Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc. (APAM) Business
This page reproduces the company's own Item 1 Business text from the linked SEC filing. It is filer text, not grepcent analysis, scoring, or investment advice.
Informational only - not investment advice. See Disclaimer.
Item 1. Business
Overview
Founded in 1994, Artisan is a global multi-asset investment platform focused on providing high value-added active investment strategies in growing asset classes to sophisticated clients around the world. Since our founding, we have maintained a business model that is designed to maximize our ability to produce attractive investment results for our clients, and we believe this model has contributed to our success in doing so. We focus on attracting, retaining and developing talented investment professionals by creating an environment in which each investment team is provided ample resources and support, transparent and direct financial incentives, a high degree of investment autonomy, and a long-term time horizon. Each of our investment teams is led by one or more experienced portfolio managers and applies its own unique investment philosophy and process. We believe this autonomous investment team structure promotes independent analysis and accountability among our investment professionals, which we believe promotes superior investment results.
Each of our investment teams manages one or more investment strategies, each of which is designed to have a clearly articulated and consistent investment process that is well-understood by clients and managed to achieve long-term performance. Over our firm’s history, we have broadened our investment management capabilities in a disciplined manner that we believe is consistent with our overall philosophy of offering high value-added investment strategies. We have expanded our investment platform by launching new strategies managed by our existing investment teams, as well as by establishing or acquiring new investment teams when the ideal opportunity to do so arises. New investment strategies we have developed use a broad array of securities, instruments and techniques (which we call degrees of freedom) to differentiate returns and manage risk.
We launch a new strategy when we believe it has the potential to achieve superior investment performance in an area that we believe will have sustained client demand at attractive fee rates over the long term. We strive to maintain the integrity of the investment process followed in each of our strategies by rigorous adherence to the investment parameters we have communicated to our clients. We also carefully monitor our investment capacity in each investment strategy. We believe that management of our investment capacity protects our ability to deliver strong investment returns, which protects the interests of our clients and, in the long term, protects our ability to retain client assets and maintain our profit margins. In order to better achieve our long-term goals, we are willing to close a strategy to new investors or otherwise take action to slow or restrict its growth, even though our short-term results may be impacted.
In addition to our investment teams, we have a management team with a fiduciary mindset that is focused on thoughtfully growing the business over the long term while preserving a stable environment for our talented investment professionals and associates. We believe that maintaining the firm’s talent-driven business model and investment-focused culture is critical to generating sustainable, long-term outcomes for clients, which in turn is critical to generating sustainable long-term outcomes for shareholders. To that end, our management team focuses on managing the alignment of, and resources for, the firm’s investment professionals, managing our operational infrastructure to provide a distraction-free investment environment, adhering to our transparent and predictable financial model, and promoting the sustainability of the firm.
We offer our investment management capabilities primarily to institutions and through intermediaries that operate with institutional-like decision-making processes by means of separate accounts and pooled vehicles. We access traditional institutional clients primarily through relationships with investment consultants. We access other institutional-like investors primarily through consultants, alliances with major defined contribution/401(k) platforms and relationships with financial advisors and broker-dealers.
We derive essentially all of our revenues from investment management fees, which primarily are based on a specified percentage of clients’ average AUM. A small percentage of our clients and investors pay us performance fees or incentive allocations, in which a portion of the fee or allocation is based on the performance of clients’ accounts relative to a benchmark. Investment advisory fees are determined and set forth in the investment management agreements between us and our clients. Investment management agreements are generally terminable by our clients upon short or no notice. Statements regarding weighted average fee rates herein are inclusive of both management fees and performance fees (including incentive allocations), if applicable, as set forth in our investment management agreements. Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds do not have any performance fee or incentive allocation arrangements.
Investment Teams
We offer clients a broad range of actively managed investment strategies diversified by asset class, market cap and investment style. Each strategy is managed by one of the investment teams described below.
The following table sets forth total AUM and certain performance information for our investment teams and strategies as of December 31, 2025.
