“Fee related earnings represented the built-in recurring cash flow from the long-term locked up management contracts we have with our institutional investors. In fact, 70% of our fee earning assets are under long-term lockups,” he said. “This income stream has scale, diversity of the firm's wide range of businesses and a unqiue stability because it's largely based on committed capital levels, not on valuations.

“Fee earnings,” he continued, “went up 28 percent in 2012 to a record $700 million.

If you add cash realization activity, related to performance fees and investments, the full year total distributable earnings for the firm were $1 billion, and $1.3 billion on an EIBTA basis, up 49% year-over-year.”

Cash performance fees also brought in strong returns for the company last year, Tosi said. “We saw a marked uptick in realized cash performance fees in 2012. We had $12.6 billion of realizations in 2012, and half of that came in the fourth quarter alone due to increased level of sales as well as the crystallization of annual cash incentive fees from our marketable businesses.”

These successes have emboldened Blackstone for 2013, and for even further into the future, according to Tosi. “So far in the first quarter, we've announced six follow-on transactions in the public equity markets, several of which will drive realized performance fees. We expect this trend to continue, if not increase, in 2013 and 2014—if markets remain favorable.”

The firm also saw a big jump in its earnings, said Tosi. “Total earnings also continued to grow, reflecting strong performance across the firm's funds.” These numbers, Tosi reported, “include the unrealized performance fees and investment income generated across our businesses.” Again, he saw strength here as a good sign for the future. “This value-creation metric is a forward indicator of future cash earnings as that value is realize,” Tosi indicated.

Adding to the company's strong position is its debt-light position on its balance sheet, he says. “We maintain a conservative approach to our balance sheet. Currently we have no net debt and we maintain a $1.1 billion revolving credit facility, which is 100% undrawn and does not mature until July, 2017.”

This position has earned Blackstone some high credit-ratings, Tosi said. “Our long-term debt-to-equity ratio stood at just 19% at year-end due to our significant equity base. This has been recognized in our A/A+ ratings from S&P and Fitch, respectively.”

When asked about raising additional capital through debt issuance, Tosi implied—with a heavy-handed assurance—that Blackstone likely will take that step. “Over the last few weeks and months, we've received a tremendous amount of reverse inquiry as to whether we'll seek a long-term issuance in the near-term. We were in the market, in August but we were bumping up against a double-A rating.

“Now,” he continued, “we will consider very seriously the overwhelming interest we've had in potentially doing a deal, especially another 30-year issuance.”