with oak hill capital partners or oak investment partners . oaktree capital management inc. type public traded as nyse oak industry financial services founded april 1995 1995 04 1 founders howard marks bruce karsh steve kaplan larry keele richard masson sheldon stone 1 headquarters los angeles california usa number of locations 17 2 key people howard marks co chairman bruce karsh co chairman and cio john frank vice chairman jay wintrob ceo aum us 97 billion as of 31 december 2015 update 3 website www.oaktreecapital.com oaktree capital management is an american global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies . oaktree emphasizes an opportunistic value oriented and risk controlled approach to investments in distressed debt corporate debt including high yield debt and senior loans control investing convertible securities real estate and listed equities . as of december 31 2015 the company managed 97 billion primarily on behalf of public funds pension funds foundations corporate and insurance companies endowments and sovereign wealth funds . on april 12 2012 oaktree capital group llc became listed on the nyse oak . 3 4 the firm was co founded in 1995 by a group who had formerly worked together at the tcw group starting in the 1980s . oaktree quickly established a reputation in the high yield and distressed debt markets . 5 as of december 31 2015 it has over 900 employees 6 and 17 offices in los angeles where it is headquartered london new york city hong kong stamford connecticut tokyo luxembourg paris frankfurt singapore seoul beijing amsterdam dubai houston and shanghai . 3 contents 1 firm overview 2 history 2.1 early years 1995 1999 2.2 expansion 2000 2010 2.3 recent years 2010 present 3 investment funds 3.1 closed end funds 3.2 open end funds 3.3 evergreen funds 4 assets 5 current investments 6 see also 7 references 8 further reading 9 external links firm overview edit oaktree is headquartered in the wells fargo tower in los angeles seen here as the building on the left with headquarters in los angeles 7 the firm has over 900 employees 6 and offices in 17 cities worldwide los angeles london new york city hong kong stamford connecticut tokyo luxembourg paris frankfurt singapore seoul beijing amsterdam dubai houston and shanghai . 3 investment philosophy oaktree has a value oriented investment philosophy emphasizing risk control consistency and specialization with a focus on opportunities that offer a margin of safety . 3 on november 12 2011 the financial times said of oaktree s approach the heart of risk management oaktree style with its emphasis on living to fight another day is simple . oaktree eschews overly complicated hedging strategies . 8 the firm specializes in off the beaten path and contrarian investments 9 and favors companies with tangible assets . 10 the firm s motto is if we avoid the losers the winners will take care of themselves . 11 investment focus oaktree invests across the capital structure with an emphasis on senior debt in companies and markets where it has what it calls a knowledge advantage . distressed or otherwise ailing companies according to oaktree provide such opportunities . the company s co chairman howard marks has been described as one of the savviest investors in the world 8 and is known in the investment community for letters to investors called the oaktree memos . 12 since its 1995 formation oaktree has become the largest distressed debt investor in the world . 13 14 in 2008 it raised 10.9 billion for what was the largest ever distressed debt fund its opportunities fund viib . 15 as reported in the washington post on june 26 2011 oaktree s 17 distressed debt funds which do not use leverage have averaged annual gains of 19 % after fees for the past 22 years . 16 in addition to credit investments in distressed debt and high yield bonds oaktree also invests in areas such as private equity real estate and listed equities . in recent years the company has expanded its real estate activities . 3 investor base oaktree s clientele includes 75 of the 100 largest u.s. pension plans 39 states in the united states 434 corporations and or their pension funds approximately 370 university charitable and other endowments and foundations 16 sovereign wealth funds and over 300 other non u.s. institutional investors . 17 according to the wall street journal oaktree has long been considered a stable repository for pension fund and endowment money . 18 the company s distressed debt funds are often over subscribed and in 2010 oaktree turned down potential investors due to self imposed limits on fund size . 19 by law clients are required to be so called accredited investors however sub advisory relationships with mutual funds such as the vanguard group and russell investment group provide smaller investors access to oaktree s portfolio managers . history edit early years 1995 1999 edit oaktree was founded in 1995 by a group of principals who first joined together at the tcw group in the mid 1980s 20 to manage high yield bonds convertible securities distressed debt real estate and principal investments . 21 within three months of its founding in 1995 more than 30 tcw clients transferred 1.5 billion in assets to oaktree . 9 22 oaktree has formed various sub advisory relationships since 1995 . in 1996 oaktree was selected as the sub advisor for the vanguard convertible securities fund . 21 since 1995 oaktree has created what it refers to as step out strategies usually coincident with the opening of new offices around the world . its growth in strategies has largely focused on expanding into european and asian markets . between 1997 and 1999 oaktree created 3 new strategies emerging markets absolute return in 1997 european high yield bonds in 1999 and power opportunities in 1999 . 17 oaktree was one of the first u.s. headquartered alternative asset managers with dedicated european investment teams focused on credit . 