Kaj Vazales

Kaj Vazales is managing director and co-head of North America for Oaktree Capital Management’s Global Opportunities strategy in Los Angeles, where he leads the team’s investing efforts across a number of industries in the region and also oversees the group’s recruiting efforts. He is responsible for sourcing, underwriting and executing publicly traded and private investments in the areas of distressed and stressed credit, private equity, leverage finance and equities. Mr. Vazales has overseen a number of restructurings, and has played a key role in both in- and out-of-court re-capitalizations for some of the group’s largest investments, including sitting on ad hoc and official committees of creditors in chapter 11. During his tenure, he has had primary coverage responsibility for a significant number of sectors, and made investments in the auto, specialty finance, gaming, commercial real estate, retail/consumer, and oil and gas industries. Prior to joining Oaktree in 2007,Mr. Vazales worked as an analyst in the Financial Restructuring Group at Houlihan Lokey, where he advised creditors and distressed companies on strategic alternatives. He received his A.B. cum laude in economics from Harvard University.