BROOKFIELD ASSET MANAGEMENT LTD (BAM) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and welcome to Brookfield Asset Management's First Quarter 2024 Conference Call and Webcast. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference call over to our first speaker, Mr. Jason Fooks, Managing Director, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

各位好，歡迎參加布魯克菲爾德資產管理（Brookfield Asset Management）2024 年第一季電話會議與網路直播。（接線員指示）現在我想把電話會議交給我們的第一位講者，投資人關係董事總經理 Jason Fooks 先生。請開始。

Thank you for joining us today for Brookfield Asset Management's Earnings Call. On the call today, we have Bruce Flatt, our Chief Executive Officer; Connor Teskey, our President; Bahir Manios, our Chief Financial Officer; and Hadley Peer Marshall, our incoming Chief Financial Officer.

感謝各位今天加入布魯克菲爾德資產管理的財報電話會議。今天與會者包括：我們的執行長 Bruce Flatt；總裁 Connor Teskey；財務長 Bahir Manios；以及即將上任的財務長 Hadley Peer Marshall。

Bruce will start the call today with opening remarks followed by Connor, who will talk about some of the important drivers of our future growth. Bahir will discuss our financial results. And finally, Hadley will provide an update on our fundraising.

今天的電話會議將由 Bruce 先做開場致詞，接著由 Connor 說明推動我們未來成長的一些重要動能。Bahir 將討論我們的財務結果。最後，Hadley 將就我們的募資情況提供最新進展。

After our formal comments, we'll turn the call over to the operator and take analyst questions in order to accommodate all those who want to ask questions, we ask that you refrain from asking more than 2 questions at one time. If you should have additional questions, please rejoin the queue, and we'll be happy to take additional questions at the end if time permits.

在我們完成正式發言後，我們將把電話交回接線員並回答分析師提問。為了讓所有想提問的人都有機會，我們請各位一次不要提出超過 2 個問題。如仍有其他問題，請重新加入提問隊列；若時間允許，我們很樂意在最後回答更多問題。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that in today's comments, including in responding to questions and in discussing new initiatives and our financial and operating performance, we may make forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities law. These statements reflect predictions of future events and trends and do not relate to historic events. They're subject to known and unknown risks, and future events and results may differ materially from such statements. For further information on these risks and their potential impacts on our company, please see our filings with the securities regulators in Canada and U.S. and the information available on our website.

在開始之前，我想提醒各位，在今天的發言中（包括回應問題，以及討論新措施與我們的財務及營運表現時），我們可能會作出前瞻性陳述，包括在適用的加拿大及美國證券法意義下的前瞻性陳述。這些陳述反映對未來事件與趨勢的預測，並不涉及歷史事件。其受已知與未知風險影響，未來事件與結果可能與這些陳述存在重大差異。關於這些風險及其對本公司的潛在影響之更多資訊，請參閱我們向加拿大及美國證券監管機構提交的文件，以及我們網站上的相關資訊。

And with that, I'll turn the call over to Bruce.

接下來，我把電話交給 Bruce。

Thank you, Jason, and welcome, everyone, on the call. Our business is performing extremely well. and results were strong in the first quarter, driven by execution across all aspects of our business and highlighted by robust fundraising, successful capital markets execution and several strategic transactions. This should lead to excellent growth in overall results in 2024.

謝謝你，Jason，也歡迎各位參與本次電話會議。我們的業務表現極為出色。第一季的業績強勁，主要受惠於我們在業務各方面的執行力，並由強勁的募資、成功的資本市場操作以及數筆策略性交易所凸顯。這應可帶動 2024 年整體業績的優異成長。

Improving market sentiment has been growing. Liquidity is returning to the capital markets, and most major economies are performing better than expected. This in turn has revived risk appetite among many investors and is fostering an increasingly stable and more constructive market.

市場情緒持續改善。流動性正在回流資本市場，多數主要經濟體的表現也優於預期。這進一步帶動許多投資人的風險偏好回升，並促成更穩定且更具建設性的市場環境。

We raised a total of $20 billion of capital during the first quarter, which included strong first closes for our 2 flagship -- 2 of our flagship funds. Our flagship funds, along with our private credit funds and insurance solutions channel have been among where our largest fund flows have come from over the past year. More broadly, we see continued client demand for more than 50 strategies that are in the market and expect our fundraising to continue to build throughout the year. This should lead to an excellent year for fundraising.

第一季我們共募集了 200 億美元資金，其中包括我們 2 檔旗艦基金中的 2 檔在首次募集（first close）方面表現強勁。我們的旗艦基金，以及我們的私募信貸基金與保險解決方案通路，是過去一年資金流入最大的來源之一。更廣泛而言，我們看到客戶對目前在市場上的 50 多項策略仍有持續需求，並預期我們的募資將在全年持續增溫。這應可帶來非常出色的募資年度。

Continued consolidation in the asset management sector is a tailwind with clients preferring to do more with fewer, larger and more diversified global managers. The market environment is also more conducive for transaction activity. We are seeing firsthand an improving market for sales of high-quality assets. This is particularly apparent in the private equity and real estate asset classes, where transaction volume has been lighter over the past few years, but is now picking up.

資產管理產業持續整併是一項順風因素，因為客戶偏好與更少數、規模更大、更多元且全球化的管理機構合作。市場環境也更有利於交易活動。我們第一手看到高品質資產的出售市場正在改善。這在私募股權與不動產資產類別中特別明顯，這些領域過去幾年的交易量較為清淡，但目前正開始回升。

Most notably, we sold a 49% interest in ICD Brookfield Place, a premier property office property in Dubai for approximately $1.5 billion, marking one of the largest real estate transactions globally since the pandemic at the highest valuation for an office property ever in the region.

最值得一提的是，我們以約 15 億美元出售杜拜頂級辦公物業 ICD Brookfield Place 之 49% 權益，這是疫情以來全球規模最大的房地產交易之一，並以該地區史上最高的辦公物業估值完成。

Over the past year, we also sold or under contract to sell approximately $35 billion of assets across all of our businesses, generating very good returns on capital. And as we look forward to the rest of '24, we see more monetizations to come.

在過去一年中，我們也已出售或簽約出售橫跨各項業務約 350 億美元的資產，為資本帶來非常良好的報酬。展望 2024 年其餘時間，我們預期還會有更多資產變現。

We're also continuing to take advantage of currently strong debt markets to refinance debt at attractive rates. Thanks to the high-quality nature of our businesses and continued progress on operational improvement plans across many of our portfolio companies within our private equity business, we have been able to successfully refinance over $18 billion of borrowings, resulting in actually a decrease in the overall cost of debt compared to the debt that we replaced.

我們也持續利用目前強勁的債務市場，以具吸引力的利率進行再融資。憑藉我們業務的高品質特性，以及在私募股權業務中多家投資組合公司之營運改善計畫持續取得進展，我們已成功為超過 180 億美元的借款完成再融資，且相較於被替換的舊債，整體債務成本實際上有所下降。

At the same time, there are so many instances where the balance sheets of owners of high-quality businesses and assets cannot withstand the increase of the rates over the past 2 years or where business fundamentals have not lived up to the expectations of the capital structure that was put in place at the time when they financed the business. This should, therefore, also be an excellent period to invest for both our equity and credit strategies. To support this, we entered this period with over $100 billion of dry powder ready to invest and a strong balance sheet to support strategic initiatives.

同時，在許多情況下，高品質企業與資產的所有者之資產負債表無法承受過去兩年利率上升的衝擊，或其營運基本面未能達到當初融資時所設定資本結構的預期。因此，這也應是我們在股權與信貸策略上進行投資的極佳時期。為支持此一布局，我們在進入此期間時已備有超過 1,000 億美元的可投資資金（dry powder），並擁有強健的資產負債表以支援策略性措施。

To that end, we announced 3 strategic transactions so far this year. First, we recently added management responsibility for the $50 billion of AEL capital that came to our parent. Second, we agreed to acquire the majority stake in Castlelake, a best-in-class manager focused on aviation and specialty finance. Third, we expanded our partnership with Oaktree by acquiring an additional close to 5% interest in the company. Connor will speak to each of these with a little more depth, but we're excited about the opportunity to serve our clients in more ways, bolster the capabilities of our credit group and further drive fee-related earnings.

基於此，我們今年迄今已宣布 3 項策略性交易。第一，我們近期新增對歸屬於母公司之 AEL 500 億美元資本的管理責任。第二，我們同意收購 Castlelake 的多數股權；該公司是專注於航空與特殊融資的同業最佳（best-in-class）管理機構。第三，我們透過收購該公司額外接近 5% 的持股，擴大了與 Oaktree 的合作夥伴關係。Connor 將更深入說明這些交易，但我們對於能以更多方式服務客戶、強化我們信貸團隊的能力，並進一步推動與費用相關的盈餘（fee-related earnings）感到振奮。

It's been a very active start to the year, and we look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.

