MILAN, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Italian bank UniCredit

said on Wednesday it was widening its partnership with

Blackstone to start offering its wealthier clients a

private equity fund, an asset class normally reserved for

professional investors.

UniCredit first partnered with the world's largest

alternative asset manager in July last year, by making

Blackstone's European private credit fund available to clients

of its wealth management business.

In an effort to fend off rising competition from cheaper,

passive investments, wealth managers have been increasingly

turning to niche products with higher fees for customers and

expanding their offering of illiquid investments outside public

markets.

UniCredit said it would now also offer its customers the

Blackstone Private Equity Strategies Fund (BXPE), an actively

managed, semi-liquid, open-ended alternative investment fund.