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Blackstone president Jonathan Gray warned that the American economy faces the risk of a recession unless Donald Trump can quickly conclude trade agreements, becoming the last boss of Wall Street to increase pressure on administration.
The American president announced last week a 90 -day suspension price The White House had imposed most American trade partners, paving the way for negotiations with dozens of countries.
Gray, who oversees the daily operations of the investment group, said: “I would expect an economic slowdown. The meaning of the economic slowdown will be directly correlated to the duration of tariff diplomacy.”
He added: “The risk of recession is directly linked to the duration of uncertainty”, saying that rapid resolution in commercial talks would be “positive for the economy and the markets”.
Blackstone's general manager Stephen Schwarzman said that uncertainty about prices had “radically had a negative impact on the feeling of investors”. “We believe that rapid resolution is essential to mitigate risks and maintain the economy on the path of growth,” he said during an appeal with analysts.
Trump's ascent occurred after aggressive functions triggered market agitation days. The American president, who said that more than 70 countries were lining up to negotiate trade agreements, had interviews with Japanese officials for a potential agreement this week.
Gray and Schwarzman's comments came after Jpmorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, said that he hoped that the White House would soon conclude “agreements in principle” with the United States’s business partners.
The stock market and bond markets have stabilized since the American tariff break, but the White House increased its rights to China and also maintained a 10% reference direct debit on imports from all countries.
Gray said that rums on the markets had created investment opportunities for Blackstone, which has $ 1.2 tn of assets.
“(You) should anticipate that we are in a period of volatility and increased uncertainty, but in some cases, we see prices start to reflect this and this can create opportunities for us to invest,” he said.
Blackstone reported on Thursday the results of the first quarter that beat Wall Street's expectations, with its distributable income – a metric privileged by analysts as an indirect cash flow indicator – increasing by 11% to $ 1.4 billion.
The company has raised $ 62 billion to investors during the quarter, its largest transport in almost three years, its credit and insurance activity attracting $ 30 billion.
Blackstone also collected $ 11 billion for its rich individual investor funds. About a quarter of the group's total assets is now managed on behalf of individual investors, against almost nothing ten years ago.
This month Blackstone announced a plan With Vanguard and Wellington Management to create funds that will invest in public and private assets and are aimed at rich investors. Blackstone bets that this business cohort will help stimulate growth.
Gray and Schwarzman said Blackstone was likely to retain the sale of businesses on more difficult financial markets, which would slow down its performance income.
“More volatile markets mean that we are less likely to sell in the short term,” said Schwarzman during the call.
