The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

You're looking to understand the engine room of one of the world's biggest alternative asset managers, The Carlyle Group Inc. Honestly, their model is a masterclass in scale and diversification, sitting on a record $474 billion in Assets Under Management as of Q3 2025 and holding $84 billion in ready-to-deploy capital. We're talking about a complex operation that balances steady, recurring Management Fees-which hit $1.1 billion year-to-date in Q2 2025-with the big wins from Performance-Related Revenue, all while serving everyone from massive pension funds to the emerging Global Wealth segment. I've broken down their nine building blocks below, showing exactly how The Carlyle Group Inc. turns deep industry expertise and massive capital pools into superior returns for their clients.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You're looking at how The Carlyle Group Inc. builds its foundation through strategic alliances, and honestly, these aren't just handshake deals; they involve serious capital and scale. Let's break down the heavy hitters in their Key Partnerships block.

Strategic alliance with Citigroup for a $1.5 billion asset-backed lending platform. This collaboration pairs The Carlyle Group Inc.'s deep credit structuring expertise with Citigroup's fintech ecosystem, specifically targeting the growing asset-backed finance market for specialty lenders. As of March 31, 2025, The Carlyle Group Inc.'s Asset-Backed Finance (ABF) division, which sits within its Global Credit platform, managed approximately $9 billion in assets, having deployed about $8 billion since 2021. This framework lets them exchange market intelligence and explore co-investment opportunities, aiming to fund fintechs across their capital structure.

Anchor partnership with Fortitude Re for the $87 billion insurance solutions platform. This relationship is central to The Carlyle Group Inc.'s Insurance Solutions strategy. While the prompt specifies an $87 billion platform, we know Fortitude Re itself manages approximately $101 billion in general and separate account insurance reserves and administers over 4 million insurance policies. The partnership is designed to create alignment, with The Carlyle Group Inc. acting as the asset management sponsor for new ventures, like the Fortitude Carlyle Asia Reinsurance (FCA Re) sidecar, which launched in late 2025 with a capital base exceeding $700 million.

The sheer scale of these relationships is best seen side-by-side. Here's a quick look at the major financial anchors:

Partner	Platform/Focus	Key Financial Metric/Size	Date Context
Citigroup	Asset-Backed Lending Framework	Platform size cited as $1.5 billion	Mid-2025
Fortitude Re	Insurance Solutions Advisory/Sidecar	Platform size cited as $87 billion	Late 2025
Oracle Red Bull Racing	Exclusive Investment Management Partner	The Carlyle Group Inc. AUM: $465 billion	June 30, 2025
Fortitude Re (FCA Re)	Asia Reinsurance Sidecar Capital	Capital base over $700 million	October 2025

Global network of co-investors and investment banks for deal syndication. You can't manage capital at this level without a deep bench of partners to share risk and bring in specialized expertise. The Carlyle Group Inc. relies heavily on this network for syndicating deals, which is defintely crucial for deploying capital efficiently across its segments. As of November 2025, The Carlyle Group Inc. has a team of 584 people, which includes 285 partners, all working to maintain and expand these relationships. This network supports their overall Assets Under Management, which stood at $453 billion as of March 31, 2025.

Collaboration with Oracle Red Bull Racing for brand and client engagement. This multi-year global partnership, announced in September 2025, is the first between a Formula 1 team and a major global private markets firm. It's a strategic play to engage new audiences and broaden access to private markets, leveraging the sport's growth, which is powered by technology and data. The branding appears across key team assets, including the RB21 challenger and driver kits.

The key functions this network supports include:

• Deal syndication across Private Equity and Credit.
• Sourcing co-investment opportunities for Limited Partners.
• Accessing specialized sector knowledge.
• Enhancing global client engagement platforms.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

You're looking at the core engine of The Carlyle Group Inc. right now, the things they absolutely must execute on to hit their 2025 targets. It's all about putting capital to work and then getting it back out profitably, plus building those recurring revenue streams you hear so much about.

