Celebrating Two Anniversaries, Reflecting on Three Principles

In 2022, Ares marked its 25th anniversary—a milestone that feels surreal given the tremendous growth that has accompanied our journey. What began in 1997 as a small and ambitious group of investors in Los Angeles has grown into a global team of over 2,450 colleagues operating across five continents and more than 30 offices worldwide.

As we celebrated Ares’ 25th year, I also marked my fifth year as CEO of our company. When I took the role in 2018, I could never have predicted what lay ahead—both the unexpected challenges and the milestones and accomplishments that our entire team have celebrated. I take enormous pride when reflecting on how our colleagues have delivered above our own expectations time and time again.

Below are three of the principles that have guided me in my role and, most importantly, that I believe have helped shape our organization and will continue to do so as we evolve.

1. Be Comfortable with the Unknown and Challenge the Status Quo

As a fast-growing company, we’ve always had to balance smart risk-taking with a willingness to try new things and possibly fail. This has helped us to innovate around new products, open new markets and pursue transformational acquisitions. It also served us incredibly well as we navigated through the difficulties and uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In our industry, it’s all too easy for leaders to default to a linear mindset. At Ares, we’ve made a conscious decision to encourage our teams to operate as a constellation of interconnected and collaborative businesses. When executed well, this nurtures entrepreneurship and innovation and enables greater flexibility to pivot in moments like the pandemic. I believe that our success in navigating the last two years is a clear differentiator for Ares.

In mid-March of 2020, we, like many companies, were focused on giving our employees concrete answers. As two weeks turned into a month and a month became many more, we realized that delivering a return-to-work plan and imagining the “future normal” was simply not possible and, as importantly, not productive. A constant focus on when things would go back to what they were was preventing us from engaging with the moment we were actually in. Early that summer, we made an intentional effort to shift our internal mindset to focus on what it meant to move forward as a business in this new current environment, fostering more frequent connection points with our global employee base through firm-wide fireside chats, town halls and increased outreach across teams.

Ares has risk management in its DNA. We’ve built our business and reputation on being able to predict what obstacles might be around the corner and making proactive plans to mitigate the potential downside. At the same time, we have always known that we need to be flexible and willing to quickly evolve. In the case of COVID-19, we chose to embrace and enjoy the unknown—an inflection point that put our culture to the test but made us all better for it in the end.

2. Allow the Culture to Grow and Evolve Alongside the Business                                 

In the last few years, Ares has scaled dramatically. Organically and through strategic acquisitions, we’ve expanded our footprint globally, including building out our teams on the ground in the U.S., Europe and Asia. We have also added new investment strategies and asset classes. In just two years, we’ve welcomed more than 1,500 new employees. With this growth comes the challenge of reaffirming a unified vision for the business and ensuring that every new team member feels empowered to find their place within it. This requires significant work upfront to understand the culture of the businesses we’re acquiring and the people we are onboarding and to ensure there’s harmony in our values systems and mission. In today’s world, having clarity of organizational purpose has never been more important.

Given the scale of our business, and our subsequent impact, I strongly believe we have an awesome responsibility and opportunity to do right by all of our stakeholders—our employees and their families, our investors and their constituents and the communities in which we live and invest. Our dedication to investing with purpose, in my opinion, is another differentiator for Ares. I have seen how it energizes our investment teams and I have seen the very same reaction from our investors, who share our enthusiasm as they learn about the commitments we’ve made and delivered through Impact at Ares (the intersection of our ESG, DEI and Philanthropy efforts). As we bring on younger team members, and as the makeup of our business evolves, we must embrace our responsibility and our values from top to bottom. What matters to our teams today may be different than what mattered to our industry 10 or 20 years ago, and allowing room for that shift in perspective is absolutely critical to our growth.

3. Keep Talent by Developing Talent

As I think about what’s next, talent is top of mind. Ares’ continued success is tied to our ability to attract and keep high-caliber people. Human capital is our greatest asset. As Ares continues to grow, having the right team members in place ensures that when a new opportunity opens up to us—a new strategy, a new geography—we have the diverse perspectives and expertise to meet it. I feel strongly that our continued success is an outcome of our talent formula.

So, how do we keep and nurture our talent? Every organization in every industry is facing this challenge. When I look around, I think what stands out is our commitment to dynamic growth and making room for talent to stretch into new experiences and responsibilities. We challenge all of our people to be business builders and to think entrepreneurially. This aspect of our culture instills a sense of ownership and accountability, and we leverage this by providing resources to support our team members on their journey while empowering them to grow and learn from their mistakes. It’s how we have succeeded thus far and how we will continue to excel in the future.

I am humbled by the incredible experiences I’ve had as Ares’ CEO and grateful for the opportunity to lead such an impressive collection of people. I hope that, by sharing some of the principles that have helped guide my leadership, you feel encouraged to reflect on what brings out the best in you and your team.

I also want to express my sincere gratitude to the Ares team. I am so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish together. Cheers to the next 25 years!