Highland Capital Management

Highland Capital Management

Company type	Private
Industry	Asset management
Founded	1993
Founders	James Dondero Mark Okada
Headquarters	Dallas, Texas, United States
Key people	Mark Okada Trey Parker (CIO)
Products	Investment fund Hedge fund Mutual fund
Total assets	$8.3 billion
Number of employees	115
Website	www.highlandcapital.com

Highland Capital Management is a firm specializing in alternative investment management, with expertise in hedge funds, structured investment products, and mutual funds. Its investment activities center on global public equities and fixed income sectors, emphasizing leveraged loans, high yield bonds, and structured products.

The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with additional offices located in New York City, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Seoul, and Singapore. In 2018, Highland reported managing around $13.9 billion in assets.

In October 2019, the firm sought protection under Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Overview

Established in 1993 by James Dondero and Mark Okada, Highland Capital Management was an early innovator in developing software for electronic monitoring of loan portfolios, which it later sold to JPMorgan Chase in 2003. The firm broadened its scope by entering the mutual fund arena in 2004 through acquiring Columbia Management Advisors' bank loan mutual fund operations and also purchased NexBank that year. The following year, Highland expanded its presence into Europe by acquiring ING Capital Management.

Highland has been actively involved in notable distressed debt cases, including the bankruptcy of Bridge Information Systems in 2001 and the restructuring of Delphi Corporation in 2006.

In 2011, the firm moved its headquarters to the Crescent Complex located in uptown Dallas. As part of its commitment to corporate social responsibility and community engagement, Highland is a founding supporter of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and contributed a $10 million endowment in early 2018 to sustain its public programming.

Investments

Highland oversees the Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund (NYSE: HFRO) along with various other closed-end funds. In 2014, it introduced its inaugural European regulated vehicle—the BB Highland Floating Rate Fund—via Banco do Brasil as an Irish Qualified Investor Fund. This fund mirrors the Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund, which Morningstar recognized as the leading Bank Loan Fund over one-, three-, and five-year intervals. Additionally, Highland’s Fund Class Z received the 2014 Lipper Award for Best Loan Participation Fund over a three-year span.

The firm completed its CLO Value Fund I in February 2010, which had been initiated in 2008 to invest primarily in secondary CLO debt and equity interests. November 2012 saw the launch of the Highland/iBoxx Senior Loan ETF, followed by a UCITS fund dedicated to CLO debt introduced in June 2018.

Highland Capital Management Fund Advisors—a registered SEC investment adviser and subsidiary of Highland—manages a variety of equity, fixed income, balanced mutual funds, as well as ETFs based on Hedge Fund Research, Inc. Their first three ETFs listed on the NYSE included the Highland HFR Global ETF, Highland HFR Event Driven ETF, and Highland HFR Equity Hedge ETF.

As of September 2016, the Highland Global Allocation Fund had assets totaling $947 million. In August 2018, Highland acquired Dallas’ Cityplace Tower from Parmenter Realty Partners and Angelo Gordon & Co., marking one of the largest commercial property transactions in Dallas that year.