Mr. Affolter is a Partner, Portfolio Manager and Co-Head of Sports Media and Entertainment. He formerly served as Co-Head of U.S. Direct Lending in the Ares Credit Group. He is a member of the Ares Credit Group's U.S. Direct Lending Investment Committee. He additionally serves on the Ares Sports, Media and Entertainment Investment Committee. As part of this strategy, he currently serves as a board member for Atletico de Madrid, Eagle Football, Olympique Lyonnais and Botafogo football clubs. Prior to joining Ares in 2008, Mr. Affolter was a Managing Director at CIT. Previously, Mr. Affolter was a Senior Managing Director at GE Capital in its sponsor finance business and a Senior Vice President at Heller Financial, leading its mezzanine finance business in corporate finance. He currently serves on the Regional Committee of Washington University and holds an A.B. from Washington University in Economics.