Affiliated Managers Group, Inc.

Affiliated Managers Group reported record second-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $316 million, a 44% year-over-year increase, with economic earnings per share of $8.29, up 54%. Assets under management reached a record $942 billion, driven by $13 billion in net inflows during the quarter and strong investment performance. Alternative strategies generated $29 billion of those net inflows in the quarter and approximately $100 billion over the past 12 months, now accounting for more than 60% of earnings. The company repurchased approximately $189 million in shares during the quarter, reducing share count by over 10% year-over-year, and guided third-quarter adjusted EBITDA to $315 million to $325 million with economic EPS of $8.43 to $8.71. CEO Jay Horgen highlighted an active new investment pipeline targeting high-teens returns, with check sizes typically ranging from $100 million to $500 million and some larger transactions in the pipeline.

Affiliated Managers Group has raised its second-quarter 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance to a range of US$290 million to US$305 million, alongside improved revenue expectations. The company also confirmed it spent approximately US$185.7 million on share repurchases in the first quarter of 2026 under its 2024 buyback program. The stronger outlook reinforces near-term earnings momentum but does not alter the key risk of continued outflows and fee compression in traditional active equity. Some analysts had already modeled about US$3.1 billion in revenue and US$687.4 million in earnings by 2029, and the updated guidance may either support or challenge those projections depending on views about AMG's growing focus on alternative strategies.

Affiliated Managers Group appears more attractive to value investors than BlackRock based on valuation metrics and estimate revisions. AMG holds a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy) and a Value grade of B, while BLK is ranked #3 (Hold) with a Value grade of D. AMG's forward P/E ratio stands at 9.75 compared to BLK's 18.41, and its PEG ratio is 0.57 versus BLK's 1.26. AMG also has a lower price-to-book ratio of 2.27 against BLK's 2.65. Stronger estimate revision activity further supports AMG as the superior value choice at this time.

Custody bank stocks delivered a strong first quarter, with the 16 companies tracked by StockStory beating analysts' consensus revenue estimates by 2.5% on average. Cohen & Steers reported revenues of $145.6 million, up 8.3% year on year and exceeding expectations by 1.6%, though it was a mixed quarter overall. Franklin Resources stood out as the best performer, with revenues of $2.29 billion, an 8.7% increase that surpassed estimates by 11.8%, while Hamilton Lane was the slowest, with revenues of $193.6 million, down 2.2% and missing estimates by 3.4%. BNY posted revenues of $5.41 billion, up 13.8% and beating estimates by 4.3%, and Affiliated Managers Group reported revenues of $544.9 million, up 9.7% but missing estimates by 1.8%. Share prices of the group have been resilient, rising 8% on average since the latest earnings results.