Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.
Today’s podcast takes us to the heart of Mayfair in London, where Blackstone Private Wealth COO Farhad Karim shared the firm’s history and evolution in Europe.
He took a walk down memory lane to discuss the firm’s 25th anniversary in Europe as we walked through Berkeley Square from Blackstone’s current office to their new office at the other end of the square, highlighting how the firm has become the largest owner of commercial real estate in Europe and the importance of building a local presence in the region.
Farhad took on the role of Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Private Wealth in 2024 after a career at Blackstone that included serving as Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Europe and holding a senior leadership role in the firm’s Real Estate business.
Farhad and I had a fascinating discussion about the evolution of Blackstone’s business in Europe and the firm’s Private Wealth business globally. We covered:
- Why it’s important to “meet people where they are at.”
- What Farhad learned from his experience as chairman of Blackstone Europe.
- Building and expanding Blackstone’s Private Wealth business.
- How Blackstone will continue to be a pioneer in private wealth.
- The next phase of product innovation in the wealth channel.
- How an international perspective has shaped Farhad's approach to building the Private Wealth business.
- Harmonizing the institutional and private wealth businesses when delivering solutions to LPs.
- The human element of working with wealth.
- What it means to be “relentless.”
- Perspectives on evergreen funds.
- The scale of opportunity, information, and access.
Thanks, Farhad, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets and private wealth.
Show Notes
00:33 A Message from Our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions
02:14 Farhad’s Blackstone Journey
03:37 Speed and Certainty Culture
04:07 Real Estate to Wealth Channel Parallels
05:04 Building for Local Markets
06:16 On-the-Ground Coverage Worldwide
07:45 Education at Scale
08:52 How Well Advisors Understand Private Markets
10:45 Early Innings Adoption
12:09 Packaging Private Markets Products
13:46 Simplicity vs Customization
14:39 Consolidation and Institutionalization
19:14 Global Trends Localization
19:33 Scale and Deal Competition
20:11 AI Advantage in Investing
20:53 Portfolio Ops AI Playbook
21:42 Private Markets Risk Setup
22:17 Noise Versus Facts
22:57 Fighting False Narratives
23:42 Wealth Channel Narrative
24:18 Why Private Markets Matter
25:10 Investing Through Geopolitics
26:25 Evergreen Versus Drawdown
27:21 Discipline Over Structure
28:28 Semi-liquid as a Feature
29:17 Evergreen for Founders
30:39 Evergreen Mindset and Compounding
32:01 Owning the Narrative Direct
35:22 Fiduciary Seriousness Balance
36:15 Relentless Culture Explained
38:39 Closing
Footnotes
(Timestamp 02:46.7): Largest owners of commercial real estate in Europe.
(Timestamp 31:33.0): Reference to Class I annualized, inception-to-date return from January 2017.
A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus
This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.
That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.
Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.
We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.
