Hamilton Lane INC (HLNE) FY 2023 MD&A
This page reproduces the company's own Item 7 MD&A text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
The following information should be read in conjunction with the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related notes. See “Index to Consolidated Financial Statements of Hamilton Lane Incorporated.”
The following discussion may contain forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include, but are not limited to, those discussed below and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, particularly in “Risk Factors”, the “Summary of Risk Factors” and the “Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information.” Unless otherwise indicated, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to fiscal 2023, fiscal 2022 and fiscal 2021 are to our fiscal years ended March 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Business Overview
We are a global private markets investment solutions provider and operate our business in a single segment. We offer a variety of investment solutions to address our clients’ needs across a range of private markets, including private equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources, growth equity, venture capital and impact. These solutions are constructed from a range of investment types, including primary investments in funds managed by third-party managers, direct investments alongside such funds and acquisitions of secondary stakes in such funds, with a number of our clients utilizing multiple investment types. These solutions are offered in a variety of formats covering some or all phases of private markets investment programs:
•Customized Separate Accounts: We design and build customized portfolios of private markets funds and direct investments to meet our clients’ specific portfolio objectives with regard to return, risk tolerance, diversification and liquidity. We generally have discretionary investment authority over our customized separate accounts, which comprised approximately $85 billion of our AUM as of March 31, 2023.
•Specialized Funds: We organize, invest and manage specialized primary, secondary and direct investment funds. Our specialized funds invest across a variety of private markets and include equity, equity-linked and credit funds offered on standard terms, as well as shorter duration, opportunistically oriented funds. We launched our first specialized fund in 1997. Since then, our product offerings have grown steadily and now include evergreen offerings that primarily invest in secondaries and direct investments in equity and credit and are available to certain high-net-worth individuals. Specialized funds comprised approximately $27 billion of our AUM as of March 31, 2023.
•Advisory Services: We offer investment advisory services to assist clients in developing and implementing their private markets investment programs. Our investment advisory services include asset allocation, strategic plan creation, development of investment policies and guidelines, the screening and recommending of investments, the monitoring of and reporting on investments and investment manager review and due diligence. Our advisory clients include some of the largest and most sophisticated private markets investors in the world. We had approximately $745 billion of AUA as of March 31, 2023.
•Distribution Management: We offer distribution management services to our clients through active portfolio management to enhance the realized value of publicly traded stock they receive as distributions in-kind from private equity funds.
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•Reporting, Monitoring, Data and Analytics: We provide our clients with comprehensive reporting and investment monitoring services, usually bundled into our broader investment solutions offerings, but also on a stand-alone, fee-for-service basis. We also provide comprehensive research and analytical services as part of our investment solutions, leveraging our large, global, proprietary and high-quality database for transparency and powerful analytics. Our data, as well as our benchmarking and forecasting models, are accessible through our proprietary technology solution, Cobalt LP, on a stand-alone, subscription basis.
Our client and investor base is broadly diversified by type, size and geography. Our client base primarily comprises institutional investors that range from those seeking to make an initial investment in alternative assets to some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated private markets investors. As we offer a highly customized, flexible service, we are equipped to provide investment services to institutional clients of all sizes and with different needs, internal resources and investment objectives. Our clients include prominent institutional investors in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and Latin America. We provide private markets solutions and services to some of the largest global pension, sovereign wealth and U.S. state pension funds. In addition, we believe we are a leading provider of private markets solutions for U.S. labor union pension plans, and we serve numerous smaller public and corporate pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions and insurance companies, endowments and foundations, as well as family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
Trends Affecting Our Business
Our results of operations are affected by a variety of factors, including conditions in the global financial markets and the economic and political environments, particularly in the United States, Western Europe and Asia. As interest rates rise in response to continued inflationary pressures and public equity volatility continues, leading to a wider range of equity returns, we see increasing investor demand for alternative investments to achieve higher and less correlated relative yields and returns on invested capital. As a result, some investors have increased their allocation to private markets relative to other asset classes. In addition, the opportunities in private markets have expanded as firms have created new vehicles and products in which to access private markets across different geographies and opportunity sets.
In addition to the aforementioned macroeconomic and sector-specific trends, we believe the following factors will influence our future performance:
•The extent to which investors favor alternative investments. Our ability to attract new capital is partially dependent on investors’ views of alternative assets relative to traditional publicly listed equity and debt securities. We believe fundraising efforts will continue to be impacted by certain fundamental asset management trends that include: (1) the increasing importance and market share of alternative investment strategies to investors (including smaller institutions and high-net-worth individuals) in light of an increased focus on lower-correlated and absolute levels of return; (2) the increasing demands of the investing community, including the potential for fee compression and changes to other terms; (3) shifting asset allocation policies of institutional investors; and (4) increasing barriers to entry and growth.
•Our ability to generate strong returns. We must continue to generate strong returns for our investors through our disciplined investment diligence process in an increasingly competitive market. The ability to attract and retain clients is partially dependent on returns we are able to deliver versus our peers. The capital we are able to attract drives the growth of our AUM and AUA and the management and advisory fees we earn.
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•Our ability to source investments with attractive risk-adjusted returns. An increasing part of our management fee and incentive fee revenue has been from our direct investment and secondary investment platforms. The continued growth of this revenue is dependent on our continued ability to source attractive investments and deploy the capital that we have raised or manage on behalf of our clients. Because we are selective in the opportunities in which we invest, the capital deployed can vary from year to year. Our ability to identify attractive investments and execute on those investments is dependent on a number of factors, including the general macroeconomic environment, valuation, transaction size, and expected duration of such investment opportunity. A significant decrease in the quality or quantity of potential opportunities could adversely affect our ability to source investments with attractive risk-adjusted returns.
•Our ability to maintain our data advantage relative to competitors. We believe that the general trend towards transparency and consistency in private markets reporting will create new opportunities for us to leverage our databases and analytical capabilities. We intend to use these advantages afforded to us by our proprietary databases, analytical tools and deep industry knowledge to drive our performance, provide our clients with customized solutions across private markets asset classes and continue to differentiate our products and services from those of our competitors. Our ability to maintain our data advantage is dependent on a number of factors, including our continued access to a broad set of private market information on an ongoing basis, as well as our ability to maintain our investment scale, considering the evolving competitive landscape and potential industry consolidation.
•Our ability to continue to expand globally. We believe that many institutional investors outside the United States are currently underinvested in private markets asset classes and that capturing capital inflows into private capital investing from non-U.S. global markets represents a significant growth opportunity for us. Our ability to continue to expand globally is dependent on our ability to continue building successful relationships with investors internationally and subject to the evolving macroeconomic and regulatory environment of the various countries where we operate or in which we invest.
•Increased competition to work with top private equity fund managers. There has been a trend amongst private markets investors to consolidate the number of general partners in which they invest. At the same time, an increasing flow of capital to the private markets has often times resulted in certain funds being oversubscribed. This has resulted in some investors, primarily smaller investors or less strategically important investors, not being able to gain access to certain funds. Our ability to invest and maintain our sphere of influence with these high-performing fund managers is critical to our investors’ success and our ability to maintain our competitive position and grow our revenue.
•Unpredictable global macroeconomic conditions. Global economic conditions, including political environments, financial market performance, interest rates, credit spreads or other conditions beyond our control, all of which affect the performance of the assets underlying private market investments, are unpredictable and could negatively affect the performance of our clients’ portfolios or the ability to raise funds in the future. In addition, the cash available from our Loan Agreements (defined below) and our cash balances are exposed to the credit risks of the financial institutions at which they are held. Events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions or the financial services industry generally, could jeopardize our ability to access existing cash, cash equivalents and investments.
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•Increasing regulatory requirements. The complex regulatory and tax environment could restrict our operations and subject us to increased compliance costs and administrative burdens, as well as restrictions on our business activities.
