Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Private-equity firms raised a record $324.4 billion in the first half of the year as investments in funds that buy distressed assets increased, according to a report released today.

Firms including Carlyle Group and Oaktree Capital Management LLC exceeded the $323.8 billion gathered in the year- earlier period, according to data compiled by London-based Preqin Ltd. Commitments to distressed funds, which focus on debt and equity of struggling companies, rose 28 percent to $33 billion, while new money for buyout funds fell 18 percent, Preqin said.

Announced leveraged buyouts, the mainstay of the private- equity industry, declined 73 percent in the first six months of the year to $143.1 billion, Bloomberg data show, after investors and banks cut off financing. More than a third of investors in a survey by Preqin said they were shifting money to distressed funds from buyouts.

``Investors have shown themselves to be adaptable in the face of economic change,'' Preqin's Tim Friedman wrote in the report.

Carlyle, based in Washington, raised $1.35 billion, more than double its $500 million target, for its Strategic Partners II fund. Oaktree won commitments for $10.9 billion, about triple the size of its 2007 fund, according to the report.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Kelly in New York at jkelly14@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 22, 2008 17:21 EDT