Summary
Blue Owl delivered higher adjusted distributable earnings per share and continued growth in assets under management in the second quarter, even as fundraising slowed and redemption pressures in its private credit strategies persisted. Fee-related earnings rose year-over-year, and the company emphasized the diversity of its investments across data centers, real assets and stakes in other managers as a counterweight to private credit market volatility.
Earnings and AUM
For the three months ended June 30, adjusted distributable earnings per share were 22 cents, up from 21 cents a year earlier. At the same time, Blue Owl reported fee-related earnings of 25 cents per adjusted share for the quarter, compared with 23 cents in the same period a year ago. Assets under management reached $319 billion, reflecting a 12% increase from the comparable quarter in the prior year.
Company executives pointed to the breadth of Blue Owl’s business beyond direct lending - spanning investments in data centers and related infrastructure, real estate and stakes in other asset managers - as evidence that fee and earnings streams are not dependent on a single asset class. "Blue Owl’s ongoing growth in the second quarter reflects the strong investment performance we continue to generate across strategies and the diversification of our business across platforms and geographies," Co-CEOs Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz said in a statement.
Fundraising, capital flows and product mix
New capital commitments totaled $7.8 billion in the quarter, compared with $13.9 billion raised in the same period a year earlier. New money from private wealth, a key growth driver for the firm, was $1.7 billion versus $4.4 billion in the year-ago quarter. Total equity fundraises were reported at $7.6 billion, with $1.8 billion attributable to the company’s credit platform and $4.4 billion coming from real assets.
The firm noted that a rebound in financial markets has generally lifted assets under management across the industry as investors embraced risk despite heightened volatility. Nevertheless, the level of fresh capital this quarter was materially lower than the prior-year comparable period.
Private credit dynamics and liquidity measures
Within Blue Owl’s credit platform, direct lending originations were $3.6 billion during the quarter, with deployment of $600 million. Direct lending - where asset managers make loans directly to companies outside traditional banks to finance buyouts, growth and refinancing - remains a central part of the private credit market and has come under heightened investor scrutiny this year.
Redemptions from retail investors in vehicles that provide access to rarely traded loans have persisted, prompting the firm earlier this month to maintain a 5% quarterly withdrawal limit for two of its private credit funds after redemption requests remained substantially above that cap, even though requests fell by a few percentage points in the second quarter.
Market reaction and valuation pressure
The company’s shares were volatile following the earnings report, swinging between gains and losses before trading down 1% in premarket activity. Blue Owl’s stock has declined by roughly 36% year-to-date, according to the company's disclosure of share performance.
Management has highlighted diversification of revenue sources across platforms and geographies as a mitigant to concentrated risk in any single strategy, while acknowledging that private credit continues to face scrutiny from investors and market participants.
Context for investors
For alternative asset managers, fundraising is a critical barometer of momentum, reflecting investor confidence and the potential to generate future management fees and investment income. Blue Owl’s second-quarter results illustrate a mix of continued fee growth and rising AUM against a backdrop of slower new commitments and ongoing liquidity management in private credit products.
Reported figures and statements above reflect the company’s disclosures for the three months ended June 30 and comparisons to the same period in the prior year.