If you’re looking for a compelling investment story this summer, Brookfield Asset Management (TSX:BAM) delivered a second-quarter earnings report that deserves your attention. The global alternative asset manager posted double-digit growth across key metrics, demonstrating why many investors consider it a powerhouse in the real-asset investment realm. But does that make Brookfield Asset Management a growth stock to buy today?
Earlier this month, Brookfield Asset Management reported a 19% year-over-year revenue increase, with fee-related earnings (FRE) climbing 16% to US$676 million. FRE is a crucial performance metric showing how much the asset manager earns from managing client assets. Meanwhile, distributable earnings, which reflect the cash available for shareholder dividends, grew 12% year over year. The two performance measures signal a business that’s skillfully scaling its operations even within a mature financial sector.
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What’s driving BAM’s impressive growth?
Brookfield Asset Management has positioned itself at the intersection of three powerful global trends: digitalization, decarbonization, and deglobalization. These structural shifts in global economics are reshaping economies and creating long-term demand for the infrastructure, renewable energy, and real assets that the Brookfield group owns and manages.
Consider digitalization. The explosion of artificial intelligence (AI) since late 2022 isn’t just about software; it requires immense physical infrastructure, including expansive data centres, robust fibre networks, and updated power grids. Brookfield is capitalizing on this trend. During the quarter, the company announced a US$10 billion partnership with the Swedish government to build next-generation digital infrastructure and a separate agreement with Alphabet-owned Google to supply 3,000 megawatts of hydroelectric capacity to power AI operations.
Then there’s the energy transition trend. Brookfield Asset Management’s renewable power and transition segment continues to attract significant capital, with several countries and corporations still committed to net-zero targets. Renewables are increasingly the new lowest-cost source of bulk power in many regions, and BAM’s expertise here is a long-term, entrenched competitive advantage.
Recent tariff battles in 2025 have intensified relocations of productive assets and altered supply chains, and Brookfield Asset Management is a partner of choice in the infrastructure investment process.
BAM stock: An income investor’s resilient friend
For income-focused investors, Brookfield Asset Management stock’s dividend story remains compelling. The company has raised its dividend at a double-digit annual rate over the past two years: an 18.2% raise in 2024 followed by a 15.4% increase in 2025. This brought the annual yield to an attractive 2.9% today. BAM stock’s dividend growth is supported by growing distributable earnings, which increased 12% year over year in the second quarter. In an earnings conference call in August, CEO Bruce Flatt emphasized that the businesses Brookfield owns — critical infrastructure, renewable power, logistics assets, and essential services — generate stable, inflation-linked cash flows.
In uncertain times, BAM’s potential earnings resilience is valuable.
Potential near-term challenges
No investment is without questions. Brookfield Asset Management’s fee-related earnings margins, while still strong at 56%, have declined sequentially since peaking at 59% in late 2024. This bears watching, as it could reflect rising operating costs or competitive pressures as the company continues building its investment platforms. The company also operates in capital-intensive sectors where interest rate changes and economic cycles can significantly impact performance.
Ambitious targets?
Brookfield Asset Management’s growth roadmap appears robust. The company continues to target doubling its fee-bearing capital (the assets that generate those steady management fees) to US$1 trillion over the next five years, up from $563 billion by June 2025. An achievement of this ambitious target would significantly boost earnings and support further dividend growth.
Is Brookfield Asset Management stock a buy?
BAM stock has rewarded investors with a 102% total return during the past three years. But past performance may not predict future investment returns.
So, is Brookfield Asset Management stock a buy right now? If you believe in the long-term themes of digitalization, decarbonization, and deglobalization, and want to hold stock in a growing company with a proven track record, a shareholder-friendly dividend policy, and the scale to execute massive projects, then the answer could be yes.
BAM stock doesn’t seem like a speculative bet in August 2025. It appears as an investment in the scaffolding of the global economy. Its second-quarter earnings results suggest that scaffolding is still expanding, and Brookfield Asset Management is well-positioned to build upon it.
