WASHINGTON — Ares Management, the alternative investment firm co-founded by Georgetown graduate Antony P. “Tony” Ressler, raised $31 billion from investors in the third quarter and lifted its assets under management to about $691 billion, according to results the company released last week.
The firm reported GAAP net income attributable to Ares of $85.3 million, or 21 cents a share, and after-tax realized income of $449.6 million, or $1.26 a share, according to the earnings release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fee-related earnings, the steadier management-fee profit that investors watch most closely at asset managers, came to $524.2 million. Ares deployed $34.8 billion during the quarter, and its fee-paying assets reached $416.4 billion.
“Our strong third quarter results demonstrate the depth and breadth of our investment platform,” Chief Executive Michael Arougheti said in the release. “We continue to expect another record year in fundraising.”
Revenue of about $1.43 billion beat analysts’ consensus estimate of $1.25 billion, while realized income of $1.26 a share came in a penny below the $1.27 estimate, Investing.com reported. The shares rose 2.8% in premarket trading on the day of the report, to $127.29, leaving them down about 21% for the year, according to the same report.
Wealth, data centers and a lending merger
On the call with analysts, executives said assets under management were up 16% from a year earlier and that the fee-related earnings margin was 42.5%, according to a transcript. Assets raised through the firm’s wealth management channel reached $82 billion, up 41%. Ares reported $174 billion in available capital to invest.
Executives said they expect the first close of a digital infrastructure fund in the fourth quarter, with a data center focus on Tokyo, London, Northern Virginia, Atlanta and Amsterdam. Arougheti struck a cautious note about lending against the graphics chips that power artificial intelligence. “I, for one personally, do not know how to underwrite the decline in depreciation curves,” he said.
The firm also discussed the planned acquisition of MidCap Financial Investment Corp. by Ares Capital, its publicly traded business development company, which is expected to close in the first half of 2027, along with a separate $1.1 billion portfolio purchase. Executives guided to $160 million to $185 million in realized net performance income for the fourth quarter and $300 million to $325 million for the full year, according to the transcript.
Ares declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35 a share, payable Dec. 31 to holders of record on Dec. 17, according to the release. Executives said the dividend is up more than 20% from last year, according to the transcript.
The Georgetown connection
Ressler, the firm’s executive chairman, has been with Ares since its founding in 1997, is a director and sits on the investment committee for Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment, according to his company biography. The biography says he received his B.S.F.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and an MBA from Columbia University.
Outside the firm, Ressler is principal owner of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks and chairman of the team’s board of advisors, co-chair of the board of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and a founder of the Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, according to the biography. The firm’s executives said on the call that its sports, media and entertainment strategy was drawing strong investor support.
The Inquisitor reviewed executive pay at Georgetown alumni-led companies last month.
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