Raising Capital

The Carlyle Group Inc. is definitely focused on bringing in fresh commitments. Management updated guidance to target full year inflows of $50 billion for 2025, which was an increase from their earlier outlook of $40 billion. To be fair, they were already tracking very strong, having achieved $51 billion in inflows over the last twelve months as of the second quarter of 2025, representing a 12% organic growth rate. The first half of 2025 alone saw total inflows hit $28 billion. That's a lot of fuel in the tank.

Here's a quick look at the capital flow momentum:

• Full-year 2025 Inflows Target: $50 billion
• Last Twelve Months (LTM) Inflows (as of Q2 2025): $51 billion
• First Half 2025 Inflows: $28 billion
• Organic Inflows Growth Rate (LTM): 12%

Strategic Deployment of Capital

With that capital secured, the next big activity is deployment across Global Private Equity and Credit. The Carlyle Group Inc. deployed $26 billion across the firm in the first half of 2025, marking an increase of almost 50% year-over-year. They are being quite specific about where that capital is going strategically. For instance, they have an ambitious goal to allocate 20-25% of new private equity deployments into healthcare and biotech over the next three years. This is a clear pivot from an estimated 15% allocation in the prior year. Overall, the firm's total dry powder across all funds is currently over $35 billion, giving them the firepower to execute these plans. As of September 30, 2025, Assets Under Management (AUM) stood at $474 billion.

Active Management and Operational Value Creation

It's not just about writing a check; it's about actively improving the businesses they own. This operational value creation is what drives the eventual exit multiples. We see evidence of this in their realized activity and strategic portfolio adjustments. Over the last twelve months leading into Q2 2025, The Carlyle Group Inc. returned almost $15 billion to investors, defying the broader corporate private equity trend of low capital returns. Furthermore, strategic capital allocation in the LTM included $3 billion in divestitures in fintech/software and $2 billion in energy transition investments. These actions show them pruning and focusing the portfolio.

Executing Portfolio Exits

The payoff for all the management work comes from successful exits, and The Carlyle Group Inc. is pushing hard here in 2025. They are targeting asset sales, including Initial Public Offerings (IPOs), between $4 billion and $5 billion for the full year, which is in line with their 2024 divestment pace. They are definitely leaning on the IPO market, having seen the successful public listing of StandardAero. For perspective on recent activity, realized proceeds totaled $5.1 billion in the second quarter of 2025 alone, and $21.0 billion over the trailing twelve months. You can see the focus on liquidity realization clearly in the numbers.

Here's a breakdown of recent realization and deployment metrics:

Metric	Amount (USD)	Period/Date
Realized Proceeds	$21.0 billion	Last Twelve Months (LTM)
Targeted 2025 Exits (IPOs/Sales)	$4 billion to $5 billion	Full Year 2025
Deployment	$26 billion	First Half 2025
Capital Returned to Investors	Almost $15 billion	Last Twelve Months (LTM)

Developing New Global Wealth and Evergreen Product Platforms

Building steady, recurring revenue through wealth channels and evergreen structures is a major activity. The firm raised $2.2 billion in its evergreen funds during the second quarter of 2025. This pushed the AUM in this specific growth area to nearly $30 billion, which is up more than 40% year-over-year. The Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund is one such product, and it, along with others from Goldman Sachs Asset Management and StepStone, collectively represent over $11.7 billion in AUM as of September 30, 2025, accessible to accredited retail investors on platforms like Willow Wealth. This strategy is defintely key to diversifying earnings away from traditional fund cycles.

The scale of the evergreen business is growing:

• Evergreen Funds AUM (as of Q2 2025): Nearly $30 billion
• Evergreen AUM Year-over-Year Growth: More than 40%
• Capital Raised in Evergreen Funds (Q2 2025): $2.2 billion

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

The Key Resources for The Carlyle Group Inc. are fundamentally tied to the sheer scale of capital they control and the human capital deployed to manage it. These resources are what allow the firm to access, execute, and manage complex, large-scale private market investments globally.

