NEW YORK, March 1 (Reuters) – Hedge fund and private equity firm Fortress Investment Group (FIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) reported a sharp rise in fourth-quarter results, helped by higher incentive income, strong performance in its credit funds, and its Logan Circle acquisition.

Distributable income at the firm rose to $122 million, or 24 cents per share, from $60 million, or break-even on a per-share basis, a year earlier.

Fortress, one of the first alternative investment management firms to go public, says distributable income is the best way to measure its performance because it excludes compensation costs stemming from the equity interest of principals who took the company public in 2007.

Fortress said it raised $5.3 billion from investors in 2010 and had $44.6 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31.

The firm said it had higher incentive income from managing its funds in the fourth quarter, benefiting from sharp rises in the performance of its credit hedge funds, liquid hedge funds, credit private equity funds and private equity funds.

Its Drawbridge Special Opportunities Ltd credit fund rose 29 percent in 2010 on a net basis.

The firm’s fourth-quarter net loss attributable to Class A shareholders narrowed to $13.42 million, or 9 cents per share, from a net loss of $84.26 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier.