Brookfield Asset Management Brings Real Estate Fund to $16B
Brookfield Asset Management has raised $7.1 billion of capital in the first quarter of 2025 for real estate plays, including $5.9 billion for the fifth vintage of its real estate flagship fund, bringing the total strategy size to about $16 billion. That is now set to be the largest real estate strategy BAM ever raised.
BAM has already invested about one-quarter of the funds in apartment buildings and warehouses, the Wall Street Journal reported. It now plans to continue its buying spree, with a particular focus on distressed assets.
Overall, BAM turned in a strong first quarter, when it enjoyed earnings growth of 26 percent year-over-year, net income growth and a healthy influx of capital into its funds. BAM has roughly $1 trillion in assets under management, $272 billion of which is in real estate, representing more than 500 million square feet of commercial space.
“Despite a more challenging fundraising environment for real estate in recent years, we secured commitments from many of the world’s largest and most sophisticated investors,” BAM President Connor Teskey said during the company’s first quarter earnings call in May, calling the current environment “an especially attractive point in the cycle.”
The company deployed $1.8 billion of capital into real estate acquisitions during the first quarter, including into global logistics platforms in North America, Europe and Asia. Also, BAM invested over $100 million of equity capital into a portfolio of U.S. single-family rental properties, including nearly 3,800 homes.
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During the first quarter, BAM realized $1.2 billion from the disposition of assets related to its acquisition of Tritax, a property firm focused on large-scale logistics assets in Europe, and sold PGA National Resort.
“The fundamentals are incredibly strong right now,” Teskey said. “The world needs more great real estate, but there is a very significant lack of new supply in major markets and high-quality assets around the world that it’s creating a very robust supply demand dynamic in those who can bring capital to the market.
“The second thing is there is no doubt some legacy capital structures that are not well suited for the current interest rate environment and that’s going to create very attractive opportunities to buy high quality assets within perfect capital structures at significant discounts to replacement costs,” Teske said.
BAM stock was up about 2 percent when the company announced its results. Compared with a year ago, its stock is up more than 38 percent.
Real estate fundraising slowing down
Real estate fundamentals might be strong, but investors are still hesitant to invest in funds associated with that asset class, according to PERE data. Private real estate fundraising activity declined for the third consecutive year in 2024
Last year total equity raised came in at $131.1 billion, the industry’s slowest fundraising year since 2012, when the total was $119.3 billion, PERE noted. The 2024 total was a 30.8 percent drop from 2023 and 50 percent from a record high of $265.8 billion in 2021.
Of the funds that were raised, residential remained the most-favored sector for the sixth year in a row, PERE reported. Its share of capital raised grew from 38 percent in 2023 to 45 percent last year, or nearly half of all capital raised for sector-specific funds that year.
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