The foundation of their resource base is their managed capital, which provides the necessary firepower for deal-making and client commitment. As of the third quarter of 2025, The Carlyle Group Inc. recorded $474 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM). This massive pool of capital is the primary engine for their investment activities.

Complementing the deployed capital is their immediate investment capacity, often referred to as dry powder. This represents committed but uncalled capital ready for deployment into new opportunities. As reported in Q1 2025, The Carlyle Group Inc. maintained a significant investment capacity with $84 billion in dry powder. This figure shows readiness to act decisively when attractive investment conditions arise.

The human element is equally critical, translating capital into value through active management. The firm relies on a global team of over 2,400 people operating across 27 offices on four continents to source and manage deals. This global footprint supports their ability to combine global vision with local insight.

The depth of their proprietary data and industry expertise is concentrated across their major platforms. While the prompt specifies five core sectors, the firm's operations are structured around key segments that house this expertise:

• Global Private Equity
• Global Credit, which includes the rapidly growing Insurance Solutions platform with $87 billion in AUM as of Q3 2025.
• Carlyle AlpInvest (Investment Solutions)
• Secondaries and Portfolio Finance strategies.
• Real Assets, including Infrastructure and Real Estate.

You can see how these segments contribute to the overall scale through the following breakdown of key financial and operational metrics as of late 2025 data points:

Resource Metric	Value / Detail	As Of / Context
Total Assets Under Management (AUM)	$474 billion	Q3 2025
Investment Capacity (Dry Powder)	$84 billion	Q1 2025
Investment Professionals & Staff	Over 2,400 people	Late 2025
Global Office Footprint	27 offices	Late 2025
Fee-Earning AUM	$332 billion	Q3 2025
Perpetual Capital	$108 billion (or 33% of total AUM)	Q3 2025

The firm's ability to generate recurring revenue is directly tied to the quality and stickiness of this capital base. For instance, Fee-Related Earnings (FRE) reached $312 million in Q3 2025, representing a 12% year-over-year increase, with an FRE margin of 48%. That margin is a direct reflection of the high-value nature of the resources they manage.

The deployment of this capital is further supported by the firm's operational structure, which includes:

• A global presence spanning Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and North America.
• A focus on accelerating growth in Global Wealth and Insurance platforms.
• A pipeline for launching the next U.S. buyout fund in late 2025.

Honestly, the sheer volume of capital under management-$474 billion-is the single most defining resource for The Carlyle Group Inc. right now.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at how The Carlyle Group Inc. creates value for its Limited Partners (LPs) and the market, which really boils down to access, performance, and operational muscle. It's not just about moving money around; it's about deploying capital where others can't or won't, and then actively managing those assets.

Access to complex, illiquid private markets (Credit, Equity, Solutions)

The core value here is providing a gateway to assets that aren't traded on public exchanges. As of September 30, 2025, The Carlyle Group Inc. managed a total of $474 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM). This massive scale allows them to access deals that smaller players simply can't touch. You see this access clearly in their specialized platforms.

For instance, their Global Credit segment commanded $208 billion in AUM in Q3 2025, making up 45% of the firm-wide assets. Plus, they are actively building out complex credit solutions; their Asset-Backed Finance platform alone raised $2 billion in Q3 2025, pushing that platform's AUM to $10 billion.

The Solutions side, primarily Carlyle AlpInvest, is also a major draw for illiquid access, closing its largest-ever secondaries fund at $20 billion. Honestly, that's the kind of specialized access LPs pay a premium for.

Generating superior, risk-adjusted returns for limited partners

LPs invest in The Carlyle Group Inc. expecting outperformance relative to public markets, and the firm measures this through distributable earnings and Fee-Related Earnings (FRE). Fee-related earnings are the recurring revenue stream that shows the underlying health of the asset management business, independent of volatile investment gains.

