# Ares Management Corp (ARES) Informational only - not investment advice. CIK: 0001176948 SIC: 6282 Investment Advice SIC breadcrumb: [Finance, Insurance, And Real Estate](/division/H/) > [Security And Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges, And Services](/major-group/62/) > [SIC 6282 Investment Advice](/industry/6282/) Latest 10-K filed: 2026-02-25 SEC page: https://www.sec.gov/edgar/browse/?CIK=1176948 Filing source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1176948/000162828026011413/ares-20251231.htm ## Selected Fundamentals | Metric | Value | Unit | FY | Filed | | --- | ---: | --- | ---: | --- | | Revenue | 4755618000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-25 | | Net income | 527362000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-25 | | Assets | 28633369000 | USD | 2025 | 2026-02-25 | ## Financials Annual standardized facts from SEC companyfacts as of latest extracted filing date 2026-02-25. Source: https://data.sec.gov/api/xbrl/companyfacts/CIK0001176948.json. Derived margins are computed from the extracted annual SEC facts. | Metric | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | | --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | | Revenue | 964,800,000 | 1,085,043,000 | 1,218,239,000 | 1,433,126,000 | 1,753,729,000 | 2,288,876,000 | 2,880,007,000 | 3,236,285,000 | 3,690,668,000 | 4,755,618,000 | | Net income | 111,808,000 | 76,178,000 | 57,020,000 | 148,884,000 | 152,142,000 | 408,837,000 | 167,541,000 | 474,326,000 | 463,742,000 | 527,362,000 | | Assets | 5,829,712,000 | 8,563,522,000 | 10,154,692,000 | 12,014,196,000 | 15,168,992,000 | 21,605,164,000 | 22,002,839,000 | 24,730,500,000 | 24,884,308,000 | 28,633,369,000 | | Liabilities | 4,452,450,000 | 7,103,230,000 | 8,760,351,000 | 10,155,598,000 | 12,596,852,000 | 16,694,730,000 | 17,097,810,000 | 19,709,151,000 | 17,485,922,000 | 19,931,981,000 | | Stockholders' equity | 292,851,000 | 1,460,292,000 | 587,924,000 | 768,290,000 | 1,193,685,000 | 1,825,227,000 | 1,589,239,000 | 1,893,399,000 | 3,543,646,000 | 4,275,463,000 | | Net margin | 11.59% | 7.02% | 4.68% | 10.39% | 8.68% | 17.86% | 5.82% | 14.66% | 12.57% | 11.09% | ## Macro Cross-References - [CPIAUCSL](/indicator/CPIAUCSL/): Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items in U.S. City Average - [UNRATE](/indicator/UNRATE/): Unemployment Rate - [FEDFUNDS](/indicator/FEDFUNDS/): Federal Funds Effective Rate - [CES0500000003](/indicator/CES0500000003/): Average Hourly Earnings of All Employees, Total Private - [DFEDTARU](/indicator/DFEDTARU/): Federal Funds Target Range - Upper Limit - [DFEDTARL](/indicator/DFEDTARL/): Federal Funds Target Range - Lower Limit - [DGS3MO](/indicator/DGS3MO/): Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 3-Month Constant Maturity - [DGS2](/indicator/DGS2/): Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 2-Year Constant Maturity - [DGS10](/indicator/DGS10/): Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 10-Year Constant Maturity - [DGS30](/indicator/DGS30/): Market Yield on U.S. Treasury Securities at 30-Year Constant Maturity - [T10Y2Y](/indicator/T10Y2Y/): 10-Year Treasury Constant Maturity Minus 2-Year Treasury Constant Maturity - [CPILFESL](/indicator/CPILFESL/): Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: All Items Less Food and Energy - [CPIUFDSL](/indicator/CPIUFDSL/): Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Food - [CPIENGSL](/indicator/CPIENGSL/): Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Energy - [CUSR0000SAH1](/indicator/CUSR0000SAH1/): Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Shelter - [PCEPI](/indicator/PCEPI/): Personal Consumption Expenditures: Chain-type Price Index - [PCEPILFE](/indicator/PCEPILFE/): Personal Consumption Expenditures Excluding Food and Energy: Chain-type Price Index - [PPIACO](/indicator/PPIACO/): Producer Price Index by Commodity: All Commodities - [T10YIE](/indicator/T10YIE/): 10-Year Breakeven Inflation Rate - [U6RATE](/indicator/U6RATE/): Total Unemployed, Plus All Marginally Attached Workers Plus Total Employed Part Time for Economic Reasons - [PAYEMS](/indicator/PAYEMS/): All Employees, Total Nonfarm - [CIVPART](/indicator/CIVPART/): Labor Force Participation Rate - [EMRATIO](/indicator/EMRATIO/): Employment-Population Ratio - [UNEMPLOY](/indicator/UNEMPLOY/): Unemployed - [CE16OV](/indicator/CE16OV/): Employment Level - [ICSA](/indicator/ICSA/): Initial Claims - [JTSJOL](/indicator/JTSJOL/): Job Openings: Total Nonfarm - [JTSQUR](/indicator/JTSQUR/): Quits: Total Nonfarm - [GDPC1](/indicator/GDPC1/): Real Gross Domestic Product - [A191RL1Q225SBEA](/indicator/A191RL1Q225SBEA/): Real Gross Domestic Product: Percent Change from Preceding Period - [INDPRO](/indicator/INDPRO/): Industrial Production: Total Index - [TCU](/indicator/TCU/): Capacity Utilization: Total Index - [HOUST](/indicator/HOUST/): New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units - [PERMIT](/indicator/PERMIT/): New Privately-Owned Housing Units Authorized in Permit-Issuing Places: Total Units - [RSAFS](/indicator/RSAFS/): Advance Retail Sales: Retail Trade - [PCE](/indicator/PCE/): Personal Consumption Expenditures - [DSPIC96](/indicator/DSPIC96/): Real Disposable Personal Income - [PSAVERT](/indicator/PSAVERT/): Personal Saving Rate - [M2SL](/indicator/M2SL/): M2 - [BOPGSTB](/indicator/BOPGSTB/): U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services: Balance ## Latest 10-K MD&A Extracted between Item 7 and the next Item 7A/8 heading after HTML sanitization. Confidence: high Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations AMC is a Delaware corporation. Unless the context otherwise requires, references to “Ares,” “we,” “us,” “our,” and the “Company” are intended to mean the business and operations of AMC and its consolidated subsidiaries. The following discussion analyzes the financial condition and results of operations of the Company. “Consolidated Funds” refers collectively to certain Ares funds, co-investment vehicles, structured financing vehicles, CLOs and SPACs that are required under generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“GAAP”) to be consolidated within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Additional terms used by the Company are defined in the Glossary and throughout the Management’s Discussion and Analysis in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements of AMC and the related notes included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This section of the Annual Report on Form 10-K discusses activity as of and for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024. For discussion on activity for the year ended December 31, 2023 and period-over-period analysis on results for the year ended December 31, 2024 to 2023, refer to Part II, “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024. We have reclassified certain prior period amounts to conform to the current year presentation. Amounts and percentages presented throughout our discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations may reflect rounded results in thousands (unless otherwise indicated) and consequently, totals may not appear to sum. In addition, illustrative charts may not be presented at scale. “NM” refers to not meaningful. Period-over-period analysis for current year compared to prior year may be deemed to be not meaningful and are designated as “NM” within the discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations. Trends Affecting Our Business We believe that our disciplined investment philosophy across our distinct but complementary investment groups contributes to the stability of our performance throughout market cycles. For the year ended December 31, 2025, 93% of our management fees were derived from perpetual capital vehicles or long-dated funds. Our funds have a stable base of committed capital enabling us to invest in assets with a long-term focus over different points in a market cycle and to take advantage of market volatility. However, our results from operations, including the fair value of our AUM, are affected by a variety of factors. Conditions in the global financial markets and economic and political environments may impact our business, particularly in the U.S., Europe and APAC.     The following table presents returns of selected market indices: Returns (%) Type of Index Name of Index Region Year ended December 31, 2025 High yield bonds ICE BAML High Yield Master II Index U.S. 8.5  High yield bonds ICE BAML European Currency High Yield Index Europe 5.3 Leveraged loans S&P UBS Leveraged Loan Index U.S. 5.9 Leveraged loans S&P UBS Western European Leveraged Loan Index Europe 4.0 Equities S&P 500 Index U.S. 17.9 Equities MSCI All Country World Ex-U.S. Index Non-U.S. 33.1 Infrastructure equities S&P Global Infrastructure Index Global 22.6 Real estate equities FTSE NAREIT All Equity REITs Index U.S. (1.7) Real estate equities FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Europe Index Europe 2.3 Real estate equities Tokyo Stock Exchange REIT Index APAC 21.8 Despite periods of volatility in 2025 driven by interest rate cuts and tariff-related uncertainty, markets largely remained resilient across regions and asset classes. U.S. and European high yield bonds and leveraged loans delivered stable returns, supported by strong credit metrics and sustained investor demand. The U.S. and international public equity markets generated positive performance supported by the macroeconomic conditions across regions. 103 Table of Contents Global commercial real estate markets experienced mixed performance throughout the year. The U.S. real estate market slightly declined amid broader policy uncertainty and weaker sector performance, while the European real estate market continued to recover with support from declining interest rate expectations. While performance varies by sector and geography, we believe multifamily and industrial properties will continue to benefit from favorable long-term structural trends. In addition, renewable energy has continued to scale, with strong transaction volumes supporting elevated revenue contract prices amid positive demand momentum. The climate infrastructure market remained resilient, bolstered by continued progress in clean energy deployment, the expansion of digital infrastructure and the adoption of artificial intelligence. Private equity activity improved during the year, supported by interest rate cuts and moderating inflation. Transaction and exit activity accelerated amid a narrowing valuation gap between buyers and sellers. We believe that stabilized market conditions, with a renewed focus on value creation strategies that emphasize operational improvements, selective deployment, talent optimization and digital transformation are essential to support long-term momentum. We believe our portfolios across all strategies remain well positioned for a fluctuating interest rate environment. On a market value basis, approximately 85% of our debt assets and 52% of our total assets were floating rate instruments as of December 31, 2025. In 2025, several central tenets contributed to the growth of our platform, including: • Our ability to fundraise and increase AUM and fee paying AUM. During the year ended December 31, 2025, we raised $113.2 billion of gross new capital across our commingled funds, SMAs, wealth products and other vehicles, and continued to expand our investor base, raising capital from over 190 different investment vehicles and over 540 institutional investors, including over 235 direct institutional investors that were new to Ares. Our fundraising efforts helped drive AUM growth of 29% for 2025. During 2026, we expect that our fundraising will come from a combination of our existing and new strategies in the Americas, Europe and APAC. As of December 31, 2025, AUM not yet paying fees includes $78.8 billion of AUM available for future deployment and $4.3 billion of development assets not yet stabilized that could collectively generate approximately $730.4 million in potential incremental annual management fees. Our potential future deployment, the creation of new development assets and the stabilization of existing development assets, coupled with our future fundraising prospects, creates additional opportunity to increase our management fees in 2026. • Our ability to attract new capital and investors with our broad multi-asset class product offering. Our ability to attract new capital and investors in our funds is driven, in part, by the extent to which they continue to see the alternative asset management industry generally, and our investment products specifically, as an attractive vehicle for capital appreciation and income generation. We continually seek to create avenues to meet our investors’ evolving needs by offering an expansive range of funds, developing new products and creating managed accounts and other investment vehicles tailored to our investors’ goals. We continue to expand our product offerings and distribution relationships throughout the wealth channel with our global wealth management offerings, as well as the needs of traditional institutional investors, such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and endowments. If market volatility persists or increases, investors may seek absolute return strategies that seek to mitigate volatility. We offer a variety of investment strategies depending upon investors’ risk tolerance and expected returns. • Our disciplined investment approach and successful deployment of capital. Our ability to maintain and grow our revenue base is dependent upon our ability to successfully deploy the capital that our investors have committed to our funds. Under our disciplined investment approach, we deploy capital only when we have sourced a suitable investment opportunity at an attractive price. During the year ended December 31, 2025, we deployed $145.8 billion of gross capital across our investment groups compared to $106.7 billion deployed in 2024. We believe we continue to be well-positioned to invest our assets opportunistically. As of December 31, 2025, we had $156.0 billion of dry powder compared to $133.1 billion as of December 31, 2024. • Our ability to invest capital and generate returns through market cycles. The strength of our investment performance affects investors’ willingness to commit capital to our funds. The flexibility of the capital we are able to attract is one of the main drivers of the growth of our AUM and the management fees we earn. Current market conditions and a changing regulatory environment have created opportunities for Ares’ businesses, which utilize flexible investment mandates to manage portfolios through market cycles. See “Item 1. Business—Overview” for a comprehensive overview of our business, and “Item 1A. Risk Factors” for a discussion of the risks our businesses are subject to, both included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 104 Table of Contents Managing Business Performance Operating Metrics We measure our business performance using certain operating metrics that are common to the alternative investment management industry and are discussed below. Assets Under Management AUM refers to the assets we manage and is viewed as a metric to measure our investment and fundraising performance as it reflects assets generally at fair value plus available uncalled capital. The tables below present rollforwards of our total AUM by segment ($ in millions): Credit Group Real Assets Group Secondaries Group Private Equity Group Other Businesses Total AUM Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 348,858  $ 75,298  $ 29,153  $ 24,041  $ 7,096  $ 484,446  Acquisitions —  45,281  —  856  —  46,137  New par/equity commitments 36,518  14,316  11,855  2,282  7,129  72,100  New debt commitments 30,389  9,611  1,083  —  —  41,083  Capital reductions (13,310) (3,275) (280) (55) —  (16,920) Distributions (15,997) (6,382) (963) (2,031) (1,349) (26,722) Redemptions (3,695) (1,164) (154) —  (510) (5,523) Net allocations among investment strategies 2,582  272  73  —  (2,927) —  Change in fund value 21,521  5,131  1,389  195  (332) 27,904  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 406,866  $ 139,088  $ 42,156  $ 25,288  $ 9,107  $ 622,505  Credit Group Real Assets Group Secondaries Group Private Equity Group Other Businesses Total AUM Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 299,350  $ 65,413  $ 24,760  $ 24,551  $ 4,772  $ 418,846  Acquisitions 362  2,488  —  —  71  2,921  New par/equity commitments 39,343  7,367  4,453  519  6,442  58,124  New debt commitments 29,268  4,049  625  —  —  33,942  Capital reductions (10,546) (1,086) —  (4) —  (11,636) Distributions (16,864) (3,475) (880) (704) (817) (22,740) Redemptions (5,252) (1,093) —  (2) —  (6,347) Net allocations among investment strategies 2,828  20  25  (47) (2,826) —  Change in fund value 10,369  1,615  170  (272) (546) 11,336  Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 348,858  $ 75,298  $ 29,153  $ 24,041  $ 7,096  $ 484,446  The components of our AUM are presented below ($ in billions): AUM: $622.5 AUM: $484.4 FPAUM Non-fee paying(1) AUM not yet paying fees (1) Includes $18.2 billion and $14.4 billion of AUM of funds from which we indirectly earn management fees as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and includes $5.1 billion and $4.7 billion of non-fee paying AUM from our general partner and employee commitments as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. 105 Table of Contents Please refer to “— Results of Operations by Segment” for a more detailed presentation of AUM by segment for each of the periods presented. Fee Paying Assets Under Management FPAUM refers to AUM from which we directly earn management fees and is equal to the sum of all the individual fee bases of our funds that directly contribute to our management fees. The tables below present rollforwards of our total FPAUM by segment ($ in millions): Credit Group Real Assets Group Secondaries Group Private Equity Group Other Businesses Total Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 209,145  $ 44,088  $ 22,401  $ 11,427  $ 5,492  $ 292,553  Acquisitions —  30,467  —  1,118  —  31,585  Commitments 28,769  8,004  6,205  564  5,907  49,449  Deployment/increase in leverage 34,118  6,527  1,132  65  395  42,237  Capital reductions (10,404) (1,190) —  (11) —  (11,605) Distributions (18,755) (6,854) (348) (916) (1,286) (28,159) Redemptions (3,335) (1,164) (154) —  —  (4,653) Net allocations among investment strategies 2,858  247  73  —  (3,178) —  Change in fund value 7,067  2,811  302  (284) (180) 9,716  Change in fee basis 353  1,129  (130) 2,474  —  3,826  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 249,816  $ 84,065  $ 29,481  $ 14,437  $ 7,150  $ 384,949  Credit Group Real Assets Group Secondaries Group Private Equity Group Other Businesses Total Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 185,280  $ 41,338  $ 19,040  $ 13,124  $ 3,575  $ 262,357  Acquisitions 244  1,554  —  —  55  1,853  Commitments 19,326  3,440  2,793  —  5,745  31,304  Deployment/increase in leverage 29,479  3,180  395  47  174  33,275  Capital reductions (11,972) (12) —  —  —  (11,984) Distributions (14,843) (2,157) (505) (54) (817) (18,376) Redemptions (5,252) (1,093) —  (2) —  (6,347) Net allocations among investment strategies 3,453  20  —  —  (3,473) —  Change in fund value 2,144  (156) 41  (21) 234  2,242  Change in fee basis 1,286  (2,026) 637  (1,667) (1) (1,771) Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 209,145  $ 44,088  $ 22,401  $ 11,427  $ 5,492  $ 292,553  The charts below present FPAUM by its fee bases ($ in billions): FPAUM: $384.9 FPAUM: $292.6 Invested capital Market value/reported value(1) Capital commitments Collateral balances (at par) GAV (1)Includes $91.8 billion and $71.9 billion from funds that primarily invest in illiquid strategies as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The underlying investments held in these funds are generally subject to less market volatility than investments held in liquid strategies. 106 Table of Contents Please refer to “— Results of Operations by Segment” for detailed information by segment of the activity affecting total FPAUM for each of the periods presented. Perpetual Capital Assets Under Management The chart below presents our perpetual capital AUM by segment and type ($ in billions) Credit Real Assets Secondaries Other Businesses Publicly-Traded Vehicles Perpetual Wealth Vehicles Private Commingled Vehicles Managed Accounts Management Fees By Type We view the duration of funds we manage as a metric to measure the stability of our future management fees. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, 93% and 95%, respectively, of management fees were earned from perpetual capital or long-dated funds. The charts below present the composition of our segment management fees by fund type: Perpetual Capital - Publicly-Traded Vehicles Perpetual Capital - Perpetual Wealth Vehicles Perpetual Capital - Private Commingled Vehicles Perpetual Capital - Managed Accounts Long-Dated Funds(1) Other (1) Long-dated funds generally have a contractual life of five years or more at inception. 107 Table of Contents Available Capital and Assets Under Management Not Yet Paying Fees The charts below present our available capital and AUM not yet paying fees by segment ($ in billions): Credit Real Assets Secondaries Private Equity Other Businesses As of December 31, 2025, AUM not yet paying fees includes $78.8 billion of AUM available for future deployment and $4.3 billion of development assets not yet stabilized that could collectively generate approximately $730.4 million in potential incremental annual management fees, which represents a 23% embedded growth rate in our 2025 base management fees. Incentive Eligible Assets Under Management and Incentive Generating Assets Under Management The charts below present our IEAUM and IGAUM by segment ($ in billions): Credit Real Assets Secondaries Private Equity Other Businesses 108 Table of Contents The charts below present our IGAUM by strategy for funds generating fee related performance revenues and net fee related performance revenues by strategy as of and for the years ended: Real Estate U.S. Direct Lending European Direct Lending Alternative Credit Private Equity Secondaries (1)Fee related performance revenues by strategy is presented net of the associated fee related performance compensation. Fund Performance Metrics Fund performance information for our funds considered to be “significant funds” is included throughout this discussion with analysis to facilitate an understanding of our results of operations for the periods presented. Our significant funds are commingled funds that either contributed at least 1% of our total management fees or comprised at least 1% of our total FPAUM for each of the last two consecutive quarters. In addition to management fees, each of our significant funds may generate carried interest or incentive fees upon the achievement of performance hurdles. The fund performance information reflected in this discussion and analysis is not indicative of our overall performance. An investment in Ares is not an investment in any of our funds. Past performance is not indicative of future results. As with any investment, there is always the potential for gains as well as the possibility of losses. There can be no assurance that any of these funds or our other existing and future funds will achieve similar returns. Fund performance metrics for significant funds may be marked as “NM” as they may not be considered meaningful due to the limited time since the initial investment and/or early stage of capital deployment. To further facilitate an understanding of the impact a significant fund may have on our results, we present our drawdown funds as either harvesting investments or deploying capital to indicate the fund’s stage in its life cycle. A fund harvesting investments is past its investment period and opportunistically seeking to monetize investments, while a fund deploying capital is generally seeking new investment opportunities. 