BlackRock and Blackstone Have Halted Withdrawals. Here's What That Means.

The world's largest asset managers just halt withdrawals of a £3.5 billion property fund. About a month ago, Blackstone did the same thing, limiting withdrawals from a $125 billion real estate fund. In a CNBC interview, Blackstone COO Gray actually defended this with withdrawals. It's actually kind of cool for funds and why funds are like this. He said, in periods of volatility, we don't want people pulling all their assets. Traditionally, people like us that invest, that are regular retail investors, We always panic and sell stuff. You know, this is why we limit withdrawals. We don't want people selling during volatility. And actually, we've delivered a 13% compounded return over the last 6 years in a challenging environment, which is kind of interesting for a real estate fund. But both these groups heavily defending, we just don't want to sell positions and liquidate when we don't have to liquidate. But anyways, could be a sign of bigger cracks to come.