Brookfield Place signage in Toronto's financial district.Andrew Lahodynskyj/The Canadian Press
Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. BAM-T is bringing in record hauls of cash from investors, as its expanding artificial intelligence and insurance strategies supplement fundraising for its flagship funds.
Brookfield raised US$77-billion across its various funds in the second quarter, the company announced on Wednesday, when it released financial results up to June 30.
A majority of that came in the form of a US$40-billion mandate to invest money on behalf of British insurer Just Group PLC, which Brookfield acquired in April in a US$3.2-billion deal.
Brookfield’s strategy for backing AI infrastructure, launched last year, has raised US$5-billion in the quarter. The strategy has emerged as the asset manager’s “largest and fastest-growing theme,” chief executive officer Connor Teskey said on a Wednesday conference call with analysts.
The global head of Brookfield’s AI strategy, Sikander Rashid, said it is “reasonable” to question whether too much AI infrastructure is being built. But he said Brookfield is being selective about the projects it finances, avoiding speculative investments and insisting on deals that are “backed by hard assets and long-term contracts.”
The company’s flagship infrastructure and private-equity strategies raised US$7.9-billion and US$6.7-billion, respectively, in the second quarter.
In total, Brookfield has raised US$98-billion in commitments from investors so far this year. “We still expect to do a lot more,” Mr. Teskey said, adding that executives anticipate fundraising totals for 2026 to “land well into record territory, almost no matter what.”
Fundraising in 2027 will “probably not” match this year’s elevated levels, he said, but is expected to remain robust.
The inflows of new money are a key part of Brookfield’s goal to increase how much it earns from fund-management fees. In the second quarter, fee-related profits increased by 20 per cent to US$808-million.
Brookfield earned a profit of US$1.17-billion, or 56 US cents a share, in the three months that ended June 30. That was up from US$584-million, or 38 US cents a share, in the same quarter last year.
The company said distributable earnings – a measure it uses as a proxy for cash earnings that could be paid to shareholders – increased 15 per cent to US$707-million.
Mr. Teskey said some strategies have outperformed expectations, and that Brookfield could realize some carried interest – the share of investment profits that fund managers receive for exceeding certain performance targets – earlier than expected. That could include some realized carry this year, which would provide a boost to profits above what the company had forecast.
Brookfield declared a dividend of 50.25 US cents a share, unchanged from the previous quarter.