“The one thing I know is that 40 years ago all hedge funds were run by geniuses, and there [were not many of them]. Today I am sure there are not 10,000 geniuses. It just doesn’t make sense. Nobody deserves 20 per cent carry unless they are exceptional.” Are the two hedge funds managed by Oaktree, which mainly focuses on distressed debt and other niche credit strategies, exceptional enough to deserve such fees? “It is a hard question to answer,” Mr Marks says. “Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. You put me in an embarrassing situation, because I can’t badmouth our funds...