Here's a quick look at the performance metrics through Q3 2025:

Metric	Q3 2025 Amount	Year-over-Year Change	Year-to-Date 2025 Amount
Fee-Related Earnings (FRE)	$312 million	Up 12%	$946 million (Up 16% YTD)
Distributable Earnings	$368 million	Flat compared to prior year	$1.3 billion
Distributable Earnings Per Share (Post-Tax)	$0.96	N/A	Just over $3.01
FRE Margin	48%	Up from 47% (Q3 2024)	48% (Up from 46% YTD 2024)

The firm also returned $19 billion in capital to investors over the past year, which is a concrete way they deliver value back to their LPs.

Operational expertise to transform and grow portfolio companies

The Carlyle Group Inc. doesn't just provide capital; they embed operational teams to drive tangible improvements in the companies they own. This hands-on approach is what separates them from passive investors. You can see the results of this expertise showing up in portfolio company performance.

For example, management noted that portfolio company revenues within the U.S. private equity segment were up almost double digits, and EBITDA grew by 8% over the past year. That kind of organic growth is a direct reflection of their operational playbook being used effectively across their holdings.

Also, their ability to generate recurring revenue from fees, which hit $32 million in Q3 2025 for Capital Markets and Transaction Fees-an almost 20% year-over-year increase-suggests successful transaction execution and advisory services around those portfolio companies.

Diversification across three core segments: Equity, Credit, and Solutions

Diversification is key to smoothing out returns across economic cycles, and The Carlyle Group Inc. has strategically shifted its center of gravity toward its more stable, fee-generating platforms. They operate through three main segments: Global Private Equity, Global Credit, and Carlyle AlpInvest (Solutions).

The shift is evident in the growth of non-Equity related earnings:

• Global Credit AUM reached $208 billion in Q3 2025.
• Carlyle AlpInvest AUM stood at $102 billion as of Q3 2025.
• Fee-Related Earnings from Global Credit and AlpInvest now account for 55% of total FRE, up from less than 30% two years prior.
• The Insurance Solutions platform has grown to $87 billion in AUM.

This diversification is supported by strong capital inflows, with $17 billion raised in Q3 2025 alone, and a revised full-year inflow target of $50 billion. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

For The Carlyle Group Inc., managing relationships is about demonstrating deep expertise and delivering consistent results across very different client types. You see this in how they segment their engagement efforts.

Dedicated, high-touch relationship management for institutional LPs

Institutional Limited Partners (LPs) are the bedrock of The Carlyle Group Inc.'s capital base. These relationships require dedicated, senior-level attention because the capital commitments are substantial and the investment horizon is long. The firm's focus on deep industry expertise across its three segments-Global Private Equity, Global Credit, and Carlyle AlpInvest-is designed to serve these sophisticated investors directly. The total Assets Under Management (AUM) reached $474 billion as of September 30, 2025, a significant portion of which comes from these large, established institutional relationships.

The firm emphasizes its ability to return capital, noting that over the last twelve months leading up to Q2 2025, they returned almost $15,000,000,000 to investors in corporate private equity, which is nearly triple the industry average. This focus on realization and return is central to maintaining trust with institutional clients.

Long-term, trust-based engagement with sovereign wealth funds

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) and large global insurers fall into this category, representing capital that requires the highest level of assurance regarding stability and long-term partnership. The Carlyle Group Inc. actively courts global insurers, noting that they continue to represent an important and growing client base. For example, in Q2 2025, the firm provided a landmark hybrid capital solution to Tricordia, a leading insurance broker, showing a willingness to structure bespoke solutions for large institutional partners. While specific SWF AUM is not broken out, the overall firm-wide inflows of $51,000,000,000 over the last twelve months, representing a 12 percent organic growth rate, reflect strong confidence from these long-term capital providers.

