CEO Bruce Flatt and president Connor Teskey say a ‘global shift is already under way’ that could allow hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars of wealth to invest in funds such as the ones Brookfield offers.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Top executives at Brookfield Asset Management Ltd. BAM-T expect the Trump administration will open the gates to Americans who want to invest their retirement savings in private assets such as infrastructure or private equity, setting off a new wave of growth for asset managers.
Chief executive officer Bruce Flatt and president Connor Teskey said a “global shift is already under way” that could allow hundreds of billions or even trillions of dollars of wealth to invest in funds such as the ones Brookfield offers.
“The ability to serve individual savers directly, whether through workplace defined contribution plans, annuities, or wealth accounts, has the potential to double the size of the private markets industry in the years ahead,” Mr. Flatt and Mr. Teskey said in a letter to shareholders published on Wednesday.
The asset manager’s private wealth and retirement arm, Brookfield Wealth Solutions, is expected to raise more than US$30-billion this year from wealth individuals and insurance annuity products.
But that is only scratching the surface of vast pools of assets that include an estimated US$20-trillion in U.S. 401(k) retirement accounts.
On Wednesday, Brookfield reported profit of US$620-million in the second quarter that ended June 30, compared with US$495-million a year earlier.
Profit of 38 US cents per share was just shy of the 39 cents analysts expected, according to data from the London Stock Exchange Group.
Brookfield earned distributable earnings – a proxy for cash earnings that could be paid to shareholders – of US$613-million, or 38 US cents per share, up from US$548-million or 34 US cents per share a year ago.
Mr. Flatt and Mr. Teskey also said it is becoming easier to get deals done after the company invested US$85-billion and sold a further US$55-billion of assets so far this year.
“Across all asset classes, the transaction market is improving,” they said in the shareholder letter.