAIS, the leading alternative investment platform, today announced a strategic investment from Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ: HLNE), a leading private markets investment management firm with more than $901 billion in assets under management and supervision. Hamilton Lane is the latest in a series of CAIS investors that have participated in the most recent financing, including Apollo, Motive Partners, Franklin Templeton, Reverence Capital Partners and Stone Point Ventures, which has resulted in the Company’s enterprise valuation exceeding $1.1 billion. Terms of the investment were not disclosed.
“We are thrilled to welcome another strong partner that shares our mission to level the playing field for RIAs, independent broker dealers, aggregators, and custodians looking to allocate to alternative investments,” said Matt Brown, Founder and CEO of CAIS. “Hamilton Lane brings tremendous value to CAIS as a strategic partner that is well-versed across private markets investing and data-driven innovation.”
The new capital will further CAIS’s mission to modernize how the independent advisor community can access and learn about alternative investments, while also connecting asset managers with the multi-trillion-dollar private wealth channel. Specifically, CAIS will continue to develop technology, expand its global team, enhance the advisor experience through personalized learning, and automate back-end processes for financial advisors and fund managers alike. It is Hamilton Lane’s intention to onboard some of its evergreen and closed-end products to the CAIS platform over time.
“We are seeing significant macroeconomic tailwinds that highlight the urgency for improved access to alternative investments, especially for the independent wealth and non-institutional channels,” said Erik Hirsch, Vice Chairman and Head of Strategic Initiatives at Hamilton Lane. “We are big believers that technology can serve as a powerful tool in solving for some of the traditional accessibility challenges, and look forward to supporting CAIS in that shared goal.”
The announcement follows CAIS’s release of results from an independent survey of financial professionals conducted at the 2022 Morningstar Conference, which validate the industry challenges it is addressing. Most notably, the survey found that more than 80% believed retail investors should have access to alternative investments, 76% argued that the traditional 60/40 portfolio is ineffective or less effective in today’s economic climate, and 69% cited a lack of educational resources as a hurdle to navigating private markets.
About CAIS
CAIS is the leading alternative investment platform for financial advisors who seek improved access to, and education about, alternative investment funds and products. CAIS provides financial advisors with a broad selection of alternative investment strategies, including hedge funds, private equity, private credit, real estate, digital assets, and structured notes, allowing them to capitalize on opportunities and/or withstand ever-changing markets. CAIS also provides an industry-leading learning system, CAIS IQ, to help advisors learn faster, remember longer, and improve client outcomes.
All funds listed on CAIS undergo Mercer’s independent due diligence and ongoing monitoring. Mercer diligence reports and fund ratings are available to advisors on the CAIS password-protected platform. CAIS streamlines the end-to-end transaction process through digital subscriptions and integrated reporting with Fidelity, Schwab, and Pershing, which make investing in alternatives simple.
Founded in 2009, CAIS, a fintech leader, is empowering over 5,300+ unique advisor firms/teams who oversee more than $2.5T+ in network assets. Since inception, CAIS has facilitated over $17B+ in transaction volume as the first truly open marketplace where financial advisors and asset managers engage and transact directly on a massive scale. CAIS has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Austin, and San Francisco.
About Hamilton Lane
Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ: HLNE) is a leading private markets investment management firm providing innovative solutions to institutional and private wealth investors around the world. Dedicated exclusively to private markets investing for 30 years, the firm currently employs approximately 530 professionals operating in offices throughout North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Hamilton Lane has over $901 billion in assets under management and supervision, composed of more than $106 billion in discretionary assets and nearly $795 billion in advisory assets, as of March 31, 2022. Hamilton Lane specializes in building flexible investment programs that provide clients access to the full spectrum of private markets strategies, sectors and geographies. For more information, please visit www.hamiltonlane.com or follow Hamilton Lane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hamilton-lane.
