Assets-under-management (AUM) is a key metric for alt-investment managers. One could look at price/AUM per share or Market Cap/AUM to determine if the investment manager is over or undervalued historically, then see if that is warranted and what is driving that multiple. Another metric that BN uses is distributable earnings (DE) which reflects the cash flows available to shareholders. This is a good metric to look at because BN utilizes both dividends and reinvestment strategies to return capital to shareholders, so DE can provide a better picture of what cash is available to do so versus EPS. It can be difficult, but a comparison to net asset value is also helpful. BN owns a number of public entities whose prices are known. Based on some analysts' recent calcuations, the implied value of its private holdings and real estate is very low (i.e. underpriced) if one subtracts all of its public entity valuations.
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