NEW James Clark is senior managing director at Blue Owl and the Global Head of Institutional Capital. He has 26 years of asset management experience, and prior to Blue Owl, worked for Pimco, Golden Tree Asset Management and Landmark Partners. We had met on the circuit during my time as an allocator with Chicago Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund, and I recently enjoyed listening to him on this podcast with Ted Seides of Capital Allocators. https://youtu.be/laLuf6XrrDw?si=uixmWOvMGnPNeydf
I wanted to catch up with James to capture some of his lessons learned amid such an accomplished career as an institutional capital raiser – he has an innate ability to play the long game, and a sharpened set of skills that enable him to know what a client needs and when, as well as when to dial things back.
Diving in to these skills, he notes the value of active listening, core competencies, and the alignment of values in leadership. We end with a discussion of the changing dynamics of the private credit market, and the team’s approach to building strong partnerships with clients.

