Glenn Youngkin, who co-leads Carlyle Group LP, said the global economy is slowing but not stalling and that the U.S. can continue to grow at 2%.

“It gives us a fair amount of confidence there isn’t a recession around the corner,” he said at the SuperReturn U.S. East conference on Monday. “We don’t see it this year or next year.”

The co-chief executive said rising asset prices have made the climate for private equity investing as tough as it’s ever been. Washington-based Carlyle, which oversaw $221.5 billion in assets at the end of the first quarter, is sitting on billions of dollars to invest in a frothy deal environment.

Youngkin and Kewsong Lee took the helm of Carlyle from co-founders David Rubenstein and Bill Conway more than a year ago. The firm took in $6.9 billion in the first quarter, helped by a robust fundraising environment. Its private equity unit dragged on earnings last quarter, which fell 27%.

The firm’s co-heads have expressed bullish views on China. Youngkin said during a Bloomberg Television interview in April that he expects a trade deal to be signed between China and the U.S. by this summer.

The firm is considering changing to a corporation from a partnership, which most of its peers have already done. KKR & Co. and Blackstone Group LP saw their shares rise after announcing plans to switch to a C-corp.

Youngkin also said:

• He expects company margins in general to come down a bit
• Money is moving to private markets and he’s stunned at the drop in U.S. initial public offerings