109 Table of Contents Components of Consolidated Results of Operations GCP Acquisition Overview On March 1, 2025, we completed the GCP Acquisition. The GCP Acquisition added complementary logistics and digital infrastructure investment capabilities and expanded our geographic presence. The activities of GCP International are included within the Real Assets Group segment. The GCP Acquisition added geographic exposure in Asia with a significant logistics platform in Japan, logistics platforms in emerging economies such as Brazil and Vietnam and an expanded presence in Europe and the U.S. The GCP Acquisition has broadened our vertically integrated operating and development capabilities across sectors and regions. We anticipate that the size and composition of fees earned, particularly our other fees, will be impacted by these expanded capabilities. The activities of GCP International are reflected within our results of operations beginning on March 1, 2025. Therefore, our analysis compared to the prior year will lack comparability, particularly in our Real Assets Group segment. Because the activities of GCP International represent 10 months of activity within the year ended December 31, 2025, we will separately discuss the significant impact of the GCP Acquisition within our discussion of our results of operations. In addition, various components of the agreed-upon purchase price for the GCP Acquisition are required to be accounted for as compensation because the payments were made to certain individuals that became Ares employees on March 1, 2025. Because they are required to be accounted for as compensation, these amounts have been excluded from purchase consideration and will have a varying impact on our results of operations in the current year as well as in future periods. We expect expenses to fluctuate during an integration period as we continue to seek to generate more cost savings and to execute on synergy opportunities. In connection with the GCP Acquisition, we also entered into contingent compensation arrangements with the sellers and with certain of its professionals that became Ares employees. The portion of the arrangements that are attributable to the sellers represents a component of purchase consideration that will be accounted for as contingent consideration. The portion of the arrangements that are attributable to the professionals that became Ares employees requires continued service through the measurement periods and will be accounted for as compensation. These arrangements will have a varying impact on our results of operations in the current year as well as in future periods that is dependent on these classifications as well as the expected attainment of the measurement criteria. For further discussion, see “Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Consolidated Results of Operations of the Company” as well as “Note 3. Business Combinations” and “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies” within our consolidated financial statements. Revenues Management Fees. The investment adviser of our funds generally receives an annual management fee based on a percentage of capital commitments, invested capital, NAV or the fair value of assets, among others. For certain of our SMAs, we receive an annual management fee based on a percentage of invested capital or NAV throughout the term of the SMA. We also may receive other fees, including agency and arrangement fees. In certain circumstances, we are contractually required to offset certain amounts of these other fees against management fees relating to the applicable fund. The investment adviser of each of our CLOs typically receives annual management fees based on the gross aggregate collateral balance for CLOs, at par, adjusted for cash and defaulted or discounted collateral. The management fees of CLOs accounted for approximately 2% of our total management fees on a consolidated basis and 3% on an unconsolidated basis for the year ended December 31, 2025. The management fees we receive from our drawdown style funds are typically payable on a quarterly basis over the life of the fund and do not fluctuate with the changes in value of the underlying investments within the fund. The investment management agreements we enter into with clients in connection with contractual SMAs may generally be terminated by such clients with reasonably short prior written notice. Typically, terminations do not require liquidation of assets so that SMAs will continue to pay fees until the underlying investments are liquidated. The management fees we receive from our SMAs are generally paid on a periodic basis (typically quarterly, subject to the termination rights described above) and are based on either invested capital or on the net asset value of the SMA. 110 Table of Contents Details regarding our management fees by strategy, excluding our publicly-traded funds and our perpetual wealth vehicles described separately, are presented below: Strategy Fee Rate Fee Base Average Remaining Contract Term(1) Credit Group Liquid Credit(2) 0.25% - 1.00% Par plus cash or NAV 9.3 years(2) Alternative Credit 0.50% - 1.50% NAV, gross asset value, capital commitments or invested capital 3.2 years Opportunistic Credit(3) 1.50% Invested capital or aggregate cost basis of unrealized portfolio investments 7.3 years U.S. and European Direct Lending(4) 0.75% - 1.50% Invested capital, NAV or total assets (in certain cases, excluding cash and cash equivalents) 5.5 years APAC Credit(5) 1.00% - 2.00% Capital commitments, aggregate cost basis of unrealized portfolio investments or a combination thereof 4.3 years Real Assets Group Real Estate(6) 0.45% - 1.50% Capital commitments, invested capital, GAV, NAV, aggregate cost basis of unrealized portfolio investments or a combination thereof 4.6 years Infrastructure(7) 0.75% - 1.50% Capital commitments, invested capital, GAV or NAV 6.3 years Secondaries Group Private Equity, Real Estate, Infrastructure and Credit Secondaries(8) 0.50% - 1.25% Capital commitments, invested capital, reported value (largely representing NAV of each fund’s underlying limited partnership interests), called capital plus unfunded commitments or reported value plus unfunded commitments 8.1 years Private Equity Group Corporate Private Equity(9) 1.50% Capital commitments 5.9 years APAC Private Equity(10) 1.00% - 2.00% Invested capital, capital commitments or a combination thereof 4.7 years Other Businesses Ares Insurance Solutions(11) 0.28% Monthly weighted average market value of assets N/A(11) (1)    Represents the average remaining contract term pursuant to the funds’ governing documents within each strategy, excluding perpetual capital vehicles, as of December 31, 2025. (2)    Liquid credit includes the syndicated loan, high yield bond and multi-asset credit strategies. Fee ranges for syndicated loans generally remain unchanged at the close of the re-investment period. In certain cases, CLOs may be called upon demand by subordinated noteholders prior to the management contract term expiration date. The funds in the high yield bond and multi-asset credit strategies are generally open-ended or managed account structures, which typically do not have investment period termination or management contract expiration dates. (3)    Fee range represents typical range during the investment period. Management fees for opportunistic credit funds generally step down to between 1.00% to 1.25% of the invested capital or the aggregate cost basis of unrealized portfolio investments following the expiration or termination of the investment period. (4)     Following the expiration or termination of the investment period, the fee basis for certain closed-end funds and managed accounts in this strategy generally change either to the aggregate cost or to market value of the portfolio investments. (5)    Certain funds pay a lower management fee rate on committed capital which increases when such capital is invested. The funds in this strategy are comprised of closed-end funds, with investment period termination or management contract termination dates. The funds also include co-investment accounts with fees ranging from 0.25% to 1.00%, which generally do not include investment period termination or management contract termination dates. (6)    Certain funds pay a lower management fee rate on committed capital which increases when such capital is invested. Following the expiration or termination of the investment period the basis on which management fees are earned for certain closed-end funds, managed accounts and co-investment vehicles in this strategy changes from committed capital to invested capital with no change in the management fee rate. Our diversified non-traded REIT and our industrial non-traded REIT pay management fees based on NAV plus net capital raised and outstanding from our 1031 exchange programs. In addition, certain real estate funds pay a management fee of 7.50% of net operating income. For these funds, we present an effective fee rate as a percentage of GAV. (7)    Fee range represents typical range during the investment period. Certain funds pay a lower management fee rate on committed capital which increases when such capital is invested. The infrastructure opportunities funds generally step down the fee base to the aggregated adjusted cost of unrealized portfolio investments, while retaining the same fee rate, following the expiration or termination of the investment period. (8)    Funds in each strategy are comprised of closed-end funds with either investment period termination or management contract termination dates and certain open-end accounts that generally do not have termination dates. (9)    Fee rate represents typical rate during the investment period. Management fees for corporate private equity funds generally step down to 0.75% to 1.00% of the aggregate adjusted cost of unrealized portfolio investments following the earlier to occur of: (i) the expiration or termination of the investment period; and (ii) the activation of a successor fund. (10)    Fee rate represents typical rate during the investment period. Management fees for APAC private equity funds generally step down the fee base to the aggregate adjusted cost of unrealized portfolio investments following the expiration or termination of the investment period. The funds also include co-investment vehicles with fee rates of 2.00%, which are excluded from the calculation of average remaining contract term because they will generally cease at the same time as the related funds. (11)    Ares Insurance Solutions earns a tiered management fee that starts at 0.30% and steps down to 0.15% of the monthly weighted average market value. Ares Insurance Solutions generally includes open-ended or managed account structures, which typically do not have investment period termination or management contract expiration dates. 111 Table of Contents The investment advisory and management agreements of our publicly-traded funds and our perpetual wealth vehicles must be reviewed or approved annually by their independent boards of directors. Details regarding our base management fees from our publicly-traded funds and our perpetual wealth vehicles are presented below: Vehicle Strategy Annual Fee Rate Fee Base Credit Group ARCC U.S. Direct Lending 1.50% Total assets (other than cash and cash equivalents) ARDC Liquid Credit 1.00% Total assets minus liabilities (other than liabilities relating to indebtedness) ASIF U.S. Direct Lending 1.25% NAV CADC U.S. Direct Lending 1.25% Total assets minus liabilities (other than liabilities relating to indebtedness) Open-Ended Sports, Media and Entertainment Opportunities Fund U.S. Direct Lending 1.40% NAV Open-Ended European Direct Lending Fund European Direct Lending 1.25% NAV Open-Ended European Direct Lending ELTIF European Direct Lending 1.25% NAV Real Assets Group ACRE Real Estate 1.50% Stockholders’ equity Diversified Non-Traded REIT Real Estate 1.10% NAV Industrial Non-Traded REIT Real Estate 1.25% NAV J-REIT Real Estate Various •Comprised of multiple components, including: ◦0.18% on total assets (“J-REIT Fee I”) ◦3.50% on net operating income (“J-REIT Fee II”) ◦Sum of J-REIT Fee I and J-REIT Fee II, multiplied by 0.033%, multiplied by earnings per outstanding investment unit Open-Ended Core Infrastructure Fund Infrastructure 1.25% NAV Secondaries Group APMF Private Equity Secondaries 1.40% Total assets (including any assets relating to indebtedness or preferred shares that may be issued) minus liabilities (other than liabilities relating to indebtedness) Part I Fees are based on net investment income (before Part I Fees and Part II Fees, where applicable), subject to hurdle rates as presented for each applicable fund below. No fees are recognized until net investment income exceeds the hurdle rate, with a catch-up provision to ensure that we receive the annual fee rate of the net investment income from the first dollar earned. Vehicle Strategy Annual Fee Rate Hurdle Rate Catch-Up Provision Credit Group ARCC Part I Fees U.S. Direct Lending 20% 1.75% per quarter or 7% per annum 20% ASIF Part I Fees U.S. Direct Lending 12.5% 1.25% per quarter or 5% per annum 12.5% CADC Part I Fees U.S. Direct Lending 15% 1.50% per quarter or 6% per annum 15% Open-Ended European Direct Lending Fund Part I Fees European Direct Lending 12.5% 1.25% per quarter or 5% per annum 12.5% Open-Ended European Direct Lending ELTIF Part I Fees European Direct Lending 12.5% 1.25% per quarter or 5% per annum 12.5% Real Assets Group Open-Ended Core Infrastructure Fund Part I Fees Infrastructure 12.5% 1.25% per quarter or 5% per annum 12.5% We are party to contractual expense support agreements with certain perpetual wealth vehicles under which we may advance a portion of certain expenses to support distribution efforts to investors. These expenses are subject to reimbursement from the perpetual wealth vehicles and may result in a reduction to our Part I Fees until expenses have been recovered. Incentive Fees. The general partners, managers or similar entities of certain of our funds receive incentive fees, a performance-based fee representing a portion of the investment returns of the applicable fund for a specified measurement period, generally one year, subject to certain net loss carry-forward provisions, high-watermarks and/or preferred returns. These performance-based fees may also be based on a fund’s cumulative net investment returns for the measurement period, in some cases subject to a high-watermark or a preferred return. Incentive fees are realized at the end of a measurement period, typically quarterly or annually. Realized incentive fees are generally higher during the second half of the year, aligning with the 112 Table of Contents measurement period that typically ends at the end of the calendar year. Once realized, such incentive fees are not subject to repayment. Cash from the realizations is typically received in the period subsequent to the measurement period. Incentive fees are composed of both fee related performance revenues, which are earned from perpetual capital vehicles, and those incentive fees earned from funds with stated investment periods. Details regarding our fee related performance revenues from our publicly-traded funds and our perpetual wealth vehicles are presented below: Vehicle Strategy Fee Rate Fee Base Annual Hurdle Rate Real Assets Group ACRE Real Estate 20% The difference between ACRE’s core earnings (as defined in ACRE’s management agreement) and its shareholders’ return on equity 8% Diversified Non-Traded REIT and Industrial Non-Traded REIT Real Estate 12.5% Annual investment returns, subject to certain net loss carry-forward provisions 5% Secondaries Group APMF Private Equity Secondaries 12.5% Quarterly investment returns, subject to certain net loss carry-forward provisions N/A We are party to contractual expense limitation agreements with certain perpetual wealth vehicles under which we may advance a portion of certain expenses to reduce the perpetual wealth vehicles’ expense ratios. Such expenses are subject to reimbursement from the perpetual wealth vehicles and may result in a reduction to our fee related performance revenues until the expenses have been recovered. Details regarding our fee related performance revenues by strategy, excluding our publicly-traded funds and our perpetual wealth vehicles described above, are presented below: Strategy Fee Rate Fee Base Annual Hurdle Rate Credit Group Alternative Credit 15% Incentive eligible fund’s profits 6% U.S. and European Direct Lending 8% - 16% Incentive eligible fund’s profits 5% - 8% Real Assets Group Real Estate 15% - 20% Incentive eligible fund’s profits 6% - 8% Details regarding our incentive fees earned from funds with stated investment periods, which are generally based on a fund’s eligible profits, are presented below: Strategy Fee Rate Annual Hurdle Rate Credit Group Liquid Credit 10% - 20% 3% - 12% Alternative Credit 12.5% - 20% 6% - 7% U.S. and European Direct Lending(1) 10% - 15% 5% - 8% Real Assets Group Real Estate 15% - 20% 6% - 8% Infrastructure (1) (1) Secondaries Group Private Equity Secondaries 10% 8% (1) We may receive Part II Fees from certain publicly-traded funds and perpetual wealth vehicles, which are not paid unless these funds achieve cumulative aggregate realized capital gains (net of cumulative aggregate realized capital losses and aggregate unrealized capital depreciation), subject to certain catch-up provisions. Such fees are presented as incentive fees earned from funds with stated investment periods. 113 Table of Contents Carried Interest Allocation. Carried interest allocation is recognized based on changes in valuation of our funds’ investments that exceed certain preferred returns as set forth in each respective partnership agreement. Carried interest allocation is based on the amount that would be due to us pursuant to the fund partnership agreement at each period end as if the funds were liquidated at such date. Accordingly, the amount recognized as carried interest allocation reflects our share of the fair value gains and losses of the associated funds’ underlying investments measured at their then-current fair values relative to the fair values as of the end of the prior period. Investment returns of one fund are not offset between or among funds. Funds generally follow either an American-style waterfall or a European-style waterfall. For American-style waterfalls, we in our role as general partner are entitled to receive carried interest after a fund investment is realized if the investors in the fund have received distributions in excess of the capital contributed for such investment and all prior realized investments (plus allocable expenses), as well as the preferred return. For European-style waterfalls, we in our role as general partner are entitled to receive carried interest if the investors in the fund have received distributions in an amount equal to all prior capital contributions (plus allocable expenses), as well as a preferred return. For most funds, the carried interest is subject to a preferred return ranging from 5% to 10%, after which there is typically a catch-up allocation to the general partner. Generally, if at the termination of a fund (and in some cases at interim points in the life of a fund), the fund has not achieved investment returns that exceed the preferred return threshold or the general partner receives net profits over the life of the fund in excess of its allocable share under the applicable partnership agreement, the general partner will be obligated to repay an amount equal to the extent the previously distributed carried interest exceeds the amounts to which the general partner is entitled. These repayment obligations may be related to amounts previously distributed to us and our senior professionals and are generally referred to as contingent repayment obligations. Certain funds may make distributions to their partners to provide them with cash sufficient to pay applicable federal, state and local tax liabilities attributable to the fund’s income that is allocated to them. These distributions are referred to as tax distributions and are not subject to contingent repayment obligations. Tax distributions from European-style waterfall funds generally precede investors in the fund receiving the preferred return. Contingent repayment obligations operate with respect to only a given fund’s net investment performance, and carried interest of other funds are not netted for determining this contingent obligation. Although a contingent repayment obligation is several to each person who received a distribution, and not a joint obligation, and our professionals who receive carried interest have guaranteed repayment of such contingent obligation, the governing agreements of our funds generally provide that, if a recipient does not fund his or her respective share, we may have to fund such additional amounts beyond the amount of carried interest we retained, although we generally will retain the right to pursue remedies against those carried interest recipients who fail to fund their obligations. Details regarding our carried interest, which is generally based on a fund’s eligible profits, are presented below: Strategy Fee Rate Annual Hurdle Rate Credit Group Alternative Credit 20% 6% Opportunistic Credit 20% 8% U.S. and European Direct Lending 10% - 20% 5% - 8% APAC Credit 15% - 20% 6% - 8% Real Assets Group Real Estate 10% - 20% 6% - 10% Infrastructure 15% - 20% 7% - 8% Secondaries Group Private Equity, Real Estate, Infrastructure and Credit Secondaries 10% - 15% 7% - 8% Private Equity Group Corporate Private Equity and APAC Private Equity 15% - 20% 8% Other Businesses Ares Insurance Solutions 20% 8% For detailed discussion of contingencies on carried interest, see “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies,” within our consolidated financial statements and “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Funds—We may need to pay “clawback” or “contingent repayment” obligations if and when they are triggered under the governing agreements with our funds” included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 114 Table of Contents Performance Income. Performance income is a term that we use to refer to a sub-set of performance-based fees and includes both carried interest and incentive fees earned from funds with stated investment periods and excludes fee related performance revenues. Principal Investment Income (Loss). Principal investment income (loss) consists of interest and dividend income and net realized and unrealized gains (losses) on equity method investments where we serve as general partner. Interest and dividend income are recognized on an accrual basis to the extent that such amounts are expected to be collected. A realized gain (loss) may be recognized when all or a portion of our investment is returned to us. Unrealized gains (losses) on investments result from appreciation (depreciation) in the fair value of our investments, as well as reversals of previously recorded unrealized appreciation (depreciation) at the time the gain (loss) on an investment becomes realized. Administrative, Transaction and Other Fees. Details regarding our administrative, transaction and other fees are presented below, which are typically payable at the time of the related transaction, unless otherwise noted: Administrative fees Represent fees that we earn for providing administrative services to certain funds and may reflect either expense reimbursements for the cost of certain professionals that perform services for a fund or may be based on fixed percentage of a fund’s invested capital. Typically payable quarterly Transaction fees Typically represent fees earned from the arrangement and origination of loans and are generated primarily from funds within our direct lending strategy. Fees are based on a fixed percentage of original issue discount for our direct lending funds Other fees: Capital markets transaction fees Represent fees earned by AMCM for participating as an underwriter, placement agent and/or acting as advisor on capital markets transactions Property-related fees represent fees earned from real estate and digital infrastructure funds and include the following: Acquisition fees Based on a percentage of a property’s cost at the time of property acquisition Development fees Based on a percentage of costs to develop a property and recognized over the development period. Typically payable monthly or at varying milestones throughout the development period Leasing fees Based on a percentage of rental income at lease execution, lease commencement or lease renewal Property management fees Based on a percentage of rental income or net operating income over the time associated property management services are provided. Typically payable monthly throughout the tenancy period Sale and distribution fees represent fees earned for the sale and distribution of fund shares in our perpetual wealth vehicles and include the following: Sales-based fees Based on a percentage of sales or subscriptions to investors in our perpetual wealth vehicles. Sales-based fees are reported net of amounts re-allowed to participating broker-dealers for their sales platform services. Typically payable quarterly throughout the service period Asset-based fees Based on the NAV of applicable funds and asset classes. Asset-based fees are reported net of amounts re-allowed to participating broker-dealers for their ongoing shareholder services. Typically payable quarterly throughout the service period Exchange program fees Based on a percentage of the value associated with the properties transacted through our 1031 exchange programs. Exchange program fees are recognized when investors contribute real property through like-kind 1031 exchanges for fund shares and through other private placements. These fees are composed of a program administration fee and a facilitation fee for advisory services and sales-based efforts, respectively Expenses Compensation and Benefits. Compensation generally includes salaries, bonuses, health and welfare benefits, payroll-related taxes, Part I Fee compensation, fee related performance compensation and equity compensation. We use changes in headcount, which represents the full-time equivalency of active employees during each period, to analyze changes in certain compensation and benefits expenses, primarily salaries, benefits and payroll-related taxes. Incentive-based compensation is typically correlated to the operating performance of our segments and is accrued over the service period to which it relates. Our discretionary incentive-based compensation includes our annual bonus pool, is based on our operating performance and may fluctuate throughout the year until payments are made. The majority of our annual bonus payments are made in the fourth quarter. Certain of our senior partners are not paid an annual salary or bonus, instead they only receive distributions based on their ownership interest when declared by our board of directors. Part I Fee compensation and fee related performance compensation represent approximately 60% of Part I Fees and of fee related performance revenues, respectively, before giving effect to payroll-related taxes. We also reduce certain Part I Fee compensation and fee related performance compensation by a portion of the supplemental distribution fees paid to the extent that Part I Fees and fee related performance revenues are earned from certain perpetual wealth vehicles. We pay sales-based bonuses for the sale and distribution of our wealth products, including our exchange programs associated with our non-traded REITs. Incremental changes in fair value of certain contingent liabilities established in connection with our various acquisitions are recognized ratably over the service period and are also presented within compensation and benefits. Equity compensation represents a form of non-cash compensation that we use to align our employees with the long-term interests of our shareholders. Equity-based awards are typically granted in the form of restricted units or restricted stock 115 Table of Contents (collectively “unvested awards”) that vest over service periods up to five years from the grant date. We issue equity awards with a long-term focus of limiting the average dilutive impact on our Class A common stockholders to no more than 1.5% annually. Because we withhold shares equal to the fair value of our employee tax withholding liabilities and pay the taxes on their behalf in cash, fewer net shares are issued upon vesting. This result has reduced the average annual dilutive impact of these awards to less than 1.0% annually. We expect the expenses recognized in connection with these awards to fluctuate with changes in the price of our Class A common stock. Performance Related Compensation. Performance related compensation includes compensation directly related to carried interest allocation and incentive fees earned from funds with stated investment periods, generally consisting of percentage interests that we grant to our professionals. Depending on the nature of each fund, the performance related compensation generally represents 60% to 80% of the carried interest allocation and incentive fees recognized by us before giving