Ares Management is one of the world's largest alternative asset managers, with $622.5B in AUM. The core of the business is credit investing, particularly direct lending to middle-market companies — Ares is one of the largest direct lenders in the U.S. and Europe, providing first-lien, senior secured loans to companies that struggle to access capital from banks or the broadly syndicated loan market. The flagship vehicle for this strategy is Ares Capital Corporation, the largest publicly traded BDC in the market. Beyond direct lending, Ares operates across real assets (real estate and infrastructure), secondaries (acquiring LP interests in existing private funds), and private equity. Ares earns management fees — stable, recurring fees charged as a percentage of AUM — and performance fees (carried interest and incentive fees) when funds exceed return hurdles. The business is asset-light, with direct balance sheet investments below 0.5% of AUM, and has strong operating leverage as management fees grow faster than costs. A key growth driver is perpetual capital — open-ended funds and wealth vehicles that generate fees continuously — which stood at $167B, nearly half of fee-paying AUM. Ares distributes products to institutional investors through a global direct sales force, and to individual investors through its wealth management platform, partnering with wirehouses, RIAs, and private banks. Growth priorities include expanding the wealth channel, growing insurance AUM through affiliated insurer Aspida and third-party clients, scaling its secondaries business, and building out digital infrastructure through Ada Infrastructure, its data center development platform.