Affiliated Managers Group (AMG) Q2 2026 earnings review
Alternatives Drive Record AUM, Equities Bleed Continues
AMG's strategic pivot to alternative assets continues to pay massive dividends, though it masks a severe bifurcation in the business. Q2 Economic EPS surged 54% YoY to $8.29, and Adjusted EBITDA grew 44% to $316.0M. Liquid Alternatives led the charge with an accelerating $21.1B in net inflows for Q2, pushing total AUM to a record $942.4B. However, the legacy Equities segment remains a heavy anchor, hemorrhaging $14.5B in the quarter. Management’s aggressive capital allocation strategy ($189M in Q2 buybacks) continues to engineer strong per-share value, but the underlying organic growth is entirely dependent on the alternatives engine offsetting the structural decline in traditional equities.
🐂 Bull Case
Alternative strategies generated $28.9B in total net inflows in Q2 ($21.1B Liquid, $7.8B Private), proving the firm's strategic pivot is successfully capturing secular demand.
Economic EPS surged 54% YoY to $8.29, aided by margin expansion from high-fee alternative products and aggressive, consistent share repurchases ($189M in Q2).
🐻 Bear Case
Traditional Equities saw outflows accelerate to -$14.5B in Q2. Despite representing $321.9B in AUM, this segment is a structural drag on aggregate organic growth.
Total net client cash flows decelerated from $22.5B in 26Q1 to $12.9B in 26Q2, dragged down by widening equity outflows and a reversal in Multi-Asset flows.
⚖️ Verdict: 🔴
Bullish, but bifurcated. The high-fee alternatives business is generating elite profitability and masking the persistent, heavy outflows in the legacy equities book. As long as alternatives keep booming, the EPS math works.
Key Themes
Liquid Alternatives: The Core Growth Engine
Accelerating. Liquid Alternatives generated $21.1B in net client cash flows in Q2, bringing total segment AUM to $293.2B. This high-fee, high-margin category continues to be the overwhelming driver of AMG's organic growth and EBITDA expansion, capturing secular wealth channel demand for tax-aware and absolute return strategies.
Relentless Capital Return Model
Stable. AMG repurchased $189 million of common stock in Q2, bringing the first-half total to $375 million. This aggressive capital deployment consistently reduces the share count, engineering the massive 54% YoY increase in Economic EPS and rewarding shareholders while the business mix transitions.
Private Markets Steady Contribution
Stable. Private Markets delivered $7.8B in net client cash flows in Q2, up from $4.2B in Q1, proving the resilience of the firm's drawdown fund affiliates. Total Private Markets AUM now sits at $153.3B, providing a highly visible, long-duration stream of fee-related earnings.
The Equities Outflow Anchor
Accelerating negative trend. Equities saw net outflows widen dramatically to -$14.5B in Q2 (up from -$9.1B in Q1 and -$10.5B a year ago). Despite alternatives' success, the fact that Equities still represent 34% of total AUM ($321.9B) means this structural drag continues to suppress the firm's aggregate organic growth rate.
Sequential Deceleration in Total Net Flows
Decelerating. Total net client cash flows dropped from $22.5B in 26Q1 to $12.9B in 26Q2. While YoY figures look strong ($12.9B vs $8.1B in 25Q2), the quarter-over-quarter drop highlights the volatility and reliance on peak alternative fundraising periods.
Multi-Asset & Fixed Income Reversal
Reversing. The Multi-Asset & Fixed Income segment flipped from a $2.8B net inflow in Q1 to a -$1.5B outflow in Q2. Additionally, the segment saw a $5.6B negative adjustment due to 'Affiliate transactions' (attributable to the myCIO divestiture), shrinking the segment's AUM footprint.
Surging Equity Method Income Highlights Affiliate Strength
Accelerating. Equity method income (net) nearly doubled YoY, jumping from $65.6M in 25Q2 to $124.9M in 26Q2. This indicates exceptionally strong underlying profitability and likely robust performance fee generation at key non-consolidated affiliates, heavily contributing to the bottom-line beat.
Other KPIs
Accelerating. Up 54% YoY from $5.39. This massive expansion reflects the shift towards high-margin alternative products, robust equity method income from affiliates, and the accretive impact of retiring ~10% of the share count over recent periods.
Stable sequentially, but accelerating YoY (+44% vs 25Q2). Adjusted EBITDA generation is stabilizing at a significantly higher plateau than last year, proving the structural uplift in fee rates and margins from the alternatives mix shift.
Accelerating. Total AUM surged past $942B, up from $882.0B at the end of Q1, driven by $12.9B in net flows, $55.9B in favorable market changes, and the integration of new investments (BBH Credit Partners, HighBrook).
Key Questions
Equities Outflow Floor
With Equities outflows accelerating to -$14.5B this quarter, where do you see the floor for this segment, and how does it impact your long-term aggregate organic growth targets?
Liquid Alts Sequential Moderation
Liquid Alternatives flows moderated from $24.6B in Q1 to $21.1B in Q2. Is this a function of capacity constraints in highly demanded tax-aware strategies, or a natural normalization of wealth channel demand?
Capital Deployment Strategy in H2
You have executed $375M in buybacks YTD. Given your target from Q1 was roughly $500M for 2026, will you decelerate buybacks in the second half, or are you seeing valuations that warrant expanding that authorization?
Impact of myCIO Divestiture
Can you quantify the future run-rate EBITDA impact of the myCIO advisor team divestiture, which reduced Multi-Asset AUM by $5.6B?