Ares predicts record fundraising of $80bn+ this year
Ares Management expects 2024 to be a record fundraising year, after a strong third quarter when the alternative asset manager attracted $20.9bn (£16.1bn) in commitments.
The New York-listed firm reported third-quarter profit of $118.5m and fee-related performance revenues of $44.3m, while fee-related earnings were $339.3m for the period.
Total assets under management (AUM) totalled $463.8bn.
Read more: Ares sees fundraising hit record high in Q2
“We reported strong third-quarter results with continued fundraising momentum, increasing deployment, strong fund performance, and year-over-year growth in many of our key financial metrics ranging from the high teens to more than twenty per cent,” said Michael Arougheti, chief executive and president of Ares.
“We continue to experience heightened demand for our alternative strategies across all three of our distribution channels. With over $64bn of fundraising year-to-date and good visibility into the fourth quarter, we now expect 2024 will be a record fundraising year with gross commitments in the mid-$80bn range.”
Read more: Ares: Private credit market will double within five years
Ares deployed $29.6bn over the third quarter, which chief financial officer Jarrod Phillips said was “based upon a more positive market tone”.
He expects to see Ares’ investing activities broaden out further across its strategies in the next 12 months.
“With a record amount of available capital, including more than $85bn in AUM not yet paying fees, we are well positioned to generate meaningful future earnings growth,” he added.
Read more: Ares closes largest direct lending fund to date at $34bn
Ares separately announced that its US direct lending business raised a record $44.5bn over the 12 months to the end of the third quarter.
It said that funds managed by its credit group closed around $12.3bn in US direct lending commitments across 86 deals during the three months to 30 September 2024.
Transactions it worked on during the quarter included Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners’ acquisition of Black Duck Software and Advent International’s acquisition of Prometheus Group.
