Navigator Global Investments Limited

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the Navigator Global Investments Limited FY26 Annual Results. All participants are in listen-only mode. There will be a presentation followed by a question and answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you will need to press the star key followed by the number 1 on your telephone keypad. I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Stephen Dark, CEO. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Ryan, and welcome to everyone joining the call this morning to discuss Navigator's full-year results for the 26th financial year. I'm Stephen Dark, Navigator's CEO. I'm joined today, as usual, by my colleagues, Rob Zachary, Navigator's CIO and Head of NGI Strategic Investments, dialing in from New York, and Amber Stoney, NGI Group's CFO. Turning to slide four, the company snapshot Navigator is the only ASX listed company focused exclusively on partnering with leading alternative investment managers. As of 30 June, Navigator provided growth capital and strategic engagement to a diverse portfolio of 12 partner firms. This was prior to the settlement of the acquisition of the NGI stable growth portfolio that closed on 2 July. At the partner firm level, Navigator's affiliates managed over $104 billion, up 24% over the past This AUM is managed across 42 investment strategies, invested via 242 products, with 19 new products launched during the period across our portfolio. These strategies typically have low correlation to global equity in 60 income markets and to one another. Turning to slide 5, financial year 26 was another year of building scale across the Navigator platform. We continued to grow ownership-adjusted AUMs, maintain diversified earning streams, and further strengthened our balance sheet. The FY26 results do not include any impact from the acquisition of the portfolio of 17 net revenue shares in asset managers from Staples. I'll now take you through the key operating drivers of the result, beginning with the assets under management. Turning to a summary of the financial results on slide 6. Navigator saw strong AUM growth but earnings lower than FY25 in line with expectations. Ownership adjusted AUM increased 21% during the period to $33.6 billion, driven by both net inflows and strong risk-adjusted investment performance across both business segments. Higher management fees with steady fee rates and higher performance fees from Lighthouse, offset by lower distribution from NGO expertise, generated $206.5 million revenues, up 1%. The Group's adjusted EBITDA was $101.9 million, a 10% decrease from last year's record result. This is at the midpoint of our May guidance, consistent with the market messaging over the last 15 months and following two exceptional years of NGI strategic distribution. On slide 7 you can see Navigator's ownership-adjusted AUM growth over the last 12 months and since 2022. The consistent AUM growth over the past five years continues but with accelerated momentum. Over the past 12 months we saw a 21% increase with an additional $5.9 billion added across the portfolio during the period. Post-reporting period, an additional $2 billion of AUM was acquired when the stable transaction It was pleasing to see the alien growth across both business segments being driven by net inflows and investment returns, with aggregate net inflows of $3.4 billion plus continued strong investment performance contributing $2.8 billion. Given calendar year 2026 investment performance, recent and prospective new product launches across the NGO portfolio, more positive sentiment from capital allocators and a generally improving fundraising environment across the liquid alternatives industry, we expect to see continued netting flows across our partner firms in FY27. Importantly, NGI continues to see minimal fee pressure in base management fee rates nor performance fee rates across our partner firms. On slide 8, alternative asset managers who aim to generate positive, absolute returns for their investors across all market cycles have a strong alignment of interest in the economic performance of their strategies and the returns they generate. For Navigator's portfolio of managers, this is typically reflected in higher and more sustainable fee yields. In calendar year 25, both underlying management fees and performance fees were higher than CY24 and consistent with historical ranges, although the performance fee yield was lower than prior year. Further, the ultimate distributions received by Navigator from these revenues were lower this year, given how partner firms operated different margins and due to a one-off item. Moving forward and based on sustained investment performance, steady fee rates and given the long-term track record of our partner firms, we think it's reasonable to expect performance fee revenues within this range but on elevated AUM, providing a resilient source of recurring income for Navigator. We expect the future underlying revenue competition for Navigator to be positively impacted by the inclusion of the NGI stable growth portfolio. Standing at slide 9, you can see the earnings power of the diversified Navigator portfolio over the longer term. Navigator's FY26 earnings of $101.9 million is at the midpoint of the guidance range we provided in May, and reflecting contrasting outcomes across our two divisions during the year. Lighthouse generated a record $45.2 million in EVSR, up 15% from prior corresponding period, driven by higher management and performance fees across the platform with consistent operating margins, whilst earnings from NGI Strategic was 24% lower following two exceptionally strong years. Despite most partner firms generating strong risk-adjusted results in calendar year 25, it was mixed with subdued results from our credit and commodities managers, meaning that across the NGI Strategic segment, the portfolio had a comparatively lower investment performance relative to the prior year. Along with the impact of one-off items, this led to reduced contributions received from certain managers, which resulted in lower profit distributions, compared with a strong FY25 and a strong FY24, as you can see on the longer-term graph on the left. Pleasingly, Navigator's private markets partner firm profit distributions were up 44% year-on-year to $20.8 million. The indigar excludes the gain of $2.8 million received from the Barton Hill sale during the year. Further, the results do not include any impact from the acquisition of the portfolio of 17 net revenue shares in asset managers from the stable transaction. This portfolio is expected to bring meaningful scale, diversification and growth this year. This result is in line with our expectations as communicated from May. Over the past five years, Navigator has grown from owning only Lighthouse partners to now a portfolio of 29 asset managers. During that period earnings CAGR has been 22% and manager concentration risk continues to be mitigated with deliberate, carefully diligence and selected partner firm investments. We are very pleased with the recent and long-term investment performance, management, AUM growth and earnings generation by our partner firms which continue to be some of the leading alternative asset managers globally in their respective areas of specialty. Now I'll hand over to Ross to present the NGI Business Update.

