{"text":[[{"start":11.3,"text":"UBS helped trigger a wave of withdrawals from a flagship Blue Owl fund that the Swiss bank had helped build into one of the industry’s largest retail offerings after it advised overexposed clients to diversify away from private credit."}],[{"start":25.15,"text":"Investors started pulling large sums of money from Blue Owl Technology Income (OTIC), a $3bn direct lending fund distributed mainly through UBS wealth management, during the final quarter of 2025."}],[{"start":40,"text":"The requests came shortly after the bank told clients who were over-allocated to private credit that they should sell down their positions, according to two people familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":49.3,"text":"UBS’s change in outlook and its impact on the Blue Owl fund illustrate how important wealth channels have become for private credit firms to tap retail investors and the pitfalls they face if they heavily rely on a particular distributor."}],[{"start":62.5,"text":"It also shows how the boom in retail offerings has shifted power from private credit managers to the banks and wealth platforms that control the flow of client money. "}],[{"start":73.05,"text":"While these arrangements are an important source of fundraising, they can leave fund managers vulnerable to changing recommendations."}],[{"start":81.1,"text":"Although concerns about private credit valuations and returns have spanned the industry, Blue Owl has found itself in the eye of the storm as one of the first firms to target retail investors. "}],[{"start":93.1,"text":"Blue Owl launched its technology-focused fund in 2022 after consulting with UBS about creating a vehicle that would be suited to the bank’s clients, according to two people familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":104.64999999999999,"text":"At least 60 per cent of the money the fund raised came from UBS clients, most of whom were based in Asia, they added. That is double what some executives said they would want to have from one distributor."}],[{"start":116.85,"text":"An executive at another large international private capital group said they aimed for a maximum 20 to 30 per cent exposure to any single platform in their retail funds to spread risk."}],[{"start":128.5,"text":"“Both Blue Owl and UBS hoped to have a better fundraising footprint and it was more narrow than they would have liked,” said a person familiar with the fund. "}],[{"start":138.3,"text":"The UBS advice to clients followed the dual collapse of auto lender Tricolor and First Brands Group, which stoked fears about lax underwriting standards in broader credit markets. The bank’s own private credit specialist UBS O’Connor had 30 per cent of the exposure in one of its funds tied to the car parts group."}],[{"start":156.9,"text":"UBS also grew concerned that competition to buy new loans was pushing down interest-rate spreads and eating into the prospective returns of private credit funds, said one person familiar with the matter."}],[{"start":169.35,"text":"While UBS’s recommendation that clients with big allocations to private credit cut back their investments did not specifically target Blue Owl’s technology fund, its high exposure to the bank’s clients meant it was significantly affected."}],[{"start":182.65,"text":"Investors pulled 15.4 per cent of the fund’s assets in the fourth quarter, leading to roughly $400mn in net outflows, according to rating agency KBRA. This was multiple times the amount tendered in the previous quarter."}],[{"start":197.3,"text":"The Blue Owl tech fund was also particularly exposed to a sell-off in software groups, which were big private credit borrowers, after developments in AI technology cast doubt over the companies’ long-term value."}],[{"start":209.55,"text":"Redemption requests surged to more than 40 per cent of the fund’s value in the first quarter of this year."}],[{"start":216.4,"text":"UBS declined to comment. A spokesperson for Blue Owl said: “OTIC’s consistent credit performance, including a low non-accrual rate of 0.2 per cent, has supported a stable 9.2 per cent distribution rate.”"}],[{"start":236.6,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1783672430_1733.mp3"}