The US investment group Ares is on track to raise more than $80 billion

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Ares Management is on track to raise more than $80 billion from investors this year, a record amount for the credit-focused investment group, its chief executive predicted Friday.

Michael Arougheti, head of the $464 billion asset manager, said the investment group was benefiting from “increased demand” for its funds from both institutional and retail investors, attracted by the high returns on private loans.

This has manifested itself in the fastest fundraising pace Ares has ever recorded, including $20.9 billion in investor commitments secured in the three months to the end of September.

Arougheti has sought to push the Los Angeles-based asset manager beyond its lending business, which includes its core business of lending directly to companies – a business that has been booming as banks have pulled out of the business.

He recently closed a deal to buy the international arm of real estate investment manager GLP Capital Partners for up to $5.2 billion. The acquisition will increase Ares' assets by $44 billion upon closing and advance Arougheti's goal of reaching a valuation of $750 billion by 2028, which would make the company one of the largest publicly traded investment managers in private markets.

The race in the world of private investment has manifested itself in a flood of deal deals from companies looking to expand into private credit, insurance and infrastructure, and in turn, credit-focused deals looking to expand their businesses.

Investment manager Blue Owl bought insurer Kuvare and asset-backed lender Atalaya in the third quarter. BlackRock completed its $12.5 billion acquisition of infrastructure investment firm Global Infrastructure Partners last month and is now in talks to buy private credit manager HPS Investment Partners for more than $10 billion.

Credit is seen as an area where these asset managers can grow without the same restrictions found in the traditional leveraged buyout business.

Managers were able to borrow and deploy hundreds of billions of dollars regardless of the broader market environment. Ares said it committed nearly $30 billion in the third quarter, most of it through its lending division. This was the second-best result in the group's history and brought year-to-date investment activity to almost $75 billion – also at a record level.

Kipp deVeer, who leads Ares' lending business, said Wednesday that the company has seen an “acceleration” in acquisition activity and as a result has benefited from a flood of new financing to underwrite.

Ares generated fee-based revenue of $339 million in the quarter, up 24 percent year over year, in line with analyst expectations. The company also said the management fees it earns – a closely scrutinized metric – rose 18 percent to $757 million compared to a year ago.