UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
| ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31 , 2022
OR
| TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | |||||
FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM TO
Commission File Number: 001-35538
The Carlyle Group Inc.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | |||||||
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(202 ) 729-5626
(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)
Not Applicable
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of each class | Trading Symbol(s) | Name of each exchange on which registered | ||||||
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ¨ No ý
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act
| ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | ||||||||||||||||||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ||||||||||||||||||
| Emerging growth company | ||||||||||||||||||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒
If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ý
The aggregate market value of the common stock of the Registrant held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2022 was $8,088,355,343 .
The number of the Registrant’s shares of common stock outstanding as of February 8, 2023 was 364,219,014 .
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page | ||||||||
| ITEM 1. | ||||||||
| ITEM 1A. | ||||||||
| ITEM 1B. | ||||||||
| ITEM 2. | ||||||||
| ITEM 3. | ||||||||
| ITEM 4. | ||||||||
| ITEM 5. | ||||||||
| ITEM 6. | ||||||||
| ITEM 7. | MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS | |||||||
| ITEM 7A. | QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK | |||||||
| ITEM 8. | ||||||||
| ITEM 9. | ||||||||
| ITEM 9A. | ||||||||
| ITEM 9B. | ||||||||
| ITEM 9C. | ||||||||
| ITEM 10. | ||||||||
| ITEM 11. | ||||||||
| ITEM 12. | ||||||||
| ITEM 13. | ||||||||
| ITEM 14. | ||||||||
| PART IV. | ||||||||
| ITEM 15. | ||||||||
| ITEM 16. | ||||||||
1
Forward-Looking Statements
This report may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to our expectations regarding the performance of our business, our financial results, our liquidity and capital resources, contingencies, our expectations regarding the impact of COVID-19, our dividend policy, our expected future dividend policy, the anticipated benefits from converting to a corporation and other non-historical statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements including, but not limited to, those listed below and those described under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in this report, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which are accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this report and in our other periodic filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
Summary of Risk Factors
The following is only a summary of the principal risks that may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. The following should be read in conjunction with the complete discussion of risk factors we face, which are set forth in “Item 1A. Risk Factors.”
Risks Related to Our Company
•Adverse economic and market conditions and other events or conditions throughout the world could negatively impact our business in many ways, including by reducing the value or performance of the investments made by our investment funds and reducing the ability of our investment funds to raise capital, any of which could materially reduce our revenue, earnings and cash flow and adversely affect our financial prospects and condition.
•The global pandemic of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, caused severe disruptions in the U.S. and global economies and has impacted, and may continue to impact, our performance and results of operations.
•Our use of leverage may expose us to substantial risks.
•Our revenue, earnings and cash flow are variable, which makes it difficult for us to achieve steady earnings growth on a quarterly basis.
•Given our focus on achieving superior investment performance and maintaining and strengthening investor relations, we may reduce our AUM, restrain its growth, reduce our fees or otherwise alter the terms under which we do business when we deem it in the best interest of our investors—even in circumstances where such actions might be contrary to the near-term interests of stockholders.
•We depend on our senior Carlyle professionals, including our new Chief Executive Officer, and the loss of their services or investor confidence in such personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
•Recruiting and retaining our professionals has become more difficult and may continue to be difficult in the future, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
•We may not be successful in expanding into new investment strategies, markets and businesses, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Related to Regulation and Litigation
•Laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection, data transfers, data localization, and data security worldwide may limit the use and adoption of our services and adversely affect our business.
•Extensive regulation in the United States and abroad affects our activities, increases the cost of doing business and creates the potential for significant liabilities and penalties.
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•Financial regulations and changes thereto in the United States could adversely affect our business and the possibility of increased regulatory focus could result in additional burdens and expenses on our business.
•Regulatory initiatives in jurisdictions outside the United States could adversely affect our business.
•Increasing scrutiny from stakeholders on ESG matters, including our ESG reporting, exposes us to reputational and other risks.
•We are subject to substantial litigation risks and may face significant liabilities and damage to our professional reputation as a result of litigation allegations and negative publicity.
Risks Related to Our Business Operations
Risks Related to the Assets We Manage
•The alternative asset management business is intensely competitive.
•Poor performance of our investment funds would cause a decline in our revenue, income and cash flow, may obligate us to repay carried interest previously paid to us, and could adversely affect our ability to raise capital for future investment funds.
•The historical returns attributable to our funds, including those presented in this report, should not be considered as indicative of the future results of our funds or of our future results or of any returns expected on an investment in our common stock.
•Our asset management business depends in large part on our ability to raise capital from third-party investors. If we are unable to raise capital from third-party investors, we would be unable to collect management fees or deploy their capital into investments and potentially collect carried interest, which would materially reduce our revenue and cash flow and adversely affect our financial condition.
•We have increasingly undertaken business initiatives to increase the number and type of investment products we offer to retail investors, which could expose us to new and greater levels of risk.
•Our investors may negotiate to pay us lower management fees and the economic terms of our future funds may be less favorable to us than those of our existing funds, which could adversely affect our revenues.
•Valuation methodologies for certain assets in our funds can involve subjective judgments, and the fair value of assets established pursuant to such methodologies may be incorrect, which could result in the misstatement of fund performance and accrued performance allocations.
•The due diligence process that we undertake in connection with investments by our investment funds may not reveal all facts that may be relevant in connection with an investment.
•Changes in the debt financing markets or higher interest rates could negatively impact the ability of certain of our funds and their portfolio companies to obtain attractive financing or re-financing and could increase the cost of such financing if it is obtained, which could lead to lower-yielding investments and could potentially decrease our net income.
•Our funds invest in relatively high-risk, illiquid assets, and we may fail to realize any profits from these activities for a considerable period of time or lose some or all of our principal investments.
•Our funds make investments in companies that are based outside of the United States, which may expose us to additional risks not typically associated with investing in companies that are based in the United States.
•Certain of our fund investments may be concentrated in particular asset types or geographic regions, which could exacerbate any negative performance of those funds to the extent those concentrated investments perform poorly.
•Our private equity funds’ performance, and our performance, has been and may in the future be adversely affected by the financial performance of our portfolio companies and the industries in which our funds invest.
Industry Risks Related to the Assets We Manage
•Our real estate funds are subject to risks inherent in the ownership and operation of real estate and the construction and development of real estate.
•Our energy business is involved in oil and gas investments (i.e., exploration, production, storage, transportation, logistics, refining, marketing, trading, petrochemicals, energy services and other opportunistic investments), which entail a high degree of risk.
•Investments in the natural resources industry, including the infrastructure and power industries, involve various operational, construction and regulatory risks.
•Our CLO business and investment into CLOs involves certain risks.
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•Investments in the insurance industry (including our investment in Fortitude) could be adversely impacted by insurance regulations and potential regulatory reforms.
•Our Global Investment Solutions business is subject to additional risks.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock
•The market price of our common stock may decline due to the large number of shares of common stock eligible for future sale.
•Carlyle Group Management L.L.C. has significant influence over us and its interests may conflict with ours or yours.
•Our founders have the right to designate members of our Board of Directors.
•Our certificate of incorporation does not limit the ability of our former general partner, founders, directors, officers or stockholders to compete with us.
•Anti-takeover provisions in our organizational documents and Delaware law might discourage or delay acquisition attempts for us that stockholders might consider favorable.
Risks Related to Taxation
•Changes in relevant tax laws, regulations or treaties or an adverse interpretation of these items by tax authorities could negatively impact our effective tax rate, tax liability and/or the performance of certain funds should unexpected taxes be assessed to portfolio investments (companies) or fund income.
•U.S. and foreign tax regulations could adversely affect our ability to raise funds from certain foreign investors and increase compliance costs.
On January 1, 2020, we completed our conversion from a Delaware limited partnership named The Carlyle Group L.P. into a Delaware Corporation named The Carlyle Group Inc. Pursuant to the conversion, at the specified effective time on January 1, 2020, each common unit of The Carlyle Group L.P. outstanding immediately prior to the effective time converted into one share of common stock of The Carlyle Group Inc. and each special voting unit and general partner unit was canceled for no consideration. In addition, holders of the partnership units in Carlyle Holdings I L.P., Carlyle Holdings II L.P., and Carlyle Holdings III L.P. exchanged such units for an equivalent number of shares of common stock and certain other restructuring steps occurred (the conversion, together with such restructuring steps and related transactions, the “Conversion”).
Unless the context suggests otherwise, references in this report to “Carlyle,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer (i) prior to the consummation of the Conversion to The Carlyle Group L.P. and its consolidated subsidiaries and (ii) from and after the consummation of the Conversion to The Carlyle Group Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. References to our common stock or shares in periods prior to the Conversion refer to the common units of The Carlyle Group L.P. When we refer to our “senior Carlyle professionals,” we are referring to the partner-level personnel of our firm. References in this report to the ownership of the senior Carlyle professionals include the ownership of personal planning vehicles of these individuals. When we refer to the “Carlyle Holdings partnerships” or “Carlyle Holdings,” we are referring to Carlyle Holdings I L.P., Carlyle Holdings II L.P., and Carlyle Holdings III L.P., which prior to the Conversion were the holding partnerships through which the Company and our senior Carlyle professionals and other holders of Carlyle Holdings partnership units owned their respective interests in our business.
“Carlyle funds,” “our funds” and “our investment funds” refer to the investment funds and vehicles advised by Carlyle.
“Carry funds” generally refers to closed-end investment vehicles, in which commitments are drawn down over a specified investment period, and in which the general partner receives a special residual allocation of income from limited partners, which we refer to as carried interest, in the event that specified investment returns are achieved by the fund. Disclosures referring to carry funds will also include the impact of certain commitments which do not earn carried interest, but are either part of, or associated with our carry funds. The rate of carried interest, as well as the share of carried interest allocated to Carlyle, may vary across the carry fund platform. Carry funds generally include the following investment vehicles across our three business segments:
•Global Private Equity: Buyout, middle market and growth capital, real estate, infrastructure and natural resources funds advised by Carlyle, as well as certain energy funds advised by our strategic partner NGP Energy Capital Management (“NGP”) in which Carlyle is entitled to receive a share of carried interest (“NGP Carry Funds”)
•Global Credit: Opportunistic credit, aircraft finance, and other closed-end credit funds advised by Carlyle
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•Global Investment Solutions: Funds and vehicles advised by AlpInvest Partners B.V. (“AlpInvest”), which include primary fund, secondary and portfolio financing, and co-investment strategies
Carry funds specifically exclude certain legacy Abingworth funds in which Carlyle is not entitled to receive a share of carried interest, collateralized loan obligation vehicles (“CLOs”), our business development companies and associated managed accounts, as well as capital raised from a strategic third-party investor which directly invests in Fortitude (defined below) alongside a carry fund.
For an explanation of the fund acronyms used throughout this Annual Report, refer to “Item 1. Business–Our Global Investment Offerings.”
“Fee-earning assets under management” or “Fee-earning AUM” refers to the assets we manage or advise from which we derive recurring fund management fees. Our Fee-earning AUM is generally based on one of the following, once fees have been activated:
(a)the amount of limited partner capital commitments, generally for carry funds where the original investment period has not expired and for AlpInvest carry funds during the commitment fee period;
(b)the remaining amount of limited partner invested capital at cost, generally for carry funds and certain co-investment vehicles where the original investment period has expired, as well as one of our business development companies;
(c)the amount of aggregate fee-earning collateral balance at par of our CLOs and other securitization vehicles, as defined in the fund indentures (typically exclusive of equities and defaulted positions) as of the quarterly cut-off date;
(d)the external investor portion of the net asset value of certain carry funds;
(e)the fair value of Fortitude’s general account assets invested under the strategic advisory services agreement;
(f)the gross assets (including assets acquired with leverage), excluding cash and cash equivalents, of one of our business development companies and certain carry funds; or
(g)the lower of cost or fair value of invested capital, generally for AlpInvest carry funds where the commitment fee period has expired and certain carry funds where the investment period has expired.
“Assets under management” or “AUM” refers to the assets we manage or advise. Our AUM equals the sum of the following:
(a) the aggregate fair value of our carry funds and related co-investment vehicles, and separately managed accounts, plus the capital that Carlyle is entitled to call from investors in those funds and vehicles (including Carlyle commitments to those funds and vehicles and those of senior Carlyle professionals and employees) pursuant to the terms of their capital commitments to those funds and vehicles;
(b) the amount of aggregate collateral balance and principal cash at par or aggregate principal amount of the notes of our CLOs and other structured products (inclusive of all positions);
(c) the net asset value of certain carry funds;
(d) the fair value of Fortitude’s general account assets covered by the strategic advisory services agreement; and
(d) the gross assets (including assets acquired with leverage) of our business development companies, plus the capital that Carlyle is entitled to call from investors in those vehicles pursuant to the terms of their capital commitments to those vehicles.
We include in our calculation of AUM and Fee-earning AUM the Legacy Energy Funds (defined below) that we jointly advise with Riverstone Holdings L.L.C. (“Riverstone”) and the NGP Carry Funds that are advised by NGP. Our calculation of AUM also includes third-party capital raised for the investment in Fortitude through a Carlyle-affiliated investment fund and from a strategic investor which directly invests in Fortitude alongside the fund. The total AUM and Fee-earning AUM related to the strategic advisory services agreement with Fortitude is inclusive of the net asset value of
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investments in Carlyle products. These amounts are also reflected in the AUM and Fee-earning AUM of the strategy in which they are invested.
For most of our carry funds, total AUM includes the fair value of the capital invested (among other elements as described above). Fee-earning AUM includes the amount of capital commitments or the remaining amount of invested capital, depending on whether the original investment period for the fund has expired, which does not reflect any net appreciation in the value of capital invested by such carry funds. As such, total AUM may be greater than Fee-earning AUM when the aggregate fair value of the remaining investments exceeds the cost of those investments.
Our calculations of AUM and Fee-earning AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers. As a result, these measures may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other asset managers. In addition, our calculation of AUM (but not Fee-earning AUM) includes uncalled commitments to, and the fair value of invested capital in, our investment funds from Carlyle and our personnel, regardless of whether such commitments or invested capital are subject to management or performance fees. Our calculations of AUM or Fee-earning AUM are not based on any definition of AUM or Fee-earning AUM that is set forth in the agreements governing the investment funds that we manage or advise.
“Perpetual Capital” refers to the assets we manage or advise which have an indefinite term and for which there is no immediate requirement to return capital to investors upon the realization of investments made with such capital, except as required by applicable law. Perpetual Capital may be materially reduced or terminated under certain conditions, including reductions from changes in valuations and payments to investors, including through elections by investors to redeem their investments, dividend payments, and other payment obligations, as well as the termination of or failure to renew the respective investment advisory agreements. Perpetual Capital includes: (a) assets managed under the strategic advisory services agreement with Fortitude, (b) our Core Plus real estate fund, (c) our business development companies and certain other direct lending products, and (d) our Interval Fund.
“Fortitude” refers to Fortitude Group Holdings, LLC (“Fortitude Holdings”) prior to October 1, 2021 and to FGH Parent, L.P. (“FGH Parent”) as of October 1, 2021. On October 1, 2021, the owners of Fortitude Holdings contributed their interests to FGH Parent such that FGH Parent became the direct parent of Fortitude Holdings. Fortitude Holdings owns 100% of the outstanding common shares of Fortitude Reinsurance Company Ltd., a Bermuda domiciled reinsurer (“Fortitude Re”). See Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information regarding the Company’s strategic investment in Fortitude.
“Legacy Energy Funds” include Energy III, Energy IV, and Renew II and are managed with Riverstone and its affiliates. Affiliates of both Carlyle and Riverstone act as investment advisers to each of the Legacy Energy Funds. Carlyle has a minority representation on the management committees of Energy IV and Renew II. Carlyle and Riverstone each hold half of the seats on the management committees of Energy III. The investment periods for these funds have expired and the remaining investments in each fund are being disposed of in the ordinary course of business. As of December 31, 2022, the Legacy Energy Funds had, in the aggregate, approximately $0.2 billion in AUM and $0.4 billion in Fee-earning AUM. We are no longer raising capital for the Legacy Energy Funds and expect these balances to continue to decrease over time as the funds wind down.
“Metropolitan” or “MRE” refers to Metropolitan Real Estate Management, LLC, which was included in the Global Investment Solutions business segment prior to its sale on April 1, 2021.
6
PART I.
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
Carlyle is a global investment firm with deep industry expertise that deploys private capital across three business segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit and Global Investment Solutions. Our teams invest across a range of strategies that leverage our deep industry expertise, local insights, and global resources to deliver attractive returns throughout an investment cycle. Since our firm was founded in Washington, D.C. in 1987, we have grown to manage $373 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2022. Our experienced and diverse team of more than 2,100 employees includes more than 770 investment professionals in 29 offices across five continents, and we serve more than 2,900 active carry fund investors from 88 countries.
