Private equity giant Blackstone has reached $1 trn (€0.9 bn) of assets under management (AUM), with chairman and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman highlighting the achievement in the firm's second quarter earnings report.
Said Schwarzman: 'Blackstone is the first alternative manager to surpass $1 trillion of assets under management. This milestone reflects the extraordinary trust we have developed with our investors — built through performance — as well as our distinctive position as an innovator. We believe we are in the early stages of the long-term growth of the alternatives industry, providing a vast opportunity for further expansion.'
The rise to $1 trn AUM, a year-on-year (y-o-y) increase of 6%, was fuelled by inflows of $30.1 bn in the quarter and $158.4 bn over the prevous 12 months (LTM). Blackstone reported total deployments of $19.5 bn in the quarter and $80.3 bn over the previous year, and realisations of $17.2 bn in the quarter, compounded to $64.4 bn over the previous year.
The total AUM of its real estate division increased 4% to $333.2 bn with inflows of $7.9 bn in the quarter and $49.2 bn over the LTM.
Inflows in the quarter included $1.3 bn for the seventh European opportunistic fund, $791 mln of capital raised in BREIT, $2.2 bn for Blackstone Real Estate debt strategies (BREDS) insurance SMAs, and $203 mln in the fifth real estate debt strategies fund, bringing total capital commitments to $3.7 bn for the fund.
Real estate capital deployment in the quarter, to the tune of $4.1 bn, included the privatisation of the UK's Industrials REIT, a last mile specialist. Blackstone said it focused on deploying capital on opportunistic assets, some $2.776 bn, compared to the $674 mln spent on core+ and $676 mln on Blackstone Real Estate debt strategies (BREDS).
Blackstone reported that its real estate opportunitistic funds were flat in the quarter and declined year-on-year, while its core+ funds returned 1.7% over the quarter.
The earnings report came as BREIT signalled a continuing return to health. June saw BREIT post its strongest returns in nearly a year when it recorded a 0.96% return, marking the third straight month of positive returns for Blackstone's real estate investment trust.
