The S&P 500 (^GSPC +0.81%) is up around 13% over the past year. The shares of Brookfield Asset Management (BAM +1.81%) have risen over 40%. Investors clearly see opportunity in the Canadian asset manager's future. But have they priced in all the good news? Probably not, given the company's huge growth goals. Here's why Brookfield Asset Management could still be worth buying while it hovers around $60 a share.
What does Brookfield Asset Management do?
Brookfield Asset Management is an asset manager, taking money from others and investing it on their behalf. The company also manages its own money. The big story to watch is what Brookfield Asset Management calls fee-bearing capital, which is the money it handles for others. It charges management fees for doing this, and, thus, the amount of fee-bearing capital it has will have the biggest effect on the business' revenues and earnings.
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Although Brookfield Asset Management's history is rooted in infrastructure, with a global focus, today it handles money across five different investment categories. Renewable power, infrastructure, and real estate all stick closely to the company's historical focus. But it has also reached out into private equity and credit, expanding its reach and growth opportunities. These businesses are all being positioned to take advantage of what management believes are key global themes: Digitization, decarbonization, and deglobalization.
Brookfield Asset Management operates in over 30 countries around the world. Thus, it has a wide reach as it looks for investment opportunities for itself and for its customers. Overall, Brookfield Asset Management has roughly $1 trillion in assets under management. Of that sum, roughly $550 billion is fee-bearing capital.
Where to from here for Brookfield Asset Management?
Brookfield Asset Management has been talking up its growth opportunity for a little while now. Given the price gain over the past year, it looks like investors are starting to listen. A big example of the growth opportunity came when the company raised its dividend per share 15% at the start of 2025. That is a very big dividend increase, but it's just the foundation of the story.
Management has laid out its growth goal through the end of the decade. The plan is to increase the fee-bearing capital it handles in every one of its segments, with the total expected to double to around $1.1 trillion. That, in turn, will increase the company's revenues and earnings. The expectation is that fee-bearing earnings will rise 17% a year, on average, between 2024 and 2029. That, in turn, will allow the company to continue increasing the dividend by 15% each year.
NYSE: BAM
Key Data Points
Basically, the dividend will roughly double in about five years' time. If that's the case, to just maintain the current 3% dividend yield would require the share price to double, too. This still looks like an interesting growth and income stock even after the rapid price increase this year. Consider that peer Blackstone (BX 0.30%) has a 2.6% yield, and BlackRock (BLK 0.25%) has a 1.9% yield. The yield comparison here suggests that Brookfield Asset Management's valuation isn't extreme and, in fact, it might still be discounted relative to its competitors.
Execution will be key, but it looks like there's still room to run
Clearly, the future for Brookfield Asset Management depends a great deal on how well it executes its growth strategy. But that's true of all companies. There's no particular reason to doubt that management can pull it off, given the company's over 100-year-long history in the asset management business. Buying the stock while it's below $60 a share, despite the recent price advance, could be a good opportunity for investors with a dividend focus and for those with a growth focus.