Recent Transactions
March 2023 Offering
In March 2023, we and a selling stockholder completed a registered offering of an aggregate of 671,737 shares of Class A common stock at a price to the underwriter of $76.41 per share (the “March 2023 Offering”). The purpose of the March 2023 Offering was to provide liquidity to significant direct and indirect owners of HLA. The shares sold consisted of 100,000 shares held by the selling stockholder and 571,737 shares newly issued by us. We received $43.7 million in net proceeds from the sale of our shares and used all of the proceeds to settle exchanges by certain members of HLA of a total of 539,237 Class B units and 32,500 Class C units. In connection with the exchange of the Class B units, we also repurchased for par value and canceled a corresponding number of shares of Class B common stock. We did not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholder.
Key Financial and Operating Measures
Our key financial measures are discussed below.
Revenues
We generate revenues primarily from management and advisory fees, and to a lesser extent, incentive fees. See “—Critical Accounting Estimates—Revenue Recognition of Incentive Fees” and Note 2 of the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K for additional information regarding the manner in which management and advisory fees and incentive fees are generated.
Management and advisory fees comprise specialized fund and customized separate account management fees, advisory and reporting fees and distribution management fees.
Revenues from customized separate accounts are generally based on a contractual rate applied to committed capital or net invested capital under management. These fees often decrease over the life of the contract due to built-in declines in contractual rates and/or as a result of lower net invested capital balances as capital is returned to clients. In certain cases, we also provide advisory and/or reporting services, and, therefore, we also receive fees for services such as monitoring and reporting on a client’s existing private markets investments. In addition, we may provide for investments in our specialized funds as part of our customized separate accounts. In these cases, we generally reduce the asset-based and/or incentive fees or carried interest on customized separate accounts to the extent that assets in the accounts are invested in our specialized funds so that our clients do not pay duplicate fees.
Revenues from specialized funds are based on a percentage of limited partners’ capital commitments to, net invested capital or net asset value in, our specialized funds. The management fee during the investment period is often charged on capital commitments and after the investment period (or a defined anniversary of the fund’s initial closing) is typically reduced by a percentage of the management fee for the preceding year or charged on net invested capital or net asset value. In the case of certain funds, we charge management fees on capital commitments, with the management fee increasing during the early years of the fund’s term and declining in the later years. Management fees for certain funds are discounted based on the amount of the limited partners’ commitments, whether the limited partners commit early in the offering period or if the limited partners are investors in our other funds.
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Revenues from advisory and reporting services are generally annual fixed fees, which vary depending on the services we provide. In limited cases, advisory service clients are charged basis point fees annually based on the amounts they have committed to invest pursuant to their agreements with us. In other cases where our services are limited to monitoring and reporting on investment portfolios, clients are charged a fee based on the number of investments in their portfolio.
Distribution management fees are generally earned by applying a percentage to AUM or proceeds received. Certain active management clients may elect a fee structure under which they are charged an asset-based fee plus a fee based on net realized and unrealized gains and income net of realized and unrealized losses.
Incentive fees comprise carried interest earned from our specialized funds and certain customized separate accounts structured as single-client funds in which we have a general partner commitment, and performance fees earned on certain other specialized funds and customized separate accounts.
For each of our secondary funds, direct investment funds, strategic opportunity funds and evergreen funds, we generally earn carried interest equal to a fixed percentage of net profits, usually 10.0% to 12.5%, subject to a compounded annual preferred return that is generally 6.0% to 8.0%. To the extent that our primary funds also directly make secondary investments and direct investments, they generally earn carried interest on a similar basis. Furthermore, certain of our primary funds earn carried interest on their investments in other private markets funds on a primary basis that is generally 5.0% of net profits, subject to the fund’s compounded annual preferred return.
We recognize carried interest when it is probable that a significant reversal will not occur. The primary contingency regarding incentive fees is the “clawback,” or the obligation to return distributions in excess of the amount prescribed by the applicable fund or separate account documents. Incentive fees are typically only required to be returned on a net of tax basis due to a clawback. As such, the tax-related portion of incentive fees is typically not subject to clawback and is therefore recognized as revenue immediately upon receipt. In the event that a payment is made before it can be recognized as revenue, this amount would be included as deferred incentive fee revenue on our Consolidated Balance Sheets and recognized as income in accordance with our revenue recognition policy.
Performance fees, which are a component of incentive fees, are based on the aggregate amount of realized gains earned by the applicable customized separate account, subject to the achievement of defined minimum returns to the clients. Performance fees range from 5.0% to 12.5% of net profits, subject to a compounded annual preferred return that varies by account but is generally 6.0% to 8.0%. Performance fees are recognized when the risk of clawback or reversal is not probable.
Expenses
Compensation and benefits is our largest expense and consists of (a) base compensation comprising salary, bonuses and benefits paid and payable to employees, (b) equity-based compensation associated with the grants of restricted stock and performance awards and (c) incentive fee compensation, which consists of carried interest and performance fee allocations. We expect to continue to experience a general rise in compensation and benefits expense commensurate with expected growth in headcount and with the need to maintain competitive compensation levels as we expand geographically and create new products and services.
Our compensation arrangements with our employees contain a significant bonus component driven by the results of our operations. Therefore, as our revenues, profitability and the amount of incentive fees earned by our customized separate accounts and specialized funds increase, our compensation costs rise.
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Certain current and former employees participate in a carried interest program whereby approximately 25% of incentive fees from certain of our specialized funds and customized separate accounts are awarded to plan participants. We record compensation expense payable to plan participants as the incentive fees become estimable and collection is probable.
General, administrative and other includes travel, accounting, legal and other professional fees, commissions, placement fees, office expenses, depreciation and other costs associated with our operations. Our occupancy-related costs and professional services expenses, in particular, generally increase or decrease in relative proportion to the number of our employees and the overall size and scale of our business operations.
Other Income (Expense)
Equity in income (loss) of investees primarily represents our share of earnings from our investments in our specialized funds and certain customized separate accounts in which we have a general partner commitment. Equity income primarily comprises our share of the net realized and unrealized gains (losses) and investment income partially offset by the expenses from these investments.
We have general partner commitments in our specialized funds and certain customized separate accounts that invest solely in primary funds, secondary funds and direct investments, as well as those that invest across investment types. Equity in income (loss) of investees will increase or decrease as the change in underlying fund investment valuations increases or decreases. Since our direct investment funds invest in underlying portfolio companies, their quarterly and annual valuation changes are more affected by individual company movements than our primary and secondary funds that have exposures across multiple portfolio companies in underlying private markets funds. Our specialized funds and customized separate accounts invest across industries, strategies and geographies, and therefore our general partner investments do not include any significant concentrations in a specific sector or area outside the United States.
Interest expense includes interest paid and accrued on our outstanding debt, along with the amortization of deferred financing costs, amortization of original issue discount and the write-off of deferred financing costs due to the repayment of previously outstanding debt.
Interest income is income earned on cash and cash equivalents.
Non-operating income (expense) consists primarily of gains and losses on certain investments, changes in liability under the tax receivable agreement and other non-recurring or non-cash items.
Other income (expense) of consolidated Variable Interest Entities (“VIEs”) consists primarily of the share of earnings of investments of consolidated general partner entities, which are not wholly-owned by us, in our specialized funds and certain customized separate accounts in which they have a general partner commitment, interest income on investments held in trust and changes in fair value of liabilities of our previously-sponsored special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”).
Income Tax Expense
We are a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and therefore are subject to U.S. federal and state income taxes on our share of taxable income generated by HLA. Prior to our IPO, we operated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and therefore were not subject to U.S. federal and state income taxes. HLA is treated as a pass-through entity for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes. As such, income generated by HLA flows through to its limited partners, including us, and is generally not subject to U.S. federal or state income tax at the partnership level. Our non-U.S. subsidiaries generally operate as corporate entities in non-U.S. jurisdictions, with certain of these entities subject to non-U.S. income taxes.
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Additionally, certain of our subsidiaries are subject to local jurisdiction income taxes at the entity level. Accordingly, the tax liability with respect to income attributable to non-controlling interests (“NCI”) in HLA is borne by the holders of such NCI.
