Anup Agarwal Named CIO, Head of Ares Insurance Solutions

Alternative investment manager Ares Management Corp. announced the appointment of Anup Agarwal as its CIO and head of the firm’s insurance asset management division, Ares Insurance Solutions.

Agarwal, also a partner in Ares, joins from KKR’s Global Atlantic Financial Group, where he was most recently a senior investment adviser, having served as CIO between 2019 and 2024. In that role, he managed global Global Atlantic’s $200 billion AUM insurance platform.

Ares, like many alternative investment managers, is looking to expand its offerings for insurance clients. The firm raised $2.3 billion in January for its life insurance and annuity subsidiary, Aspida Holdings Ltd., whose investments are managed by AIS.

Agarwal will lead the investing activities for Aspida, which manages $23 billion in assets. As of June 30, Ares managed $79.3 billion for insurance clients and $572 billion in total assets. He will also support the expansion of AIS offerings for third-party insurance clients. Agarwal will work closely with AIS’s newly promoted chairman, David Reilly, and former AIS CIO Rajesh Krishnan, who is transitioning to a role expanding third-party insurance asset management and origination, according to a statement from Ares.

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“I’m honored to join the AIS team at a time of exciting change and innovation in the insurance industry,” Agarwal said in a statement. “I am eager to collaborate with my new Ares colleagues to support our clients and capitalize on the opportunities ahead.”

Before his time at Global Atlantic, Agarwal was head of structured credit and loan strategy at Western Asset Management; portfolio manager and head of structured credit at Stark Investments; and head of structured credit at Invesco U.S.

Agarwal earned a bachelor of technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology BHU Varanasi and an MBA from the Fox School of Business at Temple University.