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☆ Blackstone's data-center bets have climbed 10-fold to $100 billion in just 3 years. And it's just the start, Steve Schwarzman says.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Schwarzman said QTS was now "the largest data center company in North America" and that data centers were one of Blackstone's "highest conviction investment themes today." Jon Gray, Blackstone's president, suggested Blackstone's data center portfolio would continue to grow. The size of Blackstone's investments in data centers reflect an astonishing rise for a once-obscure industry that's gaining importance in the race to develop and commercialize artificial intelligence. Around the country, there has been a boom of data center construction. Late last year, QTS won local approval to build one of the country's largest new data center projects in Virginia.

Persons: Steve Schwarzman, Schwarzman, Blackstone's, Blackstone, QTS, Jon Gray, Gray, Michael Chae, We've Organizations: Business, Blackstone, Google, Income Trust, Digital Realty Trust Locations: North America, QTS, Virginia, Frankfurt, Paris

Post's price target increase is in line with his move on the GAAP price-to-earnings multiple to 22 from 21. — Alex Harring 6:39 a.m.: Melius moves to sidelines on Boeing Boeing has too many areas of concern, Melius Research warned. Analyst Robert Spingarn downgraded the plane maker to hold from buy and slashed his price target by $71 to $209. Analyst Filippo Falorni upgraded the cosmetics stock to buy from neutral and hiked his price target by $15 to $175. Analyst Brennan Hawken downgraded the investment asset manager to neutral from buy and cut his price target by $5 to $135.

Persons: Grinder, Justin Post, Meta, — Alex Harring, Eli Lilly, Andrew Baum, Baum, Novo, Robert Spingarn, Spingarn, LSEG, Alex Harring, Filippo Falorni, Falorni, Estee Lauder, Lauder, Tom Ford, Le, Blackstone, Brennan Hawken, Hawken, JMP, Nicholas Jones, Jones, Grindr, Christopher Dendrinos, Dendrinos, — Fred Imbert Organizations: CNBC, RBC, GE, of America, Citi, Indianapolis, Boeing Boeing, Melius, Boeing, Dow Jones, Coca, Cola, Beverage, Travel, UBS, GE Vernova, New York Stock Exchange Locations: Monday's, Asia Pacific, Asia

☆ Build a tax-efficient portfolio with these funds, Bank of America says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Darla Mercado | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

April 15 is the deadline for taxpayers to file their income tax returns and pay sums owed for 2023. MLPs themselves aren't subject to federal income taxes, but limited partners owe taxes on the income distributed. MLPX has a total return of 7.6% in 2024, and MLPA's year-to-date total return is 9.3%, according to Morningstar. In 2024, IYK has a total return of nearly 4.7%, while XLU's total return is about 0.7%, according to Morningstar. MFM's total return this year is 3.66%, and NZF has a total return of 3.4% in 2024, according to Morningstar.

Persons: Jared Woodard, Woodard, —, MLPX, IYK, Morningstar, XLU, NZF Organizations: Bank of America, MLP & Energy Infrastructure, X MLP, Morningstar, Consumer Staples, Income Trust, Income Locations: MLPs, Indonesia, America, Nuveen

☆ Blackstone to raise $400 million to boost credit fund's lending power - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside the Blackstone Group headquarters in New York City, U.S., January 18, 2023. REUTERS/Jeenah Moon/File Photo/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 16 (Reuters) - Blackstone (BX.N) is in the final stages of raising about $400 million for its Blackstone Private Credit Fund (BCRED) to secure additional investment advantage, the Financial Times reported on Thursday. The private equity firm will sell loans that BCRED owns to the CLO to enhance competitiveness, FT said. Blackstone, which also manages multiple other funds, faced a significant decline in withdrawal requests from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) in September, Kathleen MacCarthy, its global co-head of real estate, said then. Financial Times had in August reported that Blackstone, , plans to launch a private equity fund for wealthy individuals early next year.