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| Investment Team and Strategy | AUM as of December 31, 2025 | Composite Inception Date | Value-Added Since Inception Date (1) as of December 31, 2025 | Fund Rating(2) as of December 31, 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (in millions) | |||||
| Growth Team | |||||
| Global Opportunities | 16,537 | February 1, 2007 | 348 | ««« | |
| Global Discovery | 1,107 | September 1, 2017 | 530 | ««« | |
| U.S. Mid-Cap Growth | 10,280 | April 1, 1997 | 440 | ««« | |
| U.S. Small-Cap Growth | 2,782 | April 1, 1995 | 260 | ««« | |
| Franchise | 553 | October 1, 2024 | 35 | Not Applicable | |
| Global Equity Team | |||||
| Global Equity | 432 | April 1, 2010 | 373 | «««« | |
| Non-U.S. Growth | 15,475 | January 1, 1996 | 456 | ««««« | |
| U.S. Value Team | |||||
| Value Equity | 5,750 | July 1, 2005 | 149 | «««« | |
| U.S. Mid-Cap Value | 2,113 | April 1, 1999 | 191 | « | |
| Value Income | 17 | March 1, 2022 | (744) | «« | |
| International Value Group | |||||
| International Value | 53,064 | July 1, 2002 | 515 | ««««« | |
| International Explorer | 912 | November 1, 2020 | 401 | ««« | |
| Global Special Situations | 34 | April 1, 2025 | (140) | Not Applicable | |
| Global Value Team | |||||
| Global Value | 36,280 | July 1, 2007 | 301 | «««« | |
| Select Equity | 984 | March 1, 2020 | (147) | «««« | |
| Sustainable Emerging Markets Team | |||||
| Sustainable Emerging Markets | 2,537 | July 1, 2006 | 118 | «««« | |
| Credit Team | |||||
| High Income | 13,191 | April 1, 2014 | 232 | ««««« | |
| Credit Opportunities | 367 | July 1, 2017 | 1,091 | Not Applicable | |
| Floating Rate | 93 | January 1, 2022 | 84 | «««« | |
| Custom Credit Solutions (3) | 1,400 | July 1, 2025 | --- | Not Applicable | |
| Developing World Team | |||||
| Developing World | 4,283 | July 1, 2015 | 531 | «««« | |
| Antero Peak Group | |||||
| Antero Peak | 2,220 | May 1, 2017 | 415 | ««« | |
| Antero Peak Hedge | 226 | November 1, 2017 | (73) | Not Applicable | |
| International Small-Mid Team | |||||
| Non-U.S. Small-Mid Growth | 4,913 | January 1, 2019 | 123 | ««« | |
| EMsights Capital Group | |||||
| Global Unconstrained | 1,185 | April 1, 2022 | 708 | ««««« | |
| Emerging Markets Debt Opportunities | 1,332 | May 1, 2022 | 630 | ««««« | |
| Emerging Markets Local Opportunities | 1,861 | August 1, 2022 | 395 | Not Applicable | |
| Total AUM as of December 31, 2025 | 179,928 |
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| (1) Value-added is the amount, in basis points, by which the average annual gross composite return of each of our strategies has outperformed or underperformed its respective benchmark. See “Investment Performance, Client Cash Flows and AUM Information Used in this Report” for information regarding the benchmarks used. Value-added for periods less than one year is not annualized. |
|---|
| (2) The Overall Morningstar RatingTM applicable to the Artisan Fund managed to each investment strategy is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-year, five-year, and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Ratings metrics. Not all investment strategies have a corresponding series of Artisan Funds. |
| (3) Custom Credit Solutions represents assets managed by the Credit team within custom, investor-driven mandates for which there is no combined performance track record. |
Growth Team
Our Growth team manages five investment strategies. James D. Hamel, Matthew H. Kamm, Jason L. White, Jay C. Warner and Angela Wu are portfolio managers of the Global Opportunities, Global Discovery, U.S. Mid-Cap Growth and U.S. Small-Cap Growth strategies. Mr. Hamel and Ms. Wu are the co-lead portfolio managers of the Global Opportunities and Franchise strategies; Mr. White is the lead portfolio manager of the Global Discovery strategy; Mr. Kamm and Mr. White are the co-lead portfolio managers of the U.S. Mid-Cap Growth strategy; and Mr. Warner is the lead portfolio manager of the U.S. Small-Cap Growth strategy.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Global Opportunities (February 1, 2007) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 10.14 | % | 16.73 | % | 5.25 | % | 12.42 | % | 11.00 | % | ||||
| MSCI All Country World Index | 22.34 | % | 20.63 | % | 11.19 | % | 11.71 | % | 7.52 | % | ||||
| Global Discovery (September 1, 2017) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 13.25 | % | 17.59 | % | 5.33 | % | — | % | 13.51 | % | ||||
| MSCI All Country World Small Mid Cap Index | 19.29 | % | 14.56 | % | 7.27 | % | — | % | 8.21 | % | ||||
| U.S. Mid-Cap Growth (April 1, 1997) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 16.05 | % | 18.13 | % | 3.33 | % | 12.08 | % | 14.33 | % | ||||
| Russell® Midcap Index | 10.60 | % | 14.34 | % | 8.67 | % | 11.00 | % | 10.32 | % | ||||
| Russell® Midcap Growth Index | 8.66 | % | 18.62 | % | 6.64 | % | 12.48 | % | 9.93 | % | ||||
| U.S. Small-Cap Growth (April 1, 1995) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 9.56 | % | 12.26 | % | (1.42) | % | 11.82 | % | 10.55 | % | ||||
| Russell® 2000 Index | 12.81 | % | 13.72 | % | 6.09 | % | 9.61 | % | 9.05 | % | ||||
| Russell® 2000 Growth Index | 13.01 | % | 15.57 | % | 3.18 | % | 9.57 | % | 7.95 | % | ||||
| Franchise (October 1, 2024) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 21.10 | % | — | % | — | % | — | % | 16.89 | % | ||||
