Ares Management Holds Firm on $125 Billion Private Wealth Target Through 2028

Ares Management Corporation is maintaining its ambitious target of raising $125 billion from private wealth clients by 2028, even as broader sentiment in the private credit market faces headwinds from retail redemption pressures and macroeconomic uncertainty. The Los Angeles-based alternative asset manager, which oversees more than $420 billion in total assets under management, is doubling down on its wealth channel strategy at a moment when some competitors are quietly reassessing their timelines. For family office principals across Asia-Pacific, this signals something worth examining carefully: the largest alternative managers are not retreating from the wealth segment — they are recalibrating how they access it, and the terms on which they do so.

The private credit market has experienced a notable cooling among individual investors in recent quarters, with several interval funds and non-traded credit vehicles reporting elevated redemption requests. Yet institutional-quality family offices occupy a distinct position in this dynamic. Unlike retail feeder structures, sophisticated family offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, and Dubai have been engaging directly with managers like Ares through bespoke separately managed accounts, co-investment rights, and structured access vehicles that carry lower liquidity risk than mass-market products. This distinction matters enormously when interpreting Ares's continued confidence in its $125 billion target.

Why Private Credit Demand Persists Among Asia-Pacific Family Offices

The appetite for private credit among Asia-Pacific family offices has not evaporated — it has become more selective. Principals who built meaningful allocations to direct lending and asset-backed credit over the past three years are now scrutinising manager quality, portfolio construction, and fee structures with greater rigour. Ares, which manages one of the largest direct lending platforms globally with approximately $335 billion in credit AUM as of late 2024, remains a reference point for the segment precisely because of its scale, vintage diversification, and access to middle-market borrowers that smaller managers cannot replicate.

In Singapore, family offices structured under the Monetary Authority of Singapore's Variable Capital Company (VCC) framework have found the VCC's sub-fund architecture particularly useful for isolating private credit exposures with clean regulatory and tax treatment. The MAS has continued to refine guidance around eligible investments and fund manager requirements under the VCC regime, giving principals greater confidence in deploying into offshore credit strategies through a Singapore-domiciled wrapper. Hong Kong's Open-Ended Fund Company (OFC) structure offers comparable flexibility for principals domiciled or operating through the SAR, with the Securities and Futures Commission having approved a growing number of OFC applications from family offices seeking to consolidate alternative allocations.

How Ares Is Structuring Access for Wealth Clients

Ares has been building out its wealth management infrastructure through dedicated product teams, simplified subscription processes, and a growing suite of evergreen vehicles designed to reduce the administrative friction that has historically made private markets inaccessible to smaller family offices. The firm's Ares Wealth Management Solutions division has been central to this effort, working with wealth platforms and private banks across Asia to distribute credit strategies that were previously available only to large institutional investors. Minimum investment thresholds on some vehicles have been reduced to accommodate family offices with between $200 million and $500 million in total assets — a segment that is growing rapidly across Singapore, Hong Kong, and increasingly Dubai's DIFC ecosystem.

The DIFC, which has seen a significant influx of family offices from South Asia, the Middle East, and increasingly East Asia, has become a meaningful distribution corridor for alternative managers seeking to access Gulf-linked and India-linked family capital. Ares's presence in the region, combined with the DIFC's robust regulatory framework under the Dubai Financial Services Authority, has made it a natural point of engagement for principals seeking to allocate to US and European private credit from a tax-efficient, internationally recognised jurisdiction. Family offices operating under DIFC's Single Family Office regime benefit from clear regulatory parameters that facilitate direct fund subscriptions without the compliance ambiguity that can arise in less mature jurisdictions.

Strategic Implications for Family Office Allocation Committees

The broader signal from Ares's maintained target is one of structural conviction in private wealth as a capital source — not a tactical bet. For family office principals reviewing their alternatives allocation, this raises several practical considerations. First, the pipeline of institutional-quality private credit products available through wealth channels is expanding, not contracting, which means the selection process requires more rigorous due diligence, not less. Second, the managers most likely to deliver consistent risk-adjusted returns in private credit are those with the scale to originate proprietary deal flow and the infrastructure to manage workouts — attributes that should be weighted heavily in manager selection conversations.

Third, and perhaps most critically for Asia-Pacific principals, the currency and jurisdiction considerations embedded in private credit investments deserve attention at the allocation committee level. USD-denominated direct lending strategies carry implicit FX exposure for SGD, HKD, or AED-based family offices, and the hedging cost of that exposure has risen materially over the past 18 months. Principals who have not revisited their currency overlay assumptions since 2022 should do so before committing fresh capital to US-centric credit vehicles. The Ares story is ultimately about the institutionalisation of private wealth as an asset class — and for Asia-Pacific family offices, positioning thoughtfully within that shift, rather than reacting to it, is the more defensible posture.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Ares Management's $125 billion private wealth target and why does it matter for family offices?

Ares Management has set a target of raising $125 billion from private wealth clients by 2028, reflecting the firm's strategic commitment to expanding beyond institutional capital. For family offices, this means increased product availability, more competitive fee structures, and greater access to strategies previously reserved for pension funds and sovereign wealth funds. It also signals that large alternative managers view sophisticated family capital as a permanent and growing part of their investor base.

How does the Singapore VCC framework support private credit allocations?

The Variable Capital Company structure, regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, allows family offices to establish sub-funds that isolate individual alternative exposures — including private credit — with distinct NAV calculations, investor registers, and tax treatment. This makes it easier to manage liquidity, reporting, and redemption terms across a diversified alternatives portfolio without commingling assets across strategies or vintage years.

What distinguishes family office private credit access from retail interval funds?

Family offices typically access private credit through separately managed accounts, co-investment arrangements, or bespoke evergreen vehicles with negotiated terms, rather than through publicly registered interval funds. This distinction means family offices generally face fewer forced liquidity constraints, have greater transparency into underlying loan portfolios, and can negotiate fee structures that reflect their scale and relationship with the manager.

Are redemption pressures in private credit a concern for Asia-Pacific family offices?

The redemption pressures observed in retail-facing private credit vehicles are largely a product of structural mismatches between investor expectations and underlying asset liquidity in mass-market products. Institutional family offices with longer time horizons and direct manager relationships are less exposed to these dynamics, provided their vehicles are structured appropriately. Principals should nonetheless review liquidity terms, gate provisions, and side-pocket policies in any private credit allocation.

How is the DIFC positioning itself as a hub for alternative fund access?

The Dubai International Financial Centre has attracted a growing number of family offices through its Single Family Office regulatory framework, competitive tax environment, and proximity to Gulf and South Asian capital pools. The DIFC's Dubai Financial Services Authority provides a recognised regulatory wrapper that facilitates direct subscriptions to international alternative funds, making it an increasingly important distribution node for managers like Ares seeking to access Asia-linked and Middle East-linked family wealth.

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