Ares Management made several executive appointments, effective January 1, 2018.

Co-Founder and President Michael J Arougheti was named CEO of Ares Management. Arougheti has served as a director and the president of Ares Management since 2014. He was instrumental in the growth of Ares Capital from its initial IPO of $165 million in 2004 to its current market capitalization of approximately $7 billion. He is a partner in the Ares Credit Group, serves on multiple investment committees and is a member of the Management Committee of Ares Management. He also serves as co-chairman of Ares Capital Corporation and as a director of Ares Commercial Real Estate Corporation.

Co-Founder, CEO and Chairman Tony Ressler will continue as executive chairman of Ares Management where he will primarily focus on major client marketing, corporate strategy and brand building activities for the firm.

Chief Financial Officer Michael McFerran was appointed Ares’ COO in addition to continuing to serve as Ares’ CFO. He will now oversee all of Ares’ Finance and Accounting, Information Technology, Operations and Human Resources activities.

Since 2015, McFerran has served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Ares Management, a partner in and head of the Ares Finance Department and a member of the Management Committee of Ares Management. Among other duties, he serves as a member of the Ares Operations Management Group and the Ares Enterprise Risk Committee. Prior to joining Ares in March 2015, McFerran was a managing director at KKR where he was CFO of KKR’s credit business and COO and CFO at KKR Financial Holdings.

Head of Ares’ Strategy & Relationship Management Group Ryan Berry is being appointed to chief marketing and strategy officer. Berry is the head of the Ares Strategy & Relationship Management Group and a member of the management committee of Ares Management. He is responsible for supporting the ongoing global expansion of the firm with his teams of relationship managers and M&A professionals. Berry joined Ares in 2005 and spent several years working as an investment professional in the Ares Private Equity Group.

Berry and McFerran will also join the board of Ares Partners Holdco, the sole owner of the general partner of Ares, and will serve alongside current members Arougheti, Ressler, Co-Founders and Global Private Equity Co-Heads David Kaplan and Bennett Rosenthal and Global Head of Credit Kipp deVeer. Michael Weiner will continue to independently advise the board in his role as chief legal officer.

“Today’s appointments recognize the tremendous contributions that Mike Arougheti, Mike McFerran and Ryan Berry have made in leading Ares during its recent growth while remaining equally committed to preserving our unique corporate culture,” Ressler said. “Mike Arougheti was instrumental in building and growing our Credit Group and expanding our businesses in the U.S. and Europe, and now is the time for him to assume greater oversight of all of Ares.

“Over the past two years, both Mike McFerran and Ryan Berry have been improving a range of critical business operations and marketing functions across the firm. As executive chairman, I look forward to continuing to work closely with each of them as we continue to create meaningful value for our clients and unitholders,.”