{"id":92988,"date":"2026-02-12T00:22:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T05:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hedgeco.net\/news\/?p=92988"},"modified":"2026-02-11T17:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T22:14:13","slug":"ares-crosses-600b-aum-turning-ai-fear-into-a-credit-and-secondaries-opportunity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/02\/2026\/ares-crosses-600b-aum-turning-ai-fear-into-a-credit-and-secondaries-opportunity.html","title":{"rendered":"Ares Crosses $600B AUM\u2014Turning AI Fear into a Credit and Secondaries Opportunity:"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

(HedgeCo.Net) Ares is at the center of the market\u2019s biggest private-credit debate: how to price risk when\u00a0AI might disrupt software business models<\/strong>, and software has been a meaningful borrower segment for private lenders. Ares\u2019 response has been direct: software exposure is limited, underwriting discipline remains intact, and dislocation can create attractive entry points\u2014especially in\u00a0opportunistic credit and secondaries<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s happening<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ares reported assets crossing the $600 billion mark (about $622.5B)<\/strong> alongside strong fundraising momentum and significant deployment, reinforcing its place among the largest U.S. alternatives firms. 
At the same time, the stock market has been skittish about private credit\u2019s software exposure, weighing on sentiment across the group even as operating metrics remain robust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why it\u2019s trending<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1) Ares is selling \u201cdurable credit manufacturing.\u201d<\/strong>
The firm\u2019s message is that scale + sourcing + risk management can power through volatility. In 2026, that\u2019s the heart of the private credit pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) AI disruption is producing a new opportunity set.<\/strong>
Ares has explicitly highlighted that AI-driven dislocation can create chances to buy mispriced assets\u2014via high-yield loans, structured deals, or secondary stakes in funds where discounts widen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) Infrastructure is quietly part of the story.<\/strong>
As AI drives data center and power demand, credit managers want exposure to the buildout\u2014often via asset-backed lending, infrastructure credit, and real assets credit. Ares has pointed to expanding AI-related digital infrastructure investing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What to watch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  • Credit quality vs. narrative risk:<\/strong>\u00a0Even if defaults remain low, the \u201cAI killed software\u201d narrative can keep pressure on valuations and fundraising optics.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Portfolio transparency:<\/strong>\u00a0Investors will demand clearer segmentation: which software is vulnerable, which is mission-critical.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Secondaries math:<\/strong>\u00a0If discounts widen, secondaries can become a growth engine\u2014but only for managers with patient capital and strong selection skill.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Bottom line<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Ares is turning a market fear into a business case: AI disruption creates volatility, volatility creates discounts, discounts create opportunity<\/strong>\u2014especially for the firms with scale and flexible mandates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    (HedgeCo.Net) Ares is at the center of the market\u2019s biggest private-credit debate: how to price risk when\u00a0AI might disrupt software business models, and software has been a meaningful borrower segment for private lenders. Ares\u2019 response has been direct: software exposure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":92989,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16296],"tags":[16665,4642,16666,16368],"class_list":["post-92988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative-investments","tag-ai-fears","tag-alternative-investments","tag-portfolio-transparency","tag-private-credit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92988"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92990,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92988\/revisions\/92990"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgeco.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}