TCW and Lakemore Partners Form a CLO Equity Investment Partnership

Strategic Partnership Fosters Growth of TCW’s Leading Credit Business and Augments Lakemore’s Network of Prominent U.S. Institutional Clients

The TCW Group, a leading global asset management firm, today announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with Lakemore Partners Ltd. and its group entities (“Lakemore”), a leading private credit investment firm primarily investing in super-majority control collateralized loan obligation (“CLO”) equity, to support the growth of TCW’s CLO platform.

“Clients have already entrusted TCW with $70 billion in credit assets spanning private and public markets, and identifying top-tier partners like Lakemore will be critical to extending our leadership position in leveraged finance,” said Katie Koch, President and CEO of TCW. “We expect the current environment to play to our proven strengths in rigorous and disciplined credit selection.”

“During this period of market volatility and rising interest rates, we are seeing growing interest from sophisticated investors around the globe who are seeking solutions for long-term, non-correlated fixed income assets,” said Mohamed Seif, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Lakemore. “We are very proud to be working with a leading credit and CLO manager like TCW, and to further establish our network of outstanding institutional clients within the U.S. We look forward to supporting the development of TCW’s platform at a time when secured, floating-rate corporate loans are in high demand.”

Under the Partnership Agreement, Lakemore will make a material equity investment in the TCW CLO platform, providing equity for the issuance of multiple CLOs over the next several years. Through this investment, Lakemore will gain preferred access to the TCW CLO platform and its pipeline of new issue CLO transactions providing enhanced certainty of execution and a path toward significant CLO platform growth.

“Our CLO platform is an important piece of TCW’s industry-leading credit business, which is recognized in the marketplace for our team-based, value approach,” said Jerry Cudzil, TCW’s Co-Head of Credit. “This partnership is an important step toward TCW’s goal of becoming a global leader in leveraged finance solutions.”

The TCW credit business, with investments and clients across the globe, offers a full range of credit solutions to clients. TCW’s dedicated credit team, with professionals based in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Boston and London, has deep experience in investing across the entire capital structure.

Drew Sweeney, TCW Loan Portfolio Manager, said, “We are excited to partner with a veteran CLO equity specialist like Lakemore and believe this long-term capital will help enable us to generate continued strong performance in loans and move forward with our CLO growth goals.”

Established in 2016, Lakemore is a leading global private credit investment firm with institutional clients in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East that primarily invests in super-majority control equity positions of new issue U.S. CLOs. Lakemore has offices in Phoenix, London, Dubai and Zurich.

“Lakemore is pleased to be a part of TCW’s growing credit business and to invest in their high quality CLO platform,” said Dan Norman, Senior Partner, Head of U.S. Business Operations at Lakemore. “By working hand-in-hand with TCW to capitalize on our deep CLO market expertise, we will be well-positioned as we aim to provide our investors stable earnings, enhanced returns and risk dispersion. To that end, our partnership with TCW will serve to expand our existing manager line-up and allow for Lakemore to continue to deliver consistent and differentiated returns to our global investor base.”

Certain content in this document may be considered a testimonial or an endorsement under Rule 206(4)-1 under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Neither TCW nor its affiliated advisers or advisory affiliates solicited those comments, nor did it compensate Lakemore for making them.

Structured investment products, like the Notes, are complex instruments, and typically involve a high degree of risk and are intended for sale only to sophisticated investors who are capable of understanding and assuming the risks involved. The timing and amount of payments received on the Notes will depend on payments received on and other recoveries with respect to the assets securing the Notes, the structure of the Notes and related arrangements as well as market, economic and other conditions. As with any security, a partial or complete loss of an investment in the Notes is possible. The financial markets have experienced substantial fluctuations in prices for leveraged loans and non-investment grade bonds and limited liquidity for such instruments, which means the Issuer’s ability to acquire or dispose of Collateral Obligations at a price and time that the Collateral Manager deems advantageous may be severely impaired, which may impair its ability to dispose of investments in a timely fashion and for a fair price, as well as its ability to take advantage of market opportunities. Furthermore, some Collateral Obligations will have a limited trading market (or none) under any market conditions. Illiquid debt obligations may trade at a discount from comparable, more liquid investments.

This material is for general information purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. Any issuers or securities noted in this document are provided as illustrations or examples only, for the limited purpose of analyzing general market or economic conditions and may not form the basis for an investment decision, nor are they intended to serve as investment advice. Any such issuers or securities are under periodic review by the portfolio management group and are subject to change without notice. TCW makes no representation as to whether any security or issuer mentioned in this document is now in any TCW portfolio. TCW, its officers, directors, employees or clients may have positions in securities or investments mentioned in this publication, which are subject to change without notice. Any information and statistical data contained herein derived from third party sources are believed to be reliable, but TCW does not represent that they are accurate, and they should not be relied on as such or be the basis for an investment decision. All information is as of the date of this presentation unless otherwise indicated.

An investment in the strategy described herein has risks, including the risk of losing some or all of the invested capital. An investor should carefully consider the risks and suitability of an investment strategy based on their own investment objectives and financial position. There is no assurance that the investment objectives and/or trends will come to pass or be maintained. The information contained herein may include preliminary information and/or “forward-looking statements.” Due to numerous factors, actual events may differ substantially from those presented herein. TCW assumes no duty to update any forward-looking statements or opinions in this document. This material comprises the assets under management of The TCW Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries, including TCW Investment Management Company LLC, TCW Asset Management Company LLC, and Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC. Any opinions expressed herein are current only as of the time made and are subject to change without notice. The investment processes described herein are illustrative only and are subject to change. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. © 2023 TCW

About The TCW Group

TCW is a leading global asset management firm with a broad range of products across fixed income, equities, emerging markets and alternative investments. With half a century of investment experience, TCW today manages approximately $205 billion in client assets. Through the MetWest Funds and TCW Funds families, TCW manages one of the largest mutual fund complexes in the U.S. TCW’s clients include many of the world’s largest corporate and public pension plans, financial institutions, endowments and foundations, as well as financial advisors and high net worth individuals. For more information, please visit www.tcw.com.

About Lakemore Partners

Lakemore is a leading private credit investment firm primarily investing in control CLO equity. Serving as a partner of choice for global top-tier loan managers who are aligned with the firm’s portfolio management style and risk appetite, Lakemore aims to deliver attractive returns by leveraging the extensive expertise of its dedicated team and by investing within its well-defined framework of cycle-aligned risk allocation. Founded in 2016, Lakemore has offices in Phoenix, London, Dubai and Zurich. Lakemore's mission focuses on providing sustainable and reliable income, working closely with institutional clients in the U.S., Europe and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.lakemore.com.

Lakemore Partners Ltd. is the group parent and is domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Lakemore Partners Management US LLC and Lakemore Partners (UK) Ltd. are registered with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission as investment advisers (RIA). Lakemore Partners (UK) Ltd. (FRN: 837603) is also an appointed representative of Kroll Securities Ltd. (FRN: 466588), which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Lakemore Partners (DIFC) Ltd. is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Lakemore Partners Management US LLC, Lakemore Partners (UK) Ltd., and Lakemore Partners (DIFC) Ltd. are wholly owned subsidiaries of Lakemore Partners Ltd.

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