Three alternative asset managers—each with compelling business models—are raising their dividends. 

Over the past 20 years, alternative assets (like private equity, hedge funds, real estate, infrastructure, and venture capital) have grown significantly in importance. They used to make up just 6% of all global assets under management (AUM)—which is the total amount of money managed by investment firms. Now, they account for 15% of that total. And industry experts expect this industry to continue growing AUM at around 10% a year through 2029, making it an interesting space to monitor.

Overall, these three firms are displaying a strong willingness to return more capital to shareholders, a welcome sign amid the currently uncertain market environment.

KKR: Boosting Dividends Along Path to $1 Trillion AUM Goal

First up is private equity firm KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR). The financial services company announced a moderate 5.7% increase to its quarterly dividend. The next 18.5 cents per share dividend will be payable on May 27 to shareholders of record on May 12.

The company’s annual dividend payment is now set to be 74 cents, giving the stock a dividend yield of 0.6%. Despite having a relatively low yield, KKR has made a habit of raising its dividends each year since it initiated payments in 2018.

This increase marks the company’s sixth dividend boost in a row. Despite being traditionally known as a private equity investor, KKR now maintains a diversified portfolio across asset classes. Credit strategies make up around 38% of its $664 billion portfolio. Real assets account for around 26% of the total. Meanwhile, private equity-based strategies make up around 33%.

KKR has outlined an ambitious goal of reaching $1 trillion in AUM by 2030. Along with this, the company is hoping to grow its annual adjusted net income (ANI) per share to $15. This would require the company to over-triple the $4.88 in ANI it generated over the last 12 months (LTM).

Still, KKR is executing strongly, growing AUM by 15% from the prior year and LTM ANI by 37%. If sustained, both of these growth rates put KKR well on track toward meeting its goal.

APO: Taking Advantage of Post-Liberation Day Opportunities

Apollo Global Management (NYSE: APO) comes in second with the middling dividend increase among these three stocks. The company is boosting its dividend by just over 10% to 51 cents per share. The next quarterly payment will be payable on May 30 to shareholders of record on May 16.

Apollo is primarily known as a credit investor. Last quarter, the asset class accounted for around 88% of the company’s nearly $600 billion in fee-bearing capital. The rest was attributable to equities.

Apollo had a strong Q1 2025, generating record fee-related earnings of $559 million. The company also saw a record level of AUM inflows during the quarter.

These strong earnings likely played a key role in announcing its biggest dividend increase. Now, the stock has a solid dividend yield of around 1.5%, which is moderately higher than the approximately 1.2% yield of the S&P 500 Index.

During its earnings call, Apollo highlighted its major investments following President Trump's Liberation Day tariff announcement, noting that heightened volatility presented the firm with strong buying opportunities. Overall, the company put $25 billion in capital to work in April alone.

OWL: Huge Dividend Increase Puts Yield at Nearly 5%

Blue Owl Capital (NYSE: OWL), a bit of a new kid on the block when it comes to publicly traded alternative asset managers, just raised its dividend by 25%.

Since going public back in 2021, Blue Owl has raised its quarterly dividend eight times and raised its annual dividend payouts every year. Its new 22.5 cents per share dividend will be payable on May 28 to shareholders of record on May 14. Now, with an indicated annual dividend payment of 90 cents, the stock has a whopping 4.9% dividend yield.

Credit strategies make up the majority of Blue Owl’s $273 billion in AUM, accounting for 51% of the total. General Partner Strategic and Real Assets each make up around 25%. 

General Partner Strategic, commonly referred to as “GP stakes," is a particularly interesting strategy. This is where Blue Owl takes minority ownership positions in other private equity and hedge fund companies. Blue Owl then becomes entitled to a portion of the profits of these investment companies. This allows Blue Owl to gain exposure to highly specific strategies that it may not feel confident in executing on its own.

To put it simply, Blue Owl is investing in other investors whom it believes are highly skilled in a particular area.

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