Non-controlling interests
NCI reflect the portion of income or loss and the corresponding equity attributable to third-party equity holders and employees in certain consolidated subsidiaries that are not 100% owned by us. NCI are presented as separate components in our consolidated statements of income to clearly distinguish between our interests and the economic interests of third parties and employees in those entities.
Fee-Earning AUM
Fee-earning AUM is a metric we use to measure the assets from which we earn management fees. Our fee-earning AUM comprise assets in our customized separate accounts and specialized funds from which we derive management fees that are generally derived from applying a certain percentage to the appropriate fee base. We classify customized separate account revenue as management fees if the client is charged an asset-based fee, which includes the majority of our discretionary AUM accounts but also includes certain non-discretionary AUA accounts. Our fee-earning AUM is equal to the amount of capital commitments, net invested capital and NAV of our customized separate accounts and specialized funds depending on the fee terms. The vast majority of our customized separate accounts and specialized funds earn fees based on commitments or net invested capital, which are not affected by market appreciation or depreciation. Therefore, revenues and fee-earning AUM are not significantly affected by changes in market value.
Our calculations of fee-earning AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers, and as a result, this measure may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other asset managers. Our definition of fee-earning AUM is not based on any definition that is set forth in the agreements governing the customized separate accounts or specialized funds that we manage.
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Annual Consolidated Results of Operations
The following is a discussion of our consolidated results of operations for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022. This information is derived from our accompanying consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Refer to Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in our 2022 Annual Report on Form 10-K for management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations for fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021.
| Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Revenues | ||||||||||
| Management and advisory fees | $ | 371,874 | $ | 314,228 | $ | 289,444 | ||||
| Incentive fees | 149,931 | 48,133 | 31,134 | |||||||
| Consolidated variable interest entities related: | ||||||||||
| Incentive fees | 6,948 | 5,558 | 21,057 | |||||||
| Total revenues | 528,753 | 367,919 | 341,635 | |||||||
| Expenses | ||||||||||
| Compensation and benefits | 198,412 | 129,165 | 136,319 | |||||||
| General, administrative and other | 89,395 | 68,040 | 49,210 | |||||||
| Consolidated variable interest entities related: | ||||||||||
| General, administrative and other | 906 | 1,150 | 378 | |||||||
| Total expenses | 288,713 | 198,355 | 185,907 | |||||||
| Other income (expense) | ||||||||||
| Equity in income of investees | 5,088 | 78,813 | 32,389 | |||||||
| Interest expense | (8,617) | (4,634) | (2,044) | |||||||
| Interest income | 1,789 | 500 | 1,676 | |||||||
| Non-operating (loss) income | (5,243) | 64,469 | 5,894 | |||||||
| Consolidated variable interest entities related: | ||||||||||
| Equity in income (loss) of investees | 1,455 | 483 | (2,123) | |||||||
| Unrealized gain | 4,773 | 4,485 | 2,141 | |||||||
| Interest expense | — | (4) | (459) | |||||||
| Interest income | 3,325 | — | — | |||||||
| Total other income (expense) | 2,570 | 144,112 | 37,474 | |||||||
| Income before income taxes | 242,610 | 313,676 | 193,202 | |||||||
| Income tax expense | 55,425 | 66,423 | 24,417 | |||||||
| Net income | 187,185 | 247,253 | 168,785 | |||||||
| Less: Income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests in general partnerships | 986 | 376 | (250) | |||||||
| Less: Income attributable to non-controlling interests in Hamilton Lane Advisors, L.L.C. | 71,027 | 96,548 | 69,720 | |||||||
| Less: Income attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests in Hamilton Lane Alliance Holdings I, Inc. | 5,617 | 4,343 | 1,293 | |||||||
| Less: Income attributable to non-controlling interests in consolidated funds | 435 | — | — | |||||||
| Net income attributable to Hamilton Lane Incorporated | $ | 109,120 | $ | 145,986 | $ | 98,022 |
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Revenues
| Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |||||||
| Management and advisory fees | ||||||||||
| Specialized funds | $ | 196,268 | $ | 150,079 | $ | 148,023 | ||||
| Customized separate accounts | 117,763 | 103,229 | 93,963 | |||||||
| Advisory | 24,785 | 24,972 | 26,439 | |||||||
| Reporting and other | 24,792 | 23,327 | 11,134 | |||||||
| Distribution management | 2,560 | 10,466 | 6,701 | |||||||
| Fund reimbursement revenue | 5,706 | 2,155 | 3,184 | |||||||
| Total management and advisory fees | 371,874 | 314,228 | 289,444 | |||||||
| Incentive fees | 156,879 | 53,691 | 52,191 | |||||||
| Total revenues | $ | 528,753 | $ | 367,919 | $ | 341,635 |
Year ended March 31, 2023 compared to year ended March 31, 2022
Total revenues increased $160.8 million, or 44%, to $528.8 million, for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022, due to increases in both management and advisory fees and incentive fees.
Management and advisory fees increased $57.6 million, or 18%, to $371.9 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022. Specialized funds revenue increased by $46.2 million compared to the prior year, due primarily to a $19.4 million increase in revenue from our evergreen funds, a $14.8 million increase in revenue from our latest secondary fund, and an $8.4 million increase in revenue from our latest direct equity fund, which added $1.1 billion, $1.9 billion and $0.6 billion, respectively, in fee-earning AUM year-over-year. Revenue from our latest direct equity fund included $2.4 million in retroactive fees for fiscal 2023. Retroactive fees are management fees earned in the current period from investors that commit to a specialized fund towards the end of the fundraising period and are required to pay a catch-up management fee as if they had committed to the fund at the first closing in a prior period. Customized separate accounts revenue increased $14.5 million in fiscal 2023 due to a $3.7 billion increase in fee-earning AUM from the addition of several new accounts and additional allocations from existing accounts during the fiscal year. Distribution management revenue decreased $7.9 million in fiscal 2023 due to decreased distribution activity.
Incentive fees increased $103.2 million to $156.9 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022 due primarily to increases in incentive fees from our specialized funds.
Expenses
Year ended March 31, 2023 compared to year ended March 31, 2022
Total expenses increased $90.4 million, or 46%, for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022, due to increases in both compensation and benefits expenses and general, administrative and other expenses.
Compensation and benefits expenses increased $69.2 million, or 54%, to $198.4 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022, due to increases in base compensation and benefits and incentive fee compensation. Base compensation and benefits increased $40.9 million, or 38%, for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022, due primarily to an increase in our bonus plan accrual related to the increase in incentive fee revenue. Incentive
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compensation increased $25.8 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022 due to the increase in incentive fee revenue.
General, administrative and other expenses increased $21.1 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022. This change consisted primarily of a $4.0 million increase in travel expense, a $4.0 million increase in third-party commissions, a $3.2 million increase in consulting and professional fees, a $2.5 million increase in fund reimbursement expenses, and a $2.2 million increase in conferences and marketing.
Other Income (Expense)
The following shows the equity in income (loss) of investees included in other income (expense):
| Year Ended March 31, | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in thousands) | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||
| Equity in income of investees | |||||||||||
| Primary funds | $ | 60 | $ | 9,016 | $ | 2,443 | |||||
| Direct investment funds | (2,551) | 19,519 | 8,553 | ||||||||
| Secondary funds | 693 | 15,725 | 6,226 | ||||||||
| Customized separate accounts | (94) | 25,223 | 9,508 | ||||||||
| Other funds | 8,435 | 9,813 | 3,536 | ||||||||
| Total equity in income of investees | $ | 6,543 | $ | 79,296 | $ | 30,266 |
Year ended March 31, 2023 compared to year ended March 31, 2022
Other income (expense) decreased $141.5 million to $2.6 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022, due primarily to decreases in equity in income of investees and other non-operating income.
Equity in income of investees decreased $72.8 million to $6.5 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022. This was due primarily to the prior year gains from increases in public market valuations during the calendar year ended December 31, 2021.
