Key Takeaways
- • Empower announced a partnership with Blackstone on January 14, 2026, to expand private markets investment access through its defined contribution retirement-plan platform, enabling millions of American retirement savers to invest in private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate via collective investment trust (CIT) structures.
- • Blackstone, the world's largest alternative asset manager with over $1.2 trillion in assets under management, joins an existing partnership program that already includes Apollo, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Neuberger Berman, Northleaf, Partners Group, PIMCO, and Sagard.
- • The partnership democratizes access to institutional-grade private markets strategies previously available only to wealthy and institutional investors, addressing a stated goal to bring private markets exposure to American workers who historically lacked such opportunities.
- • Blackstone operates a dedicated retirement solutions business unit and has provided private markets solutions to individual investors since 2002, positioning it as an experienced provider in the retail retirement-savings channel.
Summary
Empower, a leading provider of retirement and wealth management solutions, announced on January 14, 2026, that Blackstone has joined its private markets investment partnership program. The partnership expands the range of alternative investment strategies available to millions of American retirement savers through defined contribution plans, including 401(k)s and similar workplace retirement vehicles.
Under the program, retirement plan participants gain access to private equity, private credit, private infrastructure, and private real estate investments through collective investment trust (CIT) structures. Blackstone's addition brings the firm's $1.2 trillion in alternative assets under management and institutional expertise to Empower's platform. The arrangement allows working Americans to access the same caliber of private markets investments traditionally reserved for institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Blackstone brings particular credibility to the partnership given its track record providing private markets solutions to individual investors since 2002 and its established retirement solutions business unit.
Edmund F. Murphy III, president and CEO of Empower, emphasized that the platform aims to democratize private markets access by combining advice and risk-appropriate investment structures. Blackstone joins a competitive cohort of leading asset managers already participating in Empower's private markets program, including Apollo, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Neuberger Berman, Northleaf, Partners Group, PIMCO, and Sagard. The expanded platform reflects growing institutional recognition that private markets allocations can enhance portfolio diversification and performance for retirement savers, while broadening Empower's competitive positioning in the workplace retirement-savings market.
Under the program, retirement plan participants gain access to private equity, private credit, private infrastructure, and private real estate investments through collective investment trust (CIT) structures. Blackstone's addition brings the firm's $1.2 trillion in alternative assets under management and institutional expertise to Empower's platform. The arrangement allows working Americans to access the same caliber of private markets investments traditionally reserved for institutional investors and high-net-worth individuals. Blackstone brings particular credibility to the partnership given its track record providing private markets solutions to individual investors since 2002 and its established retirement solutions business unit.
Edmund F. Murphy III, president and CEO of Empower, emphasized that the platform aims to democratize private markets access by combining advice and risk-appropriate investment structures. Blackstone joins a competitive cohort of leading asset managers already participating in Empower's private markets program, including Apollo, Franklin Templeton, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Neuberger Berman, Northleaf, Partners Group, PIMCO, and Sagard. The expanded platform reflects growing institutional recognition that private markets allocations can enhance portfolio diversification and performance for retirement savers, while broadening Empower's competitive positioning in the workplace retirement-savings market.
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