UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021

OR

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM                                to

Commission file number: 001-38388

Victory Capital Holdings, Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(216) 898-2400

(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐    No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐    No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒    No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒    No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company," and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.  Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐    No ☒

Aggregate market value of Common Stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2021 was $502.8 million.

The number of outstanding shares of the registrant's Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share as of February 28, 2022 was 68,750,266.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Auditor’s PCAOB ID Number: 42 Auditor Name: Ernst & Young LLP        Auditor Location: Cleveland, Ohio

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Forward‑Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward‑looking statements within the meaning of federal securities law. The forward‑looking statements may include, without limitation, statements concerning our current expectations, estimates, assumptions, and beliefs concerning future events, conditions, plans, and strategies that are not historical fact. Any statement that is not historical in nature is a forward-looking statement and may be identified by the use of words and phrases such as “may,” “believes,” “intends,” “seeks,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “estimates,” “expects,” “should,” “assumes,” “continues,” “could,” “will,” “future” and the negative of these or similar phrases.

Forward‑looking statements reflect our current expectations regarding future events, results or outcomes. These expectations may or may not be realized. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward‑looking statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. Some of these expectations may be based upon assumptions, data or judgments that prove to be incorrect. Such forward-looking statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions we might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties.

Many factors mentioned in “Item 1A. Risk Factors” will be important in determining future results. Should one or more of these risks or assumptions materialize, or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated or projected. You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in the quarterly, periodic and annual reports we file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). All forward‑looking statements speak only as of the date made and we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward‑looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The following text is qualified in its entirety by reference to the more detailed information and consolidated financial statements (including the notes thereto) appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report to “we,” “our,” “us,” “Victory” or the “Company” shall mean Victory Capital Holdings, Inc., (“VCH”) a Delaware corporation, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All references to years, unless otherwise noted, refer to our fiscal year which ends on December 31.

Note Regarding Third-Party Information

This Annual Report on Form 10-K includes certain market and industry data and forecasts related thereto that we rely on and refer to. We obtained this information and these statistics from sources other than us, which we have supplemented where necessary with information from publicly available sources and our own internal estimates. We use these sources and estimates and believe them to be reliable, but we cannot give any assurance that any of the projected results will be achieved.

Item 1. Business

Overview

We are a diversified global asset management firm with $183.7 billion in total assets under management (“AUM”) as of December 31, 2021. Our differentiated business model combines boutique investment qualities of traditional and alternative investment managers with the benefits of an integrated, centralized operating and distribution platform.

Victory Capital provides specialized investment strategies to institutions, intermediaries, retirement platforms and individual investors. With 12 autonomous Investment Franchises and a Solutions Platform, Victory Capital offers a wide array of investment products, including actively and passively managed mutual funds, rules-based and active exchange traded funds (“ETFs”), institutional separate accounts, variable insurance products (“VIPs”), Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) and impact investment strategies, alternative investments, private closed end funds, and a 529 Education Savings Plan. Victory Capital’s strategies are also offered through third-party investment products, including mutual funds, third-party ETF model strategies, retail separately managed accounts (“SMAs”) and unified managed accounts (“UMAs”) through wrap account

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programs, Collective Investment Trusts (“CITs”), and undertakings for the collective investment in transferrable securities (“UCITs”). As of December 31, 2021, our Franchises and our Solutions Platform collectively managed a diversified set of 130 investment strategies for a wide range of institutional and retail clients and direct investors.

Our design logos and the marks “Victory Capital,” “Victory Capital Management,” “Victory Funds,” “VictoryShares,” “CEMP,” “CEMP Volatility Weighted Indexes,” “INCORE Capital Management,” “Integrity,” “Integrity Asset Management,” “Munder,” “Munder Capital Management,” “New Energy Capital,” “THB,” “The Munder Funds,” “NewBridge,” “NewBridge Asset Management,” “RS Funds,” “RS Investments,” “Sophus Capital,” “Sycamore Capital,” “Trivalent Investments,” “USAA Investments,” and “USAA Mutual Funds” are owned or licensed for a period of time by us or one of our subsidiaries. All other trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing in this report are the property of their respective owners.

Business History and Organization

Victory Capital Holdings, Inc. was formed in 2013 for the purpose of acquiring Victory Capital Management (“VCM”) and Victory Capital Services, Inc. (“VCS”) from KeyCorp. VCM is a U.S. registered investment adviser (“RIA”) managing assets through open-end mutual funds, institutional separate accounts, CITs, wrap account programs, UCITs, private funds, and ETFs. VCM also provides mutual fund administrative services for the Victory Portfolios, Victory Variable Insurance Funds and the mutual fund series of the Victory Portfolios II (collectively, the “Victory Funds”), a family of open-end mutual funds; and, VictoryShares (the Company’s ETF brand), as well as USAA branded investment products, which includes the USAA Mutual Fund Trust, a family of open-end mutual funds (the “USAA Funds”). In 2021, the Company acquired WestEnd Advisors (“WestEnd”), which maintains its own RIA, which is an affiliate RIA that receives certain services from VCM. VCM employs all the Company’s United States investment professionals across all 12 Franchises and its Solutions Platform. VCM’s wholly owned subsidiaries include RS Investment Management (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., RS Investments (Hong Kong) Limited, and RS Investments (UK) Limited. VCS is registered with the SEC as an introducing broker-dealer and serves as distributor and underwriter for the Victory Funds and USAA Funds and for municipal fund securities issued by the Nevada College Savings Trust Fund under the USAA 529 Education Savings Plan. VCS also serves as placement agent for certain private funds managed by VCM. VCH indirectly holds Victory Capital Transfer Agency, Inc. (“VCTA”), a transfer agent registered with the SEC that acts as transfer agent for the USAA Funds.

Our Growth Strategy

We have a purposeful strategy designed to achieve continued profitable growth and success for our Company, our employees, and our shareholders. The growth we pursue is both organic and inorganic.

Organic Growth – We seek to grow organically by offering strategies that are value-added and solution oriented to investment portfolios with strong performance track records over the long term. A key driver of our growth strategy lies in enhancing the strength of our existing Franchises. We primarily do this by providing them with access to our operating platform, technology, centralized distribution, marketing, and other support functions. Largely unencumbered by the burdens of administrative and operational tasks, our investment professionals can focus on delivering investment excellence and maintaining strong client relationships. We also help our Franchises through new product development and product packaging. We believe we are well positioned to help our Franchises grow their product offerings and diversify their client base, with the ability to offer their strategies in multiple investment vehicles to meet the unique needs of diverse clients.

We continually evaluate and make investments to improve our operating platform and our Company. Recent initiatives include investments in data and analytics, technology, distribution, and marketing to enhance organic growth in our direct investor business and increase efficiencies in our other distribution channels.

Inorganic Growth – We supplement our organic growth through strategic acquisitions. We primarily seek to acquire investment management firms that will add high quality investment teams, enhance our growth and financial profile, improve our diversification by asset class and investment strategy, achieve our integration expectations, expand our distribution capabilities, optimize our use of technology and improve our operating platform.

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One of our key advantages in a competitive mergers and acquisition environment is our ability to provide access to multiple distribution channels. Our centralized distribution and marketing platform drive organic growth at our acquired Franchises both by opening new distribution channels and penetrating deeper into existing ones. This support received from our sales and marketing professionals allows our investment professionals to focus exclusively on delivering investment excellence.

Since our management‑led buyout with Crestview Partners II GP, L.P. (“Crestview GP”) from KeyCorp in 2013, we have successfully closed seven acquisitions, made two minority investments, and through December 31, 2021, grown our AUM more than 10-fold from $17.9 billion to $183.7 billion. We understand the need to execute transactions while minimizing disruption to the investment teams and to the client experience. Our team is very experienced and has a history of success in meeting those objectives. Previous acquisitions have evolved and diversified our products resulting in a mix of compelling investment strategies in asset classes where we can be successful and earn sustainable management fees.

¹Strategic minority investments in 2016 and 2018, exited with a gain in 2019

²Strategic minority investment

We regularly evaluate potential acquisition candidates and maintain a strong network of industry participants and advisors who provide opportunities to establish potential target relationships and source transactions. Our management team leads and participates in our acquisition strategy, leveraging their many years of experience actively operating our Company on a day‑to‑day basis to successfully source, execute, integrate, and ultimately operate acquired businesses.

We believe, based on our successful acquisition track record, that there is a significant opportunity for us to continue to profitably grow through additional acquisitions, as industry dynamics have expanded the universe of potential acquisition targets.

Alternative Investments – In 2021, we launched our alternative investments platform with the acquisition of New Energy Capital (“NEC”). This broadened and further diversified our product offering into private markets and added a new growth vertical. Given our multi-faceted distribution channels, combined with our ability to develop investment vehicles to deliver these strategies, we are ideally situated to play a meaningful role in democratizing access to alternative investments for retail investors.

With attractive fee rates, margins, longer capital commitments compared with our liquid products, and less likelihood of being disintermediated by non-active strategies, we remain interested in adding additional alternative investment capabilities. We are committed to maintaining the same guiding principles with alternative Investment Franchises that led to success with our traditional Investment Franchises.

