Carlyle Distributable Earnings Rise to $433 Million

The Tip Desk · November 5, 2026 · 3 min read

Distributable Earnings reached $433 million, or $1.12 a share after tax, as the firm swung to a $77 million pre-tax loss.

The Carlyle Group Inc. (CG) reported Distributable Earnings of $433 million in the third quarter ended September 30, 2026, or $1.12 a share after tax, up from $368 million, or $0.96 a share, a year earlier. Chief Executive Officer Harvey M. Schwartz called it one of the firm’s strongest quarters of Distributable Earnings per share on record.

U.S. GAAP results moved the other way. The global investment firm recorded a loss before provision for income taxes of $77 million and a margin on that loss of 23.0%, after income before taxes of $274 million and a 24.4% margin in the second quarter. Net loss attributable to Carlyle was $8 million, or $0.02 a share on a diluted basis, versus net income of $0.9 million, or $0.00 a share, in the year-ago quarter.

Total revenues were $334.1 million, compared with $332.7 million a year earlier. Fund management fees fell to $555.4 million from $583.3 million. Investment income, including performance allocations, was a $507.3 million loss, versus a $519.0 million loss a year earlier. The company said the fee decline was driven by a $17 million decrease in catch-up fund management fees, from $31 million in the third quarter of 2025 in Carlyle AlpInvest to $14 million in Global Credit, and by net investment realization activity in certain Global Private Equity funds, partially offset by higher fees from recent secondaries and portfolio finance vintages.

Investment income primarily reflected the reversal of unrealized performance allocations in the seventh U.S. buyout fund, driven in part by market price decreases of certain public investments, and in the secondaries and portfolio finance strategy in Carlyle AlpInvest, partially offset by unrealized allocations in opportunistic credit and aviation in Global Credit and in international energy in Global Private Equity. Net investment loss of Consolidated Funds for the year to the third quarter included unrealized losses of approximately $82 million on an investment in a consolidated infrastructure fund in Global Private Equity. Cumulative unrealized loss attributable to the company on that investment was approximately $222 million through September 30, 2026, which the company said it currently expects to be realized upon disposition of the fund’s investment in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Fee Related Earnings were $293 million, down 6% from $312 million a year earlier, with FRE margin at 47% versus 48%. Realized Net Performance Revenues were $100 million, versus $19 million a year earlier, driven by the second U.S. equity opportunities fund, the fourth Japan buyout fund, NGP’s eleventh energy fund, and the first international energy fund. Realized principal investment income was $64 million.

Net Accrued Performance Revenues were $2.1 billion as of September 30, 2026, down 12% from the prior quarter, primarily from carry realizations and lower net accrued carry in the seventh U.S. buyout fund and in secondaries and portfolio finance, partially offset by appreciation in opportunistic credit, aviation, and international energy.

Total assets under management were $479 billion at September 30, 2026, down 1% from the prior quarter and up 1% year-over-year. Global Credit AUM decreased 2%, Global Private Equity 1%, and Carlyle AlpInvest 1% sequentially. Fee-earning AUM was $330 billion, down 1% from the prior quarter and down 1% year-over-year. Pending Fee-earning AUM was $28 billion, up 48% year-over-year and flat to the prior quarter. Available capital for investment was $94 billion, up 5% year-over-year.

Inflows were $10.8 billion in the quarter and deployment was $11.0 billion. Realized proceeds in carry funds were $8.8 billion and appreciation in carry funds was 1%. The board declared a quarterly dividend of $0.35 a share, payable November 23, 2026. Carlyle repurchased or withheld 4.5 million shares, totaling $210 million, leaving $1.4 billion of capacity under a $2.0 billion authorization.