May 5 (Reuters) - KKR co-founder George Roberts

tried to ease investor anxiety on Monday as uncertainty over

U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policies have caused global

stock markets to swoon.

"To quote Queen Elizabeth, stay calm and carry on," the

private equity veteran told the Milken Institute Global

Conference in Los Angeles, referring to the British monarch who

died in 2022.

"What we have now is disruption in international trade, and

tariffs, with no real outcome of what that is going to be. ... I

think there will be trade deals made - they have to be," added

Roberts, who co-founded KKR with his cousin Henry Kravis in

1976.

Trump imposed on April 2 a minimum 10% tariff on all goods

imported into the United States, before pausing some of them,

with higher percentages to dozens of key partners from Europe to

Japan, including a hefty levy on China that has since been

raised to 145%.

The ensuing market turmoil has made it harder to value assets

and to strike deals that let private equity firms profitably

sell or IPO their portfolio companies.

"You can sort of see the administration walking back some of

the more novel ideas they have come up with. Whether our country

is going to be better off or not, the voters will have a chance

to vote," Roberts said.

Roberts pinpointed infrastructure as a good sector in which

to invest because of high interest rates and availability of

good assets.

KKR expanded from buyouts to private loans, infrastructure

and property, and now has assets worth more than $600 billion

under management.

Roberts and Kravis passed on their co-chief executive roles

at the firm in 2021 and now serve as co-executive chairmen.