Connor Teskey is the chief executive officer of Brookfield Asset Management, a leading global alternative asset manager with over $1 trillion in assets under management. A Canadian financier, Teskey succeeded longtime CEO Bruce Flatt in February 2026 as part of a planned leadership transition. He also serves as the head of Brookfield's Global Energy business, overseeing investments in renewable power and transition infrastructure. His role at the helm of one of the world's largest investors makes him a significant figure in global finance and energy markets, with direct implications for Canada's investment landscape.
Career and Rise to CEO
Connor Teskey began his career in corporate debt origination at a Canadian bank before joining Brookfield in 2012. He held a variety of investment and management roles within the firm, developing deep expertise in its core businesses. His rapid ascent was formalized in 2022 when he was appointed President of Brookfield Asset Management, a role in which he assumed responsibility for the day-to-day management of the trillion-dollar asset manager. This appointment was part of a four-year succession process orchestrated by outgoing CEO Bruce Flatt. By February 2026, Teskey was named Chief Executive Officer, with Flatt noting the title change merely matched title to the substance of Teskey's existing responsibilities. At 38 years old, Teskey became one of the youngest CEOs of a major global asset manager, marking a generational shift in leadership for the company. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Western Ontario, which provided the foundation for his career in finance and investment management.
Leadership of Brookfield Asset Management
As CEO, Connor Teskey leads Brookfield Asset Management, the main operating company of the Brookfield ecosystem, which is headquartered in New York. The firm manages over $1 trillion in assets across infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity, real estate, and credit. Teskey is a member of Brookfield's Executive Committee and continues to serve as the head of the firm's Global Energy business, a dual role that underscores the strategic importance of energy transition investments to the broader portfolio. His leadership philosophy emphasizes operational improvement as a key driver of value, particularly in private equity, where he argues financial engineering is no longer a primary source of returns. Under his operational oversight, the company reported fee-bearing capital growing to over $600 billion in 2025, with significant year-over-year growth in fee-related and distributable earnings. The company's strategy under Teskey remains consistent with its long-term focus on real assets and large-scale infrastructure projects around the world.
Investment Strategy and Business Focus
Connor Teskey's investment strategy is characterized by a focus on real assets and operational expertise. He has stated that Brookfield mostly focuses on real assets where it does not take technology risk, such as data centres and energy infrastructure. This approach is particularly relevant to global trends like artificial intelligence, which create massive demand for power and digital infrastructure. In 2025, Brookfield was aiming to raise $10 billion for an AI infrastructure fund, with anchor investors including Nvidia and Kuwait's sovereign wealth fund, and had secured $5 billion toward that target. Teskey believes powerful trends like AI and digitization are driving a broadly constructive investment environment. The firm's strategy involves acquiring businesses at attractive entry points where operational improvements can drive value, as illustrated by its investment in Chemelex, where targeted initiatives delivered over $20 million in EBITDA improvements. Brookfield's approach under Teskey involves several key principles that guide its capital allocation and value creation.
- Minimizing losses is seen as the starting point for effective investing.
- The firm avoids waiting for perfect information to avoid missed opportunities.
- Strategies are designed to manage market risk while maintaining upside potential.
- Value creation is driven by operational improvements, not financial engineering.
- Acquisitions target high-quality businesses at attractive entry points.
- Investments are made in essential infrastructure supporting macro trends like AI.
This disciplined framework is applied across the firm's diverse portfolio, from renewable energy projects to data centre developments. The focus on operational value was demonstrated in the Chemelex acquisition. Under the previous owners, Chemelex was treated as a non core division, which resulted in under investment and limited strategic focus. Brookfield acquired the business at an attractive entry point and built out its leadership team and core functions. Since then, Brookfield has delivered significant earnings improvements through targeted operational initiatives.
