Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM) reported second-quarter fee-related earnings of $808 million, or $0.50 per share, up 20% from a year earlier, as the alternative asset manager posted its strongest fundraising quarter on record and highlighted growing activity in AI infrastructure, credit and real assets.
Distributable earnings rose 15% year over year to $707 million, or $0.44 per share. Fee-bearing capital reached $672 billion, an increase of 19% over the past 12 months. The company said it raised $77 billion during the quarter and $98 billion in the first half of 2026, including a $40 billion mandate from Just Group that expanded the insurance capital it manages by more than one-third.
Fundraising supported by flagship strategies and insurance
Brookfield said its fundraising was broad-based across infrastructure, private equity, credit and insurance-related inflows. The company raised $12.5 billion across infrastructure and energy during the quarter, including $9.3 billion for its infrastructure flagship strategy. It also raised $8.9 billion in private equity, led by $6.7 billion for its private equity flagship.
Credit raised $51 billion in the period, including $45 billion from Brookfield Wealth Solutions. Chief Financial Officer Hadley Peer Marshall said investor allocations to real asset credit and asset-backed finance have been supported by demand for tangible assets, contractual cash flows and downside protection amid continued market uncertainty.
Teskey told analysts that Brookfield expects fundraising to remain substantial through the second half of the year and to be “roughly equal” across four channels: flagship funds, complementary equity strategies, debt strategies and insurance inflows. He said the company expects to exceed its previous fundraising high-water mark even when large insurance transactions are excluded.
For 2027, Teskey said fundraising may not match 2026’s level but should remain strong as Brookfield completes final closes for its infrastructure and private equity flagships and launches new real estate and credit flagship funds. The credit flagship, Oaktree Opportunities, and the real estate flagship are expected to enter the market in 2027, while the energy strategy is expected to return to market in 2028.
Oaktree acquisition completed
Brookfield completed its acquisition of Oaktree during the period following quarter-end, fully combining the businesses. Teskey said the integration has effectively been underway since October and that Brookfield sees the principal opportunity in expanding Oaktree’s distribution, product development and multi-asset programs.
The company said it expects Oaktree’s inclusion to have no dramatic effect on fee rates, though there could be a modest mix effect in the third quarter related to acquiring an additional 25% of the business. Teskey said Brookfield expects the combined platforms to drive revenue growth and create operating leverage in back-office functions.
Peer Marshall said reported margins will decline beginning next quarter due to the Oaktree acquisition and the resulting business mix. Brookfield reported a 57% fee-related earnings margin in the second quarter and a 58% margin over the last 12 months. The company also plans to adopt a new partner-manager presentation intended to provide more transparency into partner-manager revenue and expenses.
AI infrastructure strategy gains scale
Brookfield’s executives emphasized AI infrastructure as one of the company’s fastest-growing investment themes. Global Head of AI Infrastructure and Head of Europe Sikander Rashid said Brookfield estimates that AI could create $10 trillion in annual economic productivity potential and require $10 trillion of capital expenditures across energy, data centers, compute and related infrastructure.
Rashid said Brookfield’s dedicated AI infrastructure fund, known as BAIIF, held its first close at the end of the second quarter. The fund is targeting $10 billion, but Brookfield expects it to anchor a broader investment program capable of pursuing roughly $100 billion of opportunities, supplemented by co-investments and asset-level financing.
Brookfield said the strategy is distinct from its flagship infrastructure and transition-energy funds. BAIIF will focus on large-scale AI factory development, direct power for AI capacity, compute and adjacent platforms. Rashid said more than half of the strategy’s scope is expected to be outside data centers, including behind-the-meter power and compute.
The company expanded its framework with Bloom Energy to finance rapidly deployable power solutions for AI infrastructure to $25 billion from $5 billion less than nine months earlier. It also increased its development framework with France to €30 billion from €20 billion and announced partnerships involving Naver and NVIDIA for South Korean sovereign AI infrastructure.
Rashid said Brookfield was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to develop the Paducah American Energy Hub in Kentucky on a former uranium-enrichment site. The proposed project is expected to attract up to $100 billion of private investment and support more than two gigawatts of compute capacity, with more than two gigawatts of new generation and battery storage planned.
Executives acknowledged concerns over potential excess AI infrastructure construction but said Brookfield does not intend to build speculatively. Teskey said the company plans to focus on projects supported by long-term revenue arrangements, strong counterparties and contracts designed to provide both a return of and return on capital during the initial contract term.
Capital deployment, liquidity and shareholder returns
Brookfield deployed $21 billion and monetized $11 billion during the quarter. The company said it sees improving real estate sentiment and disclosed that its BREV-AH housing-focused value-add strategy made its first investment in YES! Communities, a U.S. manufactured-home community owner. Brookfield also cited more than $10 billion of announced or contracted transactions in its pipeline.
The company issued $1 billion of senior secured notes during the second quarter, consisting of $550 million of five-year notes with a 4.832% coupon and $450 million of 10-year notes with a 5.298% coupon. It ended the quarter with $3.1 billion of corporate liquidity before using a portion to complete the Oaktree acquisition.
Brookfield repurchased $200 million of stock in the quarter, bringing year-to-date buybacks to nearly $575 million. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.5025 per share, payable Sept. 30 to shareholders of record as of Aug. 31.
Teskey said Brookfield expects fee-related earnings growth to remain strong into 2027, supported by 2026 fundraising. He also said investment outperformance in certain strategies could allow the company to begin generating and realizing carried interest earlier than previously anticipated, including some carry realization in 2026.
About Brookfield Asset Management (NYSE:BAM)
Brookfield Asset Management is a global alternative asset manager headquartered in Toronto, Canada, that specializes in investments in real assets and related private equity and credit strategies. The firm acquires, manages and develops assets in sectors such as real estate, renewable power, infrastructure and private equity, seeking long-term value through active asset management and operational improvements. Brookfield structures and manages commingled funds, listed partnerships and separate accounts for institutional and retail investors.
The company’s products and services include fund management across equity and debt strategies, direct asset ownership and operations, property and facilities management, and capital markets solutions.
