EQR vs ARES Comparison

Equity Residential owns a portfolio of 318 apartment communities with over 86,000 units and is developing three additional properties with 935 units. The company focuses on owning large, high-quality properties in the urban and suburban submarkets of Southern California, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Seattle, and Boston.

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.