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President & CFO Matt Audette explained that gross profit ROA is becoming a less effective metric as LPL's revenue diversifies into non-AUM-driven streams, such as service and fee revenue. He suggested that the decline is partly a function of this mix shift and rapid AUM growth in the denominator. He pointed to EBITDA ROA as a more holistic measure that captures both revenue growth and the company's successful efficiency initiatives.

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CFO Martin S. Small described the main focus as integrating the large GIP and HPS acquisitions and stated that M&A is not needed to meet growth targets. He positioned Elmtree as a selective, tactical deal to add triple-net lease capabilities for insurance and wealth clients. CEO Laurence D. Fink added that a primary driver of future growth will be organic, by helping countries like India and Saudi Arabia expand their domestic capital markets, though compelling tuck-in deals in private markets or technology remain a possibility.

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CEO Laurence Fink stated that the growth of digital assets depends more on liquidity, transparency, and analytics rather than a specific political administration. He positioned Bitcoin as an asset class akin to gold and emphasized the potential of blockchain technology. He believes building out better data will broaden market acceptance, similar to how other markets matured historically.

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Executive Ian Lowitt explained that while the prime services integration was initially slow, it has now captured significant unmet demand, leading to a higher run rate, though future growth will likely be more modest. He credited Paolo Tonucci and his team for successfully restructuring and improving margins in the Agency and Execution segment. Paolo Tonucci added that new synthetic product offerings, which came online in late Q3 and Q4, were key drivers of the growth. Regarding Aarna, Ian Lowitt confirmed it had almost no Q1 contribution but is performing as expected and already attracting new clients in Abu Dhabi. Executive Crispin Robert Irvin specified Aarna's results will be reported within the Clearing segment.

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CEO Ian Lowitt explained that the rise in collateral balances was a function of both steady new client onboarding, including larger mandates, and increased client activity with higher margin requirements. Regarding the securities revenue, management noted it reflected growing momentum and scale benefits from the Cowen acquisition, with the second half of the year seeing the full impact of an expanded product suite and new client wins. Mr. Lowitt emphasized this aligns with Marex's strategy of enhancing acquired businesses by integrating them into the broader platform.

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CEO Ian Lowitt suggested using the updated full-year guidance as a sensible starting point for 2025, acknowledging rate headwinds but highlighting underlying business momentum and acquisition contributions. He cautioned against assuming a repeat of 2024's favorable metals conditions. CFO Rob Irvin added that over 50% of the cost base is variable, primarily from performance-related bonuses, which provides significant flexibility with market conditions.

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CFO Alesia Haas explained that crypto options are a relatively new product and Deribit achieved its market leadership by focusing and building deep product expertise. She described the user base as prosumers and a diverse mix of institutional and retail traders outside the U.S. CEO Brian Armstrong added that professional traders prioritize a trusted counterparty, which is a key competitive advantage for Coinbase.

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CFO Alesia Haas stated that new users are typically drawn by new asset listings or are first-time crypto buyers, while resurrected users re-engage during periods of high market volatility. She noted Coinbase One members are generally more active traders and are more deeply engaged across the entire platform. CEO Brian Armstrong added that every time a user returns, it creates an opportunity to cross-sell other products like staking or loans.

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CFO Alesia Haas responded that while Coinbase holds a significant amount of crypto (about 25% of its net cash), it is an operating company, not an investment company. She stressed the need to maintain a strong cash position to fund operations, product development, and M&A, rather than primarily holding assets for investment purposes.

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CEO Harvey Schwartz explained that while initial trade policy announcements created uncertainty, subsequent clarification has helped sentiment. He characterized the current environment as 'cautiously opportunistic,' with LPs remaining open for business but proceeding thoughtfully. Schwartz identified the U.S.-China trade dialogue as the most significant remaining question for the global economic outlook.

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CFO John Redett explained that reaching the 35% compensation ratio target is heavily dependent on the timing of net realized performance revenues. He expressed confidence that as funds hit their carry hurdles, this will naturally drive the ratio down. He emphasized the firm will 'grow into' the number rather than cutting expenses, as the primary focus remains on growth.

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CEO Harvey Schwartz stated that momentum across credit and insurance is "quite significant." He highlighted growth opportunities across the entire capital stack, particularly in asset-backed finance, where the firm's partnership with Fortitude provides an intelligence edge. He also noted that CLO activity is expected to remain high due to attractive market spreads.

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CEO Michael Arougheti asserted that investor appetite for private credit remains very significant, driven by strong double-digit returns and a secular shift in allocation. Regarding private investment grade, he explained the theme is the same: investors are increasingly willing to allocate to less liquid markets to capture excess returns. He noted that Ares is a major participant in both investment-grade and sub-investment-grade asset-based finance, which enhances its value proposition and origination capabilities.

