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At the Apollo Investor Day in 2024, Apollo CEO Marc Rowan delivered a speech, stating that the good fortune of the global asset management industry over the past fifteen years has come to an end. He emphasized that the future lies in seizing four enormous opportunities, which are not only beneficial to Apollo but are expected to benefit the entire industry as well.

These four opportunities involve a global industrial renaissance, significant capital needs of large global corporations, substantial demand for fixed income in the retirement market, and a rethinking of public and private markets.

The global industrial renaissance includes long-term and complex capital demands for infrastructure, energy transition, next-generation data, and electricity. The retirement market has a significant demand for fixed income, especially with individual investors showing a high demand for alternative investments, fixed income, and other opportunities.

Rethinking public and private assets involves challenging traditional notions. In the current market environment, both private and public assets possess both safety and risk, which may promote a trend of private assets replacing public assets in the areas of fixed income and equities.

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The key points of the speech are summarized as follows:

In 2008, all our peer companies had an asset management scale of $40 billion. By the end of 2023, our managed assets had grown to $650 billion, an increase of 16 to 17 times. No financial services enterprise could grow like this; our growth actually surpassed Apple, Microsoft, and almost every growth company you can think of.

We were smart because we positioned our business before the "tailwind" arrived and drove business revenue growth by seven times. In 2008, every existing global financial institution adopted a defensive strategy. We were fortunate to have established a new financial institution in 2008, essentially being in an "offensive mode" for these fifteen years.

I have always emphasized that change is coming, and the tailwind that has driven our growth is no longer present. There will be new trends. It would be a mistake to think that simply repeating past practices will lead to success. We must adapt and change, not only for us but for the entire industry.

The significant capital needs of global corporations, in addition to the trillions borrowed by the U.S. government annually, are used for infrastructure, energy transition, next-generation data, and electricity.

Forty years ago, Australia adopted a method called the superannuation system, a good way for investors to include private assets alongside public assets in their investment portfolios under proper supervision. After forty years of compounding, the results are simply astonishing. I believe we are on the cusp of re-examining this opportunity, and Athen has only just begun.Take a look back at the retirement market, which is a massive opportunity with a significant demand for fixed income, particularly from individual investors who have a huge appetite for alternative investments, fixed income, and other opportunities, and this is just the beginning. This business alone could double our industry and our company.

I believe this is the most direct, the most concrete opportunity, and the fastest-growing opportunity, which is to rethink the public and private markets. Private equity has only three products: private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds, and although they are actually good investments, they all come with risks. I think the world we live in today is one where private equity is both safe and risky, as is the public market.

In our technology ecosystem, we take it for granted that companies like OpenAI or Spotify can remain private for a long time and raise equity. So, why can't this be more universally applicable?