Carlyle Group posted its highest distributable earnings in nearly four years as the buyout firm continued to have record capital at its disposal to invest.

The Washington-based firm on Wednesday reported it had $97 billion in available capital for investments in the second quarter.

Carlyle Group invested $14.3 billion in the latest period.

Inflows came in at $16.8 billion, driven by activity across all segments. This included $5 billion of commitments earmarked for the next vintage U.S. buyout fund in its global private equity segment, and continued momentum in its AlpInvest secondaries and portfolio finance strategy, as well as the closing of three new-issue U.S. collateral loan obligations and reinsurance activity in its global credit segment.

Total assets under management rose 4%, to $485 billion.

Carlyle Group reported net income of $224.8 million, or 37 cents a share, for the second quarter compared with $328.1 million, or 87 cents a share, a year earlier.

Distributable earnings--profit that can be distributed among shareholders--climbed to $472.3 million, or $1.07 a share, from $431 million, or 91 cents a share, a year prior.

Fee-related earnings jumped to $357.7 million from $323.3 million in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue fell to $1.12 billion from $1.57 billion a year earlier. Analysts were expecting revenue of $924 million, according to FactSet.

"Carlyle continues to distinguish itself as an industry leader and an outlier in returning capital to our clients, distributing nearly $7 billion during the quarter and $37 billion over the past year," Chief Executive Harvey Schwartz said.