Blue Owl completes local private wealth team

Blue Owl Capital, one of Wall Street's largest alternative asset managers, continues to add to the local headcount.

Not quite nine months after PIMCO's John Valtwies joined Blue Owl as a principal, Larry Francis has come on board from Bentham Asset Management, the global credit investment manager.

Francis has been appointed vice president and will work for Valtwies in Sydney as part of the firm's private wealth build-out in Australia.

The recruit spent six years at Bentham in wholesale distribution, most recently as state manager for New South Wales and Queensland.

Previously, he held business development roles at Clime Investment Management and Grant Thornton.

It is understood that while Blue Owl is still growing its private wealth team in Asia Pacific and Japan, the Sydney team is in place, and there will be no further hiring.

"I look forward to partnering with Australian wealth managers in navigating the compelling opportunities of US private markets and delivering robust solutions focused on the unique needs of advisers and their clients," Francis posted on LinkedIn.

Last May, the $250 billion alternative asset manager-  specialising in financing private equity-backed acquisitions, buying stakes in private firms and investing in real estate -  hired Johann Santer to lead private wealth in Asia Pacific. Santer was responsible for the wholesale strategy across Fidelity's largest client channel in the region.

Blue Owl employs unique strategies that set it apart, including its GP strategic capital - where it takes passive minority states as general partners - and its real estate platforms.

It has done about 70% of the transactions and dominates the sale-leaseback transactions space.

Santer previously served as Fidelity International's regional lead for wholesale, alongside his role as head of private banking, wealth and strategic clients.