Mike Woollatt will act as principal on the co-investment and fund investment team and lead the Toronto office. Before taking the role, Woollatt was director of strategic partnerships at OMERS, and BetaKit reported in January 2019 that he left the role for Hamilton Lane. Hamilton Lane has US$469 billion in assets under management, according to Hamilton Lane’s media release. (The Logic)
Talking point: Hamilton Lane is one of five “funds-of-funds” based in the U.S. and Canada that received money from the federal government’s $350-million Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative (VCCI) and it was the only one that did not have a Canadian office at the time VCCI funding was announced last summer. This office—Hamilton Lane’s 16th globally—will help the firm source deals in the country and meet its mandate to spur late-stage capital investment in Canadian companies. One of the conditions of receiving VCCI funding was to support women fund managers; asked by The Logic about its strategy to increase the participation of women fund managers, the firm sent a statement explaining its corporate strategy of increasing diversity in the private markets in which it operates. It noted its newly-created Diversity & Inclusion Council, which pursues partnerships with organizations like New York-based non-profit Girls Who Invest that can educate women about capital markets. “We are committed to purposefully educating, welcoming, developing and advancing talented women and diverse candidates, and ensuring that they have all the resources they need to sustain a robust career at Hamilton Lane,” the firm said in a statement. Hamilton Lane also noted that the Diversity & Inclusion Council was not just specific to VC, but rather to the private markets where it operates.– Jessica
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that Hamilton Lane’s diversity and inclusion efforts include private markets broadly, and not just venture capital as previously stated.