US private equity firm KKR’s first quarter earnings dropped as a slowdown in dealmaking activity weighed on its ability to sell investments for a profit and realise lucrative performance fees.

The group’s fee related earnings dropped 6 per cent during the first quarter to $549mn from this time last year, slightly missing expectations from analysts polled by Refinitiv. Its distributable earnings, a measure analysts regard as a proxy for cash flows, fell 26 per cent to $719mn over the same period.

The results showed that new money continues to pour into KKR, which raised $12bn from investors during the quarter.

“In our experience volatility creates opportunity,” co-chief executives Joseph Bae and Scott Nuttall said in a press release, noting KKR sits on $106bn in uncalled investor commitments that it can invest in dislocated markets.