Mr. Connor Teskey reports

BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCES STRONG FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. has released financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024.

Connor Teskey, president of Brookfield Asset Management, stated: "We are off to a strong start in 2024 and are seeing accelerating momentum across our business as transaction activity picks up. We raised $20-billion of capital during the first quarter ($10-billion since our last earnings release), and with more than $100-billion of dry powder to invest, both the diversity of our business mix and our global footprint mean that we remain very well positioned to capture investment opportunities."

He continued: "We recently completed a $50-billion asset management mandate with American Equity Investment Life (AEL) and announced our intention to acquire a majority stake in Castlelake, a leader in asset-backed finance. With these, we are excited to grow both our insurance and private credit capabilities, bolstering our ability to serve our clients in more ways over the long term."

Operating results

Net income for Brookfield Asset Management, the publicly traded entity, totalled $102-million for the quarter. Brookfield Asset Management owns a 25-per-cent interest in its asset management business with the other 75 per cent owned by Brookfield Corp. In order to provide meaningful comparative information, the discussion that follows relates to the financial results on a 100-per-cent basis for the company's asset management business (Brookfield Asset Management).

Operating highlights

Financial results

Brookfield Asset Management's fee-related earnings were $552-million for the quarter and $2.2-billion over the last 12 months, versus $547-million and $2.2-billion for the same periods in the prior year, respectively.

Distributable earnings were $547-million for the quarter and $2.2-billion over the last 12 months, versus $563-million and $2.2-billion for the same periods in the prior year, respectively.

These results represent 15-per-cent growth in fee revenues from the company's flagship, private credit and insurance strategies over the last 12 months, on the back of over 15-per-cent growth in related fee-bearing capital over the same period, partially offset by lower transaction fees and lower fees associated with the company's permanent capital vehicles.

Fundraising

Brookfield Asset Management raised $20-billion in the first quarter of 2024, $10-billion of which was raised since its last earnings release. Notable fundraising updates during the first quarter include:

• The company finalized the first close of the second vintage of its flagship global transition fund strategy at $10-billion, including $1.2-billion of fund capital raised in the first quarter. The company anticipate holding a final close in the second half of 2024.
• The company finalized the first close of the fifth vintage of its flagship opportunistic real estate fund strategy, bringing the total to over $8-billion, including $2.2-billion of capital in the first quarter.
• The company raised over $3-billion of capital within its infrastructure business, including $1.9-billion of capital raised within its supercore infrastructure fund as part of a follow-on acquisition of FirstEnergy, for $3.5-billion.
• The company raised nearly $10-billion of capital across more than a dozen credit strategies this quarter. This includes raising nearly $6-billion across its Oaktree franchise, including $1-billion within its sponsor credit business and nearly $1-billion within the 12th vintage of its opportunistic credit fund, bringing the total raised for this fund to nearly $9-billion.
• Within insurance solutions, the company raised $2-billion, bringing its total insurance-related fee-bearing capital to $36-billion at the end of the quarter. Inclusive of the close of AEL, the company's insurance fee-bearing capital stands at nearly $90-billion today.

Fee-bearing capital

Fee-bearing capital was $459-billion at the end of the first quarter, up $27-billion or 6 per cent over the past year and up $2-billion from the prior quarter.

• The above year-over-year increase in fee-bearing capital contributed to growth in fee-related earnings to $2.2-billion over the last 12 months, representing a 4-per-cent increase over the prior-year period.

Deployment

In the first quarter, Brookfield Asset Management deployed $11-billion of capital into investments across a number of large-scale, high-quality businesses and assets. Notable deployments in the quarter include:

• Deployed $2.8-billion of capital across the company's infrastructure platform, including $2-billion out of its supercore infrastructure fund.
• Deployed $6.2-billion of capital across credit funds, including $2-billion out of the company's opportunistic credit platform, $970-million out of its strategic credit fund, $400-million out of its power opportunities platform and $360-million out of its sponsor fund credit business. The company also deployed $400-million out of the third vintage of its infrastructure debt fund.

Dry powder capital

As of March 31, 2024, Brookfield Asset Management had a total of $106-billion of uncalled fund commitments.

• The company holds $2.6-billion of cash and equivalents on its balance sheet.
• Uncalled fund commitments include $50-billion which is not currently earning fees, but which will earn approximately $500-million of fees annually once deployed.

Recent strategic initiatives

The company announced several strategic transactions subsequent to the end of the quarter which will bolster its long- term growth.

Brookfield Reinsurance successfully completed its acquisition of AEL. On behalf of Brookfield Reinsurance, Brookfield Asset Management is now managing AEL's $50-billion of capital, bringing the company's total insurance fee-bearing capital to nearly $90-billion.

Brookfield Asset Management finalized an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Castlelake, an asset-backed private credit manager with $22-billion of assets under management. Castlelake's core competencies in aviation and other forms of specialty finance will further broaden Brookfield Asset Management's private credit capabilities for its clients, while allowing it to partner with a best-in-class manager to support its growth over the long term.

The company acquired an additional 5-per-cent interest in Oaktree, which brings its ownership stake to 73 per cent.

Regular dividend declaration

The board of directors of Brookfield Asset Management declared a quarterly dividend of 38 cents per share, payable on June 28, 2024, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on May 31, 2024.

Additional information

The letter to shareholders and the supplemental information for the three months and 12 months ended March 31, 2024, contain further information on the company's strategy, operations and financial results. Shareholders are encouraged to read these documents, which are available on Brookfield Asset Management's website.

The statements contained herein are based primarily on information that has been extracted from the company's financial statements for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, which have been prepared using U.S. GAAP. The amounts have not been audited by Brookfield Asset Management's external auditor.

Brookfield Asset Management's board of directors has reviewed and approved this document, including the summarized unaudited consolidated financial statements, prior to its release.

Information on the company's dividends can be found on its website under stock and distributions -- distribution history section.

Quarterly earnings call details

Investors, analysts and other interested parties can access Brookfield Asset Management's first quarter 2024 results, as well as the letter to shareholders and supplemental information, on its website under the reports and filings section.

To participate in the conference call today at 11 a.m. ET, please preregister on-line. Upon registering, you will be e-mailed a dial-in number and unique PIN.

The conference call will also be webcast live on-line. For those unable to participate in the conference call, the telephone replay will be archived and available until May 8, 2025, or available on Brookfield Asset Management's website.

About Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.

Brookfield Asset Management is a leading global alternative asset manager with over $925-billion of assets under management across renewable power and transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate, and credit. It invests client capital for the long term with a focus on real assets and essential service businesses that form the backbone of the global economy. The company offers a range of alternative investment products to investors around the world -- including public and private pension plans, endowments and foundations, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, insurance companies, and private wealth investors. The company draws on Brookfield's heritage as an owner and operator to invest for value and generate strong returns for its clients, across economic cycles.

We seek Safe Harbor.