BlackRock to Add Private Assets to Model Portfolios for Wealthy Clients

BlackRock Inc. is expanding further into private-markets investing, striking a new partnership to include the assets alongside traditional ETFs and mutual funds in model portfolios pitched to wealthy U.S. retail clients.

The firm will work with Chicago-based GeoWealth to offer private equity and debt funds in customized portfolios for financial advisors across the U.S., BlackRock said Wednesday in a statement.

GeoWealth oversees about $28 billion across 180,000 accounts and about 200 registered investment advisers.

The move allows BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, to “enable broader access to private markets — one of today’s most sought-after asset classes,” Eve Cout, head of portfolio design and solutions for BlackRock’s US wealth advisory business, said in the statement.

BlackRock views the U.S. wealth market as one of its biggest growth opportunities. It accounted for roughly $4.5 billion of revenue in 2023, about a quarter of the company’s total.

The model portfolio business itself is one of the fastest-growing areas of asset management, and BlackRock expects it to double in assets to about $10 trillion over the next five years.