The Blackstone Group doesn’t generally suffer from the kind of shock that some investors may get when they open their most recent brokerage statements.

Blackstone specialises in locking up money for long periods in illiquid assets like real estate and private equity. The inconvenience of not being able to sell right away has its advantages, and Blackstone’s 71-year-old chairman, CEO, and co-founder, Stephen Schwarzman, isn’t shy about sharing the firm’s money-making record.