We seek to invest with a clarity of purpose, adaptability, and alignment between our interests and the interests of our fund investors, shareholders, and other stakeholders. We continue to execute against our strategy, with a focus on the following priorities:
•Grow our business. We pursue new opportunities, both organic and inorganic, that build on our strengths in our three global business segments and further diversify our product offerings.
•Scale our platform. We identify strategies and opportunities that enable us to further scale our business, often in adjacent opportunities, such as Capital Markets and Insurance Solutions.
•Drive efficiencies across our business. We seek ways to optimize our investment process by focusing on the development of our people, continuous process improvement and unlocking the value of our data.
Operational and strategic highlights for our firm for 2022 include:
•Assets under management grew 24% to $373 billion as of December 31, 2022 from $301 billion as of December 31, 2021, and fee-earning assets under management increased 38% to $267 billion, reflecting fundraising of $29.9 billion, as well as the impact of the strategic transactions outlined below. Perpetual Capital products now comprise $58 billion, or 22%, of our fee-earning assets under management.
•During 2022, we completed the following transactions with the goal of driving accretive growth on an inorganic basis:
◦In March 2022, we acquired the management contracts related to a portfolio of assets primarily comprised of U.S. and European CLOs as well as other assets across private credit from CBAM Partners LLC (“CBAM”), totaling $15 billion in assets under management which were integrated into our Global Credit platform.
◦In April 2022, we entered into a strategic advisory services agreement with certain subsidiaries of Fortitude to provide certain services, including business development and growth, transaction origination and execution, and capital management services. As of December 31, 2022, we had $46 billion of Perpetual Capital associated with the agreement, on which we earn a recurring management fee.
◦In August 2022, we acquired Abingworth, a life sciences investment firm, to expand our healthcare investment platform with the addition of nearly $2 billion in assets under management and a specialized team of over 20 investment professionals and advisors.
•We invested $34.8 billion in our carry funds during 2022 and realized proceeds of $33.8 billion for our carry fund investors. Our net accrued performance revenues increased to $4.0 billion as of December 31, 2022 from $3.9 billion as of December 31, 2021, despite realizing $1.0 billion in realized net performance revenues during the year, driven by carry fund appreciation of 11%, which reflects the strength of our portfolio construction, as well as the value creation activities in our portfolio.
•We remained focused on the professional development and the health and well-being of our employees in 2022. We continued to roll out several leadership development programs and implemented a well-being strategy focused on enabling employees to foster emotional, physical, financial, environmental, and social well-being.
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•During 2022, with feedback received from employee surveys, we continued to reimagine our processes, office environment and business operations.
•We continued to significantly enhance our ESG and DEI efforts:
◦We became a signatory of the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, and remain involved with several important industry initiatives in the field, including, among others, the ESG Data Convergence Initiative, the International Sustainability Standards Board Investor Advisory Group (IIAG), the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) Global Responsible Investment Steering Committee, and the One Planet Private Equity Funds initiative.
◦We held a Sustainability Workshop in May 2022 that welcomed more than 60 guests from our portfolio companies and included sessions on developing resilient climate strategies and leading practices for employee engagement.
◦We continued to deepen the integration of ESG within our investment teams and portfolio companies, with ESG assessments included in most Carlyle investment decisions using proprietary due diligence tools in our GPE and Global Credit segments.
◦We invested in enhancing DEI through our second year of the DEI Incentive Awards program, where we granted approximately $2 million in awards to 70 employees from around the globe who made an impact on DEI at Carlyle.
◦We launched the DEI Leadership Network, a coalition of portfolio company CEOs around the globe to develop a peer group for shared resources and insights that can help advance DEI within their respective companies.
▪Operational and strategic highlights for our three global business segments for 2022 include:
Global Private Equity (“GPE”):
◦During 2022, GPE invested $19.9 billion across the segment, including $14.5 billion in the Americas, $2.7 billion in Europe, and $2.7 billion in Asia.
◦Our GPE funds realized proceeds of $22.5 billion for our GPE carry fund investors in 2022, across a mix of trade-sales, public market block trades, recapitalizations, and dividends.
◦During 2022, we raised $10.6 billion in new capital commitments for our GPE funds, which included the launch of our fifth Europe technology fund (“CETP V”) and our second renewable energy fund (“CRSEF II”).
Global Credit:
◦In total, we raised $15.3 billion in new capital commitments to our Global Credit products during 2022, and doubled overall AUM to $146.3 billion, reflecting fundraising as well as the impact of the CBAM and Fortitude transactions on capital formation.
◦In our CLO business, we closed $2.7 billion of new CLOs in the U.S. and $1.2 billion of new CLOs in Europe during 2022. Including the impact of the CBAM transaction, we have $48.6 billion of total AUM across all of our CLOs at December 31, 2022, an increase in CLO AUM of 47% over 2021.
◦In Carlyle Aviation Partners, we completed the acquisition of AMCK Aviation’s portfolio of aircraft, including 145 narrow-body aircraft.
◦We had continued strength in direct lending, executing $3.9 billion of gross originations in 2022, which included originations from a newly launched evergreen fund (“CDLF”).
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Global Investment Solutions:
◦During 2022, we raised $4.0 billion in capital commitments, including over $3.5 billion in capital commitments to separately managed accounts, and deployed $6.6 billion in investments across our Global Investment Solutions platform. Our portfolio appreciated 6% (4% excluding the positive impact of foreign currency translation) during the year and we realized proceeds of $7.2 billion for our Global Investment Solutions investors.
Business Segments
We operate our business across three segments: (1) Global Private Equity, (2) Global Credit and (3) Global Investment Solutions. Information about our segments should be read together with “Part II. Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”
Global Private Equity
Our GPE segment advises our buyout, growth, real estate, infrastructure and natural resources funds. Across our GPE funds, as of December 31, 2022, we had investments in more than 300 active portfolio companies that employ more than 1.3 million people around the world. Our GPE teams have the following areas of focus:
Corporate Private Equity. Our corporate private equity teams advise a diverse group of funds that invest in transactions that focus either on a particular geography or strategy. Our buyout funds focus on corporate buyouts and strategic minority investments. The investment mandate for our growth capital funds is to seek out companies with the potential for disruptive growth. Our core strategy seeks longer duration private equity opportunities, targeting stable businesses with sustainable market leadership, which have opportunities for operational improvement. Our corporate private equity funds are advised by teams of local professionals who live and work in the markets where they invest. In 2022, we invested $12.8 billion in new and follow-on investments through our corporate private equity funds. As of December 31, 2022, our corporate private equity funds had, in the aggregate, $105.4 billion in AUM.
Real Estate. Our real estate team advises real estate funds that invest in the U.S. and Europe, with a focus on a broad range of opportunities including residential properties, senior living facilities, industrial properties, and self-storage properties, but have limited our exposure to office buildings, hotels and retail properties. Our real estate funds generally focus on acquiring single-property assets rather than large-cap companies with real estate portfolios and made more than 1,450 investments in more than 700 cities or metropolitan statistical areas around the world from inception through December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, our real estate funds managed, in the aggregate, $30.3 billion in AUM.
Infrastructure & Natural Resources. Our active infrastructure and natural resources funds focus on infrastructure and energy investing. Our infrastructure business is comprised of teams that invest in six primary sectors: renewables, energy infrastructure, water and waste, transportation, digital infrastructure, and power generation. Our energy activities focus on buyouts, growth capital investments and strategic joint ventures in the midstream, upstream, downstream, energy and oilfield services sectors around the world. Our international energy investment team focuses on investments across the energy value chain outside of North America. We conduct our North American energy investing through our strategic investment in NGP, a Texas-based energy investor. As of December 31, 2022, we managed $27.3 billion in AUM through our infrastructure and natural resources funds.
The following table presents certain data about our Global Private Equity segment as of December 31, 2022 (dollar amounts in billions).
AUM(1) | % of Total AUM | Fee-earning AUM | Active Investments | Active Funds(3) | Available Capital | Investment Professionals(2) | Amount Invested Since Inception | Investments Since Inception | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $163 | 44% | $108 | 868 | 71 | $39 | 442 | $216 | 2,436 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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(1)Total AUM includes NGP, which advises seven funds with $12.7 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2022. Through our strategic partnership with NGP, we are entitled to 55% of the management fee-related revenue of the NGP entities that serve as advisors to the NGP Energy Funds, and an allocation of income related to the carried interest received by the fund general partners of the NGP Carry Funds.
(2)Total GPE investment professionals excludes NGP employees.
(3)Active GPE funds includes seven NGP Carry Funds advised by NGP. We do not control NGP, and we do not serve as an investment adviser to the NGP funds.
Global Credit
Our Global Credit segment, which had $146.3 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2022, advises products that pursue investment strategies across the credit spectrum, including: liquid credit, illiquid credit, and real assets credit, as well as platform initiatives such as Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund (“CTAC,” or the “Interval Fund”). Global Credit, which also includes our Insurance Solutions and Global Capital Markets businesses, has been Carlyle’s fastest-growing segment in the past four years, with total AUM nearly doubling in 2022 alone. Since our establishment in 1999, these various capital sources provide the opportunity for Carlyle to offer highly customizable and creative financing solutions to borrowers to meet their specific capital needs. Carlyle draws on the expertise and underwriting capabilities of our 233 investment professionals and leverages the resources and industry expertise of Carlyle’s global network to provide creative solutions for borrowers.
Primary areas of focus for our Global Credit platform include:
Liquid Credit
•Loans and Structured Credit. Our structured credit funds invest primarily in performing senior secured bank loans through CLOs and other investment vehicles. In 2022, in addition to our acquisition of the management contracts on the CBAM portfolio, we closed six new U.S. CLOs and three CLOs in Europe with an aggregate size of $2.7 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively. As of December 31, 2022, our loans and structured credit team advised structured credit funds totaling $50.4 billion in AUM.
Illiquid Credit
•Direct Lending. Our direct lending business includes our business development companies (“BDCs”) that invest primarily in middle market first-lien loans (which include unitranche, “first out” and “last out” loans) and second-lien loans of middle-market companies, typically defined as companies with annual EBITDA ranging from $25 million to $100 million, that lack access to the broadly syndicated loan and bond markets. As of December 31, 2022, our direct lending investment team advised AUM totaling $9.4 billion.
•Opportunistic Credit. Our opportunistic credit team invests primarily in highly-structured and privately-negotiated capital solutions supporting corporate borrowers through secured loans, senior subordinated debt, mezzanine debt, convertible notes, and other debt-like instruments, as well as preferred and common equity. The team will also look to invest in special situations (i.e., event-driven opportunities that exhibit hybrid credit and equity features) as well as market dislocations (i.e., primary and secondary market investments in liquid debt instruments that arise as a result of temporary market volatility). In certain investments, our funds may seek to restructure pre-reorganization debt claims into controlling positions in the equity of the reorganized companies. As of December 31, 2022, our opportunistic credit team advised products totaling $12.8 billion in AUM.
Real Assets Credit
•Aircraft Finance. Carlyle Aviation Partners is our multi-strategy investment platform that is engaged in commercial aviation aircraft financing and investment throughout the commercial aviation industry. As of December 31, 2022, Carlyle Aviation Partners had approximately $11.5 billion in AUM across carry funds, securitization vehicles, liquid strategies, and other vehicles.
•Infrastructure Debt. Our Infrastructure debt team invests primarily in directly originated and privately negotiated debt instruments related to global infrastructure projects, primarily in the power, energy, transportation, water/waste, telecommunications and social infrastructure sectors. The team focuses primarily on senior, subordinated, and mezzanine debt and seeks to invest primarily in developed markets within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”). As of December 31, 2022, our infrastructure debt team managed $3.7 billion in AUM.
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Other Credit
•Platform Initiatives. Our platform initiatives include CTAC, our closed-end interval fund which invests across Carlyle’s entire credit platform, as well as cross-platform separately managed accounts which are tailored to invest across Carlyle’s credit platform based on the specific investment needs of individual investors. These products also include structured solutions which focus on private, primarily investment-grade investments, backed by assets with contractual cash flows. As of December 31, 2022, the Global Credit platform initiatives represented $6.1 billion in AUM.
•Insurance Solutions. Carlyle Insurance Solutions (“CIS”) combines our deep insurance expertise with portfolio construction capabilities, capital sourcing and asset origination strengths to provide comprehensive liability funding and reinsurance, asset management and advisory solutions for (re)insurance companies and fund investors. The CIS team oversees the investment in Fortitude, as well as the strategic advisory services agreement with certain subsidiaries of Fortitude. As of December 31, 2022, AUM related to capital raised from third-party investors to acquire a controlling interest in Fortitude was $5.7 billion. As of December 31, 2022, AUM related to the strategic advisory services agreement was $45.2 billion, including the net asset value of investments in Carlyle products, which is also reflected in the AUM and Fee-earning AUM of the strategy in which they are invested. Fortitude and certain Fortitude reinsurance counterparties have committed approximately $9.2 billion of capital to-date to various Carlyle strategies.
•Global Capital Markets. Carlyle Global Capital Markets (“GCM”) is a loan syndication and capital markets business that launched in 2018. The primary focus of GCM is to arrange, place, underwrite, originate and syndicate loans and underwrite securities of third parties and Carlyle portfolio companies through TCG Capital Markets and TCG Senior Funding. TCG Capital Markets is a FINRA registered broker dealer. GCM may also act as the initial purchaser of such loans and securities. GCM receives fees, including underwriting, placement, structuring, transaction and syndication fees, commissions, underwriting and original issue discounts, interest payments and other compensation, which may be payable in cash or securities or loans, in respect of the activities described above and may elect to waive such fees.
The following table presents certain data about our Global Credit segment as of December 31, 2022 (dollar amounts in billions).
| AUM | % of Total AUM | Fee-earning AUM | Active Funds | Investment Professionals | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| $146 | 39% | $121 | 122 | 233 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Global Investment Solutions
Our Global Investment Solutions segment, established in 2011, provides comprehensive investment opportunities and resources for our investors and clients to build private equity portfolios through fund of funds, secondary purchases or financings of existing portfolios and managed co-investment programs. Global Investment Solutions executes these activities through AlpInvest, one of the world’s largest investors in private equity.
The primary areas of focus for our Global Investment Solutions teams include:
•Private Equity Secondary and Portfolio Finance Investments. Funds managed by AlpInvest build an investment portfolio of private equity owned assets through the acquisition of limited partnership interests in the secondary market and other types of transactions such as fund recapitalizations, portfolio restructurings and spin-outs, and portfolio financings. Private equity investors who desire to sell or restructure their pre-existing investment commitments to a fund may negotiate to sell the fund interests to AlpInvest. In this manner, AlpInvest’s secondary and portfolio finance investments team provides the full range of liquidity and restructuring solutions from debt to equity for third-party private equity investors. As of December 31, 2022, our secondary and portfolio finance investments program totaled $21.0 billion in AUM.
•Private Equity Co-investments. AlpInvest invests alongside other private equity and mezzanine funds in which it or certain AlpInvest limited partners typically has a primary fund investment throughout Europe, North America and Asia. These investments are generally made when an investment opportunity is too large for a particular fund and the sponsor of the fund therefore seeks to raise additional “co-investment” capital from sources such as AlpInvest. As of December 31, 2022, our co-investment programs totaled $17.2 billion in AUM.
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•Private Equity Fund Investments. Our fund of funds vehicles advised by AlpInvest make investment commitments directly to buyout, growth capital, venture and other alternative asset funds advised by other general partners. As of December 31, 2022, AlpInvest advised $25.1 billion in AUM in private equity fund investments.
The following table presents certain data about our Global Investment Solutions segment as of December 31, 2022 (dollar amounts in billions).
AUM(1) | % of Total AUM | Fee-earning AUM | Fund Vehicles | Available Capital | Investment Professionals | Amount Invested Since Inception | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $63 | 17% | $38 | 350 | $20 | 96 | $87 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Under our arrangements with the historical owners and management team of AlpInvest, we generally do not retain any carried interest in respect of the historical investments and commitments to AlpInvest carry fund vehicles that existed as of July 1, 2011 (including any options to increase any such commitments exercised after such date). We are entitled to 15% or, in some cases, 40% of the carried interest in respect of commitments from the historical owners of AlpInvest for the period between 2011 and 2020 and 40% of the carried interest in respect of all other commitments (including all future commitments from third parties).