Non-operating income decreased $69.4 million to a non-operating loss of $5.2 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022, due primarily to $59.6 million in gains on balance sheet investments in fiscal 2022 compared to $10.3 million in losses on balance sheet investments in fiscal 2023.
Interest expense increased $4.0 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022, due to the prime rate increasing 450 basis points and a $42.6 million increase in principal outstanding in fiscal 2023.
Other income of consolidated VIEs increased $4.6 million for fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022, due primarily to interest income of investments held in trust of our sponsored SPAC.
Income Tax Expense
Income tax expense reflects U.S. federal and applicable state income taxes with respect to our allocable share of any taxable income of HLA subsequent to the Reorganization.
Our effective income tax rate in fiscal 2023 and 2022 was 22.8% and 21.2%, respectively. The fiscal 2023 effective income tax rate was different from the statutory tax rate due to the portion of income allocated to NCI and change in the valuation allowance. The effective income tax rate for fiscal 2023 was greater than fiscal 2022 due to higher other permanent tax adjustments and less income allocated to the NCI in fiscal 2023.
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Fee-Earning AUM
The following table provides the period to period roll-forward of our fee-earning AUM:
| Year Ended March 31, | Year Ended March 31, | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | |||||||||||||||||
| (in millions) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Customized Separate Accounts | Specialized Funds | Total | Customized Separate Accounts | Specialized Funds | Total | |||||||||||||
| Balance, beginning of period | $ | 30,938 | $ | 18,193 | $ | 49,131 | $ | 25,664 | $ | 16,341 | $ | 42,005 | ||||||
| Contributions (1) | 7,802 | 5,098 | 12,900 | 8,994 | 4,228 | 13,222 | ||||||||||||
| Distributions (2) | (4,030) | (949) | (4,979) | (4,194) | (2,584) | (6,778) | ||||||||||||
| Foreign exchange, market value and other (3) | (26) | 320 | 294 | 474 | 208 | 682 | ||||||||||||
| Balance, end of period | $ | 34,684 | $ | 22,662 | $ | 57,346 | $ | 30,938 | $ | 18,193 | $ | 49,131 |
(1)Contributions represent (i) new commitments from customized separate accounts and specialized funds that earn fees on a committed capital fee base and (ii) capital contributions to underlying investments from customized separate accounts and specialized funds that earn fees on a net invested capital or NAV fee base.
(2)Distributions represent (i) returns of capital in customized separate accounts and specialized funds that earn fees on a net invested capital or NAV fee base, (ii) reductions in fee-earning AUM from separate accounts and specialized funds that moved from a committed capital to net invested capital fee base and (iii) reductions in fee-earning AUM from customized separate accounts and specialized funds that are no longer earning fees.
(3)Foreign exchange, market value and other consists primarily of (i) the impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations for customized separate accounts and specialized funds that earn fees on non-U.S. dollar denominated commitments and (ii) market value appreciation (depreciation) from customized separate accounts and specialized funds that earn fees on a NAV fee base.
Year ended March 31, 2023 compared to year ended March 31, 2022
Fee-earning AUM increased $8.2 billion, or 17%, to $57.3 billion for fiscal 2023, due to contributions from customized separate accounts and specialized funds.
Customized separate accounts fee-earning AUM increased $3.7 billion, or 12%, to $34.7 billion for fiscal 2023. Customized separate accounts contributions were $7.8 billion for fiscal 2023 due to new allocations from existing clients and new clients. Distributions were $4.0 billion for fiscal 2023 due to $2.1 billion from accounts moving from a committed to net invested capital fee base, $1.2 billion from returns of capital in accounts earning fees on a net invested capital or NAV fee base, and $0.7 billion from accounts reaching the end of their fund term.
Specialized funds fee-earning AUM increased $4.5 billion, or 25%, to $22.7 billion for fiscal 2023. Specialized fund contributions were $5.1 billion for fiscal 2023, due primarily to $1.9 billion from our latest secondary fund and $1.2 billion from our evergreen funds. Distributions were $0.9 billion for fiscal 2023, due to $0.8 billion from returns of capital in funds earning fees on a net invested capital or NAV fee base and $0.1 billion from funds reaching the end of their fund term.
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Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Below is a description of our unaudited non-GAAP financial measures. These are not measures of financial performance under GAAP and should not be considered a substitute for the most directly comparable GAAP measures, which are reconciled below. These measures have limitations as analytical tools, and when assessing our operating performance, you should not consider these measures in isolation or as a substitute for GAAP measures. Other companies may calculate these measures differently than we do, limiting their usefulness as a comparative measure.
Fee Related Earnings
Fee Related Earnings (“FRE”) is used to highlight earnings from recurring management fees. FRE represents net income excluding (a) incentive fees and related compensation, (b) interest income and expense, (c) income tax expense, (d) equity in income of investees, (e) other non-operating income and (f) certain other significant items that we believe are not indicative of our core performance. We believe FRE is useful to investors because it provides additional insight into the operating profitability of our business. FRE is presented before income taxes.
Adjusted EBITDA
Adjusted EBITDA is an internal measure of profitability. We believe Adjusted EBITDA is useful to investors because it enables them to better evaluate the performance of our core business across reporting periods. Adjusted EBITDA represents net income excluding (a) interest expense on our outstanding debt, (b) income tax expense, (c) depreciation and amortization expense, (d) equity-based compensation expense, (e) other non-operating income and (f) certain other significant items that we believe are not indicative of our core performance.
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The following table shows a reconciliation of net income attributable to Hamilton Lane Incorporated to Fee Related Earnings and Adjusted EBITDA for fiscal 2023, 2022, and 2021:
| Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||
| ($ in thousands) | ||||||||||
| Net income attributable to Hamilton Lane Incorporated | $ | 109,120 | $ | 145,986 | $ | 98,022 | ||||
| Income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests in general partnerships | 986 | 376 | (250) | |||||||
| Income attributable to non-controlling interests in Hamilton Lane Advisors, L.L.C. | 71,027 | 96,548 | 69,720 | |||||||
| Income attributable to redeemable non-controlling interests in Hamilton Lane Alliance Holdings I, Inc. | 5,617 | 4,343 | 1,293 | |||||||
| Income attributable to non-controlling interests in consolidated funds | 435 | — | — | |||||||
| Incentive fees | (156,879) | (53,691) | (52,191) | |||||||
| Incentive fee related compensation (1) | 74,374 | 25,395 | 24,438 | |||||||
| SPAC related compensation | — | — | 1,686 | |||||||
| SPAC related general, administrative and other expenses | 846 | 1,176 | 378 | |||||||
| Revenue related to consolidated funds | 61 | — | — | |||||||
| Non-operating income related compensation | 367 | 1,810 | — | |||||||
| Interest income | (5,114) | (500) | (1,676) | |||||||
| Interest expense | 8,617 | 4,638 | 2,503 | |||||||
| Income tax expense | 55,425 | 66,423 | 24,417 | |||||||
| Equity in income of investees | (6,543) | (79,296) | (30,266) | |||||||
| Non-operating income | 470 | (68,954) | (8,035) | |||||||
| Fee Related Earnings | $ | 158,809 | $ | 144,254 | $ | 130,039 | ||||
| Depreciation and amortization | 7,442 | 5,495 | 4,134 | |||||||
| Equity-based compensation | 9,950 | 7,404 | 7,079 | |||||||
| Incentive fees | 156,879 | 53,691 | 52,191 | |||||||
| Incentive fees attributable to non-controlling interests | (302) | (228) | (756) | |||||||
| Incentive fee related compensation (1) | (74,374) | (25,395) | (24,438) | |||||||
| SPAC related compensation | — | — | (1,686) | |||||||
| Non-operating income related compensation | (367) | (1,810) | — | |||||||
| Interest income | 1,789 | 500 | 1,676 | |||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA | $ | 259,826 | $ | 183,911 | $ | 168,239 |
(1) Incentive fee related compensation includes incentive fee compensation expense, bonus and other revenue sharing related to carried interest that is classified as base compensation.