21 expansion 2000 2010 edit in 2001 oaktree continued to introduce new step out strategies starting with mezzanine finance . asia principal opportunities 2006 and asia special situations 2007 followed along with european principal investments 2006 u.s. senior loans and value opportunities 2007 european senior loans 2009 global high yield bonds 2010 and emerging markets equities 2011 . 21 23 17 in 2005 the securities and exchange commission ordered oaktree to pay a fine interest and disgorge profits after the sec ruled they had sold securities short before the five legal business days after a public offering pricing had gone public . oaktree was required to put in place policies and procedures to prevent violations in the future . 24 in 2008 the firm raised 11 billion for their distressed debt fund . 15 25 in 2009 oaktree was selected by the u.s. treasury along with eight other managers blackrock invesco alliancebernstein and others 26 to participate in the government s public private investment program ppip . 27 at the time of oaktree s inclusion in the ppip program the new york times reported howard s. marks is the sort of financier who washington hopes will help fix the nation s tumbledown banks . 28 partnering with oaktree in ppip are the inupiat eskimos of alaska s north slope whose arctic slope regional corporation invested some 10 million alongside oaktree s ppip fund . as of december 31 2015 the oaktree ppip fund l.p. had a gross return of 28 % . 23 29 17 recent years 2010 present edit relationship expansion in recent years the company has formed several strategic relationships . in 2009 oaktree acquired a 22 % stake in doubleline capital a los angeles based investment firm specializing in mortgage backed fixed income portfolios . in 2011 oaktree partnered with sabal financial group a company focusing on the acquisition and valuation of portfolios of real estate loans . 30 oaktree had been an investor in sabal s portfolios since 2009 prior to acquiring a non controlling equity stake in the company . 31 its relationship with vanguard was expanded in 2011 when oaktree was selected as one of four firms to manage vanguard s emerging markets select stock fund . in 2010 oaktree was named one of three advisors to the russell global opportunistic credit fund and was selected as a manager for the credit suisse lux i fund in 2011 . 21 european sovereign debt crisis seeking investment opportunities created by the european sovereign debt crisis 32 33 oaktree started its european principal fund iii in november 2011 with committed capital of some 3 billion . 34 other recent funds according to the company s published financial results during the year ended december 31 2015 oaktree raised 10.5 billion for oaktree opportunities funds x and xb opps x and xb . 17 like its other opportunities funds fund x and xb will focus on market pricing inefficiencies resulting from company reorganizations and restructurings and the senior and secured debt of operationally sound overleveraged companies in the united states and western europe . 35 new strategies such as global high yield bonds strategic credit european private debt emerging markets total return emerging markets opportunities real estate debt and value equities were also added to the platform . 17 nyse listing on april 12 2012 oaktree became a publicly traded partnership with shares listed on the nyse . 4 the company was previously listed on gstrue a private over the counter exchange run by goldman sachs 36 which officially ceased operations 37 in 2012 after oaktree along with apollo global management in 2011 de listed and moved to the nyse . 38 investment funds edit oaktree s current investment activities are divided across six main asset classes distressed debt 39 corporate debt including high yield debt and senior loans control investing convertible securities real estate and listed equities . fund structures within each asset class vary and are organized into closed end open end or so called evergreen fund types . oaktree s fund offerings are organized into three broad categories based on liquidity and lock up period closed end funds closed end funds are structured as limited partnerships that have a 10 or 11 year term and have a specified period during which clients can subscribe for limited partnership interests in the fund . closed end funds have a three four or five year investment period . open end funds commingled open end funds are structured as limited partnerships that admit clients as new limited partners on an ongoing basis . unlike close end funds these funds do not have an investment period . capital may be committed to new investments at any time during the fund s life . evergreen funds evergreen funds invest in marketable securities on a long and short basis . like open end funds oaktree s evergreen funds accept new capital on an ongoing basis . clients in evergreen funds are generally subject to a lock up period of between one and three years . 23 the following tables list the company s strategies and funds since inception including tcw funds directed by oaktree managers before they left tcw to found oaktree in 1995 closed end funds edit fund inception date committed capital m distressed debt tcw special credits fund i l.p. oct 1988 97 tcw special credits fund ii l.p. jul 1990 261 tcw special credits fund iib l.p. dec 1990 153 tcw special credits fund iii l.p. nov 1991 329 tcw special credits fund iiib l.p. apr 1992 6447 tcw special credits fund iv l.p. jun 1993 394 ocm opportunities fund l.p. oct 1995 771 ocm opportunities fund ii l.p. oct 1997 1 550 ocm opportunities fund iii l.p. sep 1999 2 077 ocm opportunities fund iv l.p. sep 2001 2 125 ocm opportunities fund ivb l.p. may 2002 1 339 ocm opportunities fund v l.p. jun 2004 1 179 ocm opportunities fund vi l.p. jul 2005 1 773 ocm opportunities fund