Strong Fee-Related Earnings Growth
Fee-related earnings (FRE) rose 11% year-over-year in Q1 to $772 million ($0.48 per share); FRE over the last 12 months grew 18% to $3.1 billion.
Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. Class A
· BAM
May 8th, 2026
Summary
- Earnings Call Date:
- 2026-05-08
- Change Since:
- -8.83%
Earnings Call Sentiment
PositiveThe call emphasized strong operating performance, significant fundraising momentum, strategic M&A (Just Group mandate and pending Oaktree close), robust capital deployment and a favorable positioning into AI and real assets. Management acknowledged some near-term headwinds—pockets of credit stress, margin dilution from Oaktree consolidation, fee-rate noise, and geopolitical uncertainty—but framed these as manageable and as creating opportunity for a disciplined, scale player. Overall, highlights materially outweigh the lowlights.
Company Guidance
Management reiterated guidance that 2026 should be a record year and exceed long‑term growth targets, noting Q1 fee‑related earnings (FRE) rose 11% to $772M ($0.48/share) with FRE LTM $3.1B (+18%), distributable earnings (DE) were $702M ($0.43/share) up 7% with DE LTM $2.7B, and margins were 57% for the quarter (58% LTM); fundraising and scale remain central—$21B raised in the quarter (YTD $67B, more than half of the $112B raised in 2025), fee‑bearing capital +12% YoY to $614B—with fundraising detail including $3.4B for infrastructure (incl. $800M super‑core now >$20B and $800M infra private wealth now >$8B), $1.4B for private equity (incl. $1B to a PE special situations vehicle with a $2.4B first close) and $13B for credit (incl. $4.7B long‑term private funds, $3.8B from Brookfield Wealth Solutions; 17Capital added $2.5B to reach $7.5B); deployment/monetizations included $34B invested/committed and ~ $8B of equity proceeds; capital allocation actions included $375M buybacks in Q1 plus $200M in Q2 (nearly $800M over seven months), issuance of $1B senior notes ($550M five‑year at 4.832%, $450M ten‑year at 5.298%), ending the quarter with $2.5B corporate liquidity and $2B+ excess debt capacity, an anticipated Oaktree close in Q2, and management expects flagship and catch‑up fees to ramp through the year.
Distributable Earnings and Margins
Distributable earnings (DE) were $702 million ($0.43 per share) in the quarter, up 7% year-over-year; DE for the last 12 months was $2.7 billion. Reported operating margins were 57% for the quarter and 58% over the last 12 months.
Robust Fundraising and Fee-Bearing Capital
Brookfield raised $21 billion of capital in Q1; fee-bearing capital increased 12% over the last 12 months to $614 billion. Year-to-date fundraising was $67 billion (more than half of the $112 billion raised in all of 2025).
Significant Credit and Strategy Fundraises
Credit fundraising totaled $13 billion in the quarter (including $4.7 billion of long-term private funds and $3.8 billion from Brookfield Wealth Solutions). 17Capital closed an additional $2.5 billion for Credit Fund II, bringing that strategy to $7.5 billion.
Strategic Acquisitions and Mandates
Brookfield Wealth Solutions completed the Just Group acquisition and secured an additional $40 billion asset-management mandate; the Oaktree acquisition is expected to close in Q2, strengthening the credit franchise.
Flagship Fund Momentum
Flagship private equity strategy had an initial close of $6 billion and private equity special situations held a first close of $2.4 billion. Infrastructure super-core strategy raised $800 million (now >$20 billion) and infrastructure private wealth raised $800 million (now >$8 billion).
Deployment and Monetization Activity
Committed or invested $34 billion and generated approximately $8 billion of equity proceeds from monetizations during the quarter; M&A activity has increased, particularly in larger strategic transactions.
Capital Allocation and Balance Sheet Actions
Repurchased nearly $800 million of stock over the past seven months (including $375 million in Q1 and $200 million in Q2), issued $1 billion of senior unsecured notes (5- and 10-year tranches with 4.832% and 5.298% coupons) and ended the quarter with $2.5 billion of corporate liquidity.
Positioning on AI and Real Assets
Company highlights AI infrastructure as a major growth theme (example: $5 billion partnership with Bloom Energy with conversations to expand by multiples). Brookfield emphasizes scale across data centers, power, fiber and integrated solutions as a competitive advantage.
Operator
Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. First Quarter 2026 Earnings Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 11 on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 11 again.
Please be advised that today’s conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Jason Fooks, Managing Director, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Jason Fooks
Thank you for joining us today for Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.’s first quarter 2026 earnings call. On the call today, we have Connor Teskey, our Chief Executive Officer; Armen Panossian, Co-CEO of Credit; and Hadley Peer Marshall, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, I would like to remind you that in today’s comments, including in responding to questions and in discussing new initiatives, we may make forward-looking statements. Future events and results may differ materially from such statements. For further information on these risks and their potential impacts on our company, please see our filings with the securities regulators in the U.S. and Canada, and the information available on our website. On the call today, Connor will begin with an overview of the quarter and highlight the strategic momentum across our business. We are also pleased to have Armen join us to provide an update on the Oaktree integration and shar...
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