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Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share
Non-GAAP earnings per share measures our per-share earnings excluding certain significant items that we believe are not indicative of our core performance and assuming all Class B and Class C units in HLA were exchanged for Class A common stock in HLI. Non-GAAP earnings per share is calculated as adjusted net income divided by adjusted shares outstanding. Adjusted net income is income before taxes fully taxed at our estimated statutory tax rate and excludes any impact of changes in carrying amount of our redeemable NCI. Adjusted shares outstanding for the years ended March 31, 2022 and 2023 are equal to weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding - diluted. We believe adjusted net income and non-GAAP earnings per share are useful to investors because they enable them to better evaluate total and per-share operating performance across reporting periods.
The following table shows a reconciliation of adjusted net income to net income attributable to Hamilton Lane Incorporated and adjusted shares outstanding to weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding for fiscal 2023, 2022, and 2021:
| Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||
| (in thousands, except share and per-share amounts) | ||||||||||
| Net income attributable to Hamilton Lane Incorporated | $ | 109,120 | $ | 145,986 | $ | 98,022 | ||||
| Income attributable to non-controlling interests in Hamilton Lane Advisors, L.L.C. | 71,027 | 96,548 | 69,720 | |||||||
| Income tax expense | 55,425 | 66,423 | 24,417 | |||||||
| Adjusted pre-tax net income | $ | 235,572 | $ | 308,957 | $ | 192,159 | ||||
| Adjusted income taxes (1) | (56,066) | (73,532) | (45,734) | |||||||
| Adjusted net income | $ | 179,506 | $ | 235,425 | $ | 146,425 | ||||
| Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding - diluted | 53,698,681 | 53,674,293 | 33,362,365 | |||||||
| Exchange of Class B and Class C units in HLA (2) | — | — | 20,240,035 | |||||||
| Adjusted shares outstanding | 53,698,681 | 53,674,293 | 53,602,400 | |||||||
| Non-GAAP earnings per share | $ | 3.34 | $ | 4.39 | $ | 2.73 |
(1) For the years ended March 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, represents corporate income taxes at our estimated statutory tax rate of 23.8% applied to adjusted pre-tax net income. The 23.8% is based on a federal tax statutory rate of 21.0% and a combined state income tax rate net of federal benefits of 2.8%.
(2) Assumes the full exchange of Class B and Class C units in HLA for Class A common stock of HLI pursuant to the exchange agreement. For the year ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the full exchange of Class B and Class C units is already included within the GAAP Weighted-average shares of Class A common stock outstanding - diluted.
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Investment Performance
The following tables present information relating to the historical performance of our specialized funds with fund families having at least two distinct vintages and most recent fund sizes of greater than $500 million per fund. The data are presented from the date indicated through December 31, 2022 and have not been adjusted to reflect acquisitions or disposals of investments subsequent to that date.
When considering the data presented below, note that the historical results of our specialized funds are not indicative of the future results you should expect from such investments, from any future investment funds we may raise or from an investment in our Class A common stock, in part because:
•market conditions and investment opportunities during previous periods may have been significantly more favorable for generating positive performance than those we may experience in the future;
•the performance of our funds is generally calculated on the basis of the NAV of the funds’ investments, including unrealized gains, which may never be realized;
•our historical returns derive largely from the performance of our earlier funds, whereas future fund returns will depend increasingly on the performance of our newer funds or funds not yet formed;
•our newly-established funds may generate lower returns during the period that they initially deploy their capital;
•in recent years, there has been increased competition for investment opportunities resulting from the increased amount of capital invested in private markets alternatives and high liquidity in debt markets, and the increased competition for investments may reduce our returns in the future;
•the performance of particular funds also will be affected by risks of the industries and businesses in which they invest; and
•we may create new funds that reflect a different asset mix and new investment strategies, as well as a varied geographic and industry exposure, compared to our historical funds, and any such new funds could have different returns from our previous funds.
The historical and potential future returns of the investment funds we manage are not directly linked to returns on our Class A common stock. Therefore, you should not conclude that continued positive performance of the investment funds we manage will necessarily result in positive returns on an investment in our Class A common stock. As used in this discussion, internal rate of return (“IRR”) is calculated on a pooled basis using daily cash flows. See “—Performance Methodology” below for more information on how our returns are calculated.
Specialized Fund Performance
We organize, invest and manage specialized primary, secondary and direct investment funds. Our specialized funds invest across a variety of private markets and include equity, equity-linked and credit funds offered on standard terms, as well as shorter duration, opportunistically oriented funds. Below is performance information across our various specialized funds. Substantially all of these funds are globally focused, and they are grouped by the investment strategy utilized.
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Gross Returns — Realized and Unrealized
| Fund | Vintage year | Fund size ($M) | Capital invested ($M) | Gross multiple | Net Multiple | Gross IRR (%) | Net IRR (%) | Gross Spread vs. S&P 500 PME | Net Spread vs. S&P 500 PME | Gross Spread vs. MSCI World PME | Net Spread vs. MSCI World PME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primaries (Diversified) | |||||||||||
| PEF I | 1998 | 122 | 117 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 5.4% | 2.5% | 378 bps | 76 bps | 322 bps | 16 bps |
| PEF IV | 2000 | 250 | 238 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 16.2% | 11.2% | 1,302 bps | 828 bps | 1,170 bps | 708 bps |
| PEF V | 2003 | 135 | 133 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 14.2% | 9.6% | 841 bps | 363 bps | 950 bps | 466 bps |
| PEF VI | 2007 | 494 | 513 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 11.8% | 9.0% | 82 bps | (157) bps | 419 bps | 175 bps |
| PEF VII | 2010 | 262 | 288 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 12.7% | 8.7% | (89) bps | (459) bps | 308 bps | (67) bps |
| PEF VIII | 2012 | 427 | 425 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 10.2% | 7.7% | (182) bps | (418) bps | 150 bps | (90) bps |
| PEF IX | 2015 | 517 | 507 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 20.7% | 18.7% | 820 bps | 646 bps | 1,138 bps | 958 bps |
| PEF X | 2018 | 278 | 231 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 20.2% | 16.6% | 1,226 bps | 802 bps | 1,501 bps | 1,065 bps |
| Secondaries | |||||||||||
| Pre-Fund | — | — | 362 | 1.5 | N/A | 17.1% | N/A | 1,330 bps | N/A | 1,172 bps | N/A |
| Secondary Fund I | 2005 | 360 | 353 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 5.2% | 3.8% | 113 bps | (63) bps | 341 bps | 157 bps |
| Secondary Fund II | 2008 | 591 | 596 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 19.9% | 13.5% | 459 bps | (188) bps | 876 bps | 218 bps |
| Secondary Fund III | 2012 | 909 | 838 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 13.7% | 11.4% | 59 bps | (197) bps | 445 bps | 193 bps |
| Secondary Fund IV | 2016 | 1,916 | 2,053 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 18.5% | 19.2% | 605 bps | 601 bps | 928 bps | 932 bps |
| Secondary Fund V | 2019 | 3,929 | 3,608 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 30.3% | 30.9% | 2,945 bps | 3,106 bps | 3,183 bps | 3,346 bps |
| Secondary Fund VI | 2022 | 1,659 | 191 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 100% | 46.1% | 11,099 bps | 4,612 bps | 11,097 bps | 4,612 bps |
| Direct/Co-investments | |||||||||||
| Pre-Fund | — | — | 244 | 1.9 | N/A | 21.3% | N/A | 1,655 bps | N/A | 1,600 bps | N/A |
| Co-Investment Fund | 2005 | 604 | 577 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.2% | (1.3)% | (570) bps | (746) bps | (319) bps | (501) bps |
| Co-Investment Fund II | 2008 | 1,195 | 1,157 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 17.9% | 14.3% | 580 bps | 195 bps | 963 bps | 572 bps |
| Co-Investment Fund III | 2014 | 1,243 | 1,292 | 1.8 | 1.6 | 16.5% | 13.5% | 298 bps | (4) bps | 633 bps | 325 bps |
