Ares二季度融资创纪录但业绩为计划内披露且EPS小幅低于预期

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Introduction & Market Context
Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) presented second quarter 2026 results on July 31, 2026, highlighting a record-breaking fundraising period that drove substantial asset growth across its diversified alternative investment platform. The company reported $36.4 billion in gross capital raised during the quarter—its highest quarterly total ever—while assets under management climbed 17% year-over-year to $671.3 billion.
The presentation came as Ares delivered mixed actual results, with revenue of $1.43 billion beating Wall Street’s $1.33 billion forecast by 7.5%, while adjusted earnings per share of $1.29 narrowly missed the $1.30 consensus estimate. The stock traded up 2.96% to $127.80 following the release, though shares remain down 21.4% year-to-date and well below the 52-week high of $195.26.
With over $671 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026, Ares operates across credit, real assets, secondaries, and private equity strategies, serving institutional and wealth clients globally.
Quarterly Performance Highlights
The company’s second quarter financial results demonstrated broad-based strength across key operating metrics. As shown in the following comprehensive overview of quarterly highlights, Ares reported fee related earnings of $491.1 million, up 20% from the prior year quarter.
Fee related earnings, a key measure of core operating performance, increased to $491.1 million from $409.1 million in the second quarter of 2025, representing 20% growth. The fee related earnings margin expanded to 42.2% from 41.2% in the prior year period, reflecting improved operating leverage across the platform.
Management fees reached $1,030 million on an unconsolidated basis, up 14% year-over-year, driven primarily by deployment in U.S. and European direct lending strategies, capital raised from perpetual wealth vehicles, and growth in the open-ended infrastructure fund. After-tax realized income per share of Class A and non-voting common stock came in at $1.29, representing 25% growth from $1.03 in the second quarter of 2025.
The following detailed financial summary illustrates the year-over-year growth trajectory across multiple income metrics:
Realized income totaled $521.5 million for the quarter, up 31% from $397.8 million in the prior year period. This growth was driven by the increase in fee related earnings combined with realized net performance income of $51.3 million, compared to $16.7 million in the second quarter of 2025.
Record Fundraising Achievement
The second quarter marked a milestone fundraising period for Ares, with $36.4 billion in gross capital raised representing the company’s highest quarterly total on record. CEO Michael Arougheti highlighted the achievement, noting "strong second-quarter results, including another record quarter of fundraising with more than $36 billion of inflows."
The fundraising success spanned all major business segments, as detailed in the following breakdown of capital commitments by investment group:
The Credit Group led fundraising with $23.7 billion, including $9.1 billion to alternative credit strategies (notably $8.5 billion to Pathfinder III), $8.9 billion to U.S. direct lending funds, and $3.4 billion to European direct lending. The Real Assets Group contributed $9.7 billion, with $6.4 billion in real estate and $3.3 billion in infrastructure, including $2.3 billion for an open-ended infrastructure fund. The Secondaries Group added $1.7 billion, primarily in private equity secondaries.
Net inflows of capital totaled $34.4 billion for the quarter, while capital deployment reached $35.9 billion, including $15.2 billion deployed by drawdown funds across U.S. and European direct lending, alternative credit, and real estate strategies.
Assets Under Management Growth
Total assets under management grew to $671.3 billion as of June 30, 2026, representing a 17% increase from $572.4 billion one year earlier. Fee paying AUM, which generates direct management fees, also rose 17% to $409.9 billion from $349.6 billion.
The following charts illustrate the composition and growth trajectory of both total AUM and fee paying AUM over the past year:
The Credit Group remained the dominant contributor with $440.5 billion in AUM, up 17% year-over-year, followed by Real Assets at $151.2 billion (up 17%), Secondaries at $44.2 billion (up 30%), and Private Equity at $24.5 billion (up 3%). The AUM growth was primarily driven by commitments to drawdown funds, capital raised by perpetual capital vehicles including credit BDCs and open-ended funds, and additional managed assets from the insurance platform.
A key feature of Ares’ business model is its emphasis on perpetual capital, which provides durability and predictability to the fee stream. Perpetual capital totaled $223.3 billion as of quarter-end, representing 34% growth from $166.6 billion in the prior year.
The composition of perpetual capital demonstrates the company’s diversified funding base:
Perpetual wealth funds accounted for $76.5 billion of perpetual capital, with private commingled funds contributing $61.5 billion, publicly-traded funds $46.8 billion, and managed accounts $38.5 billion. This perpetual capital base, combined with long-dated funds, represented 84% of total AUM, providing significant stability to the business model.
The durability of this capital structure is further emphasized in the following breakdown showing that 84% of assets under management and 94% of management fees derive from perpetual capital or long-dated funds:
Growth Drivers and Future Fee Potential
Ares maintains substantial dry powder available for future deployment, providing significant visibility into future fee growth. Available capital totaled $170.0 billion as of June 30, 2026, up 13% from $150.8 billion one year earlier.
The following analysis shows the composition of available capital and AUM not yet paying fees, which together represent the company’s near-term growth potential:
Of particular significance, AUM not yet paying fees totaled $114.0 billion, comprising $92.6 billion available for future deployment and $4.1 billion in development assets not yet stabilized. According to the presentation, if fully deployed, these assets could generate approximately $828.2 million in potential incremental annual management fees.
The detailed breakdown of this future fee-generating capacity reveals the specific strategies poised for growth:
The $92.6 billion in AUM available for future deployment includes $29.1 billion in U.S. direct lending funds, $16.7 billion in alternative credit funds, $15.0 billion in European direct lending funds, and $10.0 billion in real estate funds. This concentration in direct lending and alternative credit aligns with areas of strong institutional demand.
