Brookfield Asset Management reports strong Q1 growth

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (BAM), the parent of Brookfield Reinsurance, has announced a significant expansion in the asset management sector, alongside robust financial results for the first quarter of 2024. The company reported net income of $102 million and substantial growth across various investment strategies.

“We are off to a strong start in 2024 and are seeing accelerating momentum across our business as transaction activity picks up. We raised $20 billion of capital during the first quarter ($10 billion since our last earnings release), and with more than $100 billion of dry powder to invest, both the diversity of our business mix and our global footprint mean that we remain very well-positioned to capture investment opportunities,” said Connor Teskey, president of Brookfield Asset Management.

Teskey also mentioned recent strategic advancements, noting that they had recently completed a $50 billion asset management mandate with American Equity Investment Life (AEL). He proceeded to lay out plans to acquire a majority stake in Castlelake, a leader in asset-backed finance.

“With these, we are excited to grow both our insurance and private credit capabilities, bolstering our ability to serve our clients in more ways over the long-term,” Teskey said.

The company owns a 25% interest in its asset management business, with the remaining 75% owned by Brookfield Corporation. BAM’s fee-related earnings stood at $552 million for the quarter, maintaining a level consistent with the previous year’s figure of $547 million.

Over the past 12 months, fee-related earnings reached $2.2 billion, a slight increase from the prior year. Meanwhile, distributable earnings for the quarter were reported at $547 million, slightly below the previous year’s $563 million. This performance was underpinned by 15% growth in fee revenues from private credit and insurance strategies.

During the first quarter, BAM raised substantial capital across various sectors. Notable among these was the initial closing of the second vintage of its flagship global transition fund at $10 billion and the fifth vintage of its flagship opportunistic real estate fund at $8.0 billion. In addition, the company raised over $3.0 billion within its infrastructure business and almost $10 billion across a dozen credit strategies.

As of the end of the first quarter, BAM’s fee-bearing capital increased by 6% year-over-year to $459 billion. The company also deployed $11 billion of capital into various investments, including infrastructure and credit funds.

Looking ahead, Brookfield holds $106 billion in uncalled fund commitments, including $50 billion which is currently not earning fees but is expected to generate approximately $500 million in fees annually.