Key Highlights

  • Blackstone reported record Assets under management of $1.35 trillion, up 11% year on year, with distributable Earnings of $2.0bn, up 26%.
  • KKR reported assets under management of $796bn, up 16%, with its Global Atlantic insurance unit holding $220bn of assets, including $164bn in credit.
  • Apollo Global Management reported record fee-related earnings of $785m and record spread-related earnings of $877m, largely from its Athene retirement-services business.

Why do Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX), KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR) and Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO) connect the S&P 500 to private markets? Because through these three constituents, index investors now own large slices of assets that never trade on a public exchange, private Credit loans, buyout stakes, real estate and, increasingly, insurance liabilities. Their mid-2026 results show private-market fundraising and lending running at record levels, and reveal how deeply the Business of alternative assets has fused with insurance. For ordinary index investors, that means a meaningful slice of the S&P 500 now derives its profits from assets and loans that carry no daily Market Price at all.

Blackstone Inc. (NYSE:BX): Scale and Perpetual Capital

Blackstone Inc., the largest listed alternative asset manager, reported record assets under management of $1.35 trillion at 30 June 2026 (up 11% year on year) when it announced second-quarter results on 23 July 2026. It took in $68.3bn of inflows and deployed $34.2bn. Distributable earnings were $2.0bn, or $1.52 per share, up 26%, and fee-related earnings were $1.8bn. Reported perpetual-capital AUM reached $555.6bn, and global direct lending drew $13.3bn of inflows in the quarter. Blackstone's breadth, spanning real estate, credit and a fast-growing private-wealth channel, makes it the widest bridge between public investors and private assets.

KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE:KKR): Fund Management Plus Insurance

KKR & Co. Inc., an alternative manager with a large insurance arm, reported AUM of $796bn (up 16%) and fee-paying AUM of $638bn for the second quarter of 2026 (reported 30 July 2026). Quarterly fee-related earnings were $1.2bn, with $4.2bn over the trailing twelve months, and the firm raised $34bn in the quarter and $133bn over twelve months, beating a multi-year fundraising target. Its Global Atlantic insurance unit held $220bn of assets, including $164bn in credit. KKR pairs third-party fund management with substantial balance-sheet and insurance capital, a distinctive model among the three.

Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE:APO): Credit and Retirement at the Centre

Apollo Global Management, Inc. is the most credit- and insurance-driven of the three. For the second quarter of 2026 (reported 4 August 2026) it reported record fee-related earnings of $785m ($1.26 per share, up 25%) and record spread-related earnings, largely from its Athene retirement-services business, of $877m. Debt origination reached $74bn in the quarter, taking trailing-twelve-month volumes to nearly $320bn, and total inflows were a record $60bn, split between $38bn of asset management and $22bn from Athene. Athene's gross invested assets grew to $414bn, underscoring how central the insurance Balance Sheet has become to Apollo's earnings mix.

How the Theme Differs

All three illustrate the convergence of asset management and insurance, but the emphasis varies. Apollo is essentially a credit-and-annuities machine, generating spread income from Athene alongside management fees. Blackstone leans on scale, real estate and private wealth. KKR blends fund management with its own balance sheet and Global Atlantic. The shared story is private credit's rise and the use of long-dated insurance money to fund lending, a structural shift that has reshaped how these firms earn and how their profits should be judged.

Risks and What to Monitor

Reported earnings depend on continued fundraising, deployment and, critically, credit quality. Private credit has grown rapidly with limited public disclosure, so a rise in defaults or a widening of spreads would test valuations and spread income, particularly at Apollo and KKR given their insurance exposure. Distributable earnings also hinge on realisations, which slow when deal markets freeze. Investors should monitor inflow trends, the pace of any private-credit losses, insurance-liability matching, and the health of retail and private-wealth demand.