Thank you, Stephen, and thank you very much to everyone on the line for joining us today. Let's turn to slide 11, where I'm proud to highlight the truly differentiated breadth and diversification of the NGI business. At our core, Navigator partners with scaled, established, but growing alternative asset management firms who are leaders across a diverse range of specialized alternative investment strategies. Today, we have 12 partner firms as well as 17 in the NGI stable growth portfolio that deploy over $120 billion in time-tested strategies across global markets, designed and refined over long and prudent track records to generate strong risk-adjusted returns. It has never been clearer that scale, proven investment edge, and deep resources are table stakes that determine success in our industry. Lighthouse and our partner firms all benefit from these attributes. In addition, NGI and our partner firms have a clear competitive advantage through our partnership with Blue Owl GP Strategic Capital. who provides access to NGI to their value creation group, the global industry leader in providing strategic support and advice across such verticals as capital strategies, operational and technology best practices, as well as human capital advisory. Let's continue on to slide 12, which illustrates this diversification by partner firm and investment strategy. The charts on slide 12 are remarkable. NGI provides our shareholders with access to earnings and enterprise value growth across a broad and diversified range of alternative investment businesses. These institutional quality leading partner firms span quantitative strategies, global macro, commodities, structured credit, private healthcare and artificial intelligence growth, specialized real estate, and differentiated private credit. creating both a high-quality and long-term growth profile and a very resilient nature of earnings and cash flow. Not only is our company highly diversified by asset class, but it also spans the globe across broad and unique client segments and generates revenue through a wide variety of fee terms and structures. The AUM of Process Platform is long-term oriented, and our earnings aren't riding on any one market cycle. In fact, we should benefit in times of market volatility or following broad market downturns. Please flip to slide 13 and we'll provide a few select highlights of activity throughout this period. You'll see on slide 13 that our partner firms continue to be at the forefront of their respective strategies and continuously prove out why they are leaders in the alternative asset management industry globally. During the period, we have seen our partners at 1315 Capital successfully realize assets, producing strong results for their clients, while also deploying capital into innovative, growing healthcare companies in a challenging but exciting market. In addition, Marvel Capital continues to illustrate their leadership position in their asset class. They have been continuously expanding their capabilities by adding high-quality talent and strategic client relationships to expand their reach and grow their platform over time. And just four months ago, we were to announce our partnership with Georgian, a leader in the AI investment space, which continues to grow in terms of its investment opportunity set and substantial client demand. We'll cover that transaction in more detail shortly. CFM, one of the partner firms acquired in the NGI strategic portfolio in 2021, has demonstrated their clear leadership position with extraordinary growth in the hedge fund industry. With $30 billion of firm-level AUM today, their investment results have remained exceptionally strong, which you can see here continue to result in winning several industry awards this past year. We see this recognition as a strong indication of further growth. If we turn to slide 14, we can review the components of the strong AUM growth NGI delivered shareholders this year. On slide 14, you'll see that even after accounting for the sale of Barton Hill, both NGI Strategic and Lighthouse segments generated strong organic growth within the period. We're pleased to report 21% overall AUM growth in adjusted AUM. Over 12% organic growth has occurred in a year, which has been one of the most challenging capital-raising environments in the history of the alternative asset management sector. This is a true testament to the quality and the differentiated nature of our partner firms and Lighthouse's products, capabilities, and operating infrastructure. Lighthouse continues to demonstrate their long-term proven track record of innovation by creating and offering new hedge fund products which leveraged the breadth and sophistication of their platform, meeting both existing and new institutional client demand. It is important to remember that the underlying returns of Lighthouse, our partner firms, and the public markets show little correlation to one another. And therefore, not only are we excited about the continued organic growth profile of the business, but we also continue to see the potential for the strong contribution of investment returns to our revenue and earnings growth at Navigator. Please turn to slide 15, and we can turn our attention to the acquisition activity during the year, which further enhances this growth in the years to come. Slide 15 provides an overview of our partnership with Georgian. On March 30th, we announced the purchase of a 4.5% ownership interest and preferred economic interest in a $6 billion AUM leading artificial intelligence focused private equity investor for $100 million of consideration to be paid over three years. Georgian was established in 2008 and since inception has always been focused on the application of artificial intelligence in specific business-to-business software subsectors such as cybersecurity and application infrastructure. Through their own in-house AI lab and long-term track record of supporting some of the world's most successful founders, they have a true edge in a very competitive but important sector. This partnership represented an exciting opportunity to add additional exposure to a growth-oriented private markets business with a growing investment opportunity set and strong investor demand. Through the transaction structure, we have structured a strong alignment of interests to provide $100 million of capital, all of which will be used to fund Georgian's future growth initiatives. If we go to the next slide, slide 16, we can cover the addition of the NGI Stable growth portfolio. On slide 16, we have summarized the recent transaction with Stable that is financially and strategically compelling. further enhancing NGI's unique value proposition to our shareholders. On July 2nd, we closed the $190 million acquisition of a diversified portfolio of net revenue share interests in alternative asset management firms that specialize in both liquid and illiquid private market strategies. Through this transaction, we have added $2 billion of ownership-adjusted AUM to start fiscal 27 that is highly cash flow generative and further diversifying. In addition, our long-term strategic partnership with Stable strengthens NGI's business. This strategic acquisition was funded by a mix of cash and script funded through an entitlement offer, also increasing our share liquidity and increasing our market cap. The NGI Stable Growth Portfolio's cash flow profile immediately improves our broader diversification and our quality of earnings. One of the things we're most excited about today is that following this meaningful acquisition activity in the second half of fiscal 26, NDI remains well positioned to capitalize on additional opportunities in our pipeline. Please turn to slide 17 and we can provide a quick refresher on our approach to adding new partner firms. Today, we are completely focused on using the scale and resources of the current business to execute on future growth opportunities. We continue to look for compelling opportunities where we can provide growth capital and other partnership solutions to help scaled but growing firms capitalize on a clear and well-considered strategic growth plan. In the alternative asset management sector, we believe minority ownership interests remain the most proven mechanism to align interests and partner in a successful and lasting manner for all stakeholders. The criteria you see here on slide 17 is informed by our deep experience in partnering with, investing in, and operating alternative investment management firms for over 20 years. When evaluating new opportunities, our primary goal is to continue to increase the durability and growth profile of NGI's earnings, which in turn strengthens our competitive position to make further acquisitions over time. Thank you. Fiscal 2020, excuse me, thank you. Fiscal 27 could not be more exciting to be here at NGI. Amber, over to you for the financial results.