Investment Approach
Global Private Equity
The investment approach of our GPE teams is generally characterized as follows:
•Consistent and Disciplined Investment Process. We believe our successful investment track record is the result, in part, of a consistent and disciplined application of our investment process. Investment opportunities for our GPE funds are initially sourced and evaluated by one or more of our deal teams. Deal teams consistently strive to be creative and look for deals in which we can leverage Carlyle’s competitive advantages, sector experience and the global platform. The due diligence and transaction review process places a special emphasis on, as appropriate and among other considerations, the reputation of a target company’s shareholders and management, the company’s or asset’s size and sensitivity of cash flow generation, the business sector and competitive risks, the portfolio fit, exit risks and other key factors specific to a particular investment. In evaluating each deal, we consider what expertise or experience we can bring to the transaction to enhance value for our investors. Each investment opportunity must secure approval from the investment committee of the applicable investment fund to move forward. To help ensure consistency, we utilize a standard investment committee process across our GPE funds, although NGP follows its own policies and procedures with respect to its advised funds. The investment committee approval process involves a detailed review of the transaction and investment thesis, business, risk factors and diligence issues, as well as financial models.
•Distinctive Portfolio Construction Principles. We seek to proactively manage the construction of our portfolios through deliberate and thoughtful diversification across industries, geographies and cycles, and to avoid certain assets facing economic or industry headwinds. For example, our real estate portfolios have relatively little current exposure to commercial office properties, business hotels and retail properties.
•Geographic- and Industry-Focused. We have developed a global network of local investment teams and have adopted an industry-focused approach to investing. Our extensive network of global investment professionals has the knowledge, experience and relationships on a local level that allows them to identify and take advantage of opportunities that may be unavailable to firms that do not have our global reach and resources. We believe that our global platform helps enhance all stages of the investment process, including by facilitating faster and more effective diligence, a deeper understanding of global industry trends and priority access to the capital markets. We have particular industry expertise in aerospace and government services, consumer, media and retail, financial services, healthcare, industrials, technology, real estate, natural resources and infrastructure. As a result, we believe that our in-depth knowledge of specific industries improves our ability to source and create transactions, conduct effective and more informed due diligence, develop strong relationships with management teams and use contacts and relationships within these industries to drive value creation.
•Variable Deal Sizes and Creative Structures. We believe that having the resources to complete investments of varying sizes provides us with the ability to enhance investment returns while providing for prudent industry,
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geographic and size diversification. Our teams are staffed not only to effectively pursue large transactions, but also other transactions of varying sizes. We often invest in smaller companies or single real estate transactions and this has allowed us to obtain greater diversity across our entire portfolio. Additionally, we may undertake large, strategic minority investments with certain control elements or private investment in public equity (PIPE) transactions in large companies with a clear exit strategy. In certain jurisdictions around the world, we may make investments with little or no debt financing and seek alternative structures to opportunistically pursue transactions. We generally seek to obtain board representation and typically appoint our investment professionals and advisors to represent us on the boards of the companies in which we invest. Where our funds, either alone or as part of a consortium, are not the controlling investor, we typically, subject to applicable regulatory requirements, acquire significant voting and other control rights with a view to securing influence over the conduct of the business.
•Driving Value Creation. Our GPE teams seek to make investments in portfolio companies and assets in which our particular strengths and resources may be employed to their best advantage. Typically, as part of a GPE investment, our investment teams will prepare and execute a systematic value creation plan that is developed during a thorough due diligence effort and draws on the deep resources available across our global platform, specifically relying on:
◦Reach. Our global team and global presence enables us to support international expansion of our operating companies’ efforts and global supply chain initiatives.
◦Expertise. Our deep bench of investment professionals and industry specialists provide extensive sector-specific knowledge and local market expertise. Our investment teams benefit from best-in-class support services and infrastructure provided through the global Carlyle organization. Carlyle’s overall infrastructure and support services cover the full range of administrative functions, including fund management, accounting, legal and compliance, human resources, information technology, tax, and external affairs. Additionally, where appropriate we may seek to partner with third parties whose sector or market expertise may enhance our value creation in an investment. For example, in our U.S. real estate funds we may partner with joint venture partners or managers with significant operational expertise and/or deal sourcing capabilities.
◦Insights. To supplement our investment expertise, we have retained a group of more than 51 operating executives and advisors as independent consultants to work with our investment teams, provide board-level governance and support and advise our portfolio companies. These operating executives and advisors are typically former CEOs and other high-level executives of some of the world’s most successful corporations and currently sit on the boards of directors of a diverse mix of companies. Operating executives and advisors are independent consultants and are not Carlyle employees. Operating executives and advisors are often engaged by Carlyle primarily to assist with deal sourcing, due diligence and market intelligence. Operating executives and advisors may also be engaged and compensated by our portfolio companies as directors or to otherwise advise portfolio company management.
◦Data. The goal of our research function is to extract as much information as possible from our portfolio about the current state of the economy and its likely evolution over the near-to-medium term. Our corporate private equity investment portfolio includes 214 active corporate investments as of December 31, 2022, across a diverse range of industries and geographies that each generate multiple data points (e.g., orders, shipments, production volumes, occupancy rates, bookings). By evaluating this data on a systematic basis, we work to identify the data with the highest correlation with macroeconomic data and map observed movements in the portfolio to anticipated variation in the economy, including changes in growth rates across industries and geographies. We incorporate this proprietary data into our investment portfolio management strategy and exit decisions on an ongoing basis. We believe this robust data gives us an advantage over our peers who do not have as large of a global reach.
◦Talent and Organization Performance. Our investment professionals work to enhance leadership and organizational effectiveness through proprietary and third-party data-driven assessments, best-practice playbooks, and knowledge-sharing forums.
◦Pursuing Best Exit Alternatives. In determining when to exit an investment, our investment teams consider whether a portfolio company or asset has achieved its objectives, the financial returns (both gross MOIC and net IRR) and the appropriate timing in industry cycles and company or asset development to strive for the optimal value. Each fund’s investment committee approves all exit decisions.
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◦Value Creation. Our Global Portfolio Solutions team helps to translate our collaborative culture into services and operational capabilities supporting our investment process and portfolio companies and assets. Our approach ensures that Carlyle’s global network, deep industry knowledge and operational expertise are used to support and enhance our investments.
▪Information Technology Resources. We have established an information technology capability that contributes to due diligence, portfolio company strategy and portfolio company operations. The capability includes dedicated information technology and business process resources, including assistance with portfolio company risk assessments and enhanced deal analytics.
▪Digital. Given the increasing importance of digital tools and resources across the global economy, we have established a dedicated group focused exclusively on identifying, developing and implementing digital transformation strategies to help drive growth, unlock value, and drive efficiencies across our portfolio companies.
▪Procurement. We have developed a leveraged purchasing effort to provide portfolio companies with effective sourcing programs with better pricing and service levels to help create operating value. This program seeks to drive down costs and provide better service on common indirect spend categories and disseminate best practices on managing functional spend in the areas of human capital management, employee benefits, corporate real estate, information technology and treasury and risk. As of December 31, 2022, over 150 portfolio companies are actively participating in the optional program, benefiting from more than 100 category arrangements and preferred vendor arrangements.
▪ESG. We are committed to the principle that building a better business means investing responsibly and engaging in the communities where we work and invest. As a responsible global organization dedicated to driving value by seeking to serve its stakeholders, Carlyle has made it a priority to invest in a framework and the necessary resources for understanding, monitoring and managing environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) risks and opportunities across our portfolio. We believe ESG provides an additional lens to help us assess and mitigate risks, and identify and capitalize on potential opportunities.
Global Credit
The investment approach of our Global Credit platform is generally characterized as follows:
•Source Investment Opportunities. Our Global Credit team sources investment opportunities from both the primary and secondary markets through our global network and strong relationships with the financial community. We typically target portfolio companies that have a demonstrated track record of profitability, market leadership in their respective niche, predictable cash flow, a definable competitive advantage and products or services that are value-added to their customer base.
•Conduct Fundamental Due Diligence and Perform Capital Structure Analyses. After an opportunity is identified, our Global Credit investment professionals conduct fundamental due diligence to determine the relative value of the potential investment and capital structure analyses to determine credit worthiness. Our due diligence approach typically incorporates meetings with management, company facility visits, discussions with industry analysts and consultants and an in-depth examination of financial results and projections. In conducting due diligence, our Global Credit team employs an integrated, cross-platform approach with industry-dedicated credit research analysts and non-investment grade expertise across the capital structure. Our Global Credit team also seeks to leverage resources from across the firm, utilizing information obtained from our nearly 300 active portfolio companies and lending relationships, 20 credit industry research analysts, and in-house government affairs and economic research teams. We utilize a proprietary ESG materiality assessment tool across our Global Credit platform to help our investment professionals efficiently understand a company’s or asset’s exposure to material ESG risks as part of the due diligence process.
•Evaluation of Macroeconomic Factors. Our Global Credit team evaluates technical factors such as supply and demand, the market’s expectations surrounding a company and the existence of short- and long-term value creation or destruction catalysts. Inherent in all stages of credit evaluation is a determination of the likelihood of potential catalysts emerging, such as corporate reorganizations, recapitalizations, asset sales, changes in a company’s liquidity and mergers and acquisitions.
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•Risk Minimization. Our Global Credit team seeks to make investments in companies that are well-positioned to weather downturns and/or below-plan performance. The team works to structure investments with strong financial covenants, frequent reporting requirements and board representation, if possible. Through board representation or observation rights, our Global Credit team works to provide a consultative, interactive approach to equity sponsors and management partners as part of the overall portfolio management process. In our CLO business, our liquid credit team uses an in-house risk and analytics platform to monitor and analyze our portfolio, and repositions the portfolio as appropriate. The analytics platform is also used to generate sensitivity analysis for critical risk factors such as default rates, prepayment rates and liquidation prices.
Global Investment Solutions
Our Global Investment Solutions team aims to apply a wide array of capabilities to help clients meet their investment objectives. The investment approach of our Global Investment Solutions platform is generally characterized as follows:
•Well-informed, Disciplined Investment Process: We follow a disciplined, highly-selective investment process and seek to achieve diversification by deploying capital across economic cycles, segments and investment styles. Our integrated and collaborative culture across our strategies, reinforced by investment in information technology solutions, provides deep insight into fund manager portfolios and operations to support our rigorous selection process.
•Proactive Sourcing: AlpInvest’s extensive network of private equity managers across the globe positions us to identify investment opportunities that may be unavailable to other investors. Our investment strategy is defined by a strong belief that the most attractive opportunities are found in areas that are subject to fewer competitive pressures. As a result, our teams actively seek out proprietary investments that would otherwise be difficult for our investors to access alone.
•Global Scale and Presence: Our scale and on-the-ground presence across three continents – Asia, Europe and North America – give us a distinct and comprehensive perspective on the private equity markets. Our stable, dedicated, and experienced teams have deep knowledge of their respective markets across the globe. We believe this enhances our visibility across the global investment market and provides detailed local information that enhances our investment evaluation process.
Our Global Investment Offerings
The following table provides a breakout of the product offerings and related acronyms included in our total assets under management of $373 billion as of December 31, 2022 for each of our three global business segments (in billions):
Global Private Equity1 | $ | 163.1 | Global Credit | $ | 146.3 | |||||||||
| Corporate Private Equity | $ | 105.5 | Insurance 5 | $ | 51.4 | |||||||||
| U.S. Buyout (CP) | 52.5 | Liquid Credit | $ | 50.4 | ||||||||||
| Europe Buyout (CEP) | 11.5 | U.S. CLOs | 37.1 | |||||||||||
| Asia Buyout (CAP) | 11.2 | Europe CLOs | 11.4 | |||||||||||
| Carlyle Global Partners (CGP) | 6.5 | Revolving Credit | 1.9 | |||||||||||
| Europe Technology (CETP) | 6.2 | Illiquid Credit | $ | 22.2 | ||||||||||
| U.S. Growth (CP Growth / CEOF) | 4.2 | Opportunistic Credit (CCOF / CSP) | 12.8 | |||||||||||
| Japan Buyout (CJP) | 3.4 | Direct Lending 6 | 9.4 | |||||||||||
| Life Sciences (ABV / ACCD) | 1.7 | Real Assets Credit | $ | 16.1 | ||||||||||
Other 2 | 8.3 | Aviation (SASOF / CALF) | 11.5 | |||||||||||
| Real Estate | $ | 30.3 | Infrastructure (CICF) | 3.7 | ||||||||||
| U.S. Real Estate (CRP) | 19.2 | Other 7 | 1.0 | |||||||||||
| Core Plus Real Estate (CPI) | 8.0 | Platform Initiatives and Other Products | $ | 6.1 | ||||||||||
| International Real Estate (CER) | 3.1 | Carlyle Tactical Private Credit (CTAC) | 2.0 | |||||||||||
| Infrastructure & Natural Resources | $ | 27.3 | Other Platform Initiatives and Products | 4.1 | ||||||||||
NGP Energy 3 | 12.7 | Global Investment Solutions | $ | 63.3 | ||||||||||
| International Energy (CIEP) | 8.1 | Secondary and Portfolio Finance Investments | $ | 21.0 | ||||||||||
Infrastructure & Renewable Energy 4 | 6.5 | Co-Investments | $ | 17.2 | ||||||||||
| Primary Fund Investments | $ | 25.1 | ||||||||||||
Note: All amounts shown represent total assets under management as of December 31, 2022, and totals may not sum due to rounding. In addition, certain carry funds included herein may not be included in fund performance if they have not made an initial capital call or commenced investment activity.
(1)Global Private Equity also includes assets under management in funds which we jointly advise with Riverstone Holdings L.L.C. (the “Legacy Energy funds”). The impact of these funds is no longer significant to our results of operations.
(2)Includes our Financial Services (CGFSP), Asia Growth (CAP Growth / CAGP), Sub-Saharan Africa Buyout (CSSAF), South America Buyout (CSABF), Peru Buyout (CPF), MENA Buyout and Ireland Buyout (CICF) funds, as well as platform accounts which invest across Corporate Private Equity strategies.
(3)NGP Energy funds are advised by NGP Energy Capital Management, LLC, a separately registered investment adviser. We do not serve as an investment adviser to those funds.
(4)Includes our Infrastructure (CGIOF), Renewable Energy (CRSEF) and Power funds (CPP / CPOCP).
(5)Includes Carlyle FRL, capital raised from a strategic third-party investor which directly invests in Fortitude alongside Carlyle FRL, as well as the fair value of the general account assets covered by the strategic advisory services agreement with Fortitude.
(6)Includes our business development companies (CSL / CARS) and our newly launched evergreen fund (CDLF).
(7)Includes our Energy Credit (CEMOF) and Real Estate Credit (CNLI) funds.
Organizational Structure
On January 1, 2020, we completed our conversion from a Delaware limited partnership named The Carlyle Group L.P. into a Delaware corporation named The Carlyle Group Inc. Our common stockholders are entitled to one vote per share and to vote on all matters on which stockholders of a corporation are generally entitled to vote on under Delaware General Corporation Law (“DGCL”), including the election of our Board of Directors.
In connection with the Conversion, senior Carlyle professionals and certain of the other former limited partners of Carlyle Holdings who became holders of shares of common stock in connection with the Conversion were generally required to grant an irrevocable proxy to Carlyle Group Management L.L.C., which is wholly owned by our founders and other senior Carlyle professionals. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Common Stock—Carlyle Group Management L.L.C. has significant influence over us and its interests may conflict with ours or yours.”
Limited Partner Relations
Our diverse and sophisticated investor base includes more than 2,900 active investors in our products located in 88 countries. Included among our many longstanding fund investors are pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and high net worth individuals in the United States, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America.
We have a dedicated in-house investor relations group that strives to cultivate long-term, strategic partnerships with our limited partners. Our team combines strong segment sales with firm-level strategy and coordination to bring the best of Carlyle to our limited partners. Each segment team consists of a combination of geographically focused professionals and dedicated product specialists who collaborate to deliver on investor needs. Segment teams are supported by a central staff responsible for data analytics and additional fulfillment responsibilities. In addition, our Carlyle Private Wealth team is dedicated to fundraising in the private wealth channel globally, and is organized regionally within each of its three constituent segments: Family Wealth, Wealth Management and National Accounts.
Our Investor Relations professionals are in regular dialogue with our fund investors, enabling us to monitor investor preferences and tailor future fund offerings to meet investor demand. We seek to secure a first-mover advantage with key investors, often by establishing a local presence and providing a broad and diverse range of investment opportunities. We continually endeavor to expand our partnerships by sharing our insights and perspectives on the market and investment environment, as well as discussing how we can help the investor achieve their objectives. We continue to use technology to augment our fund transparency and communication around insights as well as facilitate consistent dialogue through both virtual and in-person meetings and events. This partnership approach to fundraising has been critical in raising $81.2 billion over the past two years.
