Shares of Blackstone (NYSE: BX) have plummeted nearly 40% over the past year, driving up its dividend yield. One of the factors weighing on the leading alternative asset manager is the health of one of its most popular retail investment vehicles: Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT). Concerns about the non-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) spooked the market.

Blackstone recently received a huge vote of confidence in that entity after the University of California (UC Investments) agreed to invest $4 billion into BREIT. That investment will increase BREIT's balance sheet flexibility. It also entitles Blackstone to potentially earn more income it could pay to shareholders via its high-yielding dividend in the future.

Blackstone created BREIT in 2016 to provide high-net-worth investors access to the private real estate market. Until recently, they had been pouring capital into the non-traded REIT to capitalize on its higher income yield, lower volatility, and higher total returns compared to many publicly traded REITs.

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Source Fool.com