CG vs KKR: Which Is the Better Buy in 2026?
Last updated August 2026
Short answer
KKR is the larger of the two ($94.58B market cap): the incumbent the market prices for continued execution (13.81x forward earnings, beta 1.79). CG is the smaller challenger ($17.20B), cheaper on forward earnings (9.35x): more room to run, but more to prove. The real question is which set of drivers you believe, and whether owning one (or both) leaves you over-concentrated.
CG vs KKR: the tie-breaker metrics
Same yardstick, side by side (as of August 2026). Valuation lined up like this is most meaningful for two names in the same corner of the market, which these are. Figures are approximate; verify before investing.
| Metric | CG | KKR | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Market cap | $17.20B | $94.58B | Size. The larger name is the incumbent; the smaller has more room to grow and more to prove. |
| Forward P/E | 9.35 | 13.81 | Valuation on next year's expected earnings, the same yardstick for both. Lower is cheaper for that growth; higher means the market is paying up. |
| Trailing P/E | 32.74 | 34.50 | Valuation on the last 12 months. A big drop from trailing to forward means the market expects earnings to jump, so more growth is already in the price. |
| Beta | 1.83 | 1.79 | Volatility vs the market. Above 1 swings harder than the index; below 1 is steadier. Higher beta means bigger drawdowns to hold through. |
| Price vs 52-week range | 27% of range | 27% of range | Where today's price sits between the 52-week low and high. Near the high is momentum with less margin of safety; near the low is out of favor or a discount, depending on why. |
| Price / book | 3.18 | 3.23 | How much you pay over book value. Very high can signal an asset-light, high-return business or a rich price. |
Reading it: CG is the cheaper of the two on forward earnings, but cheaper is not the same as better. Pair the valuation with growth (how far the forward P/E sits below the trailing P/E) and risk (beta) before you decide.
Before you buy: how CG and KKR affect your concentration
The metrics above tell you which is the marginally better business. The bigger risk for most people is not picking the slightly worse stock, it is over-concentrating. CG and KKR share themes, so owning both, or adding either to what you already hold, can quietly push a large share of your portfolio into one bet.
This is the part a generic comparison page cannot answer, because it depends on what you own. Connect your brokerage and Walnut shows your real, combined CG and KKR exposure, flags overlap with your existing positions, and tells you if adding one would tip you past a concentration you are comfortable with, read-only by default, with your login staying at your broker. Walnut is not an investment adviser.
What does The Carlyle Group (CG) do?
Founded in 1987 and public since May 2012, Carlyle raises money from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers and, increasingly, individual investors, then deploys it across three reporting segments: Global Private Equity (buyouts, real assets, growth), Global Credit (direct lending, opportunistic credit, asset-backed finance, insurance solutions) and Carlyle AlpInvest (fund-of-funds, secondaries and co-investment, ~$112 billion of AUM on its own). About 2,500 employees work from 28 offices on four continents. Revenue arrives in three distinct shapes that behave nothing alike: recurring management fees charged on fee-earning capital, performance fees or carried interest recognised when funds exit investments above a hurdle, and principal investment income from the firm's own capital committed alongside clients. GAAP revenue therefore swings violently, from ~$3.0 billion in 2023 to ~$5.4 billion in 2024, which is why the industry reports fee-related earnings and distributable earnings instead.
What does KKR & Co (KKR) do?
KKR & Co is a global alternative asset manager that raises capital from institutions and increasingly from individuals, then invests it across private equity, growth equity, real estate, infrastructure, and public and private credit, while also running a capital-markets business. It organizes into three areas: Asset Management (the core fund franchises and capital markets), Insurance (the Global Atlantic life and annuity business, which gives KKR a large permanent-capital balance sheet), and Strategic Holdings (long-duration stakes in companies KKR controls). As of early 2026 it managed roughly $758 billion in assets, ranking among the biggest names in alternatives alongside Blackstone, Apollo, Ares, and Carlyle. Its economics rest on management fees that scale with AUM, performance fees (carried interest) earned when funds do well, and gains on its own balance-sheet investments.
CG vs KKR: how do they differ?
Both fit overlapping themes, but they are not interchangeable. The useful comparison is which set of drivers and risks you want exposure to.
- CG drivers: Fee-related earnings and the shift toward permanent capital; Credit and AlpInvest as second and third engines.
- KKR drivers: Secular growth of private markets; Rising fee-related earnings.
Which fits which kind of investor
A faster-growing, richer-valued name usually swings harder, so it suits a longer horizon and a higher tolerance for volatility; a steadier, more cash-generative business suits a more conservative or income-minded investor. The honest test is which set of risks you could hold through a drawdown: Fundraising is cyclical and reflexive, so a stretch of weak fund performance or a closed exit window can shrink fee-earning AUM at the same moment carried interest stops converting to cash. For KKR, kKR's results are inherently cyclical: carried interest and investment gains depend on healthy markets, active deal flow, and the ability to exit investments profitably, so a downturn or a frozen IPO and M&A market can sharply cut realized earnings even as management fees hold up.
CG or KKR: which should you pick?
Growth-minded investors who believe the theme has years to run tend to accept the richer multiple for more upside; value-minded investors lean toward the cheaper forward earnings and steadier profile. Pick CG if you believe its drivers more; KKR if you believe its. Many investors hold both, but since they share themes, that is a concentrated bet, not diversification. Decide deliberately and check overlap. For the full detail, see the CG and KKR guides.
CG vs KKR: the full fundamentals
CG. GAAP earnings and the multiples built on them are close to meaningless for this business in isolation, because principal investment marks and consolidated fund accounting dominate the reported line. Trailing revenue of ~$3.6 billion looks like a ~42% collapse from the prior year purely because 2024 and 2025 carried heavy realised carry, while fee-related earnings set a record over the same window. The gap between a ~49 trailing multiple and a ~11.7 forward multiple is the market pricing in that distortion rather than expecting a fivefold earnings jump.