Thank you, Aaron. So starting with slide 19, I'll begin with the headline numbers.

Fees and distributions for the year were $206.5 billion, up 1% on the prior comparable period. Lighthouse management fees grew 11% and performance fees were $45.5 billion, up $9.8 billion. Distributions from our strategic partner firms were $63.7 million against $80.1 million last year, a moderation up to two exceptionally strong years. Adjusted EBITDA was $101.9 million, down 10%, and with revenue steady, this reflects a $10.4 million line of employee expenses, about half from the larger bonus pool tracking line has fallen steep, and a $5.2 million increase in other operating costs. Net assets at balance date are $930.3 million, up 17%. Turning to slide 20. So this slide reconciles the statutory and the adjusted view of earnings. Statutory revenue grew 8% to $470.5 million. However, statutory EBITDA fell to $55.1 million and statutory NPAC was $21.2 million, down 82%. The principal driver was non-cash fair value business. A negative $40.1 million this year compared with a positive $31.5 million last year through the P&L, which is a $71.6 million swing year-on-year. Our energy and strategic partner firm investments are carried at fair value and re-measured at each reporting date. We utilise an external valuer with significant expertise in this field to assist in updating valuation and taking into account partner firm specific and market assumptions. Fair value movements through the profit and loss can therefore be significant in either direction as assumptions and outlooks change. FY25 resulted in a $31.5 million net gain while FY26 booked a $40.1 million net loss with the majority of this net loss recognised in the first half. These movements do not represent cash receipts or pay in the series, but they do flow through statutory earnings. Excluding that volatility in other adjustment items, adjusted EBITDA was $101.9 million, the midpoint of our guidance range, and adjusted impact was $75 million. On the next slide, we break earnings down by segment, and this shows why diversification matters. Engage Institute's strategy contributed $58.7 million at a 92% margin, down from $76.2 million to distributions moderated over five years, partly offset by a 44% year-on-year increase from our private market part of firms. Lighthouse grew to $46.7 million from $41 million, holding a 33% margin, driven by both management performance and growth. Employee expenses rose with the performance-lead bonus and headcount. Corporate costs were broadly flat at $3.5 million. Group margin moved from 56% to 49%, reflecting a lower contribution rating from the NGO strategic segment this year and the investment needed to support continued growth initiatives. The charts on slide 22 show the shape of our revenue over five years. Lighthouse management fees have compounded steadily from $73.5 million in FY22 to $96.5 million in FY26, and the performance fees have stepped up sharply. $45.5 million this year against $35.7 million last year and under $12 million in FY24. NGR strategic distributions of $63.7 million in FY26 are down from an elevated $8.1 million in the prior year. This is a moderation from a high base, not a deterioration of underlying performance. Distributions move near-year with investment performance, strategy mix, fee realisation and timing. The increasing private market contribution is also important to highlight. These partner firms representing 33% of total distributions received this year. These private market partner firms are a growing share of NGR strategic distributions, broadening the sources of cash flow beyond the more established liquid portfolio alternatives. The news that should continue to evolve as the newer investments scale and supporting greater diversification across strategies and return cycles.

Moving to the next slide,

Our balance sheet continues to grow, with NGR strategic investments now totalling $755 billion. Valuation movements on investments measured through profit and loss affect statutory earnings, and while movements on investments designated as fair value through other comprehensive incomes are recognised and reserved with equity rather than impact to impact. The table brings those two categories together and shows how each of the movements contributed to the change in their assets and how they largely offset each other in FY26. We also strengthened our debt funding capacity during the year. In May, we increased our senior secured facility by $90 million, from $100 million to $190 million in capacity, and extended its maturity to May 2031. This gives us greater flexibility to fund commitments and future growth opportunities. Following the settlement of the NGR's stable growth portfolio, our balance sheet remains conservatively positioned. On a pro forma basis, including the settlement tax outflow on 2nd July 2025, Net debt to adjusted EBITDA is approximately 0.8 times compared to the target ratio of approximately 1.5 times. The stable acquisition was deliberately funded through a combination of equity ratio shareholders and strict issues for the vendor rather than maximising the use of expanded debt stability. While debt capacity was available, using equity alongside script preserved meaningful stability headroom, maintained leveraged discipline and retained flexibility to fund further partner firm investments from a robust opportunity pipeline. The SWIFT component also created long-term alignment with Staples, with the substantial majority of those shares subject to either 12 or 24 months' expo. The funding mix was therefore a capital allocation decision, balancing shareholders' illusion against balance sheet resilience, strategic alignment, and the ability to continue executing growth opportunities. On dividends, as announced on the 15th of November, 2025, the Board determined that the best current use of capital is growth, and dividend increase suspended following the final payment in September 2025. Finally, slide 24 sets out the economic unseemly position. NGR Strategic, on a pro-forma basis, including the recently acquired AGI standard growth portfolio, has $15.3 billion in AUM at that 30 June 2026, an average management fee rate of 1.23% per annum. 82% of AUM is added in performance fees at a 17% average rate. There's millions of revenue in distribution for NGI, estimated at a 35% to 45% indicative margin, and then applying a distribution payout rate at between 90% to 100% of those underlying earnings. Lighthouse AUM at balance rate is $20.3 billion at 54 basis points per annum, with 88% of AUM able to earn performance fees at a 13% performance fee rate. 23% of AUM for Lighthouse is at or above high watermark, and a 36% to 35% indicative margin. Together, these are the levers that convert AUM into growth offers. And with that, I'll hand back to Stephen.

