Earnings
Blackstone's distributable earnings slip 13% even as $63 billion of inflows push assets to $1.37 trillion
Fee-related earnings rose and credit drew more than half of new money, but opportunistic real estate funds lost ground in the quarter.
HedgeWeekly News Desk ·
Blackstone reported third-quarter distributable earnings of $1.32 a share on Thursday, down 13% from $1.52 a year earlier, even as $63.3 billion of new capital lifted total assets under management 10% to $1.37 trillion. Fee-related earnings rose to $1.26 a share from $1.20, and the firm declared a dividend of $1.12 a share, payable on November 9.
Credit and insurance attracted $35.8 billion of the quarter's inflows, more than half the total, followed by private equity at $12.6 billion, multi-asset investing at $8.6 billion and real estate at $6.3 billion. Realizations from exits and asset sales came to $33.1 billion. Net income attributable to Blackstone rose to $662 million, or 83 cents a share, from $625 million a year earlier.
Fund performance diverged by strategy. Opportunistic real estate funds lost 3.2% gross in the quarter and 4.0% over 12 months, while infrastructure gained 6.4% in the quarter and 28.9% over 12 months. Corporate private equity returned 2.8%. Chairman and chief executive Stephen Schwarzman said the firm delivered strong results "amid a volatile external environment."
For allocators, the multi-asset numbers stand out: Blackstone's Absolute Return Composite returned 0.5% gross (0.3% net) in the quarter against a 0.8% loss for the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, and 12.8% gross over 12 months versus 5.4% for the index. The firm ended September with $228.9 billion of undrawn capital and $7.3 billion of net accrued performance revenues, income that depends on exit activity. Distributable earnings per share were also below the $1.36 Blackstone reported for the first quarter of 2026.