Piper Sandler Companies

Please stand by. Good morning and welcome to the Piper Sandler Companies second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Today's call is being recorded and will include remarks by Piper Sandler management followed by a question and answer session. I'll begin by turning the call over to Kate Winslow. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, and thank you for joining the Piper Sandler Companies Second Quarter 2026 Earnings Conference Call. Hosting the call today are Chairman and CEO Chad Abraham, our President Deb Schoneman, and CFO Kate Clune. Earlier this morning, we issued a press release announcing Piper Sandler's second quarter 2026 financial results, which is available on our website at PiperSandler.com slash earnings. Today's discussion of the results is complimentary to the press release. A replay of this call will also be available at that same website later today. Before we begin, let me remind you that remarks made on today's call may contain forward-looking statements that are not historical or current facts, including statements about beliefs and expectations, and involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated are identified in the company's reports on file with the SEC Thank you for joining us. The non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to and not a substitute for measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measure is provided in our earnings release issued today. I will now turn the call over to Chad.

Thank you, Kate. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. We posted second quarter adjusted net revenues of $491 million, a 21.8% operating margin, and adjusted EPS of $1.04, all up significantly compared to the prior year. This marks our 11th consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue growth, a testament to the durability of our model. Corporate investment banking revenues were $312 million for the quarter, Up 31% year-over-year, driven by robust advisory activity. Financial services and healthcare remain our two largest franchises, and both delivered impressive quarterly results. During the first half of 2026, corporate investment banking revenues totaled $636 million, a 30% increase over last year, and our strongest first-half performance on record. Our growth was broad-based, with nearly all of our sectors and products contributing. This momentum validates our strategy of combining deep sector expertise with a broad suite of products to serve our clients throughout their life cycles and through a wide range of market conditions. Advisory services achieved record second quarter revenues of $274 million, up 34% over last year. Marking our sixth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. We completed 83 advisory transactions, a 17% increase in volume, and earned more, larger fees. Performance was led by financial services with meaningful contributions from healthcare and services and industrialists. Within financial services, our depository practice remains a market leader. While large-scale M&A activity continued to be lacking, middle market volume improved. We ranked as the number one advisor in U.S. bank M&A by both announced transaction counts and deal value in the first half, reinforcing our position as the go-to partner for bank clients across the size spectrum. Our insurance and asset management franchises also contributed to our success, Investments in these franchises over the past several years, combined with increased alignment with our broader private equity relationships, have driven meaningful growth. We are also experiencing positive momentum within our private capital advisory group, which recorded their best quarter on our platform, driven by the secondary business. By leveraging our sponsor relationships and sector expertise, we are well positioned to capture share in this high growth space. Our market-leading position, deep sector coverage, and extensive portfolio of solutions drove first-half advisory revenues of $525 million, up 25% over last year. In addition to financial services, our healthcare group contributed strong results, led by our MedTech team, which advised on several of the largest deals announced in the sector. Thank you for joining us. Advisory revenues from private equity clients 10% year-over-year, outperforming the broader U.S. private equity market. This resilience highlights the value of our coverage model. As we continue to prioritize our private equity partners, we recently transitioned two senior leaders from our services and industrial group to serve alongside our existing head of financial sponsors, where they will focus on our private equity advisory efforts. Debt Capital Markets Advisory, Continuation Vehicles, and IPOs. Thank you for watching. We completed 28 financings, raising $13 billion for corporate finance, primarily in the healthcare space. While corporate financing activities and our revenues fluctuate based on client and sector-specific dynamics, as well as macroeconomic data, our first-half performance reflects a strong underlying trend. Revenues of $111 million are up 65% year-over-year, driven by a 33% increase in book-run transactions and higher average fees. Shifting to talent, we finished the quarter with 193 investment banking managing directors, 6% increase year-over-year. Since the beginning of 2026, we have added 12 new MDs for promotion and hiring. We remain focused on productivity by collectively adding top producers to offset retirement and the departure of less productive bankers in order to align the platform for long-term success. With that, I will turn the call over to Deb to discuss our public finance and brokerage business.