Brookfield Corporation Cum Red Pref Registered Shs -A- Series -37- Non Vtg

Brookfield reported second-quarter 2026 fee-related earnings of $808 million, up 20% year over year, and distributable earnings of $707 million, up 15% year over year. Fee-bearing capital reached $672 billion, up 19% over the last 12 months. Margins were 57% for the quarter and 58% over the last 12 months. Fundraising in the quarter was $77 billion, bringing year-to-date fundraising to $98 billion and the last 12 months to $163 billion. In the quarter, the company also deployed $21 billion, monetized $11 billion, repurchased $200 million of stock, ended with $3.1 billion of corporate liquidity, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5025 per share. For the next quarter and the balance of the year, management expects very significant additional fundraising and said 2026 should far exceed prior highs, with capital raised roughly balanced across flagships, complementary equity, debt and insurance inflows. They also said reported margins next quarter will be lower due to the Oaktree consolidation and a new partner manager presentation.

Connor Teskey framed the quarter as exceptionally strong and said 2026 should be a record year by a wide margin. He emphasized Brookfield’s breadth across real assets, credit and AI infrastructure, arguing that the firm has limited exposure to the areas under pressure and outsized exposure to where capital is flowing. His tone was upbeat but disciplined, repeatedly stressing selective underwriting, long-term contracts, and an asset-light model that avoids balance-sheet insurance risk at BAM.

Hadley Marshall highlighted the core financial metrics: FRE of $808 million, DE of $707 million, margins of 57% in the quarter and 58% over the last 12 months. She also noted $200 million of quarterly share repurchases, nearly $575 million year to date, and $3.1 billion of corporate liquidity at quarter-end. On capital allocation, she said the company prefers investing into platform growth initiatives, but has been active in buybacks because the shares appear meaningfully undervalued.

Analysts focused on whether the fundraising pace can hold, whether credit capacity is sufficient for AI infrastructure, and whether AI-related demand is becoming crowded. Management said credit markets remain robust and that there is ample capacity to fund AI and infrastructure build-outs, while also noting Brookfield expects to play a significant role. On AI competition, Sikander Rashid said the firm’s edge is energy, its $85 billion digital infrastructure footprint, and its ability to cover the full AI value chain rather than just data centers. Questions about Oaktree centered on fee rates and the 2027-2028 outlook; management said fee rates should not change dramatically, while the bigger upside is revenue growth, distribution, and operating leverage.