Why has private equity become such an attractive alternative to the traditional stock and bond portfolio? According to Joan Solotar, Blackstone’s Global Head of Private Wealth Solutions (PWS), it is all about “Expected Returns.”
The combination of low bond yields, expensive stocks, and shrinking Wall Street coverage of middle-market companies is part of the reason why. The Fed policy of QE/ZIRP has led to a fruitless search for bond yield; hence, there is more interest in alternatives to fixed income that are higher decent risk/return profiles. This includes private structured credit as an alternative to assets like muni bonds and non-traded REITs that invest in high-quality real estate.
PWS provides all of the tools that are needed by Family Offices, Qualified and Accredited Purchasers, and Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), to handle custodial, performance reporting, and management within this market. PWS runs over 100 billion dollars of the private equity giant’s $684 billion in assets.
Solotar was a highly ranked analyst and strategist, and was named an Institutional Investor “All-America Research Team.” She became Head of Research at Bank America Merrill Lynch, and is one of Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in US Finance.
A list of her favorite books is here; A transcript of our conversation is available here.
You can stream and download our full conversation, including the podcast extras on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google, Bloomberg, and Acast. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business next week with Robert Hormats, Managing Director at Tiedemann Advisors. Previously, he spent 25 years at Goldman Sachs (International), rising to Vice Chairman. Hormats has served five U.S. presidential administrations, most recently as Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment from 2009 through 2013.
