Ares reports Q2 2026 net income of $150.6 million, declares $1.35 dividend

Ares Management Corporation reported second-quarter 2026 GAAP net income attributable to the company of $150.6 million, or $0.49 per share for its Class A and non-voting common stock, while after-tax realized income reached $467.6 million and fee related earnings totaled $491.1 million. The alternative investment manager said it generated $36.4 billion of gross inflows and $34.4 billion of net capital inflows in what Michael Arougheti, Chief Executive Officer of Ares, described as another record quarter of fundraising, helped by client demand tied to fund performance across its strategies. Total assets under management rose 17% year over year to $671.3 billion as of June 30, 2026, while fee-paying AUM increased 17% to $409.9 billion. Adjusted earnings per share were $1.29 for the quarter ended June 30, one cent below the analyst consensus of $1.30, and management and other fees of $1.12 billion missed the $1.33 billion estimate. Revenue still climbed 16% from a year earlier to $1.13 billion from $976.4 million, while fee-related earnings rose 20% to $491 million and realized income increased more than 30% to $522 million. The stock fell 2.31% in after-hours trading Friday following the results. Ares said it had a record $170 billion of dry powder and $114 billion of AUM not yet paying fees, which it said could generate about $828 million in potential incremental annual management fees. Gross capital deployment totaled $35.9 billion in the quarter, up from $26.9 billion in the same period of 2025, including $15.2 billion from drawdown funds and $21 billion from perpetual capital vehicles. Pathfinder 3, an alternative credit strategy, closed at $8.5 billion, above its $6.5 billion target and at its hard cap. Investment performance over the trailing 12 months included gross returns of 16.4% in alternative credit, 11.2% in U.S. senior direct lending and 19% in APAC credit. Ares also said its credit funds closed approximately $8.2 billion of U.S. direct lending commitments across 69 transactions during the second quarter of 2026 and approximately $52.3 billion across 347 transactions in the 12 months ended June 30, 2026. Management said redemption requests at its non-traded BDC equaled about 10% of net asset value, driven mainly by a small number of non-U.S. family offices and smaller institutions, though core U.S. investor redemptions fell 35% quarter over quarter. The firm expects third-quarter realized net performance income of roughly $10 million, down from $51 million in the second quarter because of realization timing. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per share on its Class A and non-voting common stock, payable September 30, 2026, and a quarterly dividend of $0.84375 per share on its 6.75% Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock, payable October 1, 2026.