Downtown Los Angeles money manager Oaktree Capital Group reported fourth-quarter earnings that fell short of the previous year’s numbers, citing lower investment and incentive income in a challenging environment for distressed investing, the firm’s bread and butter.

“The investing environment in 2014 defied easy labeling, with a big spread in performance among the major equity and fixed income indices, as well as our strategies,” Oaktree Co-Chairman Howard Marks said in a press release accompanying the earnings. “Against this backdrop, we continued to find some attractive opportunities to deploy capital, particularly in real estate and Europe.”

Oaktree earned adjusted net income of $98.4 million (61 cents a share) for the three months ended Dec. 31, down from $268.4 million ($3.24) for the same period a year earlier. The firm said part of the dramatic drop-off was due to an unusually large distribution from one of its funds during the fourth quarter of 2013. Assets under management grew 9 percent to $90.8 billion over the course of the last year.

Shares of Oaktree closed at $54.13, down less than 1 percent on the day.