Blackstone has partnered with Finland’s S-Bank to broaden access to its European private credit fund, with the latter creating a feeder fund that will invest its clients’ capital into the Blackstone European Private Credit Fund SICAV, according to a report by Alternative Credit Investor.
Blackstone’s partnership with S-Bank follows those with Dutch bank ING and French multinational bank BNP Paribas, which similarly allow individual investors in those countries to access private credit. In the US, Blackstone has its BCRED fund, which is open to private investors across the country.
Differences in market regulation had to be considered — for Blackstone’s French and Finnish partnerships, the firm had to launch feeder funds to allow native investors to access its fund, unlike in Italy, where investors can directly access Blackstone’s fund via UniCredit — while the minimum investment threshold in Finland is €100,000 versus other countries’ €20,000 minimum.
Blackstone plans to initiate more European partnerships in 2024 with the aim of broadening investors’ access to its fund.
The report also cites Annika Henriksson, a Portfolio Manager responsible for capital investments at S-Bank, who described private credit’s attractive risk-adjusted returns due to the investments being mainly secured senior loans with variable interest rates.
Blackstone European Private Credit Fund SICAV was launched in October 2022 and oversees €581m (£497m). The fund invests in senior secured loans to large European companies.
