Operator
Good morning. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to ALTI's fourth quarter 2025 earnings conference call. During the call, your lines will remain in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. I would like to advise all parties that this conference call is being recorded and a replay of the webcast is available on ALTI's Investor Relations website. Now, at this time, I will turn things over to Lily Ortega, Head of Investor Relations for Ulti. Please go ahead.
Speaker 5
Good morning to everyone on the call today. Today we will hear from Michael Tiedemann, Nancy Curtin, and Mike Harrington. Nancy and Mike Harrington, along with Kevin Moran, our President and COO, will be available to take questions during Q&A. I would like to remind everyone that certain statements made during the call may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, comments made during the prepared remarks and in response to questions. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words that is anticipate, believe, continue, estimate, expect, future, intend, may, planned, and will, are similar terms. Because these forward-looking statements involve both known and unknown risks and uncertainties, there are important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. For discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ, please refer to all these filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent annual a report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, all too assumes no obligation or responsibility to update any forward-looking statements. During this call, some comments may include references to non-GAAP financial measures. Full reconciliations can be found in our earnings presentation and our related SEC filings. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Michael Tiedemann.
Thank you, Lily, and good morning, everyone. Before we begin, I would like to reflect on where Alt-E stands today, three years since our listing. In early 2023, we entered the public markets with a clear ambition to build the premier global wealth management platform focused on the fastest-growing segment of the wealth landscape, the ultra-high net worth segment. I feel immense pride in what we've accomplished over this period and believe our team has created the most complete, high-end investment solution set for large and complex families that exist. Today, Alti delivers full-service global wealth management solutions in 19 cities across 9 countries. Since our listing, we've grown our AOM and our wealth platform by 70%, while maintaining industry-leading client retention rates above 95%. We are established in the highest end of the wealth market with clients that averaged assets in excess of $50 million, a number that continues to rise as our prospects grow in size over time. Our team and the platform we have built is positioned to perform over both the near and long term. Now I want to turn to an important update, which also was announced earlier this morning with our earnings press release. After more than 25 years leading the company, I will be stepping down as CEO, and Nancy Curtin, our global chief investment officer, will become interim CEO. I've known Nancy for many years, and her leadership has been pivotal to the success of our business. I'm confident the company is in capable hands and will continue to be supporting Nancy to ensure a smooth transition. Importantly, we've built a world-class team uniquely able to serve the most sophisticated client base and wealth management. I have immense respect and admiration for my colleagues all over the world for the dedication they have to serving our clients. Their relentless collaboration defines our corporate culture as a firm. And lastly, I would be remiss not to thank our incredible and loyal client base, who've placed their trust in Alti over the years, allowing us to serve their families across generations. With that, I will turn the call over to Nancy and the leadership team for their prepared remarks in today's subsequent Q&A session. Thank you.
Thank you, Michael. I'm grateful for the opportunity to step into this role and to work with our talented professionals and global leadership team as we continue to drive the business forward. I also want to personally thank Michael for his many years of dedication and focus, which has laid an excellent foundation to advance the company into its next chapter. As he mentioned, Alti was built to serve the most sophisticated segment of the wealth market. This segment is looking for what we can deliver. Holistic and independent approach to complex wealth management, where client needs span family governance and education. tax and structuring, and multiple generations and jurisdictions. We've been doing this for over two decades and are one of the few firms truly able to deliver customized solutions on a global basis. We're proud of what we've built. The same investment discipline and long-term client-centric approach also underpins how we serve clients on the platform today. Alongside our work with families, we have leveraged our institutional capabilities to build a leading global endowment and foundation, or ENF, business, using our institutional investment management platform and capabilities. This complementary and growing practice has grown to more than $8 billion in assets under management at year-end 2025, largely serving private and family foundations, and we view it as a natural extension of our wealth management business. building on that foundation growth across the platform has been strong since our listing organic growth has been driven by both new client additions and continued expansion of existing relationships as families endowments and foundations increase the scope of their engagement with ulti over time over the past three years we've generated over nine billion of projected billable assets, including nearly $4 billion added in 2025 alone, reflecting sustained demand from ultra-high net worth and institutional clients across our U.S. and international businesses. At the same time, we've been delivered in where we focus the business. Over the past three years, and especially in 2025, we have remained firmly focused on our core wealth and institutional management business, we've continued emphasis on delivering excellence in client service. In parallel, we've taken meaningful steps to simplify the organization and address non-core costs, actions that are enabling continued investment in our platform and positioning earnings to scale over time as these initiatives progress. As part of that focus, a comprehensive strategic assessment led to the exit of our non-core international real estate business in 2025, eliminating the future costs and obligations associated with that platform. Complementing these efforts, we have adopted zero-based budgeting process as our budget methodology. Through the 2025 and 2026 process, ZBB has enabled us to identify approximately $20 million of recurring annual growth savings, with the majority expected to be realized by year-end 2026. 