Piper Sandler starts Ares, Carlyle with overweight ratings

** Piper Sandler initiates coverage of alternative asset managers Ares Management ARES.N and Carlyle Group CG.O with overweight ratings.

** The brokerage sees ARES as a premium player and leader in alts space with premier credit platform.

** Piper says ARES direct lending to improve in near term, which should benefit credit management fees.

** For CG, the brokerage points to slower growth than peers but sees a strong outlook and valuation as attractive entry point.

** "We view Carlyle as too cheap to ignore with improving growth areas and attractive 2028 targets that should lead to multiple expansion if met," Piper said.

** Piper says alternatives remain an underperformer, but fundamentals are healthier than headlines that weighed on the sector.

** The brokerage also sees digital infrastructure and AI as secular growth themes that could create significant capital deployment opportunities over the coming quarters and years that should benefit the sector.

** As of the last close, CG was down about 32.5% year to date, while ARES was down about 24.8%.