Great Gray to leverage BlackRock’s proprietary glidepath to strategically allocate across public and private markets

New BlackRock research shows how purpose-built private markets exposures can deliver 50 bps of additional performance for target date funds

BlackRock has been selected by Great Gray Trust Company, LLC (“Great Gray”) to provide a custom glidepath that strategically allocates across public and private markets for Great Gray’s first target date retirement solution featuring private equity and private credit exposures. BlackRock’s index equity, index fixed income, and private equity offerings have also been selected to underpin the solution. BlackRock believes solutions that incorporate private market allocations in a target date glidepath provide opportunities to generate value while managing risk.

Great Gray is a leading provider of trustee and administrative services to Collective Investment Trusts, managing over $210 billion (as of March 31, 2025). BlackRock is the largest defined contribution (DC) investment-only firm with approximately $1.7 trillion in DC assets under management (as of March 31, 2025), including the LifePath^® franchise which manages more than $500 billion on behalf of clients across active, index, and income implementations. BlackRock and Great Gray have had a commercial relationship since 2013 and are at the forefront of expanding access to innovative solutions for retirement professionals and their clients.

As part of the solution, Wilshire Advisors LLC, a leading provider of investment and advisory services, will oversee implementation of the strategy, including liquidity management.

“Blending public and private markets exposures requires a thoughtful approach to asset allocation and the ability to actively manage risk across the whole portfolio. That’s especially true for defined contribution plans,” said Nick Nefouse, BlackRock Global Head of Retirement Solutions and Head of LifePath. “Great Gray has a clear vision of what it wants to bring to the retirement industry and has been great to collaborate with to develop this innovative approach. Together, we are going to help more working Americans meet their retirement goals.”

Private assets are becoming an increasingly important driver of economic growth and source of return for many institutional and high-net worth investors. BlackRock is already seeing demand for exposure to private assets in DC plans. In a recent survey¹, 21% of retirement plan advisors said they plan to include private markets investments in the defined contribution plans that they manage.

“For too long, access to private markets has been limited to institutions, leaving many retirement savers behind as capital markets have evolved. Great Gray’s mission is to drive innovation in the U.S. retirement market, and for us to be true to that mission, we needed to create something that allows Americans to capitalize on private markets growth,” said Rob Barnett, CEO of Great Gray Trust Company. “By strategically allocating across public and private markets, BlackRock’s glidepath, systems and people are helping modernize the traditional target date solution.”

There are multiple ways plan sponsors and their advisors can incorporate private markets into DC plans. BlackRock’s retirement clients have a variety of needs and preferences, and the firm is creating solutions that deliver specific private market allocations as well as fully integrated, whole portfolio solutions.

In a new research paper, entitled “The power of private markets: Unlocking the benefits of private assets in defined contribution plans,” BlackRock outlines how incorporating purpose-built private market solutions into a target date solution can add 50 basis points in portfolio returns annually over the lifecycle of a target date solution. The outperformance associated with having private markets exposures compounded over 40 years can translate into approximately 15% more money for a retiree.

“BlackRock has been working with institutional investors and financial advisors to help them access private markets for years and we continue to evolve our platform in response to our clients’ changing needs. Innovating ways to thoughtfully incorporate private markets exposures into defined contribution plans underscores our commitment to providing them with the choices necessary to meet their investment objectives,” said Jaime Magyera, Co-Head of BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Advisory business and BlackRock’s Senior Retirement Sponsor.“Private assets play an increasingly important role in the global economy and today’s announcement builds on our ongoing efforts to give investors more ways to access the capital markets so that they can retire better and live better.”

BlackRock believes the portfolio of the future will comprise 50% public equities, 30% public fixed income, and 20% private markets. BlackRock has taken a number of steps to help clients navigate this evolving landscape, with an established track record of bringing public-private offerings to the wealth channel, including this year’s launch of a first-of-its-kind public-private model portfolio.

Source: BlackRock