ARES vs BN vs SLF Stock Comparison

Ares Management, Brookfield and Sun Life Financial Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
ARES Ares Management Corp
$122.21 +0.1% 1M -19.1% 1Y
Market cap
$44.02B
P/E
51.7x
Revenue (TTM)
$5.99B
Div. yield
4.23%
Alternative Asset Managers Financial Services
5 wins
BN BROOKFIELD Corp /ON/
$38.02 +3.1% 1M -18.7% 1Y
Market cap
$85.45B
P/E
68.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$76.56B
Div. yield
0.71%
Alternative Asset Managers Financial Services
1 win
SLF Sun Life Financial Inc
$80.05 +0.2% 1M +28.5% 1Y
Market cap
$44.33B
P/E
18.8x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
4.70%
Life Insurance Financial Services
5 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Sun Life Financial leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Sun Life Financial 5, Ares Management 5, Brookfield 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionARESBNSLFLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $44.02B $85.45B $44.33B BN
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 51.7x 68.0x 18.8x SLF
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 22.5x 13.7x 13.2x SLF
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +24.0% -9.6% — ARES
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 8.9% 1.6% — ARES
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 14.8% — 12.7% ARES
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — — — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 4.23% 0.71% 4.70% SLF
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -19.1% -18.7% +28.5% SLF
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +7.2%/yr +2.7%/yr +6.9%/yr ARES
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 43.6% 27.6% 18.6% SLF
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 58/100 38/100 34/100 ARES

Percentile Scorecard

ARESBNSLF

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisARESBNSLF
Valuation 51 #90 of 181 76 #44 of 181 21 #94 of 119
Growth 74 #30 of 111 32 #76 of 111 27 #84 of 114
Profitability 69 #41 of 129 30 #91 of 129 43 #63 of 110
Financial Health 45 #91 of 164 38 #102 of 164 33 #74 of 110
Shareholder Returns 50 #38 of 75 14 #65 of 75 48 #56 of 106
Overall 58 38 34
  • ARES ranked among 209 companies in Asset and Wealth Management
  • BN ranked among 209 companies in Asset and Wealth Management
  • SLF ranked among 126 companies in Insurance

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodARESBNSLFSPY
1 month +0.1%+3.1%+0.2% -0.2%
3 months -4.4%-10.2%-4.8% +3.9%
6 months +8.1%-14.0%+12.4% +8.2%
Year to date -24.4%-17.1%+28.3% +12.9%
1 year -19.1%-18.7%+28.5% +12.3%
3 years +21.2%+95.7%+78.9% +87.4%
3 years, per year +6.6%+25.1%+21.4% +23.3%
5 years +41.7%+14.1%+39.5% +67.9%
5 years, per year +7.2%+2.7%+6.9% +10.9%
10 years +610.5%+204.9%+138.5% +261.1%
10 years, per year +21.7%+11.8%+9.1% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureARESBNSLFSPY
Volatility, 1Y 43.6%27.6%18.6% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 46.1%29.0%20.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 1.671.370.37 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.44-0.681.54 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -51.3%-42.8%-33.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -31.5%-22.7%-4.8% -1.2%
52-week high $178.28$49.17$84.07 $779.14
52-week low $96.50$35.94$57.60 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleARESBNSLF
P/E now vs peer median 51.7xmedian 34.2x 68.0xmedian 34.2x 18.8xmedian 10.5x
P/S now vs peer median 7.4xmedian 4.9x 1.1xmedian 4.9x —median 1.4x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 11.7x —median 11.7x —median 7.6x
P/FCF now vs peer median 52.6xmedian 13.2x —median 13.2x 13.5xmedian 8.5x
P/B now vs peer median 5.1xmedian 1.8x 20.9xmedian 1.8x 2.4xmedian 1.5x
PEG now vs peer median 4.07median 0.91 -0.71median 0.91 7.18median 0.53

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsARESBNSLF
Revenue $5.99B $76.56B –
Net income $636.35M $3.71B $2.57B
Free cash flow $836.15M – $3.28B
EPS (diluted) $2.36 $0.53 $4.23
Cash & equivalents $1.85B $14.89B –
Total debt $4.58B $59.07B $6.42B
Shares (diluted) 226.30M 2.37B 566.00M
Enterprise value $42.70B -$97.64B $2.43B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricARESBNSLF
P/E 51.7x 68.0x 18.8x
P/FCF 52.6x – 13.5x
P/Operating cash flow 48.3x – 13.1x
P/S 7.4x 1.1x –
P/B 5.1x 20.9x 2.4x
P/Tangible book 5.6x -2.6x 2.9x
EV/EBITDA – – –
EV/EBIT 20.4x – 9.9x
EV/Revenue 7.8x 0.7x –
EV/FCF 55.9x – 12.2x
EV/Operating cash flow 51.2x – 11.7x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 4.07 -0.71 7.18

