A New Cycle for Private Markets
Optimism is in the air as capital markets adjust to a new rate environment in many parts of the world and deal volumes have picked up.1 These are welcome trends, and not surprising based on what Blackstone was seeing over the past year in the firm’s own investment portfolios.
The trend is our friend. About a year ago, Blackstone detected signs of moderating inflation, continued but moderating growth and stabilization in sectors disrupted by nearly two years of higher interest rates. Rather than wait for the all-clear, the firm’s investment teams began deploying capital. Between that point and the third quarter of this year, Blackstone’s businesses invested some $123 billion across asset classes and markets, a remarkable figure that was double the comparable prior-year period.
Investing is pattern recognition, and the ability to anticipate trends, rather than chase them, is a performance differentiator. This ability – to gather valuable real-time insights from Blackstone’s large portfolio across sectors, asset classes and regions that are not reflected in public sources – is a private market advantage that can help navigate cycles of disruption. These on-the-ground perspectives helped Blackstone weather the global financial crisis and other cycles. It also enabled Blackstone Real Estate to see signs that the commercial real estate market was bottoming and get ahead by investing or committing $22 billion over the first nine months of 2024.
Staying power is another significant advantage in private markets. With no forced selling of assets at inopportune moments, the firm can lean in when others hesitate, investing in businesses with strong fundamentals and sticking with them until the tide turns, so that values can truly reflect the underlying attractions. Blackstone can act quickly when warranted, bringing scale capital and know-how to its investments, and it can also simply wait out the storm when patience is needed.
These private market advantages and the performance and income they yield are some of the reasons we view these investments as all-weather in nature, and essential components of a well-constructed portfolio.
Increasingly, financial advisors and their clients are tapping into private markets.
Increasingly, financial advisors and their clients are tapping into private markets. Recently, more than 80% of financial advisors surveyed by Blackstone Private Wealth Solutions say private market investments help them attract new clients.2 The majority of these same advisors recommend higher allocations than clients currently have, reflecting the value they see for individual investor portfolios as well as the currently low level of allocations.
Partnerships with advisors are among the key reasons Blackstone was named Asset Manager of the Year at the 2024 MMI/Barron’s Industry Awards, which recognizes asset managers that innovate to achieve better outcomes for investors and financial advisors.3 We take great pride in being the first private markets manager to receive this prestigious award.
We deeply value your partnership. Our objective, as always, is to provide access to institutional quality offerings with a best-in-class service experience. Our high-quality educational resources and our team stand ready to help your clients build wealth with Blackstone.
Joan Solotar
Global Head, Private Wealth Solutions
- Dealogic and Bloomberg, as of September 30, 2024. Includes US domiciled IPOs greater than $50 million. Does not include SPACs, ADRs, CLEFs or BDCs. Volume reflects deal value.
- Based on surveys of financial professionals across the U.S., EMEA, and APAC participating in Blackstone programming over the period July-September 2024. Average number of respondents per question: 525. Any views or opinions expressed herein reflect solely the views of the advisors who were surveyed in connection with this survey and/or Blackstone, and such views or opinions are subject to change without notice and may differ from opinions expressed by others. Blackstone has not independently verified the information received from the advisors surveyed and no representation is made as to the accuracy of such information. Any projections, expectations or other forward-looking statements set forth herein are based on assumptions that are uncertain and are subject to many factors, changing market conditions and general economic conditions, and may vary materially from the themes set forth herein. Nothing herein constitutes investment advice or recommendations and this summary page should not be relied upon as a basis for making an investment decision.
- Awarded by Money Management Institute (“MMI”) /Barron’s on October 17, 2024, for the period dated June 2023 – June 2024. Category: Retail Advisory AUM more than $100 billion. The award described above may not be representative of any one client’s experience with Blackstone, and past performance does not predict future returns. The award herein was provided by MMI, an industry association representing financial services firms that provide financial advice and investment advisory solutions to investors, and Barron’s, a publication that reports on investing and the financial sector. Per MMI, the awards recognize companies that demonstrate leadership in advancing advisory solutions for investors and financial advisors. The criteria for awards provided by MMI/Barron’s including the award shown above may be based on subjective criteria, and are not intended to be, nor should they be construed as or relied upon as, any indication of future performance or other future activity. In addition, their selection to receive the awards and/or their rankings may have been based on a limited universe of participants, and therefore there can be no assurance that a different sampling of participants might not have achieved different results.
Past performance does not predict future returns. There can be no assurance that any Blackstone fund or investment will achieve its objectives or avoid substantial losses. Any investment involves a high degree of risk and you may not get back the amount originally invested. There is no guarantee the trends depicted herein will continue or will not reverse. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against losses. Investing involves risk, including loss of capital.
All information is as of September 30, 2024 (the “Reporting Date”), unless otherwise indicated and may change materially in the future. Capitalized terms used herein but not otherwise defined have the meanings set forth in the Offering Documents.
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Trends. There can be no assurances that any of the trends described herein will continue or will not reverse. Past events and trends do not imply, predict or guarantee, and are not necessarily indicative of, future events or results.
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