Och-Ziff Reports Strongest Inflow Since IPO

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Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM) reported some great numbers for February. The publicly traded hedge fund manager’s AUM rose from $34.6 billion to $36.1 billion. This indicates $1.25-$1.3 billion in net inflows, half of which came from Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM) successfully closing its CLO fund. Additionally, $600 million was raised through the company’s hedge funds. The net inflows in February marks the strongest in Och-Ziff’s history since its IPO in 2007. Och-Ziff’s funds have also been doing well into the new year, however, the stock has lagged. OZ Master Fund has gained 2.76 percent and OZ Europe Mater Fund was up 3.7 percent,  while OZ Asia Master Fund gained 4.08 percent.The Master Fund gained 0.38 percent in February – just shy of the 0.4 percent gain from the Global HFR index.

Och-Ziff Reports Strongest Inflow Since IPO

The total net inflows YTD for Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM)’s hedge fund platform are now in the range of $400+ million, after accounting for performance and management fees. The inflows especially bode well for the company because lately  investors have been worried due to its lackluster performance.

Och-Ziff is trading up by 2.2 percent today, however, the stock is down 2.5 percent YTD. The stock’s poor performance is in contrast with its competitors.  As of Friday’s close, Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE:FIG) was up 48 percent till the end of February, while Apollo Global Management LLC (NYSE:APO) gained 35 percent over the same period, The Blackstone Group L.P. (NYSE:BX) was up 21 percent and KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR) gained 19 percent. Meanwhile, KKR has been busy hiring new members to its pan-Asia fund, which is set to become the largest in the region. The fund will manage $6 billion when it launches later in the year.

The strong February for Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC (NYSE:OZM) will serve as a much needed boost for the firm going forward. Analysts across the board, including Barclays PLC (NYSE:BCS) (LON:BARC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (NYSE:RBS) (LON:RBS) (AMS:RBS), see the development as a bullish signal. Kenneth Worthington, a JPMorgan equity analyst, said in a research note that although the $650 million from the CLO offering was of low quality the ample hedge fund inflow was encouraging.

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