Ares Management – a global alternative investment manager – announced that its Ares European Strategic Income Fund (AESIF), an open-ended direct lending fund providing individual investors in Europe and Asia with access to Ares’ European direct lending strategy, surpassed €2.2 billion in total assets in its first full year, supported by capital raised primarily through the wealth channel. And AESIF – first available to individual investors in 2024 – is the inaugural offering in the Europe and Asia regions through the Ares Wealth Management Solutions (AWMS) platform.
AESIF was designed to deliver a diversified portfolio comprising directly originated, senior secured floating rate loans to businesses in Western Europe. And as of December 31, 2024, AESIF has been invested in over 230 portfolio companies across a range of sectors. AESIF is supposed to offer individual investors a core income solution with downside protection and stable yields in a format that features lower investment minimums relative to traditional alternative investment products.
Since the launching of AWMS in 2021, Ares has remained focused on scaling its wealth platform to deliver private markets access and education to financial advisors and their clients. And with a growing team of approximately 150 professionals located in offices throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia, AWMS represents one of the most resourced wealth distribution and client service platforms in the alternatives industry today.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are proud to see significant interest from the wealth channel in our European Direct Lending strategy, which we have delivered to institutional investors since 2007. AESIF enables individual investors to benefit from the strength of the Ares European platform, including our scale, local origination network, execution experience and portfolio management capabilities as we seek to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns. As European private credit continues to gain greater visibility and penetration, we believe we are well-positioned to build on our track record of disciplined capital deployment in quality investments to support borrowers’ long-term objectives.”
- Daniel Sinclair, Partner in European Direct Lending, and Andrea Fernandez, Head of Product Management and Investor Relations for European Credit and Corporate Secondaries at Ares
“This milestone is a testament to the strong demand we have seen as individual investors across Europe and Asia seek to increase their exposure to alternative investment strategies. By providing these investors access to Ares’ European direct lending strategy, AESIF can provide a source of durable income, compelling yield generation potential, and flexibility in a semi-liquid format. We look forward to further expanding our private markets offering for individual investors in EMEA and appreciate the continued support of our global Wealth Management Solutions team and distribution partners.”
- Mark Serocold, Partner and EMEA Head of Wealth Management Solutions
