Michael Chae, chief financial officer (CFO) for Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX), noted during its fourth quarter 2025 investor call on Thursday that the firm has seen "notable strength" in corporate private equity amid a turbulent year for markets, which was impacted by tariffs, geopolitical instability, and the longest U.S. government shutdown in history.

Total assets under management in Blackstone's private equity channel increased 18 percent to $416 billion in the fourth quarter, with inflows of $20 billion in the quarter and $68 billion for the year, details from Blackstone’s Q4 report showed.

Inflows in the quarter included $8 billion in Secondaries, inclusive of the tenth flagship Secondaries fund, $4.2 billion in Infrastructure, $1.6 billion in Tactical Opportunities, $1.2 billion for the third Corporate Private Equity Asia fund, and $1.0 billion for the sixth Life Sciences fund.

Stephen A. Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of Blackstone, noted that the company’s investment in Medline was "a perfect illustration of the power of Blackstone's private equity model at work."

Since Blackstone retained ownership of the company in 2021, they have accelerated the medical supply company’s growth through acquisitions and expanded its product suite. Schwartzman continued to say that more investors are "discovering the benefits of private market solutions, including private wealth and insurance channels."

"Our business performed exceptionally well through the high cost of capital backdrop of the past several years, and we believe we are now moving into a more supportive environment with a portfolio concentrated in compelling sectors," he added.

The firm currently has nearly $200 billion in dry powder available for future investments, up 11 percent year-over-year. Its private equity channel currently has $77 billion, and its credit and insurance channel has $63 billion.

Private Credit

In its private credit channel, total assets under management increased 18 percent to $443 billion, with inflows of $39 billion in the quarter and $132 billion for the year.

Inflows in the quarter included $16 billion in its global direct lending strategy, inclusive of $2.4 billion for direct lending SMAs, $3.3 billion of equity raised for BCRED, and $700 million of equity raised for ECRED. Inflows also included $11.8 billion for the infrastructure and asset based credit strategies, inclusive of $8.0 billion for insurance SMAs, Blackstone's Q4 earnings report detailed.

The channel also closed four new CLOs (two in the U.S. and 2 in Europe) for $2 billion.

Private credit saw a gross return of 2.4 percent, while liquid credit saw a gross return of 1.3 percent in the quarter and 11.2 percent and six percent for the year, respectively.

"In credit, we saw record deployment in 2025, including the emergence of an important new source of direct origination, customized long-duration capital solutions for investment-grade corporates. We have executed multiple of these to date, and we expect to do more over time," the CFO said.

Firmwide Performance

The firm also saw its highest inflows in the last quarter of 2025, adding $71 billion dollars across its equity, credit and real estate funds. This brings the firm's total assets under management up 13 percent year-over-year to $1.3 trillion.

The firm deployed $42 billion during the quarter and $138 billion for the year, with an additional $23 billion that was not yet deployed in the quarter.

Chae also noted that Blackstone is "extremely well positioned" to benefit against the backdrop of AI-related productivity.  

The manufacturing of semiconductors and data centers, as well as the development of artificial intelligence, is a key driver of economic growth and is creating "a need for capital solutions," he added.

Blackstone's ownership of the world's largest data center platform, as well as their position as a "major investor" in the modernization and growth of the electric grid puts them in a good position to benefit from the growth and opportunity that lies ahead.

Blackstone did not respond to a request for comment.

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