Oaktree Capital Group's assets under management reached an all-time high of $86.2 billion at the end of the first quarter up 3% from three months earlier and up 9% from the year-earlier total, according to the alternative investment firm's quarterly report released on Thursday.
Management-fee-generating assets under management were up to $74 billion as of March 31, up nearly 3% from Dec. 31 and up 11.4% from March 31, 2013.
GAAP net income was $51.8 million for the first quarter of 2014, down from $57.6 million for the first quarter of 2013.
Management fees grew to $188.4 million for the first quarter, compared to $184.2 million for the first quarter of 2013. The increase included $19.7 million from the start of the investment period of OCM Opportunities Fund IX on Jan. 1; $5.5 million from new capital commitments to Oaktree Real Estate Opportunities Fund VI; $3.6 million of market-value gains and net inflows from Oaktree's open-end funds; and $2.4 million from drawdowns by Strategic Credit. Partially offsetting the increases was a $30.4 million decline in fees from closed-end funds in liquidation, including $11 million from OCM Opportunities Fund VIIb. Closed-end funds represented $137 million, or 72.7%, of total management fees.
At the same time, incentive income and investment income both dropped. Incentive income, which is based on profits, decreased to $292.9 million for the first quarter from $327.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2013. Investment income declined to $46.5 million for the first quarter from $82.1 million for the first quarter of 2013.
Oaktree's investments in companies accounted for $7.2 million of the decrease, primarily due to the market value decline of Oaktree's minority equity investment in China Cinda Asset Management Co. Oaktree's one-fifth ownership stake in money management firm DoubleLine Capital produced investment income of $9.6 million in the first quarter, down from $11 million in the first quarter of 2013.
