v3.26.1
DEBT
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2026
Debt Disclosure [Abstract]  
DEBT
6. DEBT
The following table summarizes the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ debt obligations:
As of March 31, 2026As of December 31, 2025
Original Borrowing AmountCarrying Value
Fair Value(1)
Interest RateCarrying Value
Fair Value(1)
Interest Rate
Credit Facility maturing on 4/22/2030(2)
N/A$1,425,000 $1,425,000 4.67 %$1,380,000 $1,380,000 4.86 %
Senior notes due 11/10/2028(3)
500,000 497,064 519,990 6.42 496,785 529,140 6.42 
Senior notes due 6/15/2030(4)
400,000 398,068 375,136 3.28 397,954 379,280 3.28 
Senior notes due 2/1/2052(5)
500,000 485,115 332,895 3.77 485,011 348,840 3.77 
Senior notes due 10/11/2054(6)
750,000 736,444 660,548 5.65 736,355 709,073 5.65 
Subordinated notes due 6/30/2051(7)
450,000 445,355 441,963 4.13 445,310 443,943 4.13 
Term Loan due 3/27/2029(8)
400,000 399,430 400,000 4.67 N/AN/AN/A
Total debt obligations$4,386,476 $4,155,532 $3,941,415 $3,790,276 
(1)The senior notes and subordinated notes would be classified as Level II within the fair value hierarchy and fair value is based on quoted prices in inactive markets.
(2)The commitments of the revolving credit facility (the “Credit Facility”) were $1.840 billion with an accordion feature of $660.0 million as of March 31, 2026. The Credit Facility has a variable interest rate based on Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) or a base rate plus an applicable margin, with an unused commitment fee paid quarterly, which is subject to change with the Company’s underlying credit agency rating. As of March 31, 2026, base rate loans bear interest calculated based on the prime rate and the SOFR loans bear interest calculated based on SOFR plus 1.00%. The unused commitment fee is 0.09% per annum. The Credit Facility has a base rate and SOFR floor of zero.
(3)The senior notes were issued by the Company at 99.80% of the face amount with interest paid semi-annually. The Company may redeem the senior notes prior to maturity, subject to the terms of the indenture governing the senior notes.
(4)The senior notes were issued by Ares Finance Co. II LLC, an indirect subsidiary of the Company, at 99.77% of the face amount with interest paid semi-annually. The Company may redeem the senior notes prior to maturity, subject to the terms of the indenture governing the senior notes.
(5)The senior notes were issued by Ares Finance Co. IV LLC, an indirect subsidiary of the Company, at 97.78% of the face amount with interest paid semi-annually. The Company may redeem the senior notes prior to maturity, subject to the terms of the indenture governing the senior notes.
(6)The senior notes were issued by the Company at 99.24% of the face amount with interest paid semi-annually. The Company may redeem the senior notes prior to maturity, subject to the terms of the indenture governing the senior notes.
(7)The subordinated notes were issued by Ares Finance Co. III LLC, an indirect subsidiary of the Company with interest paid semi-annually at a fixed rate of 4.125%. Beginning June 30, 2026, the interest rate will reset on every fifth year based on the five-year U.S. Treasury Rate plus 3.237%. The Company may redeem the subordinated notes prior to maturity or defer interest payments up to five consecutive years, subject to the terms of the indenture governing the subordinated notes.
(8)The Term Loan has a variable interest rate based on SOFR plus an applicable margin, which is subject to change with the Company’s underlying credit agency rating. As of March 31, 2026, the SOFR loan bears interest calculated based on SOFR plus 1.00%. The Term Loan has a SOFR floor of zero.

