Crack Spread

With falling stock prices, fund losses and a difficult fundraising environment, some of the private equity industry’s biggest players are starting to see cracks emerge. Blackstone and The Carlyle Group have seen their share prices fall by 20% and 14% over the past 12 months. Blackstone’s real estate fund has attracted significant redemptions from investors as fears rise over the state of the US commercial real estate market. Apollo too is believed to be struggling to raise capital for its 10^th fund as investors weigh up the future prospects for PE returns. Maybe the cracks will turn out to be temporary, or just a façade; like One River North, a new building under construction in Denver which will feature a green space running through its middle like a huge earthquake-induced crack.