Over the past 12 months, alternative acquisitions have led asset management M&A activity involving U.S. companies, with $210 billion in acquired assets across eight significant deals. The following are representative of firms diversifying their investment strategies:

• Brookfield Asset Management’s 51% stake in Castlelake in May exemplifies the demand for private credit strategies. According to Preqin, average transaction sizes for private credit deals are expected to grow from $1.6 trillion to $2.3 trillion between 2023 and 2027.
• At the beginning of the year, BlackRock acquired Global Infrastructure Partners. Infrastructure, which is a $1 trillion market, is forecast to be one of the fastest-growing segments of private markets in the years ahead.
• AXA’s April acquisition of W Capital Partners focuses on secondary investments, diversifying AXA’s private markets offering in the growing and evolving private equities secondaries sector.