Blue Owl Capital and Ares Management are alternative asset managers with overlapping credit businesses but differently organized platforms. Ares reported the larger company-wide platform by AUM on June 30, 2026—approximately $671 billion, compared with Blue Owl’s $319 billion. Those company-reported figures are not fully harmonized measures, and they do not show which company or stock is a better investment.
How are Blue Owl and Ares different?
Both firms manage private-market investments, including credit. Blue Owl describes three platforms: Credit, Real Assets and GP Strategic Capital. Ares lists five: Credit, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Private Equity and Secondaries. The categories are not identical, so the lists show each firm’s stated organization rather than a direct comparison of equivalent business lines.
Blue Owl’s three platforms
Blue Owl describes itself as a global alternative asset manager deploying private capital through Credit, Real Assets and GP Strategic Capital. Its 2025 Form 10-K reported year-end AUM of $157.8 billion in Credit, $80.6 billion in Real Assets and $69.1 billion in GP Strategic Capital. Blue Owl 2025 Form 10-K
Ares’s five platforms
Ares describes its business as spanning Credit, Real Estate, Infrastructure, Private Equity and Secondaries. The company says its Credit platform provides financing to middle-market and large-cap businesses; Infrastructure invests in areas such as digital infrastructure, power, midstream, transport and utilities; and its Private Equity activity focuses on middle-market companies. These descriptions convey the firm’s stated scope, not independent assessments of results. Ares platform overview
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Ares CEO Michael Arougheti said the firm believed it was “well positioned to capitalize on a number of growth initiatives and strategic priorities in years to come” as institutional and individual investors increased allocations to private-market alternatives. That is management’s view, not an independently established market forecast. Ares investor-relations statement
Which is bigger, Blue Owl or Ares?
By company-reported AUM on June 30, 2026, Ares reported approximately $671 billion and Blue Owl reported $319 billion. This is a same-date snapshot that supports saying Ares reported more AUM, but it should not be read as a ranking of profitability, investment returns, risk or investment merit. Each firm reports its own AUM measure, and the figures’ definitions are not established as fully harmonized.
Rank #2
| Manager | Reported AUM | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Blue Owl Capital Inc. | $319 billion | June 30, 2026; company-reported Blue Owl overview |
| Ares Management Corporation | Approximately $671 billion | June 30, 2026; company-reported Ares platform overview |
Why Blue Owl’s AUM and fee-paying AUM differ
Blue Owl’s 2025 Form 10-K reported $307.4 billion in total AUM and $187.7 billion in fee-paying AUM (FPAUM) as of December 31, 2025. AUM can include assets that are fee-exempt or have not yet begun paying fees; FPAUM is the measure tied to assets on which Blue Owl generally earns management fees. The two figures therefore describe different things and should not be treated as interchangeable. Blue Owl 2025 Form 10-K Blue Owl AUM definitions
Ares reported $113.2 billion of gross new capital raised across its vehicles during the year ended December 31, 2025. That is a fundraising flow for the year, not AUM, and should not be compared as if it were a platform-size measure. Ares 2025 Form 10-K
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Blue Owl Capital Inc. is the asset manager; Blue Owl Capital Corporation (NYSE: OBDC) is a business development company (BDC) managed by Blue Owl and focused on direct lending to U.S. middle-market companies. OBDC is an associated investment vehicle, not the manager itself.
As of June 30, 2026, OBDC reported a $15.0 billion portfolio at fair value across 229 companies. It reported that 79% of its investments were senior secured and 96% were floating-rate debt investments. These are portfolio characteristics of OBDC, not measures of all assets managed by Blue Owl. OBDC investor information
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Ares Management vs. Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC)
Ares Management Corporation is the manager. Ares Capital Corporation (ARCC) is a publicly traded BDC externally managed by Ares Capital Management, a subsidiary of Ares Management. ARCC is therefore distinct from the manager’s company-wide platform.
ARCC’s 2025 Form 10-K reported approximately $31.2 billion in total assets as of December 31, 2025. That figure is not directly comparable with OBDC’s $15.0 billion portfolio fair value: the figures have different as-of dates and use different measurement labels. They do not establish a clean head-to-head portfolio-size ranking. ARCC 2025 Form 10-K OBDC investor information
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallDo these business comparisons show which stock is better?
No. The reported AUM figures describe scale, platform lists describe business scope, and the BDC figures refer to particular vehicles with different dates and metrics. None establishes comparative investment performance, valuation, fees, risk or expected returns. Those questions require separate, dated evidence about the specific security or fund being considered.
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