The alliance of Wellington Management, Vanguard, and Blackstone is launching two funds that will offer investments in both American public and private markets for a growing segment of wealthy individuals.
While investments in most private equity, private infrastructure, private real estate and private credit traditionally have been dominated by institutional investors like pension funds, asset managers are now looking to challenge the monopoly by increasingly offering their services to people seeking better returns on their personal wealth.
“One of the new vehicles, the WVB All Markets Fund, will blend public equities, fixed income and index strategies and Blackstone’s private markets offerings, while the WVB Blackstone All Privates Fund will give access across Blackstone’s platform,” the companies said in a statement.
WVB All Markets Fund will be the multi-asset solution for investors who want to simplify the integration of public and private markets.
“The fund will integrate Wellington’s expertise in active public equities and Vanguard’s strengths in active fixed income and index strategies with exposure to Blackstone’s leading perpetual private markets platform. The fund will trade under the tickers WVBIX, WVBAX, and WVBMX,” the alliance remarked.
WVB Blackstone All Privates Fund, on the other hand, will serve as a professionally managed solution providing a simple access point to Blackstone’s leading perpetual private markets platform, putting private equity, private infrastructure, private real estate, and private credit in a single bracket.
“The new closed-end funds will be available at launch to Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank clients, providing advisors on one of the industry’s leading wealth management platforms with access to the first solutions from the strategic alliance. The alliance also anticipates broad participation and adoption from the RIA community and will explore additional distribution opportunities across the wealth ecosystem over time,” the companies added further.
“Our clients are increasingly seeking broader access to private markets and thoughtful ways to implement these strategies over time. Our scale and integrated platforms are expanding access to differentiated investment opportunities that can support more resilient long-term portfolios,” said Mark Sutterlin, head of alternative investments at Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank.
The solutions will help advisors build more diversified portfolios for high-net-worth and mass-affluent clients in a simplified investment framework. The funds have been tailored to assist advisors in constructing long-term portfolios that seek strong performance, long-term growth, and broad portfolio diversification.
Elaborating more about the product, the allinace said, The WVB All Markets Fund and WVB Blackstone All Privates Fund bring together Wellington’s nearly 100-year heritage of active management, fundamental research, and multi-asset allocation expertise; Vanguard’s 50-year legacy of delivering high-performing active strategies and index funds with a relentless focus on cost efficiency and investor outcomes; and Blackstone’s 40-year track record of cycle-tested performance and leadership position as the world’s largest alternative asset manager and number one provider of private markets solutions for individuals.”
“The launch of the WVB All Markets and WVB Blackstone All Privates Funds reflects the strength of our strategic alliance with Vanguard and Blackstone. By combining our deep active management and asset allocation capabilities with Vanguard’s scale and expertise in fixed income and indexing and Blackstone’s leadership in private markets, we are delivering thoughtfully constructed solutions designed to meet investors’ evolving needs. We are particularly pleased to introduce these funds initially through the powerful Merrill and Bank of America Private Bank platforms,” said Jean M. Hynes, CEO and Managing Partner, Wellington Management.
“For five decades, Vanguard has worked to improve investor outcomes through disciplined active management, low-cost index strategies, and a client-focused approach. Through this collaboration with Wellington and Blackstone, we are extending that mission into integrated public and private market solutions. Launching these funds with Bank of America Private Bank and Merrill is an important first step in expanding access to those solutions,” remarked Greg Davis, President and CIO of Vanguard.
“Blackstone has delivered performance in private markets for individuals for more than two decades, helping them access the premium returns, lower volatility, and diversification that private markets can provide. These new solutions bring together the performance and scale of Blackstone’s private markets platform with the exceptional strengths of Wellington and Vanguard, creating simple and comprehensive access for advisors and their clients to help build long-term wealth,” concluded Jon Gray, President and COO of Blackstone.