| MSCI All Country World Index | 22.34 | % | — | % | — | % | — | % | 16.54 | % |
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Global Equity Team
Our Global Equity team manages the Global Equity strategy and the Non-U.S. Growth strategy. Mark L. Yockey serves as portfolio manager of both strategies and Charles-Henri Hamker serves as portfolio manager of the Global Equity strategy and associate portfolio manager of the Non-U.S. Growth strategy. During 2025, the Company wound down the team’s China Post-Venture strategy.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Global Equity (April 1, 2010) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 47.84 | % | 25.85 | % | 11.25 | % | 14.37 | % | 13.66 | % | ||||
| MSCI All Country World Index | 22.34 | % | 20.63 | % | 11.19 | % | 11.71 | % | 9.93 | % | ||||
| Non-U.S. Growth (January 1, 1996) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 37.93 | % | 21.19 | % | 9.83 | % | 9.47 | % | 10.22 | % | ||||
| MSCI EAFE Index | 31.22 | % | 17.21 | % | 8.92 | % | 8.18 | % | 5.66 | % |
U.S. Value Team
Our U.S. Value team manages the Value Equity, U.S. Mid-Cap Value and Value Income strategies. Thomas A. Reynolds, Daniel L. Kane and Craig Inman serve as the portfolio managers for each strategy. Mr. Kane has announced his intention to step back from portfolio management responsibilities effective June 30, 2026; he will remain on the U.S. Value team as a managing director and adviser.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Value Equity (July 1, 2005) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 14.66 | % | 17.76 | % | 13.28 | % | 13.57 | % | 9.86 | % | ||||
| Russell® 1000 Index | 17.37 | % | 22.72 | % | 13.58 | % | 14.58 | % | 10.97 | % | ||||
| Russell® 1000 Value Index | 15.91 | % | 13.88 | % | 11.32 | % | 10.52 | % | 8.37 | % | ||||
| U.S. Mid-Cap Value (April 1, 1999) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 2.82 | % | 9.07 | % | 7.82 | % | 9.11 | % | 11.48 | % | ||||
| Russell® Midcap Index | 10.60 | % | 14.34 | % | 8.67 | % | 11.00 | % | 9.67 | % | ||||
| Russell® Midcap Value Index | 11.05 | % | 12.26 | % | 9.82 | % | 9.77 | % | 9.57 | % | ||||
| Value Income (March 1, 2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 11.35 | % | 11.48 | % | — | % | — | % | 6.61 | % | ||||
| S&P 500 Index | 17.88 | % | 22.98 | % | — | % | — | % | 14.05 | % |
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International Value Group
The International Value Group, led by N. David Samra, manages three investment strategies: International Value, International Explorer and Global Special Situations. Mr. Samra and Ian P. McGonigle serve as portfolio managers and Benjamin L. Herrick serves as associate portfolio manager of the International Value strategy. Mr. Samra also serves as managing director of the International Explorer and Global Special Situations strategies. Beini Zhou and Anand Vasagiri serve as co-portfolio managers of the International Explorer strategy. Brian Louko serves as the portfolio manager of the Global Special Situations strategy.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| International Value (July 1, 2002) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 24.05 | % | 18.39 | % | 12.97 | % | 11.18 | % | 12.03 | % | ||||
| MSCI EAFE Index | 31.22 | % | 17.21 | % | 8.92 | % | 8.18 | % | 6.88 | % | ||||
| International Explorer (October 1, 2020) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 20.17 | % | 16.43 | % | 10.57 | % | — | % | 14.83 | % | ||||
| MSCI All Country World Index Ex USA Small Cap | 29.26 | % | 15.59 | % | 6.90 | % | — | % | 10.82 | % | ||||
| Global Special Situations Strategy (April 1, 2025) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | — | % | — | % | — | % | — | % | 7.22 | % | ||||
| ICE BofA Global High Yield Index | — | % | — | % | — | % | — | % | 8.62 | % |
Global Value Team
Our Global Value team, led by Daniel J. O’Keefe, manages the Global Value and Select Equity strategies. Mr. O’Keefe serves as lead portfolio manager and Michael J. McKinnon serves as portfolio manager of both strategies.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Global Value (July 1, 2007) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 35.45 | % | 24.71 | % | 14.65 | % | 12.46 | % | 10.22 | % | ||||
| MSCI All Country World Index | 22.34 | % | 20.63 | % | 11.19 | % | 11.71 | % | 7.21 | % | ||||
| Select Equity (March 1, 2020) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 30.58 | % | 24.95 | % | 13.91 | % | — | % | 15.77 | % | ||||
| S&P 500 Index | 17.88 | % | 22.98 | % | 14.42 | % | — | % | 17.24 | % |
Sustainable Emerging Markets Team
Our Sustainable Emerging Markets (SEM) team manages one investment strategy. Maria Negrete-Gruson is the portfolio manager of the Sustainable Emerging Markets strategy.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Sustainable Emerging Markets (July 1, 2006) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 43.91 | % | 22.58 | % | 5.99 | % | 11.02 | % | 6.95 | % | ||||
| MSCI Emerging Markets Index | 33.57 | % | 16.38 | % | 4.19 | % | 8.41 | % | 5.77 | % |
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Credit Team
