Private equity giant Carlyle believes defense sector investments offer boundless opportunities as nations worldwide boost their military budgets, according to Chief Executive Harvey Schwartz.
Speaking at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York on Wednesday, Schwartz described the potential market for the company’s newly established defense-focused division as having no limits.
“The total addressable market for a new dedicated unit that the firm set up to invest in that sector is unlimited, because everywhere you go everybody’s increasing their defense budgets by 1%, 2%, 5%,” Schwartz explained.
He characterized the trend as a worldwide occurrence during his remarks at the conference.
According to a company statement, the specialized unit will focus on investments across aerospace, defense, and industrial companies.
Schwartz has emphasized Carlyle’s Washington, D.C. origins as a competitive edge over rival private capital firms based in New York while working to navigate the company through internal challenges and broader industry difficulties.
Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows worldwide military spending hit $2.89 trillion in 2025, pushing defense expenditures as a percentage of global economic output to levels not seen since 2009.
The abundance of potential investment opportunities in the sector means “we’re saying ‘no’ to a lot of transactions of the smaller ticket size,” according to Schwartz.
He noted that the new specialized unit could enable the firm to pursue transactions valued at $200 million to $300 million.
