Blackstone Group’s total fee-earning assets under management in the third quarter rose 8.3% from a year earlier to $104.3 billion. For the quarter, fee-earning assets rose 3%.
The asset increase was announced in Blackstone’s quarterly earnings statement on Thursday. Profit rose 23% in the third quarter as the value of its investments in private equity, real estate and hedge funds gained.
Assets in credit and marketable alternatives, including hedge funds of funds, totaled $55.6 billion as of Sept. 30, a 17% increase from a year earlier, while real estate saw a 3% gain to $24.3 billion and private equity was down 3%, to $24.4 billion.
Profit excluding some costs increased to $339.3 million, or 30 cents a share, from $275.3 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier.
Blackstone is benefiting as the financial market recovery boosts the value of fund investments and deal-making starts to rebound. To reduce dependence on buyouts, Chairman Stephen Schwarzman has built up the hedge fund business and is looking to the public markets to realize more profits.
Mr. Schwarzman, who created Blackstone in 1985 with Peter G. Peterson, is expanding the firm’s non-private equity businesses, and its unit comprising credit investments and hedge funds of funds stands as its largest by assets under management.
News Editor Rick Baert contributed to this story.
