Blackstone’s third-quarter earnings pointed to a firm leaning harder than ever on individual investors while its traditional profit engine, selling assets at a gain, sputtered.
On Thursday, the world’s largest alternative asset manager reported that distributable earnings – the cash-based measure Blackstone uses to set its dividend – fell 9% from a year earlier to $1.72 billion, or $1.32 a share. Fee-related earnings, which leave out the lumpier gains from exits, climbed 6% to $1.57 billion, or $1.26 a share, according to the New York firm’s third-quarter results presentation.
The firm's profit results result beat analyst expectations, Reuters reported, and Blackstone shares rose nearly 6% after the release.
A bright spot for the quarter came from the wealth channel, where Blackstone has spent more than two decades building products sold through financial advisors.
Assets Blackstone manages for individual investors rose 15% year over year to $330 billion, the firm said, while sales across its private wealth platform came to nearly $9 billion in the quarter.
Several of its nontraded vehicles posted their best results yet. BXPE, the private equity fund program for individuals, raised a record $2.9 billion. BXINFRA, the infrastructure vehicle for the channel, brought in $1.1 billion, its strongest quarter since launch. The private credit strategy for individuals had gross sales of almost $750 million, and its newly launched hedge fund solution raised about $400 million.
“Our total AUM in the [private wealth] channel grew 15% year over year to a record $330 billion, with nearly $9 billion of sales in the quarter,” said Jon Gray, Blackstone’s president and chief operating officer. “The opportunity in private wealth continues to expand for the firm.”
Fundraising for Blackstone’s perpetual strategies rose materially from the second quarter even though credit sales slowed, the firm said. Perpetual strategies have no fixed end date and are the main vehicles advisors use with clients.
The firm is also adding products built for simpler access. It launched a multi-strategy vehicle for investors outside the US, which it calls “Blackstone in a box.” The first two funds from its alliance with Wellington Management and Vanguard Group also went live in the third quarter.
Blackstone said it sees significant expansion potential in retirement accounts, helped along by a push that's included hiring a retirement plan veteran to lead its defined contribution sales.
Not every retail product is in demand. Redemption requests at BCRED, its flagship nontraded private credit fund, stayed elevated in the third quarter, though the firm has maintained that the portfolio’s fundamentals remain healthy. BCRED had a net asset value of $41.1 billion at Sept. 30, 2026. Blackstone’s private credit strategies returned 2.6% gross, or 1.8% net of fees, in the quarter.
Withdrawal pressure across semi-liquid funds has hit alternative managers repeatedly this year, including an episode in early June when private equity stocks tumbled amid resurging redemption fears.
Blackstone drew $63.3 billion of inflows in the quarter, bringing the 12-month total to $271.6 billion. Credit and insurance accounted for $35.8 billion, including $16.5 billion from insurance separately managed accounts. Private equity added $12.6 billion.
Total assets under management rose 10% to $1.37 trillion, and fee-earning assets rose 9% to $989.7 billion. Perpetual capital reached $562.3 billion, up 12%. The fee-earning portion of that capital now makes up 47% of fee-earning assets, giving Blackstone a larger base of recurring revenue that doesn’t depend on deal timing.
Realizations were the weak spot. Net realizations, which track profits from selling investments, fell 34% to $331.5 million. In private equity they fell 49%, although fee-related earnings in that segment rose 26% to $619 million.
Blackstone executives told analysts they expect a “significant” step-up in net realizations in the fourth quarter, according to Reuters. Amid choppy markets, rising bond yields, expectations of higher-for-longer interest rates and volatility from the Iran war have slowed deals and IPOs. Blackstone ended September with $228.9 billion of dry powder, or capital committed but not yet invested.
“Blackstone delivered strong third-quarter results amid a volatile external environment,” Chairman and Chief Executive Stephen A. Schwarzman said in the firm's earnings release. “Our flagship strategies outperformed comparable public market indices and inflows reached $63 billion, with positive momentum across our major fund-raising channels.”
Schwarzman also addressed the debt that funds artificial intelligence. Blackstone is one of the biggest financial backers of AI infrastructure and among the most significant lenders to CoreWeave, the neocloud company whose share slump last week set off a global selloff in AI stocks.
Asked about widening credit spreads, Schwarzman said higher borrowing costs could lift returns on assets not yet leased.
“On the new assets that you haven’t yet leased, I think you’ll be able to command a higher yield to absorb this,” he told analysts. “You may end up actually in a better spot.”
Elsewhere, Wells Fargo Advisors adds a $400 million Morgan Stanley veteran in Naples as an ex-Cetera advisor goes independent with LPL
According to a federal charges Bradley Heppner, 60, received more than $150 million in payments through funneling money from GWG Holdings to a shell company.
A $1B fund allegedly skimmed 30% off the top, then swapped cash for locked-up stock.
Insiders allegedly rewrote projections three times in four days.
TCI Wealth Advisors also has also tapped JIFFYAI to unify onboarding and servicing, while TradePMR adds ICE market data to its Fusion advisor platform
Knighthead Life entered the market with a competitive MYGA. A strong launch earned advisor confidence and paved the way for FIAs.
As AI makes financial information more accessible than ever, Lana Hock explains why human judgment, trust, and empathy remain the qualities clients value most in a financial advisor
