Ares Management's assets under management totaled $81.8 billion as of Dec. 31, up 2.7% from Sept. 30 and up 10.5% year-over-year, said the alternative investment firm's quarterly report.
Ares attributed the increase in AUM for the year primarily to $15.8 billion in new fund commitments.
New fund commitments included $7.8 billion to Ares' tradable credit group's leveraged loan funds, made up of $1.2 billion in new equity and $6.6 billion in debt; $1.2 billion in new equity commitments to the tradable credit group's high-yield funds; $1 billion in new equity commitments to the tradable credit group's alternative credit funds; $1.3 billion in new equity commitments and $656.6 million of new debt commitments to the direct lending group; and $2.5 billion of new equity commitments and $1.2 billion in new debt commitments for the real estate group.
The increase in assets under management was offset by $4 billion in capital reductions, including $3.1 billion attributable to the tradable credit group, and $4.8 billion in distributions, of which $1.8 was from the tradable credit group, $1.4 billion from the real estate group, $1.1 billion from the direct lending group and $584 million from the private equity group.
Management fee revenue totaled $161.1 million in the fourth quarter, up 4.8% from the previous quarter and up 15.8% year-over-year.
Economic net income for the fourth quarter totaled $64.7 million, compared to $72.1 million in third quarter and $100 million for the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2013.