Blackstone's Steve Schwarzman says efforts to link credit crackups to private credit are 'misinformation'

Core Insights - The recent bankruptcies of auto lender Tricolor and auto-parts manufacturer First Brands have been misattributed to the private credit market, according to Blackstone executives [1][2][5] - Blackstone's CEO Steve Schwarzman emphasized that these failures are linked to bank-led credits rather than private credit, specifically citing over $2 billion in asset-backed securities arranged by major banks [3][4] - Despite a late-credit cycle leading to potential increases in defaults, Blackstone maintains that these bankruptcies are isolated incidents and do not reflect broader credit market issues [5][6] Private Credit Market Overview - Blackstone's non-real estate credit assets under management rose to $432.3 billion, with $36 billion in inflows during the last quarter [6][12] - Including real estate credit, Blackstone manages $500 billion in credit, an 18% increase from the previous year, making credit approximately 40% of its total $1.24 trillion in assets [7] - Retail investors contributed $3.6 billion in inflows to Blackstone's BCRED, its largest private wealth vehicle, which now has nearly $85 billion in assets under management [12] Performance and Expectations - Blackstone expects strong inflows in credit despite lower yields, as the firm anticipates continued interest from private wealth channels [13] - The firm reported returns of 2.6% for private credit and 1.6% for liquid credit in the last quarter, with BCRED having a 97% floating rate [14] - Historically, Blackstone has maintained low annual losses, averaging just 0.1% even during financial crises, and its investment-grade focused private credit platform has experienced zero realized losses to date [15][17]