| Co-Investment Fund IV | 2018 | 1,698 | 1,481 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 26.7% | 24.9% | 1,504 bps | 1,337 bps | 1,790 bps | 1,619 bps |
| Equity Opportunities Fund V | 2021 | 2,069 | 1,315 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 11.1% | 8.5% | 1,990 bps | 2,009 bps | 2,079 bps | 2,086 bps |
| Fund | Vintage year | Fund size ($M) | Capital invested ($M) | Gross multiple | Net Multiple | Gross IRR (%) | Net IRR (%) | Gross Spread vs. CS HY II PME | Net Spread vs. CS HY II PME | Gross Spread vs. CS LL PME | Net Spread vs. CS LL PME |
| Strategic Opportunities (Tail-end secondaries and credit) | |||||||||||
| Strat Opps 2015 | 2015 | 71 | 68 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 14.1% | 10.6% | 561 bps | 215 bps | 862 bps | 513 bps |
| Strat Opps 2016 | 2016 | 214 | 216 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 9.9% | 7.5% | 411 bps | 173 bps | 537 bps | 300 bps |
| Strat Opps 2017 | 2017 | 435 | 448 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 11.7% | 9.2% | 809 bps | 555 bps | 807 bps | 569 bps |
| Strat Opps IV (Series 2018) | 2018 | 889 | 863 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 9.5% | 7.4% | 660 bps | 430 bps | 684 bps | 445 bps |
| Strat Opps V (Series 2019) | 2019 | 762 | 704 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 11.4% | 8.9% | 1,041 bps | 703 bps | 793 bps | 445 bps |
| Strat Opps VI (Series 2020) | 2021 | 898 | 838 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.3% | 0.5% | 739 bps | 552 bps | 85 bps | (36) bps |
| Strat Opps VII | 2022 | 953 | 359 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5.6% | 2.3% | 859 bps | 304 bps | 242 bps | 1 bps |
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Performance Methodology
The indices presented for comparison are the S&P 500, MSCI World, Credit Suisse High Yield II (“CS HY II”) and Credit Suisse Leverage Loan (“CS LL”), calculated on a public market equivalent (“PME”) basis. We believe these indices are commonly used by private markets and credit investors to evaluate performance. The PME calculation methodology allows private markets investment performance to be evaluated against a public index and assumes that capital is being invested in, or withdrawn from, the index on the days the capital was called and distributed from the underlying fund managers. The S&P 500 Index is a total return capitalization-weighted index that measures the performance of 500 U.S. large cap stocks. The MSCI World Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization-weighted index of over 1,600 world stocks that is designed to measure the equity market performance of developed markets. The CS HY II Index, formerly known as the DLJ High Yield Index, is designed to mirror the investable universe of the U.S. dollar denominated high yield debt market. Prices for the CS HY II Index are available on a weekly basis. The CS LL Index is an index designed to mirror the investable universe of the U.S. dollar denominated leveraged loan market. Loans must be rated 5B or lower and the index frequency is monthly.
Our IRR represents the pooled IRR for all discretionary investments for the period from inception to December 31, 2022. Gross IRR is presented net of management fees, carried interest and expenses charged by the general partners of the underlying investments, but does not include our management fees, carried interest or expenses. Our gross IRR would decrease with the inclusion of our management fees, carried interest and expenses. Net IRR is net of all management fees, carried interest and expenses charged by the general partners of the underlying investments, as well as by us. Net IRR figures for our funds do not include cash flows attributable to the general partner. Note that secondary portfolio IRRs can be initially impacted by purchase discounts (or premiums) paid at the closing of a transaction, the impact of which will diminish over time.
“Capital Invested” refers to the total amount of all investments made by a fund, including commitment-reducing and non-commitment-reducing capital calls. “Multiple” represents total distributions from underlying investments to the fund plus the fund’s market value divided by total contributed capital. “Gross Multiple” is presented net of management fees, carried interest and expenses charged by the fund managers of the underlying investments.
Specialized fund and pre-fund performance does not include ten funds-of-funds that have investor-specific investment guidelines.
Many of our specialized funds utilize revolving credit facilities, which provide capital that is available to fund investments or pay partnership expenses and management fees. Borrowings may be paid down from time to time with investor capital contributions or distributions from investments. The use of a credit facility affects the fund’s return and magnifies the performance on the upside or on the downside.
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Liquidity and Capital Resources
Historical Liquidity and Capital Resources
We have managed our historical liquidity and capital requirements primarily through the receipt of management and advisory fee revenues. Our primary cash flow activities involve: (1) generating cash flow from operations, which largely includes management and advisory fees; (2) realizations generated from our investment activities; (3) funding capital commitments that we have made to certain of our specialized funds and customized separate accounts; (4) making dividend payments to our stockholders and distributions to holders of HLA units; and (5) borrowings, interest payments and repayments under our outstanding debt. As of March 31, 2023 and March 31, 2022, our cash and cash equivalents were $99.7 million and $72.1 million, respectively.
Our material sources of cash from our operations include: (1) management and advisory fees, which are collected monthly or quarterly; (2) incentive fees, which are volatile and largely unpredictable as to amount and timing; and (3) fund distributions related to investments in our specialized funds and certain customized separate accounts that we manage. We use cash flow from operations primarily to pay compensation and related expenses, general, administrative and other expenses, debt service, capital expenditures and distributions to our owners and to fund commitments to certain of our specialized funds and customized separate accounts. If cash flow from operations were insufficient to fund distributions to our owners, we expect that we would suspend paying such distributions.
We have also accessed the capital markets and used proceeds from sales of our Class A common stock to settle in cash exchanges of HLA membership interests by direct and indirect owners of HLA pursuant to our exchange agreement.
Finally, we have used available cash and borrowings from our Loan Agreements to make strategic investments in companies that seek to offer technology-driven private markets data and wealth management solutions.
Loan Agreements
We maintain the Term Loan Agreement, the Revolving Loan Agreement, the 2020 Multi-Draw Term Loan Agreement and the 2022 Multi-Draw Term Loan Agreement with JPMorgan, as successor to First Republic. In early May 2023, JPMorgan announced its purchase of First Republic after that bank’s failure. The purchase included the Loan Agreements. The Loan Agreements are cross-collateralized and cross-defaulted and the aggregate principal amount of loans that may be outstanding under all of the Loan Agreements is subject to an aggregate cap of $325 million (the “Cap”).
The Term Loan Agreement has a maturity date of January 1, 2030 and the interest rate is a floating per annum rate equal to the prime rate minus 1.25% subject to a floor of 3.00%. As of March 31, 2023, we had an outstanding balance of $99 million under the Term Loan Agreement. We are entitled to request additional uncommitted term advances not to exceed $25 million in the aggregate, subject to the Cap, through December 31, 2023.
The Revolving Loan Agreement provides that the aggregate outstanding balance will not exceed $50 million, subject to the Cap, and has a maturity date of March 24, 2025. The interest rate is a floating per annum rate equal to the prime rate minus 1.50% subject to a floor of 2.25%. As of March 31, 2023, we had an outstanding balance of $15 million under the Revolving Loan Agreement.
The 2020 Multi-Draw Term Loan Agreement provides for a term loan in the aggregate principal amount of $100 million with a maturity date of July 1, 2030. The interest rate is a fixed per annum rate of 3.50%. As
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of March 31, 2023, we had an outstanding balance of $100 million under the 2020 Multi-Draw Term Loan Agreement.
The 2022 Multi-Draw Term Loan Agreement has a maturity date of October 1, 2029 and the interest rate is a floating per annum rate equal to the prime rate minus 1.50% subject to a floor of 3.00%. As of March 31, 2023, we did not have an outstanding balance under the 2022 Multi-Draw Term Loan Agreement. We are entitled to request term loans not to exceed $75 million in the aggregate, subject to the Cap, through September 30, 2025.
