Wellington Management, Vanguard and Blackstone have announced a “strategic alliance” to develop multi-asset funds that incorporate public and private assets.
The firms said they will work together to create funds that provide investors with exposure to active, passive and private assets.
The alliance comes as many traditional asset management companies continue to search for ways to grow their private markets business.
“Vanguard and Wellington have worked closely together for 50 years and have long admired Blackstone’s capabilities,” said Jean Hynes, CEO of Wellington Management.
“We believe the unique combination of our investment expertise and well-respected brands will enable us to provide investors with comprehensive asset class exposure in easy-to-access investment solutions.”
The collaboration is to “broaden access to sophisticated multi-asset portfolios ordinarily available to the largest global institutions”, the firms said.
The need for better diversification and higher returns is “one of the most important long-term challenges facing investors and the asset and wealth management industry”, they said.
Indeed, as market volatility spiked following President Trump’s tariffs announcements, private equity and private credit investors have been relatively insulated, at least on paper, from the wild swings in daily volatility in traditional safe haven assets like US Treasuries.
The firms said that they aim to support financial advisors’ efforts to meet their clients’ goals, and that more details regarding the investment solutions will be announced in the coming months.
Commenting on the alliance, Greg Davis, president and chief investment officer of Vanguard said: “Vanguard is an industry pioneer with extensive expertise in offering low-cost index funds.”
“Through this unique collaboration with Wellington and Blackstone, we’re once again helping clients achieve investment success and changing the way investors access public and private markets.”
Jon Gray, president and COO of Blackstone said: “Blackstone has been a pioneer in revolutionizing how individual investors access private markets and today we’re proud to join forces with Wellington and Vanguard, two of the world’s leading asset managers, to further expand the benefits of private markets.”
“This initiative builds on our proven track record of making institutional-quality investing available to individuals, with the power of Blackstone’s scale and expertise across asset classes.”