Persons: CLOs, Blackstone, Kathleen MacCarthy, Mrinmay Dey, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Blackstone Group, REUTERS, Blackstone, Blackstone Private Credit Fund, Financial Times, The, Reuters, Unified Women’s Healthcare, Blackstone Real, Income, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, The New York, Bengaluru

REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Unilever (ULVR.L) top-10 investor Lindsell Train welcomed its recent management changes and said it had already discussed the consumer goods company's next steps with the incoming chairman. These moves demonstrated that Unilever thinks that a "fresh perspective on all aspects of the business is necessary", Nick Train, manager of the Finsbury Growth & Income Trust and co-founder of Lindsell Train, told Reuters. A bungled attempt to buy GSK's consumer healthcare business was followed by billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz joining the board. "We maintain a productive open dialogue with the company and most recently met with the new (Unilever) chairman to hear his view on the most beneficial next steps," Train said. Matt Close, president of its ice cream business, will also leave after a more than three-decade career with Unilever.

Persons: Andrew Kelly, Nick Train, Hein Schumacher, Schumacher, Alan Jope, Nelson Peltz, Ian Meakins, Nils Anderson, Hanneke Faber, Priya Nair, Matt Close, Richa Naidu, Matt Scuffham, Alexander Smith Organizations: Unilever, REUTERS, Lindsell, Income Trust, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Manhattan , New York City, U.S, Finsbury

The AI boom has triggered a surge in spending on data centers. The AI boom has supercharged a wave of spending on data centers. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe data center boom is set to double or triple the amount of energy consumed by these data centers. A recent Cowen research report estimated that AI data centers could require more than five times the power of traditional facilities. Amazon does not disclose how many data centers it occupies, where they are located, or how much electricity they consume.

Persons: —, ChatGPT, it's, Jonathan Gray, Cowen, Marc Ganzi, Shaolei Ren, Tom Keane, Keane, Bernstein, Mark Moerdler, Jahi, Matt McCollister, Pena Popo, Blackstone, Karla Moran, Moran Organizations: Service, McKinsey, Nvidia, UC Riverside, Microsoft, Washington, Getty, Lincoln Property Company, Harrison Street, Google, Meta, Amazon, Blackstone, Income Trust, QTS Realty Trust, Amazon Web Services, AP, Phoenix Locations: America, Rural America, Loudoun Meadows, Aldie , VA, Ohio, New Albany, Columbus, Northern Virginia, Dallas, Phoenix, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Washington, DC, Virginia, New York City, Salt

☆ Blackstone's data center gamble
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-28 | by ( Daniel Geiger | Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

The firm has recently touted its data center investments amid the artificial intelligence boom. Blackstone's push into data centers comes with its own set of challenges and questions. "You might not own apartment buildings in 10 years, but the largest data center company in the world." Meghji said in the company's video that interest from data center users in QTS data centers had doubled "since ChatGPT came out." Gerber said he had recently discussed data center investments with Blackstone representatives and has confidence in the strategy.

Persons: Blackstone, —, Glenn Schorr, Schorr, outflows, Stephen Tuckwood, Tuckwood, Jonathan Gray, Gray, Jeenah, Chad Williams, BREIT, they're, Patrick Davitt, QTS, Nadeem Meghji, Meghji, ChatGPT, Matthew Barakat, Prince William County, redemptions, Selwyn Gerber, Gerber, Matt Malone Organizations: Blackstone, Income Trust, QTS Realty Trust, Evercore, Wealth Management, Reuters, Autonomous Research, Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, McKinsey, AP, Starwood, MSCI's, Los, RVW, Opto Investments, FS Investments Locations: California, BREIT, QTS, Americas, CBRE, Manassas , Virginia, Prince William, Virginia, Brookfield, Los Angeles, Bellagio, Las Vegas

☆ The Investing Club's top things to watch in the stock market Friday
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-25 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The Club's top things to watch Friday, August 25 1. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

Persons: Jerome Powell's, Powell, Hong, Baird, Oppenheimer, Nordstrom, Walt Disney, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim Organizations: Chipmaker Marvell Technology, Nvidia, Google, Microsoft, Netflix, ESPN, Club, Walt, Disney, Realty Income, Bellagio, Vegas, Blackstone Real, Income, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC Locations: Jackson Hole , Wyoming, Shanghai

☆ A millionaire who retired at 36 shares the top 4 funds he's holding, the ones he's sold due to high fees, and the stock up 1,000% in the last 10 years that's yielded him the most gains
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He began by investing in stocks and funds with higher fees. Early retirement wasn't an accident for Quan, nor was it a sudden decision after he sold his company. Gaining exposure to this fund helps balance his exposure to US stocks which he gets from a few funds he holds. "Ironically enough, I want to say that COKE has grown the most over the time as an individual stock," Quan said. He has mainly been allocating to iShares' IEMG in order to increase his exposure to those markets.