Our Credit team manages the High Income, Credit Opportunities and Floating Rate strategies. Bryan C. Krug serves as portfolio manager of all three strategies. Seth B. Yeager also serves as portfolio manager of the Floating Rate strategy.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| High Income (April 1, 2014) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 9.08 | % | 11.74 | % | 6.32 | % | 8.16 | % | 7.31 | % | ||||
| ICE BofA US High Yield Index | 8.50 | % | 10.02 | % | 4.49 | % | 6.44 | % | 4.99 | % | ||||
| Credit Opportunities (July 1, 2017) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 11.06 | % | 18.58 | % | 13.73 | % | — | % | 13.57 | % | ||||
| ICE BofA US Dollar 3-Month Deposit Offered Rate Constant Maturity Index | 4.42 | % | 5.00 | % | 3.25 | % | — | % | 2.66 | % | ||||
| Floating Rate (January 1, 2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 7.50 | % | 10.35 | % | — | % | — | % | 7.45 | % | ||||
| S&P UBS Leveraged Loan Index | 5.94 | % | 9.30 | % | — | % | — | % | 6.61 | % |
Developing World Team
Our Developing World team, led by Lewis S. Kaufman as portfolio manager, manages the Developing World strategy.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Developing World (July 1, 2015) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 9.15 | % | 22.93 | % | 0.17 | % | 13.37 | % | 11.36 | % | ||||
| MSCI Emerging Markets Index | 33.57 | % | 16.38 | % | 4.19 | % | 8.41 | % | 6.05 | % |
Antero Peak Group
The Antero Peak Group manages the Antero Peak and Antero Peak Hedge strategies. Christopher P. Smith is the portfolio manager of both strategies.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Antero Peak (May 1, 2017) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 21.80 | % | 23.66 | % | 12.20 | % | — | % | 18.98 | % | ||||
| S&P 500 Index | 17.88 | % | 22.98 | % | 14.42 | % | — | % | 14.83 | % | ||||
| Antero Peak Hedge (November 1, 2017) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 18.28 | % | 20.32 | % | 9.92 | % | — | % | 13.86 | % | ||||
| S&P 500 Index | 17.88 | % | 22.98 | % | 14.42 | % | — | % | 14.59 | % |
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International Small-Mid Team
Our International Small-Mid team, led by Rezo Kanovich as portfolio manager, manages the Non-U.S. Small-Mid Growth strategy.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Non-U.S. Small-Mid Growth (January 1, 2019) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 19.78 | % | 10.73 | % | 1.92 | % | — | % | 10.86 | % | ||||
| MSCI All Country World Index Ex USA Small Mid Cap | 30.74 | % | 16.13 | % | 6.80 | % | — | % | 9.63 | % |
EMsights Capital Group
The EMsights Capital Group manages the Global Unconstrained, Emerging Markets Debt Opportunities and Emerging Markets Local Opportunities strategies. Michael A. Cirami and Sarah C. Orvin serve as the portfolio managers of each strategy.
| As of December 31, 2025 | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment Strategy (Composite Inception Date) | 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years | Inception | |||||||||
| Global Unconstrained (April 1, 2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 12.79 | % | 11.30 | % | — | % | — | % | 11.30 | % | ||||
| ICE BofA 3-month Treasury Bill Index | 4.18 | % | 4.81 | % | — | % | — | % | 4.22 | % | ||||
| Emerging Markets Debt Opportunities (May 1, 2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 16.77 | % | 14.01 | % | — | % | — | % | 13.74 | % | ||||
| J.P. Morgan EMB Hard Currency/Local Currency 50-50 | 15.34 | % | 9.54 | % | — | % | — | % | 7.44 | % | ||||
| Emerging Markets Local Opportunities (August 1, 2022) | ||||||||||||||
| Average Annual Gross Returns | 25.39 | % | 13.73 | % | — | % | — | % | 13.16 | % | ||||
| J.P. Morgan GBI-EM Global Diversified Index | 19.26 | % | 9.47 | % | — | % | — | % | 9.21 | % |
Grandview Property Partners
On January 2, 2026, we closed on the acquisition of Grandview Property Partners, a real estate private equity firm specializing in originating, developing, acquiring and managing middle market properties across the United States. Grandview has raised three closed-end draw-down funds since its founding and, as of January 31, 2026, managed approximately $895 million in institutional assets across its flagship fund series and co-investment program. The leadership team of Grandview consists of Rajesh G. Menon, Dean Sotter, Eric Freeman and Jeffrey Usas.
Distribution, Investment Products and Client Relationships
The goal of our marketing, distribution and client service efforts is to grow and maintain a client base that is diversified by investment strategy, client type, distribution channel and geographic region. We focus our distribution and marketing efforts on sophisticated investors and asset allocators, including institutions and intermediaries that operate with institutional-like, centralized decision-making processes and longer-term investment horizons. We have designed our distribution strategies and structured our distribution teams to use knowledgeable, seasoned sales and client service professionals in a way intended to limit the time our investment professionals spend on marketing and client service activities. We believe that minimizing other demands allows our portfolio managers and other investment professionals to focus their energies and attention on the investment decision-making process, which we believe enhances the opportunity to achieve superior investment returns.
