BlackRock Muscles Into Private Assets Market for Wealth 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 US retail clients.

The firm will work with Chicago-based GeoWealth to offer private equity and debt funds in customized portfolios for financial advisers across the US, 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, ...