Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Canyon Partners

THE LATEST: The firm’s main fund, the Canyon Value Realization Fund has twice received Institutional Investor’s Credit-Focused Hedge Fund Manager of the Year Award, and the Canyon Structured Asset Fund has received Institutional Investor’s Hybrid Hedge Fund of the Year Award. Friedman has also been the recipient of Institutional Investor’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

BACKGROUND: Friedman co-founded Canyon Partners in 1990. The alternative asset manager has about $23 billion in assets under management. The company specializes in value-oriented investments for institutional investors worldwide. Prior to forming Canyon, Friedman was director of capital markets for high-yield and private placements at Drexel Burnham Lambert Group Inc. He previously worked at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York in mergers and acquisitions.

WORTH NOTING: Friedman serves on the board of Harvard Management Co. and is a member of the university’s Committee on University Resources and Task Force on Science and Engineering, among other groups. Friedman also is a trustee for Caltech, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the UCLA Hospital Department of Neurosurgery.

YEARS ON THE LA500: 4