Kuvare Holdings has set out controls in a statement addressing media reports published since February 19 concerning its relationship with Blue Owl Capital and the purchase of loans from Blue Owl-managed vehicles.
It outlines a requirement that Blue Owl obtain express consent before placing carrier assets into affiliated products, plus the rule that Kuvare would only buy a loan if another investor committed exposure.
Earlier this month, several Kuvare carriers were presented with the opportunity to acquire a portion of a diversified pool of middle-market loan assets owned and managed by Blue Owl vehicles. Kuvare said its explicit consent is required before transacting in assets from a Blue Owl-controlled vehicle, and it retained discretion to decline participation.
Before approving any purchases, Kuvare conducted independent due diligence, reviewing borrower financial statements, audits, third-party valuation reports and underlying loan documentation. The company said it rejected a significant number of loans.
The final portfolio excludes assets with low-risk ratings, all equity positions including preferred equity, and assets presenting concerns about financial performance or industry niche. Kuvare also opted not to participate in any loan it understood to have been rejected by another prospective acquiror. It would purchase a loan only if another investor committed to take the exposure into its own portfolio.
Kuvare said the transactions were negotiated on an arms-length basis and that pricing reflected third-party valuations. Other participants included three of the largest pension funds in the world.
The selected pool consists of exposure to more than 100 borrowers. The 10 largest borrowers account for 35% of the pool, with limited industry concentrations.
In aggregate, the acquired loan assets represent less than 10 basis points (0.1%) of Kuvare’s total invested assets. Kuvare said the exposure relates to the underlying borrowers rather than to Blue Owl. Direct credit exposure to Blue Owl totals $3.4 million, representing approximately one basis point (0.012%) of the relevant portfolios.
Those figures frame the transaction as limited in scale relative to the insurer’s overall balance sheet.
The loan purchases occurred during a period of volatility in the $1.8 trillion private credit market. Blue Owl permanently shut the gates on a $1.6 billion fund known as OBDC II, preventing quarterly withdrawals, and began selling roughly one-third of the fund’s loans to return 30% of investor capital.
More than 15% of net assets were withdrawn from one of Blue Owl’s technology-focused funds. Blue Owl’s shares have fallen about 60% over the past 13 months, even though revenue continued to climb over that period, according to Bloomberg. At one point, the stock dropped as much as 10% in a single session.
Analysts at Barclays wrote in a note, reported by Bloomberg, that the loan sale to Kuvare could provide a template for similar transactions between private credit managers and affiliated insurers. If repeated frequently, they said, such transactions could deepen ties between those parts of the non-bank sector and make risk more difficult to track.
Kuvare also addressed reports concerning ownership. The company said Blue Owl does not own Kuvare Holdings, the parent of a group of wholly owned life insurance and reinsurance companies. Instead, Blue Owl serves as an independent asset manager to Guaranty Income Life Insurance Company, United Life Insurance Company, Lincoln Benefit Life Company and reinsurer Kuvare Life Re (Bermuda), it said.
The relationship began in 2024 when Blue Owl acquired Kuvare Asset Management, a former affiliated asset management division. Kuvare Asset Management was one of Kuvare’s companies and was the only business sold to Blue Owl. Kuvare said the divestiture did not change its ownership or control of the insurance and reinsurance carriers.
At the time Blue Owl became asset manager, it provided $250 million in financial capital support through a 100% passive investment conferring no voting or control rights, according to Kuvare.
Under customary investment management agreements, Blue Owl sources private assets for the carriers’ portfolios. Kuvare said it supervises that work through a strategic asset allocation plan and governing investment guidelines that Blue Owl is obligated to follow. It stated that Blue Owl would not get to “stick Kuvare” with any undesired assets from within Blue Owl’s affiliated entities.