Digital and personalized service for the growing Global Wealth channel

This channel is seeing rapid expansion, requiring a different, yet still personalized, approach that incorporates digital accessibility. The Carlyle Group Inc. is making significant strides here, with CEO Harvey Schwartz stating that their Global Wealth platform is "just getting started." The firm raised $3 billion via evergreen vehicles in the third quarter of 2025 alone, a figure about 10 times higher than the level seen in 2023. This platform now holds $32 billion in assets under management. To further tailor service, the firm is planning the launch of a new wealth platform towards the end of 2025.

Here's a quick look at the scale across the client-facing metrics as of late 2025:

Client Segment Focus	Key Metric	Latest Reported Value (2025)
Institutional/Overall Base	Total Assets Under Management (AUM)	$474 billion (as of Q3 2025)
Global Wealth Channel	Platform Assets Under Management	$32 billion
Global Wealth Channel	Q3 2025 Evergreen Inflows	$3 billion
Institutional/Overall Base	Last Twelve Months Inflows	$51 billion
Global Wealth Channel	Percentage of Business from US Channels	Around 60 percent

The relationship strategy is clearly segmented by capital type and need:

• Dedicated relationship teams for institutional LPs.
• Focus on long-term partnerships with global insurers.
• Platform expansion targeting high-net-worth individuals.
• Achieved record fee-related earnings (FRE) of $323 million in Q2 2025.
• Fee-earning AUM reached $325 billion as of June 30, 2025.

If you're looking at the Global Wealth segment, the growth rate is definitely accelerating; the Q3 2025 inflow number is a strong indicator of success there. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how The Carlyle Group Inc. gets its capital and communicates with its investors-it's all about scale and targeted access across different client types. The firm's distribution strategy relies on direct relationships for large institutional capital and expanding platforms for the growing wealth segment.

Direct sales teams engaging sovereign wealth funds and pension funds.

The bedrock of The Carlyle Group Inc.'s capital base comes from direct engagement with major institutional investors. This channel is crucial for raising the multi-billion dollar flagship funds. For instance, Carlyle AlpInvest, which focuses on private equity asset management, operates on behalf of more than 500 institutional investors from North America, Asia, Europe, South America and Africa. The firm's total Assets Under Management (AUM) reached $474 billion as of September 30, 2025. This massive pool of capital is the direct result of these deep, long-term relationships.

Global network of 27 offices for local market origination and distribution.

The Carlyle Group Inc. uses its physical footprint to maintain local insight while deploying global capital. As of late 2025, The Carlyle Group Inc. employs more than 2,400 people operating out of 27 offices across four continents. This network supports origination and distribution, ensuring they can service clients globally. The firm generated $17 billion of organic quarterly inflows in the third quarter of 2025 alone.

Here's a quick look at the scale of capital managed and recent inflows:

Metric	Value as of Late 2025	Date Reference
Total Assets Under Management (AUM)	$474 billion	September 30, 2025
Fee-Earning AUM	$325 billion	June 30, 2025
Organic Inflows (Last 12 Months)	$51 billion	First Half 2025
Capital Raised in Q4 2024	$16.9 billion	Q4 2024

This global presence helps them execute on their strategy, which includes launching the next private equity flagship, Fund IX, targeted for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Third-party wealth managers and wirehouses for retail distribution.

The Carlyle Group Inc. is actively scaling its Global Wealth platform, recognizing the shift toward alternative investments by individual and high-net-worth investors. This involves partnering with external distribution networks. For example, in September 2025, The Carlyle Group Inc. announced a strategic distribution partnership with BECON Investment Management focused on Latin America and the US offshore wealth market. This partnership aims to distribute select semi-liquid vehicles via wealth management platforms, including broker-dealers and private banks. The firm has been focused on building out its wealth channel, which is one of its four strategic initiatives. As of early 2024, the firm had already gathered $50 billion of inflows from the wealth channel since inception.

