Careers at Oaktree Capital
Mission
Oaktree Capital is an investment and asset management firm, which aims to help manage and grow the finances of its clients, through a range of investment products and advisory services.
History
Oaktree Capital was founded in 1995 by a group of former TCW Group employees, including the Company’s current co-chairs Howard marks (“Marks”) and Bruce Karsh (“Karsh”). The Company got off to a strong start, with more than 30 TCW clients transferring $1.5 billion in assets to Oaktree Capital within its first three months of operation.
Oaktree Capital invests across six asset classes – Corporate Debt, Convertible Securities, Distressed Debt, Control Investing, Real Estate and Listed Equities – utilising a range of investment strategies. The Company currently has approximately $98 billion assets under management.
Oaktree Capital listed shares on the New York Stock Exchange in 2012, raising a reported $380.3 million in its initial public offering, earning a valuation of $6.50 billion. The Company continues to trade its shares publicly, and has a current market capitalisation of $6.79 billion.
Benefits at Oaktree Capital




Business model of Oaktree Capital
Customer Segments
Oaktree Capital provides asset management and private equity services to re than 2,100 clients, including individuals and commercial entities. The Company’s clients include:
- Pension Funds, from a range of companies, institutions, and organisations;
- Municipal and Regional Government Bodies, including a range of government agencies and public organisations;
- Corporations and Commercial Entities, including companies from a range of sectors, such as the insurance and financial services industries;
- Universities, primarily from within the US;
- Charitable Organisations and Foundations, including numerous non-profits and foundations;
- Sovereign Wealth Funds, from various jurisdictions; and
- Individuals, including high-net-worth individuals and family offices.
Oaktree Capital primarily serves clients in North America, notably its domestic market of the US, which accounts for 75% of its client base. The Company also serves client across Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East, and South America.
Value Propositions
Oaktree Capital provides value to its clients in the following ways:
- Its range of product offerings, with the Company providing a range of asset management services across six asset classes and jurisdictions;
- Its international reach, with the Company serving a global client base, including clients across the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East;
- The technical expertise of its personnel, with the Company employing highly-trained specialist investment professionals and experienced industry executives;
- Its research-backed offerings, with the Company employing an organised research methodology and applying its proprietary research to its investment activities; and
- Its customer service and communications, with the Company working closely with its clients on investment activities and consulting frequently with clients, providing service updates.
Channels
Oaktree Capital operates a website at www.oaktreecapital.com, through which the Company provides information on its various products, services, and investment activities. The Company also operates an online client portal, accessible through its website, which enables clients to manage their accounts and track the performance of investments.
Oaktree Capital provides its services to clients through its team of in-house investment professionals and advisors, who operate out of the Company’s international network of offices, which spans 17 cities across 12 countries, of which the largest offices are in Los Angeles, London, New York City and Hong Kong.
Some of Oaktree Capital’s services are provided through third-party brokers, agents and services providers, which work in collaboration with the Company’s investment team.
Customer Relationships
Oaktree Capital provides some self-service offerings to its clients, through its online client portal, which allows client to monitor investments, manage accounts, and track performance without interacting with the Company’s team of investment professionals.
Oaktree Capital provides direct advisory and investment services to its clients, through its team of investment professionals, who work closely with clients over the period of their investments. These professionals consult with client on an ongoing basis, providing frequent updates and communications to ensure that clients are kept up to date with the performance of their investments.
Oaktree Capital provides additional support to its prospective and existing clients, with clients able to contact the Company’s various regional offices over the phone or via email. The Company also provides various market and investment insight papers and articles through its website, and is able to interact directly with clients through its social media accounts, including with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Key Activities
Oaktree Capital is a global investment manager and asset management firm. The Company manages investments across six asset classes – Corporate Debt, Convertible Securities, Distressed Debt, Control Investing, Real Estate and Listed Equities.
The Company operates through a single business segment, which covers all of the Company’s investment management services. The Company's operations are conducted through a group of operating entities collectively referred to as the Oaktree Operating Group. The Funds managed by Oaktree Capital include commingled funds, separate accounts and collateralized loan obligation vehicles. The Company has a number of offices across 12 countries, including the US, the UK, and Hong Kong.
