Blackstone

Private placement life insurance, or PPLI, is a decades-old strategy that has been gaining popularity among the super-wealthy as a way to protect their fortunes from income and estate taxes.

Stephen Schwarzman said the risk of an increase in U.S. capital gains taxes has led to explosive growth in potential targets for his alternative investment firm.

The private equity firm has an enticing pitch for the ultra wealthy: Invest in hedge funds and avoid paying taxes forever.

A group led by Blackstone Group LP agreed to buy a majority stake in Thomson Reuters Corp.’s financial and risk unit in a deal that values the business at $20 billion, sealing plans for the firm’s biggest buyout in a decade.

Blackstone Group LP, the private equity giant led by Stephen Schwarzman, is considering its biggest foray yet into the $27 billion-a-year industry for financial information.