Oaktree Capital Group on Thursday reported $77.9 billion in assets under management as of March 31, up 4% from three months earlier but down 9.1% from a year earlier.
This is the firm's first earnings announcement since its initial public offering in April.
The quarter increase was primarily the result of a $3.7 billion gain in aggregate market values and $1.7 billion in new capital commitments. This was partially offset by $2.6 billion in distributions to investors in Oaktree's closed-end funds. Oaktree had $48.6 billion in closed-end funds at the end of the first quarter, up 2.5% from as of Dec. 31 but 12.3% below the first quarter of 2011.
As of March 31, Oaktree had $26.8 billion in open-end funds and $2.4 billion in evergreen funds. During the quarter, Oaktree's open-end funds had $1.2 billion in contributions and $886 million in redemptions, compared to $1.5 billion in contributions and $1.4 billion in redemptions in the year-ago quarter.
Oaktree's GAAP net income was $18.6 million in the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $10.1 million a year ago.
Investment income was $64 million for the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 21.3% from the first quarter of 2011. The increase included higher blended overall returns, a larger invested balance and $2.5 million in corporate profits.
In the first quarter, Oaktree held a $1.2 billion first close of Oaktree Opportunities Fund IX, a distressed debt fund, which has a $4 billion target. That fund is not expected to begin its investment period until January 2013, John Frank, managing principal, said during this morning's earnings conference call.
Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund V reached its final total committed capital level of $1.3 billion in the first quarter. Oaktree had its strongest deal flow in commercial real estate, both in the U.S. and in Europe, said Howard Marks, Oaktree chairman, who joined the conference call from Europe.
This month, Oaktree started raising a sixth real estate fund, Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund VI, which has a $1.5 billion fundraising target. Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund V was 80% invested or committed to invest as of March 31. Mr. Frank said that Oaktree executives will raise as much as they can in this fund.