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Diversification Strategy

We offer an array of equity, fixed income, investment models, alternative investments, closed end private funds, and solutions strategies that encompass a diverse spectrum of market capitalization segments, industry sectors, investment styles and approaches. We believe that these strategies are positioned to attract positive net flows and sustainable fee rates over the long term and provide us with a next generation investment management platform. As illustrated below, as of December 31, 2021, our current business is well diversified from multiple perspectives, including by asset class, by investment vehicle, and by Franchises and our Solutions Platform.

Asset Class Mix

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Vehicle Mix

Franchise/Platform Mix

Data as of December 31, 2021.

Within individual asset classes and strategies, our Franchises employ different investment approaches. This diversification reduces the correlation between return streams generated by multiple Franchises investing within the same asset class. For example, we have two Franchises (Trivalent and Sophus) focused on Emerging Markets within global/non‑U.S. equity, each with a different investment approach. Trivalent’s investment team primarily focuses on quantitative analysis for stock selection, combined with some fundamental analysis. Sophus employs a front‑end quantitative screen to first rank stocks, then further applies fundamental research to make its investment decisions. Due to the differences in investment approaches, each Franchise has a different return profile for investors in different market environments while maintaining desired asset class exposure.

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Our multi‑channel distribution capabilities provide another degree of diversification, with approximately 37% of our AUM from direct investor clients, 36% from retail clients, and 27% from institutional clients, as of December 31, 2021. Within these channels, clients are further diversified among intermediary (broker dealer and RIAs) platforms, sub advisory relationships, corporate and public entities, insurance companies, 529 Education Saving Plan participants, Taft-Hartley plans, endowments, and family offices. We believe this broad diversification of customers has a stabilizing effect on revenue, as various types of investors have unique demand patterns and respond differently to trends and market cycles.

Our Investment Franchises

As of December 31, 2021, we owned 100% of the equity in each of our 12 Investment Franchises. With no Investment Franchise accounting for more than 18% of total AUM, we are well diversified across asset classes and investment approaches. Our Franchises are independent from one another from an investment process perspective, maintain their own separate brands and logos, which have been built over time, and are led by dedicated Chief Investment Officers (“CIOs”). We customize each Franchise’s integration with our centralized operating platform to optimize their investment processes.

INCORE Capital Management – INCORE Capital Management is comprised of three teams managing convertible bond strategies, short-term U.S. government securities, and niche and customized fixed income strategies focusing on exploiting structural inefficiencies in the U.S. fixed income markets. INCORE conducts extensive research that includes identifying slower prepayment rates on mortgages, market inefficiencies along areas of the yield curve, and proprietary quantitative credit quality modeling. INCORE is based in Birmingham, MI, and Brooklyn, OH and managed $7.5 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. INCORE’s investment team consists of 14 professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 21 years.

Integrity Asset Management – Integrity Asset Management utilizes a dynamic value‑oriented approach to U.S. mid‑ and small‑capitalization companies. Integrity conducts fundamental stock research to find attractive companies that have compelling discounts to the prevailing market conditions. Integrity is based in Rocky River, OH, and managed $5.3 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. Integrity’s investment team consists of 13 professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 22 years.

Munder Capital Management – Munder Capital Management has an experienced team utilizing a “Growth‑at‑a‑Reasonable‑Price” strategy in the U.S. equity markets designed to generate consistently strong performance over a market cycle. Munder performs extensive fundamental research in order to find attractive growth companies that it expects will exceed market expectations. Of the companies with independently determined growth attributes, valuation is applied to find the most inexpensive growth companies. Munder is based in Birmingham, MI, and managed $1.9 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. Munder’s investment team consists of eight professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 28 years.

New Energy Capital – NEC manages alternative investments in private closed end funds, with investment periods ranging between five and 10 years. NEC was one of the first investors to focus on clean energy and infrastructure investments of small-and mid-sized clean energy infrastructure projects and companies. NEC’s investments provide growth capital in all forms across the capital structure from credit to equity, as well as hybrid financing arrangements.

The investment team has extensive experience in all aspects of clean infrastructure investing, including evaluating energy markets, projects, and technologies; developing and financing domestic and international power generation, fuels, wastewater management, and distributed generation facilities; founding and managing renewable energy companies; and understanding the public policies that currently shape the landscape for the energy and related infrastructure markets. Based in Hanover, NH, NEC managed $0.8 billion as of December 31, 2021. NEC’s investment team consists of 10 investment professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 13 years.

NewBridge Asset Management – NewBridge Asset Management applies a high conviction growth‑oriented strategy focusing on U.S. large‑capitalization companies experiencing superior long‑term growth rates with strong management teams. Most of NewBridge’s team has worked together since 1996 doing fundamental research on high growth companies. NewBridge portfolios usually holds between 25 and 35 securities.

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NewBridge is based in New York, NY, and managed $1.0 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. NewBridge’s investment team consists of four professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 25 years.

RS Investments – RS Investments is made up of three distinct investment teams: (i) RS Value, (ii) RS Growth and (iii) RS Global. RS Value and RS Growth apply an original and proprietary fundamental approach to investing in value and growth‑oriented U.S. equity strategies. The RS Value and RS Growth teams conduct hundreds of company research meetings each year. RS Global utilizes a highly disciplined quantitative approach to managing core‑oriented global and international equity strategies. RS Investments is based in San Francisco, CA, and managed $11.8 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. RS Investments’ three investment teams consist of 21 professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 22 years.

Sophus Capital – Sophus Capital utilizes a disciplined quantitative process that accesses market conditions in emerging equity markets and rank orders attractive companies that are further researched from a fundamental basis. Sophus’ team members travel to companies to conduct fundamental research. Sophus is based in Des Moines, IA, with employees in London, Hong Kong, and Singapore, and managed $2.5 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. Sophus’ investment team consists of 10 professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 21 years.

Sycamore Capital – Sycamore Capital applies a quality value‑oriented approach to U.S. mid‑ and small‑ capitalization companies. Sycamore conducts fundamental research to find companies with strong high‑quality balance sheets that are undervalued versus comparable high-quality companies. Sycamore is based in Cincinnati, OH, and managed $32.3 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. Sycamore’s investment team consists of 11 professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 18 years.

THB Asset Management – Founded in 1982, and formerly known as Thomson, Hortsmann & Bryant, THB Asset Management (“THB”) manages equity assets in capacity constrained, micro-cap, small-cap, and mid-cap asset classes, including strategies managing U.S., international and global portfolios. THB was an early adopter of introducing ESG factors into their investment process and security selection. THB serves clients in the U.S. and in Europe and Australia. Based in Norwalk, CT, THB’s investment team is comprised of eight professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 13 years.  

Trivalent Investments – Trivalent Investments utilizes a disciplined approach to stock selection across large to small companies in the international and emerging markets space. Trivalent’s investment strategy is primarily a proprietary quantitative process that drives stock selection across various countries. Trivalent frequently conducts reviews of stock selection rankings within a portfolio construction and risk management context in order to isolate performance to stock selection. Trivalent is based in Boston, MA, and managed $5.8 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. Trivalent’s investment team consists of seven professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 25 years.

USAA Investments – The team at USAA Investments utilizes a rigorous process rooted in a team-oriented approach among portfolio managers, research analysts and traders. Their taxable and tax-exempt portfolios are built bond by bond using a fundamental, bottom up, credit and yield-focused analysis. USAA Investments is based in San Antonio, TX, and managed $28.6 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. USAA’s investment team consists of 39 professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 24 years.

WestEnd Advisors – WestEnd, is a third-party ETF model strategist providing turnkey, core model allocation strategies serving as holistic solutions and complementary sources of alpha. WestEnd is based in Charlotte, NC, and had assets under advisement (“AUA”) and AUM totaling $19.3 billion as of December 31, 2021. The WestEnd team consists of 25 members averaging approximately 12 years of industry experience.

Solutions Platform

Our Solutions Platform consists of multi‑asset, multi-manager, quantitative, rules-based, factor-based, and customized portfolios. These strategies are designed to achieve specific return characteristics, with products that include values-based and thematic outcomes and exposures. We offer our Solutions Platform through a variety of vehicles, including separate accounts, mutual funds, UMA accounts, rules-based and active ETFs under our VictoryShares ETF brand. Like our Franchises, our Solutions Platform is operationally integrated and supported by our centralized distribution, marketing and operational support functions. Our Solutions Platform

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is based in San Antonio, TX, and managed $66.3 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. The Solutions Platform team consists of 13 professionals with an average industry experience of approximately 15 years.

Our Products and Investment Performance

As of December 31, 2021, our 12 Franchises and Solutions Platform offered 130 investment strategies with the majority consisting of fixed income, U.S. small‑ and mid‑cap equities, global/non‑U.S. equities and solutions. These asset classes collectively comprised 89% of our $183.7 billion of total AUM, and 91% of long-term AUM, as of December 31, 2021.

Product Mix – Our investment strategies are offered through open‑end mutual funds, institutional separate accounts, CITs, private closed end funds, UCITs, other pooled vehicles, SMAs and UMAs through wrap separate account programs, ETFs, and ETF model strategies. Our product mix could expand, as we can add investment vehicles to strategies offered by our Franchises.

