Ares' 3-Theme Strategy for Private Wealth Distribution
Ares Co-President Kipp deVeer explains how a 150-person wealth team scales distribution across three core themes without flooding product shelves.
Looking Beneath the Private Credit Headlines w/ Ares' Kipp deVeer
With Hugh MacArthur, Kipp deVeer · Sunday, September 13, 2026
Ares Management Co-President Kipp deVeer sits down with Hugh MacArthur to address negative headlines surrounding the private credit market and evaluate portfolio fundamentals. DeVeer explains how platform scale and industry specialization create durable competitive advantages, why private credit lenders are insulated from software market volatility, and how Ares structures its institutional and private wealth fundraising engines.
Key takeaways
- Ares built a dedicated 150-person private wealth sales team that matches the headcount of its 150-person institutional sales force across the US, Europe, and APAC. Read more →
- Private equity sponsors funding billion-dollar buyouts do not run broad syndication processes; they call two or three scaled direct lenders directly. Read more →
- Scale functions differently in private debt than in public equities; larger platforms gain direct pricing power, execution certainty, and proprietary market intelligence. Read more →
- Ares Management Co-President Kipp deVeer reports that direct loan portfolio performance contradicts public skepticism, with default rates and non-accruals tracking well below historical averages. Read more →
- Software buyout debt holds an equity cushion averaging 13 to 14 turns of EBITDA, protecting direct lenders against severe enterprise value drops. Read more →
5 articles from this episode
Why Direct Lending Faces Severe Adverse Selection
Ares Co-President Kipp deVeer explains why private credit outperformance concentrates in the top five managers as adverse selection hits smaller funds.
Why Scale Builds an Unfair Moat in Private Credit
Ares Co-President Kipp deVeer explains how platform scale and direct-to-company sourcing create structural moats in private credit.
Ares Co-President Kipp deVeer on Private Credit Headwinds
Ares Co-President Kipp deVeer analyzes private credit performance, showing low defaults and solid earnings across corporate and asset-based debt.
Why Software Valuation Drops Threaten Equity, Not Private Credit
Ares Co-President Kipp deVeer explains why private credit lenders remain insulated from software valuation drops and AI disruption.
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