Thank you, Amber. In terms of the outlook for Navigator for financial year 27, on slide 26, NGO expects our portfolio of partner firms to continue to perform across market cycles as it has done historically, at both management company and investment strategy levels. Unlike other listed asset managers that may benefit from a sustained risk-on period for equity and bond markets, NGO's public markets, both as partner firms, show resilience in more difficult time periods, with all those exhibiting greater volatility, which can provide strong diversification. We anticipate the recent momentum on net inflows to continue, given investor appetite globally for alternatives and the appeal and track record of our investment strategy. In terms of execution of our growth strategy, we are focused on continued and measured acquisitive growth in FY27 and adding established growing and differentiated partner firms that meet our investment criteria and further diversify our earnings. We are seeing a robust pipeline of new opportunities. In terms of funding those opportunities, FY26 marks the second consecutive year of generating over $100 million in net operating cash flow across our business segments. which we are proud of. During the year, we extended and expanded our senior secured facility, as Amber mentioned, with a 2031 maturity. This provides significant flexibility to fund future partner firm investments from this year. That facility is undrawn. In accordance with NGO's capital management framework and post the suspension of the dividend, we will proactively and continually assess capital management opportunities when there is excess capital. Change by 27. The stable growth portfolio is expected to meaningfully increase FY27 earnings. As Ross noted, the portfolio of 17 asset managers now has $17 billion aggregated firm-level AUM, up 19% this calendar year to June, and $2 billion ownership adjusted AUM growing in accordance with our expectations from both investment performance and net inflow. The average AUM per manager is now $1 billion, up from $834 million at the end of Governor Year 25, and is exhibiting growth at a higher rate, as you would expect from scaling high-quality alternative managers. Pleasingly, the portfolio is generating strong risk-adjusted performance ahead of our expectations, with an average 11% net return year-to-date to June. 90% of that AUM is subject to performance fees, with an average 17% performance fee rate consistent with the broader NGO strategic portfolio and higher than the Lighthouse statement of 13%. Strategically, the inclusion of this portfolio broadens our addressable market and improves the key financial metrics as Amber just outlined. It also enhances the organic growth outlook as described on our deal announcement, and importantly, it's a valuable addition to diversify Navigator across investment strategy, investor base, and added even higher predictability and stability in the cash flows. The bottom line is that the stable growth portfolio is performing in line with expectations for FY27 in terms of AUM, revenue and earnings contributions. Before I conclude and open to questions, on FY28 I outlined by Navigator its unique and compelling investment proposition for shareholders as the only pure-play alternative firm on the ASX that's diversified. The four key elements on this slide have, and should continue to, lead to Navigator generating strong earnings and profitable market cycles, and we are focused on future growth opportunities that will enhance that result. Number one, NGI has some key advantages, being permanent capital structure as an ASEC-listed company, our proprietary sourcing channels for new opportunities, our innovative partnership structures as evidenced by the Georgian transaction, and our model of supported independence with aligned incentives. which we believe is gathering support and confidence by the market globally as the right way to partner as an alternative asset managers. Number two, we have a scalable and fast-growing platform from not just consistent investment performance but net inflow momentum and accretive acquisitions. Navigator now has $7.9 billion higher ownership adjusted AUM to start FY27 including the stable deal, a 29% increase. over the past 12 months. Navigator is focused on diversification as number three of earnings generated from a portfolio of high-quality alternative asset managers and reducing the dependence on any single partner firm. Both disabled transactions, we have 29 asset managers across our portfolio, across public and private markets, across multiple asset classes, investment styles, geographies and investors. Each of Navigator, our portfolio partner firms, our strategic partner Blue Owl and our recent strategic partner Stable Asset Management have deep global expertise across diverse sectors of the alternative industry and established track records of generating high risk adjusted returns for their investors. Both of our partners are potential avenues for future new partner firm relationships. And number four, going into FY27, we have a resilient earnings base with recurring management fee revenues and consistent performance fee revenues over a long period, supported by a diversified product offering, with those 19 new products launched during the period. Since FY22, our earnings have grown at a 22% pay cut, and according to a UBS report last year, navigated performance fee revenues against the profit NGO strategic. exhibited only 14% variability, the lowest of fears. Given the absolute return nature of our strategy and the performance theme mechanics as outlined at our investor day, this is no surprise. I believe that 2027 will be a watershed year for Navigator, with the flywheel we outlined at our investor day coming online. This should be driven by 1 the expected earnings contributions from our latest acquisitions, The AUN growth over the past year yielding higher base and performance fee revenues The continued growth of our partner firms The execution of additional partnerships Finally, at our investor day in November 25 we set out the aspiration of growing the NGI's 5 fee paying ownership adjusted AUN to more than $45 billion by 2030 With our most recent transactions with Georgian and the NGI stable growth portfolio as well as positive investment performance and fund-flying momentum across our partner firms, we continue to make very strong progress towards that goal. Thank you for your time, everyone. I'd now like to open the call to questions. Ryan?