Persons: Michael Quan, wasn't, Quan, CWGIX, COKE, maxing, wife's ROTH Organizations: Income, Vanguard, Investment Company Institute, Holdings, Vanguard FTSE, Cola Consolidated Inc, DFA Locations: Canada, Europe, Japan

☆ Morgan Stanley reveals the 'top' property stocks to buy and short right now
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley has named three stocks to buy and three to short as it revealed a cautious stance on the global office space sector. Reflecting that view, Morgan Stanley said shares of Office Properties Income Trust and Vornado Realty Trust face significant downside to the current share price. The Wall Street bank expects both stocks to decline by more than 35% over the next 12 months. Stocks to buy Morgan Stanley also identified stocks it said were undervalued, pricing in a significantly worse trading environment than is likely to be the case. Shares of all three property companies are also traded in the U.S. "HK has been pricing in one of the highest implied cap rates across the global office markets.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Ronald Kamdem, Stocks, Morgan Stanley's, Keppel REIT, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Income, Vornado Realty, Hongkong, HK Locations: U.S, Hong Kong, Singapore, Europe, Hongkong Land

☆ Public Storage to acquire Simply Self Storage for $2.2 bln
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 24 (Reuters) - Self-storage operator Public Storage (PSA.N) said on Monday it has entered a deal to buy Simply Self Storage from Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT) for $2.2 billion, as it looks to expand its market presence. Demand for storage space has waned from the heights of the pandemic, as people return to offices, and some analysts expect more consolidation in the sector. Earlier this year, California-based Public Storage made a hostile bid to acquire smaller rival Life Storage. But in April, real estate investment trust Extra Space Storage announced a $12.7 billion deal with Life Storage. Eastdil Secured served as financial adviser to Public Storage, whereas Wells Fargo and Newmark Group acted as lead financial advisers to BREIT.

Persons: Blackstone, Eastdil, Aishwarya Nair, Krishna Chandra Organizations: Blackstone Real, Income, Newmark, Thomson Locations: California, BREIT, Wells, Bengaluru

The firm upgraded Blackstone shares at the start of 2023 on the belief that investors were over-penalizing Blackstone for its outflows in its Real Estate Income Trust division. "For the multiple to expand further, we'd want to see organic growth supported again by perpetual fund growth, which is currently weighed down by a depressed sentiment for real estate investing." Blackstone shares have rallied nearly 45% year to date. Worthington added that speculation over the stock being added to the S & P 500 has also fueled its rise. To be sure, Worthington thinks the real estate sector will likely "require a drop in rates to see a substantial improvement."

Persons: it'll, Blackstone . Blackstone, Kenneth Worthington, Worthington, Blackstone, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: JPMorgan, Blackstone ., Blackstone, Income

Charter Hall did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. On its website Charter Hall said the fund would "only sell assets for prices that reflect fair value and given the lower sales volumes in the office investment markets, sales have proved challenging". Another REIT and Australia's largest office landlord Dexus (DXS.AX) last month sold a premium downtown Sydney office block for a 17% discount on a valuation made six months earlier. The Australian and U.S. REIT benchmark indexes are down roughly a fifth since highs at the end of 2021. But unlisted fund valuations have declined more slowly, creating an incentive for investors to pull money out while a chunky premium over listed equivalents remains, according to fund managers with investments in REITs.