effect to payroll-related taxes. In certain instances, we may transfer our rights to performance income to structured financing vehicles that we manage. Although these transfers typically result in a reclassification of the associated performance income to investment income, we remain obligated to compensate our professionals who retain the rights to their allocation of performance income, which continue to be reported within performance related compensation. Performance related compensation may also include a portion of the profits from certain of our strategic investments that are payable to professionals although the profits generated from these strategic investments represent investment income and are not reported within performance income. The performance related compensation payable is calculated based upon the recognition of carried interest allocation and is not paid to recipients until the carried interest allocation is received. Performance related compensation may include allocations to charitable organizations as part of our philanthropic initiatives. Although the majority of changes in performance related compensation are directly correlated with changes in carried interest allocation and incentive fees reported within our segment results, this correlation does not always exist when our results are reported on a fully consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP. This discrepancy is caused when carried interest allocation and incentive fees earned from our Consolidated Funds is eliminated upon consolidation and performance related compensation is not, and similarly, investment income associated with strategic investments that generate profits interests for our professionals are not presented within performance income. General, Administrative and Other Expenses. General and administrative expenses include costs primarily related to occupancy, professional services, travel, information services and information technology costs, marketing costs, depreciation, amortization of intangibles and other general operating items. These expenses are largely influenced by changes in headcount growth, fundraising activities or strategic initiatives/acquisitions. Marketing costs include placement fees and supplemental distribution fees. Placement fees are fundraising costs for campaign funds and include: (i) upfront fees based on commitments to a fund; and (ii) service fees for periodic investor services that are recognized as services are provided. Supplemental distribution fees are fundraising costs associated with wealth products, generally paid to strategic investors and/or financial intermediaries for the distribution of shares and may be upfront on a portion of sales, ongoing as a percentage of net asset value or temporary in the form of a fee concession. Expenses of Consolidated Funds. Consolidated Funds’ expenses consist primarily of costs incurred by our Consolidated Funds, including professional services fees, research expenses, trustee fees, travel expenses and other costs associated with organizing and offering these funds. Other Income (Expense) Net Realized and Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Investments. A realized gain (loss) may be recognized when all or a portion of our investment is returned to us. Unrealized gains (losses) on investments result from the change in appreciation (depreciation) in the fair value of our investments. Interest and Dividend Income. Interest and dividend income is primarily generated from investments in CLOs and other strategic investments where we do not serve as general partner. Interest and dividend income are both recognized on an accrual basis to the extent that such amounts are expected to be collected. Interest Expense. Interest expense includes interest related to our Credit Facility, which has a variable interest rate based upon SOFR plus a credit spread that is adjusted with changes to corporate credit ratings, and to our senior and subordinated notes, each of which have fixed coupon rates. 116 Table of Contents Other Income (Expense), Net. Other income (expense), net consists of (i) transaction gains (losses) on the revaluation of assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than an entity’s functional currency; (ii) changes in fair value of contingent earnout arrangements; and (iii) other non-operating and non-investment related activities, such as loss on disposal of assets, among other items. Net Realized and Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Investments of Consolidated Funds. Realized gains (losses) may arise from dispositions of investments held by our Consolidated Funds. Unrealized gains (losses) are recorded to reflect the change in appreciation (depreciation) of investments held by the Consolidated Funds due to changes in fair value of the investments. Interest and Other Income of Consolidated Funds. Interest and other income of Consolidated Funds primarily includes interest and dividend income generated from the underlying investments of our Consolidated Funds. Interest Expense of Consolidated Funds. Interest expense primarily consists of interest related to our Consolidated CLOs’ loans payable and, to a lesser extent, revolving credit lines, term loans and notes of other Consolidated Funds. The interest expense of the Consolidated CLOs is solely the responsibility of such CLOs, and there is no recourse to us if the CLO is unable to make interest payments. Income Taxes AMC is a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and is subject to U.S. federal, state and local corporate income taxes at the entity level on its share of net taxable income. In addition, the AOG entities and certain of AMC’s subsidiaries operate in the U.S. as partnerships or disregarded entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes and as corporate entities in certain foreign jurisdictions. These entities, in some cases, are subject to U.S. state or local income taxes or foreign income taxes. Our effective tax rate is the result of AMC’s net taxable income and the applicable U.S. federal, state and local income taxes as well as, in some cases, foreign income taxes. Net taxable income is based on AMC’s ownership of the AOG entities. As such, our effective tax rate will be directly impacted by changes in AMC’s ownership of the AOG entities and changes to statutory rates in the U.S. and other foreign jurisdictions and, to a lesser extent, income taxes that are recorded for certain affiliated funds and co-investment vehicles that are consolidated in our financial results. The majority of our Consolidated Funds are not subject to income tax as the funds’ investors are responsible for reporting their share of income or loss on a pass-through basis. To the extent required by federal, state and foreign income tax laws and regulations, certain funds may incur income tax liabilities. Redeemable and Non-Controlling Interests Net income (loss) attributable to redeemable and non-controlling interests in Consolidated Funds represents the income (loss) attributable to ownership interests that third parties hold in entities that are consolidated within our consolidated financial statements. Net income (loss) attributable to redeemable and non-controlling interests in AOG entities represents results attributable to the owners of AOG Units and other ownership interests that are not held by AMC. Net income (loss) attributable to redeemable interest in AOG entities represents income generated by certain non-controlled investments owned by a third-party. Net income (loss) attributable to redeemable interest in AOG entities is allocated based on the ownership percentage attributable to the redeemable interest. Net income (loss) attributable to non-controlling interests in AOG entities is generally allocated based on the weighted average daily ownership of the other AOG unitholders, except for income (loss) generated from certain joint venture partnerships. Net income (loss) is allocated to other strategic distribution partners with whom we have established joint ventures based on the respective ownership percentages and based on the activity of certain membership interests. For additional discussion on components of our consolidated results of operations, see “Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 117 Table of Contents Consolidation and Deconsolidation of Ares Funds We consolidate (i) entities that we have both significant economics and the power to direct the activities of the entity that impact economic performance; and (ii) entities in which we hold a majority voting interest or has majority ownership and control over the operational, financial and investing decisions of that entity. Certain funds that have historically been consolidated in the financial statements may no longer be consolidated because: (i) such funds have been liquidated or dissolved; or (ii) we are no longer deemed to have a controlling interest in the entity. Consolidated Funds represented approximately 6% of our AUM as of December 31, 2025 and 3% of total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2025. The activity of the Consolidated Funds is reflected within the consolidated financial statement line items indicated by reference thereto. The impact of consolidation also typically will decrease revenues reported under GAAP to the extent these amounts are eliminated upon consolidation. The assets and liabilities of our Consolidated Funds are held within separate legal entities and, as a result, the liabilities of our Consolidated Funds are typically non-recourse to us. Generally, the consolidation of our Consolidated Funds has a significant gross-up effect on our assets, liabilities and cash flows but has no net effect on the net income attributable to us or our stockholders’ equity, except where accounting for a redemption or liquidation preference requires the reallocation of ownership based on specific terms of a profit sharing agreement. The net economic ownership interests of our Consolidated Funds, to which we have no economic rights, are reflected as redeemable and non-controlling interests in the Consolidated Funds within our consolidated financial statements. Redeemable interest in Consolidated Funds represented the shares issued by our SPAC that were redeemable for cash by the public shareholders until the completion of a business combination or tender offer associated with shareholder approval provisions. We have transferred certain financial interests to structured financing vehicles that we manage, including but not limited to collateralized fund obligations, rated note feeders and private asset-backed notes, among other secondary solutions. These financial interests include our capital interests and rights to performance income in funds that we manage. The purpose of these transferred interests is to provide collateral or other forms of similar credit-enhancement, including subordination and liquidity support, to the structured financing vehicles. These structured financing vehicles are typically designed to meet investors’ risk-return, liquidity, diversification and risk-based capital treatment objectives and to support capital raising efforts across our platform. The transfer of these financial interests does not subject us to the additional risk of loss; instead our maximum risk of loss equals the value of our transferred interest and only in the event that the returns generated by the structured financing vehicles do not meet stated performance thresholds. These structured financing vehicles typically represent variable interest entities that are consolidated with our results. As a result, the financial interests that we transfer will typically be reclassified from investments in the funds that we manage and/or from accrued performance income to investments of the Consolidated Funds upon consolidation. Any future investment income and performance income resulting from these financial interests will be presented within the results of operations of our Consolidated Funds as a result of consolidation. The performance of our Consolidated Funds is not necessarily consistent with, or representative of, the combined performance trends of all of our funds. For the actual impact that consolidation had on our results and further discussion on consolidation and deconsolidation of funds, see “Note 16. Consolidation” within our consolidated financial statements included herein. 118 Table of Contents Results of Operations Consolidated Results of Operations Although the consolidated results presented below include the results of our operations together with those of the Consolidated Funds and other joint ventures, we separate our analysis of those items primarily impacting the Company from those of the Consolidated Funds. The following table presents our summarized consolidated results of operations ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Total revenues $ 5,601,482  $ 3,884,781  $ 1,716,701  44% Total expenses (4,708,766) (2,938,691) (1,770,075) (60) Total other income, net 394,177  329,262  64,915  20 Less: Income tax expense 198,535  164,617  (33,918) (21) Net income 1,088,358  1,110,735  (22,377) (2) Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests in Consolidated Funds 253,904  295,772  (41,868) (14) Net income attributable to Ares Operating Group entities 834,454  814,963  19,491  2 Less: Net income attributable to redeemable interest in Ares Operating Group entities 1,349  103  1,246  NM Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests in Ares Operating Group entities 305,743  351,118  (45,375) (13) Net income attributable to Ares Management Corporation 527,362  463,742  63,620  14 Less: Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock dividends declared 101,250  22,781  78,469  NM Net income attributable to Ares Management Corporation Class A and non-voting common stockholders $ 426,112  $ 440,961  (14,849) (3) Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2024  Consolidated Results of Operations of the Company The following discussion sets forth information regarding our consolidated results of operations: Revenues Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Revenues Management fees $ 3,680,467  $ 2,942,126  $ 738,341  25% Carried interest allocation 1,153,976  390,180  763,796  196 Incentive fees 362,453  344,157  18,296  5 Principal investment income 48,149  45,424  2,725  6 Administrative, transaction and other fees 356,437  162,894  193,543  119 Total revenues $ 5,601,482  $ 3,884,781  1,716,701  44 Management Fees. Within the Credit Group, our publicly-traded funds and our perpetual wealth vehicles contributed an increase in management fees of $172.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year, primarily driven by increases in the average size of their portfolios. Capital deployment in private funds within our direct lending and alternative credit strategies led to a rise in FPAUM, contributing to an increase in management fees of $112.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. Within the Real Assets Group, funds that we manage as a result of the GCP Acquisition generated $202.8 million in additional management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025. In addition, management fees also increased by $20.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year, driven by the WSM Acquisition, which began generating fees in the fourth quarter of 2024. In addition, Part I Fees increased by $74.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase in Part I Fees were primarily attributable to ASIF, our open-ended European direct lending fund, our open-ended core infrastructure fund and CADC driven by increase in net investment income from their growing portfolio of investments. For detail regarding the fluctuations of management fees within each of our segments, see “—Results of Operations by Segment.” 119 Table of Contents Carried Interest Allocation. The following table sets forth carried interest allocation by segment ($ in millions): Year ended December 31, 2025 2024 Credit funds $ 756.0  $ 607.2  Real Assets funds 100.4  105.7  Secondaries funds 49.0  (19.5) Private Equity funds 177.0  (294.4) Other businesses 143.0  26.8  Elimination of carried interest from Consolidated Funds (31.6) (26.8) Carried interest of non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries (39.8) (8.8) Carried interest allocation $ 1,154.0  $ 390.2  The activity was principally composed of the following: Year ended December 31, 2025 Year ended December 31, 2024 Credit funds •Primarily from one opportunistic credit fund, four direct lending funds and two alternative credit funds with $42.6 billion of IGAUM generating returns in excess of their hurdle rates: ◦Within our opportunistic credit funds, Ares Special Opportunities Fund II, L.P. (“ASOF II”) generated carried interest allocation of $174.7 million, driven by improved profitability of portfolio companies that operate in the services, healthcare and industrial industries ◦Within our direct lending funds, Ares Capital Europe V, L.P. (“ACE V”), Ares Capital Europe VI, L.P. (“ACE VI”), Ares Private Credit Solutions II, L.P. (“PCS II”) and Ares Capital Europe IV, L.P. (“ACE IV”) generated carried interest allocation of $130.7 million, $119.2 million, $89.7 million and $36.5 million, respectively, driven by net investment income during the period ◦Within our alternative credit funds, Ares Pathfinder Fund II, L.P. (“Pathfinder II”) and Ares Pathfinder Fund, L.P. (“Pathfinder I”) generated carried interest allocation of $88.1 million and $63.0 million, respectively, driven by market appreciation of certain investments and net investment income during the period •Primarily from five direct lending funds, one opportunistic credit fund and two alternative credit funds with $36.2 billion of IGAUM generating returns in excess of their hurdle rates: ◦Within our opportunistic credit funds, ASOF II generated carried interest allocation of $177.3 million, driven by improved operating performance metrics from portfolio companies that operate in the services and retail industries ◦Within our direct lending funds, ACE V, PCS II, ACE IV, ACE VI and Ares Private Credit Solutions, L.P. (“PCS I”) generated carried interest allocation of $153.2 million, $131.1 million, $57.0 million, $54.5 million and $22.9 million, respectively, driven by net investment income during the period ◦Within our alternative credit funds, Pathfinder I and Pathfinder II generated carried interest allocation of $62.6 million and $39.1 million, respectively, driven by market appreciation of certain investments and net investment income during the period •Reversal of unrealized carried interest of $99.8 million and $23.7 million from Ares Special Situations Fund IV, L.P. (“SSF IV”) and Ares Special Opportunities Fund I, L.P. (“ASOF I”) respectively, primarily due to the market depreciation of their investments in Savers Value Village, Inc. (“SVV”), driven by its lower stock price and lower operating performance of portfolio companies that primarily operate in the retail, services and healthcare industries •Reversal of unrealized carried interest of $68.9 million from Ares Capital Europe III, L.P. (“ACE III”) due to lower valuations of certain investments Real Assets funds •Ares Infrastructure Debt Fund V, L.P. (“IDF V”) generated carried interest allocation of $42.0 million, driven by net investment income during the period •Ares Climate Infrastructure Partners II, L.P. (“ACIP II”) and Ares Energy Investors Fund V, L.P. (“EIF V”) generated carried interest allocation of $26.6 million and $22.1 million, respectively, driven by the appreciation of certain portfolio investments •IDF V generated carried interest allocation of $63.8 million, driven by net investment income during the period •Ares Climate Infrastructure Partners, L.P. (“ACIP I”) and EIF V generated carried interest allocation of $44.0 million and $27.7 million, respectively, due to appreciation of certain investments •Reversal of unrealized carried interest of $26.3 million from Ares European Real Estate Fund IV SCSp (“EF IV”), primarily driven by the lower valuation of a residential property investment Secondaries funds •Landmark Real Estate Fund IX, L.P. (“LREF IX”) and Landmark Equity Partners XVII, L.P. (“LEP XVII”) generated carried interest allocation of $27.1 million and $20.4 million, respectively, primarily driven by appreciation of certain portfolio investments •Ares Secondaries Infrastructure Solutions III, L.P. (“ASIS III”) and four private equity secondaries funds collectively generated carried interest allocation of $27.0 million, primarily driven by the appreciation of certain portfolio investments •Reversal of unrealized carried interest of $28.9 million from Landmark Equity Partners XVI, L.P. (“LEP XVI”), due to the lower valuation of certain portfolio investments •Reversal of unrealized carried interest of $19.8 million from Landmark Real Estate Fund VIII, L.P. (“LREF VIII”), primarily driven by the lower valuation of certain investments with underlying interests in multifamily portfolios 120 Table of Contents Year ended December 31, 2025 Year ended December 31, 2024 Private Equity funds •Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund VI, L.P. (“ACOF VI”) generated carried interest allocation of $191.5 million, driven by improved profitability of portfolio companies that primarily operate in the healthcare, services, industrial and retail industries •Reversal of unrealized carried interest of $13.1 million from a corporate private equity extended value fund, driven by lower operating performance from a portfolio company that operates in the industrial industry •ACOF VI generated carried interest allocation of $220.3 million, driven by improved operating performance metrics from portfolio companies that primarily operate in the healthcare, services, industrial and retail industries •Reversal of unrealized carried interest of $474.9 million from Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund V, L.P. (“ACOF V”) due to the market depreciation of its investment in SVV, driven by its lower stock price Other businesses •Carried interest allocation of $118.0 million attributable to the change in value from previously held Ares Acquisition Corporation II Class A ordinary shares that converted into equity securities of Kodiak AI, Inc. (Nasdaq: KDK) following the business combination •Carried interest allocation of $25.0 million from an insurance fund that is eliminated upon consolidation •Carried interest allocation from an insurance fund that is eliminated upon consolidation Incentive Fees. The following table sets forth incentive fees by segment ($ in millions): Year ended December 31, 2025 2024 Credit funds $ 270.9  $ 287.8  Real Assets funds 36.1  27.2  Secondaries funds 55.5  29.2  Incentive fees $ 362.5  $ 344.2  The increase in incentive fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year was primarily due to higher fees generated from (i) APMF and our open-ended core alternative credit fund, resulting from increased IGAUM; (ii) our U.S. open-ended industrial real estate fund that crystallizes incentive fees by investor based on performance over three-year measurement periods; and (iii) our diversified non-traded REIT, driven by strong fund performance. For further detail regarding the incentive fees within each of our segments, see discussion of fee related performance revenues and realized net performance income within “—Results of Operations by Segment.” Principal Investment Income. The activity for the year ended December 31, 2025 was primarily attributable to: •Unrealized gains from our investments in various European real estate equity and U.S. direct lending, partially offset by an unrealized loss from a U.S. real estate equity fund •Interest and dividend income primarily generated from our investments in various real estate, direct lending and opportunistic credit funds, and interest income from newly admitted investors in an insurance fund, where capital account balances were reallocated from existing investors in exchange for interest to compensate for carrying costs The activity for the year ended December 31, 2024 was primarily attributable to: •Interest income from newly admitted investors in an insurance fund, where capital account balances are reallocated from existing investors in exchange for interest to compensate for carrying costs •Realized gains generated from our investments in various infrastructure debt, real estate debt and direct lending funds Administrative, Transaction and Other Fees. The increase for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year was driven by incremental fees of $157.2 million following the completion of the GCP Acquisition. The GCP Acquisition enhances our vertically integrated capabilities, which enables us to earn various forms of property-related fees. For the year ended December 31, 2025, these incremental fees largely represented development, property management and leasing fees. The increase in fees over the comparative period, excluding the aforementioned impact from the GCP Acquisition, was also driven by higher administrative service fees of $20.8 million, primarily from: (i) our perpetual wealth vehicles; and (ii) new and existing private funds within our Credit Group that are based on invested capital. In addition, we earned higher capital markets transaction fees of $4.3 million associated with increased transaction volumes generated by AMCM during the current year as we are investing in the capital markets business to create greater revenue growth opportunities over time. 121 Table of Contents Expenses Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Expenses Compensation and benefits $ 2,565,625  $ 1,731,747  $ (833,878) (48)% Performance related compensation 1,094,355  449,564  (644,791) (143) General, administrative and other expenses 996,075  736,501  (259,574) (35) Expenses of Consolidated Funds 52,711  20,879  (31,832) (152) Total expenses $ 4,708,766  $ 2,938,691  (1,770,075) (60) Compensation and Benefits. In connection with the GCP Acquisition, various components of the agreed-upon purchase price are required to be accounted for as compensation because the payments were made to certain individuals that became Ares employees following the GCP Acquisition. The year ended December 31, 2025 included the following acquisition-related compensation expenses: (i) equity-based compensation expense of $227.6 million, from awards associated with the purchase price of the GCP Acquisition, with $110.0 million of expense from the portion of these awards that immediately vested; (ii) other compensation costs of $48.5 million that were settled in cash; and (iii) compensation expense of $71.3 million for certain contingent earnout arrangements established in connection with the GCP Acquisition. See “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies” within our consolidated financial statements for a further description of the contingent earnout arrangements established in connection with acquisitions. In addition, the GCP Acquisition contributed incremental employment related costs of $170.