Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. (BAM) | The Buildout — AI Infrastructure
The Verdict
Brookfield Asset Management is an alternative asset manager that raises institutional, insurance, private wealth, and sovereign capital and deploys it into real assets and essential service businesses. In the AI buildout, it supplies the physical layer—power generation, behind-the-meter power, data centers, compute, and financing—through a dedicated AI infrastructure fund and across its existing infrastructure, energy, real estate, and credit strategies.
| Market Cap | — |
| Revenue (TTM) | $4.8B |
| Revenue Growth | +14.6% |
| EBITDA Margin (TTM) | 64.2% |
| Net Debt | $4.4B |
| Earnings Beats | 6 of 7 |
| P/E (TTM) | — |
| EV/EBITDA (TTM) | — |
What We Like
- Fee-bearing capital reached $672 billion in Q2 2026, up 19% over the last twelve months.
- Q2 2026 fee-related earnings grew 20% year over year to $808 million, and distributable earnings rose 15% to $707 million.
- Q2 fundraising was $77 billion, the strongest fundraising quarter ever; year-to-date fundraising is $98 billion versus $112 billion in all of 2025.
- The Bloom Energy power financing framework expanded fivefold from $5 billion to $25 billion in nine months.
- The Oaktree acquisition closed August 3, 2026, adding a scaled credit platform.
What We’re Watching
- Oaktree consolidation will lower reported consolidated margin due to business mix beginning next quarter.
- Q2 credit fundraising included $45 billion from Brookfield Wealth Solutions, a large share of the $77 billion quarterly total.
- Management expects 2027 fundraising to be strong but probably not as large as 2026.
- AI infrastructure overbuild: management says questions about whether too much capacity is being built are reasonable.
The thesis is strengthening. Fee-related earnings growth accelerated from 11% year over year in Q1 to 20% in Q2, fundraising hit a record, and named milestones—Oaktree, Just Group, BAF first close, and the Bloom expansion—closed. The open question is how much of the AI pipeline and insurance-linked fundraising converts into sustained fee-bearing capital once the Oaktree consolidation resets reported margins.
Earnings Beat
In the latest reported quarter, revenue was $1,319.5 million with gross margin of 82.3%; EBITDA was $655.8 million, a 49.7% margin. On the company's own fee-related earnings measure, Q1 2026 came in at $772 million, up 11% year over year.
| Metric | Q1 FY2026 | Q4 FY2025 | Q1 FY2025 | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $1.3B | $1.2B | $1.1B | +22.1% |
| Gross margin | 82.3% | 73.2% | 76.0% | +630bps |
| EBITDA | $656M | $957M | $819M | −19.9% |
| EPS | $0.38 | $0.34 | $0.36 | +4.4% |
| Fee-related earnings | $772 million | n/a | $698 million | +11% YoY |
Similar to last quarter, we expect 2026 will be a record year for Brookfield and not by a small margin.— Connor Teskey, CEO, August 5, 2026
Management tone: Management's tone moved from confident to explicitly bullish across 2026. On the Q2 2026 call, management said 2026 will be a record year "not by a small margin," called the fee trajectory "rock solid," and directly addressed Oaktree margin dilution, AI overbuild risk, and the Q4 comparison.
Management Guidance
Management expects 2026 fee-related earnings growth to exceed long-term targets, with 2026 fundraising a record year "not by a small margin." H2 fundraising is expected to be roughly equal across flagships, complementary equity strategies, debt strategies, and insurance inflows. Catch-up fees are expected to build through 2026 from private equity and infrastructure flagship first closes, and some carry generation and realization is expected this year, with larger carry realization pulled forward into the next few years. For 2027, management said fundraising will probably not be as large as 2026 but still "very, very strong."
Trajectory
Reported revenue has accelerated sequentially, from $1,090 million in Q2 FY2025 to $1,320 million in Q1 FY2026. Gross margin expanded sharply to 82.3% in the latest quarter, while EBITDA margin compressed to 49.7%. The forward indicators support continued momentum: Q2 2026 fee-bearing capital reached $672 billion, up 19% over the last twelve months, and Q2 fundraising was $77 billion.
The Model
The model projects FY+1 revenue of $6,200 million and EBITDA of $3,540 million, a 57.1% EBITDA margin. FY+2 projects revenue of $7,400 million and EBITDA of $4,366 million, a 59.0% margin. The near-term estimate anchors on the current fundraising run-rate and fee-bearing capital growth; FY+2 assumes continued deployment and scale in fee-related earnings.
| Metric | FY2025 | Next FY (E) | Following FY (E) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.5B | $6.2B | $7.4B |
| YoY Growth | — | +36.4% | +19.4% |
| EBITDA | $3.2B | $3.5B | $4.4B |
| EBITDA Margin | 71.1% | 57.1% | 59.0% |
Projections are the median of 5 independent model runs. The model’s revenue sits 5.8% above analyst consensus.