6. Separately, our investments in alternative strategies continues to strengthen our capital and liquidity position and made a meaningful contribution to our results in 2025. Our interest in these internally and externally managed strategies provide a complementary source of cash flow to our core wealth and institutional management businesses and support future growth initiatives within that segment. With that context, I want to turn to our result highlights for the year. In 2025, multi-generated $255 million in total revenues, representing 29% growth compared to 2024. Total revenues benefited from contributions from our alternative interests, while the core of our revenue base remain anchored in nearly $200 million of predictable recurring management fees. Adjusted EBITDA reached $35 million for the year. As we look ahead, we are increasingly excited by the opportunities to continue to grow organically while continuing to streamline the cost basis of the firm. With the platform now simplified, following the restructuring of our non-core international real estate business, we expect our results to increasingly reflect the strong fundamentals of the company. In closing, I want to provide an update in our strategic review. As announced in December, a special committee was formed to review strategic options to maximize long-term value for shareholders. To date, the special committee has not received a proposal that it believes encapsulates the long-term value of the business, and it continues to evaluate a full range of alternatives with a clear focus on enhancing shareholder value, informed by our clear strategy, strong management team, and simplified platform. If any proposal is received from any party, the committee will evaluate it consistently with its fiduciary duties. With that, I'll turn over to Mike Harrington to walk through the financials. Mike?
Thanks, Nancy. We made significant progress in 2025, and we expect to see the benefits of that progress in 2026. With the exit of non-core activities now complete and the impact of zero-based budgeting beginning to show, we believe the strength of our business will become increasingly evident in the years ahead. Total assets under management reached $50 billion at year-end of 10% year-over-year, driven by strong investment performance and the acquisition of Contora. That growth was achieved despite a more muted market impact in the international business, stemming from foreign exchange headwinds related to the U.S. dollar depreciation, given that growth assets within these portfolios are typically unhedged. For the full year of 2025, MULTI generated approximately $255 million of total revenue, representing 29% year-over-year growth. The increase was driven by robust AUM expansion, along with meaningful contributions from incentive fees, reflecting the strong investment performance throughout the year across the alternatives managers in which we hold ownership stakes. Fourth quarter revenue totaled $88 million, up 71% from the prior quarter, reflecting continued AUM growth and a $29 million contribution from incentive fees associated with the strong performance of the arbitrage strategy in 2025, which generated an 11.3% return for the year. Stepping back from the contribution of incentive fees in the year, the underlying strength of our business continues to be reflected in the growth of our recurring management fees. Management fees totaled nearly $200 million a year, up 9% year-over-year, and $53 million in the fourth quarter, up 14% compared to the same period in 2024, supported by sustained asset growth. Before turning to expenses, I want to highlight some important nuances in our financials. The results we're presenting today continue to reflect a lag in actions taken and cost incurred in 2025, and as a result, the operating leverage of the business is not yet visible. That said, revenue growth remains strong, and we are seeing benefits from zero-based budgeting in areas such as occupancy, systems, and marketing. At this stage, however, those benefits are being offset in our reported results by discrete one-time items including temporary costs associated with their strategic review process. We expect these costs to subside in the coming periods and allow the underlying expense trends to become clearer. For the full year, reported operating expenses increased by $72 million to $329 million. The increase was largely driven by higher compensation costs, inclusive of an approximately $14 million bonus accrued associated with the arbitrage incentive fee recorded in Q4, the integration of Contora in 2025, and other one-time items related to the strategic review process, zero-based budgeting program, and the exit of the international real estate business. On a normalized basis, excluding non-recurring and non-cash items, as well as the arbitrage incentive fee bonus accrual, full-year operating expenses were $205 million compared to $182 million in 2024. Increase primarily reflects higher compensation costs, including the effect of a contour acquisition, increased professional fees, and G&A expenses driven partially by the strategic review process, as well as foreign exchange and VAT. Beneath these temporary and non-core items, our cost structure is improving. As zero-based budgeting issues continue to progress and non-core items roll off, we expect these improvements to come increasingly visible in our reported results. Four-year adjusted EBITDA increased 45% to approximately $35 million, reflecting the contribution from incentive-related performance during the year. Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $11 million, nearly doubling sequentially, largely driven by the net contribution from the incentive fee. Adjusted EBITDA margins were 14% for the year and 13% for the quarter. On a gap basis, we reported a net loss of $155 million for the year and $15 million for the quarter, driven largely by non-cash, non-recurring items. For the full year, other loss was $31 million, primarily attributable to a $35 million impairment charge of the arbitrage fund recorded in Q3. In the fourth quarter, we recorded a loss of $8 million reflecting fair value adjustments on certain items. Looking ahead, we expect 2026 to mark a turning point for the business As initiatives continue to take hold, progress should become increasingly evident in our normalized results, supported by additional savings from optimizing office occupancy and completing the wind down of legacy technology and vendor contracts. As revenues continue to grow and the platform scales, the impact of zero-based budgeting and platform efficiency should become clearer, allowing the financial profile of the business to reflect its underlying strength. With a focused strategy, durable client relationships, and a simplified operating model, we believe Alty is well-positioned to deliver sustained growth and increased profitability over time.