Institutional Channel
Our institutional distribution channel includes institutional clients, such as U.S.-registered mutual funds, non-U.S. funds and collective investment trusts we advise; state and local governments; employee benefit plans including Taft-Hartley plans; foundations; and endowments. Our institutional channel also includes AUM sourced from defined contribution plans. We offer our investment products to institutional clients directly and by marketing our services to the investment consultants and advisors that advise them. As of December 31, 2025, approximately 25% of our AUM were attributed to clients represented by investment consultants. As of December 31, 2025, 39% of our AUM were sourced through our institutional channel.
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Intermediated Wealth Channel
We maintain relationships with a number of major brokerage firms and larger private banks and trust companies at which the process for identifying which investment products to offer has been centralized to a relatively limited number of key decision-makers that exhibit institutional-like decision-making behavior. We also maintain relationships with a number of financial advisory firms and broker-dealer advisors that offer our investment products to their clients. AUM sourced via these third-party financial intermediaries constitute the majority of our intermediated wealth channel. Our intermediated wealth channel also includes AUM from investors who invest in Artisan Funds directly or through mutual fund supermarkets. As of December 31, 2025, approximately 61% of our AUM were sourced through our intermediated wealth channel.
Access Through a Range of Investment Vehicles
Our clients access our investment strategies through a range of investment vehicles, including separate accounts and pooled vehicles. As of December 31, 2025, Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds accounted for approximately 49% of our total AUM, and approximately 51% of our AUM were managed in separate accounts and other pooled vehicles.
Separate Accounts and Other Pooled Investment Vehicles (“Separate Accounts and Other”)
We manage traditional separate accounts within most of our investment strategies. As of December 31, 2025, we managed 208 traditional separate accounts spanning 126 client relationships, with our largest separate account relationship representing approximately 12% of our AUM. These separate account clients include both institutional and intermediated wealth channel relationships, such as pension and profit sharing plans, corporations, trusts, endowments, foundations, charitable organizations, high net worth individuals, governmental entities, insurance companies, commingled investment vehicles, investment advisers and other financial institutions, trustees of collective investment trusts and investment companies and similar pooled investment vehicles. The fees we charge on separate accounts vary by client, investment strategy and the size of the account. Fees are accrued on a monthly basis and are generally paid quarterly in arrears.
A number of our investment strategies are accessible to certain types of employee benefit plans through Artisan-branded collective investment trusts, or CITs. We act as investment adviser to the CITs and earn a management fee for providing this service. As of December 31, 2025, CITs represented approximately 5% of our AUM.
Certain of our investment strategies are offered through Artisan-sponsored, unregistered pooled investment vehicles, referred to as Artisan Private Funds. For serving as investment adviser to Artisan Private Funds, we earn a management fee and, for certain funds, are entitled to receive either an allocation of profits or a performance-based fee. As of December 31, 2025, Artisan Private Funds comprised approximately 2% of our AUM.
In our reporting materials, unless otherwise stated, our “separate accounts and other” AUM includes assets we manage in traditional separate accounts, Artisan-branded CITs and Artisan Private Funds, as well as certain Custom Credit Solutions, which represent assets managed by the Credit team within custom, investor-driven mandates. In addition, assets under advisement related to clients for whom we provide investment models but do not have discretionary investment authority are included within the “separate accounts and other” category. As of December 31, 2025, assets under advisement represented less than 1% of our AUM.
Artisan Funds and Artisan Global Funds
U.S. investors that do not meet our minimum account size for a separate account, or who otherwise prefer to invest through a mutual fund, can invest in most of our strategies through Artisan Funds. We serve as the investment adviser to each series of Artisan Funds, which are SEC-registered mutual funds that offer no-load, no 12b-1 share classes designed to meet the needs of a range of investors. Each series of Artisan Funds corresponds to an investment strategy we offer to clients. We earn management fees, which are based on the average daily net assets of each Artisan Fund and are paid monthly, for serving as investment adviser to these funds. As of December 31, 2025, Artisan Funds represented approximately 44% of our AUM.
We also serve as investment manager of Artisan Global Funds, a family of Ireland-based UCITS funds. Artisan Global Funds provides non-U.S. investors with access to a number of our investment strategies in a pooled vehicle structure. We earn investment management fees, which are based on the average daily net assets of each sub-fund and are generally paid monthly, for serving as investment adviser to these funds. As of December 31, 2025, Artisan Global Funds represented approximately 5% of our AUM.
