Blue Owl Capital launched its strategic equity strategy with the hiring of Chris Crampton as a managing director.
Crampton brings nearly two decades of experience as a private markets investor, having previously served as a partner and head of services and industrials private equity investing within the merchant banking and asset management divisions of Goldman Sachs. Crampton invested across a range of investment vehicle types, asset classes and sectors while at Goldman, including traditional buyout, infrastructure, growth/technology, hybrid equity, distressed and private credit funds.
At Blue Owl, Crampton will spearhead the creation of the “Blue Owl Strategic Equity Strategy” which will focus on single-asset GP-led secondary transactions, or continuation fund investments. The effort will benefit from Blue Owl’s direct lending and GP capital solutions divisions, with fundraising targeting both institutional investors and private wealth channels.
“Creating a complementary equity and secondaries strategy for our clients is a natural extension of Blue Owl’s existing business given our sizable origination funnel and deep relationships with leading financial sponsors,” Doug Ostrover, CEO and co-founder of Blue Owl Capital, said. “Combining Blue Owl’s global platform with Chris Crampton’s extensive investment experience in private markets further reinforces our value proposition as a leading solutions provider to the alternative asset management industry.”
“Continuation funds are a nascent but rapidly growing asset class with significant opportunity and potential for Blue Owl’s investors and private equity partners,” Crampton said. “I look forward to bringing this differentiated offering to market and working with Doug and the team to leverage the substantial synergies across the unique Blue Owl investment platform.”
