WisdomTree (NYSE:WT) executives highlighted record assets under management, expanding margins, and continued traction across Europe, digital assets, and private markets during the company’s fourth-quarter 2025 earnings call. Management also updated its 2026 expense and profitability outlook while discussing product opportunities in thematics, commodities, and tokenized funds.
Record AUM and broad-based growth
CFO Bryan Edmiston said WisdomTree ended 2025 with record AUM of $144.5 billion, up 5% from the third quarter and more than 30% year-over-year. While the company had “modest outflows” in the fourth quarter, it produced $8.5 billion of inflows for the year, which management described as an 8% organic growth rate. Edmiston said AUM benefited from positive market movement and the acquisition of Ceres Partners, which closed Oct. 1.
By region, Edmiston said WisdomTree’s European-listed products had a “very strong year,” with AUM rising from $30.7 billion to $53.3 billion on more than $6 billion of net inflows and a favorable market backdrop. European inflows were led by $4.3 billion into its UCITS franchise, with the European Defence ETF cited as a key launch, while commodity products generated approximately $1 billion of inflows.
In the U.S., AUM increased to a record $88.5 billion, with $1.4 billion of net inflows for the year, driven primarily by U.S. equity offerings and market conditions. The company’s digital assets platform ended the year at approximately $770 million of AUM, with growth led by inflows to its digital money market fund, “largely through WisdomTree Connect,” according to Edmiston.
Ceres acquisition expands private assets exposure
Management positioned the Ceres transaction as a strategic expansion into private assets. Edmiston said the acquisition diversified WisdomTree’s AUM mix by adding exposure to U.S. farmland, which he called “one of the largest and least penetrated real asset classes.” He said WisdomTree is now managing “almost $2 billion in farmland-based strategies,” and added that the transaction expanded annual revenue capture and operating margins by more than 200 basis points.
In the Q&A, executives said the integration “could not have gone more smoothly,” describing the deal as a “very specific acquisition” tied to the firm’s interest in that asset class. Management also pointed to Ceres’ historical flow profile, saying the business averaged 6%–7% net inflows over the past 10 years and had “zero years of net outflows in almost 20 years.”
Quarterly results: higher revenue, margin expansion, and EPS
Edmiston reported adjusted revenues of $147.4 million in the quarter, up 17% from the third quarter and approximately 33% from the prior-year quarter, driven by higher average AUM. He said Ceres contributed $12 million of quarterly revenue, including $7.1 million of performance fees, which he attributed to farmland price appreciation and “favorable developments related to the solar portfolio.”
“Other revenue” was $12.7 million in the quarter, up from $11 million in the prior quarter, with Edmiston linking the increase primarily to higher European-listed AUM because roughly 70% of those revenues are asset-based. While describing the line item as difficult to forecast, he suggested the most recent quarter’s magnitude could be a “fair approximation” going forward assuming current European AUM levels.
For the full year, Edmiston said adjusted revenues rose 15.4% while adjusted operating margin expanded nearly 300 basis points to 36.5%. Adjusted net income in the fourth quarter was $41.2 million, or $0.29 per share, excluding items including amortization tied to the Ceres acquisition and remeasurement of the Ceres earn-out.
During the Q&A, Edmiston said the quarter’s results were helped by a lower compensation ratio and higher other revenue, while noting that Ceres performance fees were a “wild card” and ran about $2 million above his baseline expectation. He added that AUM levels around $160 billion “position us for, for more quarters to come, like the ones that we just experienced.”
2026 guidance: compensation ratio lowered; spending increases tied to growth initiatives
Edmiston updated the company’s 2026 outlook, including a lower compensation-to-revenue ratio range of 26%–28%, which he described as a two-point downward shift from prior guidance. He said the range reflects planned hires, compensation adjustments, and the annualization of 2025 hires, while also capturing variability in incentive compensation tied to flows, revenue, operating targets, and share price performance.