今年開局非常活躍，我們也期待持續向各位更新我們的進展。

Before turning over the call, I wanted to note that Bahir who has been with Brookfield for 20 years, will be stepping away at the end of this month. Bahir has made a very significant contribution to many of our businesses over the years, helping drive our infrastructure business, insurance and most recently, assisted with the launch of our asset management business into the capital markets. Thank you, Bahir.

在交棒之前，我想提到在布魯克菲爾德服務 20 年的 Bahir，將於本月底離任。多年來 Bahir 對我們多項業務做出非常重大的貢獻，協助推動我們的基礎建設業務、保險業務，並在最近協助我們將資產管理業務推向資本市場。謝謝你，Bahir。

And as all of you know, the Board appointed Hadley Peer Marshall, a 10-year Brookfield veteran who has been driven significant success in our infrastructure group as our new Chief Financial Officer. We are all looking forward to introducing you to Hadley when we have the chance.

各位也都知道，董事會已任命 Hadley Peer Marshall 擔任我們的新任財務長。Hadley 在布魯克菲爾德任職 10 年，並在我們的基礎建設團隊推動了顯著的成功。我們都期待在適當時機向各位正式介紹 Hadley。

With that, I will turn the call over to Connor. Thank you for being here.

接下來，我把電話交給 Connor。感謝各位的參與。

Thank you, Bruce. As Bruce mentioned, we've had a very active start to the year, both in terms of fundraising and executing on several strategic transactions and we expect to build on this momentum as we progress through the year. However, my comments today will be focused on how we are positioning ourselves for long-term growth.

謝謝你，Bruce。正如 Bruce 所提到的，今年一開始我們在募資以及執行多項策略性交易方面都非常活躍，我們也預期在接下來的年度進程中延續這股動能。不過，我今天的重點將放在我們如何為長期成長進行布局。

With 3 flagships expecting final closes this year, a record number of complementary funds, more than 50 strategies, either in or just now coming to market and the additional asset origination capabilities of the Brookfield reinsurance platform from AEL, we expect fundraising will continue to scale throughout 2024. At the core of our fundraising success, is our long-standing track record of delivering attractive returns to our clients, reinforced by the deep relationship and partnership we have built over the last 2 decades. However, our ability to raise significant levels of capital consistently each year and across different economic environments is due to several important characteristics of our business that we would like to -- and we would like to highlight 4 of them with you here today.

今年預期將有 3 檔旗艦基金完成最終募集（final close），同時互補型基金數量創新高，且有超過 50 項策略正在市場上募集中或正準備推出；再加上來自 AEL 的布魯克菲爾德再保險平台所帶來的額外資產來源能力，我們預期募資規模將在 2024 年持續擴大。我們募資成功的核心，在於長期以來為客戶創造具吸引力報酬的實績，並由我們在過去 20 年建立的深厚關係與夥伴合作所強化。然而，我們能夠在不同經濟環境下、每年持續且穩定地募集大量資金，則歸因於我們業務的幾項重要特質；我們想在此向各位重點分享其中 4 項。

The first is that we have a leadership position in infrastructure, renewable power, transition and credit. All of which are in high demand by institutional investors today. This demand is in large part because these asset classes sit at the center of 3 mega trends reshaping the global economy, decarbonization, deglobalization and digitalization. These sectors will require over $200 trillion of capital over the next 30 years, creating significant growth opportunities as we create products and solutions to address these market needs.

第一項是：我們在基礎建設、再生能源、轉型與信貸領域具備領導地位，而這些領域目前都受到機構投資人高度需求。此一需求在很大程度上是因為這些資產類別位於三大正在重塑全球經濟的巨型趨勢核心：去碳化、去全球化與數位化。未來 30 年，這些產業將需要超過 200 兆美元的資本，當我們打造產品與解決方案以回應市場需求時，將創造顯著的成長機會。

Second, we have deliberately focused on expanding our ability to raise capital across multiple channels with every global investor base. While we continue to see ample opportunity to raise capital from institutional investors, we have expanded our capabilities with our private wealth platform and our wealth solutions business. While today, they represent a modest portion of our overall fee-bearing capital, we expect both to be new engines for this next phase of growth.

第二，我們刻意聚焦於擴大我們透過多元管道、面向全球各類投資人募集資本的能力。雖然我們仍看到自機構投資人募集資本的充足機會，但我們已透過私人財富平台與財富解決方案業務擴充了自身能力。儘管目前它們僅占我們整體計收費資本的一小部分，我們預期兩者都將成為下一階段成長的新引擎。

Starting with our wealth solutions, last week, Brookfield Reinsurance successfully closed its acquisition of AEL. This transaction significantly enhances its wealth platform and is expected to accelerate its future growth. We now manage nearly 900 -- sorry, we now manage nearly $90 billion of insurance fee-bearing capital on behalf of Brookfield Reinsurance, including approximately $50 billion of assets that came with the AEL acquisition. These new assets will be subject to an investment management agreement and will provide us with an incremental $125 million of fee revenues each year.

先從我們的財富解決方案談起。上週，Brookfield Reinsurance 已成功完成對 AEL 的收購交割。此交易大幅強化其財富平台，並預期將加速其未來成長。我們目前代表 Brookfield Reinsurance 管理近 900——抱歉，我們目前管理近 900 億美元的保險計收費資本，其中約 500 億美元的資產來自 AEL 收購案。這些新增資產將納入投資管理協議之下，並將每年為我們帶來額外 1.25 億美元的費用收入。

As Brookfield Reinsurance continues to grow its assets, we expect our fees will grow as well. We also expect that Brookfield's wealth platform will soon write $15 billion to $20 billion of annuities annually making it one of the largest annuity platforms within the United States. And because in recent years, we have been investing in our insurance capabilities ahead of such growth, we are well prepared for this new $50 billion mandate of capital and we will be able to deploy it very efficiently.

隨著 Brookfield Reinsurance 持續擴大其資產規模，我們預期我們的費用也將同步成長。我們也預期 Brookfield 的財富平台很快將每年承作 150 億至 200 億美元的年金，使其成為美國規模最大的年金平台之一。且由於近年來我們已在此類成長發生之前就投資於保險能力建置，我們已為這項新增 500 億美元資本委託做好充分準備，並能非常有效率地加以部署。

Our wealth solutions strategy is focused on managing capital to meet the unique needs of insurance companies. We earn fee-related revenues for our services, but we do not take on any of the assets, liabilities or generate spread-related earnings from these investments. However, beyond the growing fee revenue stream, our wealth solutions business also gives us a pocket of capital that is seeking credit opportunities, including investment grade at scale, which will allow us to deploy capital in new and innovative ways.

我們的財富解決方案策略聚焦於管理資本，以滿足保險公司的獨特需求。我們就所提供的服務賺取與費用相關的收入，但我們不承擔任何資產或負債，也不會從這些投資中產生利差相關收益。然而，除了持續成長的費用收入來源之外，我們的財富解決方案業務也為我們帶來一塊尋求信貸機會的資本池（包括具規模的投資級機會），使我們能以新的、創新的方式部署資本。

We will continue to expand and enhance our capabilities to serve our insurance clients and expect that this will attract additional third-party insurance capital to our business.

我們將持續擴大並強化服務保險客戶的能力，並預期這將吸引更多第三方保險資本進入我們的業務。

Now turning to Brookfield Oaktree wealth solutions. Three years ago, we combined our private wealth presence alongside Oaktree's team to create Brookfield Oaktree wealth solutions, a business dedicated to delivering our premier alternative investment products to wealth managers worldwide. Since then, we have methodically scaled the business. Today, the team includes 150 professionals in 10 countries, spanning critical functions vital to fundraising, including supporting intermediaries and advisers.

接著談 Brookfield Oaktree 財富解決方案。三年前，我們將自身的私人財富布局與 Oaktree 團隊結合，成立 Brookfield Oaktree 財富解決方案，這是一項致力於向全球財富管理機構提供我們頂級另類投資產品的業務。自那時起，我們有系統地擴大該業務規模。如今，團隊在 10 個國家擁有 150 名專業人士，涵蓋募資所需的關鍵職能，包括支援中介機構與顧問。

Our global efforts have resulted in relationships with nearly 50 wealth managers, where we have placed over 100 private and public market solutions, including rapidly growing strategies, like our private wealth focused Brookfield Infrastructure Income strategy and Oaktree's strategic credit fund. This success capitalizes on our long-term proven track record as a best-in-class alternative asset manager.

我們的全球努力促成了與近 50 家財富管理機構的合作關係，我們已在其中配置了超過 100 項私募與公開市場解決方案，包括快速成長的策略，例如我們以私人財富為重點的 Brookfield Infrastructure Income 策略，以及 Oaktree 的策略性信貸基金。這項成功建立在我們長期、經驗證的一流另類資產管理人績效紀錄之上。

As we embark on our next stage of growth, we are building from a position of strength as we now offer individual investors a full suite of alternative investments across each of our strategies.

