Key Takeaways
- • Ares Management raised a record $36 billion in the second quarter, including $23.7 billion for its credit strategies, while assets under management rose 17% year over year to $671.3 billion, according to Reuters.
- • Fitch Ratings reported that the U.S. private-credit default rate rose to a record 6.0% in the 12 months through June, up from 5.7% in the prior quarter, with industrials and manufacturing at 10.4% and healthcare at 9.4%.
- • Second-quarter redemption requests reached 38.1% of net asset value at Blue Owl Technology Income Corp, 18.9% at Blue Owl Credit Income Corp and 16.8% at Apollo Debt Solutions, well above normal quarterly repurchase limits.
- • Evercore estimated global private credit secondary volume reached $20.4 billion in the first half of 2026, up 122% year over year and exceeding all of 2025, with GP-led deals representing 83% of the total.
- • Ares Capital and Blue Owl Capital reported resilient second-quarter results, with Ares Capital's core earnings at 47 cents per share in line with LSEG consensus and Blue Owl's distributable earnings rising 9%, matching analyst estimates.
Summary
Ares Capital and Blue Owl Capital reported resilient second-quarter results, while Ares Management posted record fundraising, underscoring continued institutional demand for private credit despite rising defaults, retail redemptions and liquidity concerns, according to Reuters.
Ares Management, one of the industry's largest managers, raised a record $36 billion in the second quarter, including $23.7 billion for its credit strategies. Its assets under management rose 17% from a year earlier to $671.3 billion. The firm deployed $35.9 billion during the quarter and ended June with a record $170 billion of uninvested capital. Chief Executive Michael Arougheti said clients continue to reward the firm for strong and consistent fund performance. Ares said its investment pipeline was improving after a subdued period for dealmaking, which geopolitical uncertainty had weighed on sponsor-backed transactions.
Ares Capital, the largest publicly traded business development company (BDC), reported core earnings of 47 cents per share, in line with the LSEG consensus estimate. It maintained its quarterly dividend and had about $6 billion of available liquidity as of July 23. Blue Owl Capital reported $319 billion of assets under management at the end of June, up 12% from a year earlier, and distributable earnings rose 9%, matching analysts' average estimate.
Stress persists across parts of the market. Fitch Ratings said the U.S. private-credit default rate rose to a record 6.0% in the 12 months through June, from 5.7% in the previous quarter, and recorded 32 default events in the second quarter involving 20 new borrowers. Industrials and manufacturing had the highest default rate among major sectors at 10.4%, while healthcare stood at 9.4%.
Retail-focused private-credit funds continued to receive redemption requests well above their normal quarterly repurchase limits. Jefferies said private-credit inflows were down about 25% year to date from the same period in 2025. Most funds repurchased shares equivalent to about 5% of net asset value during the quarter, leaving some investors with withdrawal requests rolled into future periods.
Evercore estimated global private credit secondary-market volume reached $20.4 billion in the first half of 2026, up 122% from a year earlier and exceeding the total recorded in all of 2025. GP-led deals, in which managers offer investors the option of selling or rolling holdings into a new vehicle, accounted for 83% of the total. Evercore expects BDCs, semi-liquid funds and interval funds to account for about a quarter of credit-secondary activity this year as managers seek to meet investor liquidity needs.
Ares Management, one of the industry's largest managers, raised a record $36 billion in the second quarter, including $23.7 billion for its credit strategies. Its assets under management rose 17% from a year earlier to $671.3 billion. The firm deployed $35.9 billion during the quarter and ended June with a record $170 billion of uninvested capital. Chief Executive Michael Arougheti said clients continue to reward the firm for strong and consistent fund performance. Ares said its investment pipeline was improving after a subdued period for dealmaking, which geopolitical uncertainty had weighed on sponsor-backed transactions.
Ares Capital, the largest publicly traded business development company (BDC), reported core earnings of 47 cents per share, in line with the LSEG consensus estimate. It maintained its quarterly dividend and had about $6 billion of available liquidity as of July 23. Blue Owl Capital reported $319 billion of assets under management at the end of June, up 12% from a year earlier, and distributable earnings rose 9%, matching analysts' average estimate.
Stress persists across parts of the market. Fitch Ratings said the U.S. private-credit default rate rose to a record 6.0% in the 12 months through June, from 5.7% in the previous quarter, and recorded 32 default events in the second quarter involving 20 new borrowers. Industrials and manufacturing had the highest default rate among major sectors at 10.4%, while healthcare stood at 9.4%.
Retail-focused private-credit funds continued to receive redemption requests well above their normal quarterly repurchase limits. Jefferies said private-credit inflows were down about 25% year to date from the same period in 2025. Most funds repurchased shares equivalent to about 5% of net asset value during the quarter, leaving some investors with withdrawal requests rolled into future periods.
Evercore estimated global private credit secondary-market volume reached $20.4 billion in the first half of 2026, up 122% from a year earlier and exceeding the total recorded in all of 2025. GP-led deals, in which managers offer investors the option of selling or rolling holdings into a new vehicle, accounted for 83% of the total. Evercore expects BDCs, semi-liquid funds and interval funds to account for about a quarter of credit-secondary activity this year as managers seek to meet investor liquidity needs.
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