He also said first-quarter compensation expense will be seasonally higher, with the comp-to-revenue ratio estimated at about 30% before stepping down over the year.
Other 2026 guidance items included:
- Discretionary spending: $80 million–$86 million, up from $71 million in 2025, driven primarily by incremental marketing, higher sales and distribution-related expenses, and the impact of the Ceres acquisition.
- Gross margin: 82%–83%, up from 81.9% in 2025, reflecting the positive impact of Ceres and current AUM levels, partially offset by costs tied to anticipated product launches.
- Third-party distribution expense: $17 million–$19 million, up from $16 million, driven by higher AUM on those platforms.
- Interest expense: approximately $40 million, assuming retirement of a substantial portion or potentially all of the convertible notes maturing in June 2026.
- Interest income: approximately $8 million, with interest-earning assets expected to decline in the second half of the year following the notes’ retirement.
- Adjusted tax rate: approximately 24%.
- Weighted average diluted shares: 152 million–157 million, versus 145 million in 2025, reflecting expected incremental shares linked to the convertible notes at recent stock price levels.
Asked about the discretionary spending increase, Edmiston said it is “largely driven by marketing and sales-related expenses” tied to growth initiatives. He added that despite the higher spending plan, the company continues to manage expenses with an eye toward maintaining incremental margins “north of 50%,” and said the company expects further margin expansion versus 2025.
Product momentum: Europe thematics, commodities, models, and tokenization
CEO Jarrett Lilien emphasized that 2025 results reflected a multi-year strategy centered on organic growth and disciplined execution. He pointed to strength in metals strategies, saying AUM in the firm’s metals suite rose 83% with more than $1 billion of net inflows. Lilien said metals represent 28.5% of global AUM and argued a “multi-year growth story” is unfolding as investors seek inflation-sensitive and alternative exposures.
On product development, Lilien said WisdomTree launched more than 30 new strategies in 2025 across commodities, thematics, and tactical exposures, citing launches in rare earths, quantum computing, and nuclear energy. In response to an analyst question about 2026–2027 opportunities, executives highlighted market share potential in European thematics and commodities. One executive noted the firm’s rare earth fund (RARE) grew from $100 million in November to $700 million, and said WisdomTree had taken 25% of January flows into thematics.
In portfolio solutions, Lilien said model AUA increased to over $6 billion, up from $3.8 billion at the end of 2024, supported by new users, deeper adoption, and growing custom model mandates. He also cited the expansion of SMA capabilities through Quorus as a way to address more complex advisor needs.
In digital assets, management said tokenized AUM reached $770 million by year-end, up from “essentially zero” a year earlier. Lilien said WisdomTree Connect scaled from 4 onboarded institutions to 29, and the number of wallets holding WisdomTree assets surpassed 3,500. Executives described distribution as spanning retail (WisdomTree Prime), direct-to-business (WisdomTree Connect), and evolving “platform sale” relationships with fintech apps, software providers, and broker-dealers.
In discussing use cases for the tokenized money market fund, executives cited stablecoin reserves, treasury management workflows, use as a collateral instrument, and broader on-chain investing demand for real-world asset exposure.
Closing the call, founder and CEO Jonathan Steinberg argued the company is “underappreciated” by the market, emphasizing WisdomTree’s diversified AUM mix, organic growth and margin expansion track record, and positioning across global ETFs, tokenization, and private assets.
About WisdomTree (NYSE:WT)
WisdomTree Investments, Inc (NYSE: WT) is a U.S.-based asset management firm specializing in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and exchange-traded products (ETPs). Founded in 2006 by Jonathan Steinberg and headquartered in New York City, WisdomTree has developed a reputation for pioneering smart-beta and fundamentally weighted indexing approaches. The company designs strategies that seek to enhance returns and reduce volatility by weighting constituents based on dividends, earnings or other financial metrics rather than relying solely on market capitalization.
WisdomTree offers a broad suite of investment products covering equities, fixed income, currencies, commodities and digital assets.
