Nilesh Likhite
About Nilesh Likhite
Nilesh Likhite is the Treasurer as well as the Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer of Angel Oak Strategic Credit Fund (ASCIX). He was appointed in 2025 and serves an indefinite term; his year of birth is 1984, and he concurrently serves as Fund Controller at Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, the Fund’s adviser . Prior roles include Fund Controller at Warren Equity Partners (2023–2025/2024) and Senior Manager at Ernst & Young LLP (2019–2023); the filings do not disclose officer-specific performance metrics such as TSR, revenue growth, or EBITDA growth, which are not typically provided for fund officers .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC | Fund Controller | Since 2025 | Not disclosed |
| Warren Equity Partners | Fund Controller | 2023–2025 (SAI) / 2023–2024 (DEF 14A) | Not disclosed |
| Ernst & Young LLP | Senior Manager | 2019–2023 | Not disclosed |
External Roles
No public company directorships or external board roles for Mr. Likhite are disclosed in the Fund’s SAI or proxy .
Fixed Compensation
Filings do not disclose Mr. Likhite’s base salary, target bonus, or actual bonus. The advisory agreements and governance disclosures indicate: (a) the Fund is responsible for salaries and expenses of officers (including the CCO) as Fund expenses; (b) the Adviser may be reimbursed for actual costs of services; and (c) the CCO is compensated by the Adviser with the Fund reimbursing a portion—officer-by-officer amounts are not provided .
| Component | Amount/Structure | Payer/Mechanics | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Not disclosed | Fund responsible for officer salaries per advisory agreements; Adviser may seek reimbursement of actual costs | CCO example indicates Adviser-paid with partial Fund reimbursement; officer-level details not itemized |
| Target bonus % | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed in filings reviewed |
| Actual bonus | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed in filings reviewed |
Performance Compensation
No performance-based compensation framework (metrics, weights, payouts) is disclosed for the Treasurer role. For context, the Adviser’s portfolio managers receive base salary and a discretionary bonus based on firm profitability, AUM, investment performance, compliance, client satisfaction, asset retention, leadership, and risk management; some have equity/profit interests in the Adviser’s parent entities. This disclosure pertains to portfolio managers, not to the Treasurer .
| Metric (PM framework, not Treasurer-specific) | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firm profitability, AUM, investment performance, compliance, client satisfaction, asset retention, teamwork/leadership, risk management | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Discretionary | Not disclosed |
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Ownership Metric | Value | Date/Context |
|---|---|---|
| Individual beneficial ownership (Mr. Likhite) | Not disclosed; no Form 3 for Mr. Likhite was retrieved among available ASCIX Section 16 filings. A Form 3 was filed for President Robert E. Bortz (520.811 shares) on Oct 3, 2025 . | As of filings through Oct 3, 2025 |
| Trustees and officers as a group – ASCIX Institutional Class | 2.02% of outstanding shares | As of May 1, 2025 |
| Trustees and officers as a group – ASCIX Class FI | <1% of outstanding shares | As of May 1, 2025 |
| Trustees and officers as a group – across Funds in proxy | Less than 1% of outstanding shares | As of April 28, 2025 |
| Control person concentration | Charles Schwab & Co Inc. owned ~72.99% of Fund voting securities | As of April 30, 2025 |
Fund shares outstanding (context):
| Class | Shares Outstanding | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Institutional Class Shares | 3,535,941 | May 1, 2025 |
| Class FI Shares | 988,045 | May 1, 2025 |
Hedging/pledging policy signals: the Adviser and its officers/employees are prohibited from shorting Fund shares; borrowing from the Fund is also prohibited under advisory agreements .
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Office/Title | Treasurer; Principal Financial Officer; Principal Accounting Officer (signature page) |
| Start/Term | Since 2025; indefinite term |
| Indemnification | Fund indemnifies officers for liabilities and expenses incurred in their capacity, except for bad faith, willful misfeasance, gross negligence, or reckless disregard; advancement of expenses permitted with undertaking |
| Non-compete / Non-solicit | Not disclosed in Fund filings reviewed |
| Compensation Agreements | Officer-specific contracts (salary/bonus/vesting) not disclosed; Fund responsible for officer salaries per agreements; Adviser may recover actual costs for providing services |
| Change-of-control context | Brookfield to acquire ~51% of Angel Oak Companies, LP (parent of Adviser); expected no material changes to day-to-day Fund management or fees; closing targeted by Sept 30, 2025, subject to conditions |
Additional Governance and Context
- He is listed among principal officers with business address c/o Angel Oak Capital Advisors, LLC, 3344 Peachtree Road NE, Suite 1725, Atlanta, GA 30326 .
- ASCIX Board structure and committees (Audit/Financial/Admin, Nominating & Governance, Compliance Oversight, Valuation & Risk Management) are chaired by Independent Trustees; the Treasurer reports on financial matters to the Board as part of regular oversight .
Investment Implications
- Alignment: No individual equity/option awards or officer-specific ownership disclosures for Mr. Likhite were found; trustees/officers collectively hold a small stake in ASCIX, suggesting modest direct ownership alignment at the officer level (ASCIX Institutional Class group ownership 2.02%; Class FI <1%) . With no equity award disclosures, there is limited evidence of near-term insider selling pressure linked to vesting events .
- Role risk: As Treasurer/PFO/PAO, Mr. Likhite is a control-and-reporting executive rather than an investment decision-maker; compensation drivers and performance metrics for this role are not disclosed, and portfolio manager incentive structures do not directly apply to him .
- Expense/structural risk: Officer salaries are Fund expenses per advisory agreements (with Adviser reimbursement mechanics), and indemnification provisions are standard—these do not present obvious incremental shareholder risk beyond typical fund structures .
- Corporate transaction backdrop: The pending Brookfield majority acquisition of the Adviser’s parent was represented as not changing day-to-day Fund management or fees; near-term operational continuity reduces retention or process disruption risk for finance functions, though long-term governance influence could evolve at the parent level .