Large bond managers such as Pacific Investment Management Co., based in Newport Beach, California, and BlackRock Inc. of New York also have funds investing in shorter-dated securities. Banks such as Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. offer treasurers a suite of services for daily cash management, including Internet portals that allow them to choose among money-market funds in which to deposit excess cash, Gannon said.

Offering corporate money management may also help Blackstone maintain relationships with companies whose pension plans decide to reduce their investment in private equity, said Eileen Neill, a managing director in the consulting division of Wilshire Associates Inc., a Santa Monica, California-based financial advisory firm. Corporate pension plans have been moving into bonds as part of an effort to reduce the impact of market swings on their financial statements, she said.

“This has everything to do with the fact that corporate defined-benefit plans in the U.S. are meaningfully reducing their exposure to riskier assets,” Neill said in a telephone interview.

Initial Investment

A cash-management product may even help Blackstone gain access to corporate 401(K)s, also known as defined contribution plans, according to Neill.

“Right now, private equity is completely shut out of the defined-contribution industry because they don’t offer daily liquidity,” she said.

The treasury solutions group will be part of Blackstone Advisory Partners LP, a unit that provides advice on corporate restructurings and mergers and helps outside private-equity and hedge funds raise money, according to the brochure. Blackstone recently modified the license of advisory partners to permit it to provide capital markets services, such as underwriting stock and bond sales, the parent company said in its annual report.

‘Conservatively Managed’

Blackstone Treasury Solutions plans to charge both management and performance fees, the filing shows, and the unit will require a minimum initial commitment of $50 million. It will have the leeway to invest in a range of fixed-income products, according to the registration, including mortgages, asset-backed securities, leveraged loans, managed futures and interest rate contracts. It will also invest in both Blackstone and third-party hedge funds.

The SEC filings doesn’t specify how corporations would invest with the unit, or spell out whether clients would be able to withdraw their money daily or face waiting periods.