Blackstone's Ed Huang switches to Asia private wealth role

Blackstone has also moved to strengthen its China private equity coverage with the appointment of Haide Hong, a senior managing director, as head of acquisitions for the country. Hong, who has spent the last two years working for the firm in London, will relocate to Shanghai. Both appointments take effect on January 1.

Huang was recruited from Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia in 2012 to make investments in Greater China. He assumed his current role in 2021 as part of an Asia leadership reshuffle that saw Amit Dixit – previously India private equity lead and co-head of acquisitions for Asia – installed as regional PE head.

Blackstone’s private wealth assets under management (AUM) is USD 240bn, nearly one-quarter of the firm’s total AUM. It was among the first global private equity firms to gain meaningful traction with semi-liquid products, which resemble mutual funds and can be sold directly into the US retail market as opposed to just accredited investors. These account for the bulk of its private wealth AUM.

The Asia private wealth leadership role was previously held by Herbert Suen, who was recruited from Barclays in 2016. He remains part of the regional leadership team with responsibility for Southeast Asia. While Blackstone has cultivated a network of registered investment advisors (RIAs) to coordinate distribution in the US, private banks remain the predominant channel in Asia.

Over the past eight years, the firm has established roots in major wealth hubs such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore. In recent years, it has partnered with leading financial institutions in Japan to enable Japanese individual investors to access private real estate and credit.

“Under Herbert Suen’s leadership, the team has elevated the experience of investment consultants and relationship managers by providing a robust offering of funds, education and sales and service support. The combination of Ed, Herbert and the rest of our leadership team will allow us to continue to build from this position of strength,” said Joan Solotar, head of global private wealth solutions, in a statement.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• People
• Fundraising
• GPs
• The Blackstone Group
• Asia
• HNWIs
• China
• Appointments