As of December 31, 2022, approximately 94% of commitments (by dollar amount) were from investors who are committed to more than one product and approximately 76% of commitments (by dollar amount) were from investors who are committed to more than five products. We believe the loyalty of our carry fund investor base, as evidenced by our substantial number of multi-fund relationships, enhances our ability to raise new funds and successor funds in existing strategies.
Investor Services
We have a team of 790 investor services professionals worldwide. The investor services group performs a range of functions to support our investment teams, LP relations group and the corporate infrastructure of Carlyle. Our investor services professionals provide an important control function, ensuring that transactions are structured pursuant to the partnership agreements, assisting in global regulatory compliance requirements and investor reporting to enable investors to easily monitor
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the performance of their investments. We have devoted substantial resources to creating comprehensive and timely investor reports, which are increasingly important to our investor base. The investor services group also works closely with the investment teams throughout each fund’s lifecycle, from fund formation and investments to portfolio monitoring and fund liquidation. We maintain an internal global legal and compliance team, which includes 40 professionals and a government relations group of five professionals with a presence around the globe as of December 31, 2022.
Structure and Operation of Our Investment Funds
We conduct the sponsorship and management of our carry funds and other investment vehicles primarily through limited partnerships, which are organized by us, to accept commitments and/or funds for investment from institutional investors and high net worth individuals. In general, each investment fund that is a limited partnership, or “partnership” fund, has a general partner that is responsible for the management and operation of the fund’s affairs and makes all policy and investment decisions relating to the conduct of the investment fund’s business. Generally, the limited partners of such funds take no part in the conduct or control of the business of such funds, have no right or authority to act for or bind such funds and have no influence over the voting or disposition of the securities or other assets held by such funds, although such limited partners may vote on certain partnership matters including the removal of the general partner or early liquidation of the partnership by majority vote, as discussed below. Most of our funds also have an investor advisory committee, comprising representatives of certain limited partners, which may consider and/or waive conflicts of interest or otherwise consult with the general partner on certain partnership matters. In the case of certain separately managed accounts advised by us, the investor, rather than us, may control the asset or the investment decisions related thereto or certain investment vehicles or entities that hold or have custody of such assets.
Each investment fund and in the case of our separately managed accounts, the client, engages an investment adviser. Carlyle Investment Management L.L.C. (“CIM”) or one of its subsidiaries or affiliates serves as an investment adviser for most of our carry funds and is registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”). Carlyle Global Credit Investment Management L.L.C. (“CGCIM”) is an affiliate of CIM and serves as investment adviser for most of our Global Credit carry funds, as well as two of our BDCs and the Interval Fund and is registered under the Advisers Act. The business of Carlyle Aviation Partners includes investment funds organized to invest in certain aviation-related securities and physical assets (including aircraft, engines and components), and certain of the advisers and general partners of such funds are currently not registered under the Advisers Act or otherwise operated in reliance on another entity’s registration under the Advisers Act. Our investment advisers are generally entitled to a management fee from each investment fund for which they serve as investment advisers. For a discussion of the management fees to which our investment advisers are entitled across our various types of investment funds, see “Incentive Arrangements / Fee Structure” below.
Investment funds themselves typically do not register as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act” or the “Investment Company Act”), in reliance on Section 3(c) or Section 7(d) thereof. Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act exempts from the 1940 Act’s registration requirements investment funds whose securities, at the time of acquisition of such securities, are owned by “qualified purchasers” as defined under the 1940 Act who purchase their interests in a private placement. Section 3(c)(1) of the 1940 Act exempts from the 1940 Act’s registration requirements privately placed investment funds whose securities are beneficially owned by not more than 100 persons and who purchase their interests in a private placement. In addition, under certain current interpretations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Section 7(d) of the 1940 Act exempts from registration any non-U.S. investment fund all of whose outstanding securities are beneficially owned either by non-U.S. residents or by U.S. residents that are qualified purchasers and purchase their interests in a private placement. Certain of our investment funds, however, rely on other exemptions from the 1940 Act or register as investment companies under the 1940 Act or elect to be regulated as BDCs under the 1940 Act.
The governing agreements of the vast majority of our investment funds provide that, subject to certain conditions, a majority in interest (based on capital commitments) of third-party investors in those funds have the right to remove the general partner of the fund for cause and/or to accelerate the liquidation date of the investment fund without cause. In addition, the governing agreements of many of our investment funds generally require investors in those funds to affirmatively vote to continue the commitment period in the event that certain “key persons” in our investment funds do not provide the specified time commitment to the fund or our firm ceases to control the general partner (or similar managing entity) or the investment adviser or ceases to hold a specified percentage of the economic interests in the general partner (any such events, a “Key Person Event”).
With limited exceptions, our carry funds, BDCs, Interval Fund, NGP Predecessor Funds, and certain other investment vehicles, are closed-end funds. In a closed-end fund structure, once an investor makes an investment, the investor is generally not able to withdraw or redeem its interest, except in very limited circumstances. Furthermore, the governing agreement of each investment vehicle contains restrictions on an investor’s ability to transfer its interest in the fund. In the open-end funds we advise, investors’ interests are usually locked up for a period of time after which investors may generally redeem their interests on a quarterly basis, to the extent that sufficient cash is available.
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With respect to our closed-end Global Private Equity and Global Credit carry funds, investors generally agree to fund their commitment over a period of time. For such carry funds, the commitment period generally runs until the earliest of (i) the sixth anniversary of either the effective date (as defined in the applicable limited partnership agreement), or the initial closing date; (ii) the fifth anniversary of the final closing date of the fund; (iii) the date the general partner cancels the investors’ obligation to fund capital contributions due to changes in applicable laws, business conditions or when at least a significant portion (which may range between 75% and 90%) of the capital commitments to the fund have been invested, committed or reserved for investments; (iv) the date a supermajority in interest (based on capital commitments) of investors vote to terminate the commitment period; or (v) the occurrence of a Key Person Event, unless upon any of these events the investors vote to continue the commitment period. Following the termination of the commitment period, an investor generally will be released from any further obligation with respect to its undrawn capital commitment except to the extent necessary to pay partnership expenses and management fees, fund outstanding borrowings and guarantees, complete investments with respect to transactions committed to prior to the end of the commitment period and make follow-on investments in existing investments (collectively, the “post-termination obligations”). Generally, an investor’s obligation to fund follow-on investments continues following the end of the commitment period, although certain funds do not have a time limit and there may be limitations on how much the fund is permitted to fund for such follow-on investments. In those funds where such limitations exist, they generally range from 15-20% of the fund’s aggregate capital commitment.
For the latest generation of our closed-end real estate funds, the length of the commitment period varies from fund to fund, typically running for a period of between two and five years from the final closing date, provided that the general partner may unilaterally extend such expiration date for one year and may extend it for another year with the consent of a majority of the limited partners for that fund. Investors in the latest generation of our closed-end real estate funds are also obligated to continue to make capital contributions with respect to follow-on investments and to repay indebtedness for a period of time after the original expiration date of the commitment period, as well as to fund partnership expenses and management fees during the life of the fund.
The term of each of the closed-end Global Private Equity and Global Credit carry funds generally will end 10 years from the initial closing date, or in some cases, from the final closing date, but such termination date may be earlier in certain limited circumstances (e.g., six years, in the case of certain Carlyle Aviation Partners funds) or later if extended by the general partner (in many instances with the consent of a majority in interest (based on capital commitments) of the investors or the investment advisory committee) for successive one-year periods, typically up to a maximum of two years. Certain of such investment funds may have a longer initial termination date (such funds, “longer-dated funds”), such as 15 years from the final closing date, or may be open-ended.
With respect to our Global Investment Solutions vehicles and separately managed accounts, the commitment period generally runs for a period of one to five years after the initial closing date of the vehicle. The term of each of the funds generally will end 8 to 12 years from the initial closing date. In some cases, the termination date may be later if extended by the general partner (in many instances with the consent of a majority in interest (based on capital commitments) of the investors or the investment advisory committee) for successive up to three-year periods, or until such time as is reasonably necessary for the general partner to be able to liquidate the fund’s assets.
Incentive Arrangements / Fee Structure
Fund Management Fees. We provide management services to funds in which we hold a general partner interest or with which we have an investment advisory agreement. For closed-end carry funds in the Global Private Equity and Global Credit segments, management fees generally range from 1.0% to 2.0% of commitments during the fund’s commitment period. With respect to Global Private Equity carry funds, such management fees are generally based on limited partners’ capital commitments to the funds and with respect to Global Credit carry funds, such management fees are generally based on limited partners’ invested capital. Following the expiration or termination of the commitment period, management fees generally are based on the lower of cost or fair value of invested capital and the rate charged may also be reduced. These terms may vary for separately managed accounts, open-end funds and longer-dated carry funds and other closed end funds. The investment adviser will receive management fees during a specified period of time, which is generally ten years from the initial closing date, or, in some instances, from the final closing date, but such termination date may be earlier in certain limited circumstances or later if extended for successive one-year periods, typically up to a maximum of two years. Depending on the contracted terms of the investment advisory agreement and related agreements, these fees are generally called semi-annually in advance. For certain open-end and longer-dated carry funds, management fees are called quarterly in arrears over the life of the funds.
Within the Global Credit segment, for CLOs and other structured products, management fees generally range from 0.4% to 0.5% based on the total par amount of assets or the aggregate principal amount of the notes in the CLO and are due quarterly. Management fees for the CLOs and other structured products are governed by indentures and collateral management agreements. The investment advisers will receive management fees for the CLOs until redemption of the securities issued by the CLOs. Management fees for the BDCs are due quarterly in arrears at annual rates that range from 1.00% of net asset value (as adjusted for capital called, dividends reinvested, distributions paid and issuer share repurchases made) to 1.5% of gross assets (excluding cash and cash equivalents). Management fees for the Interval Fund are due monthly in arrears at the annual
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rate of 1.0% of the month-end value of the Interval Fund’s net assets. Carlyle Aviation Partners’ funds have varying management fee arrangements depending on the strategy of the particular fund. Under the strategic advisory services agreement with Fortitude, the Company earns a recurring management fee based on Fortitude’s general account assets, which adjusts within an agreed range based on Fortitude’s overall profitability and which is due quarterly in arrears.
The investment advisers of our Global Investment Solutions carry funds generally receive an annual management fee that ranges from 0.25% to 1.0% of the fund’s capital commitments or its committed capital to investments during the commitment fee period of the relevant fund. Following the expiration of the commitment fee period, the management fees generally range from 0.25% to 1.0% on (i) net invested capital; (ii) the lower of cost or net asset value of the capital invested; or (iii) the net asset value for unrealized investments. In some cases, management fees are charged based on net invested capital of underlying investments for the entire duration of the applicable Global Investment Solutions carry funds. The management fees we receive from our Global Investment Solutions carry fund vehicles typically are payable quarterly in advance.
Our equity interest in NGP entitles us to an allocation of income equal to 55% of the management fee-related revenues of the NGP entities that serve as advisors to the NGP Energy Funds.
The general partners or investment advisers to certain of our Global Private Equity and Global Credit carry funds from time to time receive customary transaction fees upon consummation of many of our funds’ acquisition transactions, receive monitoring fees from many of their portfolio companies following acquisition and may from time to time receive other fees in connection with their activities. The ongoing monitoring fees that they receive are generally calculated either as a fixed amount or as a percentage of a specified financial metric of a particular portfolio company. The transaction fees that they receive are generally calculated either as a fixed amount or as a percentage (that generally ranges up to 1%, but may exceed 1% in certain circumstances) of the total enterprise value or capitalization of the investment. The management fees charged to investors in our carry funds are generally reduced by 80% to 100% of the allocable portions of such transaction fees, monitoring fees, and certain other fees that are received by the general partners and their affiliates. For our most recent vintages, management fees are generally not offset by fees received by Carlyle Global Capital Markets (“GCM”) in connection with capital markets activities.
In addition, Carlyle Aviation Partners may receive servicing fees in connection with asset-backed financing transactions for certain Carlyle Aviation Partners funds, generally in the range of 2% of rents, incentive fees up to 5% of rents in the aggregate, and 3% of sales proceeds earned from such assets. To the extent the financing instruments are held by the funds, these fees are generally offset against management fees or partnership expenses of the funds.
Performance Allocations. The general partner of each of our carry funds also receives carried interest from the carry funds. Carried interest entitles the general partner to a special residual allocation of profit on third-party capital. In the case of our closed-end carry funds, carried interest is generally calculated on a “realized gain” basis, and each general partner is generally entitled to a carried interest equal to 20% allocation (or approximately 2% to 12.5% in the case of most of our more mature Global Investment Solutions carry funds) of the net realized profit (generally taking into account unrealized losses) generated by third-party capital invested in such fund. Net realized profit or loss is not netted between or among funds. Our senior Carlyle professionals and other personnel who work in these operations also own interests in the general partners of our carry funds and we generally allocate 45% of any carried interest that we earn to these individuals in order to better align their interests with our own and with those of the investors in the funds. A limited portion of the carried interest may be distributed to such individuals in shares of our common stock. Of the carried interest that we retain, we utilize a portion for our new carried interest pool program that commenced in 2019 for certain of our employees who do not receive direct allocations of carried interest to further align their interests with those of our investors. For most carry funds, the carried interest is subject to an annual preferred return of 7% to 9% and return of certain fund costs (generally subject to catch-up provisions as set forth in the fund limited partnership agreement). These terms may vary on longer-dated funds, certain credit funds, and our external co-investment vehicles. If, as a result of diminished performance of investments later in the life of a closed-end fund, the fund does not achieve investment returns that (in most cases) exceed the preferred return threshold or (in almost all cases) the general partner receives in excess of the allocated carried interest, we will be obligated to repay the amount by which the carried interest that was previously distributed to us exceeds amounts to which we are ultimately entitled. This obligation, which is known as a “giveback” obligation, operates with respect to a given carry fund’s own net investment performance only and is typically capped at the after-tax amount of carried interest received by the general partner. Each recipient of carried interest distributions is individually responsible for his or her proportionate share of any “giveback” obligation, and we have historically withheld a portion of the cash from carried interest distributions to individuals as security for potential “giveback” obligations. However, we may guarantee the full amount of such “giveback” obligation in respect of amounts received by Carlyle and certain other amounts. With respect to the portion of any carried interest allocated to the firm, we expect to fund any “giveback” obligation from available cash. Our ability to generate carried interest is an important element of our business and carried interest has historically accounted for a significant portion of our income.
The receipt of carried interest in respect of investments of our carry funds is dictated by the terms of the partnership agreements that govern such funds, which generally allow for carried interest distributions in respect of an investment upon a
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realization event after satisfaction of obligations relating to the return of capital from all realized investments, any realized losses, allocable fees and expenses and the applicable annual preferred return. Carried interest is ultimately realized and distributed when: (i) an underlying investment is profitably disposed of; (ii) certain costs borne by the investors have been reimbursed; (iii) the investment fund’s cumulative returns are in excess of the preferred return; and (iv) we have decided to collect carry rather than return additional capital to investors. Distributions to eligible senior Carlyle professionals in respect of such carried interest are generally made shortly thereafter. Our decision to realize carry considers such factors as the level of embedded valuation gains, the portion of the fund invested, the portion of the fund returned to investors and the length of time the fund has been in carry, as well as other qualitative measures. Our Global Investment Solutions funds are not eligible for carried interest distributions until all capital contributions for investments and expenses and the preferred return hurdle have been returned. Although Carlyle has seldom been obligated to pay a giveback obligation, such obligation, if any, in respect of previously realized carried interest, is generally determined and due upon the winding up or liquidation of a carry fund pursuant to the terms of the fund’s partnership agreement, although in certain cases the giveback is calculated at prior intervals.
With respect to our separately managed accounts, BDCs and the Interval Fund, carried interest is generally referred to as an “Incentive Fee.” Incentive Fees consist of performance-based incentive arrangements pursuant to management contracts when the return on assets under management exceeds certain benchmark returns or other performance targets. Incentive Fees are recognized when the performance benchmark has been achieved.
Under our arrangements with the historical owners of Carlyle Aviation Partners, we are entitled to 100% of the management fee-related revenues and advisory fee-related revenues of Carlyle Aviation Partners that serve as advisers or service providers of the Carlyle Aviation Partners funds and portfolios of investments. In addition, we will receive 55% of the carried interest from funds managed or advised by Carlyle Aviation Partners, with the remaining 45% being allocated to the prior owners of Carlyle Aviation Partners and certain employees.