Investment Performance – Our Franchises have established a long track record of benchmark‑relative outperformance, including prior to their acquisition by us. As of December 31, 2021, 77% of our strategies by AUM had returns in excess of their respective benchmarks over a ten‑year period, 82% over a five‑year period, 77% over a three‑year period, and 64% over a one-year period. On an equal‑weighted basis, 71% of our strategies have outperformed their benchmarks over a ten‑year period, 67% over a five‑year period, 60% over a three‑year period, and 70% over a one-year period. We consider both the AUM‑weighted and equal‑weighted metrics in evaluating our investment performance. The advantage of the AUM‑weighted metric is that it reflects the investment performance of our Company as a whole, indicating whether we tend to outperform our benchmarks for the assets we manage. The disadvantage is that the metric fails to capture the overall effectiveness of our individual investment strategies; it does not capture whether most of our strategies tend to outperform their respective benchmarks. Conversely, the equal‑weighted metric reflects the overall effectiveness of our individual investment strategies but fails to capture the investment performance of our Company as a whole.

The table below sets forth our 10 largest strategies by AUM as of December 31, 2021 and their average annual total returns compared to their respective benchmark index over the one‑, three‑, five‑ and 10‑year periods ended December 31, 2021. These strategies represented approximately 42% of our total AUM as of December 31, 2021.

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A high percentage of our mutual fund and ETF assets have four- or five-star Morningstar ratings. As of December 31, 2021, 43 of our Victory Capital mutual funds and ETFs, with Morningstar ratings, earned ratings of four or five stars overall and 64% of our mutual fund and ETF AUM were rated four or five stars overall by Morningstar. Over a three‑year and five‑year basis, 61% and 62% of our fund AUM achieved four- or five-star ratings, respectively.

Competitive Strengths

We believe we have significant competitive strengths that position us for sustained growth and shareholder value creation over the long term.

Integrated Model Providing Centralized Distribution, Marketing, and Support Functions to Investment Franchises, which maintain complete Investment Autonomy – Our highly integrated model allows us to achieve benefits from both our substantial scale and the focus of our specialized investment managers. Our Franchises retain investment autonomy while benefiting from our centralized operating platform. We have demonstrated an ability to incorporate our Franchises onto our flexible infrastructure without significantly increasing incremental fixed costs, which is a key component to the scalability of our business model. This structure enables our Franchises to focus their efforts on the investment process, providing them with a scaled platform to enhance their investment performance and consequently their growth prospects. Centralized operations allow our Franchises to customize their desired investment support functions in ways that are best suited for their investment workflow. Through our unified distribution platform, our Franchises can efficiently sell their products to institutional investors, retirement plans, wealth managers, as well as through retail and retirement intermediaries of all sizes, where it can be challenging for smaller managers to gain access, and directly to investors.

Within our model, each Franchise retains its own brand and logo, which has been built over time. Unlike other models with unified branding, there is no requirement for newly acquired Franchises to adjust their product set due to pre‑existing products on our platform; they are marketed under their own brand as they were previously. Because of this dynamic, we have the flexibility to add new Franchises either to gain greater exposure to certain asset classes or increase capacity in places where we already have exposure.

Proven Acquirer with Compelling Value Proposition – We believe our platform allows us to continue to be a strategic acquirer within the investment management industry, providing us with an opportunity to further grow and scale our business. Through numerous transactions, we have demonstrated an ability to successfully source, execute and integrate new Franchises.

We believe our unique business model is compelling for potential acquisition prospects. Under our model, Franchises retain the brands they have built as well as autonomy over their investment decisions, while simultaneously benefiting from the ability to leverage our centralized distribution, marketing and operations platform. Our model reduces the administrative burdens borne by our Investment Franchises and allows them instead to focus on the investment process, which we believe can enhance their investment performance. By offering a platform on which Franchises can focus on their core competencies, grow their client base faster and participate in a revenue share program, we believe we are providing an attractive proposition. Furthermore, we

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believe equity in Victory Capital is attractive to Franchise investment personnel, as these personnel receive the advantage of sharing in the potential upside of the entirety of our diversified investment management business.

Because we integrate a significant portion of most of our Franchises’ distribution, operational and administrative functions, we have been able to extract significant expense synergies from certain acquisitions, enabling us to create greater value from transactions.

We will seek to continue to augment our differentiated investment management platform by focusing on acquisition candidates that can make our investment platform better, that expand our distribution or investment capabilities, that optimize our operating platform and achieve our integration and synergy expectations.

Portfolio of Investment Strategies with Potential for Outperformance – In assembling our portfolio of Franchises, we have selected investment managers offering strategies in asset classes where active managers have shown an established track record of outperformance relative to benchmarks through security and sector selection, and portfolio construction. We continue to build our platform to address the needs of clients who would like exposure to asset classes that have potential for alpha generation. We find that macro industry trends of asset flows moving from actively managed strategies to passive ones are less pronounced in certain of our asset classes.

Diversified Platform Across Investment Strategies, Franchises and Client Type – We have strategically built an investment platform that is diversified by investment strategy, Franchise, and client type. Within each asset class, Franchises with overlapping investment mandates still contribute to our diversification by pursuing different investment philosophies and/or processes. For example, U.S. mid cap equities, which accounted for approximately 17% of total AUM as of December 31, 2021, consists of five Franchises, each following a different investment strategy. We believe the diversity in investment styles reduces the correlation between the return profiles of strategies within the same asset class, and consequently provides an additional layer of diversification of AUM and revenue stability.

Our AUM also is well diversified at the Franchise level, with no Franchise accounting for more than 18% of total AUM. Furthermore, we believe our Franchises’ brand independence reduces the impact of each individual Franchise’s performance on clients’ perceptions of the other Franchises. The distribution of AUM by Franchise and the number of Franchises, as well as succession planning, mitigates the level of key man risk typically associated with investment management businesses.

We believe our client base serves as another important diversifying element, as different client segments have shown to have distinct characteristics, including asset class and product preferences, sales and redemptions trends, and exposure to secular trends. We strive to maintain a balance between direct investor, retail clients, and institutional clients with 37%, 36% and 27% of our AUM as of December 31, 2021 in each of these channels, respectively. We also have the capability to deliver our strategies in investment vehicles designed to

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meet the needs and preferences of investors in each channel. These investment vehicles include actively and passively managed open-end mutual funds with channel‑specific share classes, rules-based and active ETFs, third-party ETF model strategies, SMAs, UMAs, VIPs, CITs, wrap account programs, UCITs, alternative investments, private closed end funds, and a 529 Education Savings Plan. If a strategy is currently not offered in the wrapper of choice for a client, we have the infrastructure and ability to create a new investment vehicle, which helps our Franchises further diversify their client bases.

Attractive Financial Profile – Our revenues are recurring in nature, as they are based on the level of client assets we manage. Most of our strategies are in asset classes that require specialized skill, are in demand and typically command attractive fee rates. With the growth of our Solutions Platform and third-party ETF model strategies, our average fee rate is likely to decline as those businesses continue to grow and represent an increasing proportion of our total AUM. Despite their lower average fee rates, by managing these competitively priced strategies on our integrated platform we can earn higher than our average margins on these products.

Because we largely outsource our middle‑ and back‑office functions, as well as technology support, we have relatively minimal capital expenditure requirements. Our integrated platform allows us the ability to make investments that can benefit each Franchise and our Solutions Platform. Approximately two‑thirds of our operating expenses are variable in nature, consisting of the incentive compensation pool for employees, sales commissions, third‑party distribution costs, sub‑advising and the fees we pay to certain of our vendors. This automatic flexing of our expense base helps to support profitability throughout various market cycles.

We have identified three primary net income growth drivers; (i) we grow our AUM organically through inflows into our strategies and the market appreciation of those strategies; (ii) we have a proven ability to grow via strategic and synergistic acquisitions; and (iii) we have constructed a scalable and efficient platform.

Economic and Structural Alignment of Interests Promotes Ownership Culture – Through our revenue share compensation model for our Franchises and broad employee ownership, we have structurally aligned our employees’ interests with those of our clients and other shareholders and have created an ownership culture that encourages employees to act in the best interests of clients and our Company shareholders, as well as to think long term. We believe the high percentage of employee ownership creates a collective alignment with our success. Additionally, our employees invest in products managed by our Franchises and Solutions Platform, providing direct alignment with the interests of our clients. As of December 31, 2021, our employees beneficially owned approximately 20% of our shares. In addition to being aligned with our financial success through their equity ownership, our current employees collectively have invested approximately $250.0 million in products we manage as of December 31, 2021.

We directly align the compensation paid to our investment teams with the performance of their respective Franchises by structuring formula‑based revenue sharing on the products they manage. We believe that compensation based on revenue rather than profits encourages investment professionals to focus their attention on investment performance, while encouraging them to provide good client service, focus on client retention and attract new assets. We believe the formula‑based, client‑aligned nature of our revenue sharing reduces complexity and fosters a culture of transparency where Franchises understand how, and on what terms, they are being measured to earn compensation.

