Fortress Investment Group, a US alternative asset manager that floated in the US this year, has recorded an accounting loss for the third quarter of 2007 as payouts to its founders took it into the red for the second quarter in a row.

The firm recorded a $54m charge relating to an agreement with the firm's principals, an agreement that will continue to affect the accounts until 2012. The effect of this charge, after tax, was that the firm recorded a net loss of $38m for the three months ended September 30, 2007, according to generally accepted accounting principles.