Ares Strategic Income Fund Reports Unregistered Share Sale and NAV, Distributions Update

What Happened
Ares Strategic Income Fund filed an 8-K (Aug. 19, 2026) disclosing an August 2026 unregistered sale of 627,661 Class I common shares for $16.7 million (purchase price = NAV per Class I as of July 31, 2026). The filing also reported the Fund’s July 31, 2026 NAV and portfolio metrics, announced monthly distributions for August through December 2026, and provided recent performance, expense and offering status information.

Key Details

• Unregistered sale: 627,661 Class I shares sold in August 2026 for $16.7 million; number of shares finalized on Aug. 19, 2026; sale exempt under Section 4(a)(2) and/or Regulation S.
• NAV (as of July 31, 2026): $26.67 per share for Class I, Class S and Class D; aggregate NAV ≈ $10.3 billion.
• Portfolio & leverage (as of July 31, 2026): portfolio fair value ≈ $21.9 billion across 812 portfolio companies; debt outstanding ≈ $11.9 billion; debt-to-equity ratio 1.16x (1.13x net of ~$381M cash); ~$4.1 billion available to borrow under credit facilities.
• Distributions: August gross distribution $0.21430/share for all classes (Class I net $0.21430, Class S net $0.19505, Class D net $0.20864); record date Aug. 31, 2026; payable on or about Sept. 24, 2026. Monthly gross distributions of $0.21430/share announced for Sept–Dec 2026 with specified record/payment dates.
• Performance & yield: Class I inception-to-July 31, 2026 annualized total return 9.89% (outperformed Morningstar LSTA US Leveraged Loan Index by 161 bps); July 2026 monthly total return for Class I 0.65%; Class I annualized distribution rate 9.64% (as of July 31, 2026).
• Portfolio mix & risks: 77.5% first-lien senior secured loans (fair value basis), 92% floating-rate debt, 79% senior secured loans; top industry exposure: Software & Services 21.6%.
• Offering status: Fund is continuously offering up to $15.0 billion of common shares; total common shares issued (registered + private) = 442,849,306 for $12,086.8 million (to date).
• Expenses (annualized, as of June 30, 2026): Class I gross 8.66% / net 8.79%; Class D gross 8.95% / net 9.07%; Class S gross 9.57% / net 9.70%.

Why It Matters
This filing provides recent capital-raising and operational metrics investors use to assess liquidity, leverage and yield. The unregistered sale increased Class I outstanding shares modestly ($16.7M) at NAV. Key takeaways for investors: the Fund remains highly leveraged (debt ~ $11.9B) but with substantial available borrowing capacity (~$4.1B); it continues to pay a sizable monthly distribution (gross $0.21430/share) and reports solid inception-to-date returns for Class I, though expense ratios are relatively high. These are factual items to weigh alongside the Fund’s risk disclosures and prospectus when evaluating income reliability and capital structure.