Key Takeaways
- • Ryan Madani appointed as Managing Director at Cliffwater to support the Cascade Real Assets Fund team, reinforcing the firm's real assets investment platform expansion.
- • Madani brings nearly a decade of experience from Partners Group, where he sourced, underwrote, and managed investments across private real estate spanning multiple transaction types including secondaries, co-investments, and joint ventures.
- • During his tenure at Partners Group, Madani played a key role in transactions representing over $2 billion in equity investments and more than $6 billion in total capitalization.
- • The appointment follows Cliffwater's June 2026 promotion of Sean Brenan to Head of Real Estate and Portfolio Manager of the Cascade Real Assets Fund, demonstrating the firm's strategic commitment to strengthening its real assets platform.
- • Cliffwater's real assets platform leverages more than two decades of investment experience and is positioned to meet growing institutional investor demand for private real assets solutions.
Summary
Cliffwater, a leading private markets interval fund manager, has appointed Ryan Madani as Managing Director on its Cascade Real Assets Fund team. This staffing decision represents a strategic expansion of the firm's real assets investment platform and signals continued investment in institutional-quality real estate solutions for sophisticated investors.
Madani joins Cliffwater from Partners Group, where he spent nearly a decade in private real estate investing. During his tenure, he was responsible for the full investment lifecycle across a diverse range of transaction structures, including secondaries, co-investments, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and primary fund investments. His transactional experience encompasses more than $2 billion in equity investments and over $6 billion in total capitalization, demonstrating substantial deal-sourcing and portfolio construction capabilities.
Blake Nesbitt, Co-Head of Asset Management and Chief Investment Officer at Cliffwater, emphasized that Madani's appointment reflects the firm's commitment to building a best-in-class platform. Sean Brenan, Head of Real Estate and Portfolio Manager of the Cascade Real Assets Fund, characterized Madani's investment and portfolio construction expertise as a meaningful addition to the team, particularly as institutional investor demand for private real assets solutions continues to expand.
This appointment is contextualized by Cliffwater's broader platform investments. In June 2026, the firm elevated Brenan to his current role overseeing the Cascade Real Assets Fund, underscoring management's strategic focus on real assets capabilities. The Cascade Real Assets Fund itself manages private real assets investments for institutional investors seeking diversified exposure to alternative real assets, and the platform benefits from Cliffwater's more than two decades of accumulated investment experience in this sector.
Madani joins Cliffwater from Partners Group, where he spent nearly a decade in private real estate investing. During his tenure, he was responsible for the full investment lifecycle across a diverse range of transaction structures, including secondaries, co-investments, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and primary fund investments. His transactional experience encompasses more than $2 billion in equity investments and over $6 billion in total capitalization, demonstrating substantial deal-sourcing and portfolio construction capabilities.
Blake Nesbitt, Co-Head of Asset Management and Chief Investment Officer at Cliffwater, emphasized that Madani's appointment reflects the firm's commitment to building a best-in-class platform. Sean Brenan, Head of Real Estate and Portfolio Manager of the Cascade Real Assets Fund, characterized Madani's investment and portfolio construction expertise as a meaningful addition to the team, particularly as institutional investor demand for private real assets solutions continues to expand.
This appointment is contextualized by Cliffwater's broader platform investments. In June 2026, the firm elevated Brenan to his current role overseeing the Cascade Real Assets Fund, underscoring management's strategic focus on real assets capabilities. The Cascade Real Assets Fund itself manages private real assets investments for institutional investors seeking diversified exposure to alternative real assets, and the platform benefits from Cliffwater's more than two decades of accumulated investment experience in this sector.
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