Fiera Capital (FSZ) Q1 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Q1 2025 revenue was $162.9M, down 3% year-over-year, mainly due to lower performance fees and PineStone outflows, while AUM ended at $161.6B, down $5.5B, with Private Markets AUM growing by $1.4B (7%) to $21.1B, driven by a UK real estate platform acquisition and new mandates.

• Net earnings attributable to shareholders rose to $23.9M (diluted EPS $0.20), up from $8M–$9.8M, mainly due to a $12.7M gain from the UK real estate acquisition and lower SG&A expenses.

• Adjusted EBITDA was $43.4M (margin 26.6%), down 4% year-over-year, with adjusted net earnings at $25.4M and free cash flow for the last 12 months at $87M.

• Public Markets AUM, excluding PineStone, increased by 1% to over $104B, with positive net organic growth and $1B in new mandates; Canadian equity strategy outperformed its benchmark by 240 bps.

• Major AUM outflows of $7.0B from PineStone sub-advised mandates and $5.7B from Canoe Financial LP, partially offset by acquisitions and organic growth.

Financial highlights

• Base management fees rose 2% to $155M, with private markets fees up 9% to $49M; performance fees dropped sharply to $0.2M from $2.8M year-over-year.

• Operating expenses decreased to $137.2M from $143.8M year-over-year.

• LTM free cash flow was $87M, up from $72M year-over-year, supporting capital allocation flexibility.

• Adjusted EBITDA margin was 26.6%, nearly flat year-over-year.

• Net debt increased to $703M, with a net debt ratio of 3.63x, up from 3.33x in Q4 2024.

Outlook and guidance

• Management expects minimal further PineStone-related AUM leakage for the remainder of 2025, but anticipates an additional $1.0B of AUM to transfer to PineStone.

• Free cash flow is expected to remain resilient and improve, supporting financial flexibility and deleveraging.

• Focus remains on Private Markets expansion, organic growth, sustainability, and deleveraging, with a target funded debt ratio below 2.75x in a stress scenario.

• Management expects to recognize $6.5M in restructuring costs in Q2 2025 due to streamlining and strategy wind-downs.

• Management changes effective July 1, 2025, with a new CEO and other executive appointments.