NEW YORK, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Leading U.S. investment company BlackRock Inc. is ramping up plans to offer more of its private-market products to individuals outside the United States as the Wall Street giant increasingly tries to muscle in on one of the hottest areas in global finance, reported Bloomberg News on Monday.

"The world's largest asset manager is targeting a hiring drive and tie-ups with digital investment platforms in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region to boost individual investors' access to its private-markets products," BlackRock executive Fabio Osta was quoted as saying.

"We'll continue expanding," said Osta, head of BlackRock's alternative-specialists team for its EMEA wealth unit, declining to specify recruiting targets. "We want more people in private markets."

"BlackRock, a pioneer in providing low-cost stock and bond funds, is betting it can conquer a more opaque and exclusive part of finance by homing in on private markets, where longtime leveraged-buyout titans such as Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. traditionally dominate," the report noted.