# Ares Management
**Ares Management Corporation** (NYSE: ARES) is a Los Angeles-based global alternative asset manager specializing in non-investment-grade credit, with $622.5 billion of assets under management, more than 4,250 employees, and over 55 offices in more than 25 countries as of December 31, 2025[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm). Unlike a traditional investment bank, which earns transaction and underwriting fees, or a mutual fund, which offers liquid public-market portfolios, an alternative asset manager raises long-lived capital from institutions and wealthy individuals and invests it in private loans, companies, and property, earning recurring management fees plus performance-based income[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Scale | $622.5 billion AUM, 4,250+ employees, 55+ offices in 25+ countries (Dec 31, 2025); over $671 billion by June 30, 2026[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm) • [2](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/222f2520-e378-4363-ab8f-b7dfe8995e3c/assets/Q2-26_Earnings_Presentation_Website_Updated.pdf?disposition=inline) |
| Largest segment | Credit Group: $406.9 billion AUM across 305+ funds, including $274.3 billion of direct lending[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm) |
| Revenue model | FY-2025 management fees of $3,682.9 million at a 1.00% effective fee rate; fee related earnings margin 41.7%[3](https://ir-api.eqs.com/media/document/50beddd5-38eb-4c35-9666-41c40d692222/assets/Q4-25_Earnings_Presentation_Website.pdf) |
| Growth | AUM up from $94.0 billion a decade earlier, a 21% 10-year CAGR; $113.2 billion raised in 2025[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm) • [3](https://ir-api.eqs.com/media/document/50beddd5-38eb-4c35-9666-41c40d692222/assets/Q4-25_Earnings_Presentation_Website.pdf) |
| Clients | 2,850+ direct institutional relationships (76% of AUM); insurance clients were the second-largest investor base, with over $50B in AUM at year-end 2024; over $39B across semi-liquid wealth products at year-end 2024[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm) • [4](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/6beef435-5975-4c29-b0e1-8197a88249da/assets/Annual_Letter_2024_Website_vF.pdf?disposition=) |
| Key deal | GCP International acquired March 1, 2025 for ~$3.7 billion initial consideration plus up to $1.5 billion earn-out[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000110465924106822/tm2425002d3_8k.htm) |
| Stock | 28.9% annualized total return since its 2014 IPO through 2024 versus 13.3% for the S&P 500[4](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/6beef435-5975-4c29-b0e1-8197a88249da/assets/Annual_Letter_2024_Website_vF.pdf?disposition=) |
## What the firm does
Ares operates four complementary investment groups: Credit, Real Assets, Secondaries, and Private Equity[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm). Credit is by far the largest, with $406.9 billion of AUM and over 305 funds as of December 31, 2025, making Ares one of the largest managers of non-investment-grade credit strategies[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm). Within credit, U.S. Direct Lending held $189.6 billion, European Direct Lending $84.7 billion, Liquid Credit $53.1 billion, Alternative Credit $48.1 billion, Opportunistic Credit $19.8 billion, and APAC Credit $11.5 billion[3](https://ir-api.eqs.com/media/document/50beddd5-38eb-4c35-9666-41c40d692222/assets/Q4-25_Earnings_Presentation_Website.pdf). The other groups are smaller: Real Assets at $139.1 billion (Real Estate $113.8 billion, [Infrastructure](https://www.edgepedia.org/infrastructure) $25.3 billion), Secondaries at $42.1 billion, Private Equity at $25.3 billion, and Other Businesses at $9.1 billion[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm).
Many of Ares' credit offerings contain floating-rate senior secured loans, with upside mostly limited to coupon payments pegged to benchmark rates[6](https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanktucker/2023/02/09/how-ares-management-turned-private-credit-into-wall-streets-sexiest-business/).
## How it earns
Ares' revenue is predominantly management fees. Full-year 2025 management fees were $3,682.9 million, up 25% from $2,957.4 million in 2024, at an effective management fee rate of 1.00% for the year (0.99% in Q4 2025, down from 1.02% in the 2024 periods)[3](https://ir-api.eqs.com/media/document/50beddd5-38eb-4c35-9666-41c40d692222/assets/Q4-25_Earnings_Presentation_Website.pdf). Fee related earnings margin was 41.7% for 2025, up from 41.5% in 2024[3](https://ir-api.eqs.com/media/document/50beddd5-38eb-4c35-9666-41c40d692222/assets/Q4-25_Earnings_Presentation_Website.pdf). In its credit funds the firm has historically charged between 0.35% and 1.5%[6](https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanktucker/2023/02/09/how-ares-management-turned-private-credit-into-wall-streets-sexiest-business/).