在我們邁向下一階段成長之際，我們是從優勢地位出發，因為我們如今能在各項策略中，向個人投資人提供完整的另類投資產品組合。

As the desire to increase allocation to alternatives for individual investors grows and should follow a similar course that alternatives have had for institutional investors over the last 20 years, we will continue to scale this business. Last year alone, the business raised $7 billion in capital, and we're just getting started. With many tailwinds at our back, we are on pace to raise $12 billion to $15 billion annually through this channel over the medium term.

隨著個人投資人提高另類資產配置的需求成長，且其發展路徑應會類似於過去 20 年機構投資人對另類資產的配置趨勢，我們將持續擴大此業務。僅去年一年，該業務就募集了 70 億美元資本，而我們才剛開始。在多項有利趨勢的推動下，我們正朝著中期每年透過此通路募集 120 億至 150 億美元的目標前進。

Thirdly, our organization is centered around building and operating businesses and assets that form the backbone of the global economy. However, the global economy is always evolving. Of the more than $925 billion of assets that we manage, nearly half are in sectors that didn't exist in scale 20 years ago, from fiber, telecom towers and data centers to wind, solar and digital payments.

第三，我們的組織核心在於建構並營運構成全球經濟骨幹的企業與資產。然而，全球經濟始終在演進。在我們管理的超過 9,250 億美元資產中，近一半位於 20 年前尚未形成規模的產業領域，從光纖、電信塔與資料中心，到風電、太陽能與數位支付。

Last quarter, we spoke about the importance of our focus on product innovation and development to meet the needs of our clients. We are seeing the benefits of that at work as we expect to be raising capital for a record number of complementary strategies this year with funds launching across all of our verticals.

上一季，我們談到聚焦產品創新與開發以滿足客戶需求的重要性。我們正看到這項策略帶來的成效：我們預期今年將為創紀錄數量的互補策略募集資本，且各垂直領域都將有基金推出。

And fourth and lastly, we have made investments in and built partnerships with best-in-class managers that has enabled us to expand our capabilities and serve our clients in more ways. We acquired an additional 5% interest in Oaktree in April, bringing our ownership stake to 73% today. We also announced an agreement to acquire a 51% interest in Castlelake, a leading asset-based private credit manager focused on aviation and other forms of specialty finance with $22 billion of assets under management.

第四也是最後，我們已投資並與一流管理人建立合作夥伴關係，使我們得以擴大能力並以更多方式服務客戶。我們於 4 月額外收購 Oaktree 5% 的權益，使我們目前持股比例提升至 73%。我們也宣布已達成協議，將收購 Castlelake 51% 的權益；Castlelake 是領先的資產擔保型私募信貸管理人，專注於航空及其他專業融資領域，管理資產規模為 220 億美元。

Our investment is projected to generate an additional $40 million of FRE within the next year with the option for us to increase our ownership over time. As we have done with other similar transactions, we plan to work in partnership with the Castlelake team to support the growth of their franchise while looking for opportunities for where our broader franchise can add value for our clients for years to come.

我們的投資預計在未來一年內額外帶來 4,000 萬美元的 FRE，並保留我們隨時間提高持股比例的選擇權。如同我們在其他類似交易中的作法，我們計畫與 Castlelake 團隊合作，支持其平台成長，同時尋找我們更廣泛的平台可為客戶增值的機會，並在未來多年持續創造價值。

Before I turn it over to Bahir to go through our financial and operating results for the quarter, we'll wrap up by saying we have a number of tailwinds behind our business that continue to give us confidence to reach our targets of doubling distributable earnings and reaching over $1 trillion of fee-bearing capital over the next 4 years. Bahir?

在我把時間交給 Bahir 介紹本季的財務與營運結果之前，我們最後總結一下：我們的業務有多項有利趨勢支撐，持續讓我們有信心在未來 4 年達成目標——可分配盈餘倍增，並使計收費資本超過 1 兆美元。Bahir？

Great. Thank you, Connor, and good morning, everybody. As Connor mentioned, I'll focus my remarks on our financial performance over the quarter and hand it off to Hadley who'll take you through the update on fundraising activities. So first on results. fee-related earnings, or FRE in the first quarter were $552 million and $2.2 billion over the last 12 months.

很好。謝謝你，Connor，各位早安。如 Connor 所提到的，我將把重點放在本季的財務表現，接著交給 Hadley，由他帶各位更新募資活動的進展。先談業績：第一季與費用相關的盈餘（fee-related earnings，或 FRE）為 5.52 億美元，過去 12 個月合計為 22 億美元。

Distributable earnings, or DE for the quarter were $547 million and $2.2 billion for the last 12 months. Our results for the period reflected the strong fundraising that both Bruce and Connor touched on earlier in their remarks.

本季可分配盈餘（distributable earnings，或 DE）為 5.47 億美元，過去 12 個月合計為 22 億美元。本期結果反映了 Bruce 與 Connor 先前發言中提到的強勁募資表現。

We generated over 15% growth in our fee-bearing capital within our flagship vehicles, private credit and insurance strategies over the last 12 months. And that drove a 15% growth in our fee revenues from these areas in the LTM or last 12 months' period.

過去 12 個月，我們在旗艦載體、私募信貸與保險策略中的計收費資本成長超過 15%。這也帶動上述領域在 LTM（過去 12 個月）期間的費用收入成長 15%。

These very positive results were, however, offset by lower fees associated with our permanent capital vehicles and transaction fees that were also lower compared to the prior year.

然而，這些非常正面的結果被部分抵銷，原因是與我們永久資本載體相關的費用較低，以及交易費用相較前一年也有所下降。

Our permanent capital vehicle stock prices were lower as that period end compared to the prior periods. Despite releasing very strong earnings results, and recent increases in the dividends paid by both our infrastructure and renewable companies, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and Brookfield Renewable Partners.

我們的永久資本載體股價在該期末相較於先前期間較低。儘管我們公布了非常強勁的盈餘結果，且近期我們的基礎建設與再生能源公司——Brookfield Infrastructure Partners 與 Brookfield Renewable Partners——均提高了股利發放。

We believe each one of our companies are well positioned in any environment. and their trading prices will eventually rebound and be more reflective of the very strong underlying fundamentals and performance for those companies.

我們相信，我們旗下每一家公司在任何環境下都具備良好定位，其交易價格最終將回升，並更能反映這些公司非常強勁的基本面與營運表現。

During the quarter, we raised $20 billion of capital, $10 billion of which we had previously announced on our February earnings call. With that, our fee-bearing capital grew at period end to almost $460 billion, which is up $27 billion or 6% compared to the prior year.

本季我們募集了 200 億美元資本，其中 100 億美元我們已在 2 月的財報電話會議中事先宣布。受此帶動，我們的計收費資本在期末成長至接近 4,600 億美元，較前一年增加 270 億美元或 6%。

Our fee-bearing capital benefited from very strong inflows and capital deployed during the year. This was somewhat offset by capital we returned to clients and market valuations of our permanent capital vehicles. Our fee-bearing capital will increase by $50 billion with the recently closed asset management mandate from American Equity Life.

我們的計收費資本受惠於本年度非常強勁的資金流入與資本部署。但部分被我們返還給客戶的資本，以及永久資本載體的市場估值所抵銷。隨著近期完成自 American Equity Life 的資產管理委託，我們的計收費資本將增加 500 億美元。

Next on margins. For the last 12 months, they've remained stable and between 56% to 57%, but are poised to improve across each of our businesses as revenue growth should outpace costs. As we've previously discussed, expense growth in our businesses is expected to slow as much of the investment in expanding capabilities across our platform has been made over the past year or 2.

接著談利潤率。過去 12 個月利潤率維持穩定，介於 56% 至 57% 之間，但隨著收入成長應可快於成本成長，利潤率有望在我們各項業務中改善。如我們先前所討論，隨著過去 1 至 2 年間擴充平台能力的投資多已完成，我們預期各項業務的費用成長將放緩。

To that end, direct cost growth moderated quite significantly this quarter compared to the prior year comparables. At the same time, revenues will benefit from our significant capital raising initiatives over the past year, the additional $50 billion of AEL capital, which will contribute at least $125 million of annualized base fee revenues and potentially a rebound in the prices of our publicly listed affiliates.

為此，相較於去年同期，本季直接成本成長已相當明顯地趨緩。同時，營收將受惠於我們過去一年大規模的募資舉措、額外 500 億美元的 AEL 資本，該資本將貢獻至少 1.25 億美元的年化基本管理費收入，並且我們公開上市之關聯企業股價也可能出現反彈。

I'll now briefly touch on our dry powder. Today, we sit on over $100 billion of dry powder available for deployment and have been actively putting this capital to work. We deployed an additional $11 billion in the first quarter, with over half of that going into credit products as we continue to see the current environment being very favorable for credit investing.

