Ares Management Corp
Ares Management Corp is a U.S.-based alternative investment manager that runs credit, real assets, secondaries and private equity strategies through a global platform. The company earns fees by managing capital for institutional clients, publicly traded funds, perpetual wealth vehicles and sub-advised accounts, while also generating performance-related income such as carried interest and incentive fees. Its business is built around long-duration investor relationships, a broad product shelf and a distribution platform, AWMS, that serves the global wealth channel. Ares also operates a substantial operating and control infrastructure to support fundraising, portfolio management, capital markets execution and client servicing across more than 25 countries.
Fiscal year 2025 · change from previous year
Development 2020–2025
Business
Share of revenuePrivate credit, liquid credit and related financing strategies for institutional and wealth clients.
Real estate and infrastructure investing, including fee and carry-generating funds.
Corporate opportunities and other private equity-style investment funds.
Secondary market funds that buy existing fund interests and other portfolio exposures.
AWMS and related publicly traded or perpetual wealth vehicles distributed to retail wealth channels.
Products
Reported · share of revenue- Management Service65.7 %
- Carried Interest20.6 %
- Management Service Incentive6.5 %
- Administrative Service6.4 %
- Principal Investment Income Loss0.9 %
Source: 10-K FY2025, revenue the company reports per product line (SEC XBRL). Shares are of the lines shown and add up to 100 %.
Customers
Ares sells primarily to institutional investors that allocate capital to alternative strategies for yield, diversification and return enhancement. These clients include pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, insurers, family offices and other large allocators that value long-term track records and access to differentiated private markets. The company also serves a growing retail and wealth-management audience through publicly traded funds, sub-advised accounts and perpetual wealth vehicles distributed via AWMS. In addition, Ares works with portfolio companies, real estate tenants, borrowers and transaction counterparties as part of its investment and financing activities. Investors choose Ares for its breadth of strategies, global sourcing network, operational support and ability to deploy capital across market cycles.
Pensions, sovereign wealth funds, endowments, insurers and similar allocators buy private credit, real assets, secondaries and private equity funds for long-term return and diversification.
Financial advisors and retail wealth investors access publicly traded funds and perpetual wealth vehicles distributed through AWMS for more accessible alternative exposure.
Third-party managed accounts and platform relationships use Ares strategies where clients want outsourced alternative investment expertise.
Operating businesses and sponsors receive financing, growth capital or acquisition capital through Ares credit and private equity strategies.
Tenants, developers, operators and transaction counterparties interact with Ares through real assets investing and property-related services.
Strategy
Ares’ strategy is to keep expanding assets under management by combining strong investment performance with broader product distribution. The company is investing in its wealth platform, publicly traded vehicles and perpetual wealth products to diversify away from reliance on traditional institutional fundraising. It is also expanding capital markets capabilities and the Capital Solutions Group to improve financing execution and support more complex transactions across the platform. Another priority is to deepen its global footprint through strategic acquisitions, new business lines and stronger non-investment infrastructure so it can scale across market cycles. These moves are intended to reinforce client relationships, broaden the product shelf and improve the firm’s ability to source and monetize opportunities.
This reduces dependence on institutional fundraising and opens a larger pool of capital through advisors and retail channels.
Better financing capabilities support deal sourcing, portfolio management and transaction completion across credit and real assets.
A wider geographic and strategy footprint improves fundraising resilience and allows the firm to capture opportunities across cycles.
A larger alternative asset platform requires stronger shared services, regulatory oversight and client servicing to scale safely.
Geography
Ares operates a global platform with more than 55 offices in over 25 countries, so its business is not concentrated in a single market. The company specifically notes regulatory and operating exposure across Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, Vietnam and Australia, reflecting both fundraising and investment activity in multiple jurisdictions. The United States remains the core home market and the base for the holding company, but the firm sources capital and investments internationally through institutional and wealth channels. Geography matters because local regulation, investor preferences, tax rules and market cycles affect fundraising, portfolio deployment and the ability to launch or scale products. The firm also manages cross-border compliance and operational complexity through its shared services and capital markets infrastructure.
Risks
Ares is exposed to market, liquidity and valuation risk because its earnings depend on fundraising, asset performance and performance-related fees across private markets. The firm also faces regulatory risk, especially in Europe, where sustainability disclosure rules such as SFDR can affect product classification, fundraising and compliance costs. Because Ares relies on third-party service providers for technology, administration, banking and compliance, operational or cyber failures at vendors could disrupt client service or damage confidential information. Competition is intense for both investor capital and attractive investments, so weaker performance or a less compelling product shelf could pressure growth. In addition, the business is sensitive to changes in credit conditions, interest rates, geopolitical conditions and the valuation of underlying portfolio companies and real assets.
- Sustainability regulation and greenwashing scrutinyImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium
European rules such as SFDR can force product reclassification, increase disclosure burdens and affect investor demand if products are perceived as misaligned with sustainability expectations.
Exposure: Funds marketed to EEA investors and sustainability-labelled products
- Third-party vendor and cybersecurity disruptionImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium
The firm depends on external providers for technology, fund administration, banking and compliance, so outages or breaches could interrupt operations or expose sensitive data.
Exposure: Operations Management Group and AWMS
- Market and valuation volatilityImpact: HighLikelihood: Medium
Ares’ fee income and carried interest are tied to asset values, realizations and portfolio performance, which can fall in weaker markets.
Exposure - Competitive pressure for capital and dealsImpact: MediumLikelihood: Medium
Alternative managers compete on performance, fees, product breadth and relationships, which can slow fundraising or reduce returns if Ares cannot differentiate.
Exposure: Institutional fundraising and investment sourcing
- Cross-border regulatory complexityImpact: MediumLikelihood: Medium
Operating in many jurisdictions increases compliance burden and can delay product launches or investment activity.
Exposure
Accounting
Judgemental itemsAres consolidates entities when it has control and significant economics, which can materially change reported assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses even though the underlying fund economics are largely third-party owned.
Impact: Reported revenue and balance sheet size can be distorted relative to fee-earning AUM
These revenues depend on fund performance hurdles, realizations and valuation changes, so they can reverse if performance deteriorates.
Impact: High earnings volatility and potential clawback/reversal risk
Many underlying assets are illiquid and require model-based valuation, increasing estimation uncertainty.
Impact: Can materially affect performance fees, carried interest and net income
Earnings are split between AMC, AOG unitholders and other strategic partners based on ownership and control arrangements.
Impact: Affects net income attributable to common shareholders
Transaction fees, incentive fees and carried interest can vary significantly by quarter depending on deal activity and realizations.
Impact: Quarter-to-quarter comparability is limited
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Last updated: 24/09/2026