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star 1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star 2. If you are on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask a question. Your first question comes from Phil Chippendale from AllMinute. Please go ahead.

Good morning, Tim. Thanks for your time. Firstly, Stephen, just on flows, you mentioned competence and the outlook for flows. Could you just give us a highlight of a few of the key partner firms where you would expect this positivity in terms of flows to continue? And could you specifically make a comment around Lighthouse? That's obviously had a pretty good calendar, 26 so far on flows. So just interested in the outlook for that one as well.

Yeah, thanks, Bill, and appreciate you joining the call. What I might do is I might just address Lighthouse upfront and then pass on to Ross to talk across the broader portfolio, not across the NGI strategic. On the Lighthouse side, yes, you're right. It was very pleasing to see strong net inflows. So we're pointing out that $1.5 billion of net inflows across the Lighthouse platform during the period was into the managed account services, so at a lower fee yield. So no investor should assume that those net inflows went directly to the higher fee yielding hedge funds. in a segment of it. However, it was pleasing to see the flows across hedge funds as well and also the customised solutions and the managed account services. When I speak to Sean, which is on a regular basis, and ask where the pipeline and investor interest is in the product offering, I would rank them probably as follows. The relatively new Portra's Beacon products is seeing significant interest, continues to perform well and we would expect additional flows that are committed in the pipeline at least over the coming two quarters and look forward to talking more about that. We've obviously seen flows during the year into that which was pleasing. They were, I would say, delayed versus original expectations of early last year. These are complicated products. The Japanese team are performing well and we're seeing that pipeline, I would say, accelerate into the end of the calendar year. Of course, there's always a risk that those clubs don't eventuate, but I understand that there are some at least IT connections around that. We will see. Other products, you know, interestingly, there's a relatively smaller product called Tenguo Pink, which is a Japanese multi-manager product. As we've spoken about this, I won't delay the call too long. We can talk about it after the Orbanet session, Phil, but just with the active management and alpha generation opportunities in Japan, that I understand is also benefiting long-only active managers. Sean is seeing quite significant performance and interest from investors in that geographic region and Tengaliteka I understand is one of only a small number of multi-manager hedge funds that has that sort of focus and even though it's relatively small, I believe between 300 and 400 AUM at the moment, you would expect actually that to have meaningful growth over the course of the next few quarters. I believe there's still some existing and interest in the Northrop platform with another client, a large account in the pipeline. So Northrop continues to perform well, as you can see, and on a performance side. I think macro has been, it started the year very strong, but it's been a bit more difficult the last couple of months, and we can address it more broadly with the industry. But the macro strategy isn't necessarily seeing the sort of traction that the equity products are seeing at this time in the year. So I actually feel, from a Lighthouse perspective, that gives you I would say that actually there's a number of custom accounts RFPs that are underway according to Sean and he feels good about actually Lighthouse winning those accounts. So we'll see where the growth is in that customised and going through the next 6 to 12 months. And then on managed account solutions it's less important from an earnings perspective but I think they're doing a great job in that business providing a solution. You're seeing a lot of flows into that. and even though it might be a little volatile, I would continue to expect to see flows. So if you add all that up, you know, a great year last year and we have a degree of confidence that that will continue subject to market conditions. Rob, do you want to talk perhaps about the rest of the portfolio?

Yeah, no, happy to. And Phil, thanks so much for the question. Well, we saw this last year in the NGI strategy segment. It was that it was really a mix between the private market firms and the liquid alternatives, probably with the private market firms driving a majority. And as we talked about, you know, this year, we've had Invictus, Marble, and 1315 out in different stages, but out raising their next vintage fund as well as kind of associated separately managed accounts and co-invested vehicles. Invictus has wrapped up a very successful fundraise, which really contributed to this last year, and Marble and 1315 continue on at different stages, but we should see both of them contribute to this next year. I think the more exciting point, though, is kind of some of the drivers behind what Stephen said as well. Global Investments Limited portfolio, excuse me, on our platform that are gaining flows. You know, some of the data we follow showed that 86% of all flows in 2025 went to firms with $5 billion or more of AUM. So, you know, Navigator is where the market is going in many respects. Now, obviously, we see the NGI stable growth portfolio and those firms are also growing because they're specialized exciting and they get a lot of access through Staples Network, but predominantly firms like Capstone, CSM, NKP that partners almost exclusively with large institutional investors and others are out raising money. So it's hard to say given how lumpy those timelines are, but given the strong performance and just given the role in those portfolios being prioritized, we're very excited about the outlook there. Okay, thanks. Thank you so much.

I'm sorry, Phil. I was just going to point everyone to slide 34. You know, you just outlined Ross's point very well. You know, I can't recall in recent history seeing that sort of uptick of investor, you know, appetite for hedge funds that, you know, you've got sort of a Barclays strategic coming out saying that in the second half plans for allocation, investors are up by sort of, you know, 6% from this time in the prior year in terms of interest in hedge funds. That seems to be coming at a bit of a sacrifice of some of the private market strategies. And my view, just quickly, is that I think people have been underpricing liquidity risk here, and now that they can see that hedge funds can provide the right risk-adjusted returns with liquidity, there's a greater interest in that product. And I think we're seeing that reflected across the platform, and I don't think anyone sees the current world's global volatility going away, and so we feel confident about that. And sorry to cut you off, Bill, but I think slide 34 helps illustrate Ross's point.

