Private equity giant Blackstone has seen its profit drop more than 20 per cent in the first quarter as stock market turmoil takes effect.
Market uncertainty triggered by fears of a potential trade war between the US and China ended the stock markets long bull run, denting Blackstones profits.
Blackstone announced profit of $792m (£558m), down from $967.9m in same quarter last year, a fall of 22 per cent.
Read more: European Central Bank bosses express fears over global trade war
The group also said that it plans to pay a 30 cent special dividend this year, returning money to shareholders following the end of its partnership with FS Investment.
Blackstones chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman said: “Amid declining global markets and a sharp increase in volatility, Blackstone continued to protect and grow our investors capital in the first quarter, delivering strong outperformance across strategies. Investors in the institutional, retail and insurer channels are allocating more capital to our firm, resulting in more than $18 billion of inflows during the quarter and driving our total assets under management to a new record of $450 billion, up 22% year over year.”
Read more: Blackstone beats expectations as assets hit record levels
Blackstones assets totalled $449.6 billion at the end of March, up from $434 billion at year-end, an increase of 3.6 per cent.
Blackstones shares were up 2.5 per cent today after its profit dip was not as pronounced as some analysts had predicted.
