ARES

Ares Management Corp

NYSE · FINANCIALS · INVESTMENT ADVICE

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MKT CAP $12.1BP/E —DIV YIELD 4.22%FCF YIELD —REV TTM $5.3B +28.5%NET INCOME $636.4M +32.6%NET DEBT $50.7M52W 96.50 – 178.28SEC XBRL · TTM TO Invalid Date

How ARES rewrote its risk factors

10-K ITEM 1A · FY2024 → FY2025

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New in FY2025

The use of any defined term in this report to refer to entities, persons, securities or other items collectively is solely for convenience of reference and in no way implies that such entities, persons, securities or other items are one indistinguishable group.
In addition to our operating segments, the OMG consists of shared resource groups to support our operating segments by providing infrastructure and administrative support in the areas of accounting/finance, operations, information technology, legal, compliance, human resources, strategy and relationship management and distribution, including our wealth distribution platform, Ares Wealth Management Solutions (“AWMS”).
Through our registered broker-dealer subsidiary, Ares Management Capital Markets LLC (“AMCM”), AWMS facilitates the product development, distribution, marketing and client management activities for investment offerings in the global wealth management channel.
For our funds other than those noted below, our AUM represents the sum of the net asset value (“NAV”) of such funds, the drawn and undrawn debt (at the fund-level including amounts subject to restrictions) and uncalled committed capital (including commitments to funds that have yet to commence their investment periods).
For Real Assets funds that we manage where management fees are based on gross asset value, net operating income or similar metrics including their equivalents (“GAV”), our AUM represents the sum of the GAV of such funds, undrawn debt (including any amounts subject to restrictions) and uncalled committed capital (including commitments to funds that have yet to commence their investment periods).
GAV typically refers to the fair value of a fund’s total assets.
Catch-up fees reflect the fees generated between the fund’s initial close date and the last day of the quarter prior to the new limited partner’s commitment; • “CLOs” refers to “our funds” that are structured as collateralized loan obligations and similarly structured vehicles; • “Consolidated Funds” refers collectively to certain Ares funds, co-investment vehicles, structured financing vehicles, CLOs and SPACs that are required under GAAP to be consolidated in our consolidated financial statements; • “Credit Facility” refers to the revolving credit facility of the Ares Operating Group; • “effective management fee rate” represents annualized management fees divided by the average fee paying AUM for the period, excluding the impact of catch-up fees; • “European-style waterfall” generally refers to carried interest that the general partner is entitled to receive after the investors in a fund have received distributions in an amount equal to all prior capital contributions plus a preferred return; • “fee paying AUM” or “FPAUM” refers to the AUM from which we directly earn management fees.
For our funds other than CLOs, our FPAUM represents the amount of limited partner capital commitments for certain closed-end funds within the reinvestment period, the amount of limited partner invested capital for the aforementioned closed-end funds beyond the reinvestment period and the portfolio value, GAV or NAV.
FRE differs from income before taxes computed in accordance with GAAP as FRE excludes net performance income, investment income and adjusts for certain other items that we believe are not indicative of our core operating performance.
Fee related performance revenues, together with fee related performance compensation, is presented within FRE because it represents incentive fees from perpetual capital vehicles that are measured and eligible to be received on a recurring basis and are not dependent on realization events from the underlying investments; • “fee related performance revenues” refers to performance revenues from perpetual capital vehicles that are: (i) measured and eligible to be received on a recurring basis; and (ii) not dependent on realization events from the underlying investments.
With respect to the AUM of certain publicly-traded funds and perpetual wealth vehicles that generate Part II Fees, only Part II Fees may be generated from IEAUM; • “incentive generating AUM” or “IGAUM” refers to the AUM of our funds and other entities that are currently generating carried interest and incentive fees on a realized or unrealized basis.
Certain publicly-traded funds and perpetual wealth vehicles that generate Part II Fees are only included in IGAUM when Part II Fees are being generated; • “management fees” refers to fees we earn for advisory services provided to our funds, which are generally based on a defined percentage of fair value of assets, total commitments, invested capital, GAV, NAV, net investment income, total assets or par value of the investment portfolios managed by us.
Management fees include Part I Fees, a quarterly fee based on the net investment income of certain publicly-traded and perpetual capital vehicles; • “net performance income” refers to performance income net of related compensation that is typically payable to our professionals; • “our funds” refers to the funds, alternative asset companies, trusts, co-investment vehicles and other entities and accounts that are managed or co-managed by the Ares Operating Group, and which are structured to pay fees.
It also includes funds managed by Ivy Hill Asset Management, L.P., a wholly owned portfolio company of Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) (“ARCC”) and an SEC-registered investment adviser; • “Part I Fees” refers to a quarterly fee on the net investment income of certain publicly-traded or perpetual wealth vehicles.
Such fees are classified as management fees as they are predictable and recurring in nature, not subject to contingent repayment and generally cash-settled each quarter, unless subject to a payment deferral; • “Part II Fees” refers to fees from certain publicly-traded or perpetual wealth vehicles that are paid in arrears as of the end of each calendar year when the respective cumulative aggregate realized capital gains exceed the cumulative aggregate realized capital losses and aggregate unrealized capital depreciation, less the aggregate amount of respective Part II Fees paid in all prior years since inception; • “performance income” refers to income we earn based on the performance of a fund that is generally based on certain specific hurdle rates as defined in the fund’s investment management or partnership agreements and may be either carried interest or incentive fees earned from funds with stated investment periods; • “perpetual capital” refers to the AUM of publicly-traded funds, perpetual wealth vehicles, commingled funds and managed accounts that have an indefinite term, are not in liquidation, and for which there is no immediate requirement to return invested capital to investors upon the realization of investments.
