Justin Guichard, Warren Min, Katy Mao and Ainslee Burns
Managing director and co-portfolio manager; managing director and assistant portfolio manager; managing director; and vice president at Oaktree Capital
Last year's rank: 43
They say money doesn’t grow on trees, but that adage doesn’t ring true at Oaktree Capital.
Its real estate debt team originated $1.5 billion of loans in 2022 — slightly higher than the $1 billion it did in 2021 — mostly targeting private loans along with those in the commercial mortgage-backed securities and public securities space.
That strategy has helped Oaktree generate “outsized risk-adjusted returns” in the past 12 months, Justin Guichard said in an email.
The Los Angeles-based asset manager announced in February 2022 that it closed a $3 billion global real estate debt fund — nearly 34 percent larger than its last debt vehicle — and had already deployed $1.6 billion of it throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia.
And it’s not done yet. Guichard said Oaktree’s “forward-looking pipeline is robust” for this year as banks continue to pull back on lending, and his firm sees “a number of attractive opportunities” in the first-
mortgage and first-lien spaces.
“We are seeing significant volume from banks shedding performing loans at discounts in favorable asset classes like industrial and multifamily, which is historically rare,” Guichard said. “Given our experience during the Global Financial Crisis buying $8 million of commercial and residential nonperforming loans, our global team is well positioned to capitalize on these opportunities.”
As of December 2022, Oaktree’s real estate group has $20 billion in assets under management — spread across the office, hospitality, multifamily, life sciences, retail and industrial sectors — and a team of 61.
In terms of diversity, Oaktree says it takes pride in the makeup of its team with Katy Mao and Ainslee Burns in leadership positions and responsible for growing its East Coast footprint. It also promoted Warren Min to assistant portfolio manager for its real estate debt strategy earlier this year and said it was “committed to nurturing its pipeline of diverse candidates.” It’s doing so in part through teaming with groups such as Girls Who Invest and Women in Venture and Equity for its internship programs. —N.R.
