Episode 305: Rich Byrne of Benefit Street Partners: When your Opponent is your Teacher and Ego is the Enemy - lessons from Jiu Jitsu for finance and life

Rich Byrne is President of Benefit Street Partners as well as a decorated Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion. In this fascinating podcast we discuss his journey from a fine arts major to a leading figure in finance and the many twists and turns in between. 

We discuss his previous roles such as his internship with Manufacturers Hanover Trust, which is now JP Morgan, and his first job at Wall Street at Merrill Lynch in Chicago to becoming one of founding members of Merrill Lynch's high yield research department.

We discuss his interest in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and he emphazises the importance in fostering creativity and innovation in finance, along with the positive impact that a unique background can have in the finance field.

We talk about his role at Benefit Street Partners' and their focus on credit and alternative investments, particularly in real estate lending. Rich stresses the importance of leading by example and maintaining a strong company culture.

We round up with a few motivational messages from Rich, reflecting on the value of staying in the game for the long term, attributing his success to his perseverance and focus on continuous improvement.

Thank you Eagle Point Credit and Benefit Street Partners for supporting this series!With over $12 billion of AUM, Eagle Point Credit Management is a premier investment firm focused on generating strong returns for its clients through sourcing, evaluating and executing investments in CLOs, Portfolio Debt Securities and other credit investments that it believes shave the potential to outperform their respective markets generally.

Benefit Street Partners is a leading global alternative credit asset manager offering clients investment solutions across a broad range of complementary credit strategies, including direct lending, special situations, structured credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans and commercial real estate debt and equity. As of December 31, 2024, BSP-Alcentra had $76 billion of assets under management.