Ares Notches 28% Growth in Assets Under Management

Ares Management reported a stronger portfolio for the first half of 2025, growing its assets under management by 28 percent in the second quarter of 2025.

A great deal of that success was driven by revenue that was realized from the acquisition of data center operator GCP International, which brought the amount of capital on hand to $150 billion, according to company officials who spoke during an Aug. 1 earnings call.

The $3.7 billion acquisition, agreed upon in October 2024, provided Ares with  exposure to new markets such as Japan, Brazil and Vietnam, as well as an expansion in the U.S. and Europe.

After-tax income for the investment manager was $367.9 million for the second quarter, and fee-related earnings reached $409.1 million, according to Ares.

“With continued strong investment performance and market appreciation in the portfolio, we logged our second highest quarterly fundraising total on record of more than $26 billion raised,” Ares CEO Michael Arougheti said during the call. “We believe that we’re on pace to meet or exceed last year’s record fundraising of $92.7 billion as a result of our strong fundraising. [Assets under management] increased to $572 billion, which represents quarter-over-quarter organic growth of 19 percent on an annualized basis.”

Recent lending deals for Ares include a $700 million construction loan with  Monarch Alternative Capital to Related Ross for two office buildings in West Palm Beach, Fla., near the end of July.

In April, Ares was on the borrowing side of a $564 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan from Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs to refinance a 37-property industrial portfolio spanning 7.4 million square feet in nine states.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.