Blue Owl Capital (a leading alternative asset manager) and Voya Financial (a provider of retirement and investment solutions) have announced a strategic partnership. Their goal is to develop private market investment products specifically for defined contribution retirement plans.
Voya currently serves over 39,000 U.S. employers and nine million retirement plan participants, managing assets of over $630 billion in defined contribution plans. Blue Owl, with over $273 billion in assets under management, is a global leader in providing private market solutions to individual investors. This collaboration aims to meet the increasing demand for alternative investments within retirement portfolios.
Initially, the partnership will focus on creating Collective Investment Trusts (CITs). These CITs will provide access to private market strategies from both Blue Owl and Voya, and will be available through advisor-managed accounts on Voya’s platform and Voya Investment Management’s (Voya IM) target-date solutions. As the market evolves, Blue Owl and Voya IM plan to develop additional retirement-focused private investment solutions for other channels, including third-party retirement platforms.
This initiative will provide retirement plan participants with broader investment options, enabling them to build more resilient portfolios and enhance their retirement outcomes.
Beyond this, Blue Owl and Voya are also exploring further collaboration, including enhancing their tailored solutions within the insurance asset management industry. Voya intends to engage Blue Owl for its direct lending and investment-grade asset-backed finance private credit strategies. At the same time, Blue Owl expects to offer Voya’s fixed income solutions to its insurance clients.
KEY QUOTES:
“Voya’s leadership and deep expertise in the retirement market make them an ideal partner as we work together to expand access to private markets. This collaboration with Voya is a natural extension of our mission, laying the foundation for future initiatives within the retirement channel. Since our founding, Blue Owl’s investment strategies have focused on income generation and downside protection—objectives that align closely with the needs of retirement plan participants. 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’s Co-CEOs Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz
“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. Partnering with Blue Owl enables us to expand access to innovative solutions that can help clients better achieve their retirement goals. We’re pleased to work alongside Blue Owl in this current effort, as well as future opportunities that leverage their exceptional private markets strategies and our highly complementary Voya IM asset management and distribution expertise, including those in the insurance market.”
Heather Lavallee, CEO of Voya Financial
“We are excited to partner with Voya to extend Blue Owl’s leading private markets capabilities to the defined contribution market, helping plan participants meet their retirement goals. We see tremendous opportunity in enabling retirement plan participants to access private markets in defined contribution accounts by leveraging our significant presence in the private wealth space and Voya’s status as a trusted partner and solutions provider to more than nine million participant accounts. Together, we’re well-positioned to deliver innovative, outcome-oriented solutions that meet the needs of investors.”
Sean Connor, Global CEO of Private Wealth at Blue Owl
“Voya works closely with advisors and consultants to offer tailored solutions for employers. By combining that approach with Blue Owl’s capabilities, we’re elevating how we support workplace retirement practices. Together, we’re empowering individuals to reach their retirement goals—and this partnership brings us closer to delivering on that mission.”
Jay Kaduson, CEO of Voya’s Workplace Solutions, and Matt Toms, CEO of Voya IM