Management expects 2026 fee-related earnings growth to exceed long-term targets, with 2026 fundraising a record year "not by a small margin." H2 fundraising is expected to be roughly equal across flagships, complementary equity strategies, debt strategies, and insurance inflows. Catch-up fees are expected to build through 2026 from private equity and infrastructure flagship first closes, and some carry generation and realization is expected this year, with larger carry realization pulled forward into the next few years. For 2027, management said fundraising will probably not be as large as 2026 but still "very, very strong."
What Could Go Right — and Wrong
- BAF exceeds its $10 billion target quickly and additional AI vehicles launch, converting AI into a larger fee-bearing capital line.
- Sovereign AI frameworks such as France's €30 billion program convert into signed projects and capital commitments.
- Realized carried interest becomes a visible, recurring layer sooner than expected, adding to fee-related and distributable earnings.
- A broader credit dislocation allows Oaktree to deploy tens of billions over 12–24 months, lifting credit fee revenue.
- Additional 401(k) partnerships unlock a durable retirement and private wealth channel.
- AI infrastructure demand slows or contracts, delaying BAF deployments and power/data center returns.
- Insurance-linked fundraising slows: Q2 credit included $45 billion from Brookfield Wealth Solutions, an outsized share of the $77 billion quarterly total.
- Oaktree integration disappoints or the margin drag persists, weakening consolidated fee-related earnings.
- Flagship infrastructure or private equity final closes fall short, reducing catch-up fees and future base fees.
- Supply-chain tightness and component inflation delay projects and compress returns.
Looking Ahead
The next twelve months hinge on converting record fundraising into reported fee-related earnings. Q3 2026 will show the first consolidated Oaktree financials and a new partner-manager presentation. Through H2 2026, management expects infrastructure and private equity flagship closes, catch-up fees, and real estate transaction volumes to build. Into 2027, the Oaktree credit and real estate flagships are expected to be in market, and additional 401(k) partnerships remain an open forward catalyst.
- ShortlyS&P index inclusion submission — Tests the reclassification case and any index demand.
- Q3 2026First consolidated Oaktree financials — Tests margin mix and partner-manager revenue transparency.
- Coming monthsInfrastructure flagship first close — Tests the size of catch-up fees and future fee-bearing capital.
- Into 2027Private equity flagship final close — Tests largest-ever vintage claim and fee activation.
- H2 2026Real estate transaction pipeline — Tests conversion of over $10 billion announced or under contract.
Financials
Annual Summary
| Metric | FY2024 | FY2025 | TTM | YoY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.0B | $4.5B | $4.8B | +14.2% |
| Gross Margin | 70.9% | 69.7% | 71.8% | 115bps |
| EBITDA | $2.8B | $3.2B | $13.3B | +16.5% |
| EBITDA Margin | 69.7% | 71.1% | 64.2% | +138bps |
| Net Income | $2.2B | $2.5B | $2.5B | +14.3% |
| Free Cash Flow | $624M | $2.2B | $5.6B | — |
| Net Cash | — | — | — | — |
Key Ratios (Trailing)
- P/E TTM—
- EV/EBITDA TTM—
- EV/Revenue TTM—
- Price/FCF TTM—
- Gross Margin (TTM)71.8%
- EBITDA Margin (TTM)64.2%
- Net Margin (TTM)52.3%
- ROIC19.9%
- FCF Conversion75.4%
- SBC / Revenue7.4%
The Company
Brookfield Asset Management is a leading global alternative asset manager headquartered in New York, with over $1 trillion of assets under management across infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity, real estate, and credit. It invests client capital in real assets and essential service businesses that form the backbone of the global economy, serving over 2,400 institutional clients.
BAM operates through those five segments with a broad product set spanning flagship private funds, perpetual vehicles, semi-liquid products, and private wealth products. It earns fee-related earnings, distributable earnings, and increasingly carried interest by raising capital and deploying it into real assets and essential-service businesses; as of Q2 2026, fee-bearing capital reached $672 billion.
Business Segments
Competitive Landscape
The supplied source material does not identify BAM's competitors by name. It positions BAM's differentiation as energy, a roughly $85 billion digital infrastructure business, and full-value-chain scope rather than a data-center-only fund.
Supply Chain
BAM sits between capital providers and physical AI projects—power, data centers, compute. Duke Energy, TransAlta, and Bloom Energy confirmed Brookfield relationships on their own calls; many supplier names below are inferred and labeled.
More on BAM: Earnings recap