Regulatory Environment and Compliance
Our business is subject to extensive regulation in the United States at the federal level and, to a lesser extent, the state level, as well as by self-regulatory organizations and regulators located outside the United States. Under these laws and regulations, agencies that regulate investment advisers, investment funds and other related entities have broad authority, including the power to limit, restrict or prohibit the regulated entity from conducting business in the event that it fails to comply with such laws and regulations. Breaches of these laws and regulations could result in regulatory enforcement actions, civil liability, criminal liability and/or the imposition of sanctions, including monetary damages, injunctions, disgorgements, fines, censures, and the revocation, cancellation, suspension or restriction of licenses, registration status or approvals held by us or our employees in a jurisdiction or market. In addition, a regulatory proceeding, regardless of whether it results in a sanction, can require substantial expenditures and can have an adverse effect on our reputation or business.
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The domestic, international and extra-territorial laws and regulations that apply to our business relate to a broad range of subjects, including securities, compliance, corporate governance, financial reporting and disclosure, tax, privacy and data protection, sustainability, information security, anti-bribery and anti-corruption, anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing. These laws and regulations are complex and continue to change and evolve over time. As a result, there is a level of uncertainty associated with the regulatory environments in which we operate. Accordingly, the discussion below is general in nature, does not purport to be complete and is current only as of the date of this report.
U.S. Regulation
As a publicly traded company, we are subject to U.S. federal securities laws, state securities and corporate laws, and the rules and regulations of U.S. regulatory and self-regulatory organizations. In particular, we are subject to the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and, because we are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, the NYSE listing rules.
Artisan Partners Limited Partnership, Artisan Partners UK LLP and Grandview Property Partners are registered with the SEC as investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”). Artisan Funds and several of the investment companies Artisan Partners Limited Partnership sub-advises are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”). The Advisers Act and the 1940 Act, together with other applicable securities laws and the SEC’s regulations and interpretations thereunder, impose substantive and material restrictions and requirements on the operations of investment advisers and mutual funds. The SEC is authorized to institute proceedings and impose sanctions for violations, ranging from fines and censures to, in the case of investment advisers, the termination of an adviser’s registration.
Artisan Partners Limited Partnership is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) as a commodity pool operator, and is a member of the National Futures Association (“NFA”), with respect to its management of certain investment vehicles. The CFTC and NFA each administer a comparable regulatory system covering futures, swaps and other derivative instruments. As the commodity pool operator of these investment vehicles, Artisan Partners claims relief under the Commodity Exchange Act from certain reporting and recordkeeping requirements. Artisan Partners is exempt from the obligations of a registered commodity pool operator with respect to certain funds and vehicles.
Artisan Partners Limited Partnership is a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, (“ERISA”) with respect to assets that we manage for certain benefit plan clients. ERISA imposes duties on persons who are ERISA fiduciaries, and prohibits certain transactions between related parties to a retirement plan. The U.S. Department of Labor administers ERISA and regulates plan fiduciaries, including investment advisers who service retirement plan clients.
Artisan Partners Distributors LLC, our SEC-registered limited purpose broker-dealer subsidiary, is subject to the Exchange Act, the SEC’s rules promulgated thereunder and the rules and regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), which generally relate to sales practices, registration of personnel, compliance and supervision, and compensation and disclosure. FINRA has the authority to conduct periodic examinations of member broker-dealers, and may initiate administrative proceedings. Artisan Partners Distributors LLC is also subject to the SEC’s Uniform Net Capital Rule and the National Securities Clearing Corporation’s excess net capital requirement, which require that at least a minimum amount of a registered broker-dealer’s assets be kept in relatively liquid form.
The legislative and regulatory environment in the U.S. is subject to continual change. In addition, the firm’s increasing product and vehicle complexity introduces a broader and evolving set of regulatory requirements. New or changing legal or regulatory requirements can add further complexity to our business and operations, and addressing such requirements may require substantial expenditures of time and capital.
Non-U.S. Regulation
In addition to the extensive regulation we are subject to in the United States, a number of our subsidiaries and certain of our non-U.S. operations are subject to regulation in non-U.S. jurisdictions. Some laws in non-U.S. jurisdictions are also extra-territorial and may apply to our business.
Artisan Partners UK LLP is authorized and regulated by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority, which is responsible for the conduct of business and supervision of financial firms in the United Kingdom. Artisan Partners UK LLP and employees who conduct FCA-regulated activities, such as the distribution of Artisan Global Funds and the provision of advisory services within the U.K., are subject to applicable FCA rules. The FCA imposes a comprehensive system of regulation that is primarily principles-based (compared to the primarily rules-based U.S. regulatory system) and govern, among other things, capital resources requirements, senior management arrangements, business conduct, interaction with clients, and systems and controls.
APEL Financial Distribution Services Limited is authorized and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, which regulates our Irish business activities, including our management and distribution of Artisan Global Funds, a family of Ireland-domiciled UCITS funds. Artisan Global Funds are registered for sale in many countries around the world, both in the EU and beyond, and thus are also subject to the laws of, and supervision by, the governmental authorities of those countries.
Artisan Partners Hong Kong Limited, our Hong Kong subsidiary, is licensed and regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (the “SFC”). Artisan Partners Hong Kong Limited and its employees conducting regulated activities under the Securities and Futures Ordinance are subject to the rules, codes and guidelines issued by the SFC from time to time.
