New York equity firm Fortress Investment Group (FIG) saw its third-quarter loss widen 40.4% from a year ago, attributing the loss to market volatility. Fortress reported Thursday a $382 million loss in the third quarter, widening from a $272 million loss the same quarter last year. Generally accepted accounting principals loss, excluding principals agreement compensation, hit $102 million in the third quarter, an increase from a $32 million loss a year prior. The company made $43 million in pre-tax distributable earnings, or 8 cents per dividend-paying share, down from $78 million, or 15 cents per dividend-paying share, in the third quarter 2010. CEO David Mudd said in the earnings release that Fortress “delivered steady, profitable results,” and that moving forward the company sees “an investment landscape that should present historically attractive opportunities to deploy capital.” Fortress’s assets under management totaled $43.6 billion at the end of the third quarter, down from $43.8 billion at the second-quarter end and $44 billion as of Sept. 30, 2010. Fortress manages real estate investment and finance company Newcastle Investment Corp. (NCT), which raised about $110 million in permanent capital in the third quarter, according to the earnings report. Write to Andrew Scoggin. Follow him on Twitter @ascoggin.