Blue Owl recruits Pak-Seng Lai from UBS
Blue Owl Capital, a US alternatives manager expanding its Hong Kong operations, has hired Pak-Seng Lai, a managing director at UBS, to head its Asia Pacific private wealth business.
Lai will be located in the firm’s Hong Kong office and report to Blue Owl Securities CEO Derek O'Leary.
“Asia has a growing demographic of high net worth investors looking for access to alternative investments, and Pak-Seng's deep expertise in the region will be invaluable in helping our private wealth business meet that demand,” O'Leary said in a statement.
It comes a matter of weeks after Blue Owl acquired Hong Kong placement agent Ascentium, renaming it Blue Owl Capital HK. The plan is to build out the team to around 20 by the end of the second quarter as part of a broader regional push.
Lai has more than 20 years of experience in global private equity investments in US, Europe and Asia. He joined UBS in 2018, where he advised on PE deals and portfolio construction as head of private markets for Asia Pacific.
Lai has held management positions at HQ Capital and Schroder Adveq. He also has experience with private equity firms such as Vision Knight Capital, Transpac Capital, and 3W Partners Capital, where he connected companies in China with the US, Europe, and Southeast Asia, and vice versa.
Blue Owl was formed last year when Owl Rock Capital and Dyal Capital Partners were acquired by a special purpose acquisition company and merged. It began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2021.
The firm now employs more than 350 people across nine offices globally and had USD 94.5bn in assets under management as of year-end 2021. This compares to a staff of 300 and AUM of USD 70.5bn at the time of the Ascentium acquisition in December.
“Blue Owl has entrenched itself in the fast-growing market of alternatives and has a reputation for providing innovative capital solutions to sophisticated investors,” Lai said. “Recently, the demand for alternative products globally has significantly increased and I believe Blue Owl is well-positioned to provide access to these solutions for private wealth investors and advisors.”
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