我現在簡要談一下我們的乾粉資金（dry powder）。目前，我們有超過 1,000 億美元可供部署的乾粉資金，並且一直積極將這些資本投入運用。我們在第一季額外部署了 110 億美元，其中超過一半投入於信貸產品，因為我們持續認為當前環境非常有利於信貸投資。

Our liquidity continues to be very strong with $2.6 billion of cash and equivalents on our balance sheet as at period end. And as a reminder, we operate with 0 debt at the corporate level.

截至期末，我們的流動性仍然非常強勁，資產負債表上持有 26 億美元的現金及約當現金。並提醒各位，我們在公司層級維持 0 負債。

And lastly, before turning the call over to Hadley, I'm pleased to confirm that the Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $0.38 per share for the first quarter of 2024. Payable on June 28 to the shareholders of record as at the close of business on May 31.

最後，在把電話會議交給 Hadley 之前，我很高興確認董事會已宣告 2024 年第一季每股 0.38 美元的股利。將於 6 月 28 日支付給截至 5 月 31 日營業日結束時登記在冊的股東。

And so with that, I'll turn it over to Hadley. I've had the pleasure of working with Hadley since she joined our infrastructure group in 2015, and it's a great honor for me to introduce her as my successor in this role. Hadley is extremely well known in the financial community and brings tremendous experience and financial expertise to the role. As for me, it's been an incredible 20-year career at Brookfield. I've really enjoyed my time as CFO of the company. and prior to that, the CFO of Brookfield Infrastructure Partners.

那麼接下來我把時間交給 Hadley。自她於 2015 年加入我們的基礎建設團隊以來，我就有幸與 Hadley 共事；能夠介紹她作為我在此職務上的接任者，對我而言是莫大的榮幸。Hadley 在金融圈極具知名度，並為此職務帶來豐富的經驗與深厚的財務專業。至於我，在 Brookfield 的 20 年職涯令人難忘。我非常享受擔任公司 CFO 的時光，在此之前也曾擔任 Brookfield Infrastructure Partners 的 CFO。

It's been a great experience, and I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work and interact with many of you on the line. And I sincerely thank you for all your support along the way. I look forward to seeing many of you in the coming months as I continue to transition Hadley into the CFO seat.

這是一段很棒的經歷，我也非常幸運能有機會與線上許多各位合作與互動。我由衷感謝各位一路以來的支持。我期待在接下來幾個月見到各位中的許多人，因為我將持續協助 Hadley 逐步完成 CFO 職務的交接。

And so with that, I'll hand it over to Hadley.

那麼，我把時間交給 Hadley。

Thank you, Bahir. I, too, would like to thank you for your service and support, and I'm thrilled to be taking on this role at such an exciting time of growth for our business. Let me start things off by providing some more details on the capital we raised in the first quarter.

謝謝你，Bahir。我也要感謝你所做的貢獻與支持；能在我們業務處於如此令人振奮的成長時刻接下這個職務，我感到非常振奮。讓我先從第一季募得資本的更多細節談起。

In summary, it was a strong first quarter for capital raising, and we're optimistic about the year ahead since we have 4 flagships in the market. We have the largest number of complementary funds we've ever had in or coming to market, and a rapid scaling insurance solutions business.

總結來說，第一季募資表現強勁；由於我們有 4 檔旗艦基金正在市場上募集，我們對接下來的一年保持樂觀。我們在市場上或即將進入市場的互補型基金數量為歷來最多，同時保險解決方案業務也在快速擴張。

Within our infrastructure business, we raised a little over $3 billion, including around $2 billion of capital for our super core infrastructure strategy as part of a follow-on acquisition of FirstEnergy. Our infrastructure wealth solutions product, Brookfield Infrastructure Income continues to see robust demand, raising an additional $600 million in the first quarter and bringing assets under management to over $2 billion. For our renewable power and transition business, we held a first close for the second vintage of our flagship global transition fund at $10 billion, including $1.2 billion of capital raised in the first quarter.

在我們的基礎建設業務中，我們募得略高於 30 億美元，其中約 20 億美元為我們的超核心（super core）基礎建設策略資本，作為對 FirstEnergy 後續收購的一部分。我們的基礎建設財富解決方案產品 Brookfield Infrastructure Income 持續需求強勁，第一季再募得 6 億美元，使管理資產規模超過 20 億美元。在再生能源與轉型業務方面，我們的旗艦全球轉型基金第二期（second vintage）完成首次關帳（first close）達 100 億美元，其中第一季募得 12 億美元。

On the back of good momentum, we expect to hold a final close later this year. In addition, we launched our catalytic transition fund. This fund was previously announced at COP28 with a $1 billion anchor commitment from our long-term partner, ALTÉRRA. And we anticipate first close to this fund later this year.

在良好動能帶動下，我們預期將於今年稍晚完成最終關帳（final close）。此外，我們也推出了催化型轉型基金（catalytic transition fund）。該基金先前已於 COP28 宣布，並獲得我們長期合作夥伴 ALTÉRRA 提供 10 億美元的基石承諾（anchor commitment）。我們預期將於今年稍晚完成該基金的首次關帳。

Within private equity, we raised $1.5 billion in the quarter and also recently launched several complementary strategies, including a Middle East fund and a strategy for financial infrastructure investing.

在私募股權方面，我們本季募得 15 億美元，並且近期也推出數項互補策略，包括一檔中東基金以及一項金融基礎設施投資策略。

In real estate, we held a first close for the fifth vintage of our flagship opportunistic real estate fund at over $8 billion, and we also anticipate holding a final close later in 2024.

在不動產方面，我們的旗艦機會型不動產基金第五期（fifth vintage）完成首次關帳，規模超過 80 億美元；我們也預期將於 2024 年稍晚完成最終關帳。

Finally, in credit, we continue to see strong fundraising momentum, raising nearly $6 billion within Oaktree funds in the quarter, including $1 billion within our sponsor credit business and nearly $1 billion within the 12th vintage of our opportunistic credit fund. Overall, capital was raised across more than a dozen credit strategies this quarter, and we anticipate launching our seventh real estate debt fund and our fourth infrastructure debt fund later in the year.

最後，在信貸方面，我們持續看到強勁的募資動能，本季在 Oaktree 基金中募得近 60 億美元，其中包括我們贊助商信貸（sponsor credit）業務的 10 億美元，以及我們機會型信貸基金第十二期（12th vintage）中的近 10 億美元。整體而言，本季資本募集涵蓋十多項信貸策略；我們預期將於今年稍晚推出第七檔不動產債務基金以及第四檔基礎建設債務基金。

Within our insurance solutions business, we also raised $2 billion and are expecting this scaling further throughout the year.

在我們的保險解決方案業務中，我們也募得 20 億美元，並預期今年將持續擴大規模。

I want to spend some time covering our credit group, in particular, as this is an area I've focused on personally for many years and more importantly, is one of the parts of our franchise where we see significant growth ahead. One of the benefits of being large, global and diversified is that we are in constant communication with and serve a wide array of clients, including the largest and most sophisticated institutional investors in the world. Some of the biggest insurance companies globally as well as individual and high net worth investors.

我想花一些時間談談我們的信貸團隊，特別是因為這是我多年來親自投入的領域；更重要的是，這也是我們特許經營（franchise）中我們預期未來將有顯著成長的部分之一。身為一家規模龐大、全球化且多元化的機構，其優勢之一在於我們持續與各類客戶保持密切溝通並提供服務，客戶涵蓋全球最大且最成熟的機構投資人、全球一些最大的保險公司，以及個人與高淨值投資人。

Over the past year or so, what our clients have been telling us has been resoundingly clear. They want to meaningfully increase their allocations to credit, specifically private credit. Fortunately, for us, our credit business can serve those clients' needs given its breadth of product offerings and brand as a market leader. To that end, we recently announced the consolidation of all of our credit businesses and strategies under a newly formed credit group, which today totals nearly $300 billion of assets under management, inclusive of the $50 billion AEL mandate.

在過去一年左右，我們從客戶那裡聽到的訊息非常明確：他們希望大幅提高對信貸的配置，尤其是私募信貸（private credit）。對我們而言，幸運的是，我們的信貸業務憑藉其廣泛的產品供給以及作為市場領導者的品牌，能夠滿足客戶需求。為此，我們近期宣布將所有信貸業務與策略整合至新成立的信貸集團之下；目前其管理資產規模接近 3,000 億美元，並包含 500 億美元的 AEL 委託（mandate）。

As of March 31, we've managed $180 billion of fee-bearing capital, which generates annualized fee revenues of $1.2 billion and growing. 45% of this capital is raised to private and opportunistic credit strategies, which account for over 70% of our fee revenues.

截至 3 月 31 日，我們管理的計費資本（fee-bearing capital）為 1,800 億美元，對應年化管理費收入為 12 億美元，且仍在成長。其中 45% 的資本募集於私募與機會型信貸策略，而這些策略貢獻了我們超過 70% 的管理費收入。

We have a broad and growing product offering from various private, opportunistic, structured and liquid credit strategies for initial insurance and individual clients to choose from based on their financial goals. And we believe that the best is yet to come. We continue to broaden our product offerings and enhance our deployment capabilities for our clients. In fact, the 3 strategic transactions we discussed, AEL, Oaktree and Castlelake, each marked an exciting next step in significantly scaling our global credit franchise.

