Several employees at a Los Angeles-based asset management firm that manages more than $4 trillion are scrambling to find new homes after their assets were destroyed in the California wildfires, and some companies are looking to find new homes. I'm looking for a headquarters.
Anacapa Advisors, a $60.5 million hedge fund, moved into a new four-story office building in Pacific Palisades just four days before the fire, said Anacapa founder and chief investment officer Phil Pesoc. It is said that he did.
Pesok told the Post that he left his office the day the fire broke out last Tuesday and went straight to his nearby home, where he fought the fire alone for nearly eight hours.
His house survived.
But Jordan Moore, the company's operations manager, lost his home and all his belongings, he said.
All of the company's employees were safe and the company was able to successfully implement a detailed business continuity plan that it had put together in preparation for an earthquake, Pesok said.
Anacapa is considering subletting new offices in Santa Monica or Brentwood. Pesoc added that staff are working remotely while the company orders additional trading screens.
“To be honest, even though our lives have completely changed, the fund continues to operate smoothly,” Pesok told the Post in a statement.
TCW, a company that manages $203 billion in assets, said its Los Angeles-based employees are safe and its headquarters remains fully operational.
“Many team members have been forced to evacuate, including my family,” TCW President and CEO Katie Koch wrote in a letter posted on LinkedIn to colleagues in Los Angeles. Some people have become completely homeless.”
A Capital Group spokesperson told the Post that the company's headquarters was unaffected and its employees were safe, but it was unclear how many employees were homeless or affected by the fire. According to the company's website, its assets under management exceeded $2.7 trillion as of June 2024.
Oaktree Capital, which manages more than $200 billion in assets, is continuing normal operations, said Todd Maltz, the hedge fund's chief operating officer. Oaktree's headquarters are located in downtown Los Angeles.
However, many of Oaktree's 700 staff members have been affected by the fire, Maltz told the Post in a statement.
He added that the company's LA data center is equipped with backup power and can be used without interruption in the event of a localized power outage.
Florida-based DoubleLine said its Los Angeles employees are working remotely this week due to poor air quality caused by the fires.
The Milken Institute, a Santa Monica-based think tank, and Dimensional Fund Advisors, a Texas investment firm with offices in Santa Monica, said they are encouraging their staff to work from home.
Kevin Phillip, a partner at Bel Air Investment Advisors, which manages more than $10 billion in assets, said this week that he and some of his colleagues are working remotely.
“COVID-19 has allowed us to get through this and continue to function,” Philip said.
Experience during the pandemic may have helped asset managers pivot to remote work, but the damage caused by the fires is unprecedented and recovery will take a long time.
Last week, AccuWeather increased its estimate of the loss from the Los Angeles fires to $150 billion from $135 billion, three times its original estimate, after fires burned in parts of Los Angeles County.
JPMorgan analysts predicted insured losses at $20 billion, and estimated uninsured losses could be well over $100 billion. That would make the LA fires the most expensive in U.S. history, equivalent to nearly 4% of California's annual GDP.
with post wire
