Alt Investments
Blackstone Tries To Woo Rich Investors As Wealth Sector Ambitions Expand - Report
Not just content with buying a wealth management business, alternatives investment powerhouse Blackstone wants individuals with at least $10 billion to invest in Blackstone’s funds.
Not just content with buying a wealth management business, alternatives investment powerhouse Blackstone wants individuals with at least $10 billion to invest in Blackstone’s funds, according to Bloomberg.
The co-founder of Blackstone, Steve Schwarzman, is eyeing such investors as a source of fresh capital, the publication said.
The firm has created Blackstone Total Alternatives Solution Advisors to pool money from wealthy families and high-net worth individuals, the report said, citing a regulatory filing in June. This unit seeks clients for a fund of funds that will invest in the firm’s buyout, real estate, credit and hedge funds.
Private wealth accounts for 12 per cent of the $272 billion that Blackstone oversees in total, the report said, adding that a spokesperson for the firm has declined to comment on the issue.
The report cited comments stating that Blackstone has been meeting with family offices and individuals with as much as $20 billion who have considered investing directly with it.
Last week, Blackstone agreed to buy Lombard International Assurance, the firm that provides services such as wealth management products, from its parent, UK-based Friends Life Group, for €399 million ($542.7 million). The sale follows media speculation earlier this year that a deal was in the works. Lombard is headquartered in Luxembourg. The sale is subject to regulatory approvals and completion is expected in the second half of 2014.
The Lombard business focuses on areas such as wealth planning solutions for ultra high net worth individuals, in areas such as private placement life insurance, an area of continued growth and development in the wealth management sector. As explained on its website, the business “pioneered private bancassurance solutions that use life assurance as a sophisticated financial planning tool incorporating the invaluable benefit of Luxembourg’s solid insurance policyholder protection regime”. The business doesn’t directly market to end-clients but works with private banks and other intermediaries.
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