我們提供廣泛且持續成長的產品，涵蓋各類私募、機會型、結構型與流動性信貸策略，供保險與個人客戶依其財務目標選擇。我們相信最精彩的仍在後頭。我們持續擴充產品供給，並強化為客戶部署資本的能力。事實上，我們所提到的 3 項策略性交易——AEL、Oaktree 與 Castlelake——各自都代表著我們在大幅擴張全球信貸特許經營方面邁出的令人振奮的下一步。

We also enhanced our insurance solution disclosure given the growth of the fundraising channel. As a reminder, our insurance solutions channel is focused on large mandates that can deliver to insurance companies their financial objectives. The capital we raised so far has been predominantly from Brookfield Reinsurance, however, we expect to bring in additional third-party insurance companies as well. Our relationship with these clients is strong, and in turn, they are attracted to Brookfield's product offerings and partnership capabilities.

隨著募資通路的成長，我們也強化了保險解決方案的揭露。提醒各位，我們的保險解決方案通路聚焦於大型委託案（mandates），以協助保險公司達成其財務目標。迄今我們所募集的資本主要來自 Brookfield Reinsurance，不過我們也預期將引入更多第三方保險公司。我們與這些客戶的關係穩固，而他們也被 Brookfield 的產品供給與合作夥伴能力所吸引。

With the $50 billion of additional capital we are now managing from the AEL mandate, our total assets managed through our insurance solutions channel is $86 billion. And our expectation is this will grow by $15 billion to $20 billion per year. As of March 31, 51% of capital was invested in high-grade liquid credit strategies, 41% in investment-grade credit and 8% in private funds.

隨著我們目前因 AEL 委託而新增管理的 500 億美元資本，透過保險解決方案通路所管理的總資產達到 860 億美元。我們預期該規模將以每年 150 億至 200 億美元的速度成長。截至 3 月 31 日，51% 的資本投資於高評級的流動性信貸策略，41% 投資於投資級信貸，8% 投資於私募基金。

As a reminder, we earn a 25 basis point fee for the total amount of capital we manage under our long-term investment management agreement and then standard -- additional standard fees for any capital allocated to our private funds.

提醒各位，針對我們在長期投資管理協議下所管理的全部資本，我們收取 25 個基點的費用；此外，對於任何配置至我們私募基金的資本，則另收取標準——額外的標準費用。

I'll just wrap up by saying, as you've heard from the team today, we are embarking on a year filled with significant initiatives and opportunities. I'm eager to contribute to our continued success and look forward to meeting many of you in the quarters to come.

最後我想總結一下，正如各位今天從團隊所聽到的，我們正要展開充滿重大舉措與機會的一年。我很期待能為我們持續的成功貢獻心力，也期待在接下來的幾個季度與各位中的許多人見面。

With that, operator, we can open it up to questions.

那麼，接線員，我們可以開放提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Cherilyn Radbourne with TD Cowen.

（接線員指示）我們的第一個問題來自 TD Cowen 的 Cherilyn Radbourne。

Firstly, we've been getting some questions from clients on the fund performance track records this morning. And those seem to be flat to down slightly quarter-over-quarter. So I was hoping you could give us some color on your marks and whether you see that as a transitory issue with the market backdrop improving?

首先，今天早上我們收到一些客戶對基金績效歷史紀錄的提問。看起來這些數據較上一季持平或略為下滑。所以我想請你們多談談估值標記（marks）的情況，以及在市場環境改善的背景下，你們是否認為這是短暫性的問題？

Good morning, Cherilyn, thanks for the question. This is, in our minds, absolutely, as you say, temporary in nature. We are always very conservative with our marks. And with some of the market volatility in Q1, we obviously reflect that in our financial position. But it will come as a surprise to no one just the increasing strength and momentum in the financial markets. We're seeing the strategic bid come back from corporate. We're seeing banks lending an increasing amount, we're seeing incredible liquidity in the system, and we're seeing the bid-ask between buyers and sellers increasingly shrink.

早安，Cherilyn，謝謝你的問題。就我們的看法而言，確實如你所說，這絕對是暫時性的。我們在估值標記上一向非常保守。第一季市場波動較大，我們當然會在財務狀況中反映出來。但金融市場的強度與動能正在提升，這點不會讓任何人感到意外。我們看到企業端的策略性出價回來了；我們看到銀行放款規模增加；我們看到系統內流動性非常充沛；也看到買賣雙方的價差正在逐步縮小。

So we always position ourselves in a strong liquidity position. So we are never a forced seller during those temporary moments of volatility, but we would expect those marks to very quickly revert to in line or above our targets and similar with our long-term track record.

因此我們一向讓自己維持在強勁的流動性部位。這樣在那些短暫的波動時刻，我們從來不會被迫賣出；而我們也預期這些估值標記會很快回到與我們目標一致，甚至高於目標的水準，並與我們的長期績效紀錄相符。

Great. And then shifting gears, could you give us some background on how the recent Castlelake deal came together and particularly how that deal is structured between BAM and Brookfield Reinsurance?

很好。接著換個話題，你能否說明一下近期 Castlelake 這筆交易是如何促成的，特別是這筆交易在 BAM 與 Brookfield Reinsurance 之間的架構是如何安排的？

Absolutely. We are thrilled with the announcement to being partnered with Castle Lake going forward. We've spent a great deal of time getting to know the company and the management team. We think they will be very complementary to broader Brookfield and our existing credit franchise. And similar to how we have partnered with other affiliate managers in the past, we believe that within the Brookfield ecosystem, we can support and accelerate the growth of that franchise while at the same time, expanding the product offering we can provide to our clients and LP partners.

當然可以。我們非常高興宣布未來將與 Castlelake 成為合作夥伴。我們花了很多時間深入了解這家公司與管理團隊。我們認為他們將能與更廣泛的 Brookfield 以及我們既有的信貸事業平台形成高度互補。也如同我們過去與其他關係企業管理人（affiliate managers）的合作方式一樣，我們相信在 Brookfield 生態系內，我們能支持並加速該平台的成長，同時擴大我們可提供給客戶與 LP 合夥人（有限合夥人）的產品範圍。

To answer your specific question around the breakdown between Brookfield Asset Management, and Brookfield Reinsurance. Brookfield Asset Management will spend about $500 million upon closing of that transaction. That $500 million is broken down into about $350 million to acquire 51% of the FRE and the remaining $150 million will be to support the business in acquiring a small portion of the businesses carry and funding our proportionate share of the manager's GP stakes going forward.

針對你具體問到 Brookfield Asset Management 與 Brookfield Reinsurance 之間的分工：交易完成時，Brookfield Asset Management 將投入約 5 億美元。這 5 億美元中，約 3.5 億美元用於收購 FRE 的 51% 股權；其餘約 1.5 億美元將用於支持業務，包括收購該業務一小部分的 carry（績效分成），以及為未來我們按比例承擔的管理人 GP 權益出資提供資金。

It's important to recognize that the bulk of the $1.5 billion that was announced will come as an investment from Brookfield Reinsurance to support the growth of Castlelake going forward, but the investment from Brookfield Asset Management is about $500 million upfront.

需要強調的是，所宣布的 15 億美元中的大部分，將由 Brookfield Reinsurance 以投資形式提供，用於支持 Castlelake 未來的成長；而 Brookfield Asset Management 的投資則是前期約 5 億美元。

Our next question comes from the line of Alexander Blostein with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛（Goldman Sachs）的 Alexander Blostein。

Congrats, Bahir, to your next endeavor, and welcome Hadley to the call. My question is around fundraising. So you guys raised $20 billion in the quarter, and you suggested a number of times over the course of the call that, that's likely to build as you progress. I know you sort of backed away from being too specific with respect to, I guess, $100 billion you talked in the past and as things could slip, et cetera. But can you just help us frame, I guess, one, what is the kind of quarterly pace you expect to be at? Are your comments implying you expect to be north of 20% kind of on a quarterly run rate basis from here?

恭喜你，Bahir，迎接下一段旅程，也歡迎 Hadley 參與本次電話會議。我的問題關於募資。你們本季募得 200 億美元，而且在電話會議中多次提到，隨著進展這個數字可能會持續增加。我知道你們稍微避免對具體數字太明確，例如過去談到的 1,000 億美元，以及可能會有延後等情況。但你能否幫我們建立一個框架：第一，你們預期每季的募資節奏大概會是什麼？你們的評論是否意味著，從現在起以每季年化的 run-rate 來看，會高於 20%？

And number 2, with respect to the 4 flagships that are currently in the market, can you just give us the mark-to-market on kind of the expected sizing for these flagships and the client reception you're having on the demand side of things?

