Blackstone breaks through $300bn barrier

Blackstone has become the first alternative investment manager to surpass $300bn in assets, underlining the scale of its fundraising activity just days after it announced a $14bn deal to buy real estate from GE Capital.

The US firm founded by Steve Schwarzman, and once known primarily for its private equity deals, reported $310bn in total assets under management in its first-quarter results on Thursday, up from $272bn in the same period last year.

Blackstone also reported that its economic net income - a measure of its profit - doubled to $1.6bn, compared with a year ago, after it sold assets in a buoyant market.

It will now pay a record dividend of $0.89 a share, leading to payout of more than $200m for Mr Schwarzman, the group's chairman and chief executive.

These figures confirm Blackstone as the largest of a select group of US private equity firms that have accumulated assets since listing on public markets.

Carlyle, Blackstone's next biggest rival, managed just under $200bn in assets at the end of last year.

In a sign of its prowess at raising funds from institutions, Blackstone's so called 'dry powder' - the money it holds but has yet to invest - rose to a record $64.5bn during the quarter.

"Our limited partners entrusted us with $30bn of new capital in the quarter and $77bn over the last 12 months, shattering our own record for the alternative asset management industry," Mr Schwarzman said.

In addition, the group's fee-paying assets under management rose 10 per cent year on year to exceed $223bn - another record. At the same time, its performance fees, earned from its share of proceeds from deals, more than doubled to $1.67bn compared with the same period last year, reflecting the strong pace of sales of investments.

Shares in Blackstone and its peers are valued by analysts on the basis of the fees they charge for accumulating and managing assets.

Blackstone's dominance has been driven by its specialisation in real estate, a sector in which its profits doubled to $638m during the quarter.

Its real estate assets rose in value by nearly 15 per cent year on year to $93bn versus a year ago.

Blackstone has $76bn invested in private equity but half of the nearly $27bn it invested over the first quarter was in asset classes that the group was not involved in when it went public in 2007.

It secured $16.5bn in funds for investment in real estate during the first quarter, a record amount and over half the amount raised in total.

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