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CFO Jarrod Phillips explained that management fee growth is driven by a mix of deployment for drawdown funds and fundraising for retail and equity-style funds. He projected a 2025 tax rate of 11-15%, noting that while realizations push the rate up, amortization from the GCP deal will provide a downward offset, and the AMT is likely still a year or two away.

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CFO and COO Matthew Nicholls provided quarterly guidance, expecting the effective fee rate to hold around 38 basis points and compensation to decrease to around $810 million. He reaffirmed that full-year 2025 expenses are expected to be roughly flat to 2024, adjusted for the Putnam acquisition and performance fees. Nicholls also reiterated the plan to achieve a $200 million to $250 million run-rate of cost savings entering fiscal 2026, noting that strategic investments are being funded by savings elsewhere in the business.

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CEO Jennifer Johnson highlighted existing success, noting Lexington's last fund sourced 20% from wealth channels. She emphasized the strong demand for new perpetual, semi-liquid products, citing a recent fund launch that was capped at $900 million. Head of Global Distribution Adam Spector added that both perpetual and drawdown funds are key, and the firm is co-developing products with major distributors and investing heavily in adviser education to support this growth.

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President and CEO Jennifer Johnson clarified that the $100 billion target is based on organic growth from existing managers like BSP, Clarion, and Lexington, not future M&A. She projected $13 billion to $20 billion in gross sales for fiscal 2025, driven by new offerings like real estate debt funds and perpetual vehicles for the wealth channel. The wide range for 2025 depends on the timing of Lexington's next flagship fund and a recovery in real estate markets.

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Global President David Howson noted that Robinhood's adoption of index options was faster and larger than expected. He characterized retail behavior as "remarkably disciplined," with most trades being capital-risk defined. He observed that while retail participation lessens during extreme volatility spikes, they remain engaged and return quickly, supporting a constructive outlook.

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Global President David Howson confirmed the strategy is 'both.' He highlighted ongoing efforts to onboard new brokers, especially in Asia Pacific, while also focusing on deeper penetration of existing platforms like Robinhood, where user adoption is still in its 'early innings.' He emphasized that Cboe is investing in education and marketing to showcase the benefits of its differentiated, cash-settled index option products to this growing user base.

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Global President Dave Howson clarified the strength was driven by increased engagement from existing customers using the product suite differently, rather than a shift to new client types. COO Christopher Isaacson added that VIX options are on a record annual pace and noted a rotation into small-cap options. CEO Frederic Tomczyk attributed the activity to broad market volatility from political, geopolitical, and sector rotation catalysts.

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CEO Marc Rowan explained that Apollo is actively making a market in private credit to catalyze its acceptance and tradability, similar to how the loan market evolved. He believes this transparency will increase the use cases for private assets, shifting the source of value from an 'illiquidity premium' to superior origination and structuring. He sees the capital required as a worthwhile investment for achieving broader market acceptance, starting with investment-grade credit.

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CFO Martin Kelly attributed the Q3 outperformance to very strong organic inflows of $20 billion and better-than-expected investment spreads at the margin. He clarified that no reversal is expected, as Q4 SRE is projected to be similar to Q3, which aligns perfectly with the full-year guidance provided at Investor Day.

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CEO Robert Sharps clarified that private market alternatives AUM is approximately $20 billion, consisting largely of private credit. He noted that while OHA has significant committed capital, deployment has been limited by a soft M&A environment. Sharps acknowledged that flows for the O-Credit fund ($54 million in Q1) have been slower than expected due to intense competition but are building as platform placements increase to eight. He expressed confidence that momentum will improve through 2025, aided by the fund's recent 'BDC of the Year' award.

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CFO Jen Dardis confirmed that fee compression was higher than average in 2024, driven by outflows from higher-fee equity products and inflows into lower-fee vehicles like CITs and ETFs. CEO Robert Sharps added that the firm does not manage to a specific fee rate, viewing lower fees as a way to enhance their value proposition and seeing a trade-off between fees and flows that can quicken the path back to positive net flows.

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CEO Rob Sharps clarified that insurance opportunities span the entire fixed income business, including investment-grade credit and private credit strategies from OHA, as insurers seek higher yields. He noted that OHA historically did not offer dedicated senior private lending but recently had the first close for its new fund in this space, raising $2 billion. This was part of a record $5.5 billion quarter for OHA capital commitments, which he expects will boost alternatives flows into 2025 as capital is deployed.

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Co-CEO Marc Lipschultz noted that while overall M&A is lower, Blue Owl is gaining market share from the inactive syndicated loan market. He detailed the high quality of the loan book, with non-accruals declining. He made a crucial distinction between 'PIK by design' in strong, low-LTV software credits (a positive sign) and 'PIK not by design' due to stress (a negative sign). He also highlighted excellent deployment in real assets, with the current fund showing the best metrics in the strategy's history.

