Sifting through countless of stocks in the Capital Markets industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. or Ares Management Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation

Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., through its affiliates, operates as an investment management company providing investment management services to mutual funds, institutional clients,retails and high net worth individuals in the United States. It provides advisory or sub-advisory services to mutual funds. These funds are distributed to retail, high net worth and institutional clients directly and through intermediaries, including independent investment advisors, retirement plan sponsors, broker-dealers, major fund marketplaces, and bank trust departments. The company also offers investment products in various investment styles in the institutional distribution channel, including small, small/mid, mid, and large capitalization value and growth equity, and emerging markets. In addition, it offers quantitative, alternative, and fixed income products, and manages assets for foundations and endowments, defined benefit, and defined contribution plans for corporations and municipalities. Affiliated Managers Group provides investment management or customized investment counseling and fiduciary services. Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. was formed in 1993 and is based in West Palm Beach, Florida with additional offices in Prides Crossing, Massachusetts; Stamford, Connecticut; London, United Kingdom; Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Sydney, Australia; Hong Kong; Tokyo, Japan, Zurich, Switzerland and Delaware.

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager. Its Direct Lending Group segment provides financing solutions to small-to-medium sized companies. The company’s Private Equity Group segment specializes in early venture, turnaround, mid venture, late venture, recapitalization, growth capital, middle market, mezzanine, distressed and growth buyouts. The firm seeks to invest in healthcare, services, energy, industrials and consumer. The firm seeks to takes majority, minority and shared-control investments primarily in under-capitalized companies in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Southeast Asia and Australia. Its Real Estate Group segment invests in new developments and the repositioning of assets, with a focus on control or majority-control investments; and originates and invests in a range of self-originated financing opportunities for middle-market owners and operators of commercial real estate. The firm prefers to invest between $1 million and $500 million in companies having EBITDA between $10 million and $250 million and debt investment value between $10 million and $100 million. Ares Management Corporation was founded in 1997 and is based in Los Angeles, California with additional offices in North America, Europe and Asia.

Latest Capital Markets and Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., Ares Management Corporation Stock News

As of July 15, 2026, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. had a $10.0 billion market capitalization, compared to the Capital Markets median of $3.0 million. Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.’s stock is up 30% in 2026, up 2.7% in the previous five trading days and up 83.73% in the past year.

Currently, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 15.4. Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $2.1 billion with a 35.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 9.7%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $35.892 per share for the current fiscal year. Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

As of July 15, 2026, Ares Management Corporation had a $28.1 billion market cap, putting it in the 89th percentile of all stocks. Ares Management Corporation’s stock is down 22.6% in 2026, up 2.8% in the previous five trading days and down 30.8% in the past year.

Currently, Ares Management Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 58.0. Ares Management Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $5.9 billion with a 10.5% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 28.3%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $5.900 per share for the current fiscal year. Ares Management Corporation currently has a 4.3% dividend yield.

How We Compare Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation Stock Value Grades

Company	Ticker	Value
Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.	AMG	B
Ares Management Corporation	ARES	F

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection.

Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade derives from a stock’s value score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are a good value and so on.

Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. has a Value Score of 64, which is Value. Ares Management Corporation has a Value Score of 6, which is Ultra Expensive.

The Value Stock Winner: Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Value Grade breakdown above, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. is considered to have better value than Ares Management Corporation. For investors who focus solely on a company’s valuation, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.	AMG	D
Ares Management Corporation	ARES	D

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. has a Growth Score of 25, which is Weak. Ares Management Corporation has a Growth Score of 26, which is Weak.

The Growth Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. or Ares Management Corporation has a high enough Growth Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors who are considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. or Ares Management Corporation is the better investment when it comes to sustainable growth.

Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.	AMG	A
Ares Management Corporation	ARES	D

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. has a Quality Score of 85, which is Very Strong. Ares Management Corporation has a Quality Score of 27, which is Weak.

The Quality Grade Winner: Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Quality Grade breakdown above, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. has a better overall quality grade than Ares Management Corporation. For investors who are looking for companies with higher quality than others in the same industry, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolios. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

Other Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation Grades

In addition to Growth, Value and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Momentum and Estimate Revisions.

Momentum grades help uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. or Ares Management Corporation Stock?

Overall, Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. stock has a Value Score of 64, Growth Score of 25 and Quality Score of 85.

Ares Management Corporation stock has a Value Score of 6, Growth Score of 26 and Quality Score of 27.

Comparing Affiliated Managers Group, Inc. and Ares Management Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.