BlackRock vs. Blackstone: Who Did Better?

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When Blackstone chief Stephen Schwarzman compared

Paulson Stays in Blackstone Hotel

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After an initial public offering pop, hotel

Permal Persists; Blackstone Near Top

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Competition for capital is intense among the few large funds of funds managers left standing

Blackstone vs. BlackRock vs. Goldman

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It shows how bad the past three months have been that Blackstone and Goldman Sachs, two comparatively strong performers in the 2008-2009 crisis, lost money in third quarter 2011. By contrast BlackRock, another winner in the past crisis, reported positive net income, though down from the second quarter. But the comparison is less clear when you consider other information.

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Blackstone Makes Multiple Commodity Bets

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Blackstone Group raised $2.4 billion for its second hedge fund seeding vehicle and started to deploy the capital in the past months. So far, $200 million has gone to two managers. One of them is a commodity manager. 

Blackstone and Private Equity Trend

Blackstone Group’s total assets rose to $119 billion at the end of September from around $111 billion (including non-fee earning assets) in the previous quarter.  Look at the disaggregated numbers and you see a strong trend.

Blackstone Asset Growth Hopeful

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Blackstone Group’s hedge fund division attracted significant  new capital in the second quarter. This does not mean that other hedge fund firms will also be able to raise money.

On the contrary, investors appear to be persistently moving to the largest firms. Blackstone is now a $111 billion behemoth (counting all assets) & growing. It has  probably become the biggest free-standing alternative investment business.  Plus, Blackstone survived the credit crisis well. Nobody else in the industry is really in the same position.

Nevertheless, this is great news for many hedge fund managers.

Models Compete-Man, Investcorp, Blackstone

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Man Group’s acquisition of GLG Partners, with $24 billion in assets, brought up questions about the future of alternative investment businesses.  For growth, is it better to rely more on mergers and acquisitions or wait for investors to come? Do companies with diverse strategies have an advantage?