Nelda Chang, Kyle McGinnis and Jenny Zhang recently joined the firm, based at Hamilton Lane’s headquarters in Conshohocken. Chang plays a pivotal role in leading the origination, evaluation and due diligence of direct investment opportunities across North America. Prior to joining Hamilton Lane, Chang was a Principal at GCM Grosvenor, responsible for evaluating and executing private equity co-investments. She previously held roles at Headlands Capital and American Securities and began her career in the leveraged finance group at JPMorgan. McGinnis joined from Onex Partners, where he served as a Principal, responsible for the evaluation and execution of private equity investments. Previously, he worked at H.I.G. Capital on the middle market fund team and began his career as an investment banker with Wells Fargo Securities. Zhang joined from Two Sigma, where she was a Vice President on the private equity team and prior to that was on Carlyle’s private equity team.

Based in London, Aljoscha Dudek is responsible for the origination, evaluation and due diligence of direct equity opportunities across EMEA. Prior to joining the firm, Dudek was a Director at PSP Investments, responsible for the strategic development and management of a private equity portfolio in Europe. Chang, McGinnis, Zhang and Dudek all report to Ken Binick, Co-Head of Direct Equity Investments.

Lastly, Benjamin Kalter has joined the firm’s Impact Investment Team, where he is focused on the origination, evaluation and management of direct equity impact transactions. Kalter joined from Nuveen, where he served as a Vice President on the private equity impact investing team, executing growth equity investments across developed and developing markets. He is based in Conshohocken and reports to Dave Helgerson, Head of Impact Investments.

Binick commented, “For firms like Hamilton Lane with strong investment capabilities and a large primary platform, we believe the co-investment landscape – particularly within the middle market – is ripe with opportunity. Our deal flow is at record levels, and we are happy to welcome Nelda, Aljoscha, Kyle, Jenny and Benjamin to our already talented, experienced team as we seek to execute on our strategy and strengthen our presence and expertise across the direct equity landscape globally.”

Drew Schardt, Vice Chairman, Head of Investment Strategy and Co-Head of Direct Equity, added, “These appointments further bolster our expertise and scale to support the historic success and AUM growth across our direct equity platform. Our direct equity investment strategy leverages the unique benefits of Hamilton Lane’s platform and market access, enabling us to execute what we believe to be high-quality investments and construct portfolios that seek to deliver compelling returns for our investors.”

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The elevation of these key professionals to take on more expansive roles illustrates the firm’s strong operational foundation, investment expertise and collaborative, performance-driven culture.

“We are delighted to strengthen Hamilton Lane’s leadership team with a group of long-tenured, experienced professionals who bring innovative perspectives, strategic insights and a forward-looking, global mindset to our firm,” said Hamilton Lane CEO Mario Giannini. “In recognising and elevating this talented group, we are helping to ensure that Hamilton Lane continues to serve as a valued partner to our clients around the world, and as a steady engine of transformation and growth within our asset class.”​

• Jeffrey Armbrister has been appointed to serve as Hamilton Lane’s Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Atul Varma, who is leaving the firm to pursue other interests. Varma will continue in his role as CFO until August 8 and will remain with the firm as a senior advisor over the next several months to facilitate an orderly transition. For the last five years, Armbrister has led the firm’s Direct Equity investment business, which earlier this year closed its latest fund on more than $2 billion of investor commitments. He has been with Hamilton Lane since 2018 and brings a proven track record of transaction-based investing and operational experience leading both investment and finance teams, and working with management teams and corporate boards to execute strategic initiatives, grow businesses and solve complex problems.
• Andrew (Drew) Schardt will become a Vice Chairman of Hamilton Lane, while retaining his role as Head of Investment Strategy. In both of these capacities Schardt will continue to implement executive-level initiatives while maintaining broader leadership responsibilities across the firm’s global investment platform. Schardt will also step into the role of Head of Direct Equity, replacing Armbrister. Schardt has held a number of senior investment positions at Hamilton Lane, including on the Direct Equity team, where he began his 15-year career at the firm.
• In addition, Hamilton Lane is pleased to announce that, effective September 5, Ken Binick will join the firm as Managing Director and Head of Execution on the Direct Equity team, reporting to Schardt. Binick, who most recently served as Co-Head of the Co-Investment business at Portfolio Advisors, brings a distinguished investment track record and extensive operational, team management and transactional experience to the Direct Equity team.
• Richard Hope, Hamilton Lane’s Head of EMEA, will assume the additional role of Co-Head of Investments, alongside Tom Kerr. In this new capacity, Hope, who is based in London, will take on broad leadership and management responsibilities across the global investment platform. Hope joined Hamilton Lane in 2011 and has led the firm’s efforts across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, playing an instrumental role in advancing Hamilton Lane’s geographic expansion and in broadening its investment activities outside the U.S. Hope’s continued leadership is complementary to those ongoing expansionary efforts.

• Nayef Perry will assume sole leadership of the firm’s credit business as Head of Direct Credit, after previously serving as Co-Head alongside Schardt. Since joining Hamilton Lane in 2013, Perry has been instrumental in building the firm’s credit platform and capabilities, including management of its 25+ person global Direct Credit team. Most recently, Perry was a key driver behind the launch of the Senior Credit Opportunities Fund, an evergreen credit vehicle. His leadership mandate will include seeking new opportunities to build on Hamilton Lane’s success and continue to expand its credit platform.

The changes are effective as of August 8, 2023.

The most recent senior leadership changes follow Hamilton Lane’s appointment in May of Andrea Kramer as Chief Operating Officer. She joined the firm in 2005 and has significant experience across every facet of the business, serving as Head of the Fund Investment team, an Investment Committee member, and on a number of fund advisory boards. Prior to Hamilton Lane, Kramer worked as a General Partner at Exelon Capital Partners; as a Senior Business Development Manager for Philadelphia Gas Works; and as a Fund Manager for Murex Corporation.​

“We wish Atul well on his future endeavours and thank him for his contributions to our firm,” Giannini said. “Today, we remain focused on growing our organisation thoughtfully and strategically, on staying competitive in an ever-changing environment, and on continuing to challenge, develop and retain our talented bench of professionals to help create even greater long-term value for our clients, investors, shareholders and employees.”

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