Integrated Distribution, Marketing and Operations

The centralization of our distribution, marketing and operational functions is a key component in our model, allowing our Franchises to focus on their core competencies of security and sector selection, portfolio construction, and client service. In addition, we believe it provides our Franchises with the benefits of operating at scale, providing them with access to a larger number of clients as well as a more streamlined cost structure. As of December 31, 2021, we had 485 full-time employees with 174 in investment management, 218 in sales and marketing roles and 93 in management and support functions.

Our centralized distribution and marketing functions lead the sales effort for our institutional, retail intermediary, and direct investor channels. Our sales teams are staffed with accomplished professionals that are given specific training on how to position each of our strategies. Our distribution teams have historically focused on developing strategic long-term relationships with institutional consultants, institutional asset owners, retail and retirement intermediaries, RIAs, Family Offices, and bank trust departments. Complementing these

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relationships, we use data extensively to enhance the effectiveness of our distribution teams. Investments in data packs from intermediaries, artificial intelligence initiatives, and predictive analytics—used to determine specific financial advisors’ propensities to buy or sell products—further enhance efficiencies.

These relationships can enhance our platform’s overall reach and allow our Franchises and Solutions Platform to access more clients. To ensure high levels of client service, our sales teams liaise regularly with product specialists at our Franchises. The specialists are tasked with responding to institutional client and retail inquiries on product performance and educating prospective investors and retail partners in coordination with the relevant internal sales team members. Our distribution and marketing professionals collaborate closely with our Franchises’ product specialists in order to attract new clients while also servicing and generating additional sales from existing clients.

Direct Investor Business – In 2020, we launched a new digital platform to directly serve investors which features a client-centric modern design. Visitors to the site are presented with channel-specific content, useful investment tools and calculators, and timely investment insights from the Company’s investment experts. At our direct investor business contact center, we have approximately 200 sales and service professionals focused on assisting our direct investors (the “Investors”). They engage with thousands of investors everyday via phone, chat or email depending on the investor’s preference. We also have a mobile application that streamlines service for investors and enhances internal efficiency. Through these interactions we provide Investors with account servicing, portfolio reviews, college planning assistance and investment guidance at no additional cost to the Investor. Many of our direct investor business contact center professionals are Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) licensed, so they are well qualified to serve the Investors’ investment needs. We have a referral agreement in place with USAA to ensure all USAA members who are interested in investing directly in a USAA Mutual Fund, certain Victory Mutual Funds, or the USAA 529 Education Savings Plan, or interacting with us otherwise, are seamlessly directed to us, either by phone or online.

Institutional Sales – Our institutional sales team attracts and builds relationships with institutional clients, a wide range of institutional consultants and mutual fund complexes and other organizations seeking sub‑advisers. Our institutional clientele includes more than 400 corporations, public funds, non‑profit organizations, Taft‑Hartley plans, sub‑advisory clients, international clients, sovereign wealth funds, and insurance companies. Our institutional sales and client‑service professionals manage existing client relationships, serve consultants and prospects and/or focus on specific segments. They have extensive experience and a comprehensive understanding of our investment activities. Our client‑facing institutional sales professionals have an average of more than 20 years of industry tenure.

Retail Sales – Our retail sales team includes regional external wholesalers, retirement specialists, RIA specialists, national account specialists, all of whom are supported by an internal sales desk. We also have a team of nine distribution professionals specializing in the sale of third-party ETF model strategies. Additionally, we have a growing team focused on RIA, Bank Trust & Multi Family Offices with exceptional product knowledge to enhance the growth in this sub-channel within our retail sales. In the retail channel, we focus on gathering assets through intermediaries, such as banks, broker‑dealers, wirehouses, retirement platforms and RIA networks. We offer mutual funds, ETFs, third-party ETF models, and separately managed wrap and unified managed accounts on intermediary and retirement platforms. We have agreements with many of the largest platforms in our retail channel, which has provided an opportunity to place our retail products on those platforms. Further, to enhance our presence on large distribution platforms, we have focused our efforts on servicing intermediary home offices and research departments. These efforts have led to strong growth in platform penetration, as measured by investment products on approved and recommended lists, as well as our inclusion in model portfolios. This penetration provides the opportunity for us to sell more products through distribution platforms. We have several products on the research recommended/model portfolios of the top U.S. intermediary platforms. We also have several products on the recommended list of the top retirement platforms.

Marketing – Our distribution efforts are supplemented by our marketing function, which is primarily responsible for enhancing the visibility and quality of our portfolio of brands. They are specifically tasked with managing corporate, Franchise and Solutions Platform branding efforts, database management, the development of marketing materials, our website, digital marketplace, digital marketing and social media efforts, and the publishing of white papers. They are also a key component in our responses to requests for proposals received from prospective clients.

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Operations – Our highly centralized operations functions provide our Franchises and Solutions Platform with the support they need so that they can focus on their investment processes. Our Investment Franchises share operating functions such as trading platforms, risk and compliance, middle- and back‑office support, technology, finance, human resources, accounting and legal. Although our operations are highly centralized, we do allow our Franchises a degree of customization with respect to their desired investment support functions, which we believe helps them maintain their unique investment processes and minimize disruptions.

We outsource certain middle‑ and back‑office activities, such as sub-transfer agent, trade settlement, portfolio analytics, custodian reconciliation, portfolio accounting, corporate action processing, performance calculation and client reporting, to scaled, recognized service providers, who provide their services to us on a variable‑cost basis. Systems and processes are customized as necessary to support our investment processes and operations. We maintain relationships with multiple vendors for most of our outsourced functions, which we believe mitigates vendor‑specific risk. We also have cyber and information security, business continuity and data privacy programs in place to help mitigate risk.

Outsourcing these functions enables us to grow our AUM, both organically and through acquisitions, without the incremental capital expenditures and working capital that would typically be needed. Under our direction and oversight, our outsourced model enhances our ability to integrate our acquisitions, as we are experienced in working with our vendors to efficiently bring additional Franchises onto our platform in a cost‑efficient manner.

We believe both the scalability of our business and our cost structure, in which approximately two‑thirds of our operating expenses are variable, drives industry-leading margins and facilitates free cash flow conversion. Additionally, we believe having most of our expenses tied to AUM and the number of client accounts provides downside margin protection should there be sustained net outflows or adverse market conditions.

Competition

Our investment products are sold in the traditional institutional segments, via intermediary and retirement distribution platforms, and directly to investors. We face competition with other investment firms in attracting and retaining assets. Additionally, we compete with other acquirers of investment management firms, including independent, integrated investment management firms and multi‑boutique businesses, insurance companies, banks, private equity firms and other financial institutions.

We compete with other managers offering similar strategies. Some of these organizations have greater financial resources and capabilities than we can offer and have strong performance track records. We effectively compete with other investment management firms for client assets based on the following primary factors: (i) our investment performance track record of delivering alpha; (ii) the specialized nature of our investment strategies; (iii) fees charged; (iv) access to distribution channels; (v) client service; and (vi) our employees’ alignment of interests with investors.

We compete with other potential acquirers of investment management firms primarily on the basis of the following factors: (i) the strength of our distribution relationships; (ii) the value we add through our shared distribution, marketing and operations platforms; (iii) the investment autonomy Franchises retain post acquisition; (iv) the tenure and continuity of our management and investment professionals; and (v) the value that can be delivered to the seller through realization of synergies created by the combination of the businesses.

Our ability to continue to compete effectively will also depend upon our ability to retain our current investment professionals and employees and to attract highly qualified new investment professionals and employees. For additional information concerning the competitive risks that we face, refer to “Risk Factors—Industry Risks—The investment management industry is intensely competitive.”

Human Capital

We have created a strong alignment of interests with clients and shareholders through employee ownership, our Franchise revenue share structure, and employee investments in our products. Notably, a significant number of our employee shareholders acquired their equity in connection with the management‑led buyout with Crestview GP from KeyCorp, as well as in connection with the acquisitions of RS and Munder. We believe the

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opportunity to own equity in a well‑diversified investment management company promotes long-term thinking and client alignment and is attractive, both to existing employees and those who join as part of acquisitions. We principally compensate our investment professionals through a revenue share program, which we believe further incentivizes our investment professionals to focus on investment performance, while simultaneously minimizing potential distractions from an expense allocation process that would be involved in a profit‑sharing program. We believe the combination of these mechanisms promotes long‑term thinking and enhances both the client experience and the creation of value for our shareholders.

Our senior management team, Franchises’ CIOs and sales leaders are highly experienced in the industry, each bringing significant expertise to his or her role, having tenures on average of more than 20 years.

As an asset management firm, we are in the human capital business. As such, we value and appreciate our most important asset—our people. We employ “owners”, not employees. Accordingly, we strive to offer competitive compensation and employee benefits to all employees. We want them to own their contribution to Victory Capital’s success. In recognition of this mission, Victory Capital has established an equity awards program that most employees participate in. As of December 31, 2021, we had 485 employees, with more than 70% holding ownership interests in our Company that totaled approximately 20% of the equity in our firm. Our employees also held approximately $250.0 million of their personal assets in our investment products at year-end.