Persons: Australia's, Hall, Dexus, Blackstone, Lewis Jackson, Byron Kaye, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: SYDNEY, Investors, PFA Fund, Charter Hall, KKR, Australian, Income, Thomson Locations: Australian, Sydney, REITs, BlackRock

SL Green Realty said it sold the building at 245 Park Avenue, which has 1.8 million-square-foot of office space, to a U.S. affiliate of Japanese real estate developer Mori Trust Co Ltd. Its sale represents a slight discount to the $2.21 billion that China's HNA Group paid to acquire the building in 2017 when New York City's commercial real estate market was at its peak. SL Green took control of 245 Park Avenue last year after lenders seized the building from HNA Group. Jesse Keenan, sustainable real estate professor at Tulane University, said the transaction is a speculative investment that suggests the deep downturn in the New York commercial real estate market may have bottomed out. SL Green Realty was the biggest gainer among listed REITs, leading its peers Vornado Realty Trust (VNO.N), Office Properties Income Trust (OPI.O), and Boston Properties Inc (BXP.N).

Persons: Kohn Pedersen Fox, Angelo Gordon, Jesse Keenan, Keenan, Vornado, Chibuike Oguh, Herbert Lash, Lisa Shumaker, Lance Tupper, Michelle Price Organizations: YORK, SL Green Realty Corp, Big, SL Green Realty, Mori Trust, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, Grand, Ares Management, Societe Generale, HNA, Green, HNA Group, Tulane University, New York, Green Realty, Vornado Realty, Income, Boston Properties Inc, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, Manhattan, New York

☆ Stephen Schwarzman says Blackstone has dumped office investments. Another corner of the firm kept lending billions.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-30 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Blackstone Mortgage Trust's $8.2 billion portfolio of office loans leaves it exposed to the sector. The Blackstone-managed firm issued about $3.3 billion of US office loans since the pandemic began. Even as clouds began to gather, Blackstone Mortgage Trust continued to lend to the office sector. In addition to managing the mortgage trust, Blackstone is among its largest shareholders. A Washington office complex shows how far values have fallenThere are ongoing issues, however, in Blackstone Mortgage Trust's portfolio.

☆ Columbia Threadneedle launches real estate ETF even in the face of a potential recession
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Columbia Threadneedle is launching the Columbia Research Enhanced Real Estate ETF (CRED) on Wednesday, focused on real estate investment trusts. The private Blackstone Real Estate Investment Trust has repeatedly halted redemptions in recent months because investors have hit the fund's stated withdrawal limits. Columbia Threadneedle does not appear to be alone in thinking the bottom is near for real estate. Jeffrey Gundlach's DoubleLine launched a fixed income ETF focused on commercial real estate ( DCMB ) that began trading earlier this month, and iShares debuted an environmentally focused ETF in February ( ERET ). The University of California also invested $4.5 billion into BREIT, the non-listed Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust , in January.

☆ Blackstone's first-quarter earnings plunge on real estate slowdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N), the biggest manager of assets such as private equity and real estate, said on Thursday its first-quarter distributable earnings fell 36% year-on-year, as a weak property market stopped it from cashing out on some holdings. The slowdown in commercial real estate — triggered by higher interest rates, fears about an economic slowdown and businesses consolidating office space in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic — has also prevented Blackstone from selling assets for top dollar in many of its real estate funds. Distributable earnings, which represent the cash used for shareholder dividends, fell to $1.25 billion in the first quarter from $1.94 billion a year earlier, Blackstone said. Blackstone's fee-related earnings fell 9% to $1.04 billion, as fewer asset sales led to lower performance fees. Blackstone's opportunistic and core real estate funds depreciated by 0.4% and 1.6% over the first quarter, respectively.

German specialised property lenders such as Aareal Bank (ARLG.DE), Deutsche Pfandbriefbank (PBBG.DE) and Berlin Hyp, have a bigger concentration of real estate exposure, analysts added. Blackstone (BX.N) recently blocked withdrawals from its $70 billion real estate income trust after facing a flurry of redemption requests. Open-ended real estate funds in Britain have also battled to meet strong demand for redemptions. In Europe, CRE exposure for smaller banks, more at risk of deposit flight, is estimated at under 30% of all loans, Capital Economics said. "On the other, real estate owners themselves are going to face quite material increase in costs."

