Hamilton Lane's Griff Norville on how private markets are moving from the Stone Age to the digital age

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s episode takes us into the world of technology with an expert in private markets tech.

Griff Norville is a Managing Director and Head of Technology Solutions at Hamilton Lane, the $903B AUM (*Inclusive of $120.2B in discretionary assets under management and $782.9B in non-discretionary assets under management, as of December 31, 2023) global alternative asset manager. Griff leads the firm’s tech-enabled analytics, forecasting, and investment diligence platform, Cobalt LPTM and related portfolio reporting services, and co-heads the firm’s Technology Committee.

Griff focuses on building proprietary tools and strategically partnering or investing into private markets fintech companies as part of the firm’s efforts to drive digital transformation within the industry. Griff also leverages his background on the investment side to help inform how he thinks about technology transformation within private markets. He previously co-led Hamilton Lane’s research team, where he was responsible for leveraging data to assess market trends and advice clients on investment and portfolio construction strategy.

Griff and I had a fascinating conversation about the evolution of private markets technology and why it’s an exciting time for innovation in the space. We discussed:

• How private markets are moving from the Stone Age and Excel age to the digital age.
• Why most GPs are still underinvested in technology.
• How Griff approaches the build, buy, invest question.
• Why Cobalt was so foundational to Hamilton Lane’s work in private markets.
• How technology innovation has driven product innovation when working with the wealth channel.
• What comes next for technology in private markets.

Thanks Griff for coming on the show to share your thoughts and wisdom on how technology is impacting private markets and for the work you’re doing to invest in technology that’s transforming the space.