Welcome to Lender Lens, our series for profiling leaders in the Lender community.
With private credit playing an increasingly important role in the financial system, we wanted to find out how lenders are navigating the evolving landscape and how they assess the market in the coming years.
Dealmaking has become more complex in today’s market — and private credit is adapting.
In this edition of Lender Lens, we speak with Lukas Spiss, Senior Managing Director at Blue Owl and member of the Direct Lending Investment Team, to explore how one of the industry’s most influential direct lenders is navigating today’s market. With deep experience across technology, healthcare, financial services, and digital infrastructure, Blue Owl has built a reputation for its disciplined approach and ability to support some of the largest, most complex transactions in the upper middle market.
Lukas shares where the firm is seeing the most compelling opportunities, how scale enables Blue Owl to act as a true solutions provider, and why trust, credibility, and long-term relationships remain foundational to their success. He also reflects on what has shaped his own perspective, from early career experience in Europe to leading relationships in New York.
Blue Owl is well known in technology, healthcare, financial services, and digital infrastructure. Should we expect more of the same, or are there other sectors that particularly excite you right now?
Defensive portfolio construction has always been core to our approach. We like services-based businesses in non-cyclical sectors, which has made us particularly active in areas like software, insurance brokerage, and healthcare services. You should expect these markets to remain core to our approach.
One of the shifts we are excited about is the opportunity for scaled direct lenders to finance growing areas of the market, such as digital infrastructure and asset-backed finance. Each of these markets represents trillions in white space and we believe Blue Owl is uniquely positioned to participate given our dedicated capabilities in these areas. We believe selective participation in these markets can complement our direct lending portfolios of predominantly upper middle market, sponsor-backed loans.
Is there a particular deal size range where Blue Owl feels it can add the most value to borrowers?
Blue Owl is one of few scaled direct lenders that can regularly write checks of $1B and with the ability to commit north of $2B to a single transaction. This makes us very competitive in the upper middle market because sponsors can work exclusively with Blue Owl, or a small handful of counterparties, to execute some of their largest, highest profile transactions more efficiently. The weighted average EBITDA of our borrowers is north of $200M and we serve as agent/lead on roughly 90% of our transactions, reflecting our upper middle market advantage.
How does Blue Owl position itself as a lender of choice in the increasingly competitive direct lending market?
There have been many new entrants, but the competitive landscape in direct lending has changed very little for scaled players. The market is still a pyramid with few lenders at the top, where Blue Owl plays, that can write big checks, speak for full capital structures, and regularly lead deals.
Blue Owl has been a partner of choice because of our scale, deeply experienced team, and flexibility. Within credit, we have a team of more than 250 professionals managing $150B+ AUM and dedicated pools of capital spanning the full capital structure. Our credit capabilities are further amplified by the broader Blue Owl platform, which allows us to collaborate and be nimble, creative, and fast in the solutions we provide.
A good example of this is Blue Owl’s Digital Infrastructure strategy, which has committed $50B+ in financing over the last two months to the largest three financings in the space to-date. Few others are capable of this – it requires substantial capital and teamwork from deeply experienced professionals who have spent their careers focused on building relationships and investing across technology lending, real estate finance, and alternative credit.
How has Blue Owl’s network and approach to building trust influenced the deals you’re able to originate?
When we launched Blue Owl’s predecessor, Owl Rock, in 2016, we aimed to be a total solutions provider for our partners and in doing so we’ve been able to establish ourselves as a market leader that our partners trust for their highest profile financings. Blue Owl’s growth over time has further solidified this as we’ve been at the forefront of executing the market’s most innovative financing solutions at scale.
You are now based in New York, but your early career was in Europe. How has that international perspective influenced the way you work and build relationships?
Having started my career in Europe and now being based in New York, I’ve seen firsthand that while work styles may differ, the foundations of strong business relationships are universal. What I’ve learned is that trust and integrity, reliability, and respect matter deeply on both sides of the Atlantic. When people know they can rely on your word, when you deliver consistently, and when you approach relationships with honesty and respect, collaboration flows naturally.
What’s your favorite way to spend a weekend in New York?
Most of my weekends revolve around my kids’ sports — and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. With three active kids, there’s usually a full schedule of games, practices, and cheering from the sidelines. It’s a big part of our family life, and I really enjoy being part of it.
When we do get a break from the sports circuit, I love taking advantage of being close to New York City — whether that’s catching a show, exploring a new restaurant, or just walking through Central Park. It’s the perfect balance between family time and the endless energy the city offers.
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