Perspectives

The modern sports world celebrates the spectacular and immediate: highlight reels and viral moments that tell storylines and define seasons in an instant.

But Ares Management CEO Michael Arougheti has always been drawn to baseball’s unique clock—how its 162-game season, spanning six months, becomes less about peak performance than sustained excellence.

“Just thinking about the grind of a season, there are very few sports that weigh on you in that way,” he said.

That principle of mutual resilience extends far beyond sports into any high-stakes collaborative environment. “You have to put a team on the field where the whole has to be greater than the sum of its parts,” Arougheti said. The investment world tests teams across extended cycles where individual flashes of brilliance aren’t enough to sustain long-term success.

 “Picking your teammates up when they need you, allowing them to pick you up when you need it,” whether enduring slumps or market downturns, is part of team building, Arougheti explained.

At its core, both baseball and institutional investing demand the same foundation: collective resilience.  

“We all know that not every investment we make is going to be perfect,” Arougheti said. “We also know that not every time we show up at the ballpark, we’re going to have a great game. But the intent is that we are.”