Blackstone's AUM up 4.4% for quarter 7.3% for year

Blackstone Group reported $387.4 billion in assets under management as of Sept. 30, up 4.4% from three months earlier and up 7.3% from a year earlier, according to its earnings report released Thursday.

Blackstone's AUM growth, which resulted in a record high for the company, was due to a combination of fundraising, fund appreciation and organic platform expansion, the earnings report said.

Inflows into Blackstone investment strategies were $19.7 billion for the quarter and $62.4 billion for the year ended Sept. 30. By comparison, Blackstone had inflows of $12.1 billion in the prior quarter and $57.4 billion for the year ended June 30.

Real estate had the most AUM, at $111.3 billion as of Sept. 30, up 7% from June 30 and up 9.2% from Sept. 30, 2016.

Blackstone's second-largest business segment, private equity, reported $10.5 billion in assets as of Sept. 30, an increase of 2.5% from three months earlier and up 2.8% from a year earlier.

Blackstone's credit business AUM totaled $99.5 billion as of Sept. 30, up 5.3% from June 30 and up 11.4% from Sept. 30, 2016. The year-over-year increase in credit assets was primarily due to fundraising.

Blackstone collected $680.6 million in management and advisory fees in the third quarter, compared to $596.2 million in the third quarter of 2016. Performance fees were $893.8 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30 vs. $671 million in the year-earlier quarter. Investment income accounted for $170.9 million for the three months ended Sept. 30 compared to $143.1 million for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2016.

Also, during the quarter ended Sept. 30, GAAP net income totaled was $847 million, compared to $691.6 million in the third quarter of 2016.