Blackstone said redemption requests from its flagship private credit fund eased after heavy outflows earlier in the year, and it reported second‑quarter results that beat expectations, supported mainly by returns on investments related to artificial intelligence and data centers.
The firm temporarily limited payouts in the Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCred) — a first for the company — after redemptions exceeded 5 percent of the fund’s assets. Jonathan Gray, Blackstone’s chairman, said that early in the third quarter the pace of redemptions had already meaningfully slowed, although new inflows into BCred remained modest.
Key numbers
- BCred’s net asset value (NAV) was $45 billion as of the quarter ending June 30.
- The fund attracted only $1 billion of new capital in the quarter, roughly a 70 percent decline versus the same period a year earlier.
- Across the firm, Blackstone drew nearly $70 billion of new client capital during the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations.
- Distributable earnings reached $1.52 per share in the second quarter, up 26 percent year‑on‑year.
- The BREIT retail real‑estate fund attracted $1.2 billion of new capital in the quarter, its best quarterly intake in four years.
What powered the results
Blackstone said returns were driven largely by investments in infrastructure, data centers and technology‑related stakes. The firm cited gains tied to data‑center and energy infrastructure investments and to holdings in companies such as SpaceX, Anthropic and OpenAI. While performance fees from the private credit funds were effectively absent, the infrastructure, private equity and hedge fund businesses delivered gross returns north of 3.6 percent.
Gray’s view and market implications
Jonathan Gray sought to assuage concerns about a potential bubble in AI startups, noting that bubbles typically arise from oversupply, whereas today there is a shortage of computing capacity. He argued that many of Blackstone’s partners are among the world’s largest and most profitable companies, and that private markets have a substantial opportunity to finance the data centers, power networks and other equipment required for technological progress.
Conclusion
Blackstone’s better‑than‑expected quarter was driven by AI‑ and data‑center‑linked investments even as earlier redemptions from its private credit fund have slowed. The firm continues to attract significant capital into other business lines, but new inflows into BCred remain much lower than a year ago. Management views financing technology infrastructure as a key private‑market opportunity going forward.
This article is not investment advice or a recommendation.
