BlackRock Plans Private Markets Expansion to Court Europe’s Rich

BlackRock Inc. is ramping up plans to offer more of its private-market products to individuals outside the US as the Wall Street giant increasingly tries to muscle in on one of the hottest areas in global finance.

The world’s largest asset manager is targeting a hiring drive and tie-ups with digital investment platforms in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region to boost individual investors’ access to its private-markets products, BlackRock executive Fabio Osta said in an interview.

“We’ll continue expanding,” said Osta, head of BlackRock’s alternative-specialists team for its EMEA wealth unit, declining to specify recruiting targets. “We want ...