The Allocation Podcast

Between now and 2030, roughly $5 trillion will be spent building the infrastructure for AI. To justify that investment, businesses and individuals will need to spend $2 trillion a year on AI services. Whether AI can earn back what's being spent on it is a defining question of this investment cycle, with impacts to be felt across debt and equity markets. Rob Bittencourt, who leads Apollo Thematic Investing, has spent his career tracking exactly these kinds of non-linear shifts. In this conversation, Rob breaks down the state of AI adoption and what enterprise ROI pressure means for the cycle and investor portfolios. He also discusses two other themes his team is tracking: US reindustrialization and why private capital may be better positioned than public markets to finance it, and the forces that are beginning to reshape finance itself.

Apollo Sports Capital’s newly announced financing agreement with Yankees Global Enterprises represents a watershed moment for investing in sports. It also exemplifies Apollo’s strategic approach to the sports market. In this premier episode of The Allocation, Apollo Sports Capital CEO Al Tylis unpacks the forces driving sports as an investable asset class, including media rights, global fan engagement, hybrid financing demand and the evolution of team ownership. With the sports ecosystem now representing a $2.5 trillion opportunity, Tylis explains why financing, not just ownership, may be its most compelling play.

Head of Hybrid Matt Nord shares Apollo’s view of hybrid as a risk-reward framework that can provide the flexibility to invest across the capital structure. He explains why demand for flexible capital solutions is growing and why investors are increasingly drawn to hybrid's combination of equity-like return potential and credit-like downside protection.

As the second half of 2026 begins, Apollo Chief Economist Torsten Slok outlines the key macro dynamics shaping the landscape. He explains why the AI boom has evolved far beyond a technology story, how an industrial renaissance is reshaping manufacturing and investment opportunities and how government policy is providing additional support for growth. He also discusses the implications for inflation, interest rates, asset allocation, and credit markets while outlining the key indicators he's watching for the months ahead.

Higher interest rates have contributed to a wholesale reset of valuations across the real estate market. On this episode, Apollo’s Bert Crouch discusses why fundamentals in sectors like housing, logistics, and senior living remain resilient, and where investors are finding opportunities in a market increasingly shaped by demographic trends, the need for operational expertise, and mounting demand for “HALO” assets.

On this episode of the View From Apollo’s Allocation Insights series, Alex Wright and Diana Sands are joined by Partner and Co-Head of Apollo's Sponsor & Secondary Solutions business Steve Lessar to discuss how private market secondaries have evolved from a niche liquidity tool to a core allocation of modern private market portfolios, which can offer immediate exposure to mature assets and attractive risk-adjusted return potential.

In our second Convergence episode on the merging of private and public credit markets, partners Brian Weinstein and John Cortese unpack how rapidly shifting conditions are reshaping where and how investors find opportunity. With AI-driven disruption, geopolitical events and other dynamics in play, what looked like a more straightforward buyer’s market just months ago has evolved into a more nuanced market defined by dispersion, complexity and the need for deeper underwriting.

In our latest Allocation Insights episode on market movement and what we’re hearing from investors around the world, Diana Sands and Alex Wright speak with four Apollo partners at the firm’s recent Credit Annual General Meeting – Akila Grewal, Chris Edson, Jim Vanek and Chris Lahoud – to explore how the breadth and integration of Apollo’s platform is designed to perform throughout credit cycles and capture value across the full credit spectrum.

Diversification has long been a cornerstone of investing, but what does it really mean in private equity today? In this episode, lead equity product specialist Bryn Gostin explores how diversification across managers, company size and sectors can help support more resilient portfolios in today’s evolving landscape. He explores shifting industry dynamics, the risks of concentrated exposure — particularly in software — and why a more balanced, multi-dimensional approach may be key to building durable private equity portfolios.