And with that, I'll turn it back to Nancy Curtin for her closing remarks. Thank you, Mike. 2025 was a critical year for Alty. While we continue to grow our business and deliver for our clients, we also made necessary decisions to simplify the business, sharpen our focus, and position the firm for long-term value creation. As a result, we enter 26 with a cleaner structure, a stronger operating model, and a platform aligned around recurring revenue wealth and investment management. Thank you for your continued interest and support. We look forward to updating you on our progress in the quarters ahead. I'm now turning over to the operator for questions.
Operator
Thank you. We will now be conducting a question and answer session. If you would like to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone keypad. A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question queue. You may press star 2 if you would like to remove your question from the queue. For participants using speaker equipment, it may be necessary to pick up your handset before pressing the star keys.
Operator
And our first question will come from Wilma Albertus with Raymond James.
Hey, good morning. Could you provide a little bit more color on the decision to transition CEOs and just talk about what the search process looks like from here? Thanks.
Well, first of all, Wilma, it's Nancy, and thank you very much for your support of the company. I think it was a bit broken up, but I think you asked the question, can we give a little more color on the transition process is that right yeah it was a it was a thoughtful discussion as you can imagine between the board and management as part of alti's ongoing focus and next phase of growth and i think we just decided it was the right time to appoint a new leader for alti's next chapter in growth ahead and continuing to execute our strategy but I want to say up front, say change in leadership, obviously myself, you know, our overall state on a global basis, all those characteristics, continuity, momentum, already in place. It might be helpful to Kevin, who's sitting next to me as well, and he can comment on it. Kevin and I are working sideways forward to the partnership together.
Speaker 2
Thanks, Nancy. Wilma, I've spoken to you in the past on some of these calls. So as I think you know, myself, Nancy, Mike Tiedemann, like the management team here at the firm has been together for a very long time. I've been with the firm for about 18 years. That's the case for many at the management level. So as Nancy says, we believe in the strategy that will be continued execution on the go-forward strategy that Mike Tiedemann put in place 25 years ago when he launched what was at that point, Tiedemann Advisors. And we, at the management team, it's a very cohesive, long-tenured team to grow and execute, and my team have laid out in their remarks.
And I think you made a few comments on the process on the call, but can you just give us an update? I mean, it sounds like, is this more of a pivot towards focusing on operating?
Can you just talk a little bit more about, you know, how that all fits together? of being the preeminent global leader executing in a marketplace that is growing with ultra-high net worth, huge intergenerational wealth transfer in place remains on change. Let me turn to Kevin because a core part of that is inorganic, but there's nothing on the horizon at how we scale the business. So let me turn to Kevin.
Thank you. And then it looked like you had pretty solid merger arbitrage performance in the quarter. Maybe give us a little bit more color on that.
Speaker 7
So the merger arbitrage strategy has been operating for a very long time.
Speaker 2
2025 had a strong year, so the performance was a little over 11% for the year, and that correlated to improving management fees, which are based upon improving AUM growth, as well as a strong incentive fee. As you know, the incentive fees for that are crystallized at the end of the year. So those, based on the performance for the full year, we are a pretty strong incentive. We don't have a view on 2026, because, again, we don't know what performance will be for the strategy, but that strategy has a very long track record of doing pretty well in most market environments.