Growth

14 metrics
MetricARESBNSLF
Revenue growth (1Y) 24.0% -9.6% –
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 18.0% -4.2% –
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) – – –
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – – –
Net income growth (1Y) 32.6% 28.4% 4.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 7.5% 11.2% 6.5%
EPS growth (1Y) 27.3% 65.8% 4.1%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 12.7% -95.3% 2.6%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -77.5% – 8.5%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 98.3% – 13.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) -79.0% – 8.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 84.4% – 9.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricARESBNSLF
Gross margin – – –
EBITDA margin – – –
Operating margin – – –
Pretax margin 26.0% – –
Net margin 8.9% 1.6% –
FCF margin 14.0% – –
Operating cash flow margin 15.2% – –
Return on equity 15.4% 4.3% 13.9%
Return on assets 4.5% 0.7% 0.9%
Return on invested capital 14.8% – 12.7%
Return on capital employed – – –
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.1x –
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 1.4x – 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue – – –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricARESBNSLF
Debt / assets 15.4% 2.8% 2.1%
Debt / equity 0.5x 3.6x 0.3x
Net debt / EBITDA – – –
Debt / FCF 5.5x – 2.0x
Liabilities / assets 71.0% 99.2% 93.7%
Equity / assets 29.0% 0.8% 6.3%
Interest coverage 3.1x – 5.6x
Current ratio – – –
Quick ratio – – –
Cash ratio – – –
Altman Z-score – – –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricARESBNSLF
Dividend yield 4.2% 0.7% 4.7%
Net buyback yield 0.9% – -0.1%
Shareholder yield 5.1% 0.7% 4.6%
Payout ratio (earnings) 301.7% – –
Payout ratio (FCF) 229.6% – –
Dividend growth (1Y) 23.7% – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) 26.9% – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusARESBNSLF
Forward P/E 22.5xFY2026 13.7xFY2026 13.2xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $5.44FY2026 $2.78FY2026 $6.06FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +14.3%FY2026 +23.6%FY2026 +11.6%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +35.3% +12.6% -3.1%
Revenue, next fiscal year $5.46BFY2026 $7.00BFY2026 $6.17BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +13.0%FY2026 +2.4%FY2026 -4.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +19.6% +21.1% +29.2%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersARESBNSLF
Held by institutions 66.7% 66.5% 44.7%
Institutions holding 802 930 490
Change in shares held, QoQ +5.3% +1.2% +1.3%
Institutions buying 477 407 256
Institutions selling 229 317 130
Buyers to sellers 2.08 1.28 1.97

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

ARESBNSLF
ARES 1.00 0.70 0.24
BN 0.70 1.00 0.41
SLF 0.24 0.41 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, ARES, BN and SLF?

Brookfield (BN) is the largest by market capitalisation: Ares Management (ARES) $44.02B, Brookfield (BN) $85.45B, Sun Life Financial (SLF) $44.33B.

Which stock is cheaper, ARES, BN and SLF?

Sun Life Financial (SLF) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Ares Management (ARES) 51.7x, Brookfield (BN) 68.0x, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 18.8x). On next year's consensus earnings, Sun Life Financial (SLF) is cheapest (Ares Management (ARES) 22.5x, Brookfield (BN) 13.7x, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 13.2x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Ares Management (ARES) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Ares Management (ARES) +24.0%, Brookfield (BN) -9.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Ares Management (ARES) has the highest net margin (Ares Management (ARES) 8.9%, Brookfield (BN) 1.6%). On return on invested capital, Ares Management (ARES) leads (Ares Management (ARES) 14.8%, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 12.7%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Sun Life Financial (SLF) returned the most: Ares Management (ARES) -19.1%, Brookfield (BN) -18.7%, Sun Life Financial (SLF) +28.5%. Over five years, Ares Management (ARES) compounded fastest (Ares Management (ARES) +7.2%/yr, Brookfield (BN) +2.7%/yr, Sun Life Financial (SLF) +6.9%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Sun Life Financial (SLF) has the highest dividend yield: Ares Management (ARES) 4.23%, Brookfield (BN) 0.71%, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 4.70%.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Sun Life Financial (SLF) has been the steadiest (Ares Management (ARES) 43.6%, Brookfield (BN) 27.6%, Sun Life Financial (SLF) 18.6%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, ARES, BN and SLF?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Sun Life Financial (SLF) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.