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, largely reflecting salary expense and incentive-based compensation. Compensation and benefits, excluding the aforementioned impact from the GCP Acquisition, increased by $316.0 million, or 18%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase in expenses reflect the continued growth in salary and benefits for our increased staffing levels. Equity-based compensation expense also increased by $160.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year as a result of issuing new discretionary and bonus-related awards at an increased stock price as of the grant date. In addition, Part I Fee compensation increased by $36.8 million over the comparative period, corresponding to the increase in Part I Fees. We reduced Part I Fee compensation by $22.4 million and $11.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, to reclaim a portion of the supplemental distribution fees that we paid to distribution partners. Full-time equivalent headcount increased by 34% to 3,967 professionals for the year-to-date period in 2025 from 2,971 professionals in 2024. The GCP Acquisition added 805 professionals to our headcount as of December 31, 2025, which represents 690 full-time equivalents for the year-to-date period. For detail regarding the fluctuations of compensation and benefits within each of our segments see “—Results of Operations by Segment.” Performance Related Compensation. The majority of the changes in performance related compensation are directly associated with the changes in carried interest allocation and incentive fees as described above. These changes also include associated payroll-related taxes as well as the portions that are allocated to charitable organizations as part of our philanthropic initiatives. Performance related compensation generally represents 60% to 80% of carried interest allocation and incentive fees recognized before giving effect to payroll taxes and will vary based on the mix of funds generating carried interest allocation and incentive fees for that period. The performance related compensation ratio is also impacted by additional expense that is payable to professionals as a result of gains recognized from profit interests held in a strategic investment. The corresponding income from this strategic investment is reflected within components of other income rather than carried interest allocation or incentive fees. General, Administrative and Other Expenses. General, administrative and other expenses incurred in connection with the activities resulting from the GCP Acquisition were $179.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. These expenses were driven by: (i) operating costs of $93.2 million, including non-recurring integration costs of $20.1 million and (ii) amortization expense of $86.2 million related to the intangible assets recorded in connection with the GCP Acquisition. We have also incurred acquisition-related operating expenses in connection with the GCP Acquisition of $35.3 million and $33.4 million during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. In each case, such costs were largely paid to advisors and professional services providers to assist in completing the transaction. 122 Table of Contents General, administrative and other expenses, excluding the aforementioned impact from the GCP Acquisition, increased by $78.2 million, or 11%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase in expenses reflect growing staffing levels and fundraising activities. The most significant expense increases were supplemental distribution fees, occupancy costs and information technology costs. Supplemental distribution fees increased by $58.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. In the current year, supplemental distribution fees included a one-time expense of $30.7 million pursuant to the termination of a distribution agreement with a strategic partner that will result in annual cost savings of approximately $9.3 million per year. The increase in supplemental distribution fees was also driven by higher sales volumes and NAVs of our perpetual wealth vehicles and by the ongoing development of our distribution relationships and expansion of our wealth product offerings. In addition, occupancy costs and information technology costs collectively increased by $25.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase in these expenses was primarily to support our growing headcount and the expansion of our business, including the expansion of our New York headquarters. Other Income (Expense) Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Other income (expense) Net realized and unrealized gains on investments $ 307,582  $ 16,570  $ 291,012  NM Interest and dividend income 47,451  43,054  4,397  10 Interest expense (171,642) (142,966) (28,676) (20) Other income (expense), net (319,745) 627  (320,372) NM Net realized and unrealized gains on investments of Consolidated Funds 551,076  313,963  237,113  76 Interest and other income of Consolidated Funds 575,273  933,349  (358,076) (38) Interest expense of Consolidated Funds (595,818) (835,335) 239,517  29 Total other income, net $ 394,177  $ 329,262  64,915  20 Net Realized and Unrealized Gains on Investments; Interest and Dividend Income. The activity for the year ended December 31, 2025 was primarily attributable to: •Unrealized gains of $233.3 million from our strategic investments in a U.S. nuclear energy company •Interest and dividend income primarily included: (i) dividend income from our strategic investment in a Brazilian alternative asset manager; (ii) income from our investments in CLOs and CLO-based investments; and (iii) $11.9 million of interest income earned from treasury-backed securities. These treasury-backed securities were sold and the proceeds from the sale were used to fund the GCP Acquisition The activity for the year ended December 31, 2024 was primarily attributable to: •Net unrealized gains primarily from our investment in APMF •Interest and dividend income primarily included: (i) dividend income from our strategic investment in a Brazilian alternative asset manager; (ii) income from our investments in CLOs and CLO-based investments; and (iii) $11.5 million of interest income earned from aforementioned treasury-backed securities Interest Expense. Interest expense increased for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year due to higher collective interest expense associated with our term debt obligations and a higher average outstanding balance of our Credit Facility over the comparative period. The activity for the year ended December 31, 2024 included $5.5 million of one-time interest expense related to a temporary bridge facility that was established in connection with the GCP Acquisition. The facility was not utilized and was terminated in the fourth quarter of 2024. Other Income (Expense), Net. Other income (expense), net for the year ended December 31, 2025 consists of non-cash expense of $301.1 million from the revaluation of contingent consideration primarily from the GCP Acquisition. The purchase agreement for the GCP Acquisition contains contingent earnout arrangements that are dependent on achievement of revenue targets of certain digital infrastructure funds and fundraising targets of certain Japanese real estate funds. See “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies” within our consolidated financial statements for a further description of the contingent earnout arrangements established in connection with acquisitions. 123 Table of Contents Income Tax Expense Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Income before taxes $ 1,286,893  $ 1,275,352  $ 11,541  1% Less: Income tax expense 198,535  164,617  (33,918) (21) Net income $ 1,088,358  $ 1,110,735  (22,377) (2) The increase in income tax expense was primarily attributable to higher pre-tax income allocable to AMC and higher entity level taxes in foreign and local jurisdictions for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The allocation of taxable income is also sensitive to any changes in weighted average daily ownership as the income attributed to redeemable and non-controlling interests is generally passed through to partners and not subject to corporate income taxes. The following table summarizes weighted average daily ownership: Year ended December 31, 2025 2024 AMC common stockholders 66.95 % 63.61 % Non-controlling AOG unitholders 33.05 36.39 The change in ownership compared to the prior year was primarily driven by the issuances of shares of Class A common stock in connection with the GCP Acquisition, exchanges of AOG Units and vesting of restricted unit awards. Redeemable and Non-Controlling Interests Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Net income $ 1,088,358  $ 1,110,735  $ (22,377) (2)% Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests in Consolidated Funds 253,904  295,772  (41,868) (14) Net income attributable to Ares Operating Group entities 834,454  814,963  19,491  2 Less: Net income attributable to redeemable interest in Ares Operating Group entities 1,349  103  1,246  NM Less: Net income attributable to non-controlling interests in Ares Operating Group entities 305,743  351,118  (45,375) (13) Net income attributable to Ares Management Corporation 527,362  463,742  63,620  14 Less: Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock dividends declared 101,250  22,781  (78,469) NM Net income attributable to Ares Management Corporation Class A and non-voting common stockholders $ 426,112  $ 440,961  (14,849) (3) The change in net income attributable to non-controlling interests in AOG entities compared to the prior year was a result of the respective changes in income before taxes and weighted average daily ownership, as presented above. 124 Table of Contents Consolidated Results of Operations of the Consolidated Funds     The following table presents the results of operations of the Consolidated Funds ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Expenses of the Consolidated Funds $ (52,711) $ (20,879) $ (31,832) (152)% Net realized and unrealized gains on investments of Consolidated Funds 551,076  313,963  237,113  76 Interest and other income of Consolidated Funds 575,273  933,349  (358,076) (38) Interest expense of Consolidated Funds (595,818) (835,335) 239,517  29 Income before taxes 477,820  391,098  86,722  22 Less: Income tax expense of Consolidated Funds 6,128  7,074  946  13 Net income 471,692  384,024  87,668  23 Less: Revenues attributable to Ares Management Corporation eliminated upon consolidation 178,773  68,200  110,573  162 Other income, net attributable to Ares Management Corporation eliminated upon consolidation (39,015) (20,052) 18,963  95 Net income attributable to non-controlling interests in Consolidated Funds $ 253,904  $ 295,772  (41,868) (14) The results of operations of the Consolidated Funds primarily represent activities from certain funds that we are deemed to control. When a fund is consolidated, we reflect the revenues and expenses of the entity on a gross basis, subject to eliminations from consolidation. Substantially all of our results of operations related to the Consolidated Funds are attributable to ownership interests that third parties hold in those funds. The Consolidated Funds are not necessarily the same funds in each year presented due to changes in ownership, changes in limited partners’ or investor rights, and the creation or termination of funds and entities. Accordingly, such amounts may not be comparable for the periods presented, and in any event have no material impact on net income attributable to Ares Management Corporation. 125 Table of Contents Segment Analysis For segment reporting purposes, revenues and expenses are presented before giving effect to the results of our Consolidated Funds and the results attributable to non-controlling interests of joint ventures that we consolidate. As a result, segment revenues are different than those presented on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP. Revenues recognized from Consolidated Funds are eliminated in consolidation and those attributable to the non-controlling interests of joint ventures have been excluded by us. Furthermore, expenses and the effects of other income (expense) are different than related amounts presented on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP due to the exclusion of the results of Consolidated Funds and the non-controlling interests of joint ventures. Non-GAAP Financial Measures We use Realized Income (“RI”) as a non-GAAP profit measure in making operating decisions, assessing performance and allocating resources. Fee Related Earnings (“FRE”) is a component of RI that excludes realized activities associated with investment income and performance income. FRE and RI should be considered in addition to and not in lieu of, the results of operations, which are discussed further under “—Consolidated Results of Operations of the Company” and are prepared in accordance with GAAP. We operate through our distinct operating segments. In the first quarter of 2025, we combined the presentation of real estate strategies and infrastructure strategies within Real Assets. Real estate includes Americas real estate equity, European real estate equity, APAC real estate equity and real estate debt. Americas real estate equity, which we had recently renamed from North American real estate equity, now includes the activities of Brazil following the GCP Acquisition. APAC real estate equity is newly established following the GCP Acquisition and primarily represents the activities in Japan and Vietnam. Infrastructure includes digital infrastructure, infrastructure opportunities and infrastructure debt. Digital infrastructure is newly established following the GCP Acquisition. The change in presentation did not result in any change to the historical composition of our segments. Interest expense was historically allocated among our segments based only on the cost basis of our balance sheet investments. Beginning in the first quarter of 2025, we changed our interest expense allocation methodology to consider the growing sources of financing requirements, including the cost of acquisitions in addition to the cost basis of our balance sheet investments. Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. The following table sets forth FRE and RI by reportable segment and the OMG ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Fee Related Earnings: Credit Group $ 1,824,711  $ 1,568,157  $ 256,554  16% Real Assets Group 464,660  212,106  252,554  119 Secondaries Group 208,406  126,172  82,234  65 Private Equity Group 58,320  60,546  (2,226) (4) Other 27,404  15,686  11,718  75 Operations Management Group (808,201) (620,930) (187,271) (30) Fee Related Earnings $ 1,775,300  $ 1,361,737  413,563  30 Realized Income: Credit Group $ 1,952,297  $ 1,688,110  $ 264,187  16% Real Assets Group 442,054  218,210  223,844  103 Secondaries Group 203,300  101,036  102,264  101 Private Equity Group 39,539  52,501  (12,962) (25) Other 15,420  27,821  (12,401) (45) Operations Management Group (804,302) (620,558) (183,744) (30) Realized Income $ 1,848,308  $ 1,467,120  381,188  26 126 Table of Contents Income before provision for income taxes is the GAAP financial measure most comparable to RI. The following table presents the reconciliation of income before taxes as reported within the Consolidated Statements of Operations to RI and FRE of the reportable segments and the OMG ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, 2025 2024 Income before taxes $ 1,286,893  $ 1,275,352  Adjustments: Depreciation and amortization expense 241,925  157,341  Equity compensation expense 740,549  352,851  Acquisition-related compensation expense(1) 105,202  38,150  Acquisition, merger and transaction-related expense 65,363  57,360  Placement fee adjustment (3,891) 5,715  Other (income) expense, net 303,200  (12,172) Income before taxes of non-controlling interests in consolidated subsidiaries (15,112) (22,267) Income before taxes of non-controlling interests in Consolidated Funds, net of eliminations (260,032) (302,846) Total performance income—unrealized (762,534) (109,533) Total performance related compensation—unrealized 594,661  36,823  Total net investment income—unrealized (447,916) (9,654) Realized Income 1,848,308  1,467,120  Total performance income—realized (526,284) (430,179) Total performance related compensation—realized 357,273  281,301  Total net investment loss—realized 96,003  43,495  Fee Related Earnings $ 1,775,300  $ 1,361,737  (1)Represents bonus payments, a portion of earnouts and other costs in connection with various acquisitions that are recorded as compensation expense and are presented within compensation and benefits within our Consolidated Statements of Operations. For the specific components and calculations of these non-GAAP measures, as well as additional reconciliations to the most comparable measures in accordance with GAAP, see “Note 15. Segment Reporting” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Discussed below are our results of operations for our reportable segments and the OMG. 127 Table of Contents Results of Operations by Segment Credit Group—Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2024 Fee Related Earnings The following table presents the components of the Credit Group’s FRE ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Management fees $ 2,529,312  $ 2,177,816  $ 351,496  16% Fee related performance revenues 210,356  202,703  7,653  4 Other fees 52,895  41,819  11,076  26 Compensation and benefits (788,989) (692,309) (96,680) (14) General, administrative and other expenses (178,863) (161,872) (16,991) (10) Fee Related Earnings $ 1,824,711  $ 1,568,157  256,554  16 Management Fees. The chart below presents Credit Group management fees and effective management fee rates ($ in millions): 128 Table of Contents The following table presents the components of and causes for changes in the Credit Group’s management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year ($ in millions): Year-over-year Change Publicly-traded funds and perpetual wealth vehicles: Base management fees from ARCC, ASIF and CADC due to increases in the average size of their portfolios $ 128.7  Part I Fees from ASIF, our open-ended European direct lending fund and CADC, driven by increases in net investment income from their growing portfolio of investments 67.3  Base management fees from our open-ended European direct lending fund due to the expiration of a fee waiver during the first quarter of 2025 and to an increase in the average size of its portfolio 36.4  Capital deployment in private funds: Fees from Ares Senior Direct Lending Fund III, L.P. (“SDL III”), ASOF II, Pathfinder II, ACE VI and our open-ended core alternative credit fund 136.4  Distributions that reduced the fee base of ACE IV, ASOF I, Ares Senior Direct Lending Fund, L.P. (“SDL I”), ACE III and PCS I as the funds are past their investment periods (50.7) Cumulative effect of other changes 33.4  Total $ 351.5  Fee Related Performance Revenues. The chart below presents fee related performance revenues, including the number of funds generating, for the Credit Group by strategy ($ in millions): Fee related performance revenues increased for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher incentive fees from: (i) a European direct lending fund that crystallized a deferred payment during the first quarter of 2025 due to the restructuring of its hold back provisions; (ii) the aforementioned European direct lending fund that crystallized higher fees in 2025 due to lower hold back amounts subsequent to the restructuring of its hold back provisions; and (iii) our open-ended core alternative credit fund, driven by increased IGAUM and improved fund performance. In addition, incentive fees from our closed-end sports, media and entertainment fund were recognized as fee related performance revenues in 2025 as this fund converted from having a finite term to a perpetual capital vehicle in 2025. Incentive fees generated from this closed-end sports, media and entertainment fund were presented within realized performance income in previous periods. Separately, we recognized lower incentive fees of $30.6 million from three direct lending funds for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. These three funds are subject to three-year hold back provisions and had crystallized deferred payments in 2024. 129 Table of Contents Other Fees. The increase in other fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year was primarily driven by higher administrative service fees of $8.2 million, which are earned from certain private funds that pay on invested capital. In addition, we earned higher capital markets transaction fees of $3.0 million associated with increased transaction volumes generated by AMCM during the current year. Compensation and Benefits. The increase in compensation and benefits for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 was primarily driven by higher: (i) incentive-based compensation; (ii) Part I Fee compensation of $36.8 million, corresponding to the increase in Part I Fees; and (iii) fee related performance compensation of $4.3 million, corresponding to the increase in fee related performance revenues. We reduced Part I Fee compensation by $20.1 million and $11.7 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, to reclaim a portion of the supplemental distribution fees that we paid to distribution partners. Full-time equivalent headcount increased by 5% to 705 investment and investment support professionals for the year-to-date period in 2025 from 672 professionals in 2024 to support our growing direct lending and alternative credit platforms. General, Administrative and Other Expenses. The increase in general, administrative and other expenses was primarily due to costs incurred to support the distribution of shares in our perpetual wealth vehicles. Supplemental distribution fees increased by $17.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year as we continue to develop our distribution relationships and expand our wealth product offerings. In addition, occupancy costs and information technology costs collectively increased by $4.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase in these expenses was primarily to support our growing headcount and the expansion of our business. Conversely, marketing costs decreased by $5.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year, largely attributable to fund formation costs for ACE VI that did not recur in 2025. 130 Table of Contents Realized Income The following table presents the components of the Credit Group’s RI ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Fee Related Earnings $ 1,824,711  $ 1,568,157  $ 256,554  16% Performance income—realized 383,892  326,202  57,690  18 Performance related compensation—realized (257,290) (207,794) (49,496) (24) Realized net performance income 126,602  118,408  8,194  7 Investment income—realized 14,321  21,159  (6,838) (32) Interest income 6,704  11,671  (4,967) (43) Interest expense (20,041) (31,285) 11,244  36 Realized net investment income 984  1,545  (561) (36) Realized Income $ 1,952,297  $ 1,688,110  264,187  16 The Credit Group’s realized activities were principally composed of and caused by the following: Year ended December 31, 2025 Year ended December 31, 2024 Realized net performance income Carried interest: •Tax distributions of $84.7 million primarily from ASOF II, ACE V, ACE IV and Pathfinder I •Distributions of $12.8 million from two alternative credit funds, which are European-style waterfall funds that are past their investment periods and monetizing investments Incentive fees: •$13.1 million generated from five direct lending funds and three alternative credit funds with $4.1 billion of IGAUM generating returns in excess of their hurdle rates •$4.6 million from an alternative credit fund that crystallized in connection with a loan repayment Carried interest: •Tax distributions of $74.7 million primarily from ACE IV, ACE V, PCS I, ASOF I and an alternative credit fund Incentive fees: •$31.3 million primarily generated from seven direct lending funds and five alternative credit funds with $5.1 billion of IGAUM generating returns in excess of their hurdle rates, and from a U.S. CLO that was driven by the reset of its capital structure and extension of its reinvestment period Realized investment income and interest income •Income of $11.0 million generated from our investments in 13 CLOs and CLO-based investments •Income of $3.1 million generated from our investment in an opportunistic credit fund •Income of $13.5 million generated from our investments in 19 CLOs and CLO-based investments •Income of $6.6 million from our investment in a U.S. direct lending fund Interest expense allocated to the Credit Group decreased for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year as a significant portion of the current year’s interest expense was allocated based on capital used to finance the GCP Acquisition, which occurred within the Real Assets Group. 