The retail-focused offerings include:

• Carlyle AlpInvest Private Markets Fund (CAPM), with a minimum investment of $50,000.
• Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund (CTAC), in the market since June 2018.
• A private-equity-focused offering dedicated to the wealth channel, targeted for launch in late 2025.

Investor Relations website and quarterly earnings calls for public investors.

For public shareholders, communication is standardized and regular. The Carlyle Group Inc. hosts quarterly conference calls to discuss results, such as the Q3 2025 call on October 31, 2025. The full financial presentations are made available on the Investor Relations website, for example, at ir.carlyle.com. The Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 per common share in August 2025 and again in November 2025. The firm repurchased roughly 12 million shares in 2024, about $550 million worth, with $850 million remaining on the authorization as of early 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at The Carlyle Group Inc.'s client base as of late 2025, which is heavily weighted toward large, sophisticated capital allocators. The firm reported total Assets Under Management (AUM) reached $474 billion as of September 30, 2025, up 7% year-to-date.

The client base is diversified across institutional and private capital, with significant inflows continuing to fuel growth. For instance, The Carlyle Group Inc. generated $17 billion in organic quarterly inflows during the third quarter of 2025.

Here is a look at the composition of the capital base, based on the latest detailed breakdown available from March 31, 2025, which shows the scale of commitments from key segments:

Customer Segment Category	Number of Accounts	AUM as of March 31, 2025 ($B)
Pooled investment vehicles	585	$204.2
Insurance companies	14	$70.9
Sovereign wealth funds and foreign official institutions	1	$0.8
High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs)	0	$0.0

The category for Pooled investment vehicles primarily captures large institutional investors, including public and corporate pension funds, which are core to the Global Private Equity and Carlyle AlpInvest segments. The Global Credit segment, with AUM at $208 billion as of Q3 2025, is a major destination for insurance company capital.

Regarding High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs), The Carlyle Group Inc. has been actively building out this channel. Management noted significant capital coming from global wealth during Q3 2025 inflows. The firm signaled a strategic move by discussing the launch of a new wealth platform towards the end of 2025 to diversify fundraising streams.

The key client groups driving capital formation include:

• Large institutional investors: Represented heavily within the 585 pooled investment vehicles.
• Sovereign Wealth Funds and Endowments: A small but significant anchor client base, with 1 account reported at $0.8 billion AUM as of March 31, 2025.
• Insurance companies: A growing focus, particularly for Global Credit strategies, accounting for $70.9 billion in AUM across 14 accounts on that date.
• High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs): A key area for near-term growth, with momentum noted in global wealth products in Q3 2025.

To be fair, the zero reported AUM for HNWIs in the March 31, 2025 table likely reflects that capital was not yet fully aggregated under the specific reporting line for the new platform, given the strategic emphasis on its launch later in 2025.

Finance: review the Q4 2025 investor deck to see the initial AUM contribution from the new Global Wealth platform by December 15.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

The Cost Structure for The Carlyle Group Inc. is heavily weighted toward personnel costs, reflecting the firm's reliance on its investment professionals to generate management fees and performance allocations. You see this expense profile across the private capital industry, but for The Carlyle Group Inc., the numbers for the first half of 2025 clearly show this dynamic.

Operating expenses for the twelve months ending June 30, 2025, totaled $4.637 billion. This figure encompasses the core costs of running a global investment platform with over 2,400 people across 27 offices.

Compensation and benefits represent the largest variable cost component, directly tied to the firm's fee and performance revenue generation. For the three months ended June 30, 2025, cash-based compensation and benefits alone were $108.4 million. This is a significant outlay, especially when considering the performance allocation-related compensation that is also a major driver of total compensation expense.

General and administrative costs cover the global footprint and operational overhead. For the six months ended June 30, 2025, general, administration and other indirect expenses totaled $99.0 million. This category includes costs related to global operations, technology, and, at times, specific deal origination activities, though deal costs are often embedded or realized differently.

