By Joseph A. Giannone

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investment bank Lazard (LAZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Wednesday posted a 5 percent increase in quarterly profit because of higher advisory and asset-management fees, despite a slowdown in deal activity.

But shares of the independent adviser declined after comments from executives cautioning that volatile markets could impact near-term results.

Lazard was involved in some of the biggest deals announced this year, including InBev NV's $52 billion (26.2 billion pounds) takeover of Anheuser-Busch (BUD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) INTB.BR and Gaz de France's 44.6 billion euro merger with Suez Environment (SEVI.PA: Quote, Profile, Research).

Vice Chairman Steve Golub told Reuters that Lazard was an adviser on deals announced in July worth more than $100 billion, indicating merger and acquisition revenue would remain strong.

Lazard's second-quarter net income rose to $64.6 million, or 54 cents a share, from $61.5 million, or 53 cents, a year earlier. The Bermuda-based company reports earnings assuming the exchange of equity shares held by executives who helped convert the partnership into a public company in 2005.

Excluding certain costs and partnership stakes, operating revenue rose 12 percent to $494 million. The results were powered by the bank's financial advisory business, which saw an 18 percent increase in fees to a $289 million.

Analysts' average earnings forecast was 51 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

"We would be buyers," Merrill Lynch analyst Guy Moszkowski told clients in a note. "Lazard posted a clean beat," he added, citing surprisingly strong asset management results.