CERTIFICATION PURSUANT TOSECTION 302 

EXHIBIT 31.1 

CERTIFICATION OF CHIEFEXECUTIVE OFFICER 

I,     Michael S.  Gross,  President,  Chief  Executive  Officer  and  Chairman  of the  Board of Apollo  Investment Corporation, certify that: 

           1.             I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Apollo Investment          Corporation; 

           2.             Based on my knowledge, this quarterly report does not contain any untrue          statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make          the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements          were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this quarterly          report; 

           3.             Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information          included in this quarterly report, fairly present in all material respects the          financial condition, results of operations and cash flow of the registrant as          of, and for, the periods presented in this quarterly report; 

           4.             The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for          establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures as defined in          Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) for the registrant and have: 

                a)             designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure          controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that          material information relating to the registrant is made known to us by others          within those entities, particularly during the period in which this quarterly          report is being prepared; and 

                b)             evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and          procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness          of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered          by this report based on such evaluation; and 

                c)             disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control          over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent          fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth quarter in the case of an annual          report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially          affect, the registrant’s internal control over the financial reporting; 

           5.             The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on          our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the          registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of the registrant’s          board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): 

                a)             all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation          of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to          adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and          report financial information; and 

                b)             any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees          who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over          financial reporting. 

Dated this 7th day ofFebruary, 2005 

/s/  MICHAEL S. GROSS___________________Chief Executive Officer