131 Table of Contents Credit Group—Performance Income The following table presents the accrued carried interest, also referred to as accrued performance income, and related performance compensation for the Credit Group. Accrued net performance income excludes net performance income that has been realized but not yet received as of the reporting date ($ in millions): As of December 31, 2025 2024 Accrued Performance Income Accrued Performance Compensation Accrued Net Performance Income Accrued Performance Income Accrued Performance Compensation Accrued Net Performance Income Pathfinder I $ 216.3  $ 183.9  $ 32.4  $ 191.4  $ 165.7  $ 25.7  Pathfinder II 134.7  105.4  29.3  46.6  36.3  10.3  ASOF I 276.4  204.6  71.8  318.4  223.2  95.2  ASOF II 324.6  227.3  97.3  258.2  181.4  76.8  PCS I 150.5  88.9  61.6  130.1  76.9  53.2  PCS II 262.6  155.5  107.1  171.4  101.5  69.9  ACE IV 185.7  120.5  65.2  168.8  109.6  59.2  ACE V 347.6  218.9  128.7  286.6  180.9  105.7  ACE VI 190.3  119.7  70.6  71.1  44.8  26.3  Other Credit funds 246.0  149.1  96.9  285.4  170.7  114.7  Total Credit Group $ 2,334.7  $ 1,573.8  $ 760.9  $ 1,928.0  $ 1,291.0  $ 637.0  The following table presents the change in accrued performance income for the Credit Group ($ in millions): As of December 31, 2024 Activity during the period As of December 31, 2025 Waterfall Type Accrued Performance Income Change in Unrealized Realized Other Adjustments Accrued Performance Income Accrued Carried Interest Pathfinder I European $ 191.4  $ 63.0  $ (38.1) $ —  $ 216.3  Pathfinder II European 46.6  88.1  —  —  134.7  ASOF I European 318.4  (4.0) (21.1) (16.9) 276.4  ASOF II European 258.2  174.7  (108.3) —  324.6  PCS I European 130.1  20.1  —  0.3  150.5  PCS II European 171.4  89.7  —  1.5  262.6  ACE IV European 168.8  36.5  (19.5) (0.1) 185.7  ACE V European 286.6  130.7  (69.5) (0.2) 347.6  ACE VI European 71.1  119.2  —  —  190.3  Other Credit funds European 184.6  101.7  (60.8) (5.2) 220.3  Other Credit funds American 100.8  (63.6) (3.8) (7.7) 25.7  Total accrued carried interest 1,928.0  756.1  (321.1) (28.3) 2,334.7  Other credit funds Incentive —  62.8  (62.8) —  —  Total Credit Group $ 1,928.0  $ 818.9  $ (383.9) $ (28.3) $ 2,334.7  The reduction in ASOF I accrued carried interest that is presented within other adjustments results from a partial transfer of our rights to receive the carried interest from this fund in exchange for a capital interest in a structured financing vehicle. As a result, the value associated with the transferred carried interest is now reflected as an investment in the structured financing vehicle. 132 Table of Contents Credit Group—Assets Under Management The tables below present rollforwards of AUM for the Credit Group ($ in millions): Liquid Credit Alternative Credit Opportunistic Credit U.S. Direct Lending European Direct Lending APAC Credit Other(1) Total Credit Group Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 46,895  $ 41,565  $ 14,964  $ 159,129  $ 74,560  $ 11,470  $ 275  $ 348,858  New par/equity commitments 7,697  3,829  5,611  13,487  5,350  544  —  36,518  New debt commitments 3,531  300  350  22,686  3,522  —  —  30,389  Capital reductions (4,885) (745) (351) (3,932) (3,127) (270) —  (13,310) Distributions (469) (1,962) (2,041) (5,750) (4,990) (785) —  (15,997) Redemptions (1,720) (123) —  (1,748) (104) —  —  (3,695) Net allocations among investment strategies (3) 2,611  150  3  —  25  (204) 2,582  Change in fund value 2,015  2,585  1,158  5,735  9,451  573  4  21,521  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 53,061  $ 48,060  $ 19,841  $ 189,610  $ 84,662  $ 11,557  $ 75  $ 406,866  Liquid Credit Alternative Credit Opportunistic Credit U.S. Direct Lending European Direct Lending APAC Credit Other(1) Total Credit Group Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 47,299  $ 33,886  $ 14,554  $ 123,073  $ 68,264  $ 11,920  $ 354  $ 299,350  Acquisitions —  —  —  362  —  —  —  362  New par/equity commitments 2,995  4,222  1,653  19,408  10,234  689  142  39,343  New debt commitments 6,615  250  —  21,010  1,773  (380) —  29,268  Capital reductions (7,011) (30) (1,022) (2,608) 55  70  —  (10,546) Distributions (403) (1,854) (1,088) (6,183) (6,134) (1,202) —  (16,864) Redemptions (3,390) (150) —  (1,572) (140) —  —  (5,252) Net allocations among investment strategies (18) 2,824  25  25  200  —  (228) 2,828  Change in fund value 808  2,417  842  5,614  308  373  7  10,369  Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 46,895  $ 41,565  $ 14,964  $ 159,129  $ 74,560  $ 11,470  $ 275  $ 348,858  (1) Amounts represent equity commitments to the platform that have not yet been allocated to an investment strategy. The components of our AUM for the Credit Group are presented below ($ in billions): AUM: $406.9 AUM: $348.8 FPAUM Non-fee paying(1) AUM not yet paying fees (1) Includes $18.2 billion and $14.4 billion of AUM of funds from which we indirectly earn management fees as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and includes $2.0 billion of non-fee paying AUM from our general partner and employee commitments as of December 31, 2025 and 2024. 133 Table of Contents Credit Group—Fee Paying AUM The tables below present rollforwards of fee paying AUM for the Credit Group ($ in millions): Liquid Credit Alternative Credit Opportunistic Credit U.S. Direct Lending European Direct Lending APAC Credit Total Credit Group Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 44,629  $ 29,384  $ 7,899  $ 86,415  $ 35,786  $ 5,032  $ 209,145  Commitments 12,636  10  —  11,902  3,705  516  28,769  Deployment/increase in leverage 50  5,654  2,624  17,215  7,218  1,357  34,118  Capital reductions (4,893) —  —  (3,893) (1,520) (98) (10,404) Distributions (472) (2,476) (702) (10,542) (3,166) (1,397) (18,755) Redemptions (1,699) (123) —  (1,330) (183) —  (3,335) Net allocations among investment strategies (3) 2,861  —  —  —  —  2,858  Change in fund value 1,498  (7) —  2,543  3,108  (75) 7,067  Change in fee basis 212  —  —  —  147  (6) 353  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 51,958  $ 35,303  $ 9,821  $ 102,310  $ 45,095  $ 5,329  $ 249,816  Liquid Credit Alternative Credit Opportunistic Credit U.S. Direct Lending European Direct Lending APAC Credit Total Credit Group Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 46,140  $ 23,218  $ 8,490  $ 67,596  $ 34,246  $ 5,590  $ 185,280  Acquisitions —  —  —  244  —  —  244  Commitments 7,897  —  —  11,088  300  41  19,326  Deployment/increase in leverage 114  4,024  573  17,482  6,326  960  29,479  Capital reductions (6,859) —  —  (2,929) (2,133) (51) (11,972) Distributions (396) (1,280) (1,164) (9,316) (1,462) (1,225) (14,843) Redemptions (3,410) (150) —  (452) (1,240) —  (5,252) Net allocations among investment strategies (18) 3,471  —  —  —  —  3,453  Change in fund value 1,161  101  —  2,702  (1,537) (283) 2,144  Change in fee basis —  —  —  —  1,286  —  1,286  Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 44,629  $ 29,384  $ 7,899  $ 86,415  $ 35,786  $ 5,032  $ 209,145  The charts below present FPAUM for the Credit Group by its fee bases ($ in billions): FPAUM: $249.8 FPAUM: $209.2 Invested capital Market value(1) Collateral balances (at par) Capital commitments (1)Includes $61.3 billion and $46.4 billion from funds that primarily invest in illiquid strategies as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The underlying investments held in these funds are generally subject to less market volatility than investments held in liquid strategies. 134 Table of Contents Credit Group—Fund Performance Metrics as of December 31, 2025 ARCC contributed approximately 31% of the Credit Group’s total management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025. In addition, the Credit Group’s other significant funds, which are presented in the tables below, collectively contributed approximately 42% of the Credit Group’s management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025.     The following table presents the performance data for our significant perpetual funds in the Credit Group as of December 31, 2025 ($ in millions): Returns(%) Primary Investment Strategy Year of Inception AUM Year-To-Date Since Inception(1) Fund Gross Net Gross Net ARCC(2) U.S. Direct Lending 2004 $ 35,901  N/A 10.3  N/A 12.0  CADC(3) U.S. Direct Lending 2017 8,730  N/A 7.6  N/A 7.0  Open-ended core alternative credit fund(4) Alternative Credit 2021 7,546  12.7  9.3  11.8  8.8  ASIF(3) U.S. Direct Lending 2023 24,334  N/A 9.3  N/A 10.9  Open-ended European direct lending fund(5) European Direct Lending 2024 6,410  N/A 7.4  N/A 9.6  (1)Since inception returns are annualized. (2)Returns are time-weighted rates of return and include the reinvestment of income and other earnings from securities or other investments and reflect the deduction of all trading expenses. Net returns are calculated using the fund’s NAV and assume dividends are reinvested at the closest quarter-end NAV to the relevant quarterly ex-dividend dates. Additional information related to ARCC can be found in its filings with the SEC, which are not part of this report. (3)Returns are time-weighted rates of return and include the reinvestment of income and other earnings from securities or other investments and reflect the deduction of all trading expenses. Returns are shown for institutional share class. Shares of other classes may have lower returns due to higher selling commissions and fees. Net returns are calculated using the fund’s NAV and assume distributions are reinvested at the NAV on the date of distribution. Additional information related to CADC and ASIF can be found in its filings with the SEC, which are not part of this report. (4)Returns are time-weighted rates of return and include the reinvestment of income and other earnings from securities or other investments and reflect the deduction of all trading expenses. The fund is made up of a Main Class (“Class M”) and a Constrained Class (“Class C”). Class M includes investors electing to participate in all investments and Class C includes investors electing to be excluded from exposure to liquid investments. Returns presented in the table are for onshore Class M. The current quarter gross and net returns for Class M (offshore) are 2.9% and 2.3%, respectively. The year-to-date gross and net returns for Class M (offshore) are 12.5% and 9.2%, respectively. The since inception gross and net returns for Class M (offshore) are 11.8% and 8.4%, respectively. The current quarter gross and net returns for Class C (offshore) are 2.8% and 2.1%, respectively. The year-to-date gross and net returns for Class C (offshore) are 11.5% and 8.5%, respectively. The since inception gross and net returns for Class C (offshore) are 11.3% and 8.1%, respectively. (5)Returns are time-weighted rates of return and include the reinvestment of income and other earnings from securities or other investments and reflect the deduction of all trading expenses. Returns are shown for the Euro hedged distributing institutional share class. Shares of other classes may have lower returns due to higher selling commissions and fees, and currency hedging. Actual individual stockholder returns will vary. Net returns are calculated using the fund’s NAV and assume distributions are reinvested at the NAV on the date of distribution. 135 Table of Contents The following table presents the performance data of the Credit Group’s significant drawdown funds as of December 31, 2025 ($ in millions): Primary Investment Strategy Year of Inception AUM Original Capital Commitments Capital Invested to Date Realized Value(1) Unrealized Value(2) Total Value MoIC IRR(%) Fund Gross(3) Net(4) Gross(5) Net(6) Funds Deploying Capital PCS II U.S. Direct Lending 2020 $ 6,512  $ 5,114  $ 4,053  $ 1,426  $ 4,087  $ 5,513  1.4x 1.3x 13.0 9.2 ASOF II Opportunistic Credit 2021 9,134  7,128  6,202  399  7,859  8,258  1.5x 1.3x 17.9 13.1 ACE VI Unlevered(7) European Direct Lending 2022 24,675  7,439  3,299  216  3,404  3,620  1.1x 1.1x 12.3 8.8 ACE VI Levered(7) 9,667  3,679  286  3,928  4,214  1.2x 1.1x 18.6 13.2 SDL III Unlevered(8) U.S. Direct Lending 2023 27,353  3,311  1,473  93  1,496  1,589  1.1x 1.1x 12.9 9.6 SDL III Levered 11,959  4,540  407  4,766  5,173  1.2x 1.1x 24.6 17.3 Pathfinder II Alternative Credit 2023 7,233  6,612  3,576  155  3,947  4,102  1.2x 1.2x 22.2 15.3 Funds Harvesting Investments ACE IV Unlevered(9) European Direct Lending 2018 5,215  2,851  2,454  2,273  956  3,229  1.4x 1.3x 7.9 5.7 ACE IV Levered(9) 4,819  4,095  4,055  1,793  5,848  1.6x 1.4x 10.8 7.7 ACE V Unlevered(10) European Direct Lending 2020 17,387  7,026  5,831  1,832  5,582  7,414  1.4x 1.3x 10.1 7.5 ACE V Levered(10) 6,376  5,304  2,364  5,130  7,494  1.5x 1.4x 14.1 10.3 SDL II Unlevered U.S. Direct Lending 2021 16,275  1,989  1,700  494  1,606  2,100  1.3x 1.2x 11.2 8.9 SDL II Levered 6,047  4,924  2,051  4,564  6,615  1.5x 1.3x 17.5 13.3 (1)For funds other than our opportunistic credit funds, realized value represent the sum of all cash distributions to all partners and if applicable, exclude tax and incentive distributions made to the general partner. For our opportunistic credit funds, realized value represent the sum of all cash distributions to the fee-paying limited partners and if applicable, exclude tax and incentive distributions made to the general partner.                     (2)Unrealized value represents the fund’s NAV reduced by the accrued incentive allocation, if applicable. There can be no assurance that unrealized values will be realized at the valuations indicated. For funds other than our opportunistic credit funds, the unrealized value is based on all partners. For our opportunistic credit funds, the unrealized value is based on the fee-paying limited partners. (3)The gross multiple of invested capital (“MoIC”) is calculated at the fund-level and is based on the interests of the fee-paying limited partners and if applicable, excludes interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The gross MoIC is before giving effect to management fees, carried interest and other expenses, as applicable, but after giving effect to credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Early in the life of a fund, the gross fund-level MoICs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (4)The net MoIC is calculated at the fund-level and is based on the interests of the fee-paying limited partners and if applicable, excludes those interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The net MoIC is after giving effect to management fees and carried interest, other expenses and credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Early in the life of a fund, the net fund-level MoICs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (5)The gross IRR is an annualized since inception gross internal rate of return of cash flows to and from the fund and the fund’s residual value at the end of the measurement period. Gross IRR reflects returns to the fee-paying limited partners and, if applicable, excludes interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The cash flow dates used in the gross IRR calculation are based on the actual dates of the cash flows. The gross IRRs are calculated before giving effect to management fees, carried interest and other expenses, as applicable, but after giving effect to credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Gross fund-level IRRs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (6)The net IRR is an annualized since inception net internal rate of return of cash flows to and from the fund and the fund’s residual value at the end of the measurement period. Net IRRs reflect returns to the fee-paying limited partners and, if applicable, exclude interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The cash flow dates used in the net IRR calculations are based on the actual dates of the cash flows. The net IRRs are calculated after giving effect to management fees and carried interest, other expenses and credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Net fund-level IRRs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (7)ACE VI is made up of six parallel funds, four denominated in Euros and two denominated in GBP: ACE VI (E) Unlevered, ACE VI (E) II Unlevered, ACE VI (G) Unlevered, ACE VI (E) Levered, ACE VI (E) II Levered, and ACE VI (G) Levered, and three feeder funds: ACE VI (D) Levered, ACE VI (Y) Unlevered and ACE VI (D) Rated Notes. ACE VI (E) II Levered includes ACE VI (D) Levered feeder fund and ACE VI (E) II Unlevered includes ACE VI (Y) Unlevered and ACE VI (D) Rated Notes feeder funds. The gross and net IRR and gross and net MoIC presented in the table are for ACE VI (E) Unlevered and ACE VI (E) Levered. Metrics for ACE VI (E) II Levered exclude the ACE VI (D) Levered feeder fund and metrics for ACE VI (E) II Unlevered exclude ACE VI (Y) Unlevered and ACE VI (D) Rated Notes feeder funds. The gross and net IRR for ACE VI (G) Unlevered are 14.3% and 10.1%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE VI (G) Unlevered are 1.2x and 1.1x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE VI (G) Levered are 22.4% and 13.3%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE VI (G) Levered are 1.2x and 1.2x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE VI (E) II Unlevered are 12.1% and 8.5%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE VI (E) II Unlevered are 1.1x and 1.1x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE VI (E) II Levered are 19.4% and 13.8%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE VI (E) II Levered are 1.2x and 1.2x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE VI (D) Levered are 22.2% and 16.9%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE VI (D) Levered are 1.2x and 1.2x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE VI (Y) Unlevered are 10.7% and 7.3%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE VI (Y) Unlevered are 1.1x and 1.1x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE VI (D) Rated Notes are 19.1% and 12.0%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE VI (D) Rated Notes are 1.2x and 1.1x, respectively. Original capital commitments are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the fund’s closing. All other values for ACE VI Unlevered and ACE VI Levered are for the combined levered and unlevered parallel funds and are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing quarter-end exchange rate. (8)SDL III Unlevered includes investor commitments in three currencies: U.S. Dollars, GBP, and Yen. The gross and net IRR and MoIC presented in the table are for investors committed in U.S. Dollars. The gross and net IRR for investors committed in GBP are 13.8% and 10.3%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for investors committed in GBP are 1.1x and 1.1x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for investors committed in Yen are 7.3% and 3.7%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for investors committed in Yen are 1.1x and 1.0x, respectively. Original capital commitments are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the fund’s closing. All other values for SDL III Unlevered are for the combined fund and are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing quarter-end exchange rate. 136 Table of Contents (9)ACE IV is made up of four parallel funds, two denominated in Euros and two denominated in GBP: ACE IV (E) Unlevered, ACE IV (G) Unlevered, ACE IV (E) Levered and ACE IV (G) Levered and one feeder fund: ACE IV (D) Levered. ACE IV (E) Levered includes the ACE IV (D) Levered feeder fund. The gross and net IRR and MoIC presented in the table are for ACE IV (E) Unlevered and ACE IV (E) Levered. Metrics for ACE IV (E) Levered exclude the U.S. Dollar denominated feeder fund. The gross and net IRR for ACE IV (G) Unlevered are 9.5% and 6.9%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE IV (G) Unlevered are 1.5x and 1.4x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE IV (G) Levered are 12.2% and 8.6%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE IV (G) Levered are 1.7x and 1.5x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE IV (D) Levered are 12.2% and 8.9%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE IV (D) Levered are 1.7x and 1.5x, respectively. Original capital commitments are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the fund’s closing. All other values for ACE IV Unlevered and ACE IV Levered are for the combined levered and unlevered parallel funds and are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing quarter-end exchange rate. (10)ACE V is made up of four parallel funds, two denominated in Euros and two denominated in GBP: ACE V (E) Unlevered, ACE V (G) Unlevered, ACE V (E) Levered, and ACE V (G) Levered, and two feeder funds: ACE V (D) Levered and ACE V (Y) Unlevered. ACE V (E) Levered includes the ACE V (D) Levered feeder fund and ACE V (E) Unlevered includes the ACE V (Y) Unlevered feeder fund. The gross and net IRR and gross and net MoIC presented in the table are for ACE V (E) Unlevered and ACE V (E) Levered. Metrics for ACE V (E) Levered exclude the ACE V (D) Levered feeder fund and metrics for ACE V (E) Unlevered exclude the ACE V (Y) Unlevered feeder fund. The gross and net IRR for ACE V(G) Unlevered are 11.8% and 8.9%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE V (G) Unlevered are 1.4x and 1.3x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE V (G) Levered are 15.5% and 11.1%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE V (G) Levered are 1.5x and 1.4x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE V (D) Levered are 14.6% and 10.9%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE V (D) Levered are 1.5x and 1.4x, respectively. The gross and net IRR for ACE V (Y) Unlevered are 11.9% and 8.8%, respectively. The gross and net MoIC for ACE V (Y) Unlevered are 1.4x and 1.3x, respectively. Original capital commitments are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the fund’s closing. All other values for ACE V Unlevered and ACE V Levered are for the combined levered and unlevered parallel funds and are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing quarter-end exchange rate. 137 Table of Contents Real Assets Group—Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2024 Fee Related Earnings The following table presents the components of the Real Assets Group’s FRE ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Management fees $ 678,355  $ 401,968  $ 276,387  69% Fee related performance revenues 35,665  —  35,665  NM Other fees 181,104  27,263  153,841  NM Compensation and benefits (315,616) (160,357) (155,259) (97) General, administrative and other expenses (114,848) (56,768) (58,080) (102) Fee Related Earnings $ 464,660  $ 212,106  252,554  119 Management Fees. The chart below presents Real Assets Group management fees and effective management fee rates ($ in millions): 138 Table of Contents The following table presents the components of and causes for changes in the Real Assets Group’s management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year ($ in millions): Year-over-year Change Fees from acquisitions: Fees from the GCP Acquisition effective March 1, 2025, excluding catch-up fees $ 199.1  Fees from the WSM Acquisition effective December 1, 2024 20.2  Catch-up fees generated from U.S. Logistics Partners V, L.P. 3.7  Perpetual wealth vehicles: Base management fees from our open-ended core infrastructure fund, our diversified non-traded REIT and our U.S. open-ended industrial real estate fund, driven by additional capital raised 27.3  Part I Fees from our open-ended core infrastructure fund which started generating Part I Fees in the third quarter of 2025, driven by an increase in net investment income from its growing portfolio of investments 3.9  Capital commitments: Fees from our 11th U.S. value-add real estate equity fund, fourth European value-add real estate equity fund, our sixth infrastructure debt fund and ACIP II, excluding catch-up fees 27.8  Catch-up fees from our fourth European value-add real estate equity fund, ACIP II and our 11th U.S. value-add real estate equity fund 3.1  Catch-up fees from Ares U.S. Real Estate Opportunity Fund IV, L.P. (“AREOF IV”), which had its final close in the third quarter of 2024 (6.5) Distributions that reduced the fee base of EIF V, Infrastructure Debt Fund IV, L.P. and U.S. Power Fund IV, L.P. as the funds are past their investment periods (8.9) Cumulative effect of other changes 6.7  Total $ 276.4  The decrease in effective management fee rate for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year was primarily driven by lower effective management fee rates from funds that we manage as a result of the GCP Acquisition and the impact of the fees received from these funds. Certain of these funds pay management fees based on net operating income and we present the associated effective management fee rates as a percentage of fund assets, which may result in greater variability in the Real Assets Group’s effective management fee rate. In addition, due to the vertically integrated focus of the acquired platform following the GCP Acquisition, we expect the size and composition of other fees earned from certain funds will increase relative to management fees. Fee Related Performance Revenues. Fee related performance revenues for the year ended December 31, 2025 were primarily attributable to incentive fees earned from: (i) our U.S. open-ended industrial real estate fund that crystallizes incentive fees by investor based on performance over three-year measurement periods; and (ii) our diversified non-traded REIT, driven by strong fund performance. Other Fees. The increase in other fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year was driven by incremental fees of $143.1 million following the completion of the GCP Acquisition. The GCP Acquisition enhances our vertically integrated capabilities, which enables us to earn various forms of property-related fees. For the year ended December 31, 2025, these incremental fees largely represented development, property management and leasing fees. Excluding the aforementioned impact of the GCP Acquisition, other fees increased by $10.3 million, or 37.8%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year, primarily due to higher property management fees earned as we internalized certain property management services. We expect property management fees to increase in future periods as we expand these services across more properties and retain the fees for services that were previously outsourced to third-parties. Compensation and Benefits. The GCP Acquisition added 524 professionals to our headcount as of December 31, 2025, which represents 464 full-time equivalents for the year-to-date period. Headcount growth attributable to the GCP Acquisition contributed $113.3 million in employment related costs for the year ended December 31, 2025, largely reflecting salary expense and incentive-based compensation. Compensation and benefits, excluding the aforementioned impact from the GCP Acquisition, increased by $42.5 million, or 26%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase in compensation and benefits over the comparative period was driven by: (i) higher fee related performance compensation of $20.2 million, corresponding to the aforementioned increase in fee related performance revenues; and (ii) higher incentive-based compensation. Full-time equivalent headcount increased by 127% to 886 investment and investment support professionals for the year-to-date period in 2025 from 391 professionals for the same period in 2024, including the impact of the GCP Acquisition previously discussed. 