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We have historically operated in Australia on the basis of a “sufficient equivalence relief” exemption from local licensing with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The current “sufficient equivalence relief” regime is the subject of new proposed legislation, which, if passed, will replace the current licensing regime for foreign financial service providers like us. Currently, foreign financial service providers can continue to rely on the “sufficient equivalence relief” until March 2027, and Artisan Partners Limited Partnership or its affiliates may need to apply for and obtain an Australian financial services license or rely on a new exemption by then.
Certain Artisan Private Funds are regulated as mutual funds under the Mutual Funds Law (as amended) of the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has supervisory and enforcement powers to ensure the funds’ compliance with the Mutual Funds Law.
Our business is also subject to the rules and regulations of the countries in which we conduct distribution or investment management activities. We have relationships with clients located outside of the U.S., which are subject to the laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which the client is domiciled. In addition, 50% of our AUM were invested in securities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar as of December 31, 2025. Our investments in these non-U.S. securities subject us to certain laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which the issuer resides or is traded. We may also be subject to U.S. laws and regulations with respect to our distribution or investment management activities in non-U.S. markets, including in jurisdictions that may be considered higher risk.
We may become subject to additional regulatory demands in the future to the extent there are regulatory changes in jurisdictions in which we currently operate or invest, or we expand our business in existing and new jurisdictions. See “Risk Factors—Risks Related to Legal or Regulatory Factors and Taxation.”
Industry Trends and Competition
The investment management industry continues to evolve as market trends and other forces create headwinds for traditional asset management firms.
•Passive and alternative investment options continue to gain market share, while traditional actively managed equity strategies, in particular, continue to remain in net outflows.
•Shifts in the global distribution landscape continue to put pressure on traditional distribution practices.
In response to these and other headwinds, we have continued to build out our alternatives capabilities and increase degrees of investment freedom within our existing investment strategies. We also regularly evaluate potential new investment teams and talent, as well as new investment structures and vehicles in an effort to enhance and expand our investment platform. In addition, we continue to evolve our distribution structure, incorporating specialized resources, expanding strategic partnerships and evolving our product architecture to align with client demand.
The industry in which we operate is highly competitive. In order to be successful and grow our business, we must be able to compete effectively for AUM. We compete to attract clients and investors principally on the basis of:
•the performance of our investment strategies
•the continuity of our investment and distribution professionals
•the range of investment strategies and vehicles we offer
•the quality of the service we provide to our clients
•our brand recognition and reputation within the investing community
•the fees we charge for the investment management services we provide
We compete in all aspects of our business with a large number of investment management firms, commercial banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and other financial institutions. For additional information concerning the competitive risks that we face, see “Risk Factors—Competition and Distribution Risks—The investment management industry is intensely competitive and experiencing transformative pressures.”
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Human Capital Resources
As a talent-driven business, we believe our people are the firm’s greatest asset. We commit tremendous energy to talent management. As of December 31, 2025, we employed 567 associates. Approximately 29% of our associates work within our investment teams, 19% within our distribution teams and 52% within our business management and operations teams. Approximately 94% of our associates operate from our U.S. offices and 6% operate from our offices outside of the U.S.
We seek to recruit, retain and promote outstanding people at all levels and in all functions, who thrive in broad roles and want to maximize their potential. The firm seeks people with creative perspectives and an entrepreneurial spirit who are self-motivated to build their careers in alignment with our purpose of generating and compounding wealth for clients. Recognizing that talent exists everywhere, we are committed to identifying and advancing the best talent that will thrive in our business.
We focus on providing a professional environment where our associates can be successful over a long-term time horizon, ideally throughout their careers. Our commitment to human capital development takes many forms, including supporting ongoing education and professional development, offering a flat management structure with easy access to senior managers and working closely with associates on career goals and interests to create development pathways and opportunities for advancement when possible.
Through Artisan Unity, we support associate-led groups that strengthen community and help our associates to do their best work. These groups reinforce our commitment to an environment where our talented associates are supported and able to thrive. As collaborative networks, they encourage engagement, promote professional and personal growth and promote unity across our community.
As an ideal home for talent, we provide attractive compensation and benefits programs. We regularly review compensation paid to associates to ensure it is competitive, equitable and fair for the role, experience, location and individual contribution. We provide equity or equity-linked incentives to all of our associates in order to align their economic interests with those of our clients and stockholders. We encourage our associates to save for retirement. In the U.S., we match 100% of associate 401(k) contributions dollar for dollar (fully vested), up to the IRS limit. We also maintain competitive retirement programs or benefits for all non-U.S. associates. In addition, we offer a comprehensive benefits program that is available to all associates regardless of title, role or responsibility.
Sustainability
Artisan Partners’ purpose is to generate and compound wealth over the long-term for our clients. The wealth we generate improves retirement outcomes, pays for education, funds charitable purposes and in general improves people’s lives. In addition to generating successful investment outcomes for our clients, we strive to promote success across a diverse group of associates and generate sustainable financial outcomes for our shareholders.