We believe that doing our part to maintain the health and welfare of our employees is a critical element for achieving commercial success. As such, we provide our employees with comprehensive health benefits and offer a wellness program which focuses on employee health strategies and includes a discount to employee medical premiums for the completion of certain wellness initiatives. We have taken a proactive approach to addressing the ongoing coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic’s impact on our employees in order to protect their health, encouraging and in some instances requiring working from home, and balancing these steps with a carefully considered return to office policy that complies with respective local guidelines for each of our offices. In addition, we offer employee assistance programs, including confidential assistance for financial, mental, and physical well-being. Finally, the well-being of our employees is enhanced when they can give back to their local communities or charities and we have programs that encourage our employees to give back to their local communities.

We recognize and appreciate the importance of creating an environment in which all employees feel valued, included, and empowered to do their best work and as a result our Diversity, Inclusion, Cohesion, and Engagement Committee is charged with integrating a diversity strategy that drives best practices, goals and objectives. The Committee’s mission is to foster an environment that attracts the best talent, values diversity of life experiences and perspectives, and encourages innovation and excellence.

We encourage you to review our Corporate Responsibility Report (located on our website) for more detailed information regarding our human capital programs and initiatives. Nothing on our website is deemed incorporated by reference into this Report.

Regulatory Environment and Compliance

Our business is subject to extensive regulation in the United States at the federal level and, to a lesser extent, the state level, as well as regulation by self‑regulatory organizations, and outside the United States. Under these laws and regulations, agencies that regulate investment advisers have broad administrative powers, including the power to limit, restrict or prohibit an investment adviser from carrying on its business in the event that it fails to comply with such laws and regulations. Possible sanctions that may be imposed include the suspension of individual employees, limitations on engaging in certain lines of business for specified periods of time, revocation of investment adviser and other registrations, censures and fines.

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SEC Investment Adviser and Investment Company Registration / Regulation – VCM and WestEnd are both registered with the SEC as investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Advisers Act”), and the Victory Funds, USAA Funds, VictoryShares and several of the investment companies we sub‑advise are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”). The Advisers Act and the 1940 Act, together with the SEC’s regulations and interpretations thereunder, impose substantive and material restrictions and requirements on the operations of advisers and registered funds. The SEC is authorized to institute proceedings and impose sanctions for violations of the Advisers Act and the 1940 Act, ranging from fines and censures to termination of an adviser’s registration. As an investment adviser, we have a fiduciary duty to our clients. The SEC has interpreted that duty to impose standards, requirements and limitations on, among other things: trading for proprietary, personal and client accounts; allocations of investment opportunities among clients; our use of soft dollars; execution of transactions; and recommendations to clients. We manage accounts for clients on a discretionary basis, with authority to buy and sell securities for each portfolio, select broker‑dealers to execute trades and negotiate brokerage commission rates. In connection with certain of these transactions, we receive soft dollar credits from broker‑dealers that have the effect of reducing certain of our expenses. All our soft dollar arrangements are intended to be within the safe harbor provided by Section 28(e) of the Exchange Act. If our ability to use soft dollars were reduced or eliminated as a result of the implementation of statutory amendments or new regulations, our operating expenses would increase. In addition, we also advise clients on a non-discretionary basis where we provide actively managed models using non-proprietary products. This is often referred to as assets under advisement.

As registered investment advisers, VCM and WestEnd are subject to many additional requirements that cover, among other things: disclosure of information about our business to clients; maintenance of written policies and procedures; maintenance of extensive books and records; restrictions on the types of fees we may charge; custody of client assets; client privacy; advertising; and solicitation of clients. The SEC has authority to inspect any investment adviser and typically inspects a registered adviser periodically to determine whether the adviser is conducting its activities (i) in accordance with applicable laws, (ii) in a manner that is consistent with disclosures made to clients and (iii) with adequate systems and procedures to ensure compliance.

For the year ended December 31, 2021, 86% of our total revenues were derived from our services to investment companies registered under the 1940 Act—i.e., mutual funds and ETFs. The 1940 Act imposes significant requirements and limitations on a registered fund, including with respect to its capital structure, investments and transactions. While we exercise broad discretion over the day‑to‑day management of the business and affairs of the Victory Funds, USAA Funds, VictoryShares and the investment portfolios of the Victory Funds, USAA Funds, and VictoryShares and the funds we sub‑advise, the funds are subject to oversight of and governance by each fund’s board of directors. Under the 1940 Act, a majority of the directors of our registered funds must not be “interested persons” with respect to us (sometimes referred to as the “independent director” requirement) in order to rely on certain exemptive rules under the 1940 Act relevant to the operation of registered funds. The responsibilities of the fund’s board include, among other things: approving our investment advisory agreement with the fund (or, for sub‑advisory arrangements, our sub‑advisory agreement with the fund’s investment adviser); approving other service providers; determining the method of valuing assets; and monitoring transactions involving affiliates. Our investment advisory agreements with these funds may be terminated by the funds on not more than 60 days’ notice and are subject to annual renewal by the fund’s board after the initial term of one to two years. The 1940 Act also imposes on investment advisers or sub‑advisers to a registered fund a fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of the advisers’ investment management fees or the sub-advisers’ sub‑advisory fees. That fiduciary duty may be enforced by the SEC, by administrative action or by litigation by investors in the fund pursuant to a private right of action.

As required by the Advisers Act, our investment advisory agreements may not be assigned without the client’s consent. Under the 1940 Act, investment advisory agreements with registered funds (such as the mutual funds and ETFs we manage) terminate automatically upon assignment. The term “assignment” is broadly defined and includes direct assignments as well as assignments that may be deemed to occur upon the transfer, directly or indirectly, of a “controlling block” of our outstanding voting securities. Refer to “Risk Factors—Business Risks—An assignment could result in termination of our investment advisory agreements to manage SEC‑registered funds and could trigger consent requirements in our other investment advisory agreements.”

SEC Broker‑Dealer Registration / FINRA Regulation – VCS is subject to regulation by the SEC, FINRA and various states. In addition, certain of our employees are registered with FINRA and such states and subject to

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SEC, state and FINRA regulation. The failure of these companies and/or employees to comply with relevant regulation could have a material adverse effect on our business.

SEC Transfer Agent Registration – VCTA is a SEC-registered transfer agent. Our registered transfer agent is subject to the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. These laws and regulations generally grant the SEC and other supervisory bodies broad administrative powers to address non-compliance with regulatory requirements. Sanctions that may be imposed for non-compliance with these requirements include the suspension of individual employees, limitations on engaging in certain activities for specified periods of time or for specified types of clients, the revocation of registrations, other censures and significant fines.

ERISA‑Related Regulation – We are a fiduciary under Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) with respect to assets that we manage for benefit plan clients subject to ERISA. ERISA, the regulations promulgated thereunder, and applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code impose certain duties on persons who are fiduciaries under ERISA, prohibit certain transactions involving ERISA plan clients and impose monetary penalties for violations of these prohibitions. The duties under ERISA require, among other obligations, that fiduciaries perform their duties solely in the interests of ERISA plan participants and beneficiaries.

CFTC Regulation – VCM is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) as a commodity operator and is a member of the National Futures Association (“NFA”), a self‑regulatory organization for the U.S. derivatives industry. In addition, certain of our employees are registered with the CFTC and members of NFA. Registration with the CFTC and NFA membership subjects VCM to regulation by the CFTC and the NFA including, but not limited to, reporting, recordkeeping, disclosure, self‑examination and training requirements. Registration with the CFTC also subjects VCM to periodic on‑site audits. Each of the CFTC and NFA is authorized to institute proceedings and impose sanctions for violations of applicable regulations.

Non‑U.S. Regulation – In addition to the extensive regulation to which we are subject in the United States, we are subject to regulation internationally. Our business also is subject to the rules and regulations of the countries in which we market our funds or services and conduct investment activities.

In Singapore, we are subject to, among others, the Securities and Futures Act (“SFA”), the Financial Advisers Act (“FAA”), and the subsidiary legislation promulgated pursuant to these acts, which are administered by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”). We and our employees conducting regulated activities specified in the SFA and/or the FAA are required to be licensed with the MAS. Failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations, codes, directives, notices and guidelines issued by the MAS may result in penalties including fines, censures and the suspension or revocation of licenses granted by the MAS.

VCM is also authorized by the Central Bank of Ireland, which regulates our Irish business activities, to act as an investment manager to Irish UCITS fund. We have historically operated in Australia based on a “sufficient equivalence relief” exemption from local licensing with the Australian Securities and Investments commission. In 2021, we applied for a Foreign Australian Financial Services License (AFS) which was granted on June 15, 2021.

Compliance – Our legal and compliance functions consist of 13 professionals as of December 31, 2021. This group is responsible for all legal and regulatory compliance matters, as well as for monitoring adherence to client investment guidelines. Our legal and compliance teams work through a well‑established reporting and communication structure to ensure we have a consistent and holistic program for legal and regulatory compliance. Senior management also is involved at various levels in all these functions. We cannot assure that our legal and compliance functions will be effective to prevent all losses. Refer to “Item 1A. Risk Factors—General Risks—If our techniques for managing risk are ineffective, we may be exposed to material unanticipated losses.”

