Initially founded by Stephan A. Schwarzman in 1985 with a balance sheet of $400,000, Blackstone (NYSE: BX) has morphed into a behemoth global investment and advisory firm with total assets under management (AUM) of $279 billion as of June 30, 2014. A publicly traded firm since its 2007 IPO, Blackstone can be broken down conceptually into four investment vehicles: Private …
Vailshire: An Introduction
A physician-turned-hedge fund manager…is this a joke? Not at all. In fact, 2014 marks the culmination—and the beginning—of a long-awaited dream of mine. Vailshire Partners (VP), LP, is a new low-risk, multi-strategy hedge fund that operates on the same disciplined investment principles that I have personally employed for many years. The general partner (GP) of the fund is Vailshire Capital …
Your Bonds Have Abandoned You. Now What?
At the end of the 30-year bull market in bonds, it’s no secret that 2013 has been a miserable year for Treasury holders. Even the most optimistic among fixed-income investors must admit that returns look minimal at best — and negative at worst. For persons with significant allocations in longer-term Treasuries (e.g., 10 to 30 years), inflation promises to wreak …
Invest in the Next Leg of This Worldwide Movement
Can Businesses or Products be Movements? Companies are almost never movements. Their products rarely may be. I’ve been racking my brain lately to come up with any businesses that could qualify as a movement in my lifetime. Some, such as Coca-Cola, Disney, and McDonald’s have an enduring history of expansion and stability, which are virtuous qualities for investors to seek. …