Munger Mode rating: 4 out of 5 — Buy. Our own rating from the research report below, on business quality first: moat durability and management, with price separating the top three.
We spent our careers saying we'd rather own a wonderful business at a fair price than a fair business at a wonderful price. Ares Management presents us with an interesting test of that principle, because the market has just spent six months arguing about which kind of business it is. The stock has fallen roughly 30% this year — from a 52-week high of $195 to a low near $96, now recovered to about $125 — on fears that private credit, the engine of this firm, is a bubble about to meet its first real cycle. Our conclusion, after going through the filings: Ares is a genuinely good business — one of the few in finance with real switching costs, contractually locked-up revenue, and a management team that has compounded assets at roughly 20% a year for a decade without betting the balance sheet. The fee stream is about as durable as revenue gets in financial services.
Recent filings analysed: 10-Q (2026-08-07), 8-K (2026-07-31), 8-K (2026-06-11), 8-K (2026-05-28).
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