Oaktree Capital Management

Oaktree Capital Management, Inc. is a global asset management firm specializing in alternative investment strategies. As of December 31, 2025, the company managed $223 billion for its clientele.

The firm was co-founded in 1995 by a group that had formerly worked together at the TCW Group starting in the 1980s. On April 12, 2012, Oaktree Capital Group, LLC became listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol OAK. On March 13, 2019, Canada's Brookfield Asset Management announced that it had agreed to buy 62% of Oaktree Capital Management for approximately $4.7 billion.

Firm overview

The firm is based in Los Angeles, and has more than 1,450 employees in offices in 26 cities worldwide (Los Angeles, New York City, London, Hyderabad, Hong Kong, Stamford, Connecticut, Tokyo, Luxembourg, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore, Seoul, Beijing, Amsterdam, Dubai, Houston, Dallas, Dublin, Shanghai, Sydney, Mumbai, GIFT City, Madrid, Stockholm, Zurich). The company's co-chairman, Howard Marks, is known in the investment community for his letters to investors.

Since its formation in 1995, Oaktree has become the largest distressed-debt investor in the world. 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.

Investor base

Oaktree's clientele includes 64 of the 100 largest U.S. pension plans, 40 state retirement plans in the United States, over 550 corporations and/or their pension funds, over 275 university, charitable and other endowments and foundations, and 17 sovereign wealth funds. According to The Wall Street Journal, Oaktree has "long been considered a stable repository for pension-fund and endowment money."