The Financial Post reports in its Thursday, Aug. 8, edition that Brookfield Asset Management posted a gain in quarterly profits and said its assets under management rose to a record of about $1-trillion (all figures U.S.). A Bloomberg dispatch to the Post reports that distributable earnings for the second quarter rose to $548-million, or 34 cents a share. That was slightly below the average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey and up from $527-million a year earlier. "During the quarter, we raised a total of $68-billion," said chief executive officer Bruce Flatt and president Connor Teskey. The firm cited momentum in its credit business and "unprecedented opportunities" in its renewable power and transition business. The inflows included $49-billion of insurance capital from American Equity Investment Life Holding Co., $4-billion from its renewable power and transition business, and $1.1-billion from its real estate fund. Brookfield expects deal activity to pick up now that central banks have begun cutting interest rates, Flatt and Teskey said in the letter. This, in addition to its fund raising efforts, will allow the firm to pursue large-scale transactions and exit some of its investments.