To achieve our purpose, we must continue to thoughtfully grow our business over the long term while preserving a consistent environment in which our talented investment professionals and associates can thrive. Maintaining our talent-driven business model and investment-focused culture is critical to providing a stable environment for our associates, generating sustainable, long-term investment outcomes for clients and creating long-term successful financial outcomes for shareholders.
To us, sustainability means the following:
•Building relationships with the right clients, on the right terms and with the right long-term investment horizons. We foster client relationships by prioritizing investment returns. Prioritizing clients’ investment returns may, at times, require us to limit client cash flows and overall assets managed in a strategy—a practice we refer to as capacity management.
•Using a deliberate process to bring on new investment talent, launch new strategies and vehicles and build sustainable franchises. We are patient in developing our talent, teams and strategies. We are comfortable with evolving—and sometimes even disrupting—our firm to increase the probability of long-term successful investment outcomes through market cycles.
•Compelling work in a tailored environment, with long-term opportunities for associates across our firm. Our culture promotes associates’ success—ideally over their entire careers—with economic alignment in the form of variable compensation and long-duration incentive awards.
•Growing our business value while maintaining financial discipline and continuing to generate and distribute significant cash to our shareholders. By taking care of our people and fulfilling our fiduciary duty to our clients, we create a waterfall effect that helps generate sustainable financial outcomes for our shareholders over the long term.
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Our Structure
Holding Company Structure
We are a holding company and our assets principally consist of our ownership of partnership units of Artisan Partners Holdings, deferred tax assets and cash. As the sole general partner of Artisan Partners Holdings, we operate and control all of its business and affairs, subject to certain voting rights of its limited partners. We conduct all of our business activities through operating subsidiaries of Artisan Partners Holdings. Net profits and net losses are allocated based on the ownership of partnership units of Artisan Partners Holdings. As of December 31, 2025, we owned approximately 87% of Artisan Partners Holdings, and the other 13% was owned by the limited partners of Artisan Partners Holdings.
Our holding company structure is predominantly a result of our IPO, which we completed in March 2013. In connection with the IPO, we and Artisan Partners Holdings completed a series of reorganization transactions, which we refer to as the IPO Reorganization, in order to reorganize our capital structures in preparation for the IPO. The IPO Reorganization included, among other changes, the following:
•Our appointment as the sole general partner of Artisan Partners Holdings.
•The modification of our capital structure into three classes of common stock and a series of convertible preferred stock. We issued shares of our Class B common stock and Class C common stock and convertible preferred stock to pre-IPO partners of Artisan Partners Holdings. Each share of Class B common stock corresponds to a Class B common unit of Artisan Partners Holdings. Each share of Class C common stock corresponds to either a Class A, Class D or Class E common unit of Artisan Partners Holdings. Subject to certain restrictions, each common unit of Artisan Partners Holdings (together with the corresponding share of Class B or Class C common stock) is exchangeable for a share of our Class A common stock.
•A corporation (“H&F Corp”) merged with and into Artisan Partners Asset Management, which we refer to in this document as the H&F Corp Merger.
•We entered into two tax receivable agreements (“TRAs”), one with a private equity fund (the “Pre-H&F Corp Merger Shareholder”) and the other with each limited partner of Artisan Partners Holdings. Pursuant to the first TRA, APAM pays to the assignees of the Pre-H&F Corp Merger Shareholder a portion of certain tax benefits APAM realizes as a result of the H&F Corp Merger. Pursuant to the second TRA, APAM pays to current or former limited partners of Artisan Partners Holdings (or their assignees) a portion of certain tax benefits APAM realizes as a result of the purchase or exchange of their limited partnership units of Artisan Partners Holdings.
The diagram below depicts our organizational structure as of December 31, 2025:
| (1) | Our employees to whom we have granted equity have entered into a stockholders agreement with respect to all shares of our common stock they have acquired from us and any shares they may acquire from us in the future, pursuant to which they granted an irrevocable voting proxy to a stockholders committee currently consisting of Jason A. Gottlieb (Chief Executive Officer and President), Eric R. Colson (Executive Chair) and Charles J. Daley, Jr. (Chief Financial Officer). The stockholders committee, by vote of a majority of its members, will determine the vote of all of the shares subject to the stockholders agreement. In addition to owning all of the shares of our Class B common stock, our employee-partners, together with our other employees, owned unvested restricted shares of our Class A common stock representing approximately 7% of our outstanding Class A common stock as of December 31, 2025. |
|---|---|
| (2) | Each class of common units generally entitles its holders to the same economic and voting rights in Artisan Partners Holdings as each other class of common units, except that the Class E common units have no voting rights except as required by law. |
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Available Information
Our website address is www.artisanpartners.com. We make available free of charge through our website all of the materials we file with or furnish to the SEC as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Information contained on our website is not part of, nor is it incorporated by reference into, this Form 10-K. The company was incorporated in Wisconsin on March 21, 2011 and converted to a Delaware corporation on October 29, 2012.