Brookfield weighing long-duration private core-plus funds

The firm’s chief executive said infrastructure and renewables vehicles, which would serve as “fixed-income alternatives”, could each top $50bn.

Brookfield Asset Management is considering private core-plus funds for long-duration renewable and infrastructure assets, with each sector growing to upwards of $50 billion in asset value.

“Infrastructure renewable power assets are also particularly suited for perpetual capital investors,” Brookfield chief executive Bruce Flatt said during an earnings call. 

Asked whether $50 billion represented an equity figure or an asset value total, Flatt responded: “Let's go with asset values for now.”

He added that the firm’s opportunistic funds would not be negatively impacted, saying offering more options for its clients would enhance their relationships. “They're a different category… one is an equity alternative, one is a fixed-income alternative. These are different buckets within a pension plan,” he said.

Brookfield’s third flagship infrastructure fund, raised under its subsidiary Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, closed last year at $14 billion ¬– the world’s largest infrastructure fund at the time. The Toronto-based firm revealed in May that it plans to begin fundraising for a new infrastructure fund next year.

Along with its three flagship funds, Brookfield launched an infrastructure debt fund in June 2016. As of June, the fund had raised close to $240 million, according to regulatory filings. The firm has a total of $250 billion in assets under management.