Seth Brufsky
About Seth Brufsky
Seth J. Brufsky is Director, President, Chief Executive Officer, and Portfolio Manager of Ares Dynamic Credit Allocation Fund, Inc. (ARDC). He is a Partner, Portfolio Manager and Chairman of Global Liquid Credit in the Ares Credit Group, and serves on Ares’ Liquid Credit Investment Committee. Year of birth: 1966; he has served as a Director since 2012 and as an officer since 2012. Education: B.S. from Cornell University in Applied Economics and Business Management; M.B.A. with honors from USC Marshall School of Business (Glassick Scholarship) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Merrill Lynch & Co. | Corporate Strategy and Research Group (focused on non-investment grade securities) | Not disclosed; prior to 1998 | High-yield research/marketing foundation for later liquid credit leadership |
| Union Bank of Switzerland | Institutional Sales & Trading, Global Fixed Income Division | Not disclosed; prior to 1998 | Trading and distribution experience in fixed income credit markets |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ares Credit Group | Partner; Portfolio Manager; Chairman, Global Liquid Credit; Member, Liquid Credit Investment Committee | Ongoing | Leads global liquid credit; investment committee oversight for strategy execution |
| Choate Rosemary Hall | Board of Trustees | Not disclosed | Education sector governance; community leadership |
| Cornell University | Dean’s Advisory Boards (Arts & Sciences; Agriculture & Life Sciences) | Not disclosed | Advises on academic programs with industry perspective |
| Luminescence Foundation | Board of Directors | Not disclosed | Philanthropic governance and community engagement |
Fixed Compensation
ARDC is a closed-end management investment company; officers and “interested” directors do not receive compensation from the Fund. Independent directors receive cash retainers; Seth Brufsky (interested) received none from the Fund.
| Year | Compensation from ARDC (Fund) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | None | Officers and interested directors do not receive compensation from the Fund |
The Fund does not have a Compensation Committee under NYSE rules for closed-end funds .
Performance Compensation
ARDC does not pay performance or equity awards to officers or interested directors; any compensation related to Mr. Brufsky’s Ares roles is outside the Fund and not disclosed in ARDC’s proxy.
| Incentive Type | Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fund-linked bonus/equity | Not applicable | — | — | — | — | — |
Notes:
- No Fund compensation for officers/interested directors .
- No Compensation Committee at the Fund; governance via Audit and Nominating & Governance Committees comprised solely of Independent Directors .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Dollar range of ARDC equity owned | Over $100,000 |
| Shares owned (count) | Not disclosed |
| Preferred stock holdings | None (no Directors owned preferred stock) |
| Officers/Directors group beneficial ownership of common | <1% of outstanding common stock |
| Pledged shares | Not disclosed |
| Ownership guidelines (director/executive) | Not disclosed |
Employment Terms
- Employment agreements, severance, change-of-control terms: Not disclosed in ARDC proxy (officers compensated via Ares; Fund does not pay officer compensation) .
- Non-compete, non-solicit, garden leave: Not disclosed.
- Deferred compensation, pension/SERP, clawbacks, tax gross-ups: Not disclosed.
Board Governance
- Board roles: Director; President; CEO; Portfolio Manager; classified as an “interested person” due to affiliation with the Investment Manager .
- Committees: Audit and Nominating & Governance Committees consist solely of Independent Directors; the Fund does not have a Compensation Committee under NYSE rules .
- Chair structure: Board Chair is David A. Sachs (interested); the Board is majority Independent (3 of 5; 60%), with a designated Lead Independent Director to mitigate independence concerns .
- Meetings and attendance: Board met six times in FY 2024; each Director attended at least 75% of Board and applicable committee meetings .
- Preferred stock governance: Preferred holders elect two directors (Elaine Orr and David A. Sachs); staggered board limits control changes .
Director Compensation (Fund-level)
| Year | Annual Board Retainer (Cash) | Committee Fees | Equity (DSUs/RSUs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | None (Interested Director) | None | None |
Independent Director fees: $50,000 annual; Audit Chair +$10,000; Nominating & Governance Chair +$5,000 (context; not applicable to Mr. Brufsky) .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance visibility is limited at the Fund: ARDC does not pay its officers or interested directors, constraining direct alignment analysis via Fund-level compensation; governance oversight relies on independent committees and a Lead Independent Director rather than pay design .
- Dual-role and independence: Mr. Brufsky is both CEO and Director, and an “interested person” due to Ares affiliation; potential conflicts are mitigated by a majority-Independent Board, independent-only committees, and designated lead independent oversight .
- Ownership alignment: Dollar-range disclosure indicates meaningful personal exposure (> $100,000) to ARDC, though exact share counts and pledged/hedged positions are not disclosed; officers/directors as a group hold <1% of common, implying limited control influence at the Fund level .
- Trading signals: Fund-level insider selling/vesting schedules are not disclosed given absence of Fund-paid equity awards; monitoring Form 4 filings would be required for transaction pressure analysis, but the proxy shows no such details .
Additional context: The Fund’s independent audit and nominating committees, and CCO-led compliance reporting (including executive sessions with Independent Directors), centralize risk oversight and reduce governance-related execution risk even with an interested Chair and CEO/Director dual role .