Ares Management Corporation announced that Jeffrey Hughes has joined the Ares Credit Group to lead the firm’s new effort in sourcing and managing privately placed investment grade credit investments.

In this newly created role, Hughes joins as a Managing Director and reports to Kipp deVeer, Head of the Ares Credit Group. He will work closely within Ares’ direct lending and alternative credit teams to leverage the firm’s considerable industry and corporate credit expertise. He will focus on investment-grade private placement credit investments targeting industries such as real estate, asset management, insurance, financial services, infrastructure, industrials, and sports, media and entertainment.

With more than 25 years of experience, Hughes joined Ares from Nuveen LLC, where he was a Senior Director and was responsible for sourcing, underwriting, and managing a portfolio of private placements for TIAA and several third-party clients. Previously, Mr. Hughes was a Vice President at Alliance Bernstein where he focused on originating, underwriting, and managing a portfolio primarily of investment grade private placements and high-yield bank loans. He holds a B.A. from Temple University in Economics and an M.B.A. from Bloomsburg University.

“Ares’ new investment grade private credit effort underscores Ares Insurance Solutions’ commitment to utilizing the resources and expertise across the Ares platform to originate tailored investment solutions to support the continued growth of the Aspida platform and our large insurance client base,” said Raj Krishnan, Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Ares Insurance Solutions.

“Today’s announcement is yet another example of the combined power of the Ares platform and how our teams collaborate across strategies in order to deliver innovative solutions to our investors,” added Joel Holsinger, Partner and Co-Head of Alternative Credit. “This new effort allows us to further expand our investment grade securities business and offer a wider variety of products to our existing borrowers.”

“We are very pleased to have Jeff join us as we continue to build broader investment portfolios for Aspida and our insurance clients,” said Kipp deVeer, Partner and Head of the Ares Credit Group. “His relationships and his investment experience in these markets will enhance our capabilities in both direct lending and alternative credit.”