Tying Themes Together - Big Picture Thoughts Post ARES/BEN Mgmt Mtgs

Research evidence excerpt

Tying Themes Together - Big Picture Thoughts Post ARES/BEN Mgmt Mtgs

TD Cowen

Global Research June 23, 2026

Portfolio Manager Summary - Tying Themes Together

Following hosting ARES and BEN in Canada with investors, we step back and tie together

common themes arising from the meetings. We also highlight upcoming TD Cowen sponsored

corporate access through year-end, with our focus on delivering exposure to higher conviction

stock calls and/or conversations with management teams in industries facing elevated investor

angst - notably among Wealth Managers and Exchanges.

We hosted ARES's CFO, Mr. Jarrod Phillips, and BEN's co-President, CFO, & COO, Mr. Matthew

Nicholls, as part of TD Securities' third annual US Investor Day in Toronto on 6/17 - along with

hosting Mr. Phillips in Montreal with investors on 6/18. The US Investor Day is focused on US-

based companies with $10B+ in market capitalization. The meetings were particularly well

attended for both companies, and we would characterize sentiment as mixed to improving.

While each of the company discussions were disparate in nature (see 6/23 for key takeaways

on ARES and 6/22 for those on BEN), there were six common elements across the discussions -

scale; consolidation; structural growth for Alts/customized solutions; margins can likely move

higher; underlying credit quality remains solid; and agentic AI is likely to be a productivity - and

potentially - a revenue catalyst.

Keepin' The Corporate Access Train Rollin' - With A Continued Focus

on High(er) Conviction Stocks And/Or Those Embroiled In Investor

Controversy

We recently hosted meetings with AMG (see 5/13), GCMG (see 5/26 and 6/5) and MRX (see 6/8)

prior to spending time with ARES and BEN. After a short respite (due to 2Q earnings), we are

sponsoring: