Blackstone Private-Credit BDC Raised $32 Billion of Cash in 2021

Blackstone Inc. raised $32.6 billion of cash last year for a new private-credit fund amid red-hot demand for the growing asset class that offers higher yields and interest payments that rise as inflation jumps.

The firm’s Blackstone Private Credit Fund, an unlisted business development company that launched in January 2021 and mainly invests in first-lien loans, delivered a 12.4% total net return last year, according to its website. That far exceeds the market return for leveraged loans of 5.2% in the same period, though the BCRED fund generated additional returns in part by investing borrowed money alongside investors’ ...