Hamilton Lane has appointed Lydia A Gavalis as deputy general counsel.
The appointment comes in preparation for the retirement of existing general counsel Robert Cleveland, who will leave the firm in early 2017 after 16 years of service.
In the interim period before his retirement, Cleveland will work closely with Gavalis to ensure a seamless transition. Upon assuming her new role as general counsel early next year, Gavalis will have responsibility for all legal affairs globally. As part of this transition, Fred Shaw, formerly director of compliance, will assume the role of chief compliance officer, reporting to Gavalis.
"I'm thrilled to be joining Hamilton Lane during such an exciting period of growth and evolution, and look forward to supporting the firm in its continued commitment to providing investors with access to the global private markets," Gavalis says.
Gavalis joins Hamilton Lane from SEI where she served for more than 18 years, including for the last 10 years as general counsel of the company's institutional investors business segment. She also served as general counsel for both SEI Private Trust Company and SEI Trust Company; head of SEI's Corporate Services legal team; and general counsel of London-based SEI Investments (Europe) Limited.
"Lydia has demonstrated her legal and advisory expertise through a distinguished and highly-respected tenure at SEI. We look forward to her strategic insight and strong leadership and are excited to welcome her to Hamilton Lane," says Mario Giannini, CEO of Hamilton Lane.
"It is with deep appreciation and gratitude that we congratulate Bob on his impending – and well-deserved – retirement. Bob joined Hamilton Lane when we were only 49 employees, and the firm has benefited immensely from his unwavering, sound guidance as we've navigated the many stages of our evolution to become the industry-leading, global organisation we are today," says Giannini.
