Adam Heltzer has joined Ares Management as managing director and head of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

Heltzer will be based in New York and will report to Michael Arougheti, chief executive officer and president of Ares.

Heltzer will lead Ares’ global ESG initiatives, and will work in close coordination with the investment teams and portfolio companies across the Ares platform. Under his guidance, Ares will seek to enhance its existing ESG efforts, and establish a more robust framework for assessing and reporting against key performance indicators across Ares’ Credit, Private Equity and Real Estate strategies. Heltzer will also advise Ares on the formulation of new corporate ESG policies and ESG-related investment products.

“We are excited to have Adam join us as Head of ESG at Ares. With over 15 years of experience and a demonstrated track record of overseeing ESG value creation and risk mitigation at Partners Group, a well-regarded leader of ESG practices, we believe Adam will help to ensure that we are fulfilling our commitment to adhering to ESG best practices while generating attractive long-term returns for our investors,” said Arougheti. “ESG has been, and continues to remain, a strategic priority for Ares and we look forward to sharing further updates on our ESG efforts and progress going forward.”

During his more than four years at Partners Group, Heltzer oversaw a team managing the integration of ESG factors throughout the entire investment process and across multiple asset classes, including private equity, debt, real estate, and infrastructure. Prior to joining Partners Group, Heltzer served as a Global Leadership Fellow at the World Economic Forum where he was responsible for working with the CEOs of the WEF’s multinational agribusiness members to improve their sustainability performance through partnership with public and non-profit sector stakeholders.

Before his time at the WEF, Heltzer worked at The Louis Berger Group and CG/LA Infrastructure, focusing on infrastructure and agricultural development in emerging markets with a special emphasis on post-conflict zones.