Ares Management Corp.'s latest credit offering, the $3.7 billion Ares Pathfinder Fund, may be a new name for a loan origination strategy the firm has pursued since 2011, but Pathfinder is the first Ares fund to also donate to global health and education charities.
Ares created its alternative credit business in 2011 when it acquired Indicus Advisors LLP, a European leveraged finance and global structured corporate credit management firm. Pathfinder lends to owners of large, diversified portfolios of assets with contracted cash flows.
One of the fund's most unique features is its chartable tie-in through the donation of at least 10% of the fund's share of profits to support global health and education, according to a December 2020 report by consultant RVK Inc. to the $5.4 billion North Dakota Board of University and School Lands, Bismarck.
Ares will focus on donating to non-profit organizations with track records of delivering high value per charitable dollar contributed, the firm said in a news release.
Joel Holsinger, partner and co-head of alternative credit, said in the release that the team was pleased with investors' support for Ares' commitment to "help save lives and drive greater equity" with its expected donations.
"Pathfinder's dual purpose seeks to provide compelling risk-adjusted investment returns, while also delivering resources to global charities as they work to have a real impact on the lives of people who live in extreme poverty," Mr. Holsinger said in the news release.