☆ Blackstone is in talks to help regional banks with lending
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N), the biggest manager of private equity and real estate assets, said on Thursday it was discussing partnerships with U.S. regional banks to help them with constraints in areas such as car loans and home improvement financing. "As regional banks experienced outflows of deposits, we are seeing real-time opportunities to partner with them at scale," Blackstone President Jonathan Gray said on the firm's first-quarter earnings call. "The regional banks generally play a very large role in home improvement loans, auto loans and equipment finance. He did not identify the banks Blackstone is speaking to. The firm has shifted its focus in real estate to resilient sectors such as logistics and rental housing.

☆ The UFC-WWE deal could be the boost the M&A market needs to get back into gear
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Citigroup, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America were among the banks advising on the deal. Earlier this year, some pegged the merger market getting back into the swing of things by mid-year. When you think about it, the WWE-UFC deal might be the best way to get the market going again. Fight for media rights: Both UFC and WWE have streaming deals with ESPN and NBCUniversal's Peacock, respectively. The crypto community is now pitching itself as playing a key role in AI development thanks to its decentralized nature.

Blackstone has been exercising its right to block investor withdrawals from BREIT since November last year after requests exceeded a preset 5% of the net asset value of the fund. BREIT fulfilled withdrawal requests of $666 million in March, representing only 15% of the $4.5 billion in total redemption requests for the month, the firm said in a letter to investors. Total redemption requests for March were 15% higher than the approximately $3.9 billion demanded by investors in February but 16% lower than the $5.3 billion Blackstone received in January. The level of withdrawal requests is expected to normalize over time as Blackstone works through its backlog, Blackstone President Jonathan Gray said during an analyst earnings call in January. Blackstone shares were down 3.7% to $84.6 per share, in line with the broader market, which was also trading lower.

☆ How universities became giant piggy banks for hedge-fund billionaires
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Catherine Liu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

The move also marked the beginning of a new way to manage endowment funds. The arrangement has been a boon for the hedge-fund managers who received university endowment cash, but the benefits for the schools are trickier to parse. As Eaton put it in his book, universities directed funds to "wherever those allocations would generate the largest further investment returns." Eaton estimated in 2017 that tax breaks for university endowments cost federal coffers up to $19 billion a year. As the influence of billionaires and hedge-fund managers has grown, universities have moved further away from their ultimate goal: educating people.

☆ Blackstone defaults on Nordic mortgage-backed bond
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

"This debt relates to a small portion of the Sponda portfolio. We are disappointed that the Servicer has not advanced our proposal," Blackstone said in an emailed statement on Thursday. "We continue to have full confidence in the core Sponda portfolio and its management team," the company added. The bond, which was underwritten by Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, was originally secured against 63 mostly office buildings in Finland. Blackstone's $71 billion unlisted real estate income trust (BREIT) has also been in hot water.

☆ Blackstone defaults on $562 mln Nordic property-backed CMBS - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 2 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc (BX.N) has defaulted on a 531 million euro ($562.5 million) bond backed by a portfolio of offices and stores owned by Finnish company Sponda Oy, Bloomberg News reported, as rising interest rates hit European property values. "This debt relates to a small portion of the Sponda portfolio. We are disappointed that the Servicer has not advanced our proposal," Blackstone said in an emailed statement on Thursday. "We continue to have full confidence in the core Sponda portfolio and its management team," the company added. Blackstone's $71 billion unlisted real estate income trust (BREIT) has also been in hot water.

☆ Bridgewater's new executive team is already making big changes. But was it all part of Ray Dalio's master plan?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

On tap, we've got stories on the top VCs in Texas, more headaches for Blackstone's BREIT, and why boomers stink. Maybe it's just the fear of facing your own mortality and realizing that life, in fact, will go on without you. As Rebecca Ungarino reports, the world's largest hedge fund is making a slew of new changes less than six months after billionaire founder Ray Dalio stepped aside. Bridgewater, which was founded in 1975 from Dalio's two-bedroom apartment, is arguably just as well known for its culture as its size. Edited by Jeffrey Cane (tweet @jeffrey_cane) in New York and Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) and Nathan Rennolds (tweet @ncrennolds) in London.

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