With respect to our arrangements with NGP, we are entitled to an allocation of income equal to 47.5% of the carried interest received by NGP XI and future NGP funds. In addition, we hold an interest in the general partner of the NGP X fund, which entitles us to an allocation of income equal to 40% of the carried interest received by NGP X’s general partner.
Under our arrangements with the historical owners and management team of AlpInvest, we generally do not retain any carried interest in respect of the historical investments and commitments to our fund of funds vehicles that existed as of July 1, 2011 (including any options to increase any such commitments exercised after such date). We are entitled to 15%, or in some cases 40%, of the carried interest in respect of commitments from the historical owners of AlpInvest for the period between 2011 and 2020 and 40% of the carried interest in respect of all other commitments (including all future commitments from third parties).
As noted above, in connection with raising new funds or securing additional investments in existing funds, we negotiate terms for such funds and investments with existing and potential investors. The outcome of such negotiations could result in our agreement to terms that are materially less favorable to us than for prior funds we have advised or funds advised by our competitors. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Business Operations—Risks Related to the Assets We Manage—Our investors may negotiate to pay us lower management fees and the economic terms of our future funds may be less favorable to us than those of our existing funds, which could adversely affect our revenues.”
Capital Invested in and Alongside Our Investment Funds
To further align our interests with those of investors in our investment funds, we have invested our own capital and that of our senior Carlyle professionals in and alongside the investment funds we sponsor and advise. Carlyle generally expects to commit to fund approximately 0.75% of the capital commitments to our future Global Private Equity and Global Credit carry funds, although we may elect to invest additional amounts in funds focused on new investment areas. We also intend to make investments in our Global Investment Solutions carry funds, our open-end funds, our BDCs and other 1940 Act regulated vehicles and our CLO vehicles. In addition, certain qualified Carlyle professionals and other qualified individuals (including certain individuals who may not be employees of the firm but who have pre-existing business relationships with Carlyle or industry expertise in the sector in which a particular investment fund may be investing) are permitted, subject to certain restrictions, to invest alongside the investment funds we sponsor and advise. Fees assessed or profit allocations on such investments by such persons may be eliminated or substantially reduced.
Minimum general partner capital commitments to our investment funds are determined separately with respect to each investment fund. We may, from time to time, exercise our right to purchase additional interests in our investment funds that become available in the ordinary course of their operations. See Part II. Item 7 “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” for more information regarding our minimum general partner capital commitments to our funds. Our general partner capital commitments are funded with cash and not with carried interest or through a management fee waiver program.
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Employees
We believe that one of the strengths and principal reasons for our success is the quality and dedication of our people. As of December 31, 2022, we employed more than 2,100 individuals, including over 770 investment professionals, located in 29 offices across five continents.
One Carlyle Culture
Our employees around the globe are united by our One Carlyle culture, which is driven by our mission to invest wisely and create value while delivering on our strategic plan to grow, build and perform. We seek to achieve our mission and deliver on our strategic plan by creating a culture where employees (1) strive to excel, (2) deliver for the firm, (3) challenge the status quo and (4) leverage diverse perspectives. We encourage our employees to leave their comfort zone and seek out a leading edge while working with passion, creativity and a relentless determination to deliver for our stakeholders. We seek to foster lateral working relationships across and beyond Carlyle while working as one team to drive long-term value creation. We strive to lead by example in driving and embracing change. We foster diverse perspectives by encouraging our employees to engage with others with candor and diversity of thought, promoting a team conscience that is inclusive and empowering.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
We are committed to growing and cultivating an environment that fosters diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) and values the diverse perspectives, backgrounds, experiences and geographies of our employees and other stakeholders. We seek to promote greater diversity among our employees, enhance knowledge and understanding of key DEI issues, reward progress on our DEI goals and foster an environment where our employees and stakeholders feel included and valued for their diverse experiences and perspectives. We strive to embed DEI into everything we do by leveraging our spheres of influence. As we ignite action within Carlyle, our investments, and the business community, we are making strides in DEI in the near term and laying the foundation for even greater impact into the future.
Carlyle. A focus on DEI efforts is embedded into the highest levels of our firm, including our Board of Directors, and is guided by our DEI Council, comprised of members of our executive team, as well as key senior leaders across the globe. We strive to create a workplace culture that enhances our ability to recruit, develop and retain talent from a broad set of backgrounds and experiences and, to this end, we asked all of our employees to set a personal DEI objective beginning in 2021, a practice which we continued in 2022. Inclusive leadership is one of our core leadership competencies, and the DEI Council is involved in reviewing the promotion process for our senior personnel. All of our employees who were nominated for promotion to a Managing Director or Partner role during 2022 were evaluated on their inclusive leadership and management skills. To continue to enhance inclusive decision-making, during 2022 we continued the “Better Decisions” initiative that launched in 2019, which provides education, practical tools and guidance to build awareness of unconscious bias and to mitigate its negative effects. Over 1,500 of our employees have participated in in-person or virtual sessions of this program. In addition to these initiatives, we encourage our employees to engage with and support one another through our global Employee Resource Groups, which include DiverseAbility, LGBTQ+, Multicultural, Veterans, Women, Working Parents and NextGen groups, that were formed to cultivate and retain a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce.
During 2022, we invested in enhancing DEI through our second year of the DEI Incentive Awards program, pursuant to which we granted approximately $2 million in awards to 70 employees from around the globe who made an impact on DEI at Carlyle by developing our people, attracting and recruiting talent, building an inclusive culture and/or furthering board diversity at our portfolio companies. Award recipients were nominated by their peers, reviewed by group heads and confirmed by the DEI Council. We also launched the DEI Leadership Network, a coalition of portfolio company CEOs around the globe to develop a peer group for shared resources and insights that can help advance DEI within their respective companies.
Business and Community. The communities we touch provide us with an opportunity to drive change. As part of ongoing efforts to elevate DEI within our industry, Carlyle strives to improve diversity and promote an inclusive culture for women and underrepresented professionals within the industry. Carlyle is a founding signatory to the Institutional Limited Partners Association’s Diversity in Action initiative and has joined the Milken Institute as a strategic partner and first underwriter for the DEI in Asset Management Program, which was created to improve recruitment, retention and advancement for women and persons who are Black, Indigenous and People of Color within the asset management industry. In addition, we have received a perfect score for five consecutive years on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, which recognizes corporate efforts to support LGBTQ+ employees. Carlyle is also a member of the 30% Coalition, which works to achieve diversity in senior leadership and the corporate boardroom. Moreover, we have partnerships with organizations such as the 10,000 Black Interns Programme in the UK, Level 20, Out for Undergrad and the Diversity & Inclusion in Asia Network.
Employee Engagement
We routinely evaluate, modify, and enhance our internal processes and technologies to increase employee engagement, productivity and efficiency. During 2020, we introduced a robust feedback training and communication campaign to deliver
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real-time feedback, as well as more frequent formal performance conversations and launched a new, more streamlined performance management system, which we continued into 2022. In order to measure employee engagement, we conduct an annual engagement survey as well as other pulse surveys throughout the year. We have continued to focus on the satisfaction and wellness of our employees over the past year, and we plan to continue to use annual and pulse surveys to evaluate our performance and guide our decision-making.
We are also continuing to expand our employee training programs, including those focused on enhancing management and leadership capability at all levels of the firm. These programs include the Future Leaders Academy for new Managing Directors, the Career Strategies Initiative for Vice President and Principal-level underrepresented professionals, which is a virtual sponsorship program for underrepresented professionals, the Leadership Principles program for Principals and Directors, the Better Leaders Program for Vice Presidents and Associate Directors and the Better Managers Program for Senior Associates, Associate Vice Presidents, Managers and Associates. We also continue to support a global mentoring program. In 2022, we launched MentorcliQ, a user-friendly platform that offers a personalized experience for mentees and mentors. We also conducted in-person analyst and associate training in August 2022 for our largest ever class of investment professionals.
Compensation and Benefits
We believe that equitable compensation and incentive programs are critical to hiring and retaining highly qualified people. We seek to provide a pay and benefits package that is competitive within the local marketplace for our industry to reward and retain our employees and attract and retain talent. Compensation comprises a base salary for salaried employees and compensation per hour for hourly employees in connection with satisfying the daily expectations of their roles. Our annual discretionary performance-based cash bonus program is a significant component of our compensation program and rewards employees based on firm, segment, investment fund, department and individual performance to directly align our employees with our financial performance and strategic goals. To further align the interests of our employees with our stockholders and to cultivate a strong sense of ownership and commitment to our firm, certain employees also are eligible to receive awards of restricted stock units and/or participate in our other long-term incentive programs.
The success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people. We are committed to their health, safety and wellness and seek to provide benefits that are locally relevant for our global employees. For example, our U.S. benefits programs include health and welfare benefits (including healthcare, dental benefits and vision benefits, among others), retirement offerings (including employer matching contributions, subject to eligibility requirements), an Employee Assistance Program, family and caregiver-oriented benefits and commuting benefits, among other benefits. In addition, we have various time-off policies for eligible employees for sick leave, vacation leave, personal days, paid holidays and paid parental leave. We also seek to provide strong benefits programs globally in line with local market practices.
Consistent with our guiding principle that building better businesses means investing responsibly and engaging in the communities where we work and invest, we encourage our employees to get involved where they live, work and invest through our volunteer and wealth sharing programs. In 2022, more than 270 Carlyle employees gave over 400 philanthropic gifts, which we matched. These gifts supported over 170 nonprofit organizations globally. Carlyle employees also put their time and expertise to work through volunteer activities across our offices.
Employee Wellness
We believe that a key component to investing in our employees is investing in their wellness. We focus on five pillars of wellbeing for our employees: physical, environmental, emotional, social and financial. During June 2022, we continued our practice that started in September 2021, of hosting a “Wellbeing Month,” where we provide activities and seminars dedicated to each of the wellbeing pillars. Activities during our Wellbeing Month included seminars with external wellness providers and interactive physical activities. Beginning in September 2021, we provided our eligible employees with an annual $750 well-being stipend to use for personal wellness needs, which we continued in 2022. For the second year in a row, we also established a firmwide week-long holiday during August 2022 to provide a coordinated break for our employees.
COVID-19
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been engaged with our employees and adapted to changing circumstances while remaining committed to the health and safety of our employees. During the latter part of 2021, we implemented a hybrid return-to-office approach to reintegrate our employees, including new employees who joined Carlyle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees generally work in the office three days per week, depending on business needs, and work remotely for the balance of the week. Our technology infrastructure has facilitated our ability to shift to a hybrid work environment and our employees and leaders have demonstrated their ability to quickly and seamlessly adapt without disruption to our business.
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Environmental, Social and Governance
We are committed to the principle that building a better business means investing responsibly and engaging in the communities where we work and invest. As a responsible global organization dedicated to driving value by seeking to serve its stakeholders, Carlyle has made it a priority to invest in a framework and the necessary resources for understanding, monitoring and managing ESG risks and opportunities across our portfolio. We believe ESG provides an additional lens to help us assess and mitigate risks, and identify and capitalize on potential opportunities. To implement these principles into our investment process, in 2008, we developed a set of Guidelines for Responsible Investment that consider the environmental, social and governance implications of certain investments we make, which help guide our investment practices. In December 2020, we expanded upon these guidelines through the publication of our comprehensive Environmental, Social and Governance Policy, which outlines our approach to ESG integration, and our resourcing, scope and investment application, and which has now replaced our Guidelines for Responsible Investment.
We continuously have sought to strengthen our governance, resourcing, reporting and transparency on ESG matters. In 2010, we became one of the first major private equity firms to publish an ESG report and in 2014, we hired our first dedicated ESG professional. Since then, we have continued to expand our team of dedicated ESG professionals. In 2020, we further strengthened our policies and practices around evaluating new investments for ESG implications, establishing a senior ESG review committee to evaluate more complex ESG issues, in order to help guide our investment analysis. Also in 2020, we published our inaugural Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) Report, underscoring our evolving approach to climate change and we published our first corporate ESG disclosures, utilizing Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards, which provide an internationally recognized framework to communicate ESG matters to our various stakeholders. In 2022, we became a signatory of the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment, and remain involved with several important industry initiatives in the field, including, among others, the ESG Data Convergence Initiative, the International Sustainability Standards Board Investor Advisory Group (IIAG), the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) Global Responsible Investment Steering Committee, and the One Planet Private Equity Funds Initiative.
Our Board of Directors oversees our firm’s approach to ESG given the critical importance with which we view ESG principles. The Board receives regular updates on our ESG strategy and certain investment implications, and receives information on thematic topics, such as our approach to climate risk and opportunity and DEI. The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board, which takes a leadership role in shaping our corporate governance, including our ESG and Impact strategy, has appointed a member of the Board to serve as the ESG and Impact lead, responsible for oversight of the firm’s work in this area. In addition, Carlyle’s Global Head of Impact is directly responsible for our climate strategy, and reports to the firm’s Chief Operating Officer.
With respect to our investments, we may track certain ESG key performance indicators (KPIs) that we consider relevant across diverse geographies and assets for our corporate private equity and natural resources investments, including climate-related metrics. For some of our larger strategies, we generally work with qualifying portfolio companies on collecting more tailored ESG KPIs and climate-related data such as carbon footprints.
Carlyle has an internal dedicated ESG team with a breadth of experience to help identify critical ESG matters in our investment processes, as well as a network of outside experts to enable our investment teams to selectively go deeper on important ESG factors and potential ESG growth opportunities for a given investment over our projected investment periods. We believe our commitment to ESG may strengthen strategy, bring new ideas for operational efficiency and help unlock value for certain portfolio companies.
Since Carlyle was established, we have recognized the value and benefits of maintaining a business model grounded in investment fundamentals, strong governance and transparency. We are committed to maintaining strong internal corporate governance processes and fiduciary functions and are subject to regulatory supervision. Carlyle professionals receive regular and targeted training on many issues related to corporate governance and compliance, such as anti-corruption, conflicts of interest, economic sanctions and anti-money laundering. Our policy requires all employees to annually certify their understanding of and compliance with key global Carlyle policies and procedures.
Global Information Technology and Solutions
Global Information Technology and Solutions, which we refer to as GTS, is essential for Carlyle to conduct investment activities, manage internal administration activities and connect our global enterprise. As part of our GTS strategy and governance processes, we develop and routinely refine our technology architecture to leverage solutions that will best serve the needs of our investors. Our systems, data, network and infrastructure are continuously monitored and administered by formal controls and risk management processes that help protect the data and privacy of our employees and investors. Our business continuity plans are designed to allow all critical business functions to continue in an orderly manner in the event of an emergency. Our GTS team works closely with our business segment teams to maintain operational resilience through business continuity planning and annual IT disaster recovery testing, which collectively support the goal of mitigating risk were an emergency to occur.
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Our Information Security Steering Committee, chaired by our Chief Information Security Officer, monitors threats and prioritizes the initiatives of our information security program. We also seek to educate our employees on how to safeguard Carlyle’s information assets through quarterly security awareness training focused on cyber risks and simulated phishing exercises that provide insight into the effectiveness of our security training.
Competition
As a global investment firm, we compete with a broad array of regional and global investment firms, as well as global banking institutions and other types of financial institutions and markets, for employees, investors and investment opportunities. Generally, our competition varies across business lines, geographies, distribution channels and financial markets. We believe that our competition for investors is based primarily on investment performance, business relationships, the quality of services provided to investors, reputation and brand recognition, pricing, market sentiment and the relative attractiveness of the particular opportunity in which a particular fund intends to invest. To stay competitive, we believe it is also important to be able to offer fund investors a customized suite of investment products that enable them to tailor their investments across the product offerings in our three global business segments. As we continue to target high net worth investors, we also face competition for these investors from mutual funds and investment firms that have competing retail products. We believe that competition for investment opportunities varies across business lines, but is generally based on industry expertise and potential for value-add, pricing, terms and the structure of a proposed investment and certainty of execution.
We generally compete with sponsors of public and private investment funds across all of our segments. In addition to these traditional competitors, we increasingly have faced competition from local and regional firms, insurance and reinsurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and agencies and instrumentalities of governments in the various countries in which we invest. This trend has been especially apparent in emerging markets, where local firms tend to have more established relationships with the companies in which we are attempting to invest. Large institutional investors and sovereign wealth funds increasingly have begun to develop their own in-house investment capabilities and may compete against us for investment opportunities and greater reliance on advisory firms or in-house investment management may reduce fund of funds’ appeal to large institutional investors.
