CFO Briefing

Ares’ Arougheti Says Public Market More Focused on Headlines Than Investment Theses

The private credit investor says it’s hard to tell a long-term story in the public market now.
Mike Arougheti of Ares Management Corp. at Bloomberg Invest in New York on March 3, 2026.Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg
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Welcome to CFO Briefing, a newsletter dedicated to corporate finance and what leaders need to know. This week, a Q&A with the CFO of a European chemicals giant that’s deep in cost-cutting mode. But first, a dispatch.

On stage last week at the Bloomberg Invest conference, Ares Management Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mike Arougheti said it was “irresponsible” for analysts from UBS Group AG to suggest that private-credit default rates could reach as high as 15%.