Sweden’s EQT has raised about 125 million euros ($145 million) within the first month of launching its semi-liquid product in Japan, even as the world’s third-largest economy continues to face uncertainties with no trade deal with the US in sight.
“Japan is a key market for EQT’s private wealth strategy, especially in Asia,” said its head of business development Gustav Segerberg, in its half-year earnings call on Thursday.
Around May this year, the Swedish investment giant, for the first time, offered Japan’s retail investors access to a diversified portfolio of global companies, which is similar to what EQT Nexus clients in Europe and Asia have been receiving since 2023.
Individual investors in Japan can access the product through a partnership with SMBC Nikko Securities, with a minimum investment of about 5 million yen ($35,000). Fund management is carried out in collaboration with Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management.
EQT Nexus gathered over 500 million euros in the first half of 2025, despite market jitters for much of the period amid uncertainties surrounding trade negotiations with the US. In June alone, the firm notched up 300 million euros across its evergreen strategies.
In the second half of 2025, it is set to launch two additional vehicles of a similar nature: a US structured fund for infrastructure strategy and another European structure for private equity strategy, shared Segerberg. EQT’s private wealth products are available in over 20 countries, per an investor presentation.
Alternative asset managers are ramping up efforts to tap Japan’s vast pool of wealth by creating products tailored for individual investors through local securities firms.
Wall Street giants such as Blackstone and Apollo have been expanding partnerships with Japanese brokerages to offer private equity, private credit and real estate funds repackaged for retail investors, aiming to capitalise on the growing appetite for portfolio diversification beyond traditional asset classes like stocks and bonds.
Last year, Blackstone made its private equity strategy available for retail investors via a public open-ended investment trust for unlisted global stocks in partnership with Nomura’s securities unit. The buyout firm raised over $1.2 billion within just four months after the launch.
Across Asia, EQT is concurrently raising its latest flagship pan-regional fund. BPEA IX hit the first close in April and received $11.4 billion in commitments as of July 17, said Segerberg. “We expect the fundraising to materially conclude this year and to reach the hard cap of $14.5 billion upon final close in early 2026.”
US pension manager Teacher Retirement System of Texas committed to invest $150 million last month, while The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund approved $100 million for the fund last year.
Its predecessor in the same fund franchise BPEA VII, the 2018 vintage, which closed at $7 billion and housed 23 portfolio companies, has returned every single dollar its investors chipped in after making 11 exits. The fund most recently reported an MOIC of 1.3x , whereas BPEA VII had achieved 2.7x.
