Ares Q3 Fundraising Slips to $31B, But CEO Sees Record Year on $8B Direct Lending Close
ARES sits 33% above its 52-week low of $95.8.
Summary
Ares raised $31 billion in Q3, down from a record $36 billion the prior quarter, and core credit strategies slowed to $15.2 billion from $23.7 billion. Management is pushing back on the slowdown story: CEO Michael Arougheti says Q4 inflows are tracking toward another record fundraising year, with a first close above $8 billion last week on the latest U.S. senior direct lending institutional funds and an infrastructure debt fund final close expected in November above its $6 billion target. AUM rose to $690.6 billion from $671.3 billion at mid-year, and fee-related earnings of $524.2 million topped the $491.1 million reported in Q2. Deployment of $34.8 billion lagged Q2's $36 billion as U.S. direct lending activity cooled with M&A, though real assets deployment grew to $9.7 billion from $7.6 billion. CFO Jarrod Phillips expects stronger Q4 deployment, historically the firm's heaviest quarter, with a $1.1 billion direct lending portfolio purchase from an institutional investor set to close in Q4.
At the time of this announcement, ARES was trading at $127.47 on NYSE in the Finance sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $28.5B. The 52-week trading range was $95.80 to $181.19. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: Dow Jones Newswires.