As of March 31, 2026, the Company and its subsidiaries were in compliance with all covenants under the debt obligations.
The Company typically incurs and pays debt issuance costs when entering into a new debt obligation or when amending an existing debt agreement. Debt issuance costs related to the various senior notes (the “Senior Notes”), the subordinated notes (the “Subordinated Notes”) and the Term Loan (collectively, the “Term Debt Obligations”) are recorded as a reduction of the corresponding debt obligation, and debt issuance costs related to the Credit Facility are included within other assets within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. All debt issuance costs are amortized over the remaining term of the related obligation into interest expense within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
The following table presents the activity of the Company’s debt issuance costs:
Credit Facility Term Debt Obligations
Unamortized debt issuance costs as of December 31, 2025
$5,760 $21,682 
Debt issuance costs incurred— 585 
Amortization of debt issuance costs(335)(499)
Unamortized debt issuance costs as of March 31, 2026$5,425 $21,768 
Loan Obligations of the Consolidated CLOs
Loan obligations of the Consolidated Funds that are CLOs and other financing obligations (“Consolidated CLOs”) represent amounts due to holders of debt securities issued by the Consolidated CLOs. The Company measures the loan obligations of the Consolidated CLOs using the fair value of the financial assets of its Consolidated CLOs.

The following loan obligations were outstanding and classified as liabilities of the Consolidated CLOs:
As of March 31, 2026As of December 31, 2025
Fair Value of
Loan Obligations		Weighted 
Average
 Interest Rate		Weighted 
Average
 Remaining Maturity 
(in years)		Fair Value of
Loan Obligations		Weighted 
Average
 Interest Rate		Weighted
Average
Remaining Maturity 
(in years)
Senior secured notes$6,022,200 5.25%9.2$6,561,286 5.19%9.0
Subordinated notes(1)
776,610 N/A10.5797,786 N/A10.4
Total loan obligations of Consolidated CLOs$6,798,810 $7,359,072 
(1)The notes do not have contractual interest rates; instead, holders of the notes receive a variable rate of interest amounting to the excess cash flows generated by each Consolidated CLO.

Loan obligations of the Consolidated CLOs are collateralized by the assets held by the Consolidated CLOs, consisting of cash and cash equivalents, corporate loans and corporate bonds, among other securities and financial interests. The assets of one Consolidated CLO may not be used to satisfy the liabilities of another Consolidated CLO. Loan obligations of the Consolidated CLOs include floating rate notes, deferrable floating rate notes, revolving lines of credit and subordinated notes. Amounts borrowed under the notes are repaid based on available cash flows subject to priority of payments under each Consolidated CLO’s governing documents. Based on the terms of these facilities, the creditors of the facilities have no recourse to the Company.
Credit Facilities of the Consolidated Funds
Certain Consolidated Funds maintain credit facilities to fund investments between capital drawdowns. These facilities generally are collateralized by the net assets of the Consolidated Funds or the unfunded capital commitments of the Consolidated Funds’ limited partners, bear an annual commitment fee based on unfunded commitments and contain various affirmative and negative covenants and reporting obligations, including restrictions on additional indebtedness, liens, margin stock, affiliate transactions, dividends and distributions, release of capital commitments and portfolio asset dispositions. The creditors of these facilities only have recourse to the Company to the extent the debt is guaranteed by the Company. As of March 31, 2026 and December 31, 2025, the Consolidated Funds were in compliance with all covenants under such credit facilities.
The Consolidated Funds had the following credit facilities outstanding:
As of March 31, 2026As of December 31, 2025
Total CapacityOutstanding LoanFair ValueWeighted Average
 Interest Rate		Weighted
Average
Remaining Maturity 
(in years)		Total CapacityOutstanding LoanFair ValueWeighted
Average
 Interest Rate		Weighted
Average
Remaining Maturity 
(in years)
Credit Facilities(1)
$3,879,390 $2,232,365 $2,232,365 5.73%3.1$4,878,724 $2,251,780 $2,251,780 5.95%3.4
(1)The credit facilities have varying maturities and bear interest at spreads to market rates or at stated fixed rates. The fair values of floating-rate borrowings approximate the carrying value as the interest rate on the borrowings is a floating rate and would be classified within Level II of the fair value hierarchy. The fair values of fixed rate borrowings would be classified within Level III of the fair value hierarchy.