Perpetual Capital - Private Commingled Funds refers to commingled funds that meet the perpetual capital criteria, not including our publicly-traded funds or our perpetual wealth vehicles.
In addition, the investment management or advisory agreements of certain of our publicly-traded funds and our perpetual wealth vehicles have one year terms, which are subject to annual renewal by such vehicles; • “realized income” or “RI”, a non-GAAP measure, is an operating metric used by management to evaluate performance of the business based on operating performance and the contribution of each of the business segments to that performance, while removing the fluctuations of unrealized income and losses, which may or may not be eventually realized at the levels presented and whose realizations depend more on future outcomes than current business operations.
For periods in which the amortization of upfront fees for segment purposes is higher than the GAAP expense, the placement fee adjustment is presented as a reduction to RI; and • “SEC” refers to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Business Overview Ares is a leading global alternative investment manager with $622.5 billion of assets under management and over 4,250 employees in over 55 o ffices in more than 25 countries .
We offer our investors a range of investment strategies and seek to deliver attractive performance to an investor base that includes over 2,850 direct institutional relationships and a significant retail investor base across our publicly-traded funds, sub-advised accounts and perpetual wealth vehicles.
Ares believes each of its distinct but complementary investment groups in Credit, Real Assets, Secondaries and Private Equity is a market leader based on assets under management and investment performance.
Our AUM has grown to $622.5 billion as of December 31, 2025 from $94.0 billion a decade earlier.
A s shown in the chart below, over the past five and 10 years, our assets under management have achieved a compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of 26% and 21%, respectively ($ in billions): We have an established track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns through market cycles.
This proficiency is complemented by our flexibility in deploying capital in a range of structures and different market environments to maximize risk-adjusted returns. • Differentiated Market Intelligence: Our proprietary research on over 55 industries and insights from a broad, global investment portfolio enable us to more effectively diligence and structure our products and investments. • Consistent Investment Approach: We believe our rigorous, credit-oriented investment approach across each of our investment groups is a key contributor to our strong investment performance and ability to expand our product offering. • Robust Sourcing Model: Our investment professionals’ local market presence and ability to effectively cross-source for other investment groups generates a robust pipeline of high-quality investment opportunities across our platform. • Talented and Committed Professionals: We attract, develop and retain highly accomplished professionals who not only demonstrate deep and broad investment and non-investment expertise but also have a strong sense of commitment to our firm. • Collaborative Culture: We share ideas, relationships and information, which enables our investment groups to more effectively source, evaluate and manage investments.
We have established deep and sophisticated independent research capabilities in over 55 industries and insights from investments in over 2,150 companies, over 1,900 alternative credit investments, over 1,300 properties, over 90 infrastructure assets and over 1,000 limited partnership interests in investment funds.
We do not have a centralized investment committee and instead our investment committees are generally structured with overlapping membership from different investment groups to ensure consistency of approach, shared investment experience and collaboration across our platform.
Each investment decision involves an intensive due diligence process that is generally focused on evaluating the target company or portfolio, as applicable, and its current and future prospects, its management team and industry, its ability to withstand adverse conditions and its capital structure, sponsorship and structural protection, among others. • Real Assets : With our experienced team, along with our expansive network of relationships, our Real Assets Group manages equity and debt strategies across real estate and infrastructure investments.
Across our real estate investment strategies, our team differentiates itself through its cycle-tested leadership, demonstrated performance across market cycles, access to real-time property market and corporate trends, and proven ability to create value through a disciplined investment process.
Our real estate activities are managed by equity and debt teams in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific (“APAC”), supported by our vertically-integrated operating platforms.
Our real estate teams have the flexibility to invest across the risk-return spectrum through core/core-plus, value-add and opportunistic investments.
The infrastructure strategy invests through both equity and debt in infrastructure assets and companies that provide essential services with stable cash flows and high barriers to entry.
Within our infrastructure strategy, we have a long-tenured global team utilizing deep local sourcing capabilities and extensive sector experience to originate and manage a portfolio of diverse, high-quality investments across the globe.
We have dedicated direct infrastructure teams that collaborate to share market insights, support underwriting and enhance origination.
Our infrastructure opportunities investment approach focuses on both core and value-add equity strategies leveraging flexible capital to build a diversified infrastructure portfolio.
Our infrastructure debt investment approach targets global assets and businesses with defensive characteristics across the digital, transport, energy and utility sectors.
Our digital infrastructure investment approach combines investment management with in-house data center development and operational expertise.
Leveraging the established long-standing relationships, the infrastructure strategy seeks to generate exclusive deal flow and high-quality investment opportunities.
On March 1, 2025, we completed the acquisition of the international business of GLP Capital Partners Limited and certain of its affiliates, excluding its operations in Greater China (“GCP International”), and existing capital commitments to certain managed funds (such acquisition of GCP International and the capital commitments, the “GCP Acquisition”).
The GCP Acquisition added complementary logistics and digital infrastructure investment capabilities and expanded our geographic presence.
The activities of GCP International are included within the Real Assets Group. • Secondaries: Our team invests in secondary markets across a range of alternative asset class strategies, including private equity, real estate, infrastructure and credit.

