The Carlyle Group Inc.

Carlyle reported second-quarter distributable earnings of $472 million, or $1.07 per share. Fee-related earnings were a record $358 million, up 11% year over year, at a 47% margin. Fund management fees were $560 million, up 3% from the first quarter; transaction fees were a record $111 million, more than double a year ago; and fee-related performance revenues were a record $89 million, more than double last year’s second quarter. Inflows were $16.8 billion in the quarter, AUM reached a record $485 billion, and distributed earnings included a record $472 million. For the segments, Carlyle AlpInvest had record DE of $96 million and FRE of $87 million; Global Credit had record DE of $158 million and FRE of $138 million; and Global Private Equity had FRE of $134 million and DE of $219 million. Guidance-wise, management did not give formal quarterly or full-year financial guidance, but said fundraising should accelerate in the second half as flagship funds come to market, that the 47% comp ratio should remain roughly consistent this year, and that margin should improve as fundraising flows through in 2027 and 2028.

Harvey Schwartz’s message was that Carlyle is entering a broad fundraising “super cycle” with momentum across private equity, credit, AlpInvest, wealth, and insurance solutions. He emphasized that the firm’s strategy is working because of disciplined execution, investment performance, and a growing ability to monetize activity through capital markets and realizations. His tone was confident and expansive, repeatedly stressing that the pipeline is broad and that the macro backdrop is supportive of durable capital demand.

Justin Plouffe focused on the financial quality of the quarter: $472 million of distributable earnings, $358 million of FRE, a 47% FRE margin, and record transaction fees of $111 million. He pointed to strong segment contributions, including record DE in AlpInvest and Global Credit, and noted net accrued performance revenues of $2.4 billion, which he said represent nearly $7 of pretax earnings per share. On capital allocation, he said Carlyle declared a $0.35 quarterly dividend and repurchased or withheld 6.7 million shares for a record $304 million, with $1.6 billion still available under the $2 billion authorization; he also said investing for growth remains the first priority.

Analysts pressed on the second-half fundraising outlook, the wealth channel, the comp ratio, capital markets revenue durability, realized performance revenue, and the insurance-solutions pipeline. Management said the flagship funds will start to accelerate in the back half but cautioned that closes will be timing-dependent, while reiterating that the fundraising pipeline is very broad. On wealth, Harvey said the 401(k) and target-date fund channels could become significant over time, but the impact from new solutions such as the AllianceBernstein/Brookfield offering is more of a 2027 build than a near-term driver.