Figure Technologies Co., Ltd. When Hamilton Lane (NASDAQ: HLNE) is preparing to launch three new equity classes of its Hamilton Lane private market focused fund registered under the Investment Companies Act of 1940. This is “using Figure’s Digital Fund Services (DFS) platform to digitize fund ownership records on the Provenance Blockchain.”
Hamilton LaneIt is one of the world’s largest private market investment firms.
Hamilton Lane anticipates the launch of a new share class, “it is the first time a company has provided exposure to a private market investment strategy under the 1940 Act through a blockchain-native share class, and it will reduce inefficiencies within companies. It’s the latest significant step to transform and reduce the sexuality of the private market industry.”
As a fund registered under the 1940 Act, PAF is “widely available to eligible US investors, including certain individual investors, their wealth advisors, and institutions.”
It provides “access to a diversified portfolio of private equity and private credit assets through a single investment, either through a traditional primary issuance process or through Figure’s DFS platform.”
Hamilton Lane will initially “use DFS to streamline the primary issuance process and plans to launch two more closed-end private market funds on the DFS platform in the coming months.”
Fund investors will also be able to “benefit from Universal Passporting, which allows investors to reuse their KYC/AML credentials as they migrate to new investments, reducing time, cost and friction.”
DFS will utilize Provenance Blockchain to “perform functions such as cap table management, capital calls, distributions and shareholder communications.” The Provenance blockchain was built in a “regulatory compliant manner with the scale, security and cost structure required by financial institutions.”
Victor JungHamilton Lane’s Head of Digital Assets said:
“We are excited to partner with Figure to provide another digital-first vehicle for investors to access private markets. Hamilton Lane is one of the earliest major private market companies to tokenize the fund. It is one, and we continue to work to identify innovative technology solutions as a means of solving some of the asset class’s traditional pain points.”
This is the latest development “to support the company’s commitment to using technology to expand investors’ access to private markets.”
The announcement “follows recent steps taken by Hamilton Lane to expand access to the Global Private Asset Fund and other closed-end funds it manages.”
Mike CagneyFigure co-founder and CEO said:
“Hamilton Lane understands the access, convenience and cost savings that the Provenance Blockchain will bring, and we are proud to work with them to disrupt the financial services industry. It’s the ideal time to combine our expertise to unlock the potential of blockchain.”
With this announcement, Hamilton Lane “joins 15 other funds and special purpose entities to offer blockchain-native vehicles on the DFS platform, while PAF is the first-ever 40-act fund specifically focused on private markets. It’s a fund.”
Figure will “continue to work with industry participants and the managed fund community to take full advantage of blockchain technology across all fund types and lifecycles.”
