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Nov 4 (Reuters) - Apollo Global Management (APO.N), opens new tab surpassed Wall Street's expectations with a 20% rise in third-quarter profit on Tuesday, boosted by managing a swelling pile of assets, growth in debt origination and higher performance fees.

The alternative asset manager posted adjusted net income of $1.36 billion, or $2.17 per share. Analysts on average had expected $1.22 billion, or $1.91 per share, according to estimates compiled by LSEG.

Apollo primarily focused on private equity when it was founded in 1990, but later branched out to become a major corporate credit investor and took full control of retirement services company Athene in 2021.

Inflows worth $82 billion in the quarter boosted total assets under management to $908 billion, edging closer to CEO Marc Rowan's target to manage $1 trillion by 2026 and $1.5 trillion by 2029.

Around $34 billion of that fresh capital came from the purchase of real estate firm Bridge Investment Group.

Sales to retail customers accounted for just over $10 billion in inflows to Athene in the third quarter.

This was closely followed by a $9.7 billion chunk from funding agreements which are used to raise capital from U.S. Federal Home Loan Banks, government-chartered cooperatives that provide mortgage funding.

Athene sells annuities to retail customers or pension funds in exchange for a fixed stream of payments over time. It is generally harder to withdraw money from annuities than from bank accounts, meaning insurers can use those stable, long-term funds to invest in other assets to generate returns.

Spread-related earnings, a key indicator of Athene's performance, rose to $871 million, while quarterly fee-related earnings hit a record $652 million.

Apollo and many of its peers in private equity have met challenges to the traditional model of buying companies and selling them for a profit as interest rates rose.

Apollo said on Tuesday the environment for cashing out on the companies it had acquired remained "uncertain". It has signed several financing deals, including a hybrid capital arrangement for a $2.7 billion deal to take members club Soho House (SHCO.N), opens new tab private.

Last week, the company said it had teamed up with fellow private capital firm KKR (KKR.N), opens new tab to invest $7 billion in Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP.O), opens new tab, which soothed investor worries about the beverage group's mounting debt.