Brookfield spotlights fee revenue growth in Q1

Despite relatively flat earnings, executives at Brookfield Asset Management on Wednesday touted growing fee revenue from operations as evidence of a strong first quarter of 2024.

Toronto-based Brookfield, one of the world's largest alternative investment management companies, touted a 15% growth in fee revenue from its principle private credit and insurance strategies over the last year, with a near equal 15% boost in related fee-bearing capital over the same period. The gains were partly offset by lower transaction fees and lower fees associated with other capital vehicles, the company said.

“We are off to a strong start in 2024 and are seeing accelerating momentum across our business as transaction activity picks up,” said Brookfield’s president, Connor Teskey.

He also noted the company raised $20 billion of capital during the first quarter ($10 billion since its last earnings release) and is holding more than $100 billion of “dry powder,” that he said makes the company “very well-positioned to capture investment opportunities.”

Net income fell to $547 million

Overall, though, Brookfield’s net income fell to $547 million, or $0.34 per share, from $563 million, or $0.34 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Total revenue in the first quarter of $884 million, declined from $1.05 billion in Q1 2023.
Total fee-related earnings of $552 million increased from $547 million a year earlier.

Total assets under management increased to $929 billion from $916 billion at the end of last year. Fee-bearing capital totaled $459 billion at the end of the first quarter, up by $2 billion from the last quarter, 6% year over year.

First quarter compensation, operating, and general and administrative expenses of $360 million, fell from $376 million in the first quarter of 2023.

“We recently completed a $50 billion asset management mandate with American Equity Investment Life and announced our intention to acquire a majority stake in Castlelake, a leader in asset- backed finance,” Teskey said. “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.”

Brookfield stock, which trades on the NYSE big board, has risen nearly 27% in the last six months, fell a bit Wednesday after the earnings release, to $53 per share, down 2.4% in afternoon trading.

Doug Bailey is a journalist and freelance writer who lives outside of Boston. He can be reached at doug.bailey@innfeedback.com.

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Doug Bailey is a journalist and freelance writer who lives outside of Boston. He can be reached at doug.bailey@innfeedback.com.