CFG vs ARES Comparison

Citizens Financial Group Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island. Through its subsidiaries, it offers various retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations, and institutions. The group's reportable business segments are: Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The majority of its revenue is generated from the Consumer Banking segment, which serves consumer customers and small businesses, offering traditional banking products and services, including deposits, mortgage and home equity lending, credit cards, small business loans, education loans, point-of-sale finance loans, and wealth management solutions, among others, through a network of branches and ATMs.

Ares Management is one of the world's largest alternative-asset managers, with $622.5 billion in total assets under management, or AUM, including $384.9 billion in fee-earning AUM, at the end of 2025. The company has four main business segments: credit strategies ($406.9 billion in total AUM and $249.8 billion in fee-earning AUM), private equity, ($25.3 billion/$14.4 billion), real estate/real assets ($139.1 billion/$84.1 billion), and other alternatives ($51.2 billion/$36.6 billion). The firm primarily serves institutional investors (80% of AUM) and high-net-worth individuals (20%). Ares operates through more than 35 offices in over 15 countries around the globe.