Ares Management boosts credit fund stakes, adds Integer Holdings position

Ares Management used its latest quarterly securities filing to add to the part of the market where it has made its name, increasing stakes in several credit funds while opening a new position in Integer Holdings worth $53.3 million at March 31. The moves show that one of the industry’s largest private credit players is still leaning into lenders and direct-finance vehicles even as the asset class faces questions about loan quality, underwriting discipline and the durability of demand if the economy slows.

The filing showed first-time investments in BlackRock TCP Capital and Carlyle Secured Lending, along with increased exposure to Golub Capital BDC and Blue Owl Technology Finance. Ares also added to its own BDC, Ares Capital Corp., while liquidating its stake in New Mountain Finance. Taken together, the trades point to a manager that is not pulling back from the sector so much as shifting capital toward the names it sees as most attractive within it.

Beyond the credit funds, Ares made a new equity position in Integer Holdings, a medical-device maker. That stake stood out because it showed the firm looking outside its usual lending universe at the same time it was reinforcing it. The combination suggests a portfolio manager willing to pair credit exposure with selected operating-company bets, rather than making a broad defensive retreat.

The filing landed against a louder debate over private credit itself. The sector has been under intense scrutiny in recent months, with investors and regulators questioning whether years of rapid growth have led to looser underwriting standards. At the same time, artificial intelligence has raised fresh concerns for software borrowers that many business development companies have financed, since faster product disruption could pressure revenue and repayment prospects.

Ares has been sending a different signal on capital flow. The firm said on May 1 that it raised about $30 billion in first-quarter fundraising, a record, and reported GAAP net income attributable to Ares Management Corporation of $142.6 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2026. Chief Executive Michael Arougheti said the company was on track for another record year of fundraising. That contrast matters: even as the private credit market absorbs negative headlines, large alternative managers continue to attract money and deploy it into the same lending channels now under scrutiny.

The 13-F filing also underscores the lag built into the disclosure system. It revealed Ares’ holdings as of March 31, but investors did not see the positions until later in May, making the document less a trading signal than a window into where the firm thought opportunity still outweighed stress.