Blackstone appoints new COO for $250B private wealth solutions business

Alternative asset manager Blackstone has made some leadership appointments including a new chief operating officer for its Private Wealth Solutions business.

Farhad Karim will look after day to day operations for the global PWS unit which provides financial advisors with access to institutional-quality alternative investments for their clients including real estate, credit, private equity and infrastructure.

PWS manages $250 billion in assets across the private wealth channel and has more than 300 professionals that work with financial advisors. Karim has been with Blackstone since 2011 and has most recently been managing its European operations as well as being general counsel for the global real estate unit.  

“Farhad is a long-serving, proven Blackstone leader who played a pivotal role in building and scaling our real estate business, creating perpetual products, and growing our business internationally,” commented Joan Solotar, global head of PWS. “He will be a tremendous asset as we continue to expand how we serve individual investors around the world.”

Two further leadership appointments have been announced.

As head of Sponsor Coverage, Chris Sullivan will lead the team offering multi-asset class solutions to private equity sponsors. He joined the firm in 2021 and previously spent 20 years at Barclays.

And Adam Lane will look after the firm’s enterprise level relationships with the consultant community as head of Consultant Relations. He joins Blackstone following almost two decades at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, most recently as partner, global head of Wealth Management Alternatives and co-head of US Third Party Wealth. Blackstone and Goldman recently partnered for a new type of bond.

“These appointments underscore the tremendous momentum at Blackstone in terms of accelerating who we serve and the breadth of solutions we offer,” said president and CEO Jon Gray. “By elevating leaders like Farhad and Chris, and adding exceptional talent like Adam, we continue to build on this strength.”