Ares direct lending fund attracts €2.2bn from wealth market

The Ares European Strategic Income Fund (AESIF) has attracted more than €2.2bn (£1.8bn) primarily from wealthy individuals.

The fund was made available to individual investors in January 2024 and has been marketed to the mass affluent in Europe and Asia. As of 31 December 2024, AESIF was invested in more than 230 portfolio companies across a range of sectors.

“We are proud to see significant interest from the wealth channel in our European direct lending strategy, which we have delivered to institutional investors since 2007,” said Daniel Sinclair, partner in European direct lending, and Andrea Fernandez, head of product management and investor relations for European credit and corporate secondaries at Ares.

“AESIF enables individual investors to benefit from the strength of the Ares European platform, including our scale, local origination network, execution experience and portfolio management capabilities as we seek to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns.

“As European private credit continues to gain greater visibility and penetration, we believe we are well-positioned to build on our track record of disciplined capital deployment in quality investments to support borrowers’ long-term objectives.”

AESIF aims to deliver a diversified portfolio largely comprising directly originated, senior secured floating rate loans to businesses in Western Europe. Investors are offered the opportunity to generate a core income with downside protection and stable yields, with a relatively low minimum investment threshold of €25,000.

Mark Serocold, partner and EMEA head of wealth management solutions at Ares said that the success of the fund is a testament to the strong demand for private credit strategies from individual investors across Europe and Asia.

“By providing these investors access to Ares’ European direct lending strategy, AESIF can provide a source of durable income, compelling yield generation potential, and flexibility in a semi-liquid format,” Serocold added.

“We look forward to further expanding our private markets offering for individual investors in EMEA and appreciate the continued support of our global wealth management solutions team and distribution partners.”