Apollo Global’s fourth-quarter profit tops estimates as assets surge

(Reuters) – Apollo Global Management’s fourth-quarter profit exceeded expectations on Tuesday, helped by a strong growth in fees and solid performance in its retirement business.

The alternative asset manager took in $33 billion of inflows, driven by its credit-focused strategies and wealth products, while its assets under management jumped 15% to $751 billion.

The company has set targets of managing $1 trillion of assets by 2026 and $1.5 trillion by 2029.

The results could help Apollo advance towards the bold targets it set out at its investor day last October, where it said its plans to more than double in size over the next five years.

Apollo’s adjusted net income rose 15% to $1.36 billion, or $2.22 per share. Analysts were expecting a profit of $1.89 per share, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Fee-related earnings, a measure of the profitability of the company’s asset management segment, rose 21% to a quarterly record of $554 million.

Spread-related earnings, which assesses the performance of its retirement services unit, rose 12% to $841 million.

The company also reported $61 billion in origination volume. It has previously said that origination, which refers to the process of identifying high-quality credit financing opportunities, would be a core growth driver in its next phase.

Apollo reported an unspent capital reserve of $61 billion and deployed $63 billion in investments in the quarter.

The company’s CEO, Marc Rowan, was reportedly a contender for the Treasury secretary role under U.S. President Donald Trump, but the position eventually went to hedge fund manager Scott Bessent. Apollo gave Rowan a five-year employment extension in January.

The company’s shares have risen 62% over the past year.

Last week, Blackstone also reported fourth-quarter profit that surpassed estimates, driven by a pickup in dealmaking.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)