Blackstone, a US-based alternative asset management firm, is planning to invest up to US$500 billion in Europe over the next decade, CEO Steve Schwarzman told Bloomberg Television in an interview on June 10, underscoring the company’s growing confidence in the region’s economic outlook.

Schwarzman described Europe as a “major opportunity” for the firm, which is headquartered in New York and manages more than US$1 trillion in assets, making it the world’s largest alternative asset manager.

With US President Donald Trump reshaping global alliances and trade policies, Europe is exploring new avenues for economic growth, potentially opening the door to promising investment opportunities for firms like Blackstone.

One such area is defence spending, a sector that has often been overlooked by private investors.

The European Union is significantly increasing its investment in defence, with Germany, Europe’s largest economy, approving historic spending plans in March.

According to S&P, the US and Canada have attracted 83% of all private equity and venture capital-backed aerospace and defence investment since 2020.

However, Europe is beginning to shift its approach.

“That’s changing, which we think will result in higher growth rates. So this has worked out amazingly well for us,”

Schwarzman told Bloomberg Television.

Blackstone has already invested around US$100 billion in the UK and employs 650 people in its London office, he added.

Schwarzman supported Trump in the US presidential election last year, according to a report by Axios, and has long been viewed as an ally of the president.

However, Trump’s erratic tariff policies have led many companies to reconfigure their supply chains and reduce exposure to the US market.

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