BofA Analysts Defend Asset Managers: ‘This Is Not a GFC Repeat’

The recent selloff in firms tied to the private credit industry threw Ares Management Corp. “out with the bathwater,” according to BofA Securities Inc.

The rout in alternative asset manager stocks is an overreaction “to mainly a few minor data points,” BofA analysts led by Craig Siegenthaler said Wednesday. That, they added, is a “fire sale opportunity to buy Ares.”

Ares shares have plunged more than 30% so far this year, while Blackstone Inc. and KKR & Co. shares are down almost 30% after new artificial intelligence tools sparked worries about the private credit industry’s loans to software companies that ...