Alexis Maged

You’ve been a part of Blue Owl’s Credit platform since early days – how do you see our culture come to life? What differentiates our approach?

Culture is always tricky to discuss – every firm wants to tout their culture. I like to think that since we had the opportunity to start Owl Rock / Blue Owl Credit from scratch, we had a clean slate and therefore could be very intentional in who we hired, how we set the organizational structure, how we incented the team, and how we could message what our priorities were. While the culture we were able to nurture is always at risk of dilution as the business scales, we are grateful to have long-serving senior leaders across each of our platforms, as well as a deep bench of talent, who are all hands on in ensuring the culture remains alive. 

What excites you most about where we are headed?

I feel like we are in the very early innings of the synergy opportunities in collaboration across our expanded Credit platform – Direct Lending, Insurance, and Alternative Credit. Each business has deep relationships which can be introduced across the platform or, more significantly, where we can now structure entire solutions for clients where previously, when each part of the business was separate, each could only speak for their respective slices, exposing us to competitors who could offer a more comprehensive set of products, or intermediaries who shaved economics and controlled the client dialogue. 

What qualities do you look for when building a strong team?

From the beginning we have tried to strike a balance between buyside / sellside, sponsor finance generalist / domain expertise, and levels of seniority. We have developed talent, promoted almost entirely from within, and supported internal mobility. Of course, we prioritize individual traits like integrity, team-work, and qualitative and quantitative skills – but we have supported the team with various forms of scaffolding such as coaching, skills training, mentorship, and special projects to facilitate team success. I also think it’s important to align incentives across the team so that the focus is on the overall success of the business as opposed to more parochial measures of achievement.

What’s one thing everyone at Blue Owl – regardless of team – should understand about our Credit platform?

That anyone/everyone on the team is available to support the needs of the broader organization. This can mean cross platform opportunity, fundraising, mentorship, client introduction, product, or structuring expertise.

If you weren’t working in financial services, what do you think you’d be doing?

I would love the opportunity to run the New York Jets. When I was younger, I considered architecture– I like the idea of restoring and redeveloping older properties.

Who’s had the greatest impact on how you lead?

Interesting question – hadn’t ever really thought about it – I would have to say my father. He was a senior executive in the New York financial services industry. Notwithstanding the pond in which he swam, and all the attendant social and competitive dynamics, he always carried himself with tremendous integrity, warmth, engagement, curiosity, appreciation and a “lead by example” mentality. I guess innately I admired the way he comported himself, balanced professional ambition with parenthood, and certainly gave back to his community – he set a high bar…