The Loan Agreements contain covenants that, among other things, limit HLA’s ability to incur indebtedness, transfer or dispose of assets, merge with other companies, create, incur or allow liens, make investments, pay dividends or make distributions, engage in transactions with affiliates and take certain actions with respect to management fees. The Loan Agreements also require HLA to maintain, among other requirements, (i) a specified amount of management fees, (ii) a specified amount of adjusted EBITDA, as defined in the Loan Agreements, and (iii) a specified minimum tangible net worth, during the term of each of the Loan Agreements. The obligations under the Loan Agreements are secured by substantially all the assets of HLA. As of March 31, 2023 and 2022, the principal amount of debt outstanding equaled $214.4 million and $171.8 million, respectively. We had $110.6 million in availability under the Loan Agreements as of March 31, 2023.
Cash Flows
| Year Ended March 31, | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | ||||||||
| (in millions) | ||||||||||
| Net cash provided by operating activities | $ | 226.6 | $ | 169.5 | $ | 188.2 | ||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | $ | 177.9 | $ | (70.5) | $ | (421.8) | ||||
| Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities | $ | (364.1) | $ | (113.2) | $ | 270.7 |
Operating Activities
Our operating activities generally reflect our earnings in the respective periods after adjusting for significant non-cash activity, including equity in income (loss) of investees, equity-based compensation, lease expense, fair value adjustments to investments and depreciation and amortization, all of which are included in earnings. For the years ended March 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, our net cash provided by operating activities was driven primarily by receipts of management fees and incentive fees offset by payment of operating expenses, which includes compensation and benefits and general, administrative and other expenses.
Investing Activities
Our investing activities generally reflect cash used for acquisitions, fixed asset purchases and contributions to and distributions from our investments. For the years ended March 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, our net cash used in investing activities was driven primarily by purchases of furniture, fixtures and equipment, purchase of other investments and net contributions to our funds. Additionally, during the years ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, we received proceeds from the sale of investments.
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Financing Activities
Our financing activities generally reflect cash received from debt and equity financings, payments to owners in the form of dividends, distributions and repurchases of shares and scheduled drawdowns and repayments of our outstanding debt. For the years ended March 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, our net cash used in financing activities was driven primarily by dividends paid to stockholders, payments under the tax receivable agreement, distributions to HLA members and drawdowns and repayments under our revolving credit facility.
Future Sources and Uses of Liquidity
We generate significant cash flows from operating activities. We believe that we will be able to continue to meet our short-term and long-term liquidity and capital requirements through our cash flows from operating activities, existing cash and cash equivalents and our ability to obtain future external financing. However, the availability of capital from the Loan Agreements and our cash balances are exposed to the credit risks of the financial institutions at which they are held. If events involving limited liquidity, defaults, non-performance or other adverse developments that affect financial institutions or the financial services industry generally, or concerns or rumors about any such events, occur, our ability to access existing cash, cash equivalents and investments, or to access existing or enter into new banking arrangements or facilities to pay operational and other costs, may be threatened or lost.
We believe we will also continue to evaluate opportunities, based on market conditions, to access the capital markets and use proceeds from sales of our Class A common stock to settle in cash exchanges of HLA membership interests by direct and indirect owners of HLA pursuant to our exchange agreement. The timing or size of any potential transactions will depend on a number of factors, including market opportunities and our views regarding our capital and liquidity positions and potential future needs. There can be no assurance that any such transactions will be completed on favorable terms, or at all.
We will also continue to evaluate opportunities to make strategic investments in companies that seek to offer technology-driven private markets data and wealth management solutions.
In November 2018, we authorized a program to repurchase up to 6% of the outstanding shares of our Class A common stock, not to exceed $50 million (the “Stock Repurchase Program”). The Stock Repurchase Program does not include specific price targets or timetables and may be suspended or terminated by us at any time. We intend to finance the purchases using available working capital and/or external financing. The Stock Repurchase Program expires 12 months after the date of the first acquisition under the authorization. We have not repurchased any of our Class A common stock under the Stock Repurchase Program, and therefore the full purchase authority remains available. Our board of directors periodically reviews the Stock Repurchase Program and most recently re-approved it in December 2022.
We expect that our primary short-term and long-term liquidity needs will comprise cash to: (1) provide capital to facilitate the growth of our business; (2) fund commitments to our investments; (3) pay operating expenses, including cash compensation to our employees; (4) make payments and/or exercise early termination buyout rights under the tax receivable agreement; (5) fund capital expenditures and make strategic investments; (6) pay interest and principal due on our outstanding debt; (7) pay income taxes; (8) make dividend payments to our stockholders and distributions to holders of HLA units in accordance with our distribution policy; (9) settle exchanges of HLA membership interests by direct and indirect owners of HLA pursuant to our exchange agreement from time to time; and (10) fund purchases of our Class A common stock pursuant to the Stock Repurchase Program.
We are required to maintain minimum net capital balances for regulatory purposes for certain of our foreign subsidiaries and our broker-dealer subsidiary. These net capital requirements are met by retaining
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cash. As a result, we may be restricted in our ability to transfer cash between different operating entities and jurisdictions. As of March 31, 2023, we were required to maintain approximately $4.8 million in liquid net assets within these subsidiaries to meet regulatory net capital and capital adequacy requirements. We are in compliance with these regulatory requirements.
Dividend Policy
The declaration and payment by us of any future dividends to holders of our Class A common stock is at the sole discretion of our board of directors. We intend to continue to pay a cash dividend on a quarterly basis. Subject to funds being legally available, we will cause HLA to make pro rata distributions to its members, including us, in an amount at least sufficient to allow us to pay all applicable taxes, to make payments under the tax receivable agreement, and to pay our corporate and other overhead expenses.
Tax Receivable Agreement
We expect that periodic exchanges of membership units of HLA by members of HLA will result in increases in the tax basis in our share of the assets of HLA that otherwise would not have been available. These increases in tax basis are expected to increase our depreciation and amortization deductions and create other tax benefits and therefore may reduce the amount of tax that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future. The tax receivable agreement will require us to pay 85% of the amount of these and certain other tax benefits, if any, that we realize (or are deemed to realize in the case of an early termination payment, a change in control or a material breach by us of our obligations under the tax receivable agreement) to the pre-IPO members of HLA.
Contractual Obligations, Commitments and Contingencies
The following table represents our contractual obligations as of March 31, 2023, aggregated by type:
| Contractual Obligations, Commitments and Contingencies | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | Total | Less than 1 year | 1-3 years | 3-5 years | More than 5 years | |||||||||||||
| Operating leases | $ | 99.2 | $ | 7.8 | $ | 14.2 | $ | 13.2 | $ | 64.0 | ||||||||
| Debt obligations payable (1) | 214.4 | 17.5 | 10.0 | 44.4 | 142.5 | |||||||||||||
| Interest on debt obligations payable (2) | 55.8 | 11.2 | 19.9 | 17.1 | 7.6 | |||||||||||||
| Capital commitments to our investments (3) | 211.6 | 211.6 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 581.0 | $ | 248.1 | $ | 44.1 | $ | 74.7 | $ | 214.1 |
(1) Represents scheduled debt obligation payments under our Loan Agreements.
(2) Represents interest to be paid over the maturity of the related debt obligations, which has been calculated assuming no pre-payments will be made and debt will be held until its final maturity date. The future interest payments are calculated using the variable interest rate of 6.75% on our Term Loan Agreement, the fixed interest rate of 3.50% on our 2020 Multi-Draw Term Loan Agreement and the variable interest rate of 6.50% on our Revolving Loan Agreement in effect as of March 31, 2023.
(3) Represents commitments by us to fund a portion of each investment made by our specialized funds and certain customized separate account entities. These amounts are generally due on demand and are therefore presented in the less than one year category.
