Ares Raises Over $9.8 Billion for Leading Opportunistic Credit Strategy

Key Terms

opportunistic credit financial

Opportunistic credit is a strategy of buying loans or bonds that are temporarily cheap, risky, or hard to trade—for example debt from struggling companies, special situations, or distressed assets—aiming for higher interest or capital gains if conditions improve. It matters to investors because it can boost returns and diversify a portfolio, but carries greater risk of default and illiquidity, like buying a discounted used car that may need costly repairs to run reliably.

private debt financial

Loans and credit extended outside public markets, where investors or funds lend directly to companies, projects, or individuals instead of buying traded bonds or bank loans. It matters because private debt can offer higher income and diversification than public bonds but usually brings greater credit risk and less liquidity — like lending money to a small business next door: you may earn more interest, but your cash is harder to access and depends on the borrower’s ability to repay.

Ares Special Opportunities Fund III Final Close Exceeds Target and Prior Vintage

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) (“Ares”), a leading global alternative investment manager, announced today that it has closed on over $9.8 billion of capital for its Opportunistic Credit strategy, inclusive of the final closing of Ares Special Opportunities Fund III LP (“ASOF III” or the “Fund”) and related transaction vehicles. With over $8.3 billion in equity commitments, ASOF III significantly exceeded its target and prior vintage fund size. ASOF III represents one of the largest dedicated pools of private capital raised for opportunistic credit.

The Opportunistic Credit strategy leverages its scale and experience to partner with middle-market companies and provide flexible capital solutions to support organic and inorganic growth initiatives, refinance capital structures and return capital to shareholders. ASOF III seeks to provide private debt, equity and hybrid solutions that fill the gap between for-control private equity and more traditional corporate lending, while also opportunistically purchasing stressed public corporate credits.

“We are proud of the strong global institutional investor demand for our strategy, which we believe reflects our team’s performance and differentiated market position,” said Aaron Rosen, Co-Head of Opportunistic Credit. “For nearly 10 years, we have scaled our Opportunistic Credit platform to deliver bespoke capital solutions to a broad set of middle-market businesses, and we look forward to continuing to execute on our strategy for the benefit of our portfolio companies and Limited Partners.”

“We believe current market volatility is contributing to a pipeline of attractive relative value opportunities for managers with the discipline to invest across private and public companies and experience delivering liquidity solutions,” said Craig Snyder, Co-Head of Opportunistic Credit. “As one of the largest opportunistic credit providers, we believe our sponsor network, data-driven insights and value-creation capabilities, combined with the scale and reach of the Ares platform, position us to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our investors.”

The Ares Opportunistic Credit team comprises 33 dedicated investment professionals, including Partners Aaron Rosen, Craig Snyder, Felix Bernshteyn, Matt Underwood, Brad Friedman and James Kim, who average approximately 21 years of industry experience. Since inception, the strategy has deployed over $17 billion and generated over $11 billion of realized proceeds with a de minimis realized loss ratio. The Opportunistic Credit strategy is part of Ares’ broader global Credit platform, one of the most experienced and scaled direct lenders in the U.S. and Europe with over 1,000 sponsor relationships. Ares Credit has a more than 20-year track record investing across geographies, industries and market cycles, with over $405 billion of assets under management and more than 560 dedicated investment professionals, as of December 31, 2025.

About Ares Management Corporation

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE: ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to advance our stakeholders’ long-term goals by providing flexible capital that supports businesses and creates value for our investors and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles. As of December 31, 2025, Ares Management Corporation’s global platform had nearly $623 billion of assets under management, with operations across North America, South America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com.

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Jacob Silber | Brennan O’Toole
media@aresmgmt.com

Source: Ares Management Corporation