In an apparent bid to boost sales, the giant Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust Inc. said on Monday it was making the unusual move to offer extra or “bonus shares” to clients who buy the REIT in the first quarter of 2026.
The incentive program will translate into an extra 1% of shares for clients who put money into the REIT through April 1.
“It looks like Blackstone is trying to drum up business,” said one senior industry executive who spoke privately to InvestmentNews about the matter. “They’re giving investors a bonus to invest.”
In an example provided on Monday by a company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, that means if an investor purchases or “subscribes” for $10,000 of class I shares at an initial purchase price of $10.00 per share, the investor will receive a total of 1,010 class I shares.
In other words, 1,000 of those shares would come from the client’s purchase and 10 would be deemed bonus shares, according to the filing. “Each investor subscribing in the company’s continuous public and private offerings will be eligible to receive bonus shares during the incentive period,” according to the filing.
“We believe today is one of the most attractive entry points for commercial real estate in recent years, driven by historically low supply and falling base rates," a Blackstone spokesperson wrote in an email.
Launched in 2017, the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, commonly referred to as BREIT, was a home run for advisors looking to sell real estate investments to wealthy clients and in November reported total assets of $104.1 billion, with $75.9 billion investments in real estate.
Financial advisors often sell clients or nontraded real estate investment trusts in order to diversify portfolios and deliver steady yields.
Real estate funds of all stripes, including nontraded REITs like BREIT, were hit by rising interest rates starting in 2022. Higher interest rates hurt real estate investors because the cost of capital rises.
According to the company, BREIT class I shares were up 1.06% in November. For the first 11 months of 2025, its class I shares were up 6.8%.
BREIT's latest transaction price is $14.01 per share, according to the company's website.
Unlike listed REITs, nontraded REITs don't trade on exchanges and investors have limited liquidity. Rising interest rates in 2022 and fears of a recession caused a liquidity crunch for some REITs, including BREIT, and investors needed to wait longer than usual to sell their shares back to the company.
Blackstone in September announced the appointment Katie Keenan as chief executive officer of BREIT, marking a significant leadership transition at one of the world’s largest real estate investment managers.
The move comes after the tragic death of Wesley LePatner, who was killed in a mass shooting at the firm’s Manhattan headquarters in July.
LePatner had led the BREIT fund and the firm’s core-plus real estate division, a key segment for Blackstone’s business with affluent investors.
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