No, I don't think that's really useful. Just to try and sort of triangulate expectations for FY27, if we look at 26, you know, the one area that perhaps was a more modest contributor was the NGO Strategic Portfolio. That's sort of the five key sort of original partner firms. What's the outlook, do you think, in terms of FY27 for that business? You know, clearly Stable's going to be making a contribution coming on board. Lighthouse, we can look at that base management fee level and have some expectation of performance fees. Private Marketers side, it's that NGI strategic portfolio five and just sort of our expectation into 27. How should we be thinking about that?

Yeah, Ross, do you want to take that first and I'll follow up with any further comments?

Yeah, absolutely. Great question, Phil. So, What I would say there, and please do jump in if this is not quite giving you the insight that you're looking for, but the way we think about it is, as Stephen highlighted in his remarks, you know, two of the firms in that portfolio certainly had more subdued years on the performance side in 2025, which led to, you know, lower overall distributions. You know, we monitor the performance closely, but there are so many products and so many business lines in these platforms, it really depends on which products perform. What margins each business runs at to really determine the ultimate distributions to us. So the way we're thinking about it right now is that this upcoming year will be a stronger year, but certainly not what we're expecting to, you know, hockey stick or bounce back to what was two very exceptional years. Not, you know, overly impossible years, but just exceptional across the five slash six firms that are in that portfolio at the same time. One data point, which may be helpful, but like anything in the markets, is subject to change. We don't emphasize it at this point in the year, but if you flip to slide 32, which shows the investment performance of a composite of those five firms, you'll see that calendar 26 year to date, they're at about 3.6%. If you were to look at our August results last year, it was about 1.9%. So they are tracking ahead this year of last year, but it's going to depend on, you know, which firms. The great news is that we don't see anyone in outflow. We don't see any of the performance that was subdued last year, you know, being, you know, damaging to the enterprise value or really the management fee driven side of the business. And they are growing. So directionally, all things are quite positive. It's just hard to have these big scale firms, you know, bounce back super quickly and repeat what was our fiscal 25. So hopefully that helps.

Yeah, that's really useful. I don't know if Stephen has anything you want to add there.

No, I was just thinking, but I don't think so, Phil. I think that's probably, you know, I think slide 32 is indicative. Just while we're on that, though, look at the level of consistency across, you know, the ownership adjusted strategic portfolio over one, three, and five years. That also is largely mirrored across a number of the lighthouse products. I'd just say the growth portfolio has a higher risk return to it, as you can see across those metrics. But to see this portfolio return, really, to those long-term returns, would be certainly part of our expectation, and it's rock-dead. We're a couple of hundred basis points. It doesn't sound like a lot, but when you've got the performance mechanics and the way that the base fees work, you know, and you see some inflows, it can make a big difference. So, you know, I'd like to... You'd like to think that we have a bounce this year. I mean, Amber highlighted, you know, the distribution slide. Historically, on 22, on the left-hand side of 22, We used to refer to three to five year averages for this portfolio. I think the five year average is actually 71. It would be very disappointing if, for example, a 63 didn't rise by 10% to 15% to be ahead of that five year average. But it's very difficult to be able to say that right now as we sit here in August. I did know in discussions with Ross and, you know, in terms of how the managers are going, even at early stage July and August, it's really promising. So I sort of agree with Ross' characterisation. But for people to think the 80.1 is immediately going to be an uplift, unless we have a big private market contribution, I think it's probably difficult. So an uptick, but not $20 million, $30 million.

Okay, I understand. Thanks so much. I'll jump back in here.

Thank you. Your next question comes from Tim Lawson from Macquarie. Please go ahead.

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. Just one to start. In terms of the pipeline of M&A, and particularly I ask because you've obviously talked about the capacity, the medium-term funding deal and the cash flow generated by the business, so can you maybe combine those two, sort of pipeline and capacity to fund the outlook and maybe talk to a pro forma leverage ratio if possible?

Is it maybe Ross can address the pipeline and Amber can address the funding and that leverage?

Yes, no, happy to. Tim, thanks so much for the question. As I said in my remarks, we have never been more active in the pipeline for a mix of reasons. I'd say the first one is that our track record continues to be recognized in terms of being supportive, value-add, and creative, you know, partners of these firms, especially with the 1315 and Georgian transactions kind of being successfully completed. In addition, in the sector, The the most what I would say is focused and growth-oriented firms are really seeking partners more and more so the quality of the pipelines also improved and so we are very much looking at adding a hopefully at least one partner firm this year that would further diversify. Most of the pipeline is private markets, just given the objectives that we're talking about, as well as things outside of our core portfolios today. So the pipeline has things in specialized areas of real estate investing in the private markets, other areas of real assets that are either kind of scalable, but the focus. We do have a couple things in liquid alternatives that we think either from a global or strategy perspective are very institutional quality but could be diversifying and as we've seen certainly can add to the growth profile and the cash flow yield of our overall business. And then we continue to look at what we call specialized private equity. So you think of other sector specialists like you've seen us partner with or other very specialized strategies that we think will kind of be on that one side of the barbell in private markets that is growing and is generating good returns for clients. So it is really active. It's always hard, as we always say, it's hard to say if we can convert, but I think our strategic positioning, as well as the overall volume of opportunities, is as active as we've ever been.

