Blackstone elevates duo to co-chief investment officers

$1T asset manager has also promoted Americas real estate head to a global role.

Blackstone has promoted some of its leaders to global roles, including appointing two co-chief investment officers and promoting its head of real estate Americas.

Current global head of real estate, Ken Caplan, and European head of private equity, Lionel Asaant, are elevated to be the new global co-CIOs, while Nadeem Meghji is promoted to global co-head of Real Estate, succeeding Caplan, and working alongside Kathleen McCarthy.

“Ken is a remarkable leader who I have loved partnering with,” said McCarthy. “Nadeem is the perfect leader to succeed Ken, given his tremendous investment acumen and operational experience. I am excited to partner with him in the years ahead.”

Gio Cutaia was also promoted to be global COO of real estate, while continuing to lead global real estate asset management (a role he has held since 2018), helping to manage more than 12,000 assets in Blackstone’s real estate portfolio.

DRY POWDER

The firm recently surpassed $1 trillion in AUM and has more than $200 billion in dry powder, making it a very busy deployment period amid a period of expanding investment strategies and continued expansion for the New York City-headquartered firm.

The three executives being promoted have a combined 60 years of investing experience with Blackstone.

“We are delighted to elevate three of our longest-tenured investors into these critical positions, as the firm readies itself for an active investment period,” said Steve Schwarzman, co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Blackstone. “They bring strong track records of delivering for our customers, considerable institutional knowledge, and exceptional investment acumen to these new roles.”