Blackstone, Conseco, Nasdaq & Man Group

Blackstone Group LP and Conseco Inc. posted third-quarter losses while the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and Man Group PLC reported profit drops in financial statements issued today and yesterday. Blackstone Group posted a loss today of $502.5 million, or 44 cents a share, compared with a profit of $234 million, or 21 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The New York-based firm’s assets under management were up 18% from a year ago, to $116.28 billion. Conseco late yesterday reported a third-quarter net loss of $182 million, or 98 cents a share, compared to a loss of $52.7 million, or 28 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The Carmel, Ind.-based insurance company suffered $106.6 million in losses related to its proposed transfer of its book of long term care policies under Senior Health Insurance Co. of of Bensalem, Pa., to an independent trust. Nasdaq today posted an 84% third-quarter profit drop of $60.1 million, or 28 cents per share, from $365 million, or $2.41 per share, a year earlier. New York-based Nasdaq’s net exchange revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% from a year ago, to $410.6 million. British hedge fund giant Man Group today reported that profits dropped 24%, to $622 million, in a six month period ended Sept. 30, from $820 million in the year-ago period. London-based Man incurred $6 billion in redemptions during the six month period and saw funds under management fall by $1 billion from the year-earlier period to $67.6 billion.