and 472 more.

Gone since FY2024

The use of any defined term in this report to mean more than one entities, persons, securities or other items collectively is solely for convenience of reference and in no way implies that such entities, persons, securities or other items are one indistinguishable group.
In addition to our operating segments, the OMG consists of shared resource groups to support our operating segments by providing infrastructure and administrative support in the areas of accounting/finance, operations, information technology, legal, compliance, human resources, strategy and relationship management, and distribution, including Ares Wealth Management Solutions, LLC (“AWMS”).
AWMS facilitates the product development, distribution, marketing and client management activities for investment offerings in the global wealth management channel.
For our funds other than CLOs, our AUM represents the sum of the net asset value (“NAV”) of such funds, the drawn and undrawn debt (at the fund-level including amounts subject to restrictions) and uncalled committed capital (including commitments to funds that have yet to commence their investment periods).
Catch-up fees reflect the fees generated between the fund’s initial close date and the last day of the quarter prior to the new limited partner’s commitment; • “CLOs” refers to “our funds” that are structured as collateralized loan obligations; • “Consolidated Funds” refers collectively to certain Ares funds, co-investment vehicles, CLOs and SPACs that are required under GAAP to be consolidated in our consolidated financial statements; • “Credit Facility” refers to the revolving credit facility of the Ares Operating Group; • “effective management fee rate” represents annualized management fees divided by the average fee paying AUM for the period, excluding the impact of catch-up fees; • “European-style waterfall” generally refers to carried interest that the general partner is entitled to receive after the investors in a fund have received distributions in an amount equal to all prior capital contributions plus a preferred return; • “fee paying AUM” or “FPAUM” refers to the AUM from which we directly earn management fees.
For our funds other than CLOs, our FPAUM represents the amount of limited partner capital commitments for certain closed-end funds within the reinvestment period, the amount of limited partner invested capital for the aforementioned closed-end funds beyond the reinvestment period and the portfolio value, gross asset value or NAV.
FRE differs from income before taxes computed in accordance with GAAP as FRE excludes net performance income, investment income from our funds and adjusts for certain other items that we believe are not indicative of our core operating performance.
Fee related performance revenues, together with fee related performance compensation, is presented within FRE because it represents incentive fees from perpetual capital vehicles that are measured and eligible to be received on a recurring basis and are not dependent on realization events from the underlying investments; • “fee related performance revenues” refers to incentive fees from perpetual capital vehicles that are: (i) measured and eligible to be received on a recurring basis; and (ii) not dependent on realization events from the underlying investments.
With respect to Ares Capital Corporation (NASDAQ: ARCC) (“ARCC”), Ares Strategic Income Fund (“ASIF”), our open-ended European direct lending fund and our infrastructure private business development company (“BDC”) AUM, only Part II Fees may be generated from IEAUM; • “incentive generating AUM” or “IGAUM” refers to the AUM of our funds and other entities that are currently generating carried interest and incentive fees on a realized or unrealized basis.
ARCC, ASIF, our open-ended European direct lending fund and our infrastructure private BDC are only included in IGAUM when Part II Fees are being generated; • “management fees” refers to fees we earn for advisory services provided to our funds, which are generally based on a defined percentage of fair value of assets, total commitments, invested capital, net asset value, net investment income, total assets or par value of the investment portfolios managed by us.
Management fees include Part I Fees, a quarterly fee based on the net investment income of certain funds; • “net performance income” refers to performance income net of related compensation that is typically payable to our professionals; • “our funds” refers to the funds, alternative asset companies, trusts, co-investment vehicles and other entities and accounts that are managed or co-managed by the Ares Operating Group, and which are structured to pay fees.
It also includes funds managed by Ivy Hill Asset Management, L.P., a wholly owned portfolio company of ARCC and an SEC-registered investment adviser; • “Part I Fees” refers to a quarterly fee on the net investment income of ARCC, CION Ares Diversified Credit Fund (“CADC”), ASIF, our open-ended European direct lending fund and our infrastructure private BDC.