第二，關於目前正在市場上募資的 4 檔旗艦基金，你能否更新一下這些旗艦基金預期規模的最新情況（mark-to-market），以及在需求端你們從客戶那邊看到的反應如何？

Great. Thanks, Alex. I appreciate the question. The overarching comment we would make on fundraising is our sentiment around confidence in terms of fundraising hasn't changed at all. Obviously, it was a tremendous quarter. In fact, this was the best Q1 fundraising quarter we've ever had. And in terms of the dynamics that we see driving our fundraising activity for the remainder of the year, they all stay very much intact. Three flagships that we expect to close a record number of complementary funds and significantly larger ability to generate inflows from our insurance platform going forward.

很好，謝謝你，Alex。我很感謝這個問題。對於募資，我們想先做一個總體性的說明：我們對募資的信心完全沒有改變。很明顯，這是一個非常出色的季度；事實上，這是我們歷來最好的第一季募資季度。至於我們看到在今年剩餘時間推動募資活動的各項動能，仍然非常完整且持續存在：三檔旗艦基金，我們預期將以創紀錄的規模完成募集；一系列互補型基金的結案數量也會創新高；以及我們保險平台未來顯著更強的資金流入能力。

The one point I would just make on specific figures and timing is given what we've seen to date, yes, things could change, but they could equally change to the upside in terms of them slipping. The momentum is very, very strong.

我想就具體數字與時點補充一點：基於目前我們所看到的進展，沒錯，事情可能會有變化；但同樣也可能往上修，至於是否會延後，兩種方向都有可能。整體動能非常、非常強。

To answer your 2 specific questions, maybe the one piece of guidance we would give on quarterly pace is we do recognize that 2023 in terms of fundraising was quite back-end loaded. We don't see as much of that dynamic this year. We do expect fundraising to be more balanced across the 4 quarters.

回到你兩個具體問題，先談每季節奏的指引：我們確實注意到 2023 年的募資在時間分布上相當偏向下半年。我們今年不太看到同樣的動態。我們預期募資會更平均地分布在四個季度。

Obviously, it will accelerate a little bit towards the back end of the year. But we don't expect such a concentration in Q4 as we saw in 2023. And then just in terms of the flagship within our business, this is where we're seeing incredible momentum. Our confidence in the reception of our transition strategy continues to be immense -- best-in-class. We feel very confident in terms of closing up that fund at or above our targets this year. And particularly in our real estate flagship, this is where we're really seeing the market opening up. And investors are seeing the upside and the rebound in that asset class and looking to get an increasing amount of exposure.

當然，到了年底前可能會稍微加速，但我們不預期會像 2023 年那樣高度集中在第四季。再談到我們業務中的旗艦基金，這正是我們看到驚人動能的地方。我們對轉型（transition）策略的市場接受度依然非常有信心——屬於同業最佳。我們非常有把握今年能以達標甚至超標的規模完成該基金募集。尤其是在我們的不動產旗艦基金方面，我們確實看到市場正在重新打開；投資人看到了該資產類別的上行空間與反彈，並希望提高配置比重。

And then maybe just to finish on credit. It was very well highlighted in our quarterly results that credit is the biggest driver of our fundraising in Q1, and that is indicative of the support we are seeing across our credit franchise, including the flagships, and that's something we expect to see in the coming quarters as well.

最後補充一下信貸。從我們的季度結果可以很清楚看到，信貸是第一季募資的最大驅動力，這也反映出我們整個信貸平台（包含旗艦基金）所獲得的支持；而這也是我們預期在接下來幾個季度仍會持續看到的趨勢。

Great. That's perfect. And then my second question is around the insurance business and appreciate the extra disclosure in the slide deck. But I guess if you look at AEL now that it's closed, how are you thinking about both the magnitude and timing of rotating some of AEL assets to BAM and Oaktree kind of credit strategies that will enable you to earn a higher fee on top of the IMA? And I guess when you kind of think about the platform broadly, now you mentioned $90 billion as a whole. Kind of what is the ultimate sub-advisory capacity do you see for the firm, again, in addition to IMA when it comes to that $90 billion?

很好，這非常清楚。我的第二個問題是關於保險業務，也謝謝你們在簡報中提供更多揭露。不過我想問的是，AEL 現在已完成交割，你們如何看待把 AEL 的部分資產輪動（rotate）到 BAM 與 Oaktree 的信貸策略中，以便在 IMA（投資管理協議）費用之上再賺取更高費用的規模與時點？另外，若從整個平台來看，你們提到總規模約 900 億美元；就這 900 億美元而言，除了 IMA 之外，公司最終可承接的次投顧（sub-advisory）容量大概會是多少？

Sure. And well, obviously, this will evolve over time. We want to be helpful and constructive here. I would say, over the long term, we expect to deploy about 1/3 of that capital into long-term private funds, maybe about another 1/3 into investment-grade credit and maybe about another 1/3 into liquid credit. That's probably a good rule of thumb based on what we're seeing today. And then in terms of pace and ability to make those allocations, there's 2 things we would highlight here. It does take a little bit of time, but it's not that much. And we've spoken over the last several quarters about investments we've been making in the business.

好的。很明顯這會隨時間推進而演變。我們希望在這裡提供有幫助且具建設性的說明。我會說，長期來看，我們預期大約會把其中 1/3 的資金配置到長期私募基金；大約另外 1/3 配置到投資級信貸；再大約 1/3 配置到流動性信貸。以我們目前看到的情況，這大概是一個不錯的經驗法則。至於配置的節奏與執行能力，我們想強調兩點：確實需要一些時間，但不會太久；而且我們在過去幾個季度也談到過我們在這項業務上所做的投資。

One of the key areas of investment has been into the insurance franchise, such that we are very well positioned to deploy this capital starting last week when AEL closed. And it's great that those investments and costs that weren't previously being offset by revenue now have fees to be paired against. So as a general rule, I would say it will probably take somewhere in the 2- to 3-year time frame in order to frame out those allocations.

投資的一個關鍵領域是在保險特許經營權上，因此我們已處於非常有利的位置，可以自上週 AEL 完成交割時起就開始部署這些資本。而且很棒的是，那些先前未被收入抵銷的投資與成本，現在有費用收入可以相互配對抵扣。因此，作為一般原則，我會說大概需要 2 到 3 年的時間範圍，才能把這些配置的輪廓框定出來。

Our next question comes from the line of Geoffrey Kwan with RBC Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Geoffrey Kwan。

I also wanted to just talk on credit. I know Hadley talked about it a little bit, just -- but given the growth in the credit platform and a more diverse credit product offering. Can you talk maybe a bit about the competitive environment around putting that capital to work and how you see your competitive advantage in deploying that capital within credit?

我也想談一下信貸。我知道 Hadley 稍微提到了一點——但鑑於信貸平台的成長以及更為多元的信貸產品供給。你能否談談在把這些資本投入運用時的競爭環境，以及你如何看待你們在信貸領域部署這些資本的競爭優勢？

Thanks, Geoff. I can take that answer. So if you -- I guess the short answer is it's very strong. If you think about 2023 and especially the first half, there was a lot of market disruption, which was the upside to our credit business. Today, there is more liquidity in the market, but we continue to find attractive opportunities. If you take a step back, we have a long record and have proven that we can deploy through various market cycles, earning attractive returns for our credit businesses. And we can do this for a few reasons. One, we have a strong asset knowledge across all the sectors we invest in. We can provide more than just capital, making us a partner of choice, and we can provide all parts of the capital structure from debt to equity and in between, leading to more proprietary deal flow. And finally, I would say we can provide certainty of capital with quick execution on large ticket sizes, limiting the competition.

謝謝你，Geoff。我可以回答這個問題。所以如果你——我想簡短的答案是：非常強。如果你回想 2023 年，尤其是上半年，市場出現了很多動盪，而這正是我們信貸業務的利多。今天市場的流動性更充裕，但我們仍持續找到具吸引力的機會。退一步看，我們有很長的紀錄，並已證明我們能在不同市場週期中部署資本，為我們的信貸業務賺取具吸引力的回報。而我們之所以能做到，原因有幾點。第一，我們在所投資的各個產業領域都具備深厚的資產知識。第二，我們能提供的不僅是資本，使我們成為首選合作夥伴；我們也能提供從債務到股權以及其間各層級的資本結構，帶來更多具專屬性的交易來源。最後，我會說我們能以快速執行在大額票面上提供資本確定性，從而降低競爭。

It's also important to note that there continues to be areas of scarcity of capital in today's environment. Banks have pulled back -- regional banks are not as active, which has been very helpful for our Castlelake business and their asset-based sectors, the real estate and infrastructure markets in particular. And then when you add on maturity walls and unsustainable capital structures, that's an advantageous point for Oaktree and the growth of their business.

