Fortress Investment's first quarter distributable earnings topped analysts' expectations despite a 45% decline on lower management and performance related incomes.

Buoyed by a solid 12% rise in the US equity market in the quarter, as measured by the Standard & Poor's 500 index, the alternative asset manager recorded a 4.7% rise in the value of its private equity portfolio, comparable to peer Blackstone's 4.9% gain, but below the 9% increase that KKR reported last week.