Big Six bank provides single-vehicle exposure to multiple private-asset categories through new partnership
BMO Global Asset Management (BMO GAM) has taken another step to help expand Canadian investors’ access to the private markets.
The new BMO Partners Group Private Markets Fund, launched today, offers Canadian accredited investors access to a diversified global portfolio that encompasses private equity, private credit, private real estate, and private infrastructure through a single vehicle.
The fund is designed to act as a core portfolio building block. With no capital calls, monthly subscriptions, and low investment minimums, it offers exposure to an 80% swath of the economy that lies outside the public markets.
The Big Six bank is offering the fund in partnership with Partners Group, a global private markets firm that boasts US$135 billion in AUM. Its client base is made up of sovereign wealth funds, family offices, private individuals, and more than 800 institutional investors including major Canadian pension funds.
“We are excited to work with Partners Group to offer a solution that simplifies investing in private markets,” Jeffrey Shell, head of Alternative Investments at BMO GAM, said in a statement.
“In our search for the ideal collaborator, Partners Group was distinctive, holding the ingredients to deliver the potential octane of private equity, the income of private credit, the stability of private real estate, and the upside of owning scalable infrastructure platforms in a globally diversified solution – an attractive complement to Canadian investment portfolios.”
“Our partnership with BMO is a great opportunity to expand access to private markets for Canadian accredited and institutional investors,” said Adam Howarth, partner and co-head of Portfolio Management at Partners Group.
With the aim of offering attractive, long-term compounding returns, Howarth said the fund will let investors benefit from Partners Group’s global platform and investment approach that seeks to take advantage of thematic growth trends, as well as make transformative changes to businesses and assets.
“We believe private markets should play an increasingly important role in an investor’s portfolio,” he said.
In a recent survey of global investors conducted by Adam Street Partners, 86% said they expect private markets to outperform their counterparts in the public markets over the long term. For institutional limited partners, North America emerged as the top destination (26%), followed closely by China (22%) and Europe (18%).
Earlier this year, CI Global Asset Management launched its own one-ticket private-market solution that provides access to private credit, private infrastructure, private equity, and private real estate through a fund-of-funds structure. At the time, it was open only to investments by other CI funds, but the firm said it planned to open the fund to other accredited investors later this year.