Key Financial and Operational Milestones
Several key milestones have marked Connor Teskey's tenure in senior leadership at Brookfield. The company achieved record fundraising in 2025, bringing in $112 billion over the year, including $35 billion in the final quarter alone. Most of that quarterly inflow, $23 billion, went into the company's credit business. New investments totaled $66 billion over one year, helping boost fee-bearing capital to $603 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the company reported fee-related earnings of $867 million, a 28 percent year-over-year increase, and distributable earnings of $767 million, an 18 percent increase. Concurrent with Teskey's appointment as CEO in February 2026, Brookfield announced a 15 percent increase in its quarterly dividend to 50.25 US cents per share. These figures demonstrate the scale and growth of the asset manager under his operational management. The financial performance in the period leading to his CEO appointment was strong across multiple metrics, providing a solid foundation for the leadership transition and signaling investor confidence in the firm's direction under its new CEO.
| Metric | 2025 Full Year or Q4 Result |
|---|---|
| Total Funds Raised | $112 billion |
| Q4 Funds Raised | $35 billion |
| Q4 Credit Business Inflow | $23 billion |
| New Investments (One Year) | $66 billion |
| Fee-Bearing Capital | $603 billion |
| Fee-Related Earnings (Q4) | $867 million |
| Distributable Earnings (Q4) | $767 million |
| Quarterly Dividend (Post-Appointment) | 50.25 US cents/share |
The Leadership Transition from Bruce Flatt
The transition of the CEO role from Bruce Flatt to Connor Teskey was a long-planned process that began four years prior to the 2026 announcement. Flatt, who became CEO in 2002, publicly identified Teskey as his successor as far back as 2024. The formal succession process involved Teskey's promotion to President in 2022, after which he ran virtually all day-to-day operations. Flatt remains deeply involved as the Chair of Brookfield Asset Management's board and as CEO of its parent company, Brookfield Corp., stating he intends to stay fully invested in the business. In a letter to investors, Flatt emphasized that the transition was rooted in Brookfield's culture of collaboration, innovation, and discipline. He credited Teskey with playing a central role in building the investment strategy, scaling the renewable business globally, and developing many of the company's current leaders. The transition timeline highlights the deliberate and structured approach Brookfield took to ensure continuity and maintain strategic momentum without disruption.
- 2022: Connor Teskey is appointed President of Brookfield Asset Management, beginning day-to-day management.
- 2024: Bruce Flatt publicly identifies Teskey as his successor.
- 2025: Teskey runs virtually all operations while Flatt remains CEO in title.
- February 2026: Formal announcement of Teskey as CEO, effective immediately.
- Post-2026: Flatt remains Chair of BAM board and CEO of parent Brookfield Corp.
Perspectives on Market Trends and Risks
In his public commentary, Connor Teskey has outlined specific views on market trends and the evolving investment landscape. He argues that private equity has entered a new era where returns are driven by margin expansion and operational improvements rather than financial engineering or multiple expansion. This shift, he believes, plays to Brookfield's strengths in hands-on asset management. He identifies normalized funding costs, slower monetizations, and buyers discounting forward growth as headwinds for the traditional private equity model. On technology, Teskey has noted that Brookfield's exposure to software companies affected by AI is very minimal, focusing instead on the physical infrastructure that enables AI, such as data centres and power generation. This focus on essential infrastructure is presented as a way to manage market risk while maintaining exposure to powerful, long-term growth trends. Teskey's analysis points to several specific challenges and opportunities shaping the current investment environment, which informs Brookfield's strategic allocation of capital.
- Headwinds include normalized funding costs and slower monetization timelines.
- Buyers are increasingly discounting forward growth in their valuations.
- AI creates bottlenecks in infrastructure and energy that require massive investment.
- Data centres and energy infrastructure represent real assets without direct technology risk.
- Half of the value in Brookfield's private equity investments comes from operational improvements.
- The investment environment is broadly constructive due to trends like AI and digitization.
By focusing on these structural trends and Brookfield's core competencies, Connor Teskey aims to position the firm for sustained growth. He has stated that performance will no longer rely on rolling the dice on the broader market, but on rolling up sleeves and improving operational efficiency. Teskey describes this approach as core to Brookfield's DNA. Half of the value generated in Brookfield's private equity investments has come from operational improvements.
Role in Brookfield's Renewable Energy and Transition Business
Beyond his role as CEO of the overall asset manager, Connor Teskey maintains direct leadership of Brookfield's Global Energy business, also referred to as the Renewable Power & Transition group. This group is responsible for investments and operations across a range of energy infrastructure investments, with a significant focus on renewable power. This dual role highlights the strategic importance of the energy transition to Brookfield's future growth and portfolio construction. Under Teskey's leadership, this business has been scaled globally, becoming a major player in wind, solar, and other transition assets. The success of this segment is a key part of his track record within the firm and a reason cited for his promotion. The operational expertise developed in managing complex energy assets directly informs the broader investment philosophy he applies across all of Brookfield's asset classes. This hands-on experience with large-scale infrastructure projects is considered a core component of the firm's competitive advantage in the market for real assets.
