By Chibuike Oguh NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Blackstone Inc BX.N said on Thursday its fourth quarter distributable earnings fell 41% year-on-year as the world's largest manager of alternative assets cashed out fewer investments across its key portfolios. Higher interest rates, inflation, recession worries, and geopolitical tensions from the Russia-Ukraine conflict have prevented private equity firms like Blackstone from selling assets for top dollar. Under generally accepted accounting principles, Blackstone reported net income of $557.9 million, down 60% from $1.4 billion in the prior year owing to investment losses.