May 8 (Reuters) - Carlyle Group ( CG ) will hunt for

opportunities to put its $84 billion of capital to use, it said

on Thursday, joining a growing host of investment managers

seeking to capitalize on the current market disruption and snap

up assets at a bargain.

While President Donald Trump's tariff plans have roiled

markets, the direct impact on Carlyle is limited, CEO Harvey

Schwartz said, noting that most of its private equity holdings

are U.S.-based companies focused on services instead of goods.

"We are well-positioned to be active in this market

environment as opportunities emerge," Schwartz said.

Large asset managers such as Carlyle have navigated the

economic environment with relative ease, partly because their

investment portfolios can fetch millions in fees. Also, with

trade-related uncertainty disrupting exits in the U.S., these

firms continue to sell assets in other geographies such as Asia,

where the impact is less severe.

Carlyle beat estimates for first-quarter profit as its

assets under management climbed to a record, driving fee-related

earnings up 17% to an all-time high of $310.6 million.

Fund management fees grew 2% while transaction and

portfolio advisory fees - which it earns from arranging capital

markets deals for its portfolio companies and other clients -

jumped nearly threefold.

Carlyle's shares rose 3.5% to $41.35.

PRIVATE MARKET POTENTIAL

The Washington, D.C.-based company recorded inflows of

$14.2 billion. It deployed $11.1 billion and had $84 billion

available for investment.

CEO Schwartz, like his peers, sees private market access as

central to the next stage of growth for the alternative asset

management industry.

"For investors looking to drive returns and capture the next

generation of market growth, private market access has never

been more important," he said, citing the shrinking pool of

public companies and the growing number of private ones.

Globally, overall private assets under management are

expected to grow to $24.1 trillion by 2029, from $18.7 trillion

at the end of 2024, according to a report by PitchBook.

Carlyle's AUM rose 6% to $453 billion in the quarter,

thanks to growth in its global credit segment and in AlpInvest,

its secondary investments unit.

Distributable earnings, which measures cash that can be

returned to shareholders, rose 5.6% to $455.4 million, or $1.14

per share, for the three months ended March 31.

Analysts were expecting 95 cents per share, according to

estimates compiled by LSEG.

So far this year, Carlyle's shares have dropped nearly

21%, as of their last close. Rivals Blackstone, KKR

and Apollo have fallen 21%, 21.4% and 21.7%,

respectively.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika

Syamnath)