Corporate Culture and Leadership Development
Connor Teskey's rise to CEO is presented by Brookfield as a product of its distinctive corporate culture, which emphasizes collaboration, fosters innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, and maintains a strong sense of discipline. Bruce Flatt stated that Teskey brings deep investment expertise, strong judgment and a long-term mindset that is fully aligned with this culture. Part of Teskey's contribution prior to becoming CEO was developing many of the leaders who now run the company's various businesses. The succession process itself was designed to prepare the next generation of leaders to guide the company for the next 20-plus years. In internal discussions, Teskey has highlighted that talent matters most in areas where judgment and operational expertise are critical to value creation. This focus on cultivating internal talent and maintaining a consistent culture is seen as essential for sustaining Brookfield's performance through leadership transitions and across market cycles. Flatt has described Teskey as being closer to what the next backbone of the global economy is, indicating a belief that his perspective aligns with future growth drivers.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Connor Teskey?
Connor David Teskey is a Canadian financier and the Chief Executive Officer of Brookfield Asset Management. He has been the CEO since February 2026, taking over from Bruce Flatt in a long planned leadership transition. He is also the CEO of Brookfield's Global Energy business and the CEO of Brookfield Renewable Partners LP. He joined Brookfield in 2012 and was appointed President in 2022, running the day to day management of the US$1 trillion asset manager prior to his promotion. His role encompasses leading the main operating company while continuing to oversee the firm's renewable energy and transition investments.
How old is Connor Teskey?
Connor Teskey was born on 8 October 1987. At the time of his appointment as CEO of Brookfield Asset Management in early 2026, he was 38 years old. This makes him one of the youngest CEOs of a major global asset manager. His rise within Brookfield has been rapid since he joined the firm in 2012. His age and experience position him as part of a new generation of leaders expected to guide the company for the coming decades.
What is Connor Teskey's background?
Connor Teskey holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Western Ontario. Prior to joining Brookfield in 2012, he worked in corporate debt origination at a Canadian bank. Within Brookfield, he has held a variety of investment and management roles, playing a central role in building the firm's investment strategy and scaling its renewable business globally. He was made President in 2022, which was part of a four year succession process, and has been a member of Brookfield's Executive Committee.
What does Brookfield Asset Management do?
Brookfield Asset Management is a leading global alternative asset manager headquartered in New York. It manages over $1 trillion of assets under management across several key sectors including infrastructure, renewable power and transition, private equity, real estate, and credit. The firm is known for investing in and operating real assets. Its recent strategic focus includes areas like artificial intelligence infrastructure, with initiatives such as raising a dedicated AI infrastructure fund, and it achieved a record US$112 billion in fundraising for the 2025 financial year.
Is Bruce Flatt still involved with Brookfield?
Yes, Bruce Flatt remains actively involved with Brookfield following the leadership transition. He stayed on as the Chair of Brookfield Asset Management's board of directors and continues as the CEO of its parent company, Brookfield Corp. Flatt has stated he intends to help in any way he can and will stay fully invested in Brookfield. The transition was described as matching title to substance, as Teskey had already been running virtually all operations, so the company's strategy does not change with Flatt's ongoing involvement.
What is Connor Teskey's investment philosophy?
Connor Teskey's investment philosophy emphasizes operational improvement and investing in essential real assets. He believes value creation in private equity now comes from improving business operations and margin expansion rather than financial engineering or multiple expansion. He focuses on assets critical to structural trends like artificial intelligence and digitization, specifically targeting real assets like data centres and energy infrastructure where the firm does not take technology risk. This approach is rooted in Brookfield's culture of collaboration, innovation, and a strong sense of discipline.
Sources and further reading
- Connor Teskey brookfield.com
- Brookfield names Connor Teskey new CEO, taking over ... financialpost.com
- Connor Teskey privatewealth.brookfield.com
- Brookfield names Connor Teskey as CEO, successor to ... theglobeandmail.com
- Beating the Market: Connor Teskey, CEO Brookfield Asset ... podcasts.apple.com
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