KKR. Figures are approximate and tied to the asOf date; verify live numbers before acting. Alternative managers like KKR are often valued on fee-related earnings and distributable earnings rather than headline GAAP net income, because carried interest and balance-sheet gains make reported profit lumpy. AUM growth, the mix between recurring fees and performance fees, and the health of exit markets matter more than any single quarter's EPS. Compare KKR's multiple against peers such as Blackstone, Apollo, and Ares rather than against traditional banks.
Headline figures (approximate, August 2026): CG shows total aum ~$485B as of June 30, 2026, up ~4% year over year, fee-related earnings (q2 2026) ~$358M, a record, up ~11% YoY at a ~47% margin, distributable earnings (q2 2026) ~$472M, or ~$1.07 per share after tax, the highest in nearly four years, perpetual capital aum ~$113B, up ~12% YoY; evergreen wealth AUM above ~$20B; KKR shows assets under management ~$758 billion as of early 2026 (approximate, verify live), business mix Asset Management, Insurance (Global Atlantic), and Strategic Holdings, fee-related earnings A growing, recurring profit stream that management has prioritized (verify latest figure), credit rating A rated by S&P and Fitch, with long average debt maturity and a low fixed coupon.
The bottom line: CG vs KKR
CG and KKR are related but distinct: same themes, different businesses and risks. Neither wins in the abstract; the right pick is whichever thesis you actually believe, sized so you are not over-concentrated in one theme. Walnut can show your combined CG and KKR exposure against your real portfolio. It is not an investment adviser.
Wondering how CG or KKR fits the portfolio you already own? Walnut is an AI investing app that connects your brokerage read-only and answers questions like that about your actual holdings: overlap, concentration, and how each position tracks the S&P 500. Compare the best AI portfolio analyzers or see the best AI investing apps in 2026.
Investing in The Carlyle Group with AI
Connect the broker you already use and ask Walnut's AI how CG fits what you actually hold: whether you own it already through a fund, what it would do to your concentration, and how it has tracked the S&P 500. Read-only by default, and you approve anything before it reaches your broker.
FAQ
What is the difference between CG and KKR?
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Founded in 1987 and public since May 2012, Carlyle raises money from pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers and, increasingly, individual investors, then deploys it across three reporting segments: Global Private Equity (buyouts, real assets, growth), Global Credit (direct lending, opportunistic credit, asset-backed finance, insurance solutions) and Carlyle AlpInvest (fund-of-funds, secondaries and co-investment, ~$112 billion of AUM on its own). KKR & Co is a global alternative asset manager that raises capital from institutions and increasingly from individuals, then invests it across private equity, growth equity, real estate, infrastructure, and public and private credit, while also running a capital-markets business. They show up together because they share investment themes, but they are different businesses, so the better fit depends on which thesis you are expressing.
Is CG or KKR the better stock?
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Neither is universally better. KKR is the larger incumbent; CG is the smaller challenger and looks cheaper on forward earnings. Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Compare what each does, the tie-breaker metrics above, and the risks, then decide which fits your thesis and what you already own.
Which is cheaper, CG or KKR?
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On forward P/E (as of August 2026), CG trades at 9.35x and KKR at 13.81x, so CG is the cheaper of the two on next year's expected earnings. A lower multiple is not automatically the better buy: a richer valuation can be justified by faster growth, and a lower one can reflect real risk. Weigh the multiple against how fast each business is compounding.
Should you own both CG and KKR?
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Because they share themes, owning both concentrates you in that theme. That can be intentional (a focused bet) or accidental (less diversification than it looks). Walnut can show your combined exposure across both, and whether adding either over-concentrates you, before you buy.
What are the risks of CG vs KKR?
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CG: Fundraising is cyclical and reflexive, so a stretch of weak fund performance or a closed exit window can shrink fee-earning AUM at the same moment carried interest stops converting to cash. Performance fees are inherently lumpy and unrealised carry is a mark, not money, meaning distributable earnings can fall by half in a quiet quarter without anything fundamental breaking. Higher-for-longer rates raise financing costs across portfolio companies and compress private-market valuations, while heavy competition for direct lending assets pressures credit spreads. On the legal side, a Delaware fiduciary-duty suit brought by a pension fund against co-founders William Conway, Daniel D'Aniello and David Rubenstein and other directors over a ~$344 million payment to terminate the firm's tax receivable agreement was allowed to proceed in 2024 and remains a derivative matter rather than a securities-fraud class action; no active securities-fraud class action against Carlyle was identified as of August 2026. Regulators in the US and Europe continue to scrutinise fee disclosure, valuation practices and the push of illiquid strategies into retail and retirement channels, which is precisely where much of the growth plan sits. KKR: KKR's results are inherently cyclical: carried interest and investment gains depend on healthy markets, active deal flow, and the ability to exit investments profitably, so a downturn or a frozen IPO and M&A market can sharply cut realized earnings even as management fees hold up. Higher interest rates raise financing costs for leveraged deals and can pressure the valuations of both its funds and its balance-sheet holdings. The Global Atlantic insurance arm adds credit, spread, and regulatory risk that most pure asset managers do not carry. Because KKR invests its own capital, GAAP earnings can be volatile and mark-to-market swings can be large. Fundraising can slow if institutions pull back from alternatives, and the firm competes intensely with Blackstone, Apollo, and Ares for capital and deals. Regulatory scrutiny of private markets and private credit is an ongoing overhang.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. This page is descriptive and not a recommendation to buy or sell CG or KKR; figures are approximate and dated (as of August 2026). Verify current data before investing.