Ares assets rise 9.9% for quarter, 32.3% for year

Ares Management reported Thursday $197 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, a 9.9% quarterly increase and a year-over-year gain of 32.3%.

Michael Arougheti, co-founder, CEO and president, attributed the increase to record fundraising in the fourth quarter and all of 2020. Ares had gross new capital commitments of $12.8 billion in the fourth quarter and $41.2 billion in 2020.

Ares' business model is designed to outperform in difficult markets, and 2020 demonstrated that business model, Mr. Arougheti said during an earnings call Thursday. Ares' investment strategies are growing more relevant in the low-interest-rate environment, he said.

During the year, Ares also acquired Crestline Denali Capital, which added $2.6 billion in collateralized loan obligation AUM; SSG Capital Holdings, which had $6 billion in AUM as of March 31, and F&G Reinsurance by Ares' insurance subsidiary, Aspida Holdings, which had $2 billion of invested assets as of Sept. 30.

Ares' credit business, its largest, had $145.5 billion as of Dec. 31, up 10.9% from Sept. 30 and up 31.7% from Dec. 31, 2019.

Its private equity business had $27.4 billion in AUM as of Dec. 31, increasing by 2.6% from three months earlier and by 8.7% from $25.2 billion a year earlier.

Real estate AUM was $14.8 billion at the end of the fourth quarter, up 2.8% from Sept. 30 and up 12.1% from Dec. 31, 2019. Ares' newest business, strategic initiatives, had $9.3 billion as of Dec. 31, up 34.8% from Sept. 30.

Ares launched its first special purpose acquisition company last year, and Mr. Arougheti said he expects Ares will launch more generalist and specialist SPACs in the future. He also said growing the firm's retail investor base is an area of focus for Ares.