Blackstone's Farhad Karim - a "relentless" focus on serving private wealth

Welcome back to the Alt Goes Mainstream podcast.

Today’s podcast takes us to the heart of Mayfair in London, where Blackstone Private Wealth COO Farhad Karim shared the firm’s history and evolution in Europe. 

He took a walk down memory lane to discuss the firm’s 25th anniversary in Europe as we walked through Berkeley Square from Blackstone’s current office to their new office at the other end of the square, highlighting how the firm has become the largest owner of commercial real estate in Europe and the importance of building a local presence in the region.

Farhad took on the role of Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Private Wealth in 2024 after a career at Blackstone that included serving as Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Europe and holding a senior leadership role in the firm’s Real Estate business.

Farhad and I had a fascinating discussion about the evolution of Blackstone’s business in Europe and the firm’s Private Wealth business globally. We covered:

Why it’s important to “meet people where they are at.”What Farhad learned from his experience as chairman of Blackstone Europe.Building and expanding Blackstone’s Private Wealth business.How Blackstone will continue to be a pioneer in private wealth.The next phase of product innovation in the wealth channel.How an international perspective has shaped Farhad's approach to building the Private Wealth business.Harmonizing the institutional and private wealth businesses when delivering solutions to LPs.The human element of working with wealth.What it means to be “relentless.”Perspectives on evergreen funds.The scale of opportunity, information, and access.

Thanks, Farhad, for sharing your wisdom, expertise, and passion about private markets and private wealth.

Show Notes

00:33 A Message from Our Sponsor, Ultimus Fund Solutions

02:14 Farhad’s Blackstone Journey

03:37 Speed and Certainty Culture

04:07 Real Estate to Wealth Channel Parallels

05:04 Building for Local Markets

06:16 On-the-Ground Coverage Worldwide

07:45 Education at Scale

08:52 How Well Advisors Understand Private Markets

10:45 Early Innings Adoption

12:09 Packaging Private Markets Products

13:46 Simplicity vs Customization

14:39 Consolidation and Institutionalization

19:14 Global Trends Localization

19:33 Scale and Deal Competition

20:11 AI Advantage in Investing

20:53 Portfolio Ops AI Playbook

21:42 Private Markets Risk Setup

22:17 Noise Versus Facts

22:57 Fighting False Narratives

23:42 Wealth Channel Narrative

24:18 Why Private Markets Matter

25:10 Investing Through Geopolitics

26:25 Evergreen Versus Drawdown

27:21 Discipline Over Structure

28:28 Semi-liquid as a Feature

29:17 Evergreen for Founders

30:39 Evergreen Mindset and Compounding

32:01 Owning the Narrative Direct

35:22 Fiduciary Seriousness Balance

36:15 Relentless Culture Explained

38:39 Closing 

Footnotes

(Timestamp 02:46.7): Largest owners of commercial real estate in Europe.

(Timestamp 31:33.0): Reference to Class I annualized, inception-to-date return from January 2017.

A Word from Our Sponsor, Ultimus

This episode of Alt Goes Mainstream is brought to you by Ultimus, the full-service fund administrator and transfer agent powering asset managers in private and public markets. As alts go mainstream, you need real expertise to handle complex fund structures, connect with key distribution partners, and handle sophisticated compliance, reporting, and transparency demands.

That’s Ultimus: high-tech, high-touch solutions for over 450 clients and 2,500 funds with $775B in assets under administration. Backed by an expert team of over 1,200 employees, they place client service at the core of their business, helping you navigate complexity during your fund structuring or launch and then supporting you through every stage of growth. Whether you’re already in the market or thinking about entering private wealth, you can trust their team’s deep expertise in retail alternatives to help you reach your goals.

Learn more at ultimusfundsolutions.com or email info@ultimusfundsolutions.com.

We thank Ultimus for their support of alts going mainstream.