Ares Management has boosted its infrastructure debt platform with key hires in New York and Sydney.
In New York, the asset manager has appointed Jon Plavnick as a partner, to focus on sourcing, structuring and managing infrastructure debt investments throughout the Americas.
Plavnick brings nearly two decades of experience in infrastructure debt, most recently serving as a partner at Global Infrastructure Partners, which was acquired by BlackRock last year.
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Prior to that, he held roles at Oaktree Capital Management, BNP Paribas and Deutsche Bank.
Meanwhile, Spencer Ivey, Ares partner and head of Americas and Asia-Pacific infrastructure debt, has relocated to Ares’ Sydney office to help accelerate the strategy’s growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
Originally from Australia, Ivey has helped lead the platform’s growth from New York over the past 11 years, including through Ares’ acquisition of the infrastructure debt business in 2022.
“Over the past three years, we have continued to enhance the positioning of our infrastructure debt platform as a leading, scaled financing solutions provider to businesses and assets across the digital, transport, energy and utility sectors,” said Patrick Trears, partner and global head of Ares infrastructure debt.”
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We are thrilled to welcome Jon, and we look forward to benefitting from his deep sector knowledge, strong origination network and commitment to collaboration as we continue to reinforce the strength of our capabilities. In addition, having worked with Spencer for 15 years to build our existing platform, I am confident that his focus on expanding our presence and increasing our access to the attractive opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region should further propel our global growth.”
Ares has made a number of new appointments to strengthen its infrastructure debt platform in recent years.
This includes the addition of investment professionals Brent Canada as a partner in New York in 2022 and Lorenzo Ceretti as a partner in London in 2023.
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In addition, Daniel Katz, who joined Ares in 2006 and was previously a partner in Ares’ US direct lending strategy and co-led portfolio management, was appointed head of portfolio management for Ares infrastructure debt in 2024 and oversees portfolio monitoring and restructuring.
Ares’ infrastructure debt strategy manages nearly $11bn (£8.1bn) in assets, with 25 investment professionals operating across offices in London, New York, Singapore and Sydney.
