After several years of muted momentum, deal activity is regaining its momentum. Ongoing optimism for recovery is driving resilient fundraising, an active realizations environment, and a wave of capital flowing into private credit, infrastructure, and AI-adjacent strategies.
Below, we examine the top private equity fund managers by AUM that continue to attract capital by leaning into differentiated strategies, operational expertise, and alternative financing models. Drawing on insights from the AlphaSense platform, we explore how these firms are positioning themselves in the current environment, along with analyst and expert perspectives and outlook for the remainder of 2026.
Blackstone
Blackstone’s reported total AUM is $1.35 trillion as of June 2026. Its private equity segment reached $454.2 billion in mid-2026.
Analysts believe Blackstone is at the epicenter of the AI and digital infrastructure cycle, with its data center platform reaching $185 billion and projected to double in the coming years. Blackstone’s private wealth business, with $324 billion in AUM, remains a central growth engine, though it has faced recent scrutiny regarding liquidity in certain vehicles. Analysts also view the newly launched partnerships with Vanguard and Wellington as incremental long-term opportunities to broaden institutional access to private markets.
Brookfield Asset Management
Brookfield Asset Management manages approximately $1.27 trillion in AUM as of June 2026, focusing primarily on infrastructure, renewable energy, real estate, and private equity investments.
Analysts and industry experts in the AlphaSense platform generally view Brookfield Asset Management as a premier, "best-in-class" alternative asset manager that is uniquely positioned to benefit from secular megatrends in AI infrastructure, energy transition, and decarbonization.
Analysts characterize AI infrastructure as Brookfield's fastest-growing theme, highlighted by its $25 billion framework with Bloom Energy and strategic partnerships with OpenAI and NVIDIA to accelerate enterprise AI adoption.
Apollo Global Management
Apollo Global Management manages just over $1.05 trillion in AUM as of June 2026. This is a significant milestone for the firm, which has seen its total AUM grow 25% year-over-year. The firm's scale is increasingly driven by its dominant position in private credit and its integrated insurance platform, Athene.
Analysts are generally positive on Apollo's ability to maintain its growth trajectory, with management targeting $1.6 trillion in total AUM by 2029.
KKR & Co
KKR & Co manages $796 billion in total AUM as of June 2026. This represents a strong 16% increase year-over-year, driven by record fundraising and strategic expansion across its key investment platforms.
Initially known as a leveraged buyout pioneer, KKR has evolved into a diversified global investor focused on operational improvements and long-term growth across sectors like healthcare, infrastructure, and technology. KKR’s fundraising prowess and strategic pivoting in the past year have solidified its position as an industry leader setting new benchmarks for the private equity market.
Analysts and industry experts in the AlphaSense platform are highly optimistic about KKR & Co., particularly following its strong Q2 2026 earnings and the blockbuster announcement in August 2026 of its $17 billion sale of USI Insurance Services to Aon.
Ares Management
Ares Management manages approximately $671.3 billion in AUM as of June 2026. This reflects a solid 17% increase year-over-year, driven by record-breaking fundraising and robust organic expansion across its core alternative investment platforms.
Analysts and industry expert perspectives in AlphaSense view Ares as a top-tier alternative asset manager uniquely positioned to capture the secular shift toward private credit and infrastructure investments. Some analysts note that Ares' extensive incumbent borrower relationships provide a major competitive advantage, while asset-backed finance and digital infrastructure remain key growth drivers.
The Carlyle Group
The Carlyle Group’s most recently reported AUM is $485.5 billion as of June 2026. This represents a 2% increase from the prior quarter and a 4% increase year-over-year, driven by fundraising momentum and strong growth in its credit and investment solutions platforms. The firm has a strong global presence and has historically largely invested in defense, aerospace, government services, healthcare, and consumer sectors.
Overall, both recent company documents and broker research position Carlyle for continued earnings expansion and stronger cash generation in 2026 and beyond, based on the firm’s broadened fundraising capabilities and deepening capital-deployment pipeline.
TPG
TPG’s most recently reported total AUM is $326.8 billion as of June 2026, representing an impressive 25% increase year-over-year that was largely bolstered by the acquisitions of Angelo Gordon in 2023 and Peppertree in 2025. Analysts and experts in the AlphaSense platform are bullish on TPG, noting robust fundraising, peer-leading private equity performance, and a clear path toward fee-related earnings (FRE) margin expansion as growth drivers.
EQT
Sweden’s EQT has risen to become the leading private equity firm in Europe and a major player globally, with AUM around $389 billion, following its strategic combination with Coller Capital.
EQT specializes in sustainability, digitalization, and sector themes like healthcare, technology, and infrastructure. The firm’s deal activity reflects its focus on growth opportunities: recent investments include numerous technology and software companies (including in Japan’s tech sector) as well as sustainability-driven infrastructure projects.
Blue Owl Capital
Blue Owl Capital manages $319 billion in AUM as of June 2026, up 12% year-over-year and a five-fold increase since its public listing five years ago. The firm distinguishes itself through a business model that derives 100% of its earnings from fee-related income, largely anchored by permanent capital vehicles.
Analysts and experts have mixed predictions for Blue Owl’s near-term performance, noting sufficient overall asset growth but also greater risks than some peers due to its high exposure to software, technology, and retail sectors.
CVC Capital Partners
CVC Capital Partners manages approximately $225 billion in AUM as of June 2026.
The Street and industry experts are mixed in their forecasts for CVC’s performance. The acquisition of Marathon Asset Management and the launch of new strategies in infrastructure and insurance are seen as positive steps in shifting the firm’s customer reach toward private wealth and insurance channels.
At the same time, some experts predict that CVC may face challenges in differentiating its brand among mega-managers, particularly as it expands into retail and private wealth, where it may not yet be viewed as an "attractive investment vehicle" for some participants.
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