New York hedge fund giant Och-Ziff Capital Management posted substantially better-than-expected earnings for the third quarter as it continued to rebuild its asset base.

The firm said distributable profit in the quarter was $34.2 million. That’s down 35% from the year-earlier period, but the 8 cent per share profit was twice what analysts expected from Och-Ziff, according to Bloomberg News.

The firm, which saw more than $10 billion of its assets disappear amidst the economic crisis, also continued to see clients return to its funds. The firm’s assets under management stood at $22.3 billion at the end of September, up $400 million from the end of June. And the early going in the fourth quarter is just as promising, rising another $300 million in October, mostly new money from investors.

“We remain confident that as investors begin to redeploy capital, we will be a leading beneficiary of those flows,” CEO Daniel Och said.