For more information about our regulatory environment, refer to “Risk Factors—Legal and Regulatory Risks—As an investment management firm, we are subject to extensive regulation” and “Risk Factors— Legal and Regulatory Risks —The regulatory environment in which we operate is subject to continual change and regulatory developments designed to increase oversight may materially adversely affect our business.”

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Available Information

We routinely file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information required by the SEC. Our SEC filings are available to the public from the SEC’s public internet site at https://www.sec.gov.

We maintain a public internet site at ir.vcm.com and make available free of charge through this site our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of directors and executive officers, as well as any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. We also post on our website the charters for our board of directors’ Audit Committee, Nominating, Governance and Sustainability Committee and Compensation Committee, as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines, our Corporate Responsibility Statement, and our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics governing our directors, officers, and employees. The information on our website is not incorporated by reference into this annual report.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

The risks described below are not the only ones facing us. The occurrence of any of the following risks or additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently believe to be immaterial could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. In such case the trading price of our common stock could decline. This report also contains forward‑looking statements and estimates that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward‑looking statements as a result of specific factors, including the risks and uncertainties described below.

Risk Factors Summary

The following is a summary of risks and uncertainties that affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. We are providing the following summary of risk factors to enhance readability of our risk factor disclosure. Material risks that may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations include, but are not limited to, the following:

Market and Investment Performance Risks

Business Risks

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Merger and Acquisition Risks

Indebtedness Risks

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Capital Structure and Public Company Risks

Legal and Regulatory Risks

Industry Risks

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Third Party Risks

Operational and Cybersecurity Risks

General Risks

Market and Investment Performance Risks

We earn substantially all of our revenues based on AUM, and any reduction in AUM would reduce our revenues and profitability. AUM fluctuates based on many factors, including investment performance, client withdrawals and difficult market conditions.

We earn substantially all of our revenues from asset‑based fees from investment management products and services to individuals and institutions. Therefore, if our AUM declines, our fee revenue will decline, which will reduce our profitability as certain of our expenses are fixed. There are several reasons that AUM could decline:

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Any of these factors could reduce our AUM and revenues and, if our revenues decline without a commensurate reduction in our expenses, would lead to a reduction in our net income.

The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has, and will likely continue to, negatively impact the global economy.

The military conflict in Ukraine and the ongoing geopolitical tensions have created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. The United States, European Union and other countries announced economic sanctions against Russia. While it has not had a material adverse effect on our business, operations and financial results, the extent to which the conflict impacts our business, operations and financial results going forward will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict, including: the duration and scope of the conflict; governmental and business actions that have been and continue to be taken in response to the conflict, the impact of the conflict on economic activity and any retaliatory actions taken by Russia.

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If our strategies perform poorly, clients could redeem their assets and we could suffer a decline in our AUM, which would reduce our earnings.

The performance of our strategies is critical in retaining existing client assets as well as attracting new client assets. If our strategies perform poorly for any reason, our earnings could decline because:

Our strategies can perform poorly for a number of reasons, including: general market conditions; investor sentiment about market and economic conditions; investment styles and philosophies; investment decisions; global events; the performance of the companies in which our strategies invest and the currencies in which those investment are made; the fees we charge; the liquidity of securities or instruments in which our strategies invest; and our inability to identify sufficient appropriate investment opportunities for existing and new client assets on a timely basis. In addition, while we seek to deliver long‑term value to our clients, volatility may lead to under‑performance in the short term, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

In addition, when our strategies experience strong results relative to the market, clients’ allocations to our strategies typically increase relative to their other investments and we sometimes experience withdrawals as our clients rebalance their investments to fit their asset allocation preferences despite our strong results.

While clients do not have legal recourse against us solely on the basis of poor investment results, if our strategies perform poorly, we are more likely to become subject to litigation brought by dissatisfied clients. In addition, to the extent clients are successful in claiming that their losses resulted from fraud, negligence, willful misconduct, breach of contract or other similar misconduct, these clients may have remedies against us, the mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles we advise and/or our investment professionals under various U.S. and non‑U.S. laws.

The historical returns of our strategies may not be indicative of their future results or of the strategies we may develop in the future.

The historical returns of our strategies and the ratings and rankings we or the mutual funds, ETFs and other pooled investment vehicles that we advise have received in the past should not be considered indicative of the future results of these strategies or of any other strategies that we may develop in the future. The investment performance we achieve for our clients varies over time and the variance can be wide. The ratings and rankings we or the mutual funds, ETFs and other pooled investment vehicles that we advise have received are typically revised monthly. Our strategies’ returns have benefited during some periods from investment opportunities and positive economic and market conditions. In other periods, general economic and market conditions have negatively affected investment opportunities and our strategies’ returns. These negative conditions may occur again, and in the future, we may not be able to identify and invest in profitable investment opportunities within our current or future strategies.

New strategies that we launch or acquire in the future may present new and different investment, regulatory, operational, distribution and other risks than those presented by our current strategies. New strategies may invest in instruments with which we have no or limited experience, create portfolios that present new or different risks or have higher performance expectations that are more difficult to meet. Any real or perceived problems

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with future strategies or vehicles could cause a disproportionate negative impact on our business and reputation.

We may support our money market funds to maintain their stable net asset values, or other products we manage, which could affect our revenues or operating results.

Approximately 2% of our AUM as of December 31, 2021, consisted of assets in money market funds. Money market funds seek to preserve a stable net asset value. Market conditions could lead to severe liquidity or security pricing issues, which could impact the NAV of money market funds. If the NAV of a money market fund managed by our asset managers were to fall below its stable net asset value, we would likely experience significant redemptions in AUM and reputational harm, which could have a material adverse effect on our revenues or net income. If a money market fund's stable NAV comes under pressure, we may elect, to provide credit, liquidity, or other support to the fund. We may also elect to provide similar or other support, including by providing liquidity to a fund, to other products we manage for any number of reasons. If we elect to provide support, we could incur losses from the support we provide and incur additional costs, including financing costs, in connection with the support. These losses and additional costs could be material and could adversely affect our earnings. In addition, certain proposed regulatory reforms could adversely impact the operating results of our money market funds.

The performance of our strategies or the growth of our AUM may be constrained by unavailability of appropriate investment opportunities.

The ability of our investment teams to deliver strong investment performance depends in large part on their ability to identify appropriate investment opportunities in which to invest client assets. If the investment team for any of our strategies is unable to identify sufficient appropriate investment opportunities for existing and new client assets on a timely basis, the investment performance of the strategy could be adversely affected. In addition, if we determine that sufficient investment opportunities are not available for a strategy, we may choose to limit the growth of the strategy by limiting the rate at which we accept additional client assets for management under the strategy, closing the strategy to all or substantially all new investors or otherwise taking action to limit the flow of assets into the strategy. If we misjudge the point at which it would be optimal to limit access to or close a strategy, the investment performance of the strategy could be negatively impacted. The risk that sufficient appropriate investment opportunities may be unavailable is influenced by a number of factors, including general market conditions, but is particularly acute with respect to our strategies that focus on small‑ and mid‑cap equities, and is likely to increase as our AUM increases, particularly if these increases occur very rapidly. By limiting the growth of strategies, we may be managing the business in a manner that reduces the total amount of our AUM and our investment management fees over the short term.

Business Risks

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has, and will likely continue to, negatively impact the global economy and interrupt normal business activity.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a pandemic. The global spread of COVID-19 has created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. While COVID-19 did not have a material adverse effect on our business, operations and financial results as of December 31, 2021, the extent to which the pandemic impacts our business, operations and financial results going forward will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict, including: the duration and scope of the pandemic; governmental, business and individuals’ actions that have been and continue to be taken in response to the pandemic; the impact of the pandemic on economic activity and actions taken in response; and the effect on our ability to sell and provide our services.

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The loss of key investment professionals or members of our senior management team could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We depend on the skills and expertise of our portfolio managers and other investment professionals and our success depends on our ability to retain the key members of our investment teams, who possess substantial experience in investing and have been primarily responsible for the historical investment performance we have achieved.

Because of the tenure and stability of our portfolio managers, our clients may attribute the investment performance we have achieved to these individuals. The departure of a portfolio manager could cause clients to withdraw assets from the strategy, which would reduce our AUM, investment management fees and our net income. The departure of a portfolio manager also could cause consultants and intermediaries to stop recommending a strategy, clients to refrain from allocating additional assets to the strategy or delay such additional assets until a sufficient new track record has been established and could also cause the departure of other portfolio managers or investment professionals. We have instituted succession planning at our Franchises in an attempt to minimize the disruption resulting from these potential changes, but we cannot predict whether such efforts will be successful.

We also rely upon the contributions of our senior management team to establish and implement our business strategy and to manage the future growth of our business. The loss of any of the senior management team could limit our ability to successfully execute our business strategy or adversely affect our ability to retain existing and attract new client assets and related revenues.

