Clearstream Shatters Barriers: BlackRock Funds Now Unlock Private Markets Access

Clearstream just rewrote the private markets rulebook—and BlackRock holds the pen.

Breaking Down the Wall

Institutional investors no longer need backdoor access to private equity and credit. Clearstream's integration of BlackRock funds creates a direct pipeline to traditionally opaque markets. The move bypasses legacy gatekeepers that have long controlled allocation channels.

Digital Infrastructure Meets Traditional Finance

The partnership leverages Clearstream's settlement infrastructure to tokenize fund units—creating seamless transferability while maintaining regulatory compliance. BlackRock's fund range becomes programmable assets on distributed ledgers without sacrificing FSA oversight.

Why This Changes Everything

Private market exposure now flows through standardized digital channels instead of negotiated side agreements. The system cuts settlement times from weeks to minutes while providing real-time audit trails. Traditional finance finally gets blockchain efficiency without the crypto volatility.

Of course, Wall Street will still find ways to charge 2-and-20 for 'complexity'—some habits die harder than others.

• Broadening and simplifying wealth manager access to private market funds
• Easing complexities of private market fund processing, order routing and custody
• Providing safe and reliable distribution of BlackRock products to wealth managers across Europe and Asia

Clearstream, Deutsche Börse Group’s post-trade services provider, will add funds from global asset manager, BlackRock, to its platform, aimed at broadening the distribution of BlackRock’s alternative investment solutions. This will leverage Clearstream Fund Services’ robust and reliable distribution infrastructure to process funds securely and efficiently at scale, simplifying wealth manager access to private market funds.

The agreement provides BlackRock with access to sophisticated investors through Clearstream’s expansive network of over 300 distribution partners, including many large global wealth managers with a strong presence in Europe, the UK and Asia Pacific.

Fabio Osta, Head of the Alternative Specialists Team, EMEA Wealth, BlackRock, commented: “We are excited to work alongside Clearstream and unlock the benefits of private markets for a broader range of investors. We are entering a new era for private markets, in which we are bringing together our innovative evergreen solutions with new distribution channels. In collaboration with Clearstream we are democratizing access to private markets for more investors as they continue to grow their allocations to the asset class.”

Moritz Dechow, Head of Distribution for Clearstream Fund Services stated: “Our collaboration with BlackRock marks an exciting step towards facilitating access to private market investments. Leveraging Clearstream’s extensive distribution network, advanced digital platform, and expertise in alternative investments will help simplify access to BlackRock’s private market offerings. This exemplifies how we at Clearstream are committed to developing innovative solutions that benefit the entire investment ecosystem.”

BlackRock provides clients with investment strategies across infrastructure, private credit, private equity, real estate and multi-alternatives solutions. The firm currently manages over $600 billion USD of client assets across private markets and alternatives strategies[1] and is committed to expanding investor access to the wide range of strategies in the asset class through innovative solutions. BlackRock launched the industry’s first evergreen private markets platform last year[2], providing access to the BlackRock Multi-Alternatives Growth Fund and BlackRock Private Equity Fund, enabled through the ELTIF 2.0 framework.

Clearstream offers a comprehensive suite of services across the investment value chain specifically designed for private markets, encompassing order routing, settlement, and asset servicing. With robust capabilities in custody and execution, Clearstream Fund Services provide services for close to €4 trillion in traditional funds and €300 billion in private and alternative funds. The company’s fully integrated distribution platform also offers a regulatory compliant framework for KYC and distribution oversight. These comprehensive end-to-end solutions, combined with Clearstream’s Vestima platform for order routing and placement, greatly reduce the traditional barriers to private market fund distribution for asset managers.

This collaboration reflects Clearstream’s ongoing commitment to be the partner of choice for private market investments as it continues to expand its growing network of leading GPs.

Source: Clearstream Fund Services