Ares Management reported first-quarter fundraising of $30 billion, a record for the Los Angeles-based alternative asset manager, even as its earnings came in below what Wall Street had expected.

For the first quarter, Ares posted after-tax realized income totaling $452.4 million, which worked out to $1.24 per share. According to Bloomberg, the result came in below the $1.33 consensus among analysts the outlet surveyed. Bloomberg also noted that fee-related earnings, which came to $464.4 million, did not meet analyst expectations.

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The $30 billion in new capital represented a first-quarter record and a gain of more than 45% from the same period a year earlier, the company said. CEO Michael Arougheti said in a statement that the firm is on track for another record fundraising year, citing demand across its platform.

Ares stock fell about 2% on Friday. The stock had already declined about 27% this year through Thursday.

Assets under management reached $644.3 billion, up 18% from a year earlier, the company said. Ares has a target of surpassing $750 billion by 2028, according to Reuters.

Of the total new capital raised, $20.4 billion came through the credit segment and another $6.2 billion was attributable to the real assets division. Capital deployment for the quarter reached $32.3 billion, with U.S. and European direct lending, real estate, and alternative credit strategies absorbing the largest share.

At the end of the quarter, uninvested capital was $158.1 billion, up 11% from the same time in 2025. CFO Jarrod Phillips said Ares has a record investment pipeline and is on track to meet its 2026 financial goals.

According to Bloomberg, so-called perpetual capital — a category of funds the firm can retain without a fixed end date — grew 39% year over year to $215.3 billion, roughly $70 billion of which sits in vehicles targeting high-net-worth clients. The firm's February closing of its deal to buy BlueCove, a London-based manager specializing in systematic fixed income, brought an additional $5.5 billion in AUM onto Ares' books, Reuters reported.

The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.35 per stock of its Class A and non-voting common stock, payable June 30, 2026, the company said.

Ares Management missed earnings estimates but posted record $30 billion in Q1 fundraising

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