KKR to build on record growth as fee-earning AUM up 92%

KKR reported unprecedented asset growth in 2021 as AUM hit $471 billion and fee earning assets grew to $357 billion, which is up 92% year over year.

AUM overall rose 87% year over year, according to this week’s fourth quarter earnings release that detailed $121 billion in new capital inflows over the course of 2021. By comparison, 2020 only saw $40 billion in inflows.

Driving growth was the acquisition of retirement and life insurance company Global Atlantic that last February added $90 billion alone to KKR’s AUM.

Dry powder, as we reported previously in an Alternatives Watch Research report, continues to be sizable at $112 billion that means uncalled commitments are still up 67% year over year. In the third quarter, dry powder as a percentage of fee-earning AUM was up 32% for the year. By the fourth quarter the percentage rose to 37%.

Investment performance remains positive too with private equity portfolios reporting gains of 46% in 2021. Funds that started investing in 2021 are the KKR North America Fund XIII and the KKR Health Care Strategic Growth Fund II.

Private credit performed well with gains of 17% last year and continues to grow as a percentage of assets, although roughly 60% of KKR’s capital remains firmly within its traditional private equity asset segment.