Blackstone’s first-ever private equity (PE) fund for Japanese retail investors has raised $1.2 billion just four months after launching, a sign that people in the Asian country are increasingly open to alternative investments.
The dollar-denominated Blackstone Private Equity Strategies Investment Trust reached that amount — equivalent to about ¥188 billion — at the end of June, according to figures from the Japan Securities Dealers Association.
Alternative investment products, which refer to assets other than stocks and bonds, have historically been unpopular in Japan because of their low liquidity. That is beginning to change as the government encourages individuals to invest more of their money, the value of which is declining as inflation takes hold in Asia’s second-largest economy.