Within our GPE segment, our main competitors for investment opportunities are generally other private equity sponsors, sovereign wealth funds and operating companies acting as strategic acquirers, as well as real estate development companies and other infrastructure investment business. In our Global Credit segment, our main competitors are private credit strategies, business development companies, distressed debt funds, mezzanine funds, lessors of commercial aircraft, infrastructure lenders and other CLO issuers. In our Global Investment Solutions segment, our main competitors are other fund of funds managers and/or with advisers that are turning their business models towards discretionary investment advisory services. As larger sovereign wealth funds and pension funds pursue direct commitments and secondary transactions, our Global Investment Solutions funds may face increased competition for investments and coinvestment opportunities.
Some of the entities that we compete with are substantially larger and have greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources and more personnel than we do. Many of our competitors also have recently raised, or are expected to raise, significant amounts of capital and many of them have investment objectives similar to ours, which may create additional competition for investment opportunities and investor capital. Some of these competitors may also have a lower cost of capital and access to funding sources that are not available to us, which may create competitive disadvantages for us when sourcing investment opportunities. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances, different risk assessments or lower return thresholds, which could allow them to consider a wider range of investments and to bid more aggressively than us for investments. Strategic buyers may also be able to achieve synergistic cost savings or revenue enhancements with respect to a targeted portfolio company, which we may not be able to achieve through our own portfolio, and this may provide them with a competitive advantage in bidding for such investments.
Regulatory and Compliance Matters
United States
Our businesses, as well as the financial services industry generally, are subject to extensive regulation in the United States and elsewhere. In general, the SEC, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) and other regulators around the globe have in recent years significantly increased their regulatory activities with respect to global investment firms.
Certain of our subsidiaries are registered as investment advisers with the SEC. Registered investment advisers are subject to the requirements and regulations of the Advisers Act. Such requirements relate to, among other things, fiduciary duties to advisory clients, maintaining an effective compliance program, solicitation agreements, conflicts of interest, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, disclosure requirements, limitations on agency cross and principal transactions between an adviser and advisory clients and general anti-fraud prohibitions. In addition, our registered investment advisers are subject to routine periodic and other examinations by the SEC staff. In accordance with our efforts to enhance our compliance program and in response to recommendations received from the SEC in the course of routine examinations, certain additional
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policies and procedures have been put into place, but no material changes to our registered investment advisers’ operations have been made as a result of such examinations. Our registered investment advisers also have not been subject to any regulatory or disciplinary actions by the SEC. Finally, certain of our investment advisers are subject to limited SEC disclosure requirements as “exempt reporting advisers.”
Effective January 3, 2022, Carlyle’s two affiliated broker-dealer entities, TCG Securities, L.L.C. (“TCG Securities”) and TCG Capital Markets L.L.C. (“TCG Capital Markets”), restructured and now operate as TCG Capital Markets. TCG Capital Markets is registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and in 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). In addition, TCG Capital Markets operates under an international dealer exemption in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. TCG Capital Markets may act as an underwriter, syndicator or placement agent in securities offerings and TCG Senior Funding L.L.C. may act as an underwriter, originator, syndicator or placement agent for loan originations. TCG Capital Markets also conducts U.S.-based marketing and fundraising activities for our Global Private Equity, Global Credit, and Global Investment Solutions business lines, and houses our anti-money laundering compliance function. TCG Capital Markets acts as a placement agent, on a best-efforts basis, for interests in private funds and other investment vehicles for such business lines.
Registered broker-dealers are subject to routine periodic and other examinations by the staff of FINRA. No material changes to our broker-dealer operations have been made as a result of such examinations.
Broker-dealers are subject to rules relating to transactions on a particular exchange and/or market, and rules relating to the internal operations of the firms and their dealings with customers including, but not limited to, the form or organization of the firm, qualifications of associated persons, officers and directors, net capital and customer protection rules, books and records and financial statements and reporting. In particular, as a result of its registered status, TCG Capital Markets is subject to the SEC’s uniform net capital rule, Rule 15c3-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), which specifies both the minimum level of net capital a broker-dealer must maintain relative to the scope of its business activities and net capital liquidity parameters. The SEC and FINRA require compliance with key financial responsibility rules, including maintenance of adequate funds to meet expenses and contractual obligations, as well as early warning rules that compel notice to the regulators via accelerated financial reporting anytime a firm’s capital falls below the minimum required level. The uniform net capital rule limits the amount of qualifying subordinated debt that is treated as equity to a specific percentage under the debt-to-equity ratio test, and further limits the withdrawal of equity capital, which is subject to specific notice provisions. Finally, compliance with net capital rules may also limit a firm’s ability to expand its operations, particularly to those activities that require the use of capital. Violation of the net capital rule may result in censures, fines, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders, revocation of licenses or registrations, the suspension or expulsion from the securities industry of the broker-dealer or its officers or employees or other similar consequences by regulatory bodies. To date, TCG Capital Markets has not had any capital adequacy issues and is currently capitalized in excess of the minimum maintenance amount required by regulators.
Carlyle Global Credit Investment Management L.L.C. (“CGCIM”) and CSL III Advisor, LLC, subsidiaries of Carlyle, serve as investment advisers to certain closed-end investment companies that have elected to be regulated as BDCs under the Investment Company Act (as well as to certain private funds and other clients). Accordingly, these BDCs are subject to all relevant provisions under the Investment Company Act as registered investment companies. In addition, CGCIM serves as the investment adviser to the Interval Fund, which is regulated as a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act. Moreover, AlpInvest Private Equity Investment Management, LLC, a subsidiary of Carlyle, serves as the investment adviser to Carlyle AlpInvest Private Markets Fund (“CAPM”), which is regulated as a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act. CGCIM also serves as a sub-adviser to CAPM.
United Kingdom and the European Union
Similar to the United States, jurisdictions outside the United States in which we operate, in particular Europe, have become subject to an expanding body of regulation, some of which is complex and prescriptive. Governmental regulators and other authorities in Europe have proposed or implemented a number of initiatives and additional rules and regulations that could adversely affect our business. These include rules and regulations in the United Kingdom (“UK”) that are applicable to our subsidiaries established in the UK, as well as, or in addition to, rules and regulations implemented under European Union (“EU”) directives or regulations, which generally have application throughout the European Economic Area (“EEA”) but may also have substantive differences among EU countries as they are implemented pursuant to each member state’s legislative process.
In the UK, the principal legislation regulating financial services is the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the “FSMA”) and the principal European legislation affecting the conduct of our business in the EU is implemented under the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (“MiFID”) and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (“AIFMD”), although there are a number of other pieces of legislation both in the UK and the EU that affect our business, such as the
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General Data Protection Regulation (and its UK equivalent). The FSMA rules and EU laws that have either been adopted into UK law in connection with the UK’s withdrawal from the EU (e.g., the Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation) or already implemented in the UK through domestic legislation or regulatory rules prior to such withdrawal (e.g., MiFID and AIFMD), comprehensively regulate the provision of most aspects of our asset management and advisory business in the UK, including sales, research and trading practices, provision of investment advice, corporate finance, dealing, use and safekeeping of client funds and securities, record keeping, margin practices and procedures, approval standards for individuals, anti-money laundering, periodic reporting, settlement procedures, securitization, derivative trading, prudential capital requirements, data protection, sustainable finance, and interest rate benchmarks. Legislation not yet in effect and future legislative initiatives will impact our business. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Regulation and Litigation—Regulatory initiatives in jurisdictions outside the United States could adversely affect our business.”
CECP Advisors LLP (“CECP”), one of our subsidiaries in the UK, is authorized under the FSMA and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”). CECP has permission to undertake certain corporate finance activities in the UK—broadly these are advising on, and arranging deals in relation to certain types of, investments. CECP is only permitted to carry out these activities in relation to eligible counterparties and professional clients.
CELF Advisors LLP (“CELF”), another one of our subsidiaries in the UK, is also authorized and regulated by the FCA, but has permission to undertake a broader range of regulated activities than CECP, namely, arranging deals in investments, advising on investments, managing investments, dealing in investments as agent, and arranging for the safeguarding and administration of assets. CELF is only permitted to carry out these activities in relation to eligible counterparties and professional clients.
In 2022, we acquired Abingworth LLP (“Abingworth”), which is authorized and regulated by the FCA, with permissions for establishing, operating or winding up a collective investment scheme, and managing an unauthorized AIF. Abingworth is only permitted to carry out these activities in relation to eligible counterparties and professional clients.
Also in 2022, CECP appointed CIC Advisors LLP (“CIC”) as an appointed representative. Under the arrangement, CECP, as the principal of CIC, has accepted regulatory responsibility for CIC of carrying out the activities of advising on investments and arranging deals in investments. Under the appointed representative arrangement, CIC is only permitted to carry out these activities in relation to eligible counterparties and professional clients.
Following the UK’s exit from the EU on January 31, 2020, and the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, 2020, EEA passporting rights (which previously entitled CECP and CELF to provide certain investment services in or into the EEA on a cross-border basis and Abingworth to market its funds in the EEA on a cross-border basis) are no longer available to CECP, CELF and Abingworth. Certain EEA investor-facing activities previously carried on by those firms have been reorganized such that they are now performed by different, EEA-established, affiliates under alternative licensing arrangements, and this may continue to change in the future. These arrangements may subject us to additional regulatory obligations and may impede our ability to raise capital from EEA investors. The UK and the EU announced, on December 24, 2020, that they have reached agreement on a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the “TCA”), which addresses the future relationship between the parties. The TCA was approved by the UK Parliament on December 30, 2020. Due to the TCA only being agreed shortly before the end of the transition period, it applied on a provisional basis in the EU until it was formally ratified by the European Parliament and has applied permanently from May 1, 2021. However, the TCA does not substantively address future cooperation in the financial services sector or reciprocal market access into the EU by UK-based firms under equivalence arrangements or otherwise. Nevertheless, as a new agreement, the implications and operations of the TCA may be subject to change and/or develop on short notice. In addition, the Temporary Marketing Permission Regime (the “TMPR”) allows AIFMs to continue to market in the UK those funds that were in existence on December 31, 2020, on broadly the same terms as previously applied. Unless extended, the TMPR expires on December 31, 2023. Any marketing of a new fund coming into existence after December 31, 2020, must be under the UK’s national private placement regime.
Certain of our European subsidiaries are subject to compliance requirements in connection with AIFMD, which regulates alternative investment fund managers (“AIFMs”) established in the EEA that manage alternative investment funds (“AIFs”). In the UK, a retained version of the AIFMD exists. The AIFMD also regulates and imposes regulatory obligations in respect of the marketing in the EEA by AIFMs (whether established in the EEA or elsewhere) of AIFs (whether established in the EEA or elsewhere). The AIFMD generally became effective in countries across the EEA in 2014. Currently, Carlyle has three authorized AIFMs in the EEA: AlpInvest, CIM Europe S.a.r.l. (“CIM Europe”) and Carlyle Real Estate SGR S.p.A. In the UK, Abingworth is authorized under the UK retained version of AIFMD.
The AIFMD imposes significant regulatory requirements on AIFMs. The AIFMD regulates fund managers by, among other things, prescribing authorization conditions for an AIFM, restricting the activities that can be undertaken by an AIFM, prescribing the organizational requirements, operating conditions, and regulatory standards relating to such things as initial capital, remuneration, conflicts, risk management, leverage, liquidity management, delegation of duties, transparency and
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reporting requirements. The AIFMD has the potential to restrict Carlyle’s fund marketing strategy and places additional compliance obligations on its authorized AIFMs in the form of, among other things, remuneration policies, capital requirements, reporting requirements, leverage oversight and liquidity management.
Authorized AIFMs are entitled to market their AIFs throughout the EEA under a marketing passport. Under the AIFMD, an AIFM may, in addition to its fund management activity, also be authorized to provide certain investment services that would otherwise require authorization under MiFID. Authorization under the AIFMD is currently available only to EEA fund managers. AlpInvest obtained authorization as an AIFM from the Authority for Financial Markets in the Netherlands (the “AFM”) in 2015. AlpInvest is also licensed by the AFM to provide some of the additional investment services that are otherwise generally reserved to MiFID firms. CIM Europe obtained authorization as an AIFM in Luxembourg in early 2018. Carlyle Real Estate SGR S.p.A. registered at the Bank of Italy’s AIFM register under no.127 in 2017.
The AIFMD allows member states to permit marketing within their member state by non-EEA fund managers (under what are known as national private placement regimes), provided the local law imposes certain minimum requirements. Member states may impose more stringent requirements. At present, some EEA states have chosen not to operate a national private placement regime at all; some EEA states apply the minimum requirements; others require the minimum plus a few additional requirements (e.g., the appointment of a depository); and some require compliance with substantially all of the AIFMD. Certain of Carlyle’s funds are currently offered in selected member states of the EEA in accordance with the national private placement regimes of the relevant EEA jurisdiction.
In 2017, the European Commission started a review of AIFMD. The European Commission published a report on the operation of the AIFMD in January 2019, which identified certain areas requiring further analysis. A subsequent report on the application and scope of the AIFMD was published in June 2020. Following these reports, the European Commission launched a public consultation relating to its review of the AIFMD in October 2020, which closed on January 29, 2021. In November 2021, the European Commission published draft legislation, commonly referred to as “AIFMD II.” The European Commission’s draft legislation proposed a number of amendments to the AIFMD, including more onerous delegation requirements, enhanced substance requirements, additional liquidity management provisions for AIFMs to the extent that they manage open-ended AIFs, and revised regulatory reporting and investor disclosures requirements. The draft proposed significant new requirements relating to the activities of funds that originate loans including new restrictions on the structure that such funds may take. In addition, the draft proposed to introduce new conditions for non-EEA AIFMs, such as certain of our US affiliates, to be able to make use of the national private placement regimes of EEA states, including a condition that the jurisdiction of neither of the AIFM and AIF have been identified as non-cooperative third countries for tax purposes nor deemed by the EU not to comply fully with the standards laid down in Article 26 of the OECD Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital and thereby to ensure an effective exchange of information in tax matters. This gives rise to a risk that certain of our AIFs may not be able to take advantage of such regimes to raise capital from EEA investors, potentially with little notice. AIFMD II is currently passing through the EU ordinary legislative process, involving scrutiny and amendment by the European Council and the European Parliament. Agreement on the legislation between the European Commission, European Council and European Parliament is expected to be reached during 2023, after which the final shape of the new regime, and any impact on us or our subsidiaries, will be clearer. The new regime will come into force two years after this final agreement is reached and fully approved with implementation currently expected in 2025.
In August 2021, Directive (EU) 2019/1160 and Regulation (EU) 2019/1156 (the “Cross-Border Marketing Rules”) came into force in the EU. The Cross-Border Marketing Rules were introduced to streamline certain aspects of marketing investment funds by harmonizing the ability for EU AIFMs to distribute AIFs across the EU, including by introducing a new regime for “pre-marketing.” Moreover, these regulations also impose new restrictions and new obligations on fund managers that are pre-marketing their funds in the EU. Further, some EU member states (but not all) also apply, or intend to apply, certain of the Cross-Border Marketing Rules to non-EU fund managers (including UK and U.S. fund managers) in relation to the process of marketing of their funds. Accordingly, our ability to market our funds in EU will vary from country to country notwithstanding this pan-EU regulation.
As outlined above, certain of our European subsidiaries, notably CECP, CELF and CIC in the UK, must comply with the regulatory framework established by MiFID (including as retained in the UK), which regulates the provision and conduct of investment services and activities throughout the EEA. Certain aspects of MiFID also apply to AlpInvest by virtue of its MiFID “top up” permission as part of its AIFMD authorization. MiFID prescribes detailed requirements governing the organization and business conduct of investment firms, regulated markets and certain other entities such as credit institutions to the extent they perform investment services or activities.
The latest iteration of MiFID, Directive 2014/ 65/EU (“MiFID II”) together with the accompanying Regulation (EU) No 600/2014 (the “Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation” or “MiFIR”), extended the MiFID requirements in a number of areas and require investment firms to comply with more prescriptive and onerous obligations in relation to such things as: costs and charges disclosure, product design and governance, the receipt and payment of inducements, the receipt of and payment for investment research, suitability and appropriateness assessments, conflicts of interest, record-keeping, best
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execution, transaction and trade reporting, remuneration, training and competence and corporate governance. Failure to comply with MiFID II and its associated legislative acts could result in sanctions from national regulators, the loss of market access and a number of other adverse consequences which would have a detrimental impact on our business. Although the UK has now withdrawn from the EU, its rules implementing MiFID continue to have effect and MiFIR has been adopted into UK law (subject to certain amendments to ensure it operates properly in a UK-specific context) in connection with this withdrawal.
