Artisan Partners: “Blackstone (BX)’s Virtuous Cycle is in Full Swing”

Artisan Partners, a high value-added investment management firm, published its “Artisan Value Fund” fourth quarter 2021 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. A return of 4.48% was recorded by its Investor Class: ARTLX, 4.55% by its Advisor Class: APDLX, and 4.54% was gained by its Institutional Class: APHLX for the fourth quarter of 2021, all below the Russell 1000® Value Index that delivered a 7.77% return, and the Russell 1000® Index that gained 9.78% for the same period. Spare some time to check the fund’s top 5 holdings to have a clue about their top bets for 2022.

Artisan Value Fund, in its Q4 2021 investor letter, mentioned Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) and discussed its stance on the firm. Blackstone Inc. is a New York, New York-based alternative investment management company with a $156.5 billion market capitalization. BX delivered a -7.02% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 32.09%. The stock closed at $128.78 per share on February 25, 2022.

Here is what Artisan Value Fund has to say about Blackstone Inc. in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“Investment heavyweight Blackstone’s virtuous cycle is in full swing. Throughout Blackstone’s history, excellent investment performance and capital protection have allowed the firm to increase fundraising in existing verticals as well as launch new endeavors. Historically, less than 10% of assets under management mature in any given year, and that number should move lower with continued growth in perpetual capital vehicles. Blackstone’s A+ rated balance sheet and capital-light model are the backbone of its 85% of cash flow distribution policy via a variable quarterly dividend. In short, this is a long-duration fee stream and robust capital-raising engine.”

Our calculations show that Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) failed to obtain a mark on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. BX was in 62 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 54 funds in the previous quarter. Blackstone Inc. (NYSE: BX) delivered a -5.80% return in the past 3 months.

In February 2022, we published an article that includes BX in the Top 10 Must-Have Finance Stocks According to Parsa Kiai’s Steamboat Capital Partners. You can find other letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2021 Q4 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.