Ares Management Corporation (ARES) Stock Price & How to Invest
Last updated July 2026
Short answer
Ares Management (ARES) is a leading global alternative asset manager built around private credit, so investing in it is a bet on the continued shift of lending and capital allocation away from banks and toward private markets. It trades as a fee-driven, dividend-paying growth compounder rather than a deep-value name.
ARES stock price
As of 2026-07-24, Ares Management Corporation (ARES) last closed at $126.51, down 32.1% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $96.50 and $192.76.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Ares Management Corporation's investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Ares Management Corporation (ARES) do?
Ares Management is one of the world's largest alternative investment managers, overseeing roughly $644 billion of assets under management as of early 2026 across four groups: credit (its dominant business at over 60% of AUM, spanning direct lending, high yield, and alternative credit), real assets (roughly 20% of AUM, including logistics, data centers, and infrastructure), private equity, and other alternatives. The firm earns most of its economics from recurring management fees on long-dated capital, supplemented by performance fees when funds hit return targets, and it distributes a large share of that cash to shareholders as dividends.
The investment picture is one of a fee-driven growth compounder riding the secular expansion of private credit. Management fees topped $1 billion in a single quarter for the first time in Q1 2026, fee-paying AUM rose about 19% year over year to roughly $400 billion, and the firm posted record first-quarter fundraising of about $30 billion. The trade-off is valuation: ARES trades at a premium trailing earnings multiple, and its results are exposed to credit-market stress, slower fundraising, and pressure on the private-credit spreads that underpin its flagship business.
What's driving Ares Management Corporation (ARES)?
1. Private credit leadership
Ares is one of the largest private credit managers globally, with its credit group representing over 60% of AUM. As borrowers continue to shift from bank loans to direct lending, Ares collects recurring management fees on a growing, largely long-dated capital base, which is the core engine of its earnings growth.
2. Fee-related earnings growth
Management fees crossed $1 billion in a quarter for the first time in Q1 2026, and fee-related earnings rose about 26% year over year. The firm targets compound annual growth of roughly 16% to 20% in fee-related earnings, which tends to be more stable than performance fees because it does not depend on realizing gains.
3. Real assets and infrastructure expansion
The real assets group has grown to roughly 20% of AUM, focused on logistics, data centers, and essential infrastructure. This diversifies Ares beyond credit and taps demand tied to AI-driven data-center buildout and supply-chain investment.
4. Record fundraising and dry powder
Ares raised about $30 billion in Q1 2026, up 46% year over year, and holds over $158 billion available to deploy, including more than $100 billion in credit. That undeployed capital converts into future fee-paying AUM as it is put to work.
What are the risks to Ares Management Corporation (ARES)?
Ares is heavily concentrated in credit, so a broad rise in defaults, spread compression, or a downturn in private-credit demand would pressure both fees and asset marks. Its valuation carries a high trailing earnings multiple, leaving little room for disappointment on fundraising or margins, and Q1 2026 revenue and EPS both missed analyst expectations. The firm and its affiliated vehicles face periodic legal and regulatory scrutiny, including a shareholder derivative suit against its Ares Capital (ARCC) business development company alleging inflated marks and excessive fees, and a past SEC compliance fine. Rising rates or a recession could slow fundraising and reduce performance fees. Its non-traded retail credit funds also expose it to redemption and marketing risk if sentiment sours.
How is Ares Management Corporation (ARES) valued? (approximate, July 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Ares Management Corporation's investor relations page or your broker.
- Market cap: ~$37.5B
- Assets under management: ~$644B
- Fee-paying AUM: ~$400B
- Q1 2026 revenue: ~$1.27B
- P/E (TTM): ~55x
- Dividend yield: ~4.3%
ARES trades at a premium trailing earnings multiple (around 55x TTM but closer to 19x on forward estimates), reflecting expectations of continued double-digit fee growth. The firm pays an annual dividend of about $5.40 per share after a roughly 20% hike, a yield near 4.3%. Q1 2026 EPS of $1.24 and revenue both came in below analyst estimates even as AUM and fundraising set records.
Who competes with Ares Management Corporation (ARES)?
Mega-cap alternative asset managers
Blackstone (BX, ~$1.3T AUM), Apollo Global (APO, ~$900B+), KKR (~$744B), and Brookfield are the closest peers, competing for institutional and retail capital across credit, private equity, real estate, and infrastructure. Ares is smaller and more credit-weighted than the most diversified of these.
Private credit and direct lending specialists
Firms and vehicles focused on direct lending and business development companies, including Blue Owl (OWL) and Ares' own listed BDC Ares Capital (ARCC), compete directly for private-credit deployment and fee-paying capital in Ares' core business.
Traditional and diversified asset managers
Large managers such as BlackRock and Brookfield increasingly push into private markets and infrastructure, competing with Ares for allocations as institutions and wealthy individuals raise their private-asset exposure.
How to invest in Ares Management Corporation (ARES)
There are three common ways to get ARES exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so ARES sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where ARES fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
New to this? Start with how to invest in stocks, see how to analyze a stock with AI, or compare the best AI stock analyzers.
The bottom line on Ares Management Corporation (ARES)
ARES is a credit-heavy alternative asset manager whose appeal rests on durable fee growth and rising assets under management, offset by a rich valuation and sensitivity to credit and fundraising cycles.
More on Ares Management Corporation (ARES)
Whether ARES is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is ARES a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the ARES stock forecast.
For income investors, whether ARES pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does ARES pay a dividend?
Build a basket around ARES with Walnut
Use Ares Management Corporation as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Ares Management do?
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Ares is a global alternative asset manager that raises long-dated capital from institutions and individuals and invests it across credit, real assets, private equity, and other alternatives. It earns recurring management fees plus performance fees, with private credit as its largest business.
How big is Ares Management?
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Ares managed roughly $644 billion of assets under management as of early 2026, with about $400 billion of fee-paying AUM. Its market capitalization is around $37.5 billion, making it one of the largest publicly traded alternative managers, though smaller than Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR.
Does ARES pay a dividend?
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Yes. Ares pays an annual dividend of about $5.40 per share, a yield near 4.3%, after raising its quarterly payout roughly 20% to $1.35 per share. The dividend is funded largely by recurring management fees, though it can vary with performance income.
Why is ARES's P/E ratio so high?
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Its trailing P/E of around 55x reflects strong expected growth in fee-related earnings and the market's premium on asset managers with durable, recurring fees. On forward estimates the multiple is closer to 19x, so much of the premium assumes continued double-digit earnings growth.
How does Ares make most of its money?
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The bulk of Ares' economics comes from recurring management fees charged on its long-dated capital base, which grows as it raises and deploys funds. Performance fees add upside when funds exceed return hurdles but are less predictable than management fees.
What are the main risks to Ares Management?
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Ares is heavily concentrated in credit, so rising defaults, spread compression, or weaker fundraising would hurt fees and marks. It also carries a rich valuation, faces legal and regulatory scrutiny across affiliated vehicles, and missed revenue and EPS estimates in Q1 2026.
How does Ares compare to Blackstone and Apollo?
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Blackstone (~$1.3T AUM) and Apollo (~$900B+) are larger and more diversified, while Ares (~$644B) is more concentrated in private credit. That focus makes Ares a purer play on direct lending but also more exposed to credit-cycle swings.
Is Ares Management the same as Ares Capital (ARCC)?
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No. Ares Management (ARES) is the parent asset-management firm, while Ares Capital (ARCC) is a separate publicly traded business development company that Ares manages. ARCC invests directly in loans to middle-market companies, whereas ARES earns fees across many funds.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Ares Management Corporation's investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.