Hamilton Lane real assets head retires – Exclusive

Hamilton Lane’s Jerry Gates retired late last month as the firm’s head of real assets, a spokeswoman told PERE.

He has been replaced by Steve Gruber and Brent Burnett, who joined the Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania-based firm in the summer through Hamilton Lane’s purchase of consultancy Real Asset Portfolio Management.

Gruber and Burnett have transitioned into the leadership role over the last few months as Gates stepped back, a spokeswoman said. The firm has not seen any other major senior leadership changes for its real assets platform since the acquisition.

Gates joined Hamilton Lane in 2011 to expand its real estate platform, according to a statement at the time. He previously worked at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where he was the head of global real estate investments. Gates also worked at Citigroup for more than 30 years, most recently as managing director of global wealth management and head of its global real estate investment business.

Last summer, Hamilton Lane acquired Portland, Oregon-based RAPM, bringing on the alternative assets investment manager’s nine-person team, led by Gruber and Burnett. Following the acquisition, the RAPM platform became the real estate and real assets business for Hamilton Lane, according to meeting documents from the New Jersey Division of Investment, which selected Hamilton Lane as its new real estate consultant following a request for proposals process last year. RAPM, founded in 2011, managed or advised on $3.8 billion when it was acquired.

Before co-founding RAPM, Gruber worked as a portfolio manager for the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System. Burnett, who joined RAPM in 2012, previously worked at consultancy RVK.

Hamilton Lane began providing private markets consulting services in 1991 and launched its real estate-specific consulting business in 1999. The firm also provides advisory services in private equity and investment management services for natural resources and infrastructure assets.

Hamilton Lane had approximately $424 billion of assets under management as of December 31, according to its fourth-quarter earnings report. The firm currently employs about 340 professionals across the US, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.