Blackstone has leapfrogged Brookfield Asset Management and Global Investors to become the largest real estate fund manager according to a new global study.
The INREV/ANREV 2014 Fund Manager Survey places Blackstone Group top of its list of 147 companies with β¬78.6bn in assets under management, just ahead of Brookfield Asset Management at β¬78.3bn.
Blackstoneβs property assets under management rose by β¬11.5bn from β¬67.1bn, in the 12 months leading up to the end of 2013.
Brookfield, which came top in last yearβs survey, saw its real estate AUM fall by β¬4.7bn from β¬83bn over the same period. CBRE Global Investors, meanwhile, dropped from second to third as its AUM fell from β¬69.6bn to β¬64.7bn.
βThe top of the tree has shifted again, but there isnβt much between the leading performers,β said Matthias Thomas, INREV CEO.
βThere is a clear battle for domination at the top, with both the Blackstone Group and Brookfield managing total assets worth at least 50% more than any other firm outside the top three.β
Both fourth placed Global Asset Management and fifth placed Real Estate β the largest fund manager in Europe according to the survey β were said to have around β¬47.8bn.
The largest manager in Asia was Mapletree Investments with β¬14.1bn.
The findings were based on figures from the end of 2013. Blackstone has since raised significant capital for several real estate funds, while embarking on a core investment programme.
The survey is based on 147 fund managers with total AUM of β¬1.4trn, of which β¬522 billion (37%) is concentrated in the top 10 fund managers.