139 Table of Contents General, Administrative and Other Expenses. The GCP Acquisition contributed $44.6 million in general, administrative and other expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025. We expect operating expenses to fluctuate during an integration period as we continue to seek to generate cost savings and to execute on synergy opportunities. General, administrative and other expenses, excluding the aforementioned impact from the GCP Acquisition, increased by $13.6 million, or 24%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase was primarily driven by supplemental distribution fees, which increased by $9.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year, as we expanded our wealth product offerings with our open-ended core infrastructure fund. In addition, occupancy costs and information technology costs collectively increased by $2.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year to support our growing headcount and the expansion of our business. Realized Income The following table presents the components of the Real Assets Group’s RI ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Fee Related Earnings $ 464,660  $ 212,106  $ 252,554  119% Performance income—realized 99,813  60,317  39,496  65 Performance related compensation—realized (67,883) (37,283) (30,600) (82) Realized net performance income 31,930  23,034  8,896  39 Investment income—realized 31,356  5,184  26,172  NM Interest income 6,895  7,649  (754) (10) Interest expense (92,787) (29,763) (63,024) (212) Realized net investment loss (54,536) (16,930) (37,606) (222) Realized Income $ 442,054  $ 218,210  223,844  103 The Real Assets Group’s realized activities were principally composed of and caused by the following: Year ended December 31, 2025 Year ended December 31, 2024 Realized net performance income Carried interest: •Tax distributions of $12.6 million from EIF V •Distributions of $15.3 million from U.S. Real Estate Fund IX, L.P. (“US IX”), U.S. Real Estate Fund VIII, L.P. (“US VIII”) and a U.S. real estate equity fund, which are all European-style waterfall funds that are past their investment periods and monetizing investments •Distributions of $2.1 million from the sale of an ACIP I co-investment vehicle’s investment in a renewable energy company Carried interest: •Distributions of $8.8 million from US VIII and a U.S. real estate equity fund, which are both European-style waterfall funds that are past their investment periods and monetizing investments •Distributions of $3.1 million from the partial sale of an ACIP I co-investment vehicle’s investment in a renewable energy company Incentive fees: •$8.7 million generated from a U.S. industrial real estate equity fund that is based upon a three-year measurement period •$2.1 million generated from a U.S. open-ended industrial real estate fund that varies based upon a three-year measurement period calculated for each fund investor Realized investment income and interest income •Income of $20.1 million from our APAC real estate equity and real estate debt funds •Income of $3.5 million from US VIII, which is past its investment period and monetizing investments •Income of $15.6 million primarily from our real estate debt and infrastructure debt funds •Interest earned from loans that we made within our real estate debt strategy •Income of $1.2 million from the sale of an infrastructure opportunities fund’s investment in a wind energy company •Realized loss of $12.4 million associated with a guarantee of a credit facility provided in connection with a historical acquisition Interest expense increased over the comparative period primarily due to financing costs incurred in connection with the GCP Acquisition. Interest expense is allocated among our segments primarily based on the cost basis of our balance sheet investments and the cost of acquisitions. The financing costs to complete the GCP Acquisition resulted in a greater allocation of interest expense to the Real Assets Group in the current year. 140 Table of Contents Real Assets Group—Performance Income The following table presents the accrued carried interest, also referred to as accrued performance income, and related performance compensation for the Real Assets Group. Accrued net performance income excludes net performance income that has been realized but not yet received as of the reporting date ($ in millions): As of December 31, 2025 2024 Accrued Performance Income Accrued Performance Compensation Accrued Net Performance Income Accrued Performance Income Accrued Performance Compensation Accrued Net Performance Income US IX $ 85.0  $ 52.7  $ 32.3  $ 99.8  $ 61.9  $ 37.9  EIF V 93.6  70.0  23.6  121.3  90.7  30.6  IDF V 172.5  106.9  65.6  113.7  69.3  44.4  ACIP I 84.8  58.2  26.6  97.7  66.8  30.9  Other Real Assets funds 151.1  104.6  46.5  135.8  85.7  50.1  Total Real Assets Group $ 587.0  $ 392.4  $ 194.6  $ 568.3  $ 374.4  $ 193.9  The following table presents the change in accrued performance income for the Real Assets Group ($ in millions): As of December 31, 2024 Activity during the period As of December 31, 2025 Waterfall Type Accrued Performance Income Change in Unrealized Realized Other Adjustments Accrued Performance Income Accrued Carried Interest US IX European $ 99.8  $ 11.5  $ (26.3) $ —  $ 85.0  EIF V European 121.3  22.1  (49.8) —  93.6  IDF V European 113.7  42.0  —  16.8  172.5  ACIP I European 97.7  (7.6) (5.3) —  84.8  Other Real Assets funds European 97.2  34.9  (17.9) 0.9  115.1  Other Real Assets funds American 38.6  (2.6) —  —  36.0  Total accrued carried interest 568.3  100.3  (99.3) 17.7  587.0  Other Real Assets funds Incentive —  0.5  (0.5) —  —  Total Real Assets Group $ 568.3  $ 100.8  $ (99.8) $ 17.7  $ 587.0  141 Table of Contents Real Assets Group—Assets Under Management The tables below present rollforwards of AUM for the Real Assets Group ($ in millions): Real Estate Infrastructure Total Real Assets Group Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 58,246  $ 17,052  $ 75,298  Acquisitions 43,273  2,008  45,281  New par/equity commitments 7,799  6,517  14,316  New debt commitments 8,597  1,014  9,611  Capital reductions (3,014) (261) (3,275) Distributions (3,975) (2,407) (6,382) Redemptions (786) (378) (1,164) Net allocations among investment strategies (411) 683  272  Change in fund value 4,016  1,115  5,131  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 113,745  $ 25,343  $ 139,088  Real Estate Infrastructure Total Real Assets Group Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 49,715  $ 15,698  $ 65,413  Acquisitions 2,488  —  2,488  New par/equity commitments 5,729  1,638  7,367  New debt commitments 4,049  —  4,049  Capital reductions (1,086) —  (1,086) Distributions (1,806) (1,669) (3,475) Redemptions (1,093) —  (1,093) Net allocations among investment strategies —  20  20  Change in fund value 250  1,365  1,615  Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 58,246  $ 17,052  $ 75,298  The components of our AUM for the Real Assets Group are presented below ($ in billions): AUM: $139.1 AUM: $75.3 FPAUM Non-fee paying(1) AUM not yet paying fees (1) Includes $1.4 billion and $1.0 billion of non-fee paying AUM from our general partner and employee commitments as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. 142 Table of Contents Real Assets Group—Fee Paying AUM The tables below present rollforwards of fee paying AUM for the Real Assets Group ($ in millions): Real Estate Infrastructure Total Real Assets Group Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 32,896  $ 11,192  $ 44,088  Acquisitions 30,178  289  30,467  Commitments 5,662  2,342  8,004  Deployment/increase in leverage 3,824  2,703  6,527  Capital reductions (1,190) —  (1,190) Distributions (3,067) (3,787) (6,854) Redemptions (786) (378) (1,164) Net allocations among investment strategies (411) 658  247  Change in fund value 3,187  (376) 2,811  Change in fee basis 770  359  1,129  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 71,063  $ 13,002  $ 84,065  Real Estate Infrastructure Total Real Assets Group Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 30,310  $ 11,028  $ 41,338  Acquisitions 1,554  —  1,554  Commitments 3,214  226  3,440  Deployment/increase in leverage 2,105  1,075  3,180  Capital reductions (12) —  (12) Distributions (1,363) (794) (2,157) Redemptions (1,093) —  (1,093) Net allocations among investment strategies —  20  20  Change in fund value (99) (57) (156) Change in fee basis (1,720) (306) (2,026) Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 32,896  $ 11,192  $ 44,088  The charts below present FPAUM for the Real Assets Group by its fee bases ($ in billions): FPAUM: $84.1 FPAUM: $44.1 Invested capital GAV Market value(1) Capital commitments (1)Amounts represent FPAUM from funds that primarily invest in illiquid strategies. The underlying investments held in these funds are generally subject to less market volatility than investments held in liquid strategies. 143 Table of Contents Real Assets Group—Fund Performance Metrics as of December 31, 2025 The significant funds presented in the tables below collectively contributed approximately 34% of the Real Assets Group’s management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025. The following table presents the performance data for our significant perpetual funds in the Real Assets Group as of December 31, 2025 ($ in millions): Returns(%) Primary Investment Strategy Year of Inception AUM Year-To-Date Since Inception(1) Fund Gross Net Gross Net Diversified non-traded REIT(2) Real Estate 2012 $ 7,417  N/A 11.6  N/A 6.5  J-REIT(3) Real Estate 2012 7,547  N/A N/A N/A 13.3  Industrial non-traded REIT(4) Real Estate 2017 7,648  N/A 8.3  N/A 8.5  U.S. open-ended industrial real estate fund(5) Real Estate 2017 5,983  7.7  6.5  16.3  13.3  Japanese open-ended industrial real estate fund Real Estate 2020 3,915  10.1  9.4  13.1  11.8  (1)Since inception returns are annualized. (2)Performance is measured by total return, which includes income and appreciation and reinvestment of all distributions for the respective time period. Returns are shown for institutional share class. Shares of other classes may have lower returns due to higher selling commissions and fees. Actual individual stockholder returns will vary. Net returns are calculated using the fund’s NAV and assume distributions are reinvested at the NAV on the date of distribution. The inception date used in the calculation of the since inception return is the date in which the first shares of common stock were sold after converting to a NAV-based REIT. (3)Performance is measured by total return, which includes income and appreciation and reinvestment of all distributions for the respective time period. Actual individual stockholder returns will vary. Net returns are calculated using the fund’s NAV and assume distributions are reinvested at NAV on the semi-annual period-end date. NAVs are calculated semi-annually in February and August, and therefore, only the since inception return is presented. The inception date used in the calculation of the since inception return is the date in which the fund’s investment units began to be listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The since inception return is calculated based on the most recent NAV date. Additional information related to J-REIT can be found in its materials posted to its website, which are not part of this report. (4)Performance is measured by total return, which includes income and appreciation and reinvestment of all distributions for the respective time period. Returns are shown for institutional share class. Shares of other classes may have lower returns due to higher selling commissions and fees. Actual individual stockholder returns will vary. Net returns are calculated using the fund’s NAV and assume distributions are reinvested at the NAV on the date of distribution. (5)Returns are time-weighted rates of return and include the reinvestment of income and other earnings from securities or other investments and reflect the deduction of all trading expenses. Gross returns do not reflect the deduction of management fees, incentive fees, as applicable, or other expenses. Net returns are calculated by subtracting the applicable management fees, incentive fees, as applicable and other expenses from the gross returns on a quarterly basis. The following table presents the performance data of the Real Assets Group’s significant drawdown fund as of December 31, 2025 ($ in millions): Primary Investment Strategy Year of Inception AUM Original Capital Commitments Capital Invested to Date Realized Value(1) Unrealized Value(2) Total Value MoIC IRR(%) Fund Gross(3) Net(4) Gross(5) Net(6) Fund Harvesting Investments Europe Logistics Income Partners II SCSp (“EIP II”)(7) Real Estate 2020 $ 4,144  $ 1,839  $ 1,790  $ 346  $ 1,639  $ 1,985  1.2x 1.1x 2.8  2.4  (1)Realized proceeds include distributions of operating income, sales and financing proceeds received to the limited partners. (2)Unrealized value represents the fund’s NAV reduced by the accrued incentive allocation, if applicable. There can be no assurance that unrealized values will be realized at the valuations indicated. (3)The gross MoIC is calculated at the fund-level and is based on the interests of the fee-paying limited partners and if applicable, excludes interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The gross MoIC is before giving effect to management fees, carried interest, as applicable, and other expenses, but after giving effect to credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Early in the life of a fund, the gross fund-level MoICs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (4)The net MoIC is calculated at the fund-level and is based on the interests of the fee-paying limited partners and, if applicable, excludes interests attributable to the non fee-paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The net MoIC is after giving effect to management fees, carried interest, as applicable, credit facility interest expense, as applicable, and other expenses. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Early in the life of a fund, the net fund-level MoICs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (5)The gross IRR is an annualized since inception gross internal rate of return of cash flows to and from the fund and the fund’s residual value at the end of the measurement period. Gross IRR reflects returns to the fee-paying limited partners and, if applicable, excludes interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The cash flow dates used in the gross IRR calculation are based on the actual dates of the cash flows. The gross IRRs are calculated before giving effect to management fees, carried interest and other expenses, but after giving effect to credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Gross fund-level IRRs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (6)The net IRR is an annualized since inception net internal rate of return of cash flows to and from the fund and the fund’s residual value at the end of the measurement period. Net IRRs reflect returns to the fee-paying limited partners and, if applicable, exclude interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The cash flow dates used in the net IRR calculations are based on the actual dates of the cash flows. The net IRRs are calculated after giving effect to management fees and carried interest, other expenses and credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Net fund-level IRRs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (7)EIP II is a Euro-denominated fund. Original capital commitments are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of fund’s closing. All other values for EIP II are converted to U.S. Dollars at the prevailing quarter-end exchange rate. 144 Table of Contents Secondaries Group—Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2024 Fee Related Earnings The following table presents the components of the Secondaries Group’s FRE ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Management fees $ 276,292  $ 197,287  $ 79,005  40% Fee related performance revenues 55,288  28,834  26,454  92 Other fees 6,580  222  6,358  NM Compensation and benefits (91,834) (66,290) (25,544) (39) General, administrative and other expenses (37,920) (33,881) (4,039) (12) Fee Related Earnings $ 208,406  $ 126,172  82,234  65 Management Fees. The chart below presents Secondaries Group management fees and effective management fee rates ($ in millions): The following table presents the components of and causes for changes in the Secondaries Group’s management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year ($ in millions): Year-over-year Change Capital commitments: Catch-up fees generated from ASIS III and related vehicles $ 24.2  Base management fees from ASIS III 18.1  Perpetual wealth vehicles: Fees from APMF, driven by additional capital raised 29.3  Management fees from Ares Credit Secondaries Fund, L.P. (“ACS”), driven by capital deployment 5.1  Cumulative effect of other changes 2.3  Total $ 79.0  145 Table of Contents The increase in effective management fee rate for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 was primarily due to additional capital raised by APMF that has a fee rate of 1.40%. Fee Related Performance Revenues. The increase in fee related performance revenues for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 was attributable to higher incentive fees earned from APMF, driven by increased IGAUM and higher investment returns over the comparative period. Other Fees. The increase in other fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year was primarily attributable to capital markets transaction fees associated with underwriting services provided by AMCM on capital markets transactions. Compensation and Benefits. The increase in compensation and benefits for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 was driven by: (i) higher fee related performance compensation of $14.5 million, corresponding to the increase in fee related performance revenues; and (ii) higher incentive-based compensation. We reduced fee related performance compensation by $11.1 million and $9.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively, to reclaim a portion of the supplemental distribution fees paid to distribution partners. Full-time equivalent headcount increased by 4% to 116 investment and investment support professionals for the year-to-date period in 2025 from 112 professionals in 2024. General, Administrative and Other Expenses. The increase in general, administrative and other expenses was primarily due to higher supplemental distribution fees of $4.7 million to support distribution of APMF shares. Realized Income The following table presents the components of the Secondaries Group’s RI ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Fee Related Earnings $ 208,406  $ 126,172  $ 82,234  65% Performance income—realized 177  361  (184) (51) Performance related compensation—realized (106) 110  (216) NM Realized net performance income 71  471  (400) (85) Investment income—realized 1,645  2,565  (920) (36) Interest income 1,176  972  204  21 Interest expense (7,998) (29,144) 21,146  73 Realized net investment loss (5,177) (25,607) 20,430  80 Realized Income $ 203,300  $ 101,036  102,264  101 Realized net investment loss for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 largely represents allocated interest expense exceeding investment income during these periods. Interest expense allocated to the Secondaries Group decreased for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year as a significant portion of the current year’s interest expense was allocated based on capital used to finance the GCP Acquisition, which occurred within the Real Assets Group. Prior to the GCP Acquisition, capital used to finance the acquisition of Landmark Partners, LLC resulted in greater interest expense allocated to the Secondaries Group in prior periods. 146 Table of Contents Secondaries Group—Performance Income The following table presents the accrued carried interest, also referred to as accrued performance income, and related performance compensation for the Secondaries Group. Accrued net performance income excludes net performance income that has been realized but not yet received as of the reporting date ($ in millions): As of December 31, 2025 2024 Accrued Performance Income Accrued Performance Compensation Accrued Net Performance Income Accrued Performance Income Accrued Performance Compensation Accrued Net Performance Income LEP XVI $ 1.5  $ 1.5  $ —  $ 144.1  $ 123.3  $ 20.8  LREF VIII 74.0  62.8  11.2  81.3  68.9  12.4  Other Secondaries funds 106.2  80.5  25.7  38.4  28.8  9.6  Total Secondaries Group $ 181.7  $ 144.8  $ 36.9  $ 263.8  $ 221.0  $ 42.8  The following table presents the change in accrued performance income for the Secondaries Group ($ in millions): As of December 31, 2024 Activity during the period As of December 31, 2025 Waterfall Type Accrued Performance Income Change in Unrealized Realized Other Adjustments Accrued Performance Income Accrued Carried Interest LEP XVI European $ 144.1  $ (11.4) $ —  $ (131.2) $ 1.5  LREF VIII European 81.3  (7.3) —  —  74.0  Other Secondaries funds European 38.4  67.7  —  0.1  106.2  Total accrued carried interest 263.8  49.0  —  (131.1) 181.7  Other Secondaries funds Incentive —  0.2  (0.2) —  —  Total Secondaries Group $ 263.8  $ 49.2  $ (0.2) $ (131.1) $ 181.7  The reduction in LEP XVI accrued carried interest that is presented within other adjustments results from the transfer of our rights to receive the carried interest from this fund in exchange for a capital interest in a structured financing vehicle. As a result, the value associated with the net carried interest that was transferred is now reflected as an investment in the structured financing vehicle. Secondaries Group—Assets Under Management The table below presents the rollforwards of AUM for the Secondaries Group ($ in millions): Private Equity Secondaries Real Estate Secondaries Infrastructure Secondaries Credit Secondaries Total Secondaries Group Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 15,805  $ 7,779  $ 3,691  $ 1,878  $ 29,153  New par/equity commitments 5,127  432  3,322  2,974  11,855  New debt commitments 1,083  —  —  —  1,083  Capital reductions (32) (192) —  (56) (280) Distributions (532) (178) (214) (39) (963) Redemptions (154) —  —  —  (154) Net allocations among investment strategies 10  25  —  38  73  Change in fund value 797  330  176  86  1,389  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 22,104  $ 8,196  $ 6,975  $ 4,881  $ 42,156  Private Equity Secondaries Real Estate Secondaries Infrastructure Secondaries Credit Secondaries Total Secondaries Group Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 13,174  $ 7,826  $ 2,380  $ 1,380  $ 24,760  New par/equity commitments 2,489  279  1,192  493  4,453  New debt commitments 625  —  —  —  625  Distributions (504) (215) (146) (15) (880) Net allocations among investment strategies 15  —  —  10  25  Change in fund value 6  (111) 265  10  170  Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 15,805  $ 7,779  $ 3,691  $ 1,878  $ 29,153  147 Table of Contents The components of our AUM for the Secondaries Group are presented below ($ in billions): AUM: $42.1 AUM: $29.2 FPAUM AUM not yet paying fees Non-fee paying(1) (1) Includes $0.6 billion and $0.5 billion of non-fee paying AUM from our general partner and employee commitments as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Secondaries Group—Fee Paying AUM The table below presents the rollforwards of fee paying AUM for the Secondaries Group ($ in millions): Private Equity Secondaries Real Estate Secondaries Infrastructure Secondaries Credit  Secondaries Total Secondaries Group Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 12,788  $ 6,441  $ 2,582  $ 590  $ 22,401  Commitments 3,583  194  2,428  —  6,205  Deployment/increase in leverage 237  104  19  772  1,132  Distributions (92) (183) (73) —  (348) Redemptions (154) —  —  —  (154) Net allocations among investment strategies 10  25  —  38  73  Change in fund value 228  140  25  (91) 302  Change in fee basis (8) —  (122) —  (130) Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 16,592  $ 6,721  $ 4,859  $ 1,309  $ 29,481  Private Equity Secondaries Real Estate Secondaries Infrastructure Secondaries Credit  Secondaries Total Secondaries Group Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 11,204  $ 5,978  $ 1,763  $ 95  $ 19,040  Commitments 1,783  160  850  —  2,793  Deployment/increase in leverage 125  231  6  33  395  Distributions (146) (188) (132) (39) (505) Change in fund value (131) 19  95  58  41  Change in fee basis (47) 241  —  443  637  Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 12,788  $ 6,441  $ 2,582  $ 590  $ 22,401  148 Table of Contents The chart below presents FPAUM for the Secondaries Group by its fee bases ($ in billions): FPAUM: $29.5 FPAUM: $22.4 Reported value(1) Capital commitments Invested capital (1)Amounts represent FPAUM from funds that primarily invest in illiquid strategies. The underlying investments held in these funds are generally subject to less market volatility than investments held in liquid strategies. Secondaries Group—Fund Performance Metrics as of December 31, 2025 The significant funds presented in the tables below collectively contributed approximately 35% of the Secondaries Group’s management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025. The following table presents the performance data for our significant perpetual fund in the Secondaries Group as of December 31, 2025 ($ in millions): Returns(%) Primary Investment Strategy Year of Inception AUM Year-To-Date Since Inception(1) Fund Gross Net Gross Net APMF(2) Private Equity Secondaries 2022 $ 5,008  N/A 13.4  N/A 14.2  (1)Since inception returns are annualized. (2)Returns are time-weighted rates of return and include the reinvestment of income and other earnings from securities or other investments and reflect the deduction of all trading expenses. Returns are shown for institutional share class. Shares of other classes may have lower returns due to higher selling commissions and fees. Net returns are calculated using the fund’s NAV and assume distributions are reinvested at the NAV on the date of distribution. Additional information related to APMF can be found in its filings with the SEC, which are not part of this report. The following table presents the performance data of the significant drawdown fund in the Secondaries Group as of December 31, 2025 ($ in millions): Primary Investment Strategy Year of Inception AUM Original Capital Commitments Capital Invested to Date Realized Value(1) Unrealized Value(2) Total