Apollo, Ares and Oaktree to Launch $90 Million Initiative for Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Apollo Global Management, Inc. (Apollo), Ares Management Corporation (Ares) and Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (Oaktree) today announced a 10-year, $90 million, industry-first initiative, “AltFinance: Investing in Black Futures.” The initiative is designed to diversify the alternative investment industry by attracting, training and providing career opportunities for college students attending three Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

AltFinance will be launched in partnership with Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College and Spelman College, and is intended to provide students with clear pathways to careers in the alternative investment industry. The initiative has three primary components: a mentored fellowship program, a tailored virtual institute and a scholarship program. Fellowships will provide select students at the partner HBCUs the opportunity to work directly with a mentor and learn the ins and outs of finance and alternatives. The fellowship program will be run in partnership with Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT), a national nonprofit organization working to ensure that Black, Hispanic/Latino and Native American people reach and thrive at the highest levels of corporate America. AltFinance fellows will also have access to needs-based scholarship funding.The goal is to ensure money isn’t a barrier to exploring and preparing for a career in alternative investments.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the nation’s oldest collegiate school of business, has signed on to create a best-in-class virtual institute to offer educational materials and tools necessary to excel in the alternative investment industry. The virtual institute will be open to interested students at all HBCUs, and will provide participants with relevant coursework and other supplementary content developed by top professors and finance professionals.

The AltFinance initiative will be administered by ALT Finance Corporation, a non-profit organization established by the three founding firms. Apollo, Ares and Oaktree will each contribute $3 million per year for 10 years, marking the first major multi-firm commitment to increase opportunities in the alternatives industry.

Apollo Chief Executive Officer Marc Rowan said, “HBCUs have an incredible history of opening doors, and we are thrilled to partner with these institutions and our colleague firms to expand opportunities in alternative investing. At Apollo, we recognize that we have been the beneficiaries of opportunity, and that it’s incumbent upon us to create opportunity for a broader group of talent. Together with our partner firms, we conceived AltFinance as a high-touch, comprehensive program to not only introduce talented Black students to the industry, but also to provide training, support, mentorship and a clear pathway to careers in alternative investing. Through initiatives like AltFinance, we will continue to work to break down barriers and seed, catalyze and advance opportunities for great talent from diverse backgrounds.”