FILE PHOTO: The company logo and trading information for BlackRock is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - BlackRock Inc, the world’s largest asset management firm, said on Wednesday it had raised $2 billion for its flagship opportunistic credit fund, Global Credit Opportunities, reflecting investor demand for alternative investments.

The fund will invest in corporate credit assets across geographies and industries, and seek value throughout the credit cycle, according to BlackRock, which had $6.84 trillion in assets under management as of June.

Global Credit Opportunities’ fundraising builds on BlackRock’s broader push in establishing a global private credit franchise. In addition to opportunistic credit, over the last few years, BlackRock has expanded its private credit capabilities in Asian private credit, special situations, and U.S. and European middle market credit, including the acquisition of Tennenbaum Capital Partners in 2018.

BlackRock’s Global Credit platform manages $100 billion in total client assets, and seeks to generate income and capital growth by targeting less liquid opportunistic, stressed and special situations investments.

According to BlackRock’s 2019 Global Institutional Rebalancing Survey, 56% of global respondents planned to increase their allocations to private credit.

“Investors looking for attractive risk-adjusted returns and portfolio diversification are increasingly looking to credit, where scale and expertise can help generate alpha,” said Tim O’Hara, global co-head of credit.

“Building out our opportunistic credit strategy to take advantage of secular trends and cyclical dislocations in the credit markets is a natural evolution of our platform as we continue to bolster a credit business that can deliver for clients across risk spectrums and market cycles,” he said.