Analyst, Commercial Finance, Collateral Analyst

Over the last 20 years, Ares' success has been driven by our people and our culture. Today, our team is guided by our core values - Collaborative, Responsible, Entrepreneurial, Self-Aware, Trustworthy - and our purpose to be a catalyst for shared prosperity and a better future. Through our recruitment, career development and employee-focused programming, we are committed to fostering a welcoming and inclusive work environment where high-performance talent of diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can build careers within this exciting and growing industry.

Job Description

Ares Management, L.P. ("Ares") is an industry-leading provider of asset-backed loans to middle-market businesses located in the United States and Canada. The Ares Commercial Finance platform ("ACF") provides asset-based and cash flow loans to small and middle-market companies, as well as asset-backed facilities to specialty finance companies. ACF's asset-based lines of credit may be structured as working capital and bridge financing, special accommodation financing, turnaround financing, debtor-in-possession financing, and acquisition financing. ACF's asset-based lending practice focuses on privately held and small public companies in the middle market and addresses a wide breadth of industries including manufacturing, distribution, wholesale, and service companies.

The candidate will be provided with an introduction to asset-based lending principles beginning with collateral monitoring, including understanding a borrowing base formula, understanding, identifying, and tracking collateral trends, collateral reconciliation and verification; relationship management, including daily correspondence with borrowers, team members, and senior management; and an introduction to credit principles. The Collateral Analyst will be expected to identify emerging risks, understand how collateral performance impacts credit exposure, and exercise sound judgment in escalating issues within a controlled lending environment.

The collateral analyst's primary role is to ensure the accuracy, integrity, and ongoing monitoring of loan collateral, enabling informed credit decisions, reliable funding availability, and early identification of collateral-driven risk.

Primary Functions and Essential Responsibilities

• Review borrower's collateral reporting package for accuracy, trends, and adherence to lender guidelines on a portfolio of secured revolving credit loans
• Coordinating borrowing base availability changes with treasury or cash management teams
• Ensure timely and accurate posting of daily cash receipts to loan balances
• Calculate and monitor customer's daily borrowing capacity and process funding requests
• Post collateral values to our proprietary loan monitoring platform (currently Stucky)
• Prepare month-end collateral trend analyses (the monthly Trend Card), reconciliations of loan and collateral balances and verifying monthly interest and fees are correctly processed
• Maintain and monitor tranche-level terms, including effective dates, expiration dates, interest, and fee calculations
• Perform monthly accounts receivable verifications via telephone, email, portals or cash tracing
• Maintain a monthly Client Checklist to track borrower reporting and loan maintenance exceptions
• Supporting internal, external, and regulatory audits by assembling collateral and availability documentation
• Follow up and review of field exams, including the preparation of the standard field exam review form.
• Follow up and review of appraisals for inventory and fixed assets and ensuring that the values are posted to our proprietary loan monitoring platform (Stucky).
• Follow up for borrower compliance with insurance requirement
• Monitoring and reviewing regularly scheduled lien and tax searches
• Involvement with the new business deal team in setting up the borrower's initial borrowing base certificate and preparing the operations Handling Guide.
• Assist Credit Officers with daily portfolio management, risk assessment, and due diligence
• Escalating collateral concerns or emerging risks to portfolio management or senior credit teams
• On-going communication with fellow team members, customers, their customers, and Ares senior management
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Education: Qualified candidates will have a college degree in Accounting, Finance, or Business Administration or a minimum of two years' experience in the Asset Based Lending industry
• Experience Required: Proficiency in Excel, Word and PowerPoint

General Requirements:

• Outgoing personality with a strong desire to be a contributing team member
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Strong mathematic aptitude with an interest in finance and accounting
• Intellectual curiosity and willingness to learn
• Ability to focus on routine tasks in a fast-paced, team-oriented work environment
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and spreadsheets, including reconciliations, trend analysis, and data validation
• Strong organizational and time-management skills, enabling them to meet daily, weekly, and month-end reporting deadlines
• Ability to identify exceptions, inconsistencies, and anomalies in collateral reporting and escalate appropriately

Reporting Relationships

Compensation

The anticipated base salary range for this position is listed below. Total compensation may also include a discretionary performance-based bonus. Note, the range takes into account a broad spectrum of qualifications, including, but not limited to, years of relevant work experience, education, and other relevant qualifications specific to the role.

$80,000.00 - $90,000.00

The firm also offers robust Benefits offerings. Ares U.S. Core Benefits include Comprehensive Medical/Rx, Dental and Vision plans; 401(k) program with company match; Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA); Healthcare Savings Accounts (HSA) with company contribution; Basic and Voluntary Life Insurance; Long-Term Disability (LTD) and Short-Term Disability (STD) insurance; Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and Commuter Benefits plan for parking and transit.

Ares offers a number of additional benefits including access to a world-class medical advisory team, a mental health app that includes coaching, therapy and psychiatry, a mindfulness and wellbeing app, financial wellness benefit that includes access to a financial advisor, new parent leave, reproductive and adoption assistance, emergency backup care, matching gift program, education sponsorship program, and much more.

There is no set deadline to apply for this job opportunity. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the search is no longer active.