Add to that, Wilma, I mean, we'll have to see what happens, of course, with the conflict in the Middle East. But M&A activity is broadly picking up both the volume and value of transactions, and this represents a pretty ripe opportunity for the arbitrage strategy. So, you know, we'll see what happens this year, sorts of years, but I have a strong year in 2020.
And it looks like there were some pretty solid additions in AUA. Can you just touch on that a little bit?
Speaker 2
So, Will, I think you're seeing on the AUA growth, that was the acquisition of the German Multifamily Office that we completed last April led to increased, obviously, revenue. Our revenue numbers increased as a result of that transaction. But also, they have their business multifamily office. They have AUM and AUA. So you've seen the uptake in the AUA really from that acquisition. Part of the business strategy behind that acquisition was over time to convert their AUA assets to AUM assets. A very long success of the business.
Speaker 7
That was really the main driver in the AUA uptake in 2025.
Oh, I guess drilling into that a little bit more, I think there was some AUA that was added in 4Q. You just was curious on that.
Speaker 2
Net worths, everything from real estate to investment assets. Nancy and the investment team have done a terrific job of managing client portfolios. So I think where you're there, it's nothing unusual. It's just, particularly if we can bring on large clients, they may have, at times, very large AUA as opposed to AUM assets. Just think of AUA as really not where clients could pay as opposed to our AUM. But it's really important to the service model for us to be able to oversee a report, manage, and advise on both the AUA and the AUF.
Can you guys a little more color on the 13-D that was filed by Allianz?
Yeah, thank you for that question, Wilma. So, as you know, Allianz has been a strategic partner of the firm for the last 18 months, and they filed the 13-D. We have no further insight into what their intentions or plans are, but from a regulatory perspective, if they have any plans to increase their engagement, they are required to file a 13-D. They've been a trusted and excellent partner, and if they decide to move forward and we don't have any visibility into that at this point, that could be welcome. Of course, in any event, directors, and any kind of proposal about the company strategically which I'm representing.
Thank you. And then could you just give us a little bit more detail on ZBB, where you stand with that, what's to come, what else you're doing there?
Speaker 2
I can take that one, and Nancy or Mike may want to jump in. And so zero-based budgeting is, I think, primarily one is the budgeting approach we're taking going forward. So the numbers, the $20 million number that we talked about was based upon the zero-based budgeting approach that we used for the 2024, sorry, the 2025 budget. So of the 20 million, right, it's really, it was across the entire scope of the expenses that we identified were expected to be realized over probably about nine quarters, so going into the first quarter of 2027. The reason it's an extended period of time is that a lot of those expenses are subject to contracts. So think of anything from leases to technology vendors that, you know, as we identify and then we just don't renew the contract. We have to wait till the contract itself runs out. So what we saw in 2025 is really the non-contractual expenses. So what Nancy talked about, or Mike Carrington, we talked about things like marketing, travel, entertainment, and tech expenses where we had contracts expiring in 2025. So that's what we've seen so far. Same thing with occupancy. We made a significant improvement in reducing our occupancy expense. So what we'll see in 2026 is continued cost reductions around technology and occupancy.
Speaker 7
Leases and contracts that...
Following up on the earlier question on Allianz, can you just remind us, it seemed like I thought Allianz had a multi-year standstill. Can you just remind us where that stands, I guess, no pun intended.
Speaker 2
Yes, when Allianz invested, they did have a standstill, so they would need more in place, so they will discuss that with the special committee.
That makes a lot of sense. And then could you just give us a quick reminder of where you stand with capital and potential to grow, acquire new advisors or new platforms? Thanks.
The priority, but of course, inorganic as well. Let me turn to Kevin on that so he can talk about the funding that we have and sources we have to continue to allow us to pursue inorganic opportunities. Kevin?
Speaker 2
Thanks, Nancy. So on the organic side, we know we don't see the need for funding to allow us to continue to execute on the organic growth conditions. We've improved our business development teams globally. We have, you know, in the event, we identify an attractive M&A opportunity or a larger lift out that would require capital. We have had discussions with capital providers and think that capital is readily available. Thank you.
I can reach you potentially.
Operator
And as a reminder, that is star one. If you would like to ask a question, then we'll pause for just a moment. And this now concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Nancy Curtin for closing comments.
For joining us on the call this morning. Of course, we look forward to sharing updates on our progress on our first quarter call. And thank you for the excellent questions.
Speaker 7
Very much appreciated.
Operator
And thank you for your time. ladies and gentlemen thank you for your participation this does conclude today's teleconference you may disconnect your lines and have a wonderful day