Investors find the upside of distress

From the January issue: Despite the recent slowdown in the real estate market, there are companies and individuals that are finding an upside. The current troubled credit market has inspired a number of initiatives on the part of opportunistic New York City-based companies hoping to make lemonade from lemons. For instance, The Carlton Group, an international real estate investment banking firm, has started a $1 billion division to buy distressed debt, and the Blackstone Group has topped that with the creation of a $1.3 billion distressed debt fund. These funds are designed to snap up debt trading at cheap prices in the wake of 2007’s lending crisis.