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Twenty years into his legal career, Michael Troha has built a legal trajectory marked by impact, integrity, and success. As managing director and associate general counsel at Ares Management, Troha oversees legal coverage for the firm’s global Wealth Management Solutions business.
Troha manages a team and collaborates with lawyers and business partners across Ares’ international wealth distribution operations. The lawyer engages with a wide range of professionals to address complex, cross-border legal and regulatory issues. Additionally, Troha provides counsel on regulatory requirements and helps advise on the new initiatives that relate to the firm’s evolving business.
The AGC was recruited to lead legal support for Ares’ fast-expanding global wealth management division. The attorney says he was drawn by the company’s collaborative and high-integrity culture, as well as the opportunity to shape business with broad international exposure.
“There’s just so much opportunity to get involved across so many different parts of the business,” Troha says. “I get to work with lawyers throughout the world. I’ve been here long enough for the honeymoon to technically be over, but there’s really something special about this place. I really believe in this firm.”
Troha finds himself in a work environment that puts culture at a premium, not as corporate window dressing, but as a real ethos that shapes how work gets done. “It’s not a cliché here,” the managing director says. “The sense of mutual respect, kindness, and fairness is real. People work hard for one another to achieve a shared goal.”
At Ares, Troha explains, the expectation is not just that you’ll work hard, but that you’ll support others and be supported in return. It’s a place where volunteering for new
challenges is encouraged and nurtured. Taking on ambiguous challenges isn’t seen as stepping outside of one’s lane so much as finding a way to evolve with the business.
This moment is a high point for a career that began nontraditionally. But that less-than-straight line is now a point of pride for the lawyer, the son of two Ohio educators who raised their son to be pragmatic and open to new opportunities.
Troha’s legal career didn’t begin at a law firm, but at the New York Stock Exchange in its regulatory division. The lawyer had chosen law school at New York Law School in Tribeca partially because of its proximity to Wall Street, and the role at the NYSE quickly exposed him to high-level regulatory work, supporting examination staff and soon engaging with leading compliance officers and general counsel from Wall Street’s top firms.
“I really like being around people and am a natural extrovert, and so I loved the human engagement at the NYSE,” Troha says. “It was not common to be hired straight out of law school on the team I was on, and so I got really lucky. It was so much fun, and there was history everywhere you looked.”
His tenure coincided with seismic industry changes: the merging of the NYSE’s regulatory arm with NASD to create FINRA, alongside the financial turbulence that defined the late 2000s. Troha worked to adapt rapidly, never quite gaining a sense of what “normal” meant as his employer underwent a major acquisition.
Since that early role, Troha has practiced in-house at Charles Schwab, Bank of America, Merril Lynch, Stifel Financial Corp., and Barclays, but has truly hit his stride at Ares where he assumed a principal and associate general counsel role before being promoted to his managing director role in January 2025.
Along the way, the attorney has done an impeccable job of tending to his network. Troha credits “amazing managers and mentors” who have supported him, put him in positions to win, and let him fail and learn from it.
The managing director is still in touch with those he’s met during his career. He considers it a point of pride that if he picked up his phone and dialed any number of those individuals, they wouldn’t think him strange or out of the ordinary for checking in. That’s authenticity that can’t be faked.
At Ares, Troha does his best work in response to an ill-defined project, an initiative that needs people to come together and create something new.
“I love the global exposure and the chance to work with teams and businesses throughout the world,” Troha says. “My business is defined, but it’s also constantly expanding.” That’s exactly why he loves the job. As he continues to expand his horizons, the job does its best to keep up with him.
“Mike Troha is a decisive and solutions-focused leader. His strategic vision and ability to navigate complex challenges make him an invaluable partner. We look forward to supporting Ares’ continued growth and success.”
–Jennifer Morton, Partner
“Mike is the kind of in-house counsel everyone wants to work with—strategic, agile and collaborative. He brings a clear, business-minded approach to every project. His keen judgment reflects his deep understanding of the industry.”
–Ali Connaughton, Partner
