UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

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FORM 10-Q

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For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2016

or

For the transition period from                      to                     .

Commission File Number 001-35500

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333 South Grand Avenue, 28th Floor

Los Angeles, CA 90071

Telephone: (213) 830-6300

(Address, zip code, and telephone number, including

area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter periods that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.  Yes   x     No   o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).  Yes   x     No   o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).  Yes   o    No   x

As of May 5, 2016, there were 62,619,464 Class A units and 92,440,656 Class B units of the registrant outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This quarterly report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section   27A of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Securities Act ” ), and Section   21E of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “ Exchange Act ” ), which reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, our future results of operations and financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “ anticipate, ” “ approximately, ” “ believe, ” “ continue, ” “ could, ” “ estimate, ” “ expect, ” “ intend, ” “ may, ” “ outlook, ” “ plan, ” “ potential, ” “ predict, ” “ seek, ” “ should, ” “ will ” and “ would ” or the negative version of these words or other comparable or similar words. These statements identify prospective information. Important factors could cause actual results to differ, possibly materially, from those indicated in these statements. Forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance, taking into account all information currently available to us. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, financial results, financial condition, business prospects, growth strategy and liquidity, including, but not limited to, changes in our anticipated revenue and income, which are inherently volatile; changes in the value of our investments; the pace of our raising of new funds; changes in assets under management; the timing and receipt of, and impact of taxes on, carried interest; distributions from and liquidation of our existing funds; the amount and timing of distributions on our Class A units; changes in our operating or other expenses; the degree to which we encounter competition; and general economic and market conditions. The factors listed in the item captioned “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 26, 2016 (“annual report”), which is accessible on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, provide examples of risks, uncertainties and events that may cause our actual results to differ materially from the expectations described in our forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this quarterly report. Except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

In this quarterly report, unless the context otherwise requires:

“Oaktree,” “OCG,” “we,” “us,” “our” or “our company” refers to Oaktree Capital Group, LLC and, where applicable, its subsidiaries and affiliates.

“Oaktree Operating Group,” or “Operating Group,” refers collectively to the entities in which we have a minority economic interest and indirect control that either (i) act as or control the general partners and investment advisers of our funds or (ii) hold interests in other entities or investments generating income for us.

“OCGH” refers to Oaktree Capital Group Holdings, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, which holds an interest in the Oaktree Operating Group and all of our Class B units.

“OCGH unitholders” refers collectively to our senior executives, current and former employees and certain other investors who hold interests in the Oaktree Operating Group through OCGH.

“2007 Private Offering” refers to the sale completed on May 25, 2007 of 23,000,000 of our Class A units to qualified institutional buyers (as defined in the Securities Act) in a transaction exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Prior to our initial public offering, these Class A units traded on a private over-the-counter market developed by Goldman, Sachs & Co. for tradable unregistered equity securities.

“assets under management,” or “AUM,” generally refers to the assets we manage and equals the NAV (as defined below) of the assets we manage, the fund-level leverage on which management fees are charged, the undrawn capital that we are entitled to call from investors in our funds pursuant to their capital commitments, and the aggregate par value of collateral assets and principal cash held by our collateralized loan obligation vehicles (“CLOs”). Our AUM amounts include AUM for which we charge no fees. Our definition of AUM is not based on any definition contained in our operating agreement or the agreements governing the funds that we manage. Our calculation of AUM and the two AUM-related metrics described below may not be directly comparable to the AUM metrics of other investment managers.

“consolidated funds” refers to the funds and CLOs that Oaktree is required to consolidate as of the respective reporting date.

“funds” refers to investment funds and, where applicable, CLOs and separate accounts that are managed by us or our subsidiaries.

“initial public offering” refers to the listing of our Class A units on the New York Stock Exchange on April 12, 2012 whereby Oaktree sold 7,888,864 Class A units and selling unitholders sold 954,159 Class A units.

“Intermediate Holding Companies” collectively refers to the subsidiaries wholly owned by us.

“net asset value,” or “NAV,” refers to the value of all the assets of a fund (including cash and accrued interest and dividends) less all liabilities of the fund (including accrued expenses and any reserves established by us, in our discretion, for contingent liabilities) without reduction for accrued incentives (fund level) because they are reflected in the partners ’ capital of the fund.  

“Relevant Benchmark” refers, with respect to:

through December 31, 2012, and the BofA Merrill Lynch Non-Financial Developed Markets High Yield Constrained Index – USD Hedged thereafter;

“senior executives” refers collectively to Howard S. Marks, Bruce A. Karsh, Jay S. Wintrob, John B. Frank, Stephen A. Kaplan, David M. Kirchheimer and Sheldon M. Stone.

“Sharpe Ratio” refers to a metric used to calculate risk-adjusted return. The Sharpe Ratio is the ratio of excess return to volatility, with excess return defined as the return above that of a riskless asset (based on the three-month U.S. Treasury bill, or for our European Senior Loan strategy, the Euro Overnight Index Average) divided by the standard deviation of such return. A higher Sharpe Ratio indicates a return that is higher than would be expected for the level of risk compared to the risk-free rate.

This quarterly report and its contents do not constitute and should not be construed as an offer of securities of any Oaktree funds.