Ares Management Corporation shares fell 5.1% following Blue Owl Capital's announcement that it would restrict investor redemptions from one of its retail-focused private credit funds. Blue Owl stopped offering quarterly redemption opportunities for Blue Owl Capital Corp. II and will instead return capital through periodic distributions. The company disclosed a sale of 1.4 billion dollars in direct lending assets, including 600 million dollars from the affected fund. Blue Owl's shares fell approximately 6% on the announcement. The sell-off spread to other alternative asset managers active in private credit, including Ares Management, Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, and KKR. The market reaction reflects concerns about liquidity and stability in the 1.8 trillion dollar private credit market, which has experienced rapid growth and elevated redemption requests.
Read full analysisAres Management Corporation shares fell 5.1% following Blue Owl Capital's announcement that it would restrict investor redemptions from one of its retail-focused private credit funds. Blue Owl stopped offering quarterly redemption opportunities for Blue Owl Capital Corp. II and will instead return capital through periodic distributions. The company disclosed a sale of 1.4 billion dollars in direct lending assets, including 600 million dollars from the affected fund. Blue Owl's shares fell approximately 6% on the announcement. The sell-off spread to other alternative asset managers active in private credit, including Ares Management, Apollo Global Management, Blackstone, and KKR. The market reaction reflects concerns about liquidity and stability in the 1.8 trillion dollar private credit market, which has experienced rapid growth and elevated redemption requests.
Ares Management is one of the world's largest alternative asset managers with over $600 billion in assets under management, specializing in private credit, private equity, and real estate. The firm has been a major beneficiary of the boom in private credit lending to companies outside public markets. Its deep exposure to private credit makes it particularly vulnerable to the current wave of redemption concerns sparked by Blue Owl's decision to halt quarterly withdrawals at a retail-facing fund.