Key Takeaways
- Geography: United States.
Analysis
Ares Management has appointed Sarah Cole, formerly of AIMCo and Barclays Investment Bank, as partner and co-head of its global capital solutions team, joining existing co-head Roshan Chagan.
In this newly created role, Cole will lead efforts to forge strategic relationships with banks, insurers, and the broader capital markets community, reflecting Ares’s focus on tailored capital strategies across credit and asset classes.
Cole joins Ares after a tenure as managing director at AIMCo, where she was responsible for emerging capital partnerships. Earlier, she spent nearly two decades at Barclays in structured credit origination and high-yield advisory—experience that brings deep market connectivity to Ares.
The hire continues a wave of senior talent moves at Ares. Earlier this year, the firm appointed Alessandro Verdirrame, a former Goldman Sachs executive, to lead its Italian wealth solutions business in Milan. In addition, Ares has bolstered its structured finance capability, partnering with Coller Capital and Barings on a $2.4 billion secondary market funding vehicle.
These moves underscore Ares’s strategy to enhance its team with seasoned professionals who bring both product expertise and distribution capacity—particularly in alternative credit, structured finance, and capital solutions.
With over $540 billion in assets under management, Ares has increasingly targeted growth through specially designed capital structures. Its Alternative Credit funds, for example, recently enabled a bespoke lending facility with Investec to support private fund lending in multiple regions.
Sarah Cole’s arrival is expected to strengthen Ares’s connectivity with global financial institutions and accelerate originations across its credit and real asset strategies.