The UK has introduced a new prudential regulatory framework for UK investment firms (the “Investment Firm Prudential Regime” or the “IFPR”), which is closely based on an equivalent regulatory framework introduced at the EU-level through the EU Investment Firm Regulation and Investment Firm Directive (together “IFR/IFD”). The IFPR took effect from January 1, 2022, and applies to our subsidiaries that are UK investment firms under MiFID II, namely CECP and CELF. Under the IFPR, among other requirements, both CECP and CELF are required to maintain a more onerous policy on remuneration, set an appropriate ratio between the variable and fixed components of total remuneration and meet requirements on the structure of variable remuneration. These requirements may make it more difficult for us to attract and retain staff. Importantly, the broad discretion for UK firms that used to be available to disapply certain remuneration rules on the basis of “proportionality” does not apply in relation to IFPR. Under IFPR, CECP and CELF will each also have to make public disclosure on their websites in relation to their (i) own funds, own funds requirements and governance structures; (ii) risk management; and (iii) remuneration. The new public disclosure requirements mandate more detail including quantitative information on remuneration paid to staff. IFPR has resulted in increased regulatory capital and liquidity adequacy requirements for CECP in particular and may continue to increase the costs of doing business and may impede intra-group capital and cash flows.
In the EU, IFR/IFD took effect from June 26, 2021 and represents a complete overhaul of “prudential” regulation in the EU and substantially increases regulatory capital requirements for certain investment firms and imposes more onerous remuneration rules, and revised and extended internal governance, disclosure, reporting, liquidity, and group “prudential” consolidation requirements (among other things). IFR/IFD affects AlpInvest, one of our subsidiaries, since it is an AIFM in the Netherlands with top-up permissions to provide investment services. In particular, as AlpInvest’s assets under management attributable to separate accounts regulated by MiFID II (as defined below) increases so will AlpInvest’s regulatory capital and liquidity adequacy requirements, which may increase the costs of doing business and may impede intra-group capital and cash flows.
The UK is introducing an important and substantial regime, the “Consumer Duty,” designed to improve outcomes for retail investors, aspects of which will begin to apply from July 31, 2023. Although Carlyle entities do not generally deal with consumers in the ordinary sense, the regime may potentially apply to certain of our future funds. On December 2, 2022, the FCA published a consultation proposal that would, if implemented, remove an important exemption that is currently available to asset managers of investment funds and potentially make the impact of the Consumer Duty more significant and widespread. This could have important implications for Carlyle entities if they are unable to rely on another exemption. We will continue to work closely with external counsel and advisors to monitor these developments.
Other Jurisdictions
Certain of our subsidiaries are subject to registration and compliance with laws and regulations of non-U.S. governments, their respective agencies and/or various self-regulatory organizations or exchanges relating to, among other things, investment advisory services and the marketing of investment products, and any failure to comply with these regulations could expose us to liability and/or damage our reputation. Certain of our private funds are also required to comply with the trading and disclosure rules and regulations of non-U.S. securities regulators.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the “OECD”) has developed Common Reporting Standard (“CRS”) rules for the automatic exchange of FATCA-like financial account information amongst OECD member states. Like FATCA, CRS imposes certain due diligence, documentation and reporting requirements on various Carlyle entities. While CRS does not contain a potential withholding requirement, non-compliance could subject Carlyle to certain reputational harm and potential financial penalties.
Carlyle Hong Kong Equity Management Limited is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities) regulated activity in respect of professional investors.
Carlyle Asia Limited is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 4 (advising on securities) regulated activities in respect of professional investors.
Carlyle Global Credit (HK) Limited is licensed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission to carry on Type 1 (dealing in securities) and Type 4 (advising on securities) regulated activities in respect of professional investors.
Carlyle Mauritius Investment Advisor Limited and Carlyle Mauritius CIS Investment Management Limited are licensed providers of investment management services in the Republic of Mauritius and are subject to applicable Mauritian
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securities laws and the oversight of the Financial Services Commission. Carlyle Mauritius Investment Advisor Limited holds a “Foreign Institutional Investor” license from the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which entitles this entity to engage in limited activities in India. Carlyle Mauritius CIS Investment Management Limited holds a “Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor” license from the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which entitles this entity to invest in certain permitted financial instruments (including equity) and derivatives traded or listed on exchanges in the Peoples Republic of China.
Carlyle Australia Equity Management Pty Limited is licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as an Australian financial services licensee and is authorized to carry on a financial services business to provide advice on and deal in financial products (managed investment schemes and securities) for wholesale clients.
Carlyle Japan Equity Management L.L.C. (“CJEM”) is registered with the Financial Services Agency of Japan to carry out Type II Financial Instruments Business as a Japanese Type II Financial Instruments Business Operator and it is also a member of the T2FIFA, a self-regulatory organization in Japan. Pursuant to this registration, CJEM is permitted to perform marketing activities to and private placements for specified investors with respect to interests in a limited partnership.
Carlyle MENA Investment Advisors Limited, a company limited by shares in the Dubai Financial Centre, holds a Category 3C license issued by the Dubai Financial Services Authority and is authorized to arrange credit or deal in investments, advise on financial products or credit and manage collective investment funds.
Carlyle MENA Advisors Limited, a company limited by shares in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, is authorized by the Abu Dhabi Financial Services Regulatory Authority and is authorized to arrange deals in investments, advise on investments or credit and manage collective investment funds.
Carlyle Singapore Investment Advisors Pte Limited holds a capital markets license and an exempt financial adviser status with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to carry on fund management and dealing in regulated capital market products activities in respect of institutional and accredited investors. In addition, we expect AlpInvest Partners Pte Limited to receive a similar license and status with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Carlyle Real Estate SGR S.p.A. holds an authorization from the Bank of Italy to carry on AIFMD-compliant fund management and real estate activities. It is registered at the Bank of Italy’s AIFM register under no.127.
Carlyle Investments (Canada) Corporation, formerly Diversified Global Asset Management Corporation, holds an exempt market dealer license with Ontario Securities Commission to facilitate certain Carlyle fund marketing activities in Canada.
AlpInvest is registered as a cross-border discretionary investment management company with the Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea.
Carlyle CLO Management LLC is registered as a cross-border discretionary investment management company with the Financial Supervisory Service of South Korea.
An investment fund advised by us holds an indirect controlling interest in Fortitude Re, a Bermuda company registered as a Class 4 and Class E insurer. Fortitude Re is subject to regulation and supervision by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (the “BMA”) and compliance with all applicable Bermuda law and Bermuda insurance statutes and regulations, including but not limited to the Insurance Act of 1978 (Bermuda) and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder (the “Bermuda Insurance Act”). In addition, as a result of ownership of Fortitude by our investment fund, certain Carlyle affiliates that serve as general partner and investment advisor to the fund are subject to certain insurance laws and regulations in Bermuda as a “controller” of Fortitude Re under the Bermuda Insurance Act. These laws and regulations include certain notice requirements for any person that has become, or as a result of a disposition ceased to be, a shareholder controller of a registered insurer, and failure to comply with such requirements is an offense punishable by law.
In addition, we and/or our affiliates and subsidiaries may become subject to additional regulatory demands in the future to the extent we expand our investment advisory business in existing and new jurisdictions. There are also a number of pending or recently enacted legislative and regulatory initiatives in the United States and around the world that could significantly impact our business. See Item 1A “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Regulation and Litigation—Extensive regulation in the United States and abroad affects our activities, increases the cost of doing business and creates the potential for significant liabilities and penalties,” “Financial regulations and changes thereto in the United States could adversely affect our business and the possibility of increased regulatory focus could result in additional burdens and expenses on our business” and “Regulatory initiatives in jurisdictions outside the United States could adversely affect our business.”
Our businesses have operated for many years within a framework that requires our being able to monitor and comply with a broad range of legal and regulatory developments that affect our activities and we take our obligation to comply with all
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such laws, regulations and internal policies seriously. Our reputation depends on the integrity and business judgment of our employees and we strive to maintain a culture of compliance throughout the firm. We have developed, and adhere to, compliance policies and procedures such as codes of conduct, compliance systems, education and communication of compliance matters. These policies focus on matters such as insider trading, anti-corruption, document retention, conflicts of interest, anti-money laundering and other matters. Our legal and compliance team monitors our compliance with all of the legal and regulatory requirements to which we are subject and manages our compliance policies and procedures. Our legal and compliance team also monitors the information barriers that we maintain to restrict the flow of confidential information, including material, nonpublic information, across our business. Our enterprise risk management function analyzes our operations and investment strategies to identify key risks facing the firm and works closely with the legal and compliance team to address them. The firm also has an independent and objective internal audit department that employs a risk-based audit approach that focuses on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, enterprise risk management functions and other areas of perceived risk and aims to give management and our Board of Directors reasonable assurance that our risks are well-managed and controls are appropriate and effective.
Website and Availability of SEC Filings
Our website address is www.carlyle.com. We make available free of charge on our website or provide a link on our website to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. To access these filings, go to the “SEC Documents” portion of our “Shareholders” page on our website. You may also access the reports and other documents we file with the SEC at a website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov.
We use our website (www.carlyle.com), our corporate Facebook page (www.facebook.com/onecarlyle), our corporate Twitter account (@OneCarlyle or www.twitter.com/onecarlyle), our corporate Instagram account (@onecarlyle or www.instagram.com/onecarlyle), our corporate LinkedIn account (www.linkedin.com/company/the-carlyle-group), our corporate YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/onecarlyle), and our corporate WeChat account (ID: gh_3e34f090ec20) as channels of distribution of material company information. For example, financial and other material information regarding our company is routinely posted on and accessible at www.carlyle.com. Accordingly, investors should monitor these channels, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about Carlyle when you enroll your email address by visiting the “Email Alerts” section at http://ir.carlyle.com/email-alerts. The contents of our website and social media channels are not, however, a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K and are not incorporated by reference herein.
The Carlyle Group Inc. was formed in Delaware as a partnership on July 18, 2011, and converted to a corporation on January 1, 2020. Our principal executive offices are located at 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20004-2505.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Risks Related to Our Company
Adverse economic and market conditions and other events or conditions throughout the world could negatively impact our business in many ways, including by reducing the value or performance of the investments made by our investment funds and reducing the ability of our investment funds to raise capital, any of which could materially reduce our revenue, earnings and cash flow and adversely affect our financial prospects and condition.
Our business and the businesses of the companies in which we invest are materially affected by conditions in the global financial markets, and economic conditions or other events throughout the world that are outside of our control, including, but not limited to, changes in interest rates, availability and cost of credit, inflation rates, availability and cost of energy, economic uncertainty, slowdown in global growth, changes in laws (including laws relating to taxation and regulations on the financial industry), disease, pandemics or other severe public health events, trade barriers, commodity prices, currency exchange rates and controls, national and international political circumstances (including government shutdowns, wars, terrorist acts or security operations), geopolitical tensions and instability, social unrest, supply chain pressures, and the effects of climate change. Over the last several years, markets have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, significant increases in U.S. interest rates, inflationary pressures, heightened geopolitical tensions (including those between the U.S. and China, China and Taiwan, and between Russia and Ukraine), the imposition of export controls and trade barriers, the imposition of economic and political sanctions (upon specific individuals or companies and country, industry and sector wide restrictions), ongoing trade negotiations with major U.S. trading partners and changes in U.S. tax regulations.
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In this respect, our investment funds focused on Asia, and portfolio companies within non-Asia investment funds with significant operations or connectivity and reliance on Asia companies, and listed securities or debt instruments of companies or industries, could be impacted by any disruptions to the global supply chain that may result from escalating tensions, disputes or potential conflicts in the region surrounding the Taiwan Strait. The resulting actions taken, the response of the international community and other factors affecting trade with China or political or economic conditions in Taiwan could disrupt the manufacture of multiple business critical products or hardware components, including specifically semiconductors and these events may impact entire sectors and industries regardless of their business proximity to the Taiwan Strait. For example, in the event that such conditions impact suppliers, contract manufacturers, logistics providers, and/or distributors, this could lead to adverse business and trading conditions, including material and long-term increases in the cost of materials, higher shipping and transportation rates, material impact or delays on the delivery of products to and from impacted regions, which could adversely affect the business and operations of portfolio companies within and outside Asia, including their revenues and financial results. These conditions, events, and factors are outside our control and may affect the level and volatility of securities prices and the liquidity and the value of investments, and we may not be able to or may choose not to manage our exposure to them. In the event of a market downturn, each of our businesses could be affected in different ways.
Over the twelve months ending December 31, 2022, the S&P 500 fell by 19.4%, while the MSCI All Country World Index (MSCI) fell by 19.8%. Global markets struggled in the face of rapidly rising inflation, a sharp and hawkish shift in monetary policy, and geopolitical concerns such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s rolling pandemic-related restrictions. Market losses are concentrated at both ends of the risk spectrum where valuations have been richest. The prices of speculative equities most exposed to interest rate risk—namely, those of companies with cash flows weighted far into the future—were down 40% in 2022; at the same time, low risk investment grade bonds were down 19% as well. In general, higher interest rates have negative implications for (1) fixed rate bond markets and (2) tech and high growth sector assets. In both cases, higher discount rates negatively impact the value of future cash flows. Factors that impact global markets, including inflation, interest rates, regulatory and political environments, can be unpredictable and investor sentiment could change quickly in the future while market volatility could accelerate in the face of negative macro or geopolitical developments. If global markets become unstable, it is possible sellers may readjust their valuations and attractive investment opportunities may become available. On the other hand, the valuations of certain assets we planned to sell in the near future could be negatively impacted, as well as the valuations of our portfolio companies and as a result, our accrued performance revenues.
Market volatility could adversely affect our fundraising efforts in several ways. Investors often allocate to alternative asset classes (including private equity) based on a target percentage of their overall portfolio. If the value of an investor’s portfolio decreases as a whole, the amount available to allocate to alternative assets (including private equity) could decline. In addition, investors often evaluate the amount of distributions they have received from existing funds when considering commitments to new funds. Investors may also weigh the likely impact of geopolitical tensions, cross-border regulations and other factors such as general market volatility and/or a reduction in distributions to investors when considering their allocations to new investment funds. A decrease in the amount an investor commits to our funds could have an impact on the ultimate size of our funds and amount of management fees we generate.
The availability and cost of financing for significant acquisition and disposition transactions could be impacted if equity and credit markets experience heightened volatility. For example, in the United States, equity market volatility persisted throughout 2022, as relentlessly high inflation readings motivated the U.S. Federal Reserve to aggressively increase short-term interest rates. Over the twelve months ending December 31, 2022, 10-year Treasury yields rose 235 basis points (bps) and high yield credit spreads widened by 265 bps and obtaining financing in both the high yield bond market and the leveraged loan market is currently challenging. If credit markets weaken further in the future, it is possible that we and our investment funds may not be able to consummate significant acquisition and disposition transactions on acceptable terms or at all if we or our funds are unable to finance these types of transactions on attractive terms or if the counterparty to the transaction is unable to secure suitable financing.
Global merger and acquisition volume totaled $3.8 trillion in 2022, a 36% decline from 2021. If there is a continued slowdown in global merger and acquisition activity due to the lack of availability of suitable financing or an increase in risk aversion and uncertainty, this could cause a slowdown in our investment pace, which in turn could have an adverse impact on our ability to generate future performance revenues and to fully invest the available capital in our funds and reduce opportunities to exit and realize value from our fund investments. A slowdown in the deployment of our available capital could impact the management fees we earn on those carry funds and managed accounts that generate fees based on invested (and not committed) capital. A slowdown in the deployment of our available capital could also adversely affect our ability to raise and the timing of raising successor investment funds. In 2022, we invested nearly $35 billion through our carry funds.
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The current U.S. political environment and the resulting uncertainties regarding actual and potential shifts in U.S. foreign investment, trade, taxation, economic, environmental and other policies under the current Administration, as well as the impact of geopolitical tension, such as a deterioration in the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China or a further escalation in conflict between Russia and Ukraine, could lead to disruption, instability and volatility in the global markets, which may also have an impact on our exit opportunities across negatively impacted sectors or geographies. The consequences of previously enacted legislation could also impact our business operations in the future. For example, bipartisan legislation enacted in August 2018 has significantly increased and may continue to significantly increase the number and types of investment transactions that are subject to the jurisdiction of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”). Under the final regulations implementing the reform legislation, which became effective in October 2020, CFIUS has the authority to review, and potentially recommend that the President unwind, block or impose conditions on certain non-controlling foreign investments in U.S. businesses that deal in certain ways with “critical technology,” “critical infrastructure” and/or “sensitive personal data” of U.S. citizens (as those terms are defined in the regulations). CFIUS’ expanded jurisdiction may reduce the number of potential buyers of and investors in U.S. companies and, accordingly, may limit the ability of our funds to realize value and/or exit from certain existing and future investments. Our flexibility in structuring or financing certain transactions may likewise be constrained and we are unable to predict whether and to what extent uncertainty surrounding economic and market conditions or adverse conditions or events in particular sectors may cause our performance to suffer. The current Administration may also pursue tax policies seeking to increase the corporate tax rate and further limit the deductibility of interest and compensation, or materially alter the taxation of capital gains, among other things. Such changes could materially increase the taxes imposed on us or our funds’ portfolio companies. See “Risks Related to Taxation—Changes in relevant tax laws, regulations or treaties or an adverse interpretation of these items by tax authorities could negatively impact our effective tax rate, tax liability and/or the performance of certain funds should unexpected taxes be assessed to portfolio investments (companies) or fund income.” In addition, negative public sentiment could lead to heightened scrutiny and criticisms of our business and investments.
