Manulife Investment Management and UBS’s Unified Global Alternatives business have partnered to develop a customised Japan private equity co-investment programme for wealth management clients.
The collaboration combines Manulife’s private equity investment capabilities and sponsor relationships in Asia with UBS’s global alternatives platform and distribution network. The programme is intended to provide UBS clients with access to co-investment opportunities alongside private equity managers in Japan.
Manulife’s Asia private equity platform draws on longstanding relationships with sponsors and its underwriting capabilities to identify investment opportunities, the asset manager said in a statement.
“Japan is potentially entering a more favourable environment of buyouts for skilled managers, capitalising on the rising deal flow from business successions, carve-outs and take-privates, with ample room for value creation,” said Qingkun Guo, Head of Private Equity Asia at UBS’s Unified Global Alternatives.
The partnership reflects the growing attractiveness of Japan as a private equity market, where business succession needs, corporate carve-outs and take-private opportunities are creating a broader pipeline of potential buyout deals.
It also highlights rising interest among global asset managers in offering wealth clients access to Japan’s private equity opportunities.
UBS’s global alternative business combines its alternatives manager selection capabilities across asset management and global wealth management. It had approximately $371 billion in invested assets as of September 30, 2026, spanning hedge funds, private equity, private credit, real estate and infrastructure.