Such fees are classified as management fees as they are predictable and recurring in nature, not subject to contingent repayment and generally cash-settled each quarter, unless subject to a payment deferral; • “Part II Fees” refers to fees from ARCC, ASIF, our open-ended European direct lending fund and our infrastructure private BDC that are paid in arrears as of the end of each calendar year when the respective cumulative aggregate realized capital gains exceed the cumulative aggregate realized capital losses and aggregate unrealized capital depreciation, less the aggregate amount of respective Part II Fees paid in all prior years since inception; • “performance income” refers to income we earn based on the performance of a fund that is generally based on certain specific hurdle rates as defined in the fund’s investment management or partnership agreements and may be either incentive fees earned from funds with stated investment periods or carried interest; • “perpetual capital” refers to the AUM of: (i) our publicly-traded vehicles, including ARCC, Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation (NYSE: ACRE) (“ACRE”) and Ares Dynamic Credit Allocation Fund, Inc.
(NYSE: ARDC) (“ARDC”); (ii) our non-listed, perpetual wealth vehicles that are primarily distributed through financial intermediaries, including ASIF, CADC, our open-ended European direct lending fund, our infrastructure private BDC, our non-traded real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and Ares Private Markets Fund (“APMF”); (iii) Aspida Holdings Ltd.
(together with its subsidiaries, “Aspida”); and (iv) certain other commingled funds and managed accounts that have an indefinite term, are not in liquidation, and for which there is no immediate requirement to return invested capital to investors upon the realization of investments.
Perpetual Capital - Private Commingled Funds refers to commingled funds that meet the perpetual capital criteria, not including our publicly-traded or perpetual wealth vehicles.
In addition, the investment management or advisory agreements of certain of our publicly-traded and perpetual wealth vehicles have one year terms, which are subject to annual renewal by such vehicles; • “realized income” or “RI”, a non-GAAP measure, is an operating metric used by management to evaluate performance of the business based on operating performance and the contribution of each of the business segments to that performance, while removing the fluctuations of unrealized income and losses, which may or may not be eventually realized at the levels presented and whose realizations depend more on future outcomes than current business operations.
For periods in which the amortization of upfront fees for segment purposes is higher than the GAAP expense, the placement fee adjustment is presented as a reduction to RI; • “SEC” refers to the Securities and Exchange Commission; • 2024 Senior Notes” refers to senior notes issued by a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Holdings in October 2014 with a maturity in October 2024.
On October 8, 2024, Ares Holdings repaid the 2024 Senior Notes at maturity; • “2028 Senior Notes” refers to senior notes issued by the Company in November 2023 with a maturity in November 2028; • “2030 Senior Notes” refers to senior notes issued by a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Holdings in June 2020 with a maturity in June 2030; • “2051 Subordinated Notes” refers to subordinated notes issued by a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Holdings in June 2021 with a maturity in June 2051; • “2052 Senior Notes” refers to senior notes issued by a wholly owned subsidiary of Ares Holdings in January 2022 with a maturity in February 2052; and • “2054 Senior Notes” refers to senior notes issued by the Company in October 2024 with a maturity in October 2054.
Business Overview Ares is a leading global alternative investment manager with $484.4 billion of assets under management and over 3,200 employees in over 35 o ffices in more than 15 countries .
We offer our investors a range of investment strategies and seek to deliver attractive performance to an investor base that includes approximately 2,700 direct institutional relationships and a significant retail investor base across our publicly-traded funds, sub-advised accounts and perpetual wealth vehicles.
Ares believes each of its distinct but complementary investment groups in Credit, Real Assets, Private Equity and Secondaries is a market leader based on assets under management and investment performance.
Our AUM has grown to $484.4 billion as of December 31, 2024 from $82.0 billion a decade earlier.
A s shown in the chart below, over the past five and ten years, our assets under management have achieved a compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”) of 27% and 19%, respectively ($ in billions): We have an established track record of delivering strong risk-adjusted returns through market cycles.
