INVESTMENTS (Fair Value Investments, excluding Equity Method Investments Held at Fair Value) (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 30, 2018	Dec. 31, 2017
Investments
Fair Value	$ 39,985	$ 35,998
Ares Management L.P
Investments
Equity method investments	1,415,648	1,724,571
Fair Value	81,814	80,767
Total private investment interests	116,290	277,561
Collateralized loan obligations	22,648	195,158
Equity securities	$ 11,828	$ 1,636
Percentage of total investments	1.60%	11.30%
Partnership interests \| Ares Management L.P
Investments
Total private investment interests	$ 1,391,569	$ 1,527,777
Percentage of total investments	98.30%	88.60%
Common Stock \| Ares Management L.P
Investments
Equity securities	$ 1,431	$ 1,636
Percentage of total investments	0.10%	0.10%
Partnership interests \| Ares Management L.P
Investments
Equity method investments	$ 330,870	$ 340,354
Percentage of total investments	23.40%	19.70%
Equity method - carried interest \| Ares Management L.P
Investments
Equity method investments	$ 947,267	$ 1,077,236
Percentage of total investments	66.90%	62.50%
Equity method private investment partnership interests and other \| Ares Management L.P
Investments
Equity method investments	$ 73,447	$ 74,439
Percentage of total investments	5.20%	4.30%
Other private investment partnership Interests \| Ares Management L.P
Investments
Fair Value	$ 39,985	$ 35,748
Percentage of total investments	2.80%	2.10%

Collateralized Loan Obligations, Fair Value

No definition available.

Name:	ares_CollateralizedLoanObligationsFairValue
Namespace Prefix:	ares_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Fair value of investment other than investment in equity security, investment in debt security and equity method investment. Includes, but is not limited to, investment in certain entities that calculate net asset value per share. Example includes, but is not limited to, investment in hedge fund, venture capital fund, private equity fund, and real estate partnership or fund.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6A
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99377789&loc=SL6742756-110258

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 35
-Paragraph 54B
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99392525&loc=SL7495116-110257

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AlternativeInvestment
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Fair value portion of investments accounted under the equity method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 323
-SubTopic 10
-Section 25
-Paragraph 2
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=66022186&loc=d3e32014-111567

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquityMethodInvestmentsFairValueDisclosure
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of investment in equity security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in net income (FV-NI).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 825
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1A
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99377092&loc=SL75136599-209740

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_EquitySecuritiesFvNi
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentHoldingsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Definition

Percent of net assets at close of period. For schedules of investments that are categorized, each category has a percent of net assets for the aggregated value of the Investments in the category.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 946
-SubTopic 320
-Section S99
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-12.3)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=50485924&loc=d3e611133-123010

Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 946
-SubTopic 210
-Section 50
-Paragraph 6
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99383244&loc=d3e12121-115841

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 946
-SubTopic 320
-Section S99
-Paragraph 4
-Subparagraph (SX 210.12-12C.Column D.2)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=50485924&loc=d3e611225-123010

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentOwnedPercentOfNetAssets
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Fair value portion of investment securities, including, but not limited to, marketable securities, derivative financial instruments, and investments accounted for under the equity method.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 820
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=99377789&loc=d3e19207-110258

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentsFairValueDisclosure
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Details

Name:	srt_ConsolidatedEntitiesAxis=srt_ParentCompanyMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=ares_PrivateInvestmentPartnershipInterestsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_EquitySecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=ares_PrivateInvestmentPartnershipInterestsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=ares_CarriedInterestMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=ares_PrivateInvestmentPartnershipInterestsOtherMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	srt_ScheduleOfEquityMethodInvestmentEquityMethodInvesteeNameAxis=ares_OtherPrivateInvestmentPartnershipInterestsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: