Ares Management management check
ARES · Financials · Asset Management & Custody Banks · CEO Michael J Arougheti
Filings as of
3 good · 1 to watch · 2 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2021 grew to $399, against $196 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Watch
Does pay follow performance?
Pay only loosely tracked returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.38 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Flag
What does the CEO cost owners?
16.0% of net income$68.3m of reported pay in fiscal 2025, against $426.1m of net income.
- n/a
Do they own the stock?
No recent CEO filingNo open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
- Flag
Are owners being diluted?
Stock pay 13.2% of revenueStock-based pay was 13.2% of revenue in the latest year.
- Good
Is leadership stable?
2 leadership filings in 3 yearsCEO in the pay table: Michael J Arougheti. 2 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Financials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 100 | 49 | |
| Pay for performance | 69 | 83 | |
| CEO cost | 0 | 67 | |
| Skin in the game | — | — | 51 |
| Dilution | 12 | 69 | |
| Stable leadership | 100 | 80 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Asset Management & Custody Banks, by management score. Ares Management is 49th of 72 in its sector.
- 48STTState Street Corporation80
- 65APOApollo Global Management79
- 66NTRSNorthern Trust79
- 165BNYBNY Mellon71
- 171AMPAmeriprise Financial71
- 243BLKBlackRock65
- 268ARESAres Management63
- 329TROWT. Rowe Price59
- 390IVZInvesco55
- 420BENFranklin Resources50
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed April 21, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Michael J Arougheti | $68.3m | $52.5m | $30.2m | $399 | $196 | $426.1m |
| 2024 | Michael J Arougheti | $85.4m | $191.4m | $27.6m | $425 | $187 | $441.0m |
| 2023 | Michael J Arougheti | $30.6m | $82.7m | $14.8m | $278 | $135 | $474.3m |
| 2022 | Michael J Arougheti | $34.6m | $37.3m | $13.5m | $155 | $110 | $167.5m |
| 2021 | Michael J Arougheti | $70.8m | $135.6m | $23.2m | $178 | $141 | $386.7m |
The board says pay is tied most to Fee Related Earnings. Its other key measures: After-tax Realized Income per share of Class A and non-voting common stock, Assets Under Management, Fund performance.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
No open-market insider buying or selling in the last six months.
Leadership and governance on file
- Feb 5, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Feb 2, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 5, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 5, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Jun 11, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $0 returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 0% of net income, and $1.8bn of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.2bn | $3.1bn | $3.6bn | $3.9bn | $5.6bn |
| Net income | $386.7m | $167.5m | $474.3m | $441.0m | $426.1m |
| Stock-based pay | $237.2m | $200.4m | $256.0m | $352.9m | $740.5m |
| Buybacks | — | — | — | — | — |
| Dividends | — | — | — | — | — |
| Diluted shares | — | — | — | — | — |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.