The CEO of the world's second-largest alternatives firm is optimistic about a light recession

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For the last two decades, Bruce Flatt has been the CEO of Brookfield Asset Management, growing it to become the second-largest alternatives firm in the world. He oversees more than $725 billion in assets spanning a diverse portfolio comprised of real estate, private equity, infrastructure, energy transition, credit, and insurance. 

Flatt brings his vast perspective to an exclusive interview with CNBC's Delivering Alpha newsletter, where he explains why he's not too concerned about the many headwinds facing the economy today. 

 (The below has been edited for length and clarity. See above for full video.)

Leslie Picker: I want to kick things off with kind of a bird's eye view, because you do have such a unique vantage point in the economy right now. And given all of the forces that have caused the public market sell-off — inflation, higher interest rates, concerns about geopolitics, China, Russia supply chain challenges, and the like — what's been the impact from your vantage point?

Bruce Flatt: Long-term wealth creation is about investing in great businesses with great people and compounding over the long term. So, despite wars, pandemics, explosions, recessions, and all the other things you just mentioned, over the past 30 years, we've just continued to buy great businesses, keep compounding and the returns have been excellent. And so, I guess I'd just say everyone just has to stay invested, not get too excited about the market gyrations that happen every day, and just keep with it. And that's the secret to success in investing.

Picker: Given what you're seeing in terms of the deal market. In real estate and the like — there are concerns about a recession,