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, 2023.

"We're off to a strong start this year. All our flagship funds are currently in the market fundraising and we have a number of new strategies that are gaining traction. We have raised $19-billion of capital year to date, increasing trailing 12 months to nearly $100-billion. We expect this will be another strong year for fundraising," said Connor Teskey, president of Brookfield Asset Management.

He continued: "Our businesses are well positioned to grow and invest in the current market environment. Our scale and global reach, with over $825-billion of assets under management, give us unique insights and capabilities in raising capital and deploying it into attractive investments."

Operating results

Net income for the publicly traded entity Brookfield Asset Management totalled $125-million for the quarter. Brookfield Asset Management owns a 25-per-cent interest in its asset management business and the remaining 75 per cent is owned by Brookfield Corp. In order to provide meaningful comparative information, the following discussion relates to the financial results on a 100-per-cent basis for the company's asset management business.

Brookfield Asset Management's distributable earnings were $563-million for the quarter and $2.2-billion over the past 12 months. Fee-related earnings comprise nearly 100 per cent of distributable earnings for both the quarter and the past 12 months. Robust fundraising levels and strong capital deployment activities drove quarterly fee-related earnings to $547-million, representing an increase of 11 per cent compared with the prior-year period.

Operating highlights

Brookfield Asset Management raised nearly $100-billion of capital over the past 12 months. Fee-bearing capital was $432-billion at the end of the first quarter, an increase of approximately $14-billion during the quarter and $53-billion or 14 per cent over the past year.

Year to date, the company has raised $19-billion, $13-billion during the first quarter and $6-billion subsequent to quarter-end. It is close to final closes for its fifth flagship infrastructure fund, which currently stands at $24-billion, and its sixth flagship private equity fund, which sits at $9-billion today.

In January, Brookfield Asset Management launched fundraising for its fifth flagship real estate fund (BSREP V), with the objective of deploying capital into a market that should provide significant opportunities to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns.

In February, the company launched Brookfield Infrastructure Income Fund (BII), an innovative, semi-liquid infrastructure product offering private wealth investors access to Brookfield's market-leading infrastructure platform. Brookfield Asset Management initially launched BII with two distribution partners and has raised over $750-million from third party investors to date.

Subsequent to quarter-end, Brookfield Asset Management launched fundraising for the second vintage of its flagship Brookfield Global Transition Fund (BGTF II), on the heels of a successful inaugural strategy, which raised $15-billion. With the signing of an agreement to acquire Origin Energy, Australia's largest integrated power generator and energy retailer, the company is now more than 85 per cent invested and/or committed in the first vintage and has initiated the second vintage, which aims to be larger than the first.

The above increases in fee-bearing capital contributed to a 22-per-cent increase in fee-related earnings over the past 12 months, excluding performance fees.

Fee-related earnings were $547-million for the quarter and $2.2-billion over the past 12 months. Brookfield Asset Management has $37-billion of uncalled fund commitments not currently earning fees across its strategies that will earn approximately $370-million of fees annually once deployed.

Brookfield Asset Management invested $17-billion of capital during the first quarter of 2023 and made additional commitments for new investments.

Brookfield Asset Management continues to source attractive investment opportunities across the business, leveraging its global reach, operational expertise and access to scale capital. Year to date, Brookfield Asset Management has committed to the following marquee investments:

• The company's renewable power and transition business, along with a consortium of investors, committed to acquire Origin Energy at an enterprise value of over $12-billion in a public-to-private transaction. The transaction enables Brookfield Asset Management to deploy its full-life-cycle renewable development capabilities to decarbonize and transition a large energy market in Australia, in line with the Brookfield Global Transition Fund's mandate of generating attractive current yields while accelerating the global transition to net zero.
• The company's infrastructure business signed an agreement to acquire Data4, a premier hyperscale data centre platform in Europe, with operations in France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Germany. The transaction will require an equity investment of approximately $2.4-billion. Data4 has a backlog of contracted growth over the next five years, an existing revenue base that is 80 per cent contracted with investment-grade hyperscalers and enables Brookfield Asset Management to expand its global data centre footprint. With existing greenfield development platforms in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, India, and Korea, this expansion to Europe supports the company's long-term strategy to invest in the digitalization of the global economy.
• The company's infrastructure business signed an agreement to acquire Triton International, the world's largest owner and lessor of intermodal containers, for a total enterprise value of over $13-billion in a public-to-private transaction which requires an equity commitment of approximately $4.7-billion. Approximately 90 per cent of Triton's fleet is under long-term contract, which will enable the company to generate an attractive risk-adjusted return, while offering a platform for growth. As a critical provider of global transport logistics, this transaction supports Brookfield Asset Management's long-term strategy of investing in the backbone of the global economy.

As at March 31, 2023, Brookfield Asset Management had $79-billion of uncalled fund commitments.

Total investable capital includes approximately $3.2-billion of cash, financial assets and undrawn lines of credit, as well as $79-billion of uncalled fund commitments. This excludes any capital that Brookfield Asset Management's 75-per-cent shareholder has on its balance sheet and in its insurance operations. The company currently also have no debt. The company established its normal course issuer bid in January, enabling it to repurchase shares opportunistically.

Strategic initiatives

Brookfield Asset Management acquired an additional interest in the fee-related earnings of its partially owned private credit business for cash consideration of $174-million, increasing its total ownership from approximately 64 per cent to approximately 68 per cent.

Regular dividend declaration and establishment of dividend reinvestment program

The board of directors of Brookfield Asset Management declared a quarterly dividend of 32 cents per share, payable on June 30, 2023, to shareholders of record as at the close of business on May 31, 2023.

Quarterly earnings call details

Investors, analysts and other interested parties can access Brookfield Asset Management's first quarter 2023 results as well as the shareholders letter and supplemental information on its website under the reports and filings section.

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

The conference call will also be webcast live. For those unable to participate in the conference call, the telephone replay will be archived and available until Aug. 8, 2023, or available on the company's website.

About Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.

Brookfield Asset Management is a leading global alternative asset manager with more than $825-billion of assets under management across renewable power and transition, infrastructure, private equity, real estate, and credit. Brookfield Asset Management 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. Brookfield Asset Management 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. Brookfield Asset Management 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.