Blackstone setting sights on affluent investors with infrastructure fund

investmentnews.com:

Blackstone Inc. debuted an infrastructure fund targeting individuals with at least $5 million of investments, departing from the paths of rivals such as KKR & Co. and Apollo Global Management Inc. that have courted the less-wealthy “mass affluent” for such funds.

The New York-based money manager filed a registration Friday for Blackstone Infrastructure Strategies, the latest vehicle from an alternative asset manager to raise infrastructure funding from individual investors. 

The new fund, dubbed BXINFRA in the filing, didn’t disclose how much capital it aims to attract.

Blackstone has spearheaded the private equity industry’s drive to attract more capital from individuals, having formed vehicles such as the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust and Blackstone Private Credit Fund, better known as BREIT and BCRED. 

The firm signaled that it would extend the concept to infrastructure investing during a call with analysts after its second-quarter results last month. Blackstone was preparing to roll out a vehicle giving investors “access to the full breadth of the firm’s strategies” in infrastructure, including equity, secondaries and credit, the firm’s president, Jon Gray, said.

Blackstone already ranks as one of the world’s largest infrastructure backers, with more than $100 billion invested in the asset class, including credit-related holdings and stakes in infrastructure funds purchased in secondary markets.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Schwarzman said during the analysts’ call that the firm is trying meet the growing demand for electricity created by the burgeoning artificial intelligence sector — an endeavor requiring infrastructure capital.

KKR and Apollo have already set up infrastructure vehicles to raise money