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CFO Warren Gardiner quantified the onetime revenue as a 'few million dollars' and confirmed it was not expected to repeat. He stated that while there are always minor moving parts, nothing has changed significantly enough to alter the full-year guidance for the segment, which accommodates a range of market outcomes for origination volumes. He affirmed the company feels good about its position for the year.

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CFO Warren Gardiner explained that many synergies were realized quickly in late 2023 and 2024, and are now in the run rate. He noted the increased synergy target of $230 million is related to longer-term items like systems and real estate, with no change to the 2028 achievement timeline. The current guidance reflects about $25 million in run-rate help, contributing to the modest 3% expense growth forecast.

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CFO Warren Gardiner explained the guidance reflects typical Q4 seasonality and the recent spike in mortgage rates, which may not be in the MBA forecast. He confirmed a significant portion of customers remain below their minimums, but this is improving quarterly. He noted that as customers are renewed at lower minimums, it becomes easier for them to exceed the threshold and generate per-transaction revenue, which is already contributing to growth.

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CFO Rob Lewin stated that the two-thirds debt focus in Capital Markets fees is historically consistent. For Q2, he noted a solid pipeline but suggested revenue might be slightly shy of Q1's $229 million. On the follow-up, Lewin confirmed they still expect management fee growth to accelerate and that the North America XIV fund will activate in Q2 2025, beginning to contribute to fees.

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Executive Craig Larson confirmed the Americas PE fundraise is ahead of schedule, with a first close expected in Q1 2025. An executive, likely CFO Rob Lewin, added that management fee growth is expected to accelerate from the 14% rate in 2024, supported by the new fund and other initiatives, which is crucial for achieving the firm's 2026 FRE target of $4.50+ per share.

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Chief Financial Officer Rob Lewin clarified that the sale was a unique situation involving a fiber asset co-owned with Telecom Italia, which was cashed out during a broader transaction. He stressed that the long-term hold strategy for the portfolio is unchanged and that management's conviction in achieving its dividend income targets ($300M+ by 2026, $600M+ by 2028) has only increased.

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CEO William Hult explained that the launch is an example of scaling successful technology from one asset class (U.S. credit) to another. He noted that in Europe, clients trade relative value across different sovereign curves, a workflow that was previously difficult to execute electronically. Hult confirmed they are exploring applications for U.S. spread-based products like specified mortgage pools. He framed it as a pragmatic innovation strategy: find what works and apply it to other markets to solve client problems.

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CEO William Hult stated that Tradeweb's approach is about adding value and removing friction, not creating headlines. He highlighted the company's focus on trusted data, smart contracts, and tokenization. Hult mentioned key partnerships with Securitize, Alphaledger, and the Canton Network as part of a strategy to stay front-footed and partner with smart players in the evolving digital asset ecosystem.

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CEO Billy Hult explained that a drop in interest rates is expected to drive growth in two ways: first, by increasing straightforward mortgage origination volume, and second, by boosting convexity hedging activity, which in turn drives volumes in the swaps market. He also identified specified pools as a key opportunity for future growth, noting that its market structure has parallels to credit trading, which Tradeweb can leverage.

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CEO Adena Friedman explained that AI features are embedded to enhance value and ROI, which supports pricing power during renewals, rather than being sold separately. She identified strong SMB sales and increasing traction with Tier 1 and Tier 2 clients via a 'land and expand' strategy as key growth drivers. Regarding Europe, she noted constructive client engagements and active proofs-of-concept, but set expectations for meaningful revenue contributions to begin next year due to long sales cycles.

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Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO, clarified that the Corporate Solutions business is a lagging indicator to the IPO market, as new listings receive a complimentary period before converting to paying clients. Regarding ESG, she noted that while it's a small part of the business, demand has shifted more toward Europe and global companies due to new disclosure requirements there.

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CEO Adena Friedman confirmed strong demand and sales should lead to a recovery in professional services fees in the coming year. She reminded investors that for AxiomSL, the move to ratable accounting makes ARR and revenue more consistent, while for Calypso, focusing on ARR is best due to the upfront recognition of license fees, which creates revenue variability.

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Lynne Fitzpatrick, CFO, provided specific data, noting that the average cash balance increased from $79 billion in Q1 to $131 billion month-to-date in April. She cautioned that it's still early and advised monitoring the monthly volume tracker, but noted that the vast majority of participants are meeting the new 30% soft minimum in cash.

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CEO Terrence Duffy explained that retail activity does not automatically lead to a lower RPC, citing that micro contract pricing was not based on notional value. CFO Lynne Fitzpatrick added that the company's focus is on overall revenue and earnings growth, not specifically on the RPC metric. Fitzpatrick attributed the higher licensing fees to strong volume growth in the equity complex and an off-cycle measurement for certain OTC clearing programs, confirming no new fees were added for SOFR or Treasury products.

