Speech Description

Alternative credit, or asset-based finance (ABF) as it is more commonly referred to, is a large and fast-growing part of the private credit universe. ABF plays a vital role in financing everyday transactions for consumers and businesses which includes financial and hard assets. These investments are short-dated in nature and are backed by underlying collateral providing investors with the potential for attractive income, credit risk mitigation, and further diversification and low correlation to other areas of the credit markets. Join us as we discuss the overall asset-based finance market, the borrower landscape, the investment merits of the asset class, and introduce you to Blue Owl Alternative Credit. 

Speaker Biography

Owen Libby is a Principal at Blue Owl and member of the Private Wealth Team. In his role, he is responsible for supporting the distribution and strategic partnership initiatives of the firm’s Alternative Credit platform. Before joining Blue Owl, Owen led the private wealth effort for Atalaya Capital Management, the predecessor firm to Blue Owl’s Alternative Credit team. Owen spent the prior decade serving as a regional director of alternative investments at Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo in their respective Los Angeles and New York City markets. Owen received his BA in Business from Gettysburg College and is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Omar leads the underwriting and capital deployment efforts for all real estate acquisitions and is

Speaker biography

Ben is a Managing Director for Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) and is responsible for fundraising, investor relationships, and product development for Private Credit throughout the Americas. Prior to joining Macquarie, Ben was a Managing Director at Audax Private Debt, where he led the company’s insurance solutions efforts and was responsible for fundraising on a global basis. Before that, he held similar roles at Pinnacle Trust Partners, Intermediate Capital Group, and Schroder Adveq. He has more than 15 years of industry experience. Ben holds a Bachelor of Business from the University of Newcastle and a Master of Commerce from the University of Sydney. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation.

Speech Description

2025 was defined by tight spreads underpinned by strong technicals. However, some isolated well-documented pockets of issuer stress emerged. The range of possible outcomes could be much wider for 2026. The challenge is navigating the dispersion as tailwinds meet numerous risks on the horizon; higher refinancing costs, sector-specific problems and other pressures which could lead to a material credit dislocation. 

Speaker biography

Gareth Payne is Head of Fixed Income Client Portfolio Managers at Pictet Asset Management.  

Before joining Pictet in 2019, he was the Client Portfolio Manager for Man GLG’s Credit and Convertibles business globally with responsibility across both alternative and long-only strategies. Prior to that Gareth worked in several business development roles at Man’s multi-manager hedge fund, FRM. He began his career in 2007 at Lehman Brothers in London. 

Gareth holds a Masters and BA from the University of Cambridge.