Blackstone Credit Chief Dellaert Downplays Rivalry With Banks

(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Inc.’s credit chief played down his industry’s rivalry with banks, even as the biggest alternative-asset managers rise to become major sources of financing across the economy.

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“We are always going to coexist with banks,” Gilles Dellaert said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, adding that money managers’ share of lending will “ebb and flow” through cycles.

When banks became more reluctant to lend money last year and traditional financing options dried up, alternative-asset managers stepped up as lenders, cementing an ascent that began in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Banks are now stepping up the fight, and public financing is becoming more readily available.

“That choice is a good thing for the financial system,” said Dellaert, who oversees Blackstone’s credit and insurance arm, which accounts for about a third of the firm’s $1.06 trillion of assets under management. “We don’t think that this is a model where one needs to beat out the other.”

Read More: Private Credit Lifts Its Game as Banks Step Up Fight for Deals

--With assistance from Dani Burger.

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