Oaktree Capital Management
Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. is one of the world's leading alternative investment managers with a primary focus on credit markets across the full credit spectrum from investment-grade through distressed debt, managing approximately $192 billion in assets for a global institutional client base. Founded in 1995 by Howard Marks, Bruce Karsh, and other co-founders who pioneered distressed debt investing at TCW, Oaktree has built a preeminent reputation in credit-focused alternative investment management — particularly distressed debt and opportunistic credit — through more than 25 years of consistent application of its distinctive investment philosophy. According to its website at oaktreecapital.com, Oaktree's investment philosophy is defined by six tenets: risk control, consistency, market awareness, patience, breadth, and an absence of bias — principles that have guided the firm's credit investing through multiple economic cycles and market dislocations.
Oaktree's investment platform, described at oaktreecapital.com, encompasses distressed debt — where Oaktree is widely considered the world's leading manager, with experience dating to the first high yield bond default cycle of the late 1980s; opportunistic and high yield credit; leveraged loans; convertible securities; infrastructure debt; real estate debt and equity; private equity; and listed equities in certain special situations. Oaktree's credit investment capabilities are particularly distinguished in distressed debt and special situations, where the firm's ability to analyze complex credit situations, navigate bankruptcy proceedings, and invest with patient capital across the distressed credit cycle has produced decades of outperformance relative to conventional credit investment approaches. Oaktree has participated in some of the most significant debt restructuring and bankruptcy proceedings in American corporate history.
Oaktree Capital Management became a majority-owned subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management in 2019, creating a combined alternative investment platform with over $900 billion in total assets under management that spans Brookfield's infrastructure, real estate, renewable energy, and private equity capabilities alongside Oaktree's credit expertise. According to oaktreecapital.com, the Brookfield affiliation provides Oaktree with enhanced institutional credibility, global distribution capabilities, and co-investment opportunities across Brookfield's real assets platform while preserving Oaktree's investment independence and the credit-focused culture that has defined the firm since its founding. Oaktree's combination of credit market leadership, distressed investing heritage, Howard Marks intellectual influence, $192 billion in AUM, and Brookfield affiliation establishes it as one of the most respected, influential, and consequential credit investment management organizations in the world.