Strategic Partners Fund Solutions

Verdun Perry serves as Global Head of Blackstone Strategic Partners, overseeing the firm's secondaries, GP stakes, and fund-of-hedge-funds operations. Perry joined the firm during its Lehman Brothers era and led its transition into Blackstone. Investment committee decisions for flagship secondaries funds are made by a senior team that includes regional heads covering North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific markets.

The firm sources through three primary channels: direct relationships with institutional LPs seeking liquidity, GP relationships across the Blackstone network for continuation vehicle and tender offer mandates, and intermediary-led auctions run by investment banks. The Blackstone parent brand provides both inbound proprietary deal flow and the credibility to act as an anchor investor in GP-led processes, which often unlocks participation from other buyers.

The firm is active across both categories. Historically, LP stake acquisitions represented a larger portion of volume, but GP-led secondaries—including continuation funds, strip sales, and tender offers—have grown to roughly equal or surpass traditional LP purchases in recent vintages. Fund VIII's $22.2 billion mandate explicitly covers both strategies under a single pool.

Strategic Partners Fund Solutions is a wholly owned part of Blackstone Inc., the world's largest alternative asset manager. The business line operates under the Blackstone Strategic Partners umbrella, which sits within Blackstone's overall platform but maintains a separate investment process and dedicated fund vehicles. Blackstone acquired the business in 2008 from Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy estate.

The firm acquires interests in buyout, growth equity, venture capital, and infrastructure funds across all vintage years. Its geographic mandate covers North America, Western Europe, and Asia-Pacific, with the majority of exposure concentrated in US and European large-cap and mid-market buyout strategies. The team maintains investment professionals in New York and London.

Strategic Partners Fund VIII closed at $22.2 billion in January 2023, which represented a record for dedicated secondaries vehicles at the time. Together with predecessor Fund VII ($11.1 billion) and earlier vintages, the total secondaries platform manages over $70 billion in investor commitments. The broader Strategic Partners business, including hedge fund solutions and GP stakes, pushes the platform's total AUM higher.

Yes. Strategic Partners raises capital from institutional limited partners including public and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, foundations, and family offices. The funds are closed-end vehicles with standard 10-12 year lives, two-year investment periods, and fee structures consistent with large institutional private equity partnerships. Investors commit as LPs to each successive flagship fund.