Oaktree Capital Group LLC Co-Founder Howard Marks says his firm has been putting more emphasis on safety in credit over time as Oaktree expects that the Federal Reserve won’t be able to hold off an eventual recession.

The Los Angeles-based investment giant focuses on analysis as opposed to ratings when selecting credit investments because “ratings don’t tell you whether something is safe or not,” Marks said during a Bloomberg TV interview with Erik Schatzker. That being said, Oaktree still has lots of B rated credits because “we think we’ve vetted them very well.”

It’s difficult to say what might spark a recession or when it might appear, Marks said, noting that the worst impact from the trade war may have already emerged and last year’s fourth-quarter sell-off won’t necessarily repeat itself. In Europe and Japan, negative interest rates have driven an increase in saving at the household level, he said.

Oaktree has thrived most in times of economic stress. The firm is one of the largest distressed-debt investors in the world with about $20 billion committed to troubled issuers. Marks agreed in March to sell a 62% stake in Oaktree to Brookfield Asset Management Inc., but he’ll still run Oaktree’s operations.