KKR is actively seizing buying opportunities and increasing its exposure overseas while the US battles trade tensions and economic uncertainty.
The asset manager has deployed more than $30 billion in private markets year-to-date, including over $10 billion invested in the four weeks following the announcement of new tariffs—a move attributed during Thursday’s earnings call to the company’s strategy to “play offense” despite the volatility.
Notably, over half of those investments were deployed outside the US, with several transactions inked in Japan. In Q1, KKR announced deals to take private Japanese software provider Fuji Soft and optical, sensing and control specialist Topcon.
Meanwhile, private equity, infrastructure and growth tech accounted for about 70% of the firm’s total deployment year-to-date, with the remainder allocated across various private credit strategies, including direct lending, asset-based finance and junior debt.
KKR’s current approach reflects the hard-earned wisdom that the 49-year-old firm has picked up through past downturns, including the first Trump presidency and the Covid-19 dislocation, according to co-CEO Scott Nuttall.
“In our experience, times like this yield some very attractive investment opportunities,” he said. “The key is to use our global and diversified business model, with significant locked-up capital and $116 billion of dry powder, to keep investing when others are scared. These periods always end, and we typically look back and wish we had invested more when the world was most uncertain.”
The emphasis on global presence and product diversity also aligns with LPs’ growing tendency to concentrate capital with managers offering strategies across geographies and asset classes, according to Nuttall.
“We’ve already seen a trend for a while of institutional investors, in particular globally, wanting to do more with fewer,” he said.
While KKR acknowledged that several sales may be delayed due to the headwinds, the firm noted that its global presence—particularly in Asia and Europe, which have remained relatively insulated in this cycle—will support realization activity. In Q1, the firm lined up about $800 million in monetization from realized revenue, driven by the sales of Seiyu to Japan’s Trial Holdings, Kito Crosby to the US’s Columbus McKinnon, and four infrastructure assets.
On the portfolio side, the GP saw only around 10% of its PE holdings face direct exposure to tariffs and said it is mitigating tariff impacts where it is exposed. The firm added that its private-credit exposure to tariffs is likely even lower, and that the majority of its infrastructure investments are protected by long-term contracts.
Fundraising for the firm remained strong this year. KKR recently held an initial close on its flagship PE fund, North America Fund XIV, at $14 billion and rolled out new credit funds aimed at private wealth investors, through a partnership with Capital Partners.
The strong fundraising helped grow its total AUM by 15% year-over-year to $209 billion at the end of Q1.
Featured image by Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images
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