Wellington Management: Vanguard, Blackstone, Wellington Partner on Private Assets

In This Article: Fund giant Vanguard is teaming up with alternative asset manager Blackstone and Wellington Management to develop multi-asset investment solutions that integrate public and private markets to investors. The goal is to build "fully diversified portfolios that incorporate private assets and pursue higher returns," according to a Blackstone news release . The firm didn't share any information on what these solutions would be, but said that those details are expected to be announced in the coming months. News first broke that The Vanguard Group was reportedly holding talks with two of the world's biggest private equity companies about offering private assets to investors in March. Vanguard's Next Move Vanguard has a long history of disrupting the investing industry by providing access to investors and driving fees down-and doing so in the private marketplace is the next natural step for the company, Daniel Sotiroff, senior manager research analyst at Morningstar Research, told etf.com. "This is a big opportunity for them," Sotiroff said. "I think it's also kind of a test." The firm's CEO Salim Ramji joined just last year, and the industry is watching to see if Vanguard still executes in the way we expect-low-cost, well-managed and transparent with the right vehicles, he added. Blackstone and Wellington as Partners Instead of relying solely on its own capabilities, Vanguard is partnering with Blackstone. It's a move that Sotiroff said isn't surprising given Blackstone's size. "When you consider the scale that Vanguard operates at, you need somebody that's really big that can handle a lot of deals and handle a lot of private assets," he added. "It makes sense that they would partner with one of the bigger players in the space and they would go with somebody who has a pretty big reputation." Throwing Wellington into the mix was a bit of a curveball, Sotiroff said. But considering Wellington has been Vanguard's go-to sub-advisor for equity products and the two companies have a long history, the move also makes sense. A Solution for Private Assets? Vanguard isn't the first to explore private asset solutions. State Street and Apollo Global Management launched the SPDR SSGA Apollo IG Public & Private Credit ETF (PRIV) earlier this year, which aims to invest in private credit among other instruments, for example. But shoehorning an illiquid asset into a highly liquid ETF vehicle doesn't tend to work, so Sotiroff highly doubts the new offerings from Vanguard, Blackstone and Wellington will be in an ETF vehicle. He speculated it might be something like a tender offer fund, interval fund or a collective investment trust (CIT) for retirement. Wellington spokesperson Robyn Tice told etf.com the firm cannot comment on the details of any specific solutions that are not yet public. Permalink | © Copyright 2025 etf.com. All rights reserved