Any of our investment or management professionals may resign at any time, join our competitors or form a competing company. Although many of our portfolio managers and each of our named executive officers are subject to post‑employment non‑compete obligations, these non‑competition provisions may not be enforceable or may not be enforceable to their full extent. In addition, we may agree to waive non‑competition provisions or other restrictive covenants applicable to former investment or management professionals in light of the circumstances surrounding their relationship with us. We do not generally carry “key man” insurance that would provide us with proceeds in the event of the death or disability of any of the key members of our investment or management teams.

Competition for qualified investment and management professionals is intense and we may fail to successfully attract and retain qualified personnel in the future. Our ability to attract and retain these personnel will depend heavily on the amount and structure of compensation and opportunities for equity ownership we offer. Any cost‑reduction initiative or adjustments or reductions to compensation or changes to our equity ownership culture could cause instability within our existing investment teams and negatively impact our ability to retain key personnel. In addition, changes to our management structure, corporate culture and corporate governance arrangements could negatively impact our ability to retain key personnel.

We derive substantially all of our revenues from contracts and relationships that may be terminated upon short or no notice.

We derive substantially all of our revenues from investment advisory and sub‑advisory agreements as well as fund administration and accounting, agreements with the Victory Funds, USAA Funds and VictoryShares and transfer agency agreements with the USAA Funds, all of which are terminable by clients or our funds’ boards upon short notice or no notice.

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Our investment advisory agreements with registered funds, which are funds registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the 1940 Act, including mutual funds and ETFs, are generally terminable by the funds’ boards or a vote of a majority of the funds’ outstanding voting securities on not more than 60 days’ written notice, as required by law. After an initial term (not to exceed two years), each registered fund’s investment advisory agreement must be approved and renewed annually by that fund’s board, including by its independent members. We maintain a long history of renewing these agreements. In addition, all of our separate account clients and certain of the mutual funds that we sub‑advise have the ability to re‑allocate all or any portion of the assets that we manage away from us at any time with little or no notice. When a sub‑adviser terminates its sub‑advisory agreement to manage a fund that we advise there is a risk that investors in the fund could redeem their assets in the fund, which would cause our AUM to decrease. Similarly, our fund administration, accounting, and transfer agency agreements are subject to annual fund board approval.

These investment advisory and other agreements and client relationships may be terminated or not renewed for any number of reasons. The decrease in revenues that could result from the termination of a material client relationship or group of client relationships could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Investors in certain funds that we advise can redeem their assets from those funds at any time without prior notice.

Investors in the mutual funds and certain other pooled investment vehicles that we advise or sub‑advise may redeem their assets from those funds at any time on fairly limited or no prior notice, thereby reducing our AUM. These investors may redeem for any number of reasons, including general financial market conditions, global events, the absolute or relative investment performance we have achieved, or their own financial conditions and requirements. In a declining stock market, the pace of redemptions could accelerate. Poor investment performance relative to other funds tends to result in decreased client commitments and increased redemptions. For the year ended December 31, 2021, we generated approximately 91% of our total revenues from mutual funds and other pooled investment vehicles that we advise (including our proprietary mutual funds, or the Victory Funds, USAA Funds, VictoryShares, and other entities for which we are adviser or sub‑adviser). The redemption of assets from those funds could adversely affect our revenues and have a material adverse effect on our earnings.

Investment recommendations provided to our direct investor channel may not be suitable or fulfill regulatory requirements; representatives may not disclose or address conflicts of interest, conduct inadequate due diligence, provide inadequate disclosure; mutual fund transactions subject to human error or fraud.

The direct channel serves existing or potential individual investors who invest in our USAA Mutual Funds and USAA 529 Education Savings Plan. Our broker-dealer subsidiary has a dedicated retail investor-facing sales team who discuss the merits of investing in the USAA Mutual Funds and provide asset allocation recommendations based on the investor’s needs to aid them in their decision making. Our sales team’s recommendations may not fulfill regulatory requirements as a result of their failing to collect sufficient information about an investor or failing to understand the investor’s needs or risk tolerances. Risks associated with providing recommendations also include those arising from how we disclose and address actual or potential conflicts of interest, inadequate due diligence, inadequate disclosure, human error and fraud. In addition, Regulation Best Interest imposes heightened conduct standards, suitability analysis and disclosure requirements when we provide recommendations to retail investors. To the extent that we fail to satisfy regulatory requirements, fail to know our mutual fund shareholders, improperly advise these investors, or risks associated with providing investment recommendations otherwise materialize, we could be found liable for losses suffered by such investors, or could be subject to regulatory fines, and penalties, any of which could harm our reputation and business.

We may be subject to claims of unsuitable investments. If individual investors who invest in the USAA Mutual Funds or USAA 529 Education Savings Plan suffer losses on their investment mandates, they may seek compensation from us on the basis of allegations that the USAA Mutual Funds or the investment options in the USAA 529 Education Savings Plan were not suitable or that the fund prospectuses or other marketing materials contained material errors or were misleading. Despite the controls relating to disclosure in fund prospectuses

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and marketing materials, it is possible that such action may be successful, which in turn could adversely affect the business, financial condition and results of operations. Any claim for lack of suitability may also result in regulatory investigation, censure and/or fine and may damage our reputation.

The significant growth we have experienced over the past few years may be difficult to sustain and our growth strategy is dependent in part upon our ability to make and successfully integrate new strategic acquisitions.

Our AUM has increased from $17.9 billion following our 2013 management‑led buyout with Crestview GP from KeyCorp to $183.7 billion as of December 31, 2021, primarily as a result of acquisitions. The absolute measure of our AUM represents a significant rate of growth that may be difficult to sustain. The continued long‑term growth of our business will depend on, among other things, successfully making new acquisitions, retaining key investment professionals, maintaining existing strategies and selectively developing new, value‑added strategies. There is no certainty that we will be able to identify suitable candidates for acquisition at prices and terms we consider attractive, consummate any such acquisition on acceptable terms, have sufficient resources to complete an identified acquisition or that our strategy for pursuing acquisitions will be effective. In addition, any acquisition can involve a number of risks, including the existence of known, unknown or contingent liabilities. An acquisition may impose additional demands on our staff that could strain our operational resources and require expenditure of substantial legal, investment banking and accounting fees. We may be required to issue additional shares of common stock or spend significant cash to consummate an acquisition, resulting in dilution of ownership or additional debt leverage, or spend additional time and money on facilitating the acquisition that otherwise would be spent on the development and expansion of our existing business.

We may not be able to successfully manage the process of integrating an acquired company’s people and other applicable assets to extract the value and synergies projected to be realized in connection with the acquisition. The process of integrating operations could cause an interruption of, or loss of momentum in, the activities of one or more of our combined businesses and the possible loss of key personnel and AUM. The diversion of management’s attention and any delays or difficulties encountered in connection with acquisitions and the integration of an acquired company’s operations could have an adverse effect on our business.

Our business growth will also depend on our success in achieving superior investment performance from our strategies, as well as our ability to maintain and extend our distribution capabilities, to deal with changing market and industry conditions, to maintain adequate financial and business controls and to comply with new legal and regulatory requirements arising in response to both the increased sophistication of the investment management industry and the significant market and economic events of the last decade.

We may not be able to manage our growing business effectively or be able to sustain the level of growth we have achieved historically.

Our expenses are subject to fluctuations that could materially impact our results of operations.

Our results of operations are dependent upon the level of our expenses, which can vary from period to period. We have certain fixed expenses that we incur as a going concern, and some of those expenses are not subject to adjustment. If our revenues decrease, without a corresponding decrease in expenses, our results of operations would be negatively impacted. While a majority of our expenses are variable, and we attempt to project expense levels in advance, there is no guarantee that an unforeseen expense will not arise or that we will be able to adjust our variable expenses quickly enough to match a declining revenue base. Consequently, either event could have either a temporary or permanent negative impact on our results of operations.

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A significant proportion of our existing AUM is managed in long‑only investments.

As of December 31, 2021, approximately 79% of our AUM was invested in U.S. and international equity. Under market conditions in which there is a general decline in the value of equity securities, the AUM in each of our equity strategies is likely to decline. Unlike some of our competitors, we do not currently offer strategies that invest in privately held companies or take short positions in equity securities, which could offset some of the poor performance of our long‑only equity strategies under such market conditions. Even if our investment performance remains strong during such market conditions relative to other long‑only equity strategies, investors may choose to withdraw assets from our management or allocate a larger portion of their assets to non‑long‑only or non‑equity strategies. In addition, the prices of equity securities may fluctuate more widely than the prices of other types of securities, making the level of our AUM and related revenues more volatile.

As of December 31, 2021, of the 79% of our AUM invested in U.S. and international equity approximately 28% of the AUM was concentrated in small‑ and mid‑cap equities. As a result, a substantial portion of our operating results depends upon the performance of those investments, and our ability to retain client assets in those investments. If a significant portion of the investors in such investments decided to withdraw their assets or terminate their investment advisory agreements for any reason, including poor investment performance or adverse market conditions, our revenues from those investments would decline, which would have a material adverse effect on our earnings and financial condition.

