Blackstone raises $4 bln for separate accounts business: UPDATED

Blackstone Group said it has raised a total of $3.7 billion for the business; however, the person said the firm has actually raised more than $4 billion. (Update: The fund is now “getting close” to the point where it won’t be raising any additional capital, said the source. Also, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney reported in an Oct. 10 Form D filing that it had raised $227.4 million for the Morgan Stanley Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Feeder Fund LP.)

Blackstone Group declined to comment.

Tactical Opportunities is Blackstone Group’s separate accounts business that provides individual limited partners customized exposure to investment opportunities across asset classes. The business has both huge mandates with individual LPs such as New Jersey’s state pension system, which committed about $750 million to the business, as well as a fund of separate accounts for investors who make smaller commitments.

Earlier this year, Blackstone Group’s president Tony James lauded Tactical Opportunities.

“There is no business … that is as interesting and exciting as Tactical Opportunities,” James said on the firm’s second-quarter earnings call in April.

The firm also reported holding a second close on its Asian real estate fund, bringing total commitments to $1.8 billion, and an initial close on its latest European real estate fund, with $1.9 billion of total commitments.

Within private equity, Blackstone Group reported a year-to-date.increase in revenues of 44 percent to $732 million

Realized performance fees totaled $85 million in the third quarter. However, the firm also reported declines in the value of some publicly-traded investments in funds above their carry threshold, which led to a reduction in unrealized performance fees.

The overall carrying value of portfolio assets within private equity appreciated 4.2 percent in the third quarter, and 17.4 percent year to date, the firm reported.

Overall, Blackstone Group’s economic net income, a measure that includes realized and unrealized investments, was $640 million for the quarter, up 49 percent compared to the same period last year. The firm’s funds returned $34 billion to investors over the last 12 months, the firm said. 

Chris Witkowsky is editor of peHUB