Blackstone Group has raised $1.3bn for a private equity fund tailored to wealthy individual clients, signalling a revival of momentum in its efforts to reach investors beyond its base of institutions such as pension funds.
The initial sum raised by the fund, called Blackstone Private Equity Strategies Fund, or BXPE, is Blackstone’s largest ever for a retail vehicle. The inflows came even after Blackstone was forced to limit withdrawals from a similar $67bn property fund just over a year ago.
Blackstone, with $1tn in assets under management, is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. The BXPE fund will bring corporate buyouts, the foundation of Blackstone’s business, to wealthy individual investors in the culmination of a decade-long effort by leaders Stephen Schwarzman and Jonathan Gray to find new sources of investment cash.