Blackstone launches perpetual private markets fund for non-US investors

Blackstone has launched a new perpetual private markets fund giving eligible non-US investors access to private equity, infrastructure, real estate and credit through a single vehicle.

Blackstone has launched a new perpetual private markets fund designed to provide eligible investors outside the US with access to four major private-market asset classes through a single investment vehicle.

The Blackstone Private Markets Fund (BXPM), announced on 24 September, combines exposure to private equity, infrastructure, real estate and credit. Blackstone described the vehicle as a flagship strategy intended to provide simplified access to its broader private-markets platform.

The fund can draw on Blackstone’s private equity strategies, which the firm said represented $364 billion of assets, alongside its $90 billion infrastructure business, $314 billion real estate business and $469 billion credit and insurance platform.

The private equity component includes corporate private equity, tactical opportunities, growth, life sciences and secondaries. Infrastructure exposure spans areas including energy, transportation and digital infrastructure.

Blackstone said BXPM represents the first time eligible non-US investors will have access to its institutional-quality perpetual funds through a single solution.

The launch reflects the continued development of perpetual and evergreen structures as large alternative investment managers seek to broaden access to private markets beyond traditional institutional investors.

Rather than requiring investors to make separate allocations to private equity, infrastructure, real estate and credit, the new vehicle brings the strategies together within one fund structure.

The development also illustrates the changing relationship between traditional asset management and private markets, as alternative managers increasingly develop structures designed to accommodate a wider range of investors.

For the private-markets industry, the expansion of perpetual vehicles represents an important development in product design, particularly as managers seek to combine long-term private-market exposure with structures that differ from traditional closed-end funds.