Ares Management Corp - Ordinary Shares - Class A

Strong Q2 growth + fee momentum (good): Ares reported record fundraising and continued scale-up of fee engines, with AUM up 17% YoY to ~$671B and fee-paying AUM up 17% YoY to ~$410B. Management fees >$1B (+14% YoY) with no Q2 catch-up fees, and fee-related earnings ~$491M (+20% YoY). They also cited realized income +31% YoY to ~$522M and after-tax realized income +27% YoY to ~$468M (after-tax $1.29 per share, +25% YoY).

Fundraising “hard-cap” demand + diversified platform (good/surprising): Q2 gross capital raised ~$36B (highest quarter in history); dry powder $170B and ~$114B AUM not yet paying fees. ~70% of 2026 fundraising outside the 4 largest credit families, indicating broadening investor acceptance. Notably, they hit the hard cap on their last two private credit fund raises; Pathfinder III (asset-based finance) raised ~$8.5B vs $6.5B target, with demand meaningfully above the hard cap—they highlighted this as unprecedented in Ares history for a first/final close at the hard cap.

2026 outlook/visibility on earnings (good): Management reiterated it remains on track to achieve 2026 financial objectives consistent with long-term targets (16–20% compound annual growth for FRE; 20%+ for RI and dividend growth). They provided partial FRPR visibility: ~$62M FRPR expected in Q3 2025 level for the open-ended core alternative credit fund, and ~$32M FRPR accrued in non-traded REITs potentially recognized in Q4. They also expect only ~\$10M realized net performance income in Q3, but felt confident in previously communicated full-year expectations.