Blackstone's earnings surge by 25% as their Assets Under Management (AUM) reach an impressive $1.2 trillion

Blackstone's earnings surge by 25% as their Assets Under Management (AUM) reach an impressive $1.2 trillion

In a significant move, asset management giant Blackstone has announced a long-term strategic partnership with asset management giant Legal & General (L&G). The alliance, announced this month, aims to combine the strengths of both firms’ credit platforms to accelerate growth and enhance investment capabilities, particularly in private credit.

The partnership creates a private credit platform with up to £15 billion ($20 billion) of private credit investments, making it one of the largest commitments in private credit in recent years. Blackstone brings its £338 billion ($465 billion) credit platform, while L&G contributes its £122.5 billion annuities book and £1.4 trillion assets under management across its pension risk transfer and asset management businesses.

Under the partnership, L&G’s annuities business will leverage Blackstone’s private credit origination platform to gain access to a pipeline of diversified investment-grade assets, primarily from the US. L&G plans to invest up to 10% of its anticipated new annuity business flows into these private credit assets, complementing Blackstone’s existing £237 billion ($233 million) third-party insurance assets under management in private and liquid credit strategies.

The strategic objectives of the partnership include targeting high-quality, defensive private credit opportunities with an emphasis on investment-grade corporate debt and infrastructure-related loans that offer stable, long-duration, yield-driven returns. This aligns with the capital requirements and risk-return profiles preferred by pensions and insurers.

Beyond direct investments, L&G’s asset management arm will jointly develop public/private hybrid credit solutions combining Blackstone’s private credit platform with L&G’s active fixed income expertise. This aims to expand L&G's competitive positioning in global wealth and wholesale channels.

This deal strategically positions both firms amid tightening bank lending conditions by scaling private credit as a key alternative financing source. It enhances Blackstone’s private credit deal flow by adding a large, stable capital source from L&G’s annuity business, simultaneously helping L&G enhance returns and competitive advantage in pension products.

The partnership provides Blackstone with significant, stable capital from L&G’s insurance and annuities business, enabling the deployment of up to £15 billion into private credit strategies. This increases Blackstone’s ability to originate and fund larger volumes of investment-grade private credit transactions, especially in the US, while benefiting from L&G’s asset backing and underwriting expertise.

The collaboration enhances Blackstone’s role as a key private credit originator to institutional investors, especially pension and insurance sectors, by offering innovative hybrid credit investment solutions.

In other news, Blackstone's total distributable earnings for the second quarter of this year were £1.16 billion ($1.57 billion), or $1.21 a share. The company's total assets under management have increased to around £1.2 trillion ($1.6 trillion). The flagship commingled funds include opportunistic lending, global middle market direct lending, stressed/distressed strategies, non-investment grade infrastructure, and asset-based credit strategies. Total revenues for Blackstone increased to £3.71 billion ($5.21 billion) for the second quarter of the current year. Private credit net returns over the last 12 months were 13.3%, while private credit gross returns were 3% in the current quarter (2.2% net).

The increase in total assets under management, inflows, and revenues were reported in Blackstone's latest financial results. The company experienced £233 million ($338 million) of inflows for a new sub-line fund in the second quarter of the current year, an increase from £1.23 billion in the second quarter of 2024. This is part of the £52.1 billion ($75.1 billion) of inflows the company experienced in the second quarter of the current year, a significant increase from the same period last year.

[1] Blackstone and Legal & General Announce Strategic Partnership, Blackstone (2025), [2] Blackstone and Legal & General to Form Strategic Partnership in Private Credit, Pensions & Investments (2025),

1. The strategic partnership between Blackstone and Legal & General (L&G) aims to explore opportunities in wealth management and investing, as they will jointly develop public/private hybrid credit solutions.
2. The collaboration in private credit between Blackstone and L&G is expected to enhance business growth, as Blackstone will leverage L&G's annuities business to access a pipeline of diversified investment-grade assets, primarily from the US.

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