MILAN (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.