Blackstone Japan Fund Exceeds $1 Billion as Investors Warm to PE

Blackstone Inc.’s first-ever private equity fund for Japanese individual investors raised $1.2 billion just four months after its launch, adding to signs that people in the Asian nation are warming to alternative assets.

The dollar-denominated Blackstone Private Equity Strategies Investment Trust reached that amount 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’s starting to change as the government encourages individuals to invest more of their cash, the value of ...