同時也很重要的一點是，在當前環境下仍存在資本稀缺的領域。銀行已經收縮——區域性銀行不那麼活躍，這對我們的 Castlelake 業務及其以資產為基礎的領域（特別是房地產與基礎設施市場）非常有利。再加上到期高峰（maturity walls）以及不可持續的資本結構，這對 Oaktree 以及其業務成長而言是有利的切入點。

So in essence, it's a good time to have dry powder for us.

所以本質上，對我們來說，現在是持有充裕可投資資金（dry powder）的好時機。

Okay. That's helpful. And my second question was back on Investor Day, the 5-year FBC target implied, I think it was roughly about an 18% CAGR. And I recall also assumed no acquisitions, so maybe something like the AEL. But essentially, when you look at Q1, it was up 6% year-over-year. Obviously, it was hit in part by the decline in share price of the affiliates. Fund raising should be a tailwind. But if monetization markets improve, that would also temper some of that FBC growth. So my question is, looking at your crystal ball, when you take a look at 2024, and if we exclude the $50 billion from AEL, do you see FBC growth this year being, say, above that 18% in line or perhaps a bit below that?

好的。這很有幫助。我的第二個問題回到投資者日，5 年期的 FBC 目標隱含——我想大約是 18% 的年複合成長率（CAGR）。我也記得當時假設不進行收購，所以可能不包含像 AEL 這樣的交易。但基本上，當你看第一季時，年增 6%。顯然，其中一部分受到關聯公司股價下跌的影響。募資應該會是順風。但如果變現市場改善，也會在某種程度上抑制 FBC 的成長。因此我的問題是，從你們的水晶球來看，當你們看 2024 年，且如果我們排除 AEL 的 500 億美元，你們是否認為今年的 FBC 成長會例如高於 18%、大致符合，或可能略低於？

Thanks, Geoff. Maybe the way we would frame it is, obviously, that 18% CAGR may fluctuate a little bit year-to-year. But there's nothing about this year that is going to be out of line with that broader trend. The way that we would really characterize this quarter across, let's say, all the key drivers of the business, whether it be deployment, whether it be fundraising, whether it be monetizations is there are -- there is tremendous momentum. And a number of the growth initiatives that we've locked in, in Q1 are going to drive significant amounts of growth in the latter part of this year.

謝謝你，Geoff。也許我們的表述方式是，顯然 18% 的 CAGR 可能會在年度之間有些波動。但今年沒有任何事情會偏離那個更廣泛的趨勢。我們會用來描述本季在所有關鍵業務驅動因素上的表現——不論是部署、募資或變現——就是：動能非常強勁。我們在第一季已鎖定的多項成長舉措，將在今年下半年帶來顯著的成長。

Our expanding credit franchise is going to allow us to raise more organic capital our expanding wealth solutions franchise is going to allow us to bring more inflows into that business. So one year to another might be slightly above or below that long-term trend, but there's certainly nothing about what we're seeing in the market that disrupts our perspective of that very high teens type CAGR going forward.

我們擴張中的信貸特許經營權將使我們能募集更多有機資本；我們擴張中的財富解決方案特許經營權將使我們能為該業務帶來更多資金流入。因此，某一年可能略高或略低於長期趨勢，但就我們在市場上看到的情況而言，沒有任何因素會打亂我們對未來維持「高十幾％」CAGR 的看法。

And Geoff, it's Bahir. And I'll just add on to that from what Connor said. As I noted in my remarks, if you just looked at our private fund strategies, the activity that's going on in credit and insurance year-over-year. Our fee-bearing capital was actually up 15%. So there was a bit of noise that you correctly highlighted in your question for sure. But definitely, as Connor said, there's nothing sort of strange here in what happened in the first quarter with respect to sort of the fundamentals of the business and most importantly, our outlook with respect to growth in the future.

Geoff，我是 Bahir。我再補充 Connor 所說的。如我在發言中提到的，如果你只看我們的私募基金策略，信貸與保險在年對年方面的活動，我們的計費資本（fee-bearing capital）其實成長了 15%。所以確實存在一些你在問題中正確指出的雜訊。但正如 Connor 所說，第一季發生的情況在業務基本面上沒有什麼異常，更重要的是，對於未來成長的展望也沒有改變。

Our next question comes from the line of Brian Bedell with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自 Deutsche Bank 的 Brian Bedell。

Maybe just one on the -- I think you referenced that you were able to refinance some portfolio company debt at attractive spreads. Maybe if I can tie that in with also the deployment in the credit business and what's increasingly on sustainable capital structures across many businesses. Can you talk about how are you reviewing that refinancing wall both from your portfolio company perspective and also the opportunity within credit to deploy that capital and whether that's sort of a rising potential on a sequential basis as we move throughout the year and deploying that capital?

也許問一個關於——我想你提到你們能以具吸引力的利差為部分投資組合公司債務再融資。也許我可以把這與信貸業務的部署，以及越來越多企業存在不可持續的資本結構連結起來。你能談談你們如何從投資組合公司的角度檢視這個再融資到期壓力（refinancing wall），以及在信貸領域部署資本的機會？另外，隨著我們在一年中推進並部署資本，這是否在季度序列上呈現上升的潛力？

Brian, thanks for the question. Perhaps let us come at this a slightly different way and just tell you what we're seeing in the market. We often get asked the question, do you expect to be a bigger buyer or a bigger seller in the current market environment? And what is unique about the market right now, and this won't last forever, but it's incredibly constructive is we expect to absolutely be both in scale given what we're seeing in terms of the economic cycle right now.

Brian，謝謝你的問題。也許我們用稍微不同的方式來回答，先告訴你我們在市場上看到什麼。我們經常被問到：在目前的市場環境中，你們預期會是更大的買方還是更大的賣方？而當下市場的獨特之處——這不會永遠持續——但它非常具有建設性：基於我們對當前經濟週期的觀察，我們預期在規模上絕對會同時扮演兩者。

At the same time, due to things you mentioned, unsustainable capital structures, some ambitious growth that didn't play out in certain businesses. we are seeing incredible opportunities to deploy capital at scale, while at the same time, the big trends that we've been investing in digitalization, decarbonization, deglobalization, those continue to only accelerate. So it is an incredibly constructive market us to continue to put capital to work.

同時，由於你提到的因素——不可持續的資本結構、某些企業中未能實現的激進成長——我們看到以規模部署資本的絕佳機會；而且我們一直投資的幾個大趨勢：數位化、去碳化、去全球化，仍在持續加速。因此，這是一個極具建設性的市場環境，讓我們能持續把資本投入運用。

Well, at the exact same time, we have seen an extremely robust bid come back to the market for high-quality derisked assets. And we're starting to see that, as Bruce mentioned, in our private equity and real estate businesses. But quite frankly, we're seeing it across the entire franchise. And our derisked and high-quality assets within renewable power within infrastructure, we expect to be very active on both the investment and the monetization side this year.

然而在完全同一時間，我們也看到市場對高品質、已去風險資產的出價（bid）極為強勁地回歸。正如 Bruce 提到的，我們開始在私募股權與房地產業務中看到這一點。但坦白說，我們在整個平台都看到了。我們在再生能源發電與基礎設施中的已去風險且高品質資產方面，預期今年在投資端與變現端都會非常活躍。

So when it comes to your question specifically about credit, we are seeing that bifurcation as well. Within our high-quality businesses that we have effectuated the business plan, they are now stable. They are growing. Their margins are expanding. We're seeing the opportunity, as Bruce mentioned, to refinance those businesses at really attractive rates and put them in a great position to be monetized in the next 1 or 2 or 3 years.

所以就你特別關於信貸的問題而言，我們也看到這種分化。在我們已落實商業計畫的高品質企業中，它們現在已經穩定、正在成長、利潤率也在擴張。我們看到如 Bruce 所提到的機會，能以非常具吸引力的利率為這些企業再融資，讓它們處於很好的位置，在未來 1、2 或 3 年內進行變現。

At the same time, we are looking to capitalize on some of the market dynamics where businesses are over-levered and we can buy great assets that simply have imperfect capital structures, and that's also going to be a big theme for us for the next 2 or 3 quarters.

同時，我們也希望把握一些市場動態：有些企業槓桿過高，而我們可以買到很好的資產，只是其資本結構不夠完善；這也將是我們未來 2 到 3 個季度的一個重要主題。

That's great color. And maybe just one on the FRE margin and expense growth. I think we were looking for low double-digit expense growth this year in '24 and an FRE margin that could expand to that -- around that 58% level. Just was wondering if that's still intact as you scale the businesses sequentially throughout the year?

這些補充資訊很有幫助。再追問一點關於FRE利潤率與費用成長。我想我們先前預期今年（'24年）費用成長為低雙位數，而FRE利潤率可擴張至大約58%的水準。想請問隨著你們在全年逐季擴大各項業務規模，這個目標是否仍然維持不變？

Brian, it's Bahir. Thanks for the question. Look, I'd say compared to the -- let me just talk about results in general. Compared to the prior year. We obviously had a delay closing on the insurance asset management mandate that we got from American Equity Life. So that, in addition to the fact that our permanent capital vehicles, the trading prices on those came off during the quarter, which we see as a temporary issue.

