Ares Management’s special opportunities strategy, which is currently a business within Ares’ private equity group, will be joining the firm’s credit group and will be named opportunistic credit.
The opportunistic credit team will build on the accomplishments of the special opportunities strategy and leverage the experience and direct origination network across the firm’s global credit platform. The team will continue to partner with healthy companies and businesses in need of transitional capital and provide flexible debt and non-control equity solutions to both private and public companies. This multi-strategy approach seeks to fill the void between for-control private equity and more traditional direct lending and emphasizes differentiated deal flow through direct origination.
“As industry dynamics continue to evolve, we are seeing an expanding investment opportunity for private lenders who can deliver creative and flexible debt and structured equity solutions to middle-market companies,” Kipp deVeer, head of Ares’ credit group, said. “Aligning our special opportunities team with our industry-leading global credit group is intended to further ensure that we are maximizing our broad origination capabilities, deepening our long-standing sponsor relationships and optimizing our underwriting, structuring and portfolio management experience, all of which we believe will benefit our fund investors.”
Aaron Rosen and Craig Snyder, who serve as co-portfolio managers of special opportunities and have been instrumental to the growth of that strategy since it launched, will lead the opportunistic credit team.
Rosen and Snyder have been involved in the leadership of the team and its day-to-day operations since 2018 and they will continue to be supported by team members including Felix Bernshteyn, Brad Friedman, James Kim and Matt Underwood. The team has approximately 30 dedicated investment professionals in the U.S. and UK.
“Bringing the special opportunities business under the credit group umbrella is designed to enhance our investing capabilities and create value for our portfolio companies and our investors,” Rosen said.
“We are extremely proud of the accomplishments of the special opportunities business to date and look forward to working even more closely with our colleagues in credit and across the Ares platform to take advantage of the growing market opportunity,” Snyder said.
Adjusted for this change, Ares’ credit group had approximately $300 billion in assets under management with approximately 490 investment professionals operating across the U.S., Europe and the Asia-Pacific region as of Dec. 31, 2023. The opportunistic credit strategy will be reflected within Ares’ credit group in Ares’ public reporting, effective March 31.
