Highland Capital Management is an alternative investment management firm that manages

hedge funds A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as sho ...

structured investment A structured product, also known as a market-linked investment, is a pre-packaged structured finance investment strategy based on a single security, a basket of securities, options, indices, commodities, debt issuance or foreign currencies, and t ...

vehicles and

mutual fund A mutual fund is a professionally managed investment fund that pools money from many investors to purchase securities. The term is typically used in the United States, Canada, and India, while similar structures across the globe include the SICAV ...

s. The firm invests in global public equities, as well as fixed income markets with a focus on leveraged loans, high yield bonds, and

structured product A structured product, also known as a market-linked investment, is a pre-packaged structured finance investment strategy based on a single security, a basket of securities, options, indices, commodities, debt issuance or foreign currencies, and ...

s. The firm is headquartered in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

. It also operates offices in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Sao Paulo SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 of ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

. Highland reported approximately $13.9 billion of assets under management in 2018. In October 2019, Highland Capital Management filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Overview

Highland Capital Management was founded in 1993 by James Dondero and Mark Okada. The firm was responsible for designing the first software to electronically track loan portfolios, which is used by a majority of loan managers. Highland sold the software to

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the ...

in 2003. In April 2004, Highland entered the mutual fund space with its acquisition of

Columbia Management Advisors Columbia Management Group was an investment advisor and sponsor of mutual funds. In 2009, it was acquired by Ameriprise Financial and, in 2015, it was merged into Threadneedle to form Columbia Threadneedle Investments, the asset management subs ...

' bank loan mutual fund business. The company acquired NexBank in 2004. In April 2005, Highland acquired ING Capital Management. The acquisition marked Highland's first move into Europe. Highland Capital Management has been involved in a number of high profile bankruptcies and reorganizations related to

distressed debt Distressed securities are securities over companies or government entities that are experiencing financial or operational distress, default, or are under bankruptcy. As far as debt securities, this is called distressed debt. Purchasing or holding ...

investments. Highland was involved in the bankruptcy of

Bridge Information Systems Bridge Information Systems was a financial news and data provider that was acquired by Reuters Group in September 2001.(9 April 2001)Reuters eyes Bridge ''CNN Money'' History The origins of Bridge date to 1974, when the original company was found ...

in 2001. Highland worked with Delphi Corporation through Delphi's reorganization in December 2006. In 2011, Highland moved its offices from the Galleria in far north Dallas to the Crescent Complex uptown. Highland is a founding benefactor of the

George W. Bush Presidential Center The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which opened on April 25, 2013, is a complex that includes former United States President George W. Bush's presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush Policy Institute, and the offices of the Geor ...

and, in early 2018, the firm provided the center with a $10 million endowment to back a series of public programs.

Investments

Highland manages the Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund (NYSE: HFRO), among other closed-end funds. The company launched its first European regulated fund in 2014, the BB Highland Floating Rate Fund, through

Banco do Brasil Banco do Brasil S.A. ( en, Bank of Brazil) is a Brazilian financial services company headquartered in Brasília, Brazil. The oldest bank in Brazil, and among the oldest banks in continuous operation in the world, it was founded by John VI, King ...

. The new fund, launched as an Irish Qualified Investor Fund, was built to replicate the previous Highland Floating Rate Opportunities Fund which Morningstar named the number one Bank Loan Fund for one, three and five year periods among 213, 168 and 111 funds. Highland's Fund Class Z won the Lipper Award in 2014 for Best Loan Participation Fund over three years. In February 2010, the firm announced the completion of its CLO Value Fund I, which was launched in November 2008 to invest in secondary CLO debt and equity. Highland launched the Highland/iBoxx Senior Loan ETF in November 2012. In June 2018, the firm launched a UCITS fund focused on collateralized loan obligation (CLO) debt. Highland Capital Management Fund Advisors is an investment adviser and subsidiary of Highland, which is registered with the SEC. HCM Fund Advisors works with investment companies and manages equity, fixed income and balanced mutual funds. HCM Fund Advisors also manages exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on research from Hedge Fund Research, Inc. The first three ETFs launched by the company and traded on the New York Stock Exchange were Highland HFR Global ETF, Highland HFR Event Driven ETF, and Highland HFR Equity Hedge ETF. The Highland Global Allocation Fund was valued at $947 million in September 2016. In August 2018, Highland acquired

Cityplace Tower The Cityplace Tower (also previously known as the Tower at Cityplace) is a 42-story building located at 2711 North Haskell Avenue at North Central Expressway ( US 75) in the Cityplace district of Uptown Dallas, Texas ( USA). The building is ta ...

from Parmenter Realty Partners and Angelo, Gordon & Co. The transaction was one of the largest building sales in Dallas in 2018.

References

External links

* {{Hedge funds Financial services companies established in 1993 Private equity firms of the United States Hedge fund firms in Texas Companies based in Dallas American companies established in 1993 1993 establishments in Texas Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2019