Key Partners
Oaktree Capital collaborates with a range of partners in relation to its investment and asset management services. These partners include:
- Supplier and Vendor Partners, comprising suppliers of tools, and technology, as well as companies to which certain non-technical administrative function can be outsourced;
- Distribution and Service Partners, comprising a range of financial companies and professionals, including agents, advisors, and brokers, which provide services in support of, or on behalf of, the Company; and
- Strategic and Joint Venture Partners, comprising a range of companies with which the Company collaborates on joint projects and investments, occasionally through mutually-owned entities.
Oaktree Capital has recently launched and investment partnership with AGRO Merchants Group to invest in the cold chain industry, and a partnership with Array Technologies, to which it provides capital and strategic support.
Key Resources
Oaktree Capital’s key resources are its financial resources and capital, its technology and communications infrastructure, its service and distribution channels, its partnerships, and its specialist investment personnel. Oaktree Capital owns and leases a number of properties, including an international network of 17 offices.
Cost Structure
Oaktree Capital incurs costs in relation to the management of its investments, the payment of professional fees to various agents and third-parties, the management and development of its online client portal, the maintenance of its communications and technology infrastructure, the operation of its service and distribution channels, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.
In 2015 Oaktree Capital accrued total expenses in the amount of $940.91 million. The Company’s largest cost came in the form of compensation and benefits paid to its international workforce of 924 employees – including 235 employee-owners – which totaled $404.44 million. The Company also incurred substantial general and administrative costs – which includes costs related to includes costs related to occupancy, and the contracting of outside auditors, tax professionals, legal advisers, research, consultants, communications and information services – which amounted to $120.78 million for the year.
Revenue Streams
Oaktree Capital generates revenue through the provision of asset management, investment, and advisory services to a range of commercial, institutional, and individual clients. The Company’s revenue is derived specifically from the collection of management fees and incentive income generated by the funds that it manages, as well as investment income earned from the investments it makes through its funds, third-party funds and other companies.
In 2015 Oaktree Capital generated annual revenue of $201.91 million, up on the $193.89 million recorded by the Company the previous year. The majority of the Company’s revenue is derived from its collection of management fees, which in 2015 totaled $753.81 million. This was followed by incentive income, which amounted to $263.81 million, with investment income accounting for $48.25 million in revenue.
Our team
info: Marks serves as Oaktree Capital’s Co-Chairman, and has been a member of the Company’s senior leadership teams since co-founding the Company in 1995. Marks began his career in 1969, serving as an equity research analyst and, subsequently, Director of Research at Citicorp Investment Management. He was later promoted to the position of Vice President and senior portfolio manager in charge of convertible and high yield securities in 1978, but ultimately left the Company after 16 years in 1985. From Citicorp Marks moved to TCW Asset Management, where he served as Chief Investment Officer for Domestic Fixed Income, and subsequently.
info: Karsh serves as Oaktree Capital’s Co-Chairman and Chief Investment Officer. He has served as a member of the Company’s senior leadership team since co-founding the Company. Karsh began his career as a clerk for the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, then of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He went on to join O'Melveny and Myers as an attorney, later being appointed Assistant to the Chairman at SunAmerica. In 1988 Karsh joined TCW Asset Management as Portfolio Manager of the Special Credits Funds, a position he held for seven years before being appointed the company’s Managing Director in 1995. This was his late role before co-founding Oaktree Capital.
info: Oaktree Capital’s Chief Executive Officer Jay Wintrob (“Wintrob”) has served as a director of the Company since joining the Company in 2011. In his early career Wintrob worked at law firm O'Melveny and Myers. He moved into financial services in 1987 when he joined SunAmerica as Assistant to the Chairman. Wintrob went on to serve in several other executive positions at the company, including President of SunAmerica Investments. Following AIG's acquisition of SunAmerica in 1998, Wintrob was appointed Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer at AIG Retirement Services, and from 2001 served as the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Oaktree Capital, Wintrob served as President and Chief Executive Officer of AIG Life and Retirement.
info: David (“Kirchheimer”) serves as Oaktree Capital’s Chief Financial Officer. He has been with the Company since 1995, serving in a variety of positions, and has served as a director of the Company since 2007. Kirchheimer began his career in 1979 at Price Waterhouse in Los Angeles, where he served in a range of roles over a seven-year period, leaving the company in 1986 as a senior audit manager. He went on to join Republic Pictures Corporation, a publicly held entertainment company, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Oaktree Capital, Kirchheimer served as Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Ticketmaster Corporation.