A private equity-backed manager-of-managers mutual fund firm with $323.7 billion in AUM (and $2.5 trillion in AUA, both as of December 31) is teaming up with an alternative asset manager with about $657 billion in AUMS (also as of December 31).

Yesterday, Michelle Seitz, chairman and CEO of Russell Investments, and Mario Giannini, CEO Hamilton Lane, unveiled a strategic partnership between the two firms. That partnership includes Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania-based Hamilton Lane buying a $90-million stake in Seattle, Washington-based Russell, and the partnership will also connect Russell's clients (in addition to being an asset manager, Russell is a big OCIO for institutional investors) with Hamilton Lane's private markets investment products (plus research and tools).

"This partnership demonstrates our 85-year fiduciary commitment to provide comprehensive, leading-edge investment solutions and risk management to our clients," Russell's Seitz states. "The resulting one-stop access to extensive private and public market capabilities is, I believe, unmatched in our industry today."

Seitz adds that the Russell team is "dedicated to democratizing access to the most sophisticated investment capabilities and tools in the industry." Hamilton Lane's Giannini puts the partnership in the context of the firm's commitment "to providing private markets access to a broader group of investors around the world."

"Our investment capabilities and expertise, together with Russell Investments' strong outsourced investment solutions, will enable enhanced and integrated access to the global private markets for Russell Investments' clients around the world," Giannini states.

The Russell-Hamilton Lane partnership comes 16 months after reports that Russell's majority owner, TA Associates was looking into selling Russell. TA and another PE firm bought Russell in 2016 in a $1.15-billion deal. (If Russell's valuation remained unchanged since then, the Hamilton Lane investment now would translate into a 7.8-percent stake.)

The Hamilton Lane-Russell deal also comes two months after the Hamilton Lane folks unveiled a deal (expected to close this quarter) to buy a liquid alts mutual fund firm. 

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