Ares Management Corp (ARES) Q1 2025 Earnings Call Highlights: Record Capital Commitments and ...

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Tue, May 6, 2025, 1:05 AM 4 min read

Dividend: Declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, a 20% increase year-over-year.
Management Fees: $818 million, an 18% year-over-year increase.
Fee-Related Earnings (FRE): $367 million, a 22% year-over-year increase.
After-Tax Realized Income Per Share: Growth of 36% for Class A common stock.
Total Assets Under Management (AUM): Reached $546 billion, a 27% year-over-year increase.
Fee-Paying AUM: Grew by 25% year-over-year.
Gross New Capital Commitments: Over $20 billion raised, highest first quarter on record.
Capital Deployment: Over $31 billion deployed with a 49% gross to net deployment ratio in private credit strategies.
Available Capital: $142 billion, including over $99 billion in AUM not yet paying fees.
Net Realized Performance Income: Over $40 million for the quarter.
Effective Tax Rate on Realized Income: 8.1% for the quarter.
Credit Strategy Returns: Positive returns across all strategies, including 2.4% for European direct lending and 3.2% for US senior direct lending.
US Direct Lending Portfolio: Year-over-year EBITDA growth of over 11%, with LTVs at 42% and interest coverage at 2 times.
Real Estate Returns: Nontraded REITs generated net returns of 2.4% in the first quarter.

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Signs with ARES.

Release Date: May 05, 2025

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Positive Points

Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES) reported a year-over-year growth in management fees of 18%, FRE growth of 22%, and after-tax realized income per share growth of 36%.
The company raised over $20 billion in gross new capital commitments, marking the highest level for first-quarter fundraising on record.
Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES) crossed over $0.5 trillion in total AUM, reaching $546 billion, including $45 billion added through the acquisition of GCP.
The firm has $142 billion of available capital, providing significant capacity for additional management fee growth.
Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES) declared a quarterly dividend of $1.12 per share, representing a 20% increase over the same quarter a year ago.

Negative Points

Market volatility and uncertainty increased due to geopolitical events and tariff policies, impacting liquid credit and equity markets.
The integration of GCP was a modest drag on FRE margins, with GCP's FRE margins being slightly below Ares Management Corp (NYSE:ARES)'s margins.
The market entered a new phase of volatility, causing a drop in activity in liquid credit and equity markets.
There is uncertainty over the path of economic growth, with potential impacts from tariffs and geopolitical events.
The company faces challenges in maintaining consistent capital allocations from institutional investors during periods of volatility.

Q & A Highlights

Q: What is Ares Management's outlook on private credit quality for the remainder of 2025, considering potential negative GDP growth? A: Michael Arougheti, CEO, emphasized that 96% of their global credit exposure is in senior loans, with significant equity subordination. Nonaccruals are at 1.5% at cost, and they don't foresee a spike in defaults. Arougheti noted that private equity firms have a strong incentive to support portfolio companies, given the substantial equity invested below their loans.

Q: Can you discuss the momentum in Ares' wealth management segment and its resilience through market turbulence? A: Arougheti highlighted record capital gathering in the first quarter, with $5 billion in AUM. The firm is expanding distribution partners and geographies, with significant demand from Europe and Asia. Despite market turbulence in April, equity inflows remained steady, and redemptions did not increase, indicating strong demand for their products.

Q: How does Ares view the FRE margin outlook given recent market dislocation and the integration of GCP? A: Jarrod Phillips, CFO, stated that the 0 to 150 basis points margin expansion target remains achievable. The integration of GCP has been a modest drag, but expected synergies and improved performance should offset this. Ares remains focused on investing in growth opportunities, which will naturally expand FRE margins over time.

Q: What is Ares' strategy for deployment if M&A activity remains subdued? A: Arougheti explained that Ares has demonstrated the ability to invest across platforms even when M&A is slow. They expect increased activity in opportunistic credit, secondaries, and alternative credit strategies. Ares has $143 billion in dry powder, with a significant portion available for opportunistic investments.

Q: How does Ares view the opportunity in the European private credit market compared to the US? A: Ares sees increased investor appetite for European products, with a modest acceleration in deployment. The European market is more fragmented, but Ares' scale and track record provide a competitive advantage. They expect to capture market share and continue strong deployment in Europe.

For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

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