Deal activity for private credit firms remained slightly subdued during the quarter, as geopolitical uncertainty kept a lid on sponsor-backed M&A activity.
Ares struck an optimistic tone about the road ahead as it sits on a record investment pipeline.
"Our diverse global origination platform enabled us to remain active investing in attractive opportunities across the platform in a slower transaction environment and we are now seeing a meaningful pickup in our firmwide investment pipeline," Arougheti said.
Ares deployed $35.9 billion of capital in the quarter, driven by its U.S. and European direct lending, real estate and alternative credit strategies.
Among the notable deals in the quarter, Ares led a more than $1.7 billion debt financing supporting buyout firm KSL Capital Partners' acquisition of private clubs operator Invited Clubs.
Fundraising, capital deployment and investment performance are key metrics that Wall Street watches closely as it drives future earnings.
Uninvested capital jumped 13% to a record $170 billion in the quarter. That positions Ares well to execute on its largest-ever forward investment pipeline and support continued earnings growth, finance chief Jarrod Phillips said.
Ares starts generating management fees as it deploys uninvested capital, further boosting profit.
Alternative credit posted a gross return of 4.1%, while U.S. senior direct lending returned 2.5%. Infrastructure equity returned 9%.
After-tax realized income per share of Class A common stock was $1.29 for the quarter ended June 30, compared with $1.03 a year ago.
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