KKR's assets up 2.5% for quarter, closes on $6.3 billion in new capital

KKR & Co. reported assets under management of $199.5 billion as of March 31, up 2.5% from three months earlier and up 13.1% from a year ago, according to the alternative investment firm's earnings release Tuesday.

KKR attributed the increase in assets for the year primarily to new capital raised. In the first quarter alone, KKR closed on $6.3 billion in new capital, mainly for private equity, real estate and leveraged credit strategies. An increase in the value of KKR's private equity portfolio also was cited for the overall asset gain.

These increases were offset by realizations and distributions to limited partners in KKR's private equity portfolio and distributions in various public market strategies.

KKR's private market AUM was $108.1 billion as of March 31, up 4.5% from Dec. 31 and up 5.8% from March 31, 2018. Public market AUM was $91.4 billion as of March 31, flat from three months earlier but up 23.3% from 12 months earlier.

KKR's management fees were $292.3 million for the first quarter, up 4.6% from the previous quarter and up 16.2% from the first quarter of 2018. Transaction fees were $186.7 million for the first quarter, down 49.2% from the previous quarter but up 19.1% from the year-earlier quarter. Monitoring fees were $25.7 million for the first quarter, up 5.3% from the previous quarter and up 46.9% from the year-earlier quarter.

Total realized performance income was $349.9 million in the first quarter, up 1.2% from the fourth quarter and up 59.8% from the first quarter of 2018.

KKR had a GAAP net income of $701 million for the quarter, compared with a net loss of $1.1 billion in the previous quarter and $170.1 million in net income for the year-earlier quarter.