And just on the leverage ratio we have in the deck, you know, our target debt to adjust, and even the ratio is about one and a half times You know, we do look at that and for us also, it's interesting to keep in mind that we still have to take consideration that comes into that mix. And so it's not just all about it. Also, you know, to take consideration, we still have to pay out on the existing investments. So the funding is really a take-by-take decision. It depends on the size of the transaction. It depends on the terms and the size of the transaction over time, particularly on private markets. And we just weigh that all up in those overall decisions in terms of managing our target ratio.

Is there any pro-forma leverage?

Well, I mean, there's sort of our carbonate leverage and then there's like the pro-forma as we're currently at 28 times and we would stick around that target of 1.5 times when we're looking at a transaction. It could go slightly above it if we had to structure something depending on the deal. Okay, thank you.

And I'm probably qualified for just an observation on this. I would say that obviously with an undrawn debt facility and as we start to get stable, forgive the term, but more stable, predictable cash flows from the stable bill, you know, four times a year revenue shares, much clearer when we're going to get it, you know, there's no margin that is really effectively applied to that. So we get the cash flows like a royalty stream four times a year. As they start to come online, we're going to really be increasing the cash flows

Yeah, very clear.

And then maybe on the carried interest, obviously performance fees are hard to forecast, but you can build in sort of some carried interest. Can you talk to the position of carried interest across the private market?

Yeah, Rob, do you want to cover that? I guess Marble and Invictus are the two large ones.

Yeah, sure. You know, we can see the funds that were kind of of that vintage where we expected some carry coming in fiscal 27, 28, and 29. to mature. I would say some of those funds are outperforming expectations. Some are either slightly behind from a return perspective or from a timing perspective. So we just continue to monitor that. We've had some, I would say, marginal contribution from that over time. And the FRE side is really what's been driving the increase you see year over year, as well as the percentage on the inverse slide with distributions. So we can see some lumpy carry here and there, kind of starting probably in the back end of fiscal 27. But for the most part, we continue to see the AUM and the highly profitable FRE stream, which, again, we think is super valuable, you know, grow and compound over time. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Your next question comes from Nick from Ballantyre. Please go ahead.

Just a question around stable expected kind of return that that should produce in FY27 and I've obviously had a little bit of asset growth as well since the announcement when you acquired it just and then how to think about the timing of that presumably it comes through all in January very predictable so by February we'll know what that portfolio has contributed to NGOs is that right?

What an answer initially, and then Ross can dive into some more details next. I mean, it's obviously a great question. I think the market's going to be very focused on the bridge from FY26 to FY27, and we've obviously called out that we believe it's going to be a meaningful number, and I actually think, you know, the consensus on this looks pretty bright. I would say that we did think about whether we put up a pro forma numbers of FY26 for stable but given we didn't hold the portfolio for any of that year we didn't believe that was the right thing to do and also we thought it actually was misleadingly low because that number would have been maybe in line with the CY25 distribution but it doesn't pick up the asset growth as we've highlighted of 19% calendar year to date nor the power of the performance decrystallisation that that's coming up on 31 December. So, you know, I was just finished by saying we feel very good about the earnings accretion announcement being refreshed that we did in May and also we feel very good about the underwriting. Some of it's actually performing vastly ahead on investment performance. So we didn't want to provide a breach because I think it's, you know, we sit here in August, you know, 11 months away from the next year. I think for an asset management firm, especially one where it's got just over 50% relative performance fees to give any prediction, but we feel very good about how the transaction's growing around it. Ross, do you want to add anything more specific to the next question?

Sure. The only thing I would add, and Nick, chatting to the back end of your question, to complete the thought, obviously agree with everything Steve said, is that, yes, we will have more, we'll know more earlier on that portfolio than we do on the NGI strategic portfolio, where in the NGI strategic, as you well, you're probably more familiar than most. We really don't know until, call it March, April, if not May, in terms of how the profit distributions that are, you know, impacted by annual performance revenue end up. with regards to this NGIS Gable Growth Portfolio, we should know by our February results kind of how the performance fee side is coming through. We'll obviously have two more quarters of management fee driven revenue shares in our annual results, but by February results, we should be, you know, able to provide an update on that.

And then my credit against the acquisition, the dividends, Is that right? So like that adjustment comes through once you account for the acquisition in FY27 in terms of, you know, obviously we just saw the cap rate in the accounts this year, but the actual payment and the acquisition accounting reflects that distribution?

Yes. So the timing was good from my perspective of the 2nd of July settlement. So it's not in the 32 financials and you'll see all of that acquisition accounting in the half year. I will say that some of the transaction costs with the cap rate were actually recognised in 26, but a lot of those have gone through directly to equity as a requirement of the accounting standards.

All right, cool. And then maybe just one last one from me. The progress at the new partner firms is looking really good. I think over $20 million of contribution. Just maybe, Ross, if you can give us an update on... where they're at in terms of realizations or new raises, and if there's anything to think about year to year with those, because I know sometimes it can be lumpy.

