Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager, has grown its total assets under management (AUM) to over $1.2trn.
The company recorded $52bn of inflows during the period, with $212bn of inflows over the past twelve months, according to its latest quarterly results.
Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and chief executive officer, said the growth was “reflective of the broader underlying expansion of the firm’s business and earnings power, particularly in private wealth, credit and insurance, and infrastructure”.
“Most importantly, we continued to deliver strong investment performance for our LPs (limited partners), with the highest overall amount of fund appreciation in nearly four years,” he added.
Blackstone’s private wealth business grew to $280bn in AUM, driven partly by $10bn in wealth channel sales during the quarter, a 30% year-on-year increase.
Meanwhile, it’s insurance client business grew to $250bn AUM, a 20% year-on-year increase.
Jonathan Gray, president and chief operating officer, said during the earnings call: “Our decision to be an asset manager for insurance companies rather than becoming one positions us well to address the $40trn global insurance market.”
Blackstone’s rivals such as Apollo and KKR have instead opted to integrate or acquire insurers to build their respective businesses.
Partnerships and strong IPO pipeline
Blackstone announced two partnerships to boost its growth in the private wealth and insurance markets earlier this year.
In April it partnered with Wellington and Vanguard to bring public-private assets to clients, and in early July the firm announced a partnership with L&G to originate private credit deals for the insurer.
“We are quite excited about our continued prospects in the private wealth channel,” Gray said during the earnings call.
Commenting on reports that President Trump is aiming to unlock private investments for US retirement plans, Gray said that it would be “compelling” for investors in defined contributions given the “returns and diversification benefits” and that he expects “it will happen at some point”.
In an encouraging sign for equity markets and potential private equity players looking to unload their assets, Blackstone also revealed that it has its largest forward IPO pipeline since 2021.
Gray said: “Looking forward, importantly, we believe the dealmaking pause is behind us. The environment we see emerging of lower short-term interest rates, less uncertainty and continued economic growth, combined with a pent-up desire to transact, is the right recipe to reignite M&A and IPO activity.”
