Global investment firm The Carlyle Group yesterday reported its third quarter earnings increased nearly fivefold, fuelled by record assets sales, predominantly from its private equity portfolio.

Distributable earnings rose to a record $731m, up from $152m a year earlier. This brought distributable earnings for the year to date to $1.3bn – an increase of 155 per cent.

PE firms like Carlyle have benefited from the economy reopening post-pandemic and historically low interest rates. This combination has sent mergers and acquisitions to new record highs, and allowed buyout groups to cash in high on selling investments.

It comes after rival US giant Blackstone last week reported that its distributable earnings had more than doubled to an all-time high in the third quarter, also due to robust asset sales.

Carlyle also raised $22bn in the quarter, driving the amount raised this year up to $40bn – a 124 per cent increase on last year.

The $293bn group invested $6.3bn during the quarter to buy stakes in new companies, including Japanese renewable energy firm JAG energy.

Chief executive officer Kewsong Lee attributed the group’s record investment pace to a post-pandemic backdrop of “massive change impacting industries and asset classes around the world and generating exceptional investment opportunities for private markets.

He was also positive about the future of the group’s improved credit business, due to the “potential for increased market volatility or higher interest rates” in the near future.

Chief Financial Officer Curtis L. Buser said this part of the business had “been doing really well”.

“The growth there has been significant,” Buser said. “We’ve doubled AUM over the past couple of years. The annual rate of growth in AUM has generally been around 20 per cent.”

“And if you look at the fundraising, it’s very consistent,” he added.

Carlyle ended the quarter with a record assets under management of $293bn, a 19 per cent increase from the start of the year.