Here's a look at the key operating expenses for the second quarter of 2025, which gives you a sense of the current run-rate:

Cost Component	Amount (Three Months Ended June 30, 2025)
Total Operating Expenses	$165.7 million
Cash-based Compensation and Benefits	$108.4 million
General, Administration and Other Indirect Expenses	$50.3 million
Depreciation and Amortization Expense	$7.0 million

Fund-raising and deal origination costs are embedded within the G&A line or are realized through transaction-related fees, which can fluctuate. While specific, isolated costs for fund-raising for the full twelve months ending June 30, 2025, aren't itemized separately from the broader G&A, we know that the firm raised significant capital during this period. For instance, The Carlyle Group Inc. raised $5.1 billion of new capital in the second quarter of 2025 alone. The cost structure must support this continuous global capital-raising effort.

The expense structure is characterized by:

• High proportion of compensation and benefits expense for investment professionals, directly linked to fee revenue.
• Significant general and administrative costs for global operations, supporting over 2,400 employees.
• Total operating expenses for the twelve months ending June 30, 2025, reached $4.637 billion.
• Fluctuating fund-raising and deal origination costs, which impact the G&A line.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at how The Carlyle Group Inc. actually brings in the money, which is key to understanding its valuation, especially when markets get choppy. The business model here is clearly weighted toward the stable, recurring side, but the big swings still come from investment success.

Management Fees: Recurring income

This is the bedrock. These fees are charged on assets under management (AUM), so they keep coming even if a deal doesn't sell this quarter. For the year-to-date period ending June 30, 2025 (YTD Q2 2025), Fund management fees totaled $1,206.5 million. For just the second quarter of 2025, management fees were $620.4 million. This growth was driven by fee activation in Global Private Equity funds and fundraising success in Carlyle AlpInvest. Also, catch-up management fees in Global Private Equity and Carlyle AlpInvest hit $24 million in Q2 2025.

Performance-Related Revenue (Carry): Non-recurring, tied to investment realization

This is the variable, high-upside component, often called incentive fees. It's what you get when The Carlyle Group Inc. successfully sells an investment for a profit above the hurdle rate. For Q2 2025, realized performance revenues were $260 million. This contrasts with the $157 million realized in the comparable period of 2024. Keep in mind, the GAAP results for Q3 2025 included investment income reflecting the accrual of unrealized performance allocations, but the realized portion is what hits the cash flow statement more directly.

Fee-Related Earnings (FRE) are strong

Fee-Related Earnings (FRE) are the recurring management fees minus the associated compensation costs. This metric shows operational efficiency from the management side of the business. For the third quarter of 2025 (Q3 2025), FRE was $312 million. That's up 12% year-over-year. Year-to-date through Q3 2025, FRE reached $946 million, representing a 16% increase year-to-date. The FRE margin for Q3 2025 stood strong at 48%.

Capital Market Fees: Transaction and advisory fees

These are the fees generated from arranging financing, advising on transactions, or other capital markets activities. For the year-to-date period ending June 30, 2025 (YTD Q2 2025), Capital Market Fees were $126 million. This figure more than doubled compared to the prior year's corresponding period. Specifically for Q2 2025, these fees contributed $48 million.

Here's a quick look at how these key fee components stacked up in the first half of 2025:

Revenue Stream Component	Period Ending June 30, 2025 (YTD)	Period Ending June 30, 2025 (Quarterly)
Fund Management Fees	$1,206.5 million	$620.4 million
Capital Market Fees	$126 million	$48 million
Fee-Related Earnings (FRE)	$634 million	$323 million

The shift in where the recurring revenue comes from is notable; roughly 55% of firm-wide FRE now comes from Global Credit and Carlyle AlpInvest. That's up significantly from about 25% just five years ago.

You can see the overall fee revenue momentum:

• Total fee revenue increased 11% in Q3 2025.
• Year-to-date fee revenue growth reached 13% through Q3 2025.
• The firm's Global Wealth channel raised $3 billion in Q3 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.