Gordon Watters

Mr. Gordon Watters is the Chief Executive Officer & Senior Partner at Ares Management Ltd.
He has extensive corporate banking experience with over 25 years in the industry, and is responsible for leading the Ares middle-market lending and private debt platform in Europe.
He joined Ares Management in June 2007 to establish Ares Capital Europe.
He became responsible for Ares Management Ltd.
in 2008, witha focus on the broadly syndicated loan market.
He also serves as an Investment Committe Member on all Ares European Credit funds.
From 1999 until 2007, he served as the Head of the Middle-Market Financial Sponsors Group at Barclays.
During this period, he was instrumental in the bank’s successful growth in the Leveraged Finance market, creating a full UK and European office network with a diversified product portfolio growing from an initial team of 5 to culminate in a 100+ strong team.
He also oversaw the bank’s regional investment programme and was Director of a number of Barclays’ investee companies.
Prior to joining Barclays in 1999, he was a Director at the Credit Lyonnais investment banking divison with a specific focus on UK and Iberia.
He joined Credit Lyonnais from Bank of Scotland, where he commenced his career in Corporate Banking and Structured Finance.
Mr. Watters graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Financial Management at Edinburgh Napier University.
He is a Chartered Banker, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers and the Institute of Directors.