Blackstone Alternative Asset Management is a giant in the fund of funds industry — though it has not considered itself a traditional fund-of-funds firm for years. The New York-based firm has boosted assets by $29 billion in the past five years, earning it the top spot on Alpha’s Fund of Funds 50 ranking since 2012. More amazing still, BAAM exploded in size while the majority of the fund-of-funds industry was rapidly shrinking: Total industry assets are still some $304 billion short of their 2008 peak. BAAM can thank the innovative strategies of CEO J. Tomilson Hill, who joined the Blackstone Group in 1993 and became head of Blackstone’s then-$1 billion fund-of-hedge-funds unit in 2000, for its tremendous growth. Total assets nearly tripled between 2002 and 2004 to $7.6 billion…
