The US firm is stepping up its activities of engaging with the private wealth investor base.

US-listed Blackstone, which has been building out its private wealth arm, has appointed one of its senior figures, Sheila Rapple, as chief operating officer for Private Wealth Solutions, Europe, Middle East and Africa. 

Rapple, who is relocating to London, previously served as global head of investor services within the Private Wealth Solutions Group. Prior to this, she was head of the internal sales and service desk for the PWS group.

Before joining Blackstone in 2011, Rapple worked with Legg Mason, most recently as director, separately managed account product manager in Legg Mason's retail distribution unit, where she was responsible for SMA product maintenance, product development, platform placement, sales, marketing, operations, and client service. Rapple began her career with Smith Barney Asset Management working in their sales and marketing team. 

Rapple received a BS in marketing and management from Siena College.

In recent years, Blackstone, with more than $1 trillion in AuM, has been promoting what are called evergreen or perpetual fund structures for alternative investments. The term describes a structure of funds that doesn’t come with the drawdowns, capital calls, exit deadlines and other traditional features of private market entities. These “perps” don’t carry the kind of liquidity constraints that might be a problem for investors in more established fund structures.

Momentum in the private markets space is building. For example, MSCI, the provider of market indices, has launched MSCI Private Capital Indexes, which capture returns and other data from global markets.