Value MoIC IRR(%) Fund Gross(3) Net(4) Gross(5) Net(6) Fund Harvesting Investments LEP XVI(7) Private Equity Secondaries 2016 $ 4,146  $ 4,896  $ 4,318  $ 2,079  $ 3,264  $ 5,343  1.4x 1.2x 14.2  8.6  Returns for LEP XVI are calculated from results of the underlying portfolio that are generally reported on a three month lag and may not include the impact of economic and market activities occurring in the current reporting period. (1)Realized value represents the sum of all cash distributions to all limited partners and if applicable, exclude tax and incentive distributions made to the general partner. (2)Unrealized value represents the limited partners’ share of fund’s NAV reduced by the accrued incentive allocation, if applicable. There can be no assurance that unrealized values will be realized at the valuations indicated. (3)The gross MoIC is calculated at the fund-level and is based on the interests of all partners. If applicable, limiting the gross MoIC to exclude interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner who does not pay management fees or carried interest would have no material impact on the result. The gross MoIC is before giving effect to management fees, carried interest, as applicable, and other expenses, but after giving effect to credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a short-term credit facility for general cash management purposes, as well as a long-term credit facility as permitted by the respective fund’s governing documentation. The gross fund-level MoIC would have generally been lower had such fund called capital from its partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (4)The net MoIC is calculated at the fund-level and is based on the interests of the fee-paying limited partners and if applicable, excludes those interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The net MoIC is after giving effect to management fees and other expenses, carried interest and credit facility interest expense, as applicable. The funds may utilize a short-term credit facility for general cash management purposes, as well as a 149 Table of Contents long-term credit facility as permitted by the respective fund’s governing documentation. The net fund-level MoICs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (5)The gross IRR is an annualized since inception gross internal rate of return of cash flows to and from the fund and the fund’s residual value at the end of the measurement period. Gross IRR reflects returns to all partners. If applicable, limiting the gross IRR to exclude interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner who does not pay management fees or carried interest would have no material impact on the result. The cash flow dates used in the gross IRR calculation are based on the actual dates of the cash flows. The gross IRRs are calculated before giving effect to management fees, carried interest, as applicable, and other expenses, but after giving effect to credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a short-term credit facility for general cash management purposes, as well as a long-term credit facility as permitted by the respective fund’s governing documents. The gross fund-level IRR would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (6)The net IRR is an annualized since inception net internal rate of return of cash flows to and from the fund and the fund’s residual value at the end of the measurement period. Net IRRs reflect returns to the fee-paying limited partners and, if applicable, exclude interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner who does not pay management fees or carried interest. The cash flow dates used in the net IRR calculations are based on the actual dates of the cash flows. The net IRRs are calculated after giving effect to management fees and other expenses, carried interest and credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The funds may utilize a short-term credit facility for general cash management purposes, as well as a long-term credit facility as permitted by the respective fund’s governing documents. Net fund-level IRRs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (7)The results of the fund are presented on a combined basis with the affiliated parallel funds or accounts, given that the investments are substantially the same. 150 Table of Contents Private Equity Group—Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2024 Fee Related Earnings The following table presents the components of the Private Equity Group’s FRE ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Management fees $ 139,172  $ 137,130  $ 2,042  1% Other fees 1,824  1,695  129  8 Compensation and benefits (60,701) (56,830) (3,871) (7) General, administrative and other expenses (21,975) (21,449) (526) (2) Fee Related Earnings $ 58,320  $ 60,546  (2,226) (4) Management Fees. The chart below presents Private Equity Group management fees and effective management fee rates ($ in millions): 151 Table of Contents The following table presents the components of and causes for changes in the Private Equity Group’s management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year ($ in millions): Year-over-year Change Fees from Ares Corporate Opportunities Fund VII, L.P. (“ACOF VII”), which started generating fees in the fourth quarter of 2025 $ 7.3  Fees from acquired APAC private equity funds effective August 2025 4.2  Catch-up fees from Ares Asia Private Equity Fund III, L.P. (“AAPE III”) 1.7  Corporate private equity extended value fund that stopped paying fees at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024 (6.7) Distributions that reduced the fee base of ACOF V as the fund is past its investment period (2.2) Cumulative effect of other changes (2.3) Total $ 2.0  We expect a decrease in management fees from ACOF VI of approximately $40.0 million in 2026 due to the step down in fee rate and change in fee base beginning in the first quarter of 2026 following the commencement of fees for ACOF VII. The increase in effective management fee rate for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 was primarily driven by a corporate private equity extended value fund, that stopped paying fees at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024 and had a lower effective management fee rate than the average effective management fee rate of funds within the Private Equity Group. Compensation and Benefits. The increase in compensation and benefits for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily due to higher incentive-based compensation. Full-time equivalent headcount increased by 6% to 109 investment and investment support professionals for the year-to-date period in 2025 from 103 professionals in 2024. Realized Income The following table presents the components of the Private Equity Group’s RI ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Fee Related Earnings $ 58,320  $ 60,546  $ (2,226) (4)% Performance income—realized 42,402  43,299  (897) (2) Performance related compensation—realized (31,994) (36,334) 4,340  12 Realized net performance income 10,408  6,965  3,443  49 Investment income (loss)—realized (15,659) 1,926  (17,585) NM Interest income 2,025  1,970  55  3 Interest expense (15,555) (18,906) 3,351  18 Realized net investment loss (29,189) (15,010) (14,179) (94) Realized Income $ 39,539  $ 52,501  (12,962) (25) The Private Equity Group’s realized activities were principally composed of and caused by the following: Year ended December 31, 2025 Year ended December 31, 2024 Realized net performance income Carried interest: •Distributions from partial sales of ACOF VI’s investment in Frontier Communications Parent, Inc. (“FYBR”) and ACOF IV’s investments in various energy companies Carried interest: •Distributions from partial sales of ACOF IV’s investments in various energy companies and ACOF VI’s investment in FYBR Realized investment income (loss) and interest income •Realized investment losses of $10.8 million in connection with liquidating an APAC private equity fund •Income from our corporate private equity funds Interest expense allocated to the Private Equity Group decreased for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year as a significant portion of the current year’s interest expense was allocated based on capital used to finance the GCP Acquisition, which occurred within the Real Assets Group. 152 Table of Contents Private Equity Group—Performance Income The following table presents the accrued carried interest, also referred to as accrued performance income, and related performance compensation for the Private Equity Group ($ in millions): As of December 31, 2025 2024 Accrued Performance Income Accrued Performance Compensation Accrued Net Performance Income Accrued Performance Income Accrued Performance Compensation Accrued Net Performance Income ACOF IV $ 142.8  $ 114.4  $ 28.4  $ 166.8  $ 133.6  $ 33.2  ACOF VI 594.3  584.1  10.2  523.1  442.8  80.3  Other Private Equity funds 11.1  8.9  2.2  20.9  14.8  6.1  Total Private Equity Group $ 748.2  $ 707.4  $ 40.8  $ 710.8  $ 591.2  $ 119.6  The following table presents the change in accrued carried interest for the Private Equity Group ($ in millions): As of December 31, 2024 Activity during the period As of December 31, 2025 Waterfall Type Accrued Carried Interest Change in Unrealized Realized Other Adjustments Accrued Carried Interest ACOF IV American $ 166.8  $ (4.8) $ (19.2) $ —  $ 142.8  ACOF VI American 523.1  191.5  (23.2) (97.1) 594.3  Other Private Equity funds European 13.1  (12.2) —  —  0.9  Other Private Equity funds American 7.8  2.4  —  —  10.2  Total Private Equity Group $ 710.8  $ 176.9  $ (42.4) $ (97.1) $ 748.2  The reduction in ACOF VI accrued carried interest that is presented within other adjustments results from the transfer of our rights to receive the carried interest from this fund in exchange for capital interests in certain structured financing vehicles. As a result, the value associated with the transferred carried interest is now reflected as investments in these structured financing vehicles. Private Equity Group—Assets Under Management The tables below present rollforwards of AUM for the Private Equity Group ($ in millions): Corporate Private Equity APAC Private Equity Other Total Private Equity Group Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 21,064  $ 2,977  $ —  $ 24,041  Acquisitions —  856  —  856  New par/equity commitments 2,191  91  —  2,282  Capital reductions (55) —  —  (55) Distributions (1,878) (153) —  (2,031) Change in fund value 553  (358) —  195  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 21,875  $ 3,413  $ —  $ 25,288  Corporate Private Equity APAC Private Equity Other(1) Total Private Equity Group Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 20,998  $ 3,414  $ 139  $ 24,551  New par/equity commitments 458  3  58  519  Capital reductions (4) —  —  (4) Distributions (685) (19) —  (704) Redemptions —  (2) —  (2) Net allocations among investment strategies 150  —  (197) (47) Change in fund value 147  (419) —  (272) Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 21,064  $ 2,977  $ —  $ 24,041  (1) Amounts represent equity commitments to the platform that have not yet been allocated to an investment strategy. 153 Table of Contents The components of our AUM for the Private Equity Group are presented below ($ in billions): AUM: $25.3 AUM: $24.0 FPAUM Non-fee paying(1) AUM not yet paying fees (1) Includes $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion of non-fee paying AUM from our general partner and employee commitments as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. Private Equity Group—Fee Paying AUM The tables below present rollforwards of fee paying AUM for the Private Equity Group ($ in millions): Corporate Private Equity APAC Private Equity Total Private Equity Group Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 9,860  $ 1,567  $ 11,427  Acquisitions —  1,118  1,118  Commitments 516  48  564  Deployment/increase in leverage 52  13  65  Capital reductions (11) —  (11) Distributions (916) —  (916) Change in fund value (81) (203) (284) Change in fee basis 2,786  (312) 2,474  Balance at 12/31/2025 $ 12,206  $ 2,231  $ 14,437  Corporate Private Equity APAC Private Equity Total Private Equity Group Balance at 12/31/2023 $ 11,459  $ 1,665  $ 13,124  Deployment/increase in leverage 28  19  47  Distributions (54) —  (54) Redemptions —  (2) (2) Change in fund value (21) —  (21) Change in fee basis (1,552) (115) (1,667) Balance at 12/31/2024 $ 9,860  $ 1,567  $ 11,427  154 Table of Contents The charts below present FPAUM for the Private Equity Group by its fee bases ($ in billions): FPAUM: $14.4 FPAUM: $11.4 Capital commitments Invested capital Private Equity Group—Fund Performance Metrics as of December 31, 2025 The significant funds presented in the table below collectively contributed approximately 69% of the Private Equity Group’s management fees for the year ended December 31, 2025. The following table presents the performance data of the Private Equity Group’s significant drawdown funds as of December 31, 2025 ($ in millions): Primary Investment Strategy Year of Inception AUM Original Capital Commitments Capital Invested to Date Realized Value(1) Unrealized Value(2) Total Value MoIC IRR(%) Fund Gross(3) Net(4) Gross(5) Net(6) Fund Deploying Capital ACOF VI Corporate Private Equity 2020 $ 8,852  $ 5,743  $ 5,966  $ 2,224  $ 8,417  $ 10,641  1.7x 1.5x 21.3  16.0  Fund Harvesting Investments ACOF V Corporate Private Equity 2017 6,332  7,850  7,611  4,499  5,891  10,390  1.4x 1.2x 6.2  4.4  (1)Realized value represents the sum of all cash dividends, interest income, other fees and cash proceeds from realizations of interests in portfolio investments. Realized value excludes any proceeds related to bridge financings. (2)Unrealized value represents the fair market value of remaining investments. Unrealized value does not take into account any bridge financings. There can be no assurance that unrealized investments will be realized at the valuations indicated. (3)The gross MoIC is calculated at the fund-level and is based on the interests of the fee-paying limited partners and if applicable, excludes interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The gross MoIC is before giving effect to management fees, carried interest, as applicable, and other expenses, but after giving effect to credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The gross MoICs are also calculated before giving effect to any bridge financings. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Early in the life of a fund, the gross fund-level MoICs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (4)The net MoIC is calculated at the fund-level. The net MoIC is based on the interests of the fee-paying limited partners and if applicable, excludes interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or performance fees. The net MoIC is after giving effect to management fees, carried interest, as applicable, and other expenses. The net MoICs are also calculated before giving effect to any bridge financings. Inclusive of bridge financings, the net MoIC would be 1.2x for ACOF V and 1.4x for ACOF VI. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Early in the life of a fund, the net fund-level MoICs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (5)The gross IRR is an annualized since inception gross internal rate of return of cash flows to and from the fund and the fund’s residual value at the end of the measurement period. Gross IRRs reflect returns to the fee-paying limited partners and, if applicable, excludes interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The cash flow dates used in the gross IRR calculation are based on the actual dates of the cash flows. The gross IRRs are calculated before giving effect to management fees, carried interest, as applicable, and other expenses, but after giving effect to credit facility interest expenses, as applicable. The gross IRRs are also calculated before giving effect to any bridge financings. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Gross fund-level IRRs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. (6)The net IRR is an annualized since inception net internal rate of return of cash flows to and from the fund and the fund’s residual value at the end of the measurement period. Net IRRs reflect returns to the fee-paying limited partners and if applicable, exclude interests attributable to the non-fee paying limited partners and/or the general partner which does not pay management fees or carried interest. The cash flow dates used in the net IRR calculation are based on the actual dates of the cash flows. The net IRRs are calculated after giving effect to management fees, carried interest as applicable, and other expenses and exclude commitments by the general partner and Schedule I investors who do not pay either management fees or carried interest. The funds may utilize a credit facility during the investment period and for general cash management purposes. Net fund-level IRRs would generally have been lower had such fund called capital from its limited partners instead of utilizing the credit facility. The net IRRs are also calculated before giving effect to any bridge financings. Inclusive of bridge financings, the net IRRs would be 4.5% for ACOF V and 15.5% for ACOF VI. 155 Table of Contents Operations Management Group—Year Ended December 31, 2025 Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2024 Fee Related Earnings The following table presents the components of the Operations Management Group’s FRE ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Other fees $ 27,604  $ 20,357  $ 7,247  36% Compensation and benefits (534,113) (421,268) (112,845) (27) General, administrative and other expenses (301,692) (220,019) (81,673) (37) Fee Related Earnings $ (808,201) $ (620,930) (187,271) (30) Other Fees. The increase in other fees for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the year ended December 31, 2024 was primarily attributable to higher facilitation fees from the 1031 exchange program associated with our non-traded REITs, as well as higher capital markets transaction fees associated with underwriting services provided by AMCM on capital markets transactions. Compensation and Benefits. The GCP Acquisition added 278 business operations professionals to our headcount as of December 31, 2025, which represents 225 full-time equivalents for the year-to-date period. Headcount growth attributable to the GCP Acquisition contributed $43.3 million in employment related costs for the year ended December 31, 2025, largely reflecting salary expense and incentive-based compensation. Compensation and benefits, excluding the aforementioned impact from the GCP Acquisition, increased by $69.5 million, or 16%, for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase in compensation and benefits was driven by: (i) the increase in headcount to expand our capabilities and support the growth of our business and other strategic initiatives; and (ii) higher incentive-based compensation. In future periods, we expect compensation and benefits to increase as we transfer investment professionals from our operating segments to build our Capital Solutions Group within OMG. Full-time equivalent headcount increased by 27% to 2,112 professionals for the year-to-date period in 2025 from 1,660 professionals in 2024, including the impact from the GCP Acquisition previously discussed. General, Administrative and Other Expenses. The GCP Acquisition contributed $40.7 million in general, administrative and other expenses for the year ended December 31, 2025 and primarily included certain non-recurring integration costs of $18.2 million. We expect operating expenses to fluctuate during an integration period as we continue to seek to generate cost savings and to execute on synergy opportunities. General, administrative and other expenses, excluding the aforementioned impact from the GCP Acquisition, increased by $41.0 million or 19% for the year ended December 31, 2025 compared to the prior year. The increase in general, administrative and other expenses was driven by occupancy costs and information technology costs, which collectively increased by $16.8 million, over the comparative period. The increase in these expenses were primarily to support our growing headcount and the expansion of our business, with occupancy costs also being impacted by the expansion of our New York headquarters. Realized Income The following table presents the components of the OMG’s RI ($ in thousands): Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Fee Related Earnings $ (808,201) $ (620,930) $ (187,271) (30)% Investment income (loss)—realized 1,355  (650) 2,005  NM Interest income 2,907  1,723  1,184  69 Interest expense (363) (701) 338  48 Realized net investment income 3,899  372  3,527  NM Realized Income $ (804,302) $ (620,558) (183,744) (30) 156 Table of Contents Liquidity and Capital Resources Management assesses liquidity in terms of our ability to generate cash to fund operating, investing and financing activities. Management believes that we are well-positioned and our liquidity will continue to be sufficient for our foreseeable working capital needs, contractual obligations, dividend payments and strategic initiatives. Sources and Uses of Liquidity Our sources of liquidity are: (i) cash on hand; (ii) net working capital; (iii) cash from operations, including management fees, other fees, fee related performance revenues and net realized performance income; (iv) fund distributions related to our investments that are unpredictable as to amount and timing; and (v) net borrowings from the Credit Facility. As of December 31, 2025, our cash and cash equivalents were $488.9 million and we have $460.0 million available under our Credit Facility. Our ability to draw from the Credit Facility is subject to leverage and other covenants. We remain in compliance with all covenants as of December 31, 2025. We believe that these sources of liquidity will be sufficient to fund our working capital requirements and to meet our commitments in the ordinary course of business and under the current market conditions for the foreseeable future. Cash flows from management fees may be impacted by a slowdown in deployment, declines in valuations or negatively impacted fundraising. In addition, management fees may be subject to deferral and fee related performance revenues may be subject to hold backs. Transfers of our financial interests, such as capital interests and rights to performance income earned by us from funds that we manage, to structured financing vehicles that we manage, may reduce or delay our cash flows and liquidity associated with these financial interests. Declines or delays in transaction activity may also impact our fund distributions and net realized performance income, which could adversely impact our cash flows and liquidity. Market conditions may make it difficult to extend the maturity or refinance our existing indebtedness or obtain new indebtedness with similar terms. We expect that our primary liquidity needs will continue to be to: (i) provide capital to facilitate the growth of our existing investment management businesses; (ii) fund our investment commitments; (iii) provide capital to facilitate our expansion into businesses that are complementary to our existing investment management businesses as well as other strategic growth initiatives; (iv) pay operating expenses, including cash compensation to our employees and tax payments for net settlement of equity awards; (v) fund capital expenditures; (vi) service our debt; (vii) pay income taxes and make payments under the TRA; (viii) make dividend payments to our Class A and non-voting common stockholders and our Series B mandatory convertible preferred stockholders in accordance with our dividend policies; and (ix) pay distributions to AOG unitholders. In the normal course of business, we expect to pay dividends to our Class A and non-voting common stockholders that are aligned with our expected FRE after an allocation of current taxes paid. For the purposes of determining this amount, we allocate the current taxes paid to FRE and to realized performance and investment income in a manner that may be disproportionate to earnings generated by these metrics, and the actual taxes paid on these metrics should they be considered separately. Additionally, our methodology uses the tax benefits from certain expenses that are not included in these non-GAAP metrics, such as equity-based compensation from the vesting of equity awards and from the amortization of intangible assets, among others. We allocate the taxes by multiplying the statutory tax rate currently in effect by our net realized performance and net investment income and removing this amount from total current taxes. The remaining current tax paid is the amount that we allocate to FRE. We use this method to allocate the current provision for income taxes to approximate the amount of cash that is available to pay dividends to our stockholders. If cash flows from operations were insufficient to fund dividends over a sustained period of time, we expect that we would suspend or reduce paying such dividends. In addition, there is no assurance that dividends would continue at the current levels or at all. Unless quarterly dividends have been declared and paid (or declared and set apart for payment) on the Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock, we may not declare or pay or set apart payment for dividends on any shares of our Class A common stock during the period. Declared dividends on the Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock will be payable, at our election, in cash, shares of our Class A common stock or a combination of cash and shares of our Class A common stock. Dividends on Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock are cumulative and the Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock, unless previously converted or redeemed, will automatically convert into our Class A common stock on October 1, 2027. Although any income allocated to Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock dividends may be subject to taxes, dividends to our Series B mandatory convertible preferred stockholders will not be reduced on account of any income taxes owed by us. As a result, taxes associated with any income allocated to Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock dividends will be borne by Class A and non-voting common stockholders. Our ability to obtain debt financing and complete stock offerings provides us with additional sources of liquidity. For further