Blue Owl and Voya Partner to Offer Private Market Solutions to DC Plans

Blue Owl Capital Inc. and Voya Financial Inc. announced a partnership to develop private market investment products for defined contribution plans—a solution that has recently seen increased interest among plan sponsors.

Blue Owl and Voya will offer private market strategies in vehicles tailored to DC plans, addressing what they have identified as a growing demand for alternative investment solutions within retirement portfolios. According to their announcement, Blue Owl and Voya will focus initially on the development of collective investment trusts that provide access to Blue Owl’s private market strategies. The CITs will be available through adviser-managed accounts on Voya’s retirement platform and through target-date solutions managed by Voya Investment Management.

“At Voya, we’re committed to helping retirement savers and their families build stronger financial futures. That means providing the right investment tools and solutions—including access to private market options—that meet our clients’ evolving needs,” said Heather Lavallee, Voya’s CEO, in a statement. “Partnering with Blue Owl enables us to expand access to innovative solutions that can help clients better achieve their retirement goals.”

The companies also plan to collaborate on private investment solutions available through other channels, including third-party retirement platforms and target-date account providers. They are also considering opportunities to collaborate in other industries, such as in insurance asset management—leveraging Voya’s fixed-income solutions and Blue Owl’s direct lending and investment grade asset-backed private credit strategies.

“This collaboration with Voya is a natural extension of our mission, laying the foundation for future initiatives within the retirement channel,” said Blue Owl Co-CEOs Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz in a statement. “The retirement landscape is expanding, and we see providing plan participants access to private markets assets as a way to build more resilient investment portfolios and pursue stronger long-term returns.”

Blue Owl had $273 billion in assets under management as of March 31, across credit, real assets and strategic growth capital. Voya administers benefits to 15.7 million individual, workplace and institutional clients as of July 14.