CME vs APO Comparison

Based in Chicago, CME Group operates exchanges giving investors, suppliers, and businesses the ability to trade futures and derivatives based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign currencies, energy, metals, and commodities. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange was founded in 1898 and in 2002 completed its IPO. Since then, CME Group has consolidated parts of the industry by merging with crosstown rival CBOT Holdings in 2007 before acquiring Nymex Holdings in 2008 and NEX in 2018. In addition, the company has a 27% stake in S&P Dow Jones Indices, making the Chicago Mercantile Exchange the exclusive venue to trade and clear S&P futures contracts. Through CME's acquisition of NEX, it also expanded into cash foreign exchange, fixed-income trading, and collateral optimization.

Apollo is one of the world's largest alternative asset managers, with $908.4 billion in total assets under management, or AUM, including $685.0 billion in fee-earning assets, at the end of September 2025. The company has two core operating segments: asset management and retirement services. Apollo operates with scale in each of its major product lines—private equity (with $125.6 billion in total AUM and $71.7 billion in fee-earning AUM), real estate/real assets ($59.6 billion/$27.1 billion), and private credit ($723.2 billion/$586.2 billion). Apollo has a distribution profile that is likely not too far off from the industry averages—with 84% of its assets held by institutional investors and 16% by high-net-worth clients.