Scott L. Graves

Scott L. Graves is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Lane42. Mr. Graves also serves as the Chairman of the Lane42 Executive Committee and the Lane42 Investment Committee. From 2017 to 2024, he was Partner, Co-Head of the Ares Private Equity Group, Portfolio Manager and Head of Special Opportunities at Ares Management (NYSE: ARES), where he also served as a member of the Ares Executive Management Committee and the Ares Private Equity Group's Corporate Opportunities, Special Opportunities, Energy Opportunities, and Extended Value Investment Committees. While at Ares, Mr. Graves co-headed the ~$39B dollar private equity business and was a member of the executive team responsible for the segment’s growth, profitability, and investment management. He and the private equity team deployed ~$24B of distressed, opportunistic credit, public and private credit and equity investment capital over his tenure. Building a substantially new investment team upon his arrival, Mr. Graves helped transform the firm’s previous distressed strategy and further conceive, found, and develop the ~$15B Ares Special Opportunities Funds (“ASOF”) business as part of the firm’s broader investment offering.

Prior to joining Ares, Mr. Graves spent more than 15 years at Oaktree Capital Management, L.P (NYSE: OAK and BAM) in various senior investment roles, most recently as Head of Credit Strategies. He was a Portfolio Manager in the Opportunistic Credit, Direct Lending, Value Opportunities, and Multi-Asset Credit strategies. He was responsible for a substantial portion of Oaktree's credit platform and managed investment portfolios spanning the breadth of Oaktree's credit strategies. He also created, led, and managed Oaktree’s corporate and strategic development group, executing product step-outs into senior secured lending, direct lending, emerging markets credit, value equities, and infrastructure. During his tenure, Mr. Graves and the team deployed over $33B dollars of distressed, opportunistic credit, public and private credit and equity investment capital.

Before Oaktree, Mr. Graves worked as a Principal in William E. Simon & Sons' private equity group, as an Analyst at Merrill Lynch & Company in the mergers and acquisitions group, and in the audit business services division at Price Waterhouse LLP.

Throughout his career, Mr. Graves has served on over 25 corporate boards spanning a diversity of industries in both public and private companies, including as Chairman of the Board of Directors at Aleris International (NYSE: ARS) and Savers Value Village (NYSE: SVV) during their respective public offerings. He maintains extensive experience in private equity, bankruptcy, corporate restructuring, growth, and operational turn-around strategies, serving both as Chairman and as a member of multiple public and private company creditor committees.

Mr. Graves holds a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he is a C.P.A. (inactive) and served on the Wharton School Graduate Executive Board from 2016 to 2023.