Item 4. Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures (as that term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in our reports under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosures. Any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. Our management, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, has evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of June 30, 2026. Based upon that evaluation and subject to the foregoing, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that, as of June 30, 2026, the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to accomplish their objectives at the reasonable assurance level.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There have been no changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended June 30, 2026 that have materially affected, or that are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

PART II.

Item 1. Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we, our executive officers, directors and our funds and their investment advisers, and their respective affiliates and/or any of their respective principals and employees are subject to legal proceedings, including those arising from our management of such funds. Additionally, we and our funds and their investment advisers are also subject to extensive regulation, which, from time to time, results in requests for information from us or our funds and their investment advisers or legal or regulatory proceedings or investigations against us or our funds and their investment advisers, respectively. We incur significant costs and expenses in connection with any such proceedings, information requests and investigations.

On May 26, 2026, a derivative action was brought by Martin Siegel purportedly on behalf of Ares Capital Corporation (“ARCC”), as plaintiff, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging that Ares Capital Management LLC (“Ares Capital Management”), one of our indirect subsidiaries, received excessive advisory fees in violation of its statutory fiduciary duty under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). The action seeks recovery of damages, including disgorgement of investment advisory fees paid to Ares Capital Management, injunctive relief, costs and rescission of the investment advisory and management agreement pursuant to Section 47(b) of the Investment Company Act. This litigation is in its preliminary stages. We dispute the allegations and intend to vigorously defend against them. The outcome of this matter is inherently uncertain, and we are unable to predict the ultimate outcome or estimate the amount or range of loss, if any, that may result from this matter.