Brian，我是Bahir。謝謝你的提問。你看，我想先就整體結果談一下。相較於去年，我們很明顯在美國股權人壽（American Equity Life）給我們的保險資產管理委任案上，結案有所延後。此外，我們的永久資本工具在本季的交易價格也有所回落，我們認為這是暫時性的問題。

If you just factor those 2 impacts alone. So not saying that the share prices should be higher than last year, but let's just assume that they were flat to last year and had AEL have closed earlier. You would have just seen and without us doing any fundraising this year without us doing much capital deployment, et cetera, those 2 impacts alone would have meant that our FRE per share would have gone up in the low double digits.

如果你只把這兩項影響納入考量。並不是說股價應該比去年更高，但假設股價與去年持平，且AEL能更早完成交割。那麼在我們今年沒有進行募資、也沒有做太多資本部署等等的情況下，僅這兩項影響就會使我們的每股FRE以低雙位數成長。

So then on expenses, they were up by, I believe, 9% compared to the prior year and just the increase -- the magnitude of that increase has come down quite significantly, which we seem to be something that should stay pretty consistent across the year. So as a result of -- when -- another point Connor mentioned on his remarks is the fundraising should be a lot more spread out this year. We see lots of areas to deploy capital.

至於費用方面，我記得相較去年增加了約9%，而且這個增幅的幅度已經顯著下降；我們認為這應該會在全年維持相當一致。再者，Connor在發言中提到的另一點是，今年的募資應該會更分散進行。我們也看到很多可以部署資本的領域。

So just the impacts of all of that should mean that margins should improve quite a bit in future quarters. So still maintain that guidance that we told the market in the previous -- last year.

因此，這些因素的綜合影響應該意味著未來幾季的利潤率會明顯改善。所以我們仍維持先前——也就是去年——對市場所提供的指引。

Our next question comes from the line of Nik Priebe with CIBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自CIBC Capital Markets的Nik Priebe。

Okay. If I caught the comments on Castlelake earlier correctly, you're writing a $350 million check to acquire the 51% GP interest. That, in turn, is expected to generate $40 million of FRE, that implies a transaction multiple of about 9x. That just strike me as a bit low. So is that $40 million figure quoted in the letter on a 100% basis rather than a BAM share? Or was there some other nuance in the way that, that transaction was priced? Just a bit of color on that would be helpful.

好的。如果我先前對Castlelake的評論理解無誤，你們將開出3.5億美元支票以收購51%的GP權益。進而預期可產生4,000萬美元的FRE，這暗示交易倍數約為9倍。這看起來有點偏低。所以信中提到的4,000萬美元是以100%口徑計算，而不是BAM應占的份額嗎？或者這筆交易的定價方式還有其他細節？如果能提供一些補充說明會很有幫助。

Thanks, Nik. And just -- I believe you got that all absolutely right, but I want to clarify. So the $500 million will be invested from BAM, about $350 million of that is to acquire the FRE. BAM will also invest an additional $150 million. The incremental $150 million will be to acquire some of Castlelake's current carry as well as fund our proportionate share of the GP stakes within the Castlelake business. Your $350 million for our 51% of the FRE is -- compares to $40 million, which is, again, 51% of the FRE. So your directional multiple is correct.

謝謝你，Nik。你——我認為你理解得完全正確，但我想澄清一下。BAM將投資5億美元，其中約3.5億美元用於收購FRE。BAM也會另外再投資1.5億美元。額外的1.5億美元將用於收購Castlelake目前部分的carry（績效分成），以及為我們在Castlelake業務中的GP持股支付按比例應負擔的資金。你提到的3.5億美元對應我們51%的FRE——相較於4,000萬美元（同樣是FRE的51%）。所以你推算的倍數方向是正確的。

The one thing I would highlight is $40 million is what we expect to see over the next 12 months so it is very much a forward-looking multiple as opposed to an LTM multiple. And that's probably a little bit of a nuance in terms of why it looks a bit low to you.

我想強調的一點是，4,000萬美元是我們預期未來12個月可看到的數字，因此這非常是以前瞻口徑的倍數來看，而不是以過去12個月（LTM）的倍數。這可能就是為什麼它看起來對你而言有點偏低的一個細微差異。

Okay. That's very helpful. And then are you also able to see what it costs to acquire the incremental 5% interest in Oaktree? And maybe what that represented as a multiple of FRE?

好的。這非常有幫助。那你們是否也能說明，收購Oaktree額外5%權益的成本是多少？以及那相當於FRE的多少倍數？

Yes, sure. So our investment to acquire -- or BAM's investment in that incremental stake of Oaktree was about $275 million. It's important to recognize that we have a formulaic calculation with Oaktree that was put in place at the time of our partnership 5 years ago and very similar to what you saw with us when we spun out the asset manager -- Brookfield Asset Management buys the FRE from Oaktree. And [BN] buys the historic carry and some of the balance sheet positions from Oaktree. So -- our multiple on the $275 million that was invested in the FRE of Oaktree is based on the formula and the multiple in that formula is 13.5x.

可以，當然。我們為收購——或BAM為收購——Oaktree那一筆額外持股所做的投資約為2.75億美元。重要的是要理解，我們與Oaktree之間有一套公式化的計算方式，這是在5年前建立合作關係時就訂定的；非常類似你們看到我們在分拆資產管理公司時的安排——Brookfield Asset Management向Oaktree購買FRE，而[BN]向Oaktree購買歷史carry以及部分資產負債表部位。因此——我們對投入Oaktree之FRE的這2.75億美元所對應的倍數，是依照該公式計算，而該公式中的倍數為13.5倍。

Our next question comes from the line of Ken Worthington with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自JPMorgan的Ken Worthington。

The U.S. Department of Labor recently finalized best interest rules and I think those rules hit the National Register this past April. Do you have any sense of what portion of AEL's business might be impacted by the new rules? And do you see them as sort of a risk or opportunity to the $15 billion to $20 billion of annual sales that you're sort of projecting in insurance?

美國勞工部最近已最終敲定「最佳利益」規則，我想這些規則在今年4月已刊登於《聯邦公報》（National Register）。你們是否了解AEL的業務中有多少比例可能會受到新規則影響？你們認為這對你們在保險業務中所預估的每年150億至200億美元銷售額，是風險還是機會？

So maybe I'll just start and Bahir or others if you want to weigh in. I think our enthusiasm and growth about the potential sales of -- within our insurance platform are really driven by 2 things. First and foremost, we think we have a best-in-class platform that has only been enhanced by the acquisition of AEL and therefore, they should grow along with the broader market, if not increase some modest market share increases going forward.

我先簡單回應，Bahir或其他人也可以補充。我認為我們對保險平台內潛在銷售成長的熱忱，主要來自兩點。第一也是最重要的，我們認為我們擁有同業最佳的平台，而AEL的收購更進一步強化了這個平台；因此，他們應能隨著整體市場成長，甚至在未來取得一些溫和的市占提升。

And then the second thing to highlight is just the demographic support that we are seeing for the annuities business that AEL and our broader wealth solutions provides. And the fact that we always really focus on is -- maybe just a fun fact for everyone on the call, this year will be the highest year ever in the United States for people turning 65. That record will be broken every year for the next 7 years, and the total number of people above 65 is going to double between now and 2040.

第二點要強調的是，我們看到AEL以及我們更廣泛的財富解決方案所提供的年金業務，正受到人口結構的強力支撐。我們一直很關注的一個事實是——也許給各位一個有趣的小資訊——今年將是美國史上滿65歲人口最多的一年。這個紀錄在未來7年每年都會被打破，而65歲以上人口總數將在現在到2040年間翻倍。

Those are the meaningful dynamics that drive the growth in our insurance business going forward. And that's why we have so much confidence in terms of some of the changes that have been made we really don't see them disrupting that trend, but perhaps Bahir, I'll let you provide a comment.

這些才是推動我們保險業務未來成長的關鍵動態。也因此，我們對於近期所做的一些變動很有信心；我們不認為它們會破壞這個趨勢。不過Bahir，我把時間交給你補充評論。

Thanks, Connor. Look, I agree with all of that. I would just say that larger-scale companies such as ourselves, will be just better equipped to handle these new regulations.

謝謝你，Connor。我同意上述所有觀點。我只想補充，像我們這樣具備更大規模的公司，將更有能力因應這些新法規。

Thank you. I would now like to hand the conference back over to Jason Fooks for closing remarks.

謝謝。現在我想把電話會議交回給Jason Fooks作結語。

Okay. Great. Thanks. If anyone should have any additional questions on today's announcement, please feel free to contact me directly. Otherwise, thank you all for joining us.

好的。非常好，謝謝。如果各位對今天的公告還有任何其他問題，歡迎直接與我聯繫。否則，感謝各位參與。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與，現在可以掛線。