Och-Ziff Capital Management Group's assets under management were $42.6 billion as of March 31, up 6% from Dec. 31 and 21.7% higher than a year earlier, according to the alternative investment firm's first-quarter earnings report released Friday.
AUM growth over the year ended March 31 is attributable to $4.2 billion of net inflows and performance gains of $3.4 billion, the quarterly report showed.
Och-Ziff's real estate funds experienced the strongest growth — 84% — during the 12-month period to total $1.6 billion as of March 31. Och-Ziff's collateralized loan obligations also showed strong growth for the period, up 67% to $2.6 billion, followed by credit funds which were up 32% to $4.8 billion.
Returns of the company's hedge funds in the first quarter were relatively flat at 0.4% for the $25.8 billion OZ Master Fund and -0.04% for the OZ Europe Master Fund, and sharply negative at -6.7% for the OZ Asia Master Fund.
“The first quarter of this year was marked by challenging equity market conditions and increased volatility globally,” said Daniel S. Och, chairman and CEO, during Friday's earnings call.
“An important contributing factor to the current environment has been the U.S. Federal Reserve's tapering off its bond-buying program and related actions, which has reduced liquidity expectations in the broader markets globally,” Mr. Och added.
In response to an analyst's question about Securities and Exchange Commission and Justice Department probes of some of Och-Ziff's overseas investments and investors, Mr. Och said “This is a continuing investigation, and we're limited in what we can say,” according to a transcript of the firm's earnings call.
