Mr. Drake is a Partner and Senior Advisor in the Ares Public Markets Investor Relations Group. He formerly served as Head of Public Markets Investor Relations and Corporate Communications and chaired the Communications Committee. He additionally serves as a member of the Ares Equity Income Opportunity Strategy Portfolio Review Committee. Prior to joining Ares in 2008, Mr. Drake was a Managing Director in Equity Research at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, where he covered financial services companies, and earlier he served five years as a Vice President in Investment Banking. Previously, Mr. Drake served as a Vice President at Creditanstalt Corporate Finance Inc. where he focused on originating and underwriting corporate finance transactions. Additionally, Mr. Drake was an Assistant Vice President at General Electric Capital Corporation and a Financial Analyst at Metropolitan Life. Mr. Drake holds a B.A. from Vanderbilt University in History and an M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. Mr. Drake is a CFA® charterholder.