The traditional private equity fund has a built-in contradiction. Sponsors identify great companies, create value over three to five years, and then sell, often at the exact moment the business is positioned for its next phase of growth. The exit clock runs regardless of whether the company is ready. Blue Owl Capital’s debut secondaries fund, BOSE, which closed with over $3 billion in commitments in February 2026, was designed to address that mismatch.
Long-duration capital is not a new concept. Permanent capital vehicles, evergreen structures, and long-dated funds have existed for years. What’s changed is the scale at which sponsors are seeking this kind of capital and the specific structure through which they’re accessing it. Continuation vehicles, the primary deal type that BOSE targets, grew to represent 87% of the $47 billion in GP-led secondary volume recorded in H1 2025. That’s a 68% increase over the prior year, according to Jefferies.
Blue Owl Capital’s co-CEOs, Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz, used the word “aligned” to describe what BOSE offers. Alignment, in this context, means a capital partner who shares the sponsor’s conviction that a specific company is worth holding for an extended period (five, seven, or even ten additional years) rather than one who underwrites the deal with a two-year exit in mind.
The fund’s two primary deal structures reinforce this philosophy. Single-asset continuation funds create a new vehicle for a single portfolio company, with the sponsor retaining control and fresh capital providing liquidity to exiting LPs. Direct minority equity transactions accomplish something similar without the full continuation fund structure. Both require the buyer to take a long view.
Chris Crampton, Senior Managing Director and Head of Strategic Equity, leads the effort. He pointed to strong demand from sponsors across the pipeline: managers who want a counterparty committed to patience. (bloomberg.com/profile/company/OWL:US)
Blue Owl Capital built BOSE inside its Credit platform, the firm’s largest business segment, giving the strategy access to institutional distribution channels and the existing network of sponsor relationships. That scale means BOSE can write large checks and move quickly, two qualities that sponsors evaluating continuation vehicle partners value highly. (blueowlcapitalcorporation.com) The $3 billion close, achieved in a fundraising environment that has been punishing for smaller managers, suggests that the market for long-duration capital in private equity has reached a size that justifies a dedicated, institutional-scale product. Blue Owl Capital’s entry validates what many sponsors already knew: the best assets deserve capital partners whose timelines match the opportunity.