Blackstone Wants to Be More Like Berkshire Hathaway
With perpetual capital vehicles, private equity firms are buying and holding, much like Warren Buffett. It’s a dramatic shift from the rapid turnaround typical of the industry.
Private equity’s new sage
Photographer: Bloomberg DaybreakAre private-equity firms taking to the Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s buy-and-hold model? It sure looks like it.
Alternative asset managers are increasingly diversifying into what is called perpetual capital. Such vehicles are “fueling a powerful transformation in the assets we manage and the earnings we generate,” Jonathan Gray, president and chief operation officer of Blackstone said on a recent results call. The Warren Buffett-style forever time horizon is a stark shift from the traditional private-equity model, where exiting investments is central to maximum profits and minimum time.