Its flagship listed vehicle, Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC), is the largest publicly traded business development company in the United States, with $31.2 billion in total assets and a $29.5 billion portfolio across 603 companies as of December 31, 2025; it charges a 1.5% management fee and a 20% income incentive fee over a 7% annualized hurdle, higher than the 1.25% and 12.5% over a 5% hurdle at Apollo's ADS and Blackstone's BCRED[7](https://alternativefortune.com/blog/apollo-vs-ares-vs-blackstone-comparing-the-titans-of-private-credit).
## Private credit and direct lending
Ares is one of the largest self-originating direct lenders to the U.S. and European markets, with $274.3 billion of direct-lending AUM in over 105 funds, vehicles, and separately managed accounts as of December 31, 2025; U.S. direct lending alone managed $189.6 billion across roughly 90 funds covering more than 520 financial sponsors[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm). The firm built this position by lending to the private equity portfolio companies of counterparts like Apollo and KKR rather than competing against them for buyouts[8](https://fortune.com/2025/07/21/ares-management-private-credit-michael-arougheti-kkr-equity-apollo/).
This sits within an industry transformation: research using data on secured borrowing by U.S. private middle-market firms documents the dramatic rise of direct lenders over the past 20 years and compares their lending technology with banks and finance companies[9](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34500/w34500.pdf). The private credit market has roughly doubled since 2020 and is expected to exceed $2.5 trillion by 2029[8](https://fortune.com/2025/07/21/ares-management-private-credit-michael-arougheti-kkr-equity-apollo/).
## Clients and capital channels
Ares serves over 2,850 direct institutional relationships, up from over 1,090 in 2020, plus a retail base across publicly traded funds, sub-advised accounts, and perpetual wealth vehicles; $470.1 billion, or 76% of AUM, is attributable to direct institutional relationships[1](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm). Third-party insurance clients are the second largest investor base, with over $50 billion in AUM at year-end 2024[4](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/6beef435-5975-4c29-b0e1-8197a88249da/assets/Annual_Letter_2024_Website_vF.pdf?disposition=). The firm was the first alternative asset manager to shift its structure from a partnership to a corporation and launched Aspida Financial to expand its insurance platform[10](https://www.ares.com/about-ares-management-corporation/our-history).
**Wealth channels are growing fastest.** Ares raised over $10 billion in equity commitments for semi-liquid wealth solutions in 2024, roughly three times the 2023 level, reaching over $39 billion of AUM across eight semi-liquid products[4](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/6beef435-5975-4c29-b0e1-8197a88249da/assets/Annual_Letter_2024_Website_vF.pdf?disposition=).
## Recent growth
Ares' AUM grew approximately 16% to $484 billion at year-end 2024 on $93 billion of new commitments, with a record $107 billion invested and fee related earnings up 17% to $1,362 million[4](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/6beef435-5975-4c29-b0e1-8197a88249da/assets/Annual_Letter_2024_Website_vF.pdf?disposition=). In October 2024 it agreed to acquire GCP International, the ex-[Greater China](https://www.edgepedia.org/greater-china) business of GLP Capital Partners, for approximately $3.7 billion of initial consideration, about $1.8 billion in cash and $1.9 billion in Class A shares and RSUs (roughly 6% of outstanding Class A stock), plus an earn-out of up to $1.5 billion measured through end-2027 tied to growth in [Japan](https://www.edgepedia.org/japan-epzdpsev89) and data center businesses[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000110465924106822/tm2425002d3_8k.htm). The deal closed March 1, 2025, bringing the platform to over $525 billion of AUM and making Ares a top-three global owner and operator of logistics assets with over 570 million square feet, with major platforms in Japan, Brazil, and Vietnam plus digital infrastructure and self-storage capabilities[11](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250303508549/en/Ares-Management-Corporation-Completes-Acquisition-of-GCP-International).
