Ares Management (ARES) Investor presentation summary

Business overview and growth

• Operates a global alternative investment platform with $623 billion in AUM, spanning credit, real assets, secondaries, private equity, and other businesses.

• Achieved 18% annualized growth in management fee revenues and 19% AUM CAGR over the past 12+ years, with over 5x increase in direct institutional investors since 2013.

• Management fee-centric, asset-light model with 85% of AUM and 93% of management fees from perpetual or long-dated funds, supporting earnings stability.

• Diversified investor base across pensions, banks, insurance, sovereign wealth funds, and high net worth, with $131 billion in retail channel AUM.

• Expanded strategies and scaled funds, with 2.3x more $1+ billion fund series since 2020 and significant growth in direct lending and secondaries.

Financial performance and earnings

• Management fees reached $3.68 billion in 2025, with fee-related earnings of $1.78 billion and realized income of $1.85 billion.

• Fee revenue is highly stable, with over 80% from management fees across business lines.

• Net accrued performance income grew at a ~25% CAGR since 2020, reaching $1.1 billion in 2025.

• Strong balance sheet with $489 million in cash, $2.8 billion in investments, and $1.4 billion in total debt obligations as of year-end 2025.

• After-tax realized income per share was $4.76 in 2025, with a fee-related earnings margin of 41.7%.

Market positioning and opportunities

• Holds less than 1% share in a $90+ trillion total addressable market, indicating significant room for growth.

• Private credit and private market assets have grown at a 14% CAGR over the past decade, with private credit now 4.7% of U.S. GDP.

• Industry trends show capital consolidating toward large managers, with top 25 managers gaining share in private debt and wealth channels.

• Investors remain under-allocated to alternatives, with alternative assets representing less than 10% of institutional AUM.

• Secular tailwinds include bank retrenchment, growing demand for private credit, and innovation in product offerings.