We have entered into a tax receivable agreement with our pre-IPO owners pursuant to which we will pay them 85% of the amount of tax benefits, if any, that we realize (or are deemed to realize in the case of an early termination payment by us, a change in control or a material breach by us of our obligations under the tax receivable agreement) as a result of increases in tax basis (and certain other tax benefits) resulting from
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purchases or exchanges of membership units of HLA. Because the timing of amounts to be paid under the tax receivable agreement cannot be determined, this contractual commitment has not been presented in the table above. The tax savings achieved may be substantial and we may not have sufficient cash available to pay this liability, in which case, we might be required to incur additional debt to satisfy this liability.
We offer an Employee Investment Program (“EIP”) through which certain employees are able to invest directly into certain company managed funds as individual limited partners (“LP”). The employees also have an option to enter into a loan agreement with a third-party lender to fund committed capital. The loan is collateralized by the underlying LP interest in the fund and return of capital distributions are utilized to pay the outstanding loan balance. We entered into a separate arrangement with the third-party lender to backstop the employee’s performance under the loan with a commitment to purchase the LP interest from the lender at the greater of fair value or the outstanding balance of the loan in the event of default by the employee. As of March 31, 2023, the total amount of outstanding loans under the EIP was $0.7 million and we believe the risk of default by an employee to be remote.
Critical Accounting Estimates
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. In applying many of these accounting principles, we need to make assumptions, estimates or judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses in our combined and consolidated financial statements. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. These assumptions, estimates or judgments, however, are both subjective and subject to change, and actual results may differ from our assumptions and estimates. If actual amounts are ultimately different from our estimates, the revisions are included in our results of operations for the period in which the actual amounts become known. We believe the following critical accounting estimates could potentially produce materially different results if we were to change underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments. See Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K for a summary of our significant accounting policies.
Principles of Consolidation
We consolidate all entities that we control through a controlling financial interest or as the primary beneficiary of VIEs.
We perform an analysis to determine whether consolidation is required by determining (1) whether we have a variable interest in each entity, (2) whether that entity is a VIE and (3) whether we are the primary beneficiary of this entity and consolidation is required.
In evaluating whether we hold a variable interest, we review the equity ownership to determine whether we absorb risk created and distributed by the entity, as well as whether the fees charged to the entity are customary and commensurate with the effort required to provide the services. We consider all economic interests, including indirect interests, to determine if a fee is considered a variable interest.
The assessment of whether the entity is a VIE requires an evaluation of qualitative factors and, where applicable, quantitative factors. These judgments include: (a) determining whether the equity investment at risk is sufficient to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support, (b) evaluating whether the equity holders, as a group, can make decisions that have a significant effect on the economic performance of the entity, (c) determining whether two or more parties’ equity interests should be aggregated, and (d) determining whether the equity investors have proportionate voting rights to their obligations to absorb losses or rights to receive returns from an entity.
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For entities that are determined to be VIEs, we are required to consolidate those entities where we have concluded that we are the primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary is defined as the variable interest holder with (a) the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and (b) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or the right to receive benefits from the entity that could potentially be significant to the VIE. In evaluating whether we are the primary beneficiary, we evaluate our economic interests in the entity held either directly or indirectly by us.
Changes to our judgments could result in a change in our consolidation conclusion for an entity.
Revenue Recognition of Incentive Fees
Incentive fees include both carried interest earned from certain specialized funds and performance fees received from certain customized separate accounts. We recognized $156.9 million of incentive fees in fiscal 2023 and have $1.0 billion of unrecognized carried interest as of March 31, 2023.
Contracts with specialized funds and certain customized separate accounts provide incentive fees, which generally range from 5.0% to 12.5% of profits, when investment returns exceed minimum return levels or other performance targets on either an annual or inception to date basis and are generally payable after all contributed capital and the preferred return on that capital has been distributed to investors. Incentive fees are recognized when it is probable that a significant reversal will not occur. The primary contingency regarding incentive fees is the “clawback,” or the obligation to return distributions in excess of the amount prescribed by the applicable fund or separate account documents. Incentive fees are typically only required to be returned on a net of tax basis due to a clawback. As such, the tax-related portion of incentive fees is typically not subject to clawback and is therefore recognized as revenue immediately upon receipt.
Investment returns are highly susceptible to market factors and judgments and actions of third parties that are outside of our control. We estimate the amount and probability of additional future capital contributions, both unfunded commitments or follow-on investment opportunities in underlying portfolio investments, to specialized funds and customized separate accounts, which could impact the probability of a significant reversal occurring. Incentive fee revenue can vary significantly year over year based upon the judgments, market factors, and actions of third parties as discussed above.
Income Taxes
We account for income taxes using the asset and liability method. Deferred income taxes are recognized for the expected future tax consequences attributable to temporary differences between the carrying amount of the existing tax assets and liabilities and their respective tax basis using enacted tax rates expected to be applied in the years in which temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. As of March 31, 2023, we had deferred tax assets of $233.9 million primarily due to our acquisitions of HLA units. Realization of the deferred tax assets is primarily dependent upon (1) historic earnings, (2) forecasted taxable income, (3) future tax deductions of tax basis step-ups related to our IPO and subsequent unit exchanges, (4) future tax deductions related to payments under the tax receivable agreement, and (5) our share of HLA’s temporary differences that result in future tax deductions. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount more likely than not to be realized. As of March 31, 2023, we had a valuation allowance of $77.2 million. Changes in judgment as it relates to the realizability of these assets, as well as potential changes in corporate tax rates, would have the effect of significantly reducing the value of the deferred tax assets.
We analyze our tax filing positions in all of the U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax jurisdictions where we are required to file income tax returns, as well for all open tax years in these jurisdictions. We evaluate tax
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positions taken or expected to be taken in the course of preparing an entity’s tax returns to determine whether it is “more-likely-than-not” that each tax position will be sustained by the applicable tax authority.
Tax laws are complex and subject to different interpretations by the taxpayer and respective governmental taxing authorities. Significant judgment is required in determining tax expense and in evaluating tax positions, including evaluating uncertainties under GAAP. We review our tax positions quarterly and adjust our tax balances as new legislation is passed or new information becomes available.
Tax Receivable Agreement
Our purchase of HLA Class A units concurrent with the IPO, and subsequent exchanges by holders of HLA units for shares of our Class A common stock pursuant to the exchange agreement, result in increases in our share of the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of HLA, which increases the tax depreciation and amortization deductions that otherwise would not have been available to us. These increases in tax basis and tax depreciation and amortization deductions are expected to reduce the amount of cash taxes that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future. We entered into the tax receivable agreement with the other members of HLA, which requires us to pay exchanging HLA unitholders (the “TRA Recipients”) 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state, and local income tax that we actually realize (or, under certain circumstances, are deemed to realize) as a result of the increases in tax basis in connection with exchanges by the TRA Recipients described above and certain other tax benefits attributable to payments under the tax receivable agreement. Generally, if we do not generate sufficient cumulative taxable income in the future to utilize the tax benefits, then we will not be required to make the related tax receivable agreement payments—the exception being that our obligation to make such payments may be accelerated if we elect to terminate the tax receivable agreement, in whole or in part, or if a change in control of us, or a breach of the tax receivable agreement by us, occurs. Therefore, we will generally only recognize a liability for payments under the tax receivable agreement for financial reporting purposes to the extent we determine it is probable that we will generate sufficient future taxable income to utilize the related tax benefits. Estimating and projecting future taxable income is inherently uncertain and requires judgment. Actual taxable income may differ from estimates, which could significantly affect the liability under the tax benefit arrangements and our consolidated results of operations.
Based on current projections, we anticipate having sufficient taxable income to utilize these tax attributes and receive corresponding tax deductions in future periods. As of March 31, 2023, the tax receivable agreement resulted in a liability of $174.7 million. Significant changes in the projected liability resulting from the tax receivable agreement may occur based on changes in anticipated future taxable income, changes in applicable tax rates or other changes in tax attributes that may occur and could affect the expected future tax benefits to be received by us.
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
Information regarding recent accounting developments and their impact on our results can be found in Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” in the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Form 10-K.
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