Momentum continued through 2025 and 2026: AUM rose 29% in 2025 to $622.5 billion, with $113.2 billion of gross new capital raised and $145.8 billion deployed[3](https://ir-api.eqs.com/media/document/50beddd5-38eb-4c35-9666-41c40d692222/assets/Q4-25_Earnings_Presentation_Website.pdf); a January 2026 raise of approximately $7.1 billion for its Credit Secondaries strategy included about $4 billion of LP equity for an inaugural fund that doubled its $2 billion target, Ares' largest inaugural institutional fundraise[12](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260112199694/en/Ares-Raises-Over-%247-Billion-for-Leading-Credit-Secondaries-Strategy); and a record $36 billion quarterly raise with $35.9 billion deployed was reported in July 2026[13](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/ares-hauls-record-36-billion-private-credit-fundraising-momentum-2026-07-31/). By June 30, 2026 the platform exceeded $671 billion, with U.S. Direct Lending the largest strategy at $196.7 billion, 45% of credit AUM[2](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/222f2520-e378-4363-ab8f-b7dfe8995e3c/assets/Q2-26_Earnings_Presentation_Website_Updated.pdf?disposition=inline). Management has set a target of surpassing $750 billion of AUM by the end of 2028[8](https://fortune.com/2025/07/21/ares-management-private-credit-michael-arougheti-kkr-equity-apollo/).
## How it compares
Ares ranks among the top five private credit managers, behind Apollo ($834 billion credit AUM) and [Blackstone](https://www.edgepedia.org/blackstone) ($536 billion) and ahead of KKR Credit ($293 billion); the top five hold roughly $2.3 trillion, about 77% of the top-10 total, with direct lending the common core strategy across all ten[14](https://www.aranca.com/assets/docs/Special_Report_Private_Credit_Broad_Appeal_High_Manager_Dispersion.pdf). Ares is the closest of the large credit houses to a pure private-credit firm, and direct lending to mid-market companies is its specialty[7](https://alternativefortune.com/blog/apollo-vs-ares-vs-blackstone-comparing-the-titans-of-private-credit). On the Forbes Global 2000 in 2024 it ranked No. 1,342, up 370 spots from the prior year[15](https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2024/06/13/the-worlds-largest-investment-firms-2024-apollo-leads-but-kkr-blackstone-and-ares-see-big-gains/).
## References
1. [Ares Management Corp Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2025, SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm)
2. [Ares Q2 2026 Earnings Presentation](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/222f2520-e378-4363-ab8f-b7dfe8995e3c/assets/Q2-26_Earnings_Presentation_Website_Updated.pdf?disposition=inline)
3. [Ares Q4 2025 Earnings Presentation](https://ir-api.eqs.com/media/document/50beddd5-38eb-4c35-9666-41c40d692222/assets/Q4-25_Earnings_Presentation_Website.pdf)
4. [Ares Management Corporation Annual Letter 2024](https://ir.ares.com/media/document/6beef435-5975-4c29-b0e1-8197a88249da/assets/Annual_Letter_2024_Website_vF.pdf?disposition=)
5. [Ares Management 8-K on GCP Acquisition, October 2024, SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000110465924106822/tm2425002d3_8k.htm)
6. [How Ares Management Turned Private Credit Into Wall Street's Sexiest Business, Forbes, 2023](https://www.forbes.com/sites/hanktucker/2023/02/09/how-ares-management-turned-private-credit-into-wall-streets-sexiest-business/)
7. [Apollo vs. Ares vs. Blackstone: Comparing the Titans of Private Credit, Alternative Fortune](https://alternativefortune.com/blog/apollo-vs-ares-vs-blackstone-comparing-the-titans-of-private-credit)
8. [Inside Ares' push to $750 billion, Fortune, July 2025](https://fortune.com/2025/07/21/ares-management-private-credit-michael-arougheti-kkr-equity-apollo/)
9. [Direct Lending research, NBER Working Paper 34500](https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w34500/w34500.pdf)
10. [Our History, Ares Management](https://www.ares.com/about-ares-management-corporation/our-history)
11. [Ares Completes Acquisition of GCP International, March 2025, Business Wire](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250303508549/en/Ares-Management-Corporation-Completes-Acquisition-of-GCP-International)
12. [Ares Raises Over $7 Billion for Leading Credit Secondaries Strategy, January 2026, Business Wire](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260112199694/en/Ares-Raises-Over-%247-Billion-for-Leading-Credit-Secondaries-Strategy)
13. [Ares hauls record $36 billion on private credit fundraising momentum, Reuters, July 2026](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/ares-hauls-record-36-billion-private-credit-fundraising-momentum-2026-07-31/)
14. [Special Report: Private Credit, Aranca](https://www.aranca.com/assets/docs/Special_Report_Private_Credit_Broad_Appeal_High_Manager_Dispersion.pdf)
15. [The World's Largest Investment Firms 2024, Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/sergeiklebnikov/2024/06/13/the-worlds-largest-investment-firms-2024-apollo-leads-but-kkr-blackstone-and-ares-see-big-gains/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Finance › Investment banking and asset management › Investment banks and advisory firms*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license