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CFO Michael Chae confirmed Q1's 10% management fee growth was in line with expectations. While not providing full-year guidance, he pointed to positive drivers like the activation of flagship funds and growth in perpetual strategies. For margins, he reiterated the full-year guidepost of 'margin stability,' acknowledging the uncertain operating environment but expressing confidence in the firm's underlying cost position.

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Jonathan Gray, President & COO, first highlighted the "extraordinary" momentum in the BIP infrastructure business, driven by its 17% net annual returns. Michael Chae, CFO, then clarified the FRPR sequence for 2025: no infrastructure FRPR in Q1 and Q4, but a "modest but material" amount will be realized in Q2 and Q3. He confirmed the FRPR margin for this business was slightly lower than the firm average, as previously guided, due to its ongoing development and investment phase.

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CFO Michael Chae explained that the firm's compensation model has multiple levers that are managed in an integrated way. He noted that while they have the flexibility to allocate more performance-based compensation and have used it selectively, there are no plans for a large-scale, programmatic change. He expressed confidence in the firm's ability to manage its overall compensation ratio and margin trajectory.

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CEO Milan Galik clarified that the drop in margin loans happened quickly and then stabilized. CFO Paul Brody explained that the $27 million in SEC fees are passed through and are part of the 'Execution, clearing and distribution' cost line. Brody also noted that market data fees were fairly even with the prior quarter and up slightly from the year-ago quarter.

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CEO Milan Galik expressed bullishness on continued account growth, citing market enthusiasm and a pro-business sentiment driving new investors. He noted marketing spend would increase slowly. CFO Paul Brody advised that for modeling compensation, the full-year 2024 quarterly average of $143 million is the best starting point, as capitalization adjustments are periodic.

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Chairman Thomas Peterffy explained that they are working with European and UK regulators to approve economic and climate contracts, emphasizing the need for a state-regulated arbiter for data integrity. President and CEO Milan Galik stated the Dubai office aims to attract sophisticated clients, including hedge funds and high-net-worth investors, to capitalize on the region's growth.

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CEO Vladimir Tenev explained that Gold members exhibit faster growth in assets and deposits, with over 30% of new Q4 funded accounts adopting Gold. He highlighted a 'Gold flywheel' effect, where card usage drives engagement with the core brokerage. CFO Jason Warnick added that a significant portion of the card waitlist are not yet Gold members, representing a large growth opportunity.

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CEO Vlad Tenev explained that the approach varies by product. He contrasted the rapid, multi-day rollout of the election market with the Gold Card. He clarified the card's slower pace is not a technological constraint but a deliberate risk management strategy to prudently scale and understand credit behavior, given the massive 2 million person waitlist, which is in line with other successful card launches.

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CEO Christopher Concannon identified the block market, which is still dominated by phone and IDB, as the largest opportunity. He also highlighted the retail space, targeted by their Access IQ platform, and emerging markets, which have very low electronic penetration. He stressed that data is the most critical ingredient for successful electronification. Global Head of Trading Solutions Richard Schiffman added that even in smaller trade sizes, electronic volume will continue to grow due to systematic strategies and increased turnover.

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CEO Christopher Concannon explained that while standard block trades would use the regular fee schedule, certain high-touch workflows like single-dealer or processed trades would have reduced or zero fees to encourage adoption from phone and chat. Executive Chairman Richard McVey added that fee capture exists on a spectrum; simple processing has the lowest fee, while using tools like Adaptive Auto-X to break up blocks commands higher fees due to greater value-add.

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President and CEO George Aylward explained that Virtus's diversified offerings are designed to perform in various market conditions, with current strength seen in fixed income. He highlighted that new product development is focused on ETFs, global funds, and institutional offerings. Regarding capital, Aylward confirmed the company has the flexibility to return capital to shareholders and invest in growth, including seeding new products, and will only pursue M&A that offers high strategic value.

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President and CEO George Aylward expressed excitement for the ETF pipeline, highlighting new actively managed products from Seix, AlphaSimplex, and Kayne Anderson Rudnick. He noted that distribution access expands as ETFs grow in AUM. On capital return, Aylward affirmed that providing investors with an expectation of continued dividend growth is a core part of their strategy. He stated that while the level of increase is balanced against other capital uses like buybacks, the seven consecutive years of increases demonstrate their commitment to this policy.

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David Brown, Chairman and CEO, responded that recent fixed income outflows were due to a few one-off events and that the company remains bullish on the franchise's outlook, citing strong performance and a favorable macro environment. Regarding M&A, he asserted that Victory is "superiorly positioned" for industry consolidation with a strong post-Amundi balance sheet and a proven, operationally ready platform built for onboarding acquisitions.

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