Mr. Blum is a Managing Director in Ares Real Estate, where he focuses on U.S. diversified real estate equity portfolio management. Prior to joining Ares in 2021, he was a Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager at Black Creek Group, where he focused on the development and execution of business strategy and overall portfolio management for Black Creek Diversified Property Fund Inc. Previously, he was a Senior Investment Analyst at Madison Capital Management, an alternative investment management firm, where he was responsible for distressed corporate and real estate investments across all levels of the capital structure. In addition, he was an Investment Banking Analyst in the financial institutions and real estate groups at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., where he focused on transactional experience in IPOs and follow-on offerings for publicly traded clients as well as financial advisory work. Mr. Blum holds a B.S. from Washington University Olin School of Business in Business Administration.