By Isla Binnie and Arasu Kannagi Basil

NEW YORK (Reuters) -KKR executives signaled optimism for investment returns and dealmaking on Friday and sought to allay concerns about slower private equity fundraising, deal volume and credit defaults saying there was no reason for alarm.

KKR Chief Financial Officer Rob Lewin described the environment for monetizations, meaning selling or refinancing assets in its portfolio as “constructive” and said the U.S. private equity firm expects this to continue into 2026.

“Things feel healthy both in performance and exits,” Lewin told analysts on a conference call on Friday.

The traditional private equity model of buying and selling companies has been hampered as higher interest rates made it harder to profit from selling companies that were bought when

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