Brookfield Asset Management Inc.

Brookfield reported second-quarter fee-related earnings of $808 million, up 20% year over year, or $0.50 per share. Distributable earnings were $707 million, up 15% year over year, or $0.44 per share. Fee-bearing capital reached $672 billion, up 19% over the last 12 months, and fundraising was $77 billion, led by flagship strategies and the $40 billion Just Group mandate. Margins were 57% in the quarter and 58% over the last 12 months. Management said 2026 is expected to be a record year, and reiterated that it expects to far exceed prior fundraising highs in the second half, with capital raising roughly balanced across flagships, complementary equity strategies, debt strategies, and insurance inflows.

Connor Teskey said Brookfield is entering the second half with “record results” and “exceptional strategic momentum,” arguing that the firm has limited exposure to weaker areas like software and sponsor-led direct lending while having strong exposure to real assets, credit, AI infrastructure, and retirement channels. He emphasized that AI infrastructure is becoming one of the fastest-growing parts of the business and that Brookfield can combine capital, operating capabilities, energy, digital infrastructure, and strategic relationships in a way few firms can. His tone was confident and upbeat, but he repeatedly stressed discipline, selectivity, and long-term contracted cash flows rather than speculative growth.

Hadley Marshall said FRE rose to $808 million and DE to $707 million, with growth in DE continuing to track FRE. She noted margins of 57% in the quarter and 58% over the last 12 months, and said reported margins will decline next quarter due to the Oaktree acquisition and a new partner manager presentation. On capital allocation, she said Brookfield repurchased $200 million of stock in the quarter and nearly $575 million year to date, while also issuing $1 billion of senior secured notes split between 5-year notes at 4.832% and 10-year notes at 5.298%. She also said corporate liquidity ended the quarter at $3.1 billion before the Oaktree acquisition was completed using part of that liquidity.

Analysts pressed on whether fundraising could remain strong in the back half of the year and how much of the AI infrastructure opportunity could translate into fees. Management said it expects very significant capital raising through the rest of 2026 and described the mix as balanced across four channels, while saying AI is driving fee growth well beyond the dedicated AI fund because it also feeds real estate, credit, infrastructure, and energy. Questions about competition and potential overcrowding in AI infrastructure were answered by emphasizing Brookfield’s energy bottleneck advantage, $85 billion digital infrastructure base, full value-chain approach, and a discipline of only building against long-term contracted revenue. On Oaktree, management said integration has been underway since last October and that the main upside is revenue growth through Brookfield’s broader distribution and multi-asset platform, with flagship fund timing also shifting earlier than previously expected.