Investment giant Blackstone has tapped a former Morgan Stanley vice chairman and ambassador to Israel for a new position created to focus on worldwide relationships as the firm works to ramp up its global expansion.
Blackstone said Monday that Thomas Nides, who spent the past 11 years at Morgan Stanley as vice chairman of strategy and client relations. In addition to his work with key clients, Nides will support a number of company-wide initiatives and special projects, Blackstone said.
Nides, who served as United States ambassador to Israel from late 2021 to July 2023, has experience in the public and private sector and "brings a wealth of relationships across the financial, government and geographic spectrum," Blackstone Chairman and CEO Stephen Schwarzman, said in a statement.
“We are still in the early innings of our global expansion and believe he will be a tremendous asset to our people and clients," Schwarzman said.
Blackstone, which has more than $1 trillion in assets under management, is the world's largest owner of commercial property. In the fourth quarter, its real estate division proved to be its worst-performing segment for at least the fourth straight quarter. Blackstone’s riskier opportunistic real estate investment performance declined 3.8%, while its more stable income-producing “core plus” investments sank 4.6%. Most other segments, including its lending business, saw positive returns.
Opportunity in Europe
Blackstone sees opportunity in global commercial property markets, especially Europe's, Schwarzman said this month during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
"Right now, European real estate is very interesting, which probably is a surprise to people," Schwarzman said during an appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box" show. "But what’s happening is that interest rates were really [negative in Europe]. So people could borrow money very cheaply. And now their cost of money is 500 or 600 basis points higher. So people who used debt to own their portfolios really are struggling, and they have to pay down debt. So they have to sell assets. And we’re one of the few people in the world who have a lot of money and like to buy things."
Debt-saddled European property owners have approached Blackstone about buying their portfolios, but the firm is only interested in specific sectors, including warehouses and student accommodations, he said.
"We’re able to buy wonderful pieces of real estate at prices that work for us, and they get liquidity, and this is the start of, you would call it, a distressed cycle if you will, for those owners," Schwarzman told CNBC.
In accepting the offer to join Blackstone, Nides departed investment bank Morgan Stanley for the second time. In addition to working at the financial services giant from 2013 until this year, he served as chief operating officer there from 2005-2010. In between his stints at Morgan Stanley, from 2011-2013, Nides served as deputy secretary of state and chief operating officer of the State Department, having been appointed by then President Obama.
Before joining Morgan Stanley for the first time, Nides served in senior roles at Credit Suisse, Fannie Mae and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. He also worked on Capitol Hill.
Nides said in a statement he looks forward to supporting Blackstone's growth at a time when the firm has "considerable wind at its back."