Yeah, no, happy to. You know, it's a mixed bag in terms of everything's going well, but in terms of, to your point, carry versus FRE. We are super proud that Invictus and Marble and 1315 are all on track to hit their targeted fund raises. In the private markets, as we said for the last call or two, three reporting periods, it's really challenging. You see very successful private market firms with funds that are smaller than their predecessor. We don't see that happening here. Invictus raised over $2 billion across their fund complex for the, you know, call it one and a half, two years. They're done now. We're very, you know... confident that Marble is going to hit, if not exceed, their $800 million target by the end of this year, and 3015 is out with their $750, $800 or so for their next two kind of simultaneous funds, that's likely going to go through the end of our Fiscal 27, but they're making a lot of progress and doing quite well, and their portfolios are performing well. You know, Georgian also, as you know, the nature of that transaction was for the full $100 million of consideration to primarily be used to support the next few fundraisers. So they're actually, you know, going out very shortly to raise their next two funds. You know, the first one is their Fund 7, their flagship growth fund. as well as their second version of what they call their breakout fund, which is very much in vogue, kind of as needed, kind of step up for individual funding rounds. And so we're really optimistic that they would be targeting over a billion dollars across those two as well. So there's a lot of momentum for continued fundraising. In terms of the increments and the increases of the 20 million profit distributions this year, is primarily still Marvel Invictus, just given they're seasoned more. And I would say Invictus' growth this year especially has been really impressive. You know, starting to see that $2 billion of AUM come online, but also a pretty meaningful increase in their kind of origination or lending volume creates additional kind of ongoing earnings, and that's what contributed there. So a long way of saying is that Good fundraising to date, more coming, and we have not seen 1315 or Georgian contribute in that $20 million yet.

Cool. Thank you.

Thank you. Your next question comes from last photo, Rio, from MST. Please go ahead.

Good morning, guys, and thanks for the opportunity to ask some questions. I'm a little bit surprised with the single slide on stable, which is largely a rehash of stuff we already know. Is this what we should expect to see going forward on the level of disclosure now that you're in the business?

No, hi there, thanks for joining the call and asking the question. No, it's not the expectation going forward. The expectation going forward is it will be disclosed as per the rest of the NGI strategic and rolled up into that and you'll be able to see the same metrics. I think when you You know, you are right. We've effectively updated, you know, the key financial metrics with the impact of stable. We've also called out the growth of stable on AUM, you know, front and other metrics here today. You know, happy to take it offline, but a simple spreadsheet modelling out, you know, the impact of the metrics we've put here will effectively sell you the distributions. And so I think that's the way for us to articulate this is to provide the inputs and to talk you through it. But I think It's very hard to make a prediction here in August when we do have performance-free revenue streams that come off the back of this. But you'll be expecting enhanced disclosure once we actually own the portfolio. We did not own the portfolio for this period of time. It was a matter of some discussion. We thought that would be misleading on the downside given how well it's actually going.

Yeah, I get that, but there's always some metrics you can give us on a bit more colour on the breakdown or how some of the underlying funds or strategies are going. But maybe could you add some colour around possibly the net flows in the business since you are in the June quarter? Can you give us any colour on how it's gone so far this financial year or into this current quarter?

One of my answers broadly, and Rob, you know me for sure, but what I will tell you is that just like the rest of that portfolio that's in the financial year, this calendar year, Stable has contributed its growth from both investment performance and from net inflows. You may have the numbers at hand, Rob, because you haven't owned the portfolio for six or seven months at that, but I will tell you, just like NGO Estrategia, investment performance has been indeed the dominant driver. You do see leading alternatives managers You know, in terms of more color around specifics, you know, and how some of the larger managers perhaps are going, Ross, do you want to talk a little bit about, you know, paradigm and how to do it and others to give last year some color?

Sure, yeah. What I would say, Laf, and great to talk to you is that there has been organic growth in the first six months of the year, which is kind of the period obviously we're most focused on to hit our in our earnings coming in the future. There's both closed-end fund growth, as Stephen said, at firms like Carverview, and then some of the larger hedge funds are growing. One quick reminder from the announcement is even though they are, on average, smaller than the NJCG portfolio and Lighthouse, they are targeting these large institutional mandates, which do take some time. So the flows happen to be lumpy. We hope they come in, you know, very frequently. But they come in kind of in size and lumpy. Since the transaction itself, one bright spot is, you know, as Stephen highlighted, one of the firms did launch a brand-new product with multiple hundred million dollars, and that was raised very easily. So there's very good momentum. But that's kind of, I think, where I would leave it, unless there's anything, Stephen, specific you want to highlight.

Or just more generally, was it in positive flows or negative? It's great that one strategy had positive flows. I'm just trying to get a color on, was it June quarter positives since you announced the transaction? Has it started this quarter positive? Any color on that as a whole?

As a whole, it was about flat for the quarter. But again, that's just one quarter across 17 institutional firms. So obviously there's If I look at the managers, some were materially inflows, a couple of them had outflows, but directionally very positive.

And just to double check, so before you bought it, what were the flows looking like the two, three quarters before that? Was it positive or largely flat as well?

It was positive. And again, we weren't really, not to be difficult, I can't say that I really do look at quarterly flows that carefully here. We're talking to Stable to understand what types of institutional mandates and products are being launched and really looking at an annual basis. And when we look back how these firms were built and grown since Stable's seed or acceleration capital end, the flows were obviously quite positive.

All right. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Yeah, go ahead.

There are no further phone questions at this time. I will now hand back to Mr. Dark for closing remarks.

I think just given the time, Brian, we might just wrap it up because we're out of time. We're going to go to the next meeting. But I appreciate everyone's support in joining the call. And certainly on behalf of the management team, we are very excited about FY27 to be able to convert a lot of this great AUM into earnings and to deploy the capital effectively and creatively. So thanks for your time and... and look forward to investor meetings in the coming weeks. Thank you.

That does conclude our conference for today.

Thank you for participating. You may now... Goodbye.