WisdomTree Caps Record Year with $144.5B AUM, Outlines Aggressive 2026 Growth Strategy

NEW YORK – WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (NYSE: WT) concluded a landmark fiscal year 2025 with record assets under management (AUM) of $144.5 billion, showcasing resilience and strategic growth amid volatile markets. The asset manager reported $8.5 billion in net inflows for the year, translating to an 8% organic growth rate, while simultaneously expanding operating margins by nearly 300 basis points.

The fourth quarter, while seeing modest outflows, set the stage for a powerful start to 2026, with global AUM already climbing to $160.8 billion by the end of January. This performance underscores the success of the firm's multi-year strategy to diversify beyond its core U.S. ETF business into Europe, digital assets, and private markets.

"2025 reinforced our core premise: consistent organic growth paired with disciplined execution drives margin expansion and meaningful earnings growth," said Robert Lilien, Head of Strategy and Innovation at WisdomTree, during the earnings call. "Our growth held across risk-on rallies, interest rate uncertainty, and equity rotations."

Strategic Pillars Driving Growth

The earnings report highlighted several transformative developments:

• European Expansion: The European business emerged as a major growth engine, with AUM soaring to a record $53.3 billion. This was fueled in part by the blockbuster launch of a European defense ETF and strong flows into thematic funds focused on areas like rare earths and quantum computing.
• Digital Asset Monetization: WisdomTree's digital assets platform moved from infrastructure build-out to early monetization, with tokenized AUM reaching approximately $770 million by year-end, up from virtually zero twelve months prior. The institutional platform, WisdomTree Connect, scaled from 4 to 29 onboarded institutions.
• Private Markets Entry: The acquisition of Ceres Partners, which closed on October 1, marked WisdomTree's formal entry into private assets, specifically U.S. farmland. The deal has already expanded annual revenue capture and operating margins by more than 200 basis points.
• Model Portfolio Scale: The portfolio solutions business, including models and separately managed accounts (SMAs), saw assets under advisement grow to over $6 billion, deepening client relationships and stabilizing flows.

2026 Guidance: Investing in Momentum

For 2026, management provided confident guidance, forecasting a compensation-to-revenue ratio of 26-28%, a 2-percentage-point improvement from prior guidance, reflecting operating leverage. Discretionary spending is projected to increase to support growth initiatives in marketing and sales.

"We are entering 2026 not just with confidence, but with conviction and momentum," stated CEO Jonathan Steinberg. "We are building something durable and compoundable. Europe, models, tokenized assets, and private markets—these aren't experiments anymore. They are real businesses contributing real flows."

Steinberg also addressed what he termed an "underappreciated" market valuation, pointing to the firm's diversified AUM mix, leadership in tokenization, and record of organic growth as factors that should command a higher multiple.

Analyst & Market Reaction

Analysts on the call focused on the scalability of the digital assets platform, the integration of Ceres, and the potential for market share gains in thematic ETFs. Management emphasized that its broad and deep product suite positions it to win in virtually any market environment.

Sarah Chen, Portfolio Manager at Horizon Advisors: "WisdomTree's transformation is impressive. They've successfully pivoted from a U.S.-centric ETF shop to a multi-faceted global asset manager. The growth in Europe and the early lead in institutional tokenization are particularly compelling and likely under-priced by the market."

Marcus Thorne, Independent Financial Blogger at 'The Skeptical Investor': "Let's not get carried away. AUM is a vanity metric if margins don't follow. Yes, they bought some growth with Ceres, and yes, crypto is hot. But can they sustainably scale these niche areas against giants like BlackRock? The discretionary spend jump tells me customer acquisition costs are rising. I'll believe the 'durable compounder' story when I see sustained free cash flow growth, not just tokenized buzzwords."

David Park, Senior Analyst at FinTech Insights Group: "The most significant data point is the 29 institutions on WisdomTree Connect. That's the early validation of their tokenization infrastructure from professional investors. It's a tangible moat. If regulatory clarity around digital assets continues, they have a formidable first-mover advantage in the RWA [Real World Assets] tokenization space."

Eleanor Vance, CFA, Vance Wealth Management: "As an advisor, the expansion of their SMA capabilities through the Quorus acquisition is a game-changer for my practice. It allows for greater customization. WisdomTree is evolving from a product vendor to a true solutions partner, which increases client stickiness. That's a profound shift the market might be missing."

The firm's leadership expressed strong optimism for the year ahead, with multiple growth engines—spanning ETFs, models, digital assets, and private markets—now operating simultaneously.