During periods of difficult market conditions or slowdowns (which may occur across one or more industries or geographies), our funds’ portfolio companies may experience adverse operating performance, decreased revenues, financial losses, credit rating downgrades, difficulty in obtaining access to financing and increased funding costs. Negative financial results in our funds’ portfolio companies may result in less appreciation across the portfolio and lower returns in our funds. Because our investment funds will generally make a limited number of investments, and such investments generally involve a high degree of risk, negative financial results in a few of an investment fund’s portfolio companies could severely impact the fund’s total returns. This could materially and adversely affect our ability to raise new funds as well as our operating results and cash flow. During such periods of weakness, our funds’ portfolio companies may also have difficulty expanding their businesses and operations or meeting their debt service obligations or other expenses as they become due, including expenses payable to us. In addition, such negative market conditions could potentially result in a portfolio company entering bankruptcy proceedings, or in the case of certain real estate funds, the abandonment or foreclosure of investments, thereby potentially resulting in a complete loss of the fund’s investment in such portfolio company or real assets and a significant negative impact to the fund’s performance and consequently our operating results and cash flow, as well as to our reputation. Negative market conditions could also increase the risk of default with respect to investments held by our funds that have significant debt investments, such as our Global Credit funds. Moreover, as capital markets activity slows, we may experience a corresponding reduction in the capital markets fees we earn through Carlyle Global Capital Markets (“GCM”) in connection with activities related to the underwriting, issuance and placement of debt and equity securities.
Finally, during periods of difficult market conditions or slowdowns, the valuations of the investments in our carry funds could suffer. If we were to realize investments at these lower values we may not achieve investment returns in excess of return hurdles required to realize performance revenues or we may become obligated to repay performance revenues previously received by us. The payment of less or no performance revenues could cause our cash flow from operations to significantly decrease, which could materially and adversely affect our liquidity position and the amount of cash we have on hand to conduct our operations and to dividend to our stockholders. The generation of less performance revenues could also impact our leverage ratios and compliance with our term loan covenants. Having less cash on hand could in turn require us to rely on other sources of cash (such as the capital markets, which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all) to conduct our operations, which include, for example, funding significant general partner and co-investment commitments to our carry funds. In addition, during adverse economic and market conditions, we might not be able to renew or refinance all or part of our credit facility or find alternate financing on commercially reasonable terms. As a result, our uses of cash may exceed our sources of cash, thereby potentially affecting our liquidity position.
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The global pandemic of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, caused severe disruptions in the U.S. and global economies and has impacted, and may continue to impact, our performance and results of operations.
In 2020, the global outbreak of COVID-19 spread to every country and every state in the United States. The World Health Organization designated COVID-19 as a pandemic, and numerous countries, including the United States, declared national emergencies with respect to COVID-19. While vaccines have been approved and deployed, the global impact of the outbreak continues to adversely impact many industries and different geographies continue to be impacted by the effects of public health restrictions in various ways. The International Monetary Fund estimates that aggregate output for advanced economies may have returned to pre-pandemic trend levels in 2022, whereas output for emerging market and developing economies, excluding China, may remain below the pre-pandemic forecast into 2024. The timing and likelihood of achieving widespread global vaccination remains uncertain, and vaccines may be less effective against new variants, potentially leading people to continue to isolate and not participate in the economy at pre-pandemic levels for a prolonged period of time, further delaying the return of the global economy to pre-pandemic levels. Many medical and public health experts believe that COVID-19 could occur for years, such as seasonally in the winter, and even if generally ceasing to be fatal for most people, such reoccurrence could increase the possibility of heightened restrictions in business operations.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been engaged with our employees and adapted to changing circumstances while remaining committed to the health and safety of our employees. During the latter part of 2021, we implemented a hybrid return-to-office approach to reintegrate our employees, including new employees who joined Carlyle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees generally work in the office three days per week, depending on business needs, and work remotely for the balance of the week. This hybrid work environment may introduce operational risks, including technology availability and heightened cybersecurity risk. Remote working environments may be less secure and more susceptible to hacking attacks, including phishing and social engineering attempts. In addition, our data security, data privacy, investor reporting and business continuity processes could be impacted by a third party’s inability to perform or by failures of, or attacks on, their information systems and technology. Our accounting and financial reporting systems, processes, and controls could be impacted as a result of these risks.
Moreover, an extended remote work environment could adversely affect our One Carlyle culture. While our employees continue to collaborate across offices and geographies, the informal office interactions that contribute to our culture, including integrating new employees into the firm, are not as prevalent in a remote work environment and may be lessened even in a hybrid environment due to different employees working in the office on different days of the week.
Our use of leverage may expose us to substantial risks.
We use indebtedness as a means to finance our business operations, which exposes us to risks associated with using leverage. We are dependent on financial institutions extending credit to us on reasonable terms to finance our business. In this respect, global markets struggled in 2022 in the face of rapidly rising inflation, a sharp and hawkish shift in monetary policy, and geopolitical concerns such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s rolling pandemic-related restrictions, all or some of which may lead to challenges in the credit market. There is no guarantee that financial institutions will continue to extend credit to us or will renew the existing credit agreements we have with them on as favorable terms or at all, or that we will be able to refinance our outstanding notes or other obligations when they mature. In addition, the incurrence of additional debt in the future could result in downgrades of our existing corporate credit ratings, which could limit the availability of future financing and/or increase our cost of borrowing. As borrowings under our credit facility or any other indebtedness mature, we may be required to refinance them by entering into a new facility or issuing additional debt, which could result in higher borrowing costs, or to issue additional equity, which would dilute existing stockholders. In addition, we could repay them by using cash on hand, cash provided by our continuing operations or cash from the sale of our assets, which could reduce dividends to our stockholders. We could also have difficulty entering into new facilities or issuing debt or equity securities in the future on attractive terms, or at all.
From time to time, we may access the capital markets by issuing debt securities. In 2021, we issued $500 million aggregate principal amount of 4.625% subordinated notes due May 2061. We also have senior notes with an aggregate principal amount of $1,375 million as of December 31, 2022, as well as a credit agreement that provides a $1.0 billion revolving facility with a final maturity date of April 29, 2027 (see Note 8 to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for more information regarding our senior and subordinated notes and credit agreements). The credit agreement contains financial and non-financial covenants with which we need to comply to maintain access to this source of liquidity. Non-compliance with any of the financial or non-financial covenants without cure or waiver would constitute an event of default, and an event of default resulting from a breach of certain financial or non-financial covenants could result, at the option of the lenders, in an acceleration of the principal and interest outstanding, and a termination of the credit agreement. In
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addition, to the extent we incur additional debt relative to our current level of earnings or experience a decrease in our level of earnings, our credit rating could be adversely impacted, which would increase our interest expense under our credit facility. Standard & Poor’s and Fitch both upgraded our credit rating to “A-” with a stable rating outlook in March 2022 and October 2022, respectively.
A significant contraction in the market for debt financing or other adverse change relating to the terms of debt financing, including rapidly increasing interest rates from U.S. Federal Reserve actions and equity requirements and more restrictive covenants, could have a material adverse impact on our business and that of our investment funds and their portfolio companies.
Since January 1, 2022, U.S. banks have not been allowed to issue any new debt tied to the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”), which will cease to be published at the end of June 2023. The U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, formally recommended the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as its preferred alternative rate for LIBOR. While we have seen an increase in market acceptance of SOFR, there is no guarantee that this trend will continue. See “Risks Related to Regulation and Litigation—The replacement of LIBOR with an alternative reference rate, such as SOFR, may adversely affect our credit arrangements and our collateralized loan obligation transactions.”
Our revenue, earnings and cash flow are variable, which makes it difficult for us to achieve steady earnings growth on a quarterly basis.
Our revenue, earnings and cash flow are variable. For example, our cash flow fluctuates because we receive carried interest from our carry funds only when investments are realized and achieve a certain preferred return. We may also experience fluctuations in our quarterly and annual results, including our revenue and net income, due to a number of other factors, including changes in the carrying values and performance of our funds’ investments that can result in significant volatility in the carried interest that we have accrued (or as to which we have reversed prior accruals) from period to period, as well as changes in the amount of distributions, gains, dividends or interest paid in respect of investments in our funds and strategic investments (e.g., our investment in Fortitude), changes in our operating expenses, the degree to which we encounter competition and general economic and market conditions. The valuations of investments made by our funds could also be impacted by geopolitical conflict as well as changes, or anticipated changes, in government policy, including policies related to tax reform, financial services regulation, international trade, immigration, environmental, healthcare, labor, infrastructure and energy. The carrying value of fund investments, particularly the public portion of our carry fund portfolios, may be more variable during times of market volatility. As of December 31, 2022, 6% of our Global Private Equity and Global Credit carry fund portfolio was in public securities. While the strength of our portfolio construction resulted in outperformance relative to the broader market in 2022, rising interest rates and continued margin contraction, coupled with restrictions on the deductibility of interest expense, may negatively impact the performance and valuation of our portfolio investments and companies going forward.
GCM generates capital markets fees in connection with activities related to the underwriting, issuance and placement of debt and equity securities and loan syndication for our portfolio companies and, to a lesser extent, third-party clients. Capital markets fees generated are typically dependent on transaction frequency and volume, and a slowdown market activity could adversely affect the amount of fees generated by capital markets business. We are seeking to bolster and grow our capital markets business, and associated fee stream, related to the underwriting, issuance, and placement of debt and equity securities and loan syndication for our portfolio companies and, to a lesser extent, third-party clients, which we expect if successful will positively impact capital markets fees over time. We also earn transaction fees in respect of our carry funds that are generally shared with our fund investors. The recognition of these fees can be volatile as they are primarily generated by investment activity within our funds, and therefore are impacted by both the pace and size of our carry fund investments.
Higher fundraising activity may generate incremental expenses and, as new capital commitments may not immediately generate fees until they activate management fees, we could incur fundraising related costs ahead of generating revenues. In addition, a downturn in the equity markets may make it more difficult to exit investments by selling equity securities at a reasonable value. If we were to have a realization event in a particular quarter, that event may have a significant impact on our quarterly results and cash flow for that particular quarter and may not be replicated in subsequent quarters. We cannot predict precisely when, or if, realizations of investments will occur, where a fund will be in its lifecycle when the realizations occur or whether a fund will realize carried interest.
We recognize revenue on investments in our investment funds based on our allocable share of realized and unrealized gains (or losses) reported by such investment funds, and a decline in realized or unrealized gains, or an increase in realized or
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unrealized losses, would adversely affect our revenue, which could further increase the volatility of our quarterly results and cash flow. Because our carry funds have preferred investor return thresholds that need to be met prior to us receiving any carried interest, declines in, or failures to increase sufficiently the carrying value of, the investment portfolios of a carry fund may delay or eliminate any carried interest distributions paid to us with respect to that fund. This is because the value of the assets in the fund would need to recover to their aggregate cost basis plus the preferred return over time before we would be entitled to receive any carried interest from that fund or vehicle.
The timing and receipt of realized carried interest also varies with the life cycle of our carry funds and there is often a difference between the time we start accruing carried interest for financial reporting purposes and the realization and distribution of such carried interest. However, performance revenues are ultimately realized when an investment is profitably disposed of, certain costs borne by the limited partner investors have been reimbursed, the investment fund’s cumulative net returns are in excess of the preferred return and we have decided to collect carried interest rather than return additional capital to limited partner investors. In deciding to realize carried interest we consider such factors as the level of embedded valuation gains, the portion of the fund invested, the portion of the fund returned to limited partner investors, the length of time the fund has been in carry, and other qualitative measures. In most funds, we will initially defer realizing carried interest even when contractually entitled to take it, allowing carried interest to accrue until it is determined that giveback risk is substantially reduced. As a result of this deferral, we are generally entitled to a disproportionate “catch-up” level of profit allocation at some point during the harvesting period. In certain circumstances, we may also need to reduce the rate at which we realize carried interest, or temporarily stop realizing carried interest, in order to maintain a sufficient level of reserves and reduce the risk of potential future giveback obligations. In addition to the timing uncertainty of realized carried interest in a single fund, there may also be a generational trough or gap in the realized carried interest of a fund family, as a predecessor fund transitions to its successor fund. In such cases, even when both the predecessor and successor fund have strong performance and earn carried interest, the predecessor fund may substantially exit its investment portfolio before the successor fund is in a sufficient position to begin realizing carried interest. See “Risks Related to Our Business Operations—Risks Related to the Assets We Manage—Our investors may negotiate to pay us lower management fees and the economic terms of our future funds may be less favorable to us than those of our existing funds, which could adversely affect our revenues.”
Our fee revenue may also depend on the pace of investment activity in our funds. In many of our carry funds, the base management fee may be reduced when the fund has invested substantially all of its capital commitments or the aggregate fair market value of a fund’s investments is below its cost. We may receive a lower management fee from such funds if there has been a decline in value or after the investing period and during the period the fund is harvesting its investments. As a result, the variable pace at which many of our carry funds invest capital and dispose of investments may cause our management fee revenue to vary from one quarter to the next. In addition, certain funds derive management fees only on the basis of invested capital whereby the pace at which we make investments, the length of time we hold such investment and the timing of dispositions will directly impact our revenues.
The investment period of a fund may expire prior to the raising of a successor fund. Where appropriate, we may work with our fund investors to extend the investment period, which gives us the opportunity to invest any capital that remains in the fund. In general, the end of the original investment period (regardless of whether it is extended) will trigger a change in the capital base on which management fees are calculated from committed capital to invested capital. In some cases, a step-down in the applicable rate used to calculate management fees may also occur. In addition, we may raise an investment fund and delay the initiation of fees once a fund is raised to better align our management fee inception date to when we are ready to begin investing the fund. While the total amount of management fees collected over the life of a fund would not be impacted, this could result in a delay in receipt of management fees.
Given our focus on achieving superior investment performance and maintaining and strengthening investor relations, we may reduce our AUM, restrain its growth, reduce our fees or otherwise alter the terms under which we do business when we deem it in the best interest of our investors—even in circumstances where such actions might be contrary to the near-term interests of stockholders.
From time to time if we decide it is in the best interests of stakeholders, we may take actions that could reduce the profits we could otherwise realize in the short term. While we believe that our commitment to treating our investors fairly is in the long-term interest of us and our stockholders, our stockholders should understand we may take actions that could adversely impact our short-term profitability, and there is no guarantee that such actions will benefit us in the long term. The means by which we seek to achieve superior investment performance in each of our strategies could include limiting the AUM in our strategies to an amount that we believe can be invested appropriately in accordance with our investment philosophy and current or anticipated economic and market conditions. In addition, we may seek to exit or end unprofitable or subscale investments, which may reduce our AUM and/or management fees while generally improving our FRE margins. We also may voluntarily
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reduce management fee rates and terms for certain of our funds or strategies when we deem it appropriate, even when doing so may reduce our short-term revenue. For instance, in order to enhance our relationship with certain fund investors, we have reduced management fees or ceased charging management fees on certain funds in specific instances. In certain investment funds, we have agreed to charge management fees based on invested capital or net asset value as opposed to charging management fees based on committed capital. In certain cases, we have provided “fee holidays” to certain investors during which we do not charge management fees for a fixed period of time. We also may receive requests to reduce management fees on other funds in the future. See “Risks Related to Our Business Operations—Risks Related to the Assets We Manage—Our investors may negotiate to pay us lower management fees and the economic terms of our future funds may be less favorable to us than those of our existing funds, which could adversely affect our revenues.”
Many of our investment funds utilize subscription lines of credit to fund investments prior to the receipt of capital contributions from the fund’s investors. As capital calls made to a fund’s investors are delayed when using a subscription line of credit, the investment period of such investor capital is shortened, which may increase the net internal rate of return of an investment fund. However, because interest expense and other costs of borrowings under subscription lines of credit are an expense of the investment fund, the investment fund’s net multiple of invested capital will be reduced, as will the amount of carried interest generated by the fund. Any material r