Blackstone is heading into a “fundraising super cycle” as it prepares to launch its next global real estate fund, the asset management giant said in its second-quarter results.
Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and chief executive of Blackstone, told investors that the firm will begin raising its flagship private equity and real estate funds “in the next several months”.
Blackstone’s previous real estate fund, BREP VIII, raised $15.8bn (£12.1bn) in 2015 in what was the largest ever private real estate fund. BREP IX, the upcoming fund in the series, is likely to be at least as large as its predecessor.
See also: Blackstone reveals its European real estate strategy
Blackstone’s fundraising hit record levels this year, with gross inflows of $120bn over the last 12 months – including $20bn in the past quarter. Its assets under management hit $439.4bn – an 18% rise year-on-year.
In the investor call yesterday, Schwarzman added: “We expect our fundraising supercycle to bring the firm’s total AUM above the $500bn milestone, likely in the first half of next year.”
The firm’s economic net income – a measure of realised and unrealised gains and losses – was up by 56% to $1.1bn. In real estate, the figure was down by 21% to $319m.
Real estate AUM was up 15% year-on-year to $119.4bn, with opportunistic funds’ value increasing by 2.7%.
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