This proficiency is complemented by our flexibility in deploying capital in a range of structures and different market environments to maximize risk-adjusted returns. • Differentiated Market Intelligence: Our proprietary research on over 55 industries and insights from a broad, global investment portfolio enable us to more effectively diligence and structure our products and investments. • Consistent Investment Approach: We believe our rigorous, credit-oriented investment approach across each of our investment groups is a key contributor to our strong investment performance and ability to expand our product offering. • Robust Sourcing Model: Our investment professionals’ local market presence and ability to effectively cross-source for other investment groups generates a robust pipeline of high-quality investment opportunities across our platform. • Talented and Committed Professionals: We attract, develop and retain highly accomplished professionals who not only demonstrate deep and broad investment and non-investment expertise but also have a strong sense of commitment to our firm. • Collaborative Culture: We share ideas, relationships and information across our investment groups, which enables us to more effectively source, evaluate and manage investments.
We have established deep and sophisticated independent research capabilities in over 55 industries and insights from investments in over 1,900 companies, over 1,750 alternative credit investments, over 555 properties, over 60 infrastructure assets and over 885 limited partnership interests.
We do not have a centralized investment committee and instead our investment committees are structured with overlapping membership from different investment groups to ensure consistency of approach, shared investment experience and collaboration across our platform.
Each investment decision involves an intensive due diligence process that is generally focused on evaluating the target company or portfolio, as applicable, and its current and future prospects, its management team and industry, its ability to withstand adverse conditions and its capital structure, sponsorship and structural protection, among others.
On January 1, 2024, we changed our segment composition.
The special opportunities strategy, historically part of the Private Equity Group, is now referred to as opportunistic credit and is presented within the Credit Group. • Real Assets : With our experienced team, along with our expansive network of relationships, our Real Assets Group manages equity and debt strategies across real estate and infrastructure investments.
Across our real estate equity and debt investment strategies, our team differentiates itself through its cycle-tested leadership, demonstrated performance across market cycles, access to real-time property market and corporate trends, and proven ability to create value through a disciplined investment process.
Our real estate activities are managed by equity and debt teams in North America and Europe, along with our vertically-integrated operating platform.
Our real estate equity and debt teams have the flexibility to invest across the risk-return spectrum through core/core-plus, value-add and opportunistic investment strategies.
On December 1, 2024, Ares completed the acquisition of Walton Street Capital Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V. and certain of its affiliates (“WSM”) (the “WSM Acquisition”), a real estate asset management platform focused primarily on the industrial real estate sector in Mexico.
The activities of WSM are presented within the Real Assets Group within our North American real estate equity strategy, which we renamed from U.S. real estate equity following the WSM Acquisition.
The strategy name change did not result in any change to the historical composition of our segments.
The infrastructure strategy invests through both debt and equity in infrastructure assets and companies that provide essential services with stable cash flows and high barriers to entry.
Across our infrastructure opportunities and debt investment strategies, we have a long-tenured global team utilizing deep local sourcing capabilities and extensive sector experience to originate and manage a portfolio of diverse, high-quality investments across the globe.
We have dedicated direct infrastructure opportunities and debt teams that collaborate to share market insights, support underwriting and enhance origination.
Our infrastructure opportunities strategy focuses on value-add equity with a flexible mandate in climate infrastructure.

and 530 more.

Sentence-level comparison of Item 1A in the two most recent 10-Ks (FY2024 ↗, FY2025 ↗). A reworded sentence counts as one dropped and one added, so heavy edits read as low “kept”. Headings and page furniture are stripped; nothing is summarised by a model.

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