Hamilton Lane has expanded its operations in Asia with a new office opening in Shanghai, China, a press release reported.
"I am pleased to see the successful opening of our Shanghai office and would like to thank the team and colleagues who brought this to fruition. China is the world's second-largest economy and is home to the largest private market in Asia,” Juan Delgado-Moreira, vice chairman and head of Asia at Hamilton Lane, said. “We continue to feel confident in the market and investment opportunities across Asia Pacific and believe the opening of our Shanghai office will accelerate the growth of our China business and strengthen our leading position in the region."
The new establishment is the company’s sixth opening in the region, joining offices in Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo.
The company has appointed Mingchen Xia as managing director and co-head of Asia investments. The role will require Xia to oversee the company’s Shanghai-based team, consisting of seven executives specializing in investment, client solutions, compliance and risk management.
The company recently received recognition in the region with Shanghai Qualified Foreign Limited Partner (QFLP) pilot status in May 2022.
The company received approval from Chinese regulators to establish a secondary fund via the QFLP structure. QFLP allows foreign investors to exchange U.S. dollars for Chinese yuan and invest in China's private markets. As the first institution in Shanghai to establish a secondary fund through the QFLP structure, it has officially began the process of identifying potential investment opportunities in the RMB market.
"We have observed growing demand from domestic institutional and private wealth investors to allocate their capital to global assets, and are thrilled to have an established presence on the ground in Shanghai from which to manage private markets investment programs for investors of all sizes,” Xia said. “At Hamilton Lane, we have been investing in the region for more than 15 years and with our new capabilities in the RMB market, we'll be even better positioned to deliver new and differentiated private markets solutions to our clients."