discussion of financing transactions occurring in the current period, see “Cash Flows” within this section and “Note 7. Debt” and “Note 14. Equity and Redeemable Interest” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual 157 Table of Contents Report on Form 10-K. Our consolidated financial statements reflect the cash flows of our operating businesses as well as those of our Consolidated Funds. The assets of our Consolidated Funds, on a gross basis, are significantly larger than the assets of our operating businesses and therefore have a substantial effect on the amounts reported within our consolidated statements of cash flows. The primary cash flow activities of our Consolidated Funds include: (i) raising capital from third-party investors, which is reflected as non-controlling interests of our Consolidated Funds; (ii) financing certain investments by issuing debt; (iii) purchasing and selling investment securities; (iv) generating cash through the realization of certain investments; (v) collecting interest and dividend income; and (vi) distributing cash to investors. Our Consolidated Funds are generally accounted for as investment companies under GAAP; therefore, the character and classification of all Consolidated Fund transactions are presented as cash flows from operations. Liquidity available at our Consolidated Funds is not available for corporate liquidity needs, and debt of the Consolidated Funds is non-recourse to us except to the extent of our investment in the fund. Cash Flows The following tables summarize our consolidated statements of cash flows by activities attributable to the Company and Consolidated Funds. For more details on the activity of the Company and Consolidated Funds, refer to “Note 16. Consolidation” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Year ended December 31, 2025 2024 Net cash provided by operating activities $ 2,113,088  $ 1,404,724  Net cash provided by the Consolidated Funds’ operating activities, net of eliminations 1,153,871  1,386,430  Net cash provided by operating activities 3,266,959  2,791,154  Net cash used in the Company’s investing activities (1,803,639) (159,404) Net cash used in the Company’s financing activities (811,643) (77,727) Net cash used in the Consolidated Funds’ financing activities, net of eliminations (1,615,526) (1,353,867) Net cash used in financing activities (2,427,169) (1,431,594) Effect of exchange rate changes (55,231) (40,454) Net change in cash and cash equivalents $ (1,019,080) $ 1,159,702  The Consolidated Funds had no effect on cash flows attributable to the Company for the periods presented and are excluded from the discussion below. The following discussion focuses on cash flow by activities attributable to the Company. Operating Activities In the table below, cash flows from operations are summarized to present: (i) cash generated from our core operating activities, primarily consisting of profits generated principally from fee revenues after covering for operating expenses and fee related performance compensation; (ii) net realized performance income; and (iii) net cash from investment related activities including purchases, sales, realized net investment income and interest expense. We generated meaningful cash flow from operations in each period presented. Year ended December 31, Favorable (Unfavorable) 2025 2024 $ Change % Change Core operating activities $ 1,727,222  $ 1,095,204  $ 632,018  58% Net realized performance income 323,301  137,950  185,351  134 Net cash provided by investment related activities 62,565  171,570  (109,005) (64) Net cash provided by operating activities $ 2,113,088  $ 1,404,724  708,364  50 Cash from our core operating activities increased as a result of growing fee revenues and sustained profitability and timing of cash collection of our receivables. Net realized performance income includes (i) carried interest distributions that may represent tax distributions or other distributions of income and (ii) incentive fees that are realized annually at the end of the measurement period, which is typically at the end of the calendar year. Cash received from carried interest distributions and the subsequent payments to employees may not necessarily occur in the same quarter. Cash from incentive fees is generally received in the period subsequent to the measurement period. The increase in net realized performance income over the comparative period was primarily due to timing 158 Table of Contents of payments to employees for a portion of the distributions that we received in 2025, while tax distributions were both received by us and paid to our employees in the fourth quarter of 2024. Net cash provided by investment related activities for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 primarily represents: (i) distributions received from our capital investments and the collection of principal and interest from loans that we have made; (ii) sales of certain capital investments to employees; (iii) the rebalancing of and associated return of our capital commitments upon admitting new limited partners; and (iv) interest income from treasury-backed securities that were redeemed in March 2025, providing proceeds to support the GCP Acquisition; offset by (v) purchases associated with funding capital commitments and strategic investments in our investment portfolio; and (vi) interest payments on our debt obligations. As we are committed to invest alongside the investors in our funds, our capital commitments will increase with our growing assets under management and our investment related activities may fluctuate depending on timing of capital investments and distributions of each fund from year to year. For further discussion of our capital commitments, see “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our working capital needs are generally rising to support the growth of our business, while the capital requirements needed to support fund-related activities vary based upon the specific investment activities being conducted during such period. Investing Activities Year ended December 31, 2025 2024 Purchase of furniture, equipment and leasehold improvements $ (72,178) $ (91,509) Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (1,731,461) (67,895) Net cash used in investing activities $ (1,803,639) $ (159,404) Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2025 was predominately cash used to complete the GCP Acquisition in the first quarter of 2025. In addition, net cash used in investing activities for both periods included cash to purchase furniture, equipment and leasehold improvements, primarily for the expansion of our New York headquarters for the year ended December 31, 2025 to support the growth in our staffing levels, while the activity in the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily reflects the build-out of our Los Angeles headquarters, which we occupied beginning in the third quarter of 2024. Net cash used in investing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 also included cash used to complete the WSM Acquisition. Financing Activities Year ended December 31, 2025 2024 Net proceeds from issuance of Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock $ —  $ 1,458,771  Net proceeds from issuance of Class A common stock —  407,124  Net borrowings (repayments) of Credit Facility 1,380,000  (895,000) Proceeds from issuance of senior notes —  736,010  Repayment of senior notes —  (250,000) Dividends and distributions (1,756,688) (1,310,896) Stock option exercises —  1,511  Taxes paid related to net share settlement of equity awards (436,869) (227,532) Other financing activities 1,914  2,285  Net cash used in the Company’s financing activities $ (811,643) $ (77,727) As a result of generating higher fee related earnings, we increased the level of dividends paid to a growing shareholder base of Class A and non-voting common stockholders and distributions paid to AOG unitholders, representing net cash used for the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024. In addition, we issued 30,000,000 shares of Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock in October 2024 and net cash used in the Company’s financing activities included dividend payments made during the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024 to those preferred stockholders. Net cash used in the Company’s financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2025 included net borrowings under the Credit Facility. These proceeds were used primarily to fund the GCP Acquisition in the first quarter of 2025 and to support general operating cash needs. Net cash used in the Company’s financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2024 included the repayment of our Credit Facility and senior notes, partially using cash provided by the net proceeds from the 159 Table of Contents Series B mandatory convertible preferred stock, the issuance of senior notes and the public offering of Class A common stock. In connection with the vesting of equity awards that are granted to our employees under the Equity Incentive Plan, we withhold shares equal to the fair value of our employees’ tax withholding liabilities and pay the taxes on their behalf in cash and thus issue fewer net shares. Cash used in connection with these awards increased during the current year primarily as a result of a higher stock price on the vesting date, which resulted in employees recognizing additional compensation. For the year ended December 31, 2025 we net settled and did not issue 2.3 million shares. For the year ended December 31, 2024, we net settled and did not issue 1.8 million shares. Capital Resources We intend to use a portion of our available liquidity to pay cash dividends and distributions to our Series B mandatory convertible preferred stockholders, Class A and non-voting common stockholders and AOG unitholders on a quarterly basis in accordance with our dividend and distribution policies. Our ability to make cash dividends and distributions is dependent on a myriad of factors, including: (i) general economic and business conditions; (ii) our strategic plans and prospects; (iii) our business and investment opportunities; (iv) timing of capital calls by our funds in support of our commitments; (v) our financial condition and operating results; (vi) working capital requirements and other anticipated cash needs; (vii) contractual restrictions and obligations; (viii) legal, tax and regulatory restrictions; (ix) restrictions on the payment of distributions by our subsidiaries to us; and (x) other relevant factors. We are required to maintain minimum net capital balances for regulatory purposes for our registered broker-dealers. These net capital requirements are met in part by retaining cash, cash equivalents and investment securities. Additionally, certain of our subsidiaries operating outside the U.S. are also subject to capital adequacy requirements in each of the applicable jurisdictions. As a result, we may be restricted in our ability to transfer cash between different operating entities and jurisdictions. As of December 31, 2025, we were required to maintain approximately $99.0 million in net assets within these subsidiaries to meet regulatory net capital and capital adequacy requirements. We remain in compliance with these regulatory requirements. Holders of AOG Units, subject to the terms of the exchange agreement, may exchange their AOG Units for shares of our Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis. These exchanges are expected to result in increases in the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of AMC that otherwise would not have been available. These increases in tax basis may increase depreciation and amortization for U.S. income tax purposes and thereby reduce the amount of tax that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future. We entered into the TRA that provides payment to the TRA Recipients of 85% of the amount of actual cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state, local and foreign income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize as a result of these increases in tax basis and of certain other tax benefits related to entering into the TRA, including tax benefits attributable to payments under the TRA and interest accrued thereon. Future payments under the TRA in respect of subsequent exchanges are expected to be substantial. The TRA liability balance was $579.9 million and $402.4 million as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2025 and 2024, payments under the TRA were $8.1 million and $6.1 million, respectively. For a discussion of our debt obligations, including the debt obligations of our consolidated funds, see “Note 7. Debt” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. For a discussion of our equity, see “Note 14. Equity and Redeemable Interest” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 160 Table of Contents Critical Accounting Estimates We prepare our consolidated financial statements in accordance with GAAP. In applying many of these accounting principles, we need to make assumptions, estimates or judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses in our consolidated financial statements. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and other assumptions that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. These assumptions, estimates or judgments, however, are both subjective and subject to change, and actual results may differ from our assumptions and estimates. If actual amounts are ultimately different from our estimates, the revisions are included in our results of operations for the period in which the actual amounts become known. We believe the following critical accounting policies could potentially produce materially different results if we were to change the underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments. See “—Components of Consolidated Results of Operations” and “Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a summary of our significant accounting policies. Principles of Consolidation We consolidate entities based on either a VIE model or voting interest entity (“VOE”) model. As such, for entities that are determined to be variable interest entities, we consolidate those entities where we have both significant economics and the power to direct the activities of the entity that impact economic performance. For limited partnerships and similar entities evaluated under the voting interest entity model, we do not consolidate those entities for which we act as the general partner unless we hold a majority voting interest. The consolidation guidance requires qualitative and quantitative analysis to determine whether our involvement, through holding interests directly or indirectly in the entity or contractually through other variable interests (e.g., management fees and performance related income), would give us a controlling financial interest. This analysis requires judgment. These judgments include: (i) determining whether the equity investment at risk is sufficient to permit the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support; (ii) evaluating whether the equity holders, as a group, can make decisions that have a significant effect on the success of the entity; (iii) determining whether two or more parties’ equity interests should be aggregated; (iv) determining whether the equity investors have proportionate voting rights to their obligations to absorb losses or rights to receive returns from an entity; and (v) evaluating the nature of relationships and activities of the parties involved in determining which party within a related-party group is most closely associated with a VIE and hence would be deemed the primary beneficiary. Fair Value Measurement GAAP establishes a hierarchical disclosure framework prioritizing the inputs used in measuring financial instruments at fair value into three levels based on their market observability. Market price observability is affected by a number of factors, including the type of instrument and the characteristics specific to the instrument. Financial instruments with readily available quoted prices from an active market or where fair value can be measured based on actively quoted prices generally have a higher degree of market price observability and a lesser degree of judgment inherent in measuring fair value. Financial assets and liabilities measured and reported at fair value are classified as follows: •Level I—Quoted prices in active markets for identical instruments. •Level II—Quoted prices for similar instruments in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar instruments in inactive markets; and model-derived valuations with directly or indirectly observable significant inputs. Level II inputs include prices in markets with few transactions, non-current prices, prices for which little public information exists or prices that vary substantially over time or among brokered market makers. Other inputs include interest rate, yield curve, volatility, prepayment risk, loss severity, credit risk and default rate. •Level III—Valuations that rely on one or more significant unobservable inputs. These inputs reflect our assessment of the assumptions that market participants would use to value the instrument based on the best information available. In some instances, an instrument may fall into multiple levels of the fair value hierarchy. In such instances, the instrument’s level within the fair value hierarchy is based on the lowest of the three levels (with Level III being the lowest) that is significant to the fair value measurement. Our assessment of the significance of an input requires judgment and considers factors specific to the instrument. 161 Table of Contents Acquisitions Management’s determination of fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date is based on the best information available in the circumstances and may incorporate management’s own assumptions and involve a significant degree of judgment. We use our best estimates and assumptions to accurately assign fair value to the tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed at the acquisition date as well as the useful lives of those acquired intangible assets. For business combinations accounted for under the acquisition method, the purchase consideration, including the fair value of certain elements of contingent consideration as of the acquisition date, in excess of the fair value of net assets acquired is recorded as goodwill. Conversely, any excess of the fair value of the net assets acquired in excess of the purchase consideration is recognized as a bargain purchase gain. Critical estimates in valuing certain of the intangible assets we have acquired include, but are not limited to, future expected cashflows, future fundraising assumptions, expected useful lives, discount rates and income tax rates. Our estimates for future cash flows are based on historical data, internal estimates and external sources, and are based on assumptions that are consistent with the plans and estimates we are using to manage the underlying assets acquired. We estimate the useful lives of the intangible assets based on the expected period over which we anticipate generating economic benefit from the asset. We base our estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable but that are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. Unanticipated events and circumstances may occur that could affect the accuracy or validity of such assumptions, estimates or actual results. Impairment of Intangible Assets We evaluate finite-lived intangible assets for impairment if certain events occur or circumstances change indicating that the carrying amount of the intangible asset may not be recoverable. If, after assessing qualitative factors, we believe that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the finite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount, we evaluate if the carrying amount of the intangible asset is recoverable by comparing the estimated undiscounted cash flows attributable to the intangible asset being evaluated with its carrying amount. We evaluate indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment annually, or if certain events occur or circumstances change indicating that the carrying amount of the intangible asset may not be recoverable or if these assets are subsequently determined to have a finite useful life. If, after assessing qualitative factors, we believe that it is more likely than not that the fair value of the indefinite-lived intangible asset is less than its carrying amount, we evaluate impairment quantitatively to determine and record the amount of impairment as the excess of the carrying amount of the indefinite-lived intangible asset over its fair value. If an impairment is determined to exist by management, we accelerate amortization expense so that the carrying amount represents fair value. We estimate fair value of finite-lived and indefinite-lived intangible assets using a discounted future cash flow methodology. Inherent in such fair value determinations are certain judgments and estimates relating to future cash flows, including our strategic plans. We base our estimates on assumptions we believe to be reasonable but that are unpredictable and inherently uncertain. Additionally, future estimates may differ materially from current estimates and assumptions. Income Taxes We are taxed as corporation for U.S. federal and state income tax purposes. We use the liability method of accounting for deferred income taxes pursuant to GAAP. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for the future tax consequences attributable to temporary differences between the carrying value of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using the statutory tax rates expected to be applied in the periods in which those temporary differences are settled. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized during the year the change is enacted. A valuation allowance is recorded on our net deferred tax assets when it is more likely than not that such assets will not be realized or when timing is unknown. When evaluating the realizability of our deferred tax assets, all evidence, both positive and negative, is evaluated. Items considered in this analysis include the ability to carry back losses, the reversal of temporary differences, tax planning strategies and expectations of future earnings. Under GAAP, the amount of tax benefit to be recognized is the amount of benefit that is more likely than not to be sustained upon examination. We analyze our tax filing positions in all of the U.S. federal, state, local and foreign tax jurisdictions where we are required to file income tax returns, as well as for all open tax years in these jurisdictions. If, based on this analysis, we determine that uncertainties in tax positions exist, a liability is established. Tax laws are complex and subject to different interpretations by the taxpayer and respective governmental taxing authorities. Significant judgment is required in determining tax expense and in evaluating tax positions, including evaluating 162 Table of Contents uncertainties under GAAP. We review our tax positions quarterly and adjust our tax balances as new legislation is passed or new information becomes available. Recent Accounting Pronouncements Information regarding recent accounting pronouncements and their impact on Ares can be found in “Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Contractual Obligations, Commitments and Contingencies and Other Arrangements In the normal course of business, we enter into contractual obligations that may require future cash payments. We may also engage in off-balance sheet arrangements, including guarantees, capital commitments to funds, indemnifications and potential contingent repayment obligations. The following table sets forth our contractual obligations and capital commitments of the Company and of the Consolidated Funds as of December 31, 2025 ($ in thousands): Less than 1 year 1 - 3 years 4 - 5 years Thereafter Total The Company: Operating lease obligations(1) $ 75,532  $ 173,136  $ 217,678  $ 1,348,402  $ 1,814,748  Debt obligations payable(2) 1,380,000  496,785  397,954  1,666,676  3,941,415  Interest obligations on debt(3) 166,649  328,871  233,270  1,771,608  2,500,398  Other long-term obligations(4) 42,139  45,148  5,178  262  92,727  Capital commitments(5) 1,172,942  —  —  —  1,172,942  Subtotal 2,837,262  1,043,940  854,080  4,786,948  9,522,230  Consolidated Funds: Debt obligations payable 822,182  1,024,146  91,816  7,949,495  9,887,639  Interest obligations on debt(3) 472,858  837,842  772,432  1,759,563  3,842,695  Capital commitments of Consolidated Funds(5) 4,632,548  —  —  —  4,632,548  $ 8,764,850  $ 2,905,928  $ 1,718,328  $ 14,496,006  $ 27,885,112  (1)The table includes future minimum commitments for our operating leases, including leases that have been executed but have not yet commenced. The majority of our operating lease obligations represents office space agreements with expirations through June 2043. (2)Debt obligations include $2,150.0 million of senior notes and $450.0 million of subordinated notes, net of unamortized discount, and outstanding balance under the Credit Facility as of December 31, 2025. (3)Interest obligations reflect future interest payments on outstanding debt obligations with stated interest rates for fixed rate debt and at the prevailing rate in effect as of the reporting date for floating rate debt. (4)Represents payment obligations with respect to long-term service contracts entered into by us and future minimum commitments for our finance leases. (5)Represents commitments to fund certain investments. These amounts are generally due on demand and are therefore presented as obligations payable in less than one-year. We entered into a TRA with the TRA Recipients that requires us to pay them 85% of any cash tax savings, if any, realized by AMC from amortizing any step-up in tax basis resulting from an exchange of AOG Units for shares of our Class A common stock or, at our option, for cash. Because the timing of amounts to be paid under the TRA cannot be determined, this contractual commitment has not been presented in the table above. The cash tax savings, if any, achieved may not ensure that we have sufficient cash available to pay this liability, and we may be required to incur additional debt to satisfy this liability. For further discussion of our capital commitments, indemnification arrangements and contingent liabilities, see “Note 9. Commitments and Contingencies,” within our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. 163 Table of Contents