Kipp deVeer is a Director and Partner of Ares Management, the $30 billon market cap public company (ARES) that manages $360 billion in assets, including $250 billion in credit. Kipp joined Ares twenty years ago and serves as the Head of Ares Credit Group, CEO of the public BDC Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC), and a member of the Executive Management Committee.

Our conversation covers Kipp’s path to Ares, the business and credit markets twenty years ago, and the exponential growth of Ares since. We turn to the firm’s research process across origination and sourcing, underwriting, investment targets, and portfolio construction. We then discuss Kipp’s perspective on the credit environment, opportunities, and risks and close with a look at the future of Ares.

Show Notes:

04:39 Background
08:38 Stanford
10:39 Path to credit markets
11:39 Ares & credit markets 20 years ago
17:09 Growth of Ares since
22:44 Origination & sourcing efforts
25:39 Underwriting process
28:49 Characteristics of an Ares deal
37:49 Competitive landscape
39:53 Key inflection points for Ares over last 20 years
47:39 Thoughts on current markets
54:14 Potential new opportunities
1:05:49 Ares going forward
1:11:09 Closing questions