Incentive eligible AUM, which represents assets that may generate carried interest and incentive fees, totaled $352.5 billion, up 16% from the prior year. Of this total, $169.0 billion was already generating incentive income, representing 70% of the $241.8 billion of invested incentive eligible AUM.
The following reconciliation illustrates how incentive generating AUM relates to the broader pool of incentive eligible assets:
Capital Deployment Activity
Total gross capital deployment during the second quarter reached $35.9 billion, up from $26.9 billion in the prior year quarter. This deployment activity spanned both drawdown funds and perpetual capital vehicles across all major asset classes.
The composition of deployment activity is shown in the following breakdown:
Credit strategies accounted for $23.7 billion of deployment, with Real Assets contributing $7.6 billion, Private Equity $2.6 billion, and Secondaries $1.9 billion. Deployment by drawdown funds totaled $15.2 billion, with the highest activity in U.S. and European direct lending, alternative credit, and real estate strategies. Perpetual capital vehicles deployed $21.0 billion, nearly double the $13.0 billion deployed in the prior year quarter.
Segment Performance Analysis
The Credit Group delivered strong results with fee related earnings of $498.5 million, up 17% year-over-year, and realized income of $543.8 million, up 25%. Management and other fees increased 14% to $721.3 million, driven by higher management fees from deployment in direct lending and alternative credit strategies, as well as capital raised from perpetual wealth vehicles. The segment’s AUM reached $440.5 billion, with fee paying AUM of $266.1 billion.
The Real Assets Group posted fee related earnings of $147.2 million, up 30% from the prior year, with realized income of $144.4 million, up 48%. The strong performance reflected management fee growth of 15% driven by capital raised by the open-ended core infrastructure fund and diversified non-traded REIT. The segment’s AUM totaled $151.2 billion with fee paying AUM of $88.6 billion.
The Secondaries Group reported fee related earnings of $60.9 million, up 21%, and realized income of $59.7 million, up 23%. Fee related performance revenues increased 141% to $39.1 million, driven by higher incentive fees earned from APMF due to NAV appreciation. The segment’s AUM reached $44.2 billion with fee paying AUM of $31.5 billion.
The Private Equity Group generated fee related earnings of $15.3 million, up 55% from the prior year, though realized income declined 6% to $12.1 million due to lower realized net performance income. The segment’s AUM stood at $24.5 billion with fee paying AUM of $13.9 billion.
Investment Performance
The presentation included detailed investment performance metrics across strategies, demonstrating generally positive returns during the quarter and over the last twelve months. Alternative credit strategies posted 4.1% gross returns for the quarter and 16.4% for the last twelve months, while U.S. senior direct lending delivered 2.5% quarterly returns and 11.2% over twelve months.
Infrastructure equity strategies showed particularly strong performance with 9.0% quarterly returns and 9.8% over the last twelve months. The Ares Private Markets Fund (APMF) reported net returns of 6.9% for the quarter and 16.2% over the last twelve months.
Balance Sheet and Financial Strength
Ares maintained a strong balance sheet position as of June 30, 2026, with the following key metrics:
The company held $557.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, with $2,962.2 million in term debt obligations and $1,615.0 million drawn on its $2,500.0 million revolving credit facility, leaving $885.0 million in available capacity. Available liquidity totaled $1,442.1 million.
The corporate investment portfolio stood at $3,014.6 million on an unconsolidated basis, up from $2,824.8 million at year-end 2025. Net accrued performance income totaled $1,018.5 million, with the Credit Group accounting for 78% of this balance. Ares maintains investment-grade credit ratings of BBB+/A- from S&P and Fitch.
Forward-Looking Statements and Guidance
The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share of Class A and non-voting common stock, payable September 30, 2026, representing more than 20% growth from the prior year and yielding approximately 4.35% at current prices. The board also declared a dividend of $0.84375 per share for the Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock.
Management indicated the firm remains on track for another record year of fundraising and expects to approach the upper end of its full-year fee related earnings margin guidance of 0 to 150 basis points of improvement. The company also expects strong realized net performance income for the year, supported by current visibility into realizations and portfolio performance.
Several near-term growth catalysts were highlighted, including a U.S. direct lending first close expected in fall 2026 for both a traditional commingled fund and a new evergreen core product, a seventh European direct lending fund launch expected early next year, and meaningful closings for a global digital infrastructure fund in late third quarter and into fourth quarter.
On July 1, 2026, Ares Acquisition Corporation III (NYSE:AAC) completed its initial public offering, generating gross proceeds of $395.0 million, providing additional capital for future investment opportunities.
Market Context and Outlook
The presentation results came against a backdrop of mixed market conditions, with slower M&A activity in certain segments offset by strong institutional demand for private credit and infrastructure strategies. The company emphasized that institutions remain under-allocated to private credit and continue moving toward the asset class as spreads widen and competition eases.
Management noted the scale of the platform is creating "meaningful opportunities for continued margin improvement," helped by operating leverage and investments in technology and artificial intelligence. The firm’s $114 billion of AUM not yet paying fees, including $93 billion available for future deployment, provides substantial visibility into future fee growth over the coming quarters.
While the stock has underperformed year-to-date, down 21.4% compared to the prior year high, the combination of record fundraising, expanding margins, growing perpetual capital base, and substantial dry powder positions Ares for continued growth as market conditions normalize. The 17% year-over-year growth in both total AUM and fee paying AUM, combined with 20% growth in fee related earnings, demonstrates the durability and scalability of the platform even in a challenging environment.
Full presentation:
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