Cliffwater Adds Ryan Madani to Expand Real Assets Investment Platform

Cliffwater has bolstered its real assets investment platform with the appointment of Ryan Madani as managing director on the Cascade Real Assets Fund team. Madani, who spent nearly a decade at Partners Group managing private real estate investments, brings substantial transaction experience to support Cliffwater's expansion within its private markets business. His hiring follows recent leadership additions and underscores the firm's commitment to strengthening investment capabilities across private real estate, infrastructure, and adjacent asset classes.

During his tenure at Partners Group, Madani held responsibility for sourcing, structuring, underwriting, and managing a diverse array of real estate transactions. His track record includes co-investments, joint ventures, recapitalizations, and primary fund investments across the portfolio. Notably, Madani was instrumental in executing transactions representing more than $2 billion in equity investments and exceeding $6 billion in total capitalization, demonstrating both scale and deal complexity in his prior role.

At Cliffwater, Madani will leverage his real estate expertise to support the Cascade Real Assets Fund, an interval fund that provides institutional and wealth management investors with diversified exposure to private real assets. The appointment addresses accelerating institutional appetite for allocations to private real estate, infrastructure, and related holdings. Investors increasingly pursue these asset classes to achieve portfolio diversification, hedge inflation risk, and generate long-term income. Interval funds—open-end structures with periodic redemption windows—have expanded retail and institutional access to private markets, creating elevated demand for seasoned investment professionals capable of sourcing, underwriting, and managing institutional-caliber assets.

The timing of Madani's hire reflects broader market dynamics. Institutional allocators have substantially increased their real assets allocations, particularly as traditional fixed-income yields remain compressed and diversification benefits from private markets become more apparent. Madani's appointment, combined with Cliffwater's recent real assets team expansions, positions the firm to capture this demand by deploying experienced talent capable of navigating complex transactions and managing diversified portfolios across multiple real asset verticals.