(Bloomberg) -- Apollo Global Management Inc. Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan said he doesn’t see a reason for the US Federal Reserve to keep cutting interest rates to stimulate the economy right now.
“Financing is available. Real estate prices are going up,” Rowan said in an interview Wednesday on Bloomberg Television. “It is not clear we need more rate cuts.”
Fed officials lowered interest rates for the first time in four years last month, cutting them by a half percentage point. On Monday, Fed Chair Jay Powell indicated that officials would continue lowering rates but in smaller increments.
In the wide-ranging interview a day after Apollo’s investor day, Rowan raised concerns that the central bank could overstimulate the economy.
“To the extent we accelerate the economy and have to go in the other direction,” he said, “that would not be a good day.”
Apollo revealed ambitious targets at its investor day Tuesday that aim to boost assets under management to $1.5 trillion and generate $10 billion of annual earnings in five years.
Apollo is likely to form more bank partnerships similar to its deal with Citigroup Inc. to pursue private credit investments, Rowan said Wednesday. The firm could form international, investment grade and infrastructure-related partnerships, he said.
The CEO said the differences between public investment-grade debt and private investment-grade debt are continuing to narrow, especially as credit ratings agencies say they’re the same quality.
“Eighteen months from now I do not believe investors will know the difference,” Rowan said. “Everything that exists in the public markets is coming to the private markets.”
Those developments will also extend to equity investments, he said. Investors are overly allocated to a few large stocks, and the addition of private investments to 401(k) portfolios could boost outcomes by 50%-60%, he said.
Rowan also cautioned against the current pace of government spending, noting that the US is “spending the next generation’s money.”
--With assistance from Jonathan Ferro.
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