BlackRock has launched a new private markets platform for European wealth managers.
The firm said in a statement that the platform, also available to investors in the Middle East, will provide evergreen, multiple fund exposure to institutional-quality alternative investments under the new European Long-Term Investment Fund (ELTIF) 2.0 framework.
Investors into the platform will have access to a collection of strategies leveraging the new ELTIF 2.0 wrapper across private equity, multi-alternatives, infrastructure, private debt and real estate. The strategies will leverage the deep investment, technology and data expertise, broad market access and whole portfolio capabilities of BlackRock’s private markets franchise, with the initial two funds managed by BlackRock Private Equity Partners and BlackRock Alternative Portfolio Solutions.
Stephen Cohen, chief product officer at BlackRock, commented: “Our goal is to revolutionise access to private markets for wealth clients. By launching this evergreen platform under the ELTIF 2.0 framework, we are breaking new ground in making institutional-quality alternatives accessible to a wider range of investors. This demonstrates our commitment to staying ahead of clients’ investment needs with innovative solutions.”
According to BlackRock, the platform launches with two initial funds in private equity and multi-alternatives. BlackRock Private Equity Partners will manage the BlackRock Private Equity fund, a global diversified private equity portfolio across industry sectors and company stages, targeting buyout and growth opportunities via direct co-investments and secondaries.
See also: BlackRock Real Estate continues Nordic push with promotion of Thorsten Slytå
BlackRock Alternative Portfolio Solutions will manage the Multi-Alternative Growth fund, a global multi-alternatives portfolio across geographies and sectors, offering exposure to private equity, private credit, real assets and opportunistic investments focused on driving capital growth over the long term. BlackRock will seek to continue investing in its evergreen platform to expand its range of strategies to include infrastructure, private debt and real estate in due course.
Fabio Osta, head of the alternatives specialists team in EMEA Wealth, BlackRock, said: “We are excited to make alternatives much more accessible to a wider range of investors through the launch of our evergreen private markets platform, expanding our range of ELTIFs under the new ELTIF 2.0 framework.”
He added: “Building on BlackRock’s extensive track-record of managing risk and investing across multiple evergreen funds, these launches underscore our ability to bring innovative, client-focused solutions to market. As the fastest-growing segment in asset management, we are well positioned to revolutionise private markets investing to help more people invest better and experience financial wellbeing.”
Under the new ELTIF 2.0 regulation, the open-ended structure offers liquidity at periodic intervals, with the 20% liquidity sleeve in each fund managed by BlackRock, promoting effective liquidity and further return optimisation potential. While these new funds are expected to be highly attractive for the established advisory segment, their evergreen structure may also help drive interest for the first time in discretionary portfolio management, the digital wealth segment, unit-linked investments, and additionally institutional investors.
