Investing.com -- Blackstone Inc.'s secondaries business reached $100 billion of assets under management in the first quarter, making it one of the largest players in the market for selling secondhand stakes.

The firm's flagship secondaries fund collected an additional $6 billion in the first quarter, bringing the total raised for that fund to $11 billion, Blackstone President Jon Gray said Thursday on a call with analysts to discuss the firm's first-quarter results.

The secondaries unit, called Strategic Partners and run by Verdun Perry, has completed more than 2,350 transactions. It buys portfolios sold by clients of private fund managers and participates in secondaries deals initiated by those managers. Last year, it bought a $5 billion portfolio of private equity holdings from the New York pension system, one of the largest sales of its kind.

The $22.2 billion Strategic Partners VIII generated an internal rate of return of 18% as of March.

The market for secondaries has grown, with overall volume jumping 48% since 2024 to reach $240 billion last year, according to Jefferies Financial Group.

Higher interest rates slowed dealmaking and fundraising for private markets, leading managers to turn to continuation funds to hold assets for longer and return profits to existing investors. Clients of private funds also tapped the market to generate liquidity without profits from their investments.