As of December 31, 2021, approximately 21% of our total AUM was invested in U.S. taxable and tax-exempt fixed-income and money market securities. While fixed-income is typically considered less volatile than the equity markets, it does exhibit different types of risks such as interest rate risk, credit risk, and over-the-counter liquidity risk. Also, retention of fixed income AUM depends upon the performance of those investments, and our ability to retain client assets in those investments. If a significant portion of the investors in such investments decided to withdraw their assets or terminate their investment advisory agreements for any reason, including poor investment performance or adverse market conditions, our revenues from those investments would decline, which would have a material adverse effect on our earnings and financial condition. Money market securities are about 2% of total AUM and are considered a low risk asset category.

In addition, we have historically derived substantially all of our revenue from clients in the United States. If economic conditions weaken or slow, particularly in the United States, this could have a substantial adverse impact on our results of operations.

Our efforts to establish and develop new teams and strategies may be unsuccessful and could negatively impact our results of operations and could negatively impact our reputation and culture.

We seek to add new investment teams that invest in a way that is consistent with our philosophy of offering high value‑added strategies. We also look to offer new strategies managed by our existing teams. We expect the costs associated with establishing a new team and/or strategy initially to exceed the revenues generated, which will likely negatively impact our results of operations. If new strategies, whether managed by a new team or by an existing team, invest in instruments, or present operational issues and risks, with which we have little or no experience, it could strain our resources and increase the likelihood of an error or failure.

In addition, the historical returns of our existing strategies may not be indicative of the investment performance of any new strategy, and the poor performance of any new strategy could negatively impact the reputation of our other strategies.

We may support the development of new strategies by making one or more seed investments using capital that would otherwise be available for our general corporate purposes and acquisitions. Making such a seed investment could expose us to potential capital losses.

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An assignment could result in termination of our investment advisory agreements and could trigger consent requirements in our other investment advisory agreements.

Under the 1940 Act, each of the investment advisory agreements between registered funds and our subsidiary, VCM, and investment sub‑advisory agreements between the investment adviser to a registered fund and VCM, will terminate automatically in the event of its assignment, as defined in the 1940 Act.

Assignment, as generally defined under the 1940 Act and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, or the Advisers Act, includes direct assignments as well as assignments that may be deemed to occur, under certain circumstances, upon the direct or indirect transfer of a “controlling block” of our outstanding voting securities. A transaction is not an assignment under the 1940 Act or the Advisers Act if it does not result in a change of actual control or management of VCM.

Upon the occurrence of such an assignment, VCM could continue to act as adviser or sub‑adviser to any such registered fund only if that fund’s board and shareholders approved a new investment advisory agreement, except in the case of certain of the registered funds that we sub‑advise for which only board approval would be necessary pursuant to a manager‑of‑managers SEC exemptive order. In addition, as required by the Advisers Act, each of the investment advisory agreements for the separate accounts and pooled investment vehicles we manage provides that it may not be assigned, as defined in the Advisers Act, without the consent of the client. In addition, the investment advisory agreements for certain pooled investment vehicles we manage outside the U.S. contain provisions requiring board approval and or client consent before they can be assigned. If an assignment were to occur, we cannot be certain that we would be able to obtain the necessary approvals from the boards and shareholders of the registered funds we advise or the necessary consents from our separate account or pooled investment vehicle clients.

If an assignment of an investment advisory agreement is deemed to occur, and our clients do not consent to the assignment or enter into a new agreement, our results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Our failure to comply with investment guidelines set by our clients, including the boards of registered funds, and limitations imposed by applicable law, could result in damage awards against us and a loss of AUM, either of which could adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition.

When clients retain us to manage assets on their behalf, they generally specify certain guidelines regarding investment allocation and strategy that we are required to follow in managing their assets. The boards of registered funds we manage generally establish similar guidelines regarding the investment of assets in those funds. We are also required to invest the registered funds’ assets in accordance with limitations under the 1940 Act and applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Internal Revenue Code. Other clients, such as plans subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or ERISA, or non‑U.S. funds and pooled investment vehicles, require us to invest their assets in accordance with applicable law. Our failure to comply with any of these guidelines and other limitations could result in losses to clients or investors in a fund which, depending on the circumstances, could result in our obligation to make clients or fund investors whole for such losses. If we believed that the circumstances did not justify a reimbursement, or clients and investors believed the reimbursement we offered was insufficient, they could seek to recover damages from us or could withdraw assets from our management or terminate their investment advisory agreement with us. Any of these events could harm our reputation and materially adversely affect our business.

We provide a broad range of services to the Victory Funds, USAA Funds, VictoryShares and sub‑advised mutual funds which may expose us to liability.

We provide a broad range of administrative services to the Victory Funds, the USAA Funds and VictoryShares, including providing personnel to the Victory Funds, the USAA Funds and VictoryShares to serve as directors and officers, the preparation or supervision of the preparation of the Victory Funds’, USAA Funds’ and VictoryShares’ regulatory filings, maintenance of board calendars and preparation or supervision of the preparation of board meeting materials, management of compliance and regulatory matters, provision of shareholder services and communications, accounting services, including the supervision of the activities of the Victory Funds’, USAA Funds’ and VictoryShares’ accounting services provider in the calculation of the funds’

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net asset values, supervision of the preparation of the Victory Funds’, USAA Funds’ and VictoryShares’ financial statements and coordination of the audits of those financial statements, tax services, including calculation of dividend and distribution amounts and supervision of tax return preparation, supervision of the work of the USAA Funds’, Victory Funds’ and VictoryShares’ other service providers, VCTA acting as transfer agent to the USAA Funds and VCS acting as a distributor for the Victory Funds and USAA Funds. If we make a mistake in the provision of those services, the Victory Funds, USAA Funds or VictoryShares could incur costs for which we might be liable. In addition, if it were determined that the Victory Funds, USAA Funds or VictoryShares failed to comply with applicable regulatory requirements as a result of action or failure to act by our employees, we could be responsible for losses suffered or penalties imposed. In addition, we could have penalties imposed on us, be required to pay fines or be subject to private litigation, any of which could decrease our future income or negatively affect our current business or our future growth prospects. Although less extensive than the range of services we provide to the Victory Funds, USAA Funds’ and VictoryShares, we also provide a limited range of services, in addition to investment management services, to sub‑advised mutual funds.

In addition, we from time to time provide information to the funds for which we act as sub‑adviser (or to a person or entity providing administrative services to such a fund), and to the UCITS, for which we act as investment manager (or to the promotor of the UCITS or a person or entity providing administrative services to such a UCITS), which is used by those funds or UCITS in their efforts to comply with various regulatory requirements. If we make a mistake in the provision of those services, the sub‑advised fund or UCITS could incur costs for which we might be liable. In addition, if it were determined that the sub‑advised fund or UCITS failed to comply with applicable regulatory requirements as a result of action or failure to act by our employees, we could be responsible for losses suffered or penalties imposed. In addition, we could have penalties imposed on us, be required to pay fines or be subject to private litigation, any of which could decrease our future income or negatively affect our current business or our future growth prospects.

Potential impairment of goodwill and intangible assets could result in not realizing the value of these assets.

As of December 31, 2021, our goodwill and intangible assets totaled $2.3 billion. The value of these assets may not be realized for a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, significant redemptions, loss of clients, damage to brand name and unfavorable economic conditions. In accordance with the guidance under Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, ASC 350‑20, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other, we review the carrying value of goodwill and intangible assets not subject to amortization on an annual basis, or more frequently if indications exist suggesting that the fair value of our intangible assets may be below their carrying value. Determining goodwill and intangible assets, and evaluating them for impairment, requires significant management estimates and judgment, including estimating value and assessing useful life in connection with the allocation of purchase price in the acquisition creating them. We evaluate the value of intangible assets subject to amortization on an annual basis and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Should such reviews indicate impairment, a reduction of the carrying value of the intangible asset could occur.

If we were deemed an investment company required to register under the 1940 Act, we would become subject to burdensome regulatory requirements and our business activities could be restricted.

Generally, a company is an “investment company” required to register under the 1940 Act if, absent an applicable exception or exemption, it (i) is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities; or (ii) engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire “investment securities” having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis.

We hold ourselves out as an investment management firm and do not propose to engage primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. We believe we are engaged primarily in the business of providing investment management services and not in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. We also believe our primary source of income is properly characterized as income earned in

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exchange for the provision of services. We believe less than 40% of our total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis comprise assets that could be considered investment securities.

We intend to conduct our operations so that we will not be deemed an investment company required to register under the 1940 Act. However, if we were to be deemed an investment company required to register under the 1940 Act, restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, including limitations on our capital structure and our ability to transact with our affiliates, could make it impractical for us to continue our business as currently conducted and could have a material adverse effect on our financial performance and operations.

Merger and Acquisition Risks

We may not realize the benefits we expect from mergers and acquisitions because of integration difficulties and other challenges.  

We regularly review, and from time to time have discussions on and engage in, potential transactions, including potential acquisitions of other asset managers or their assets, consolidations, equity method investments or similar transactions, some of which may be material. The success of these transactions will depend in large part on the success of integrating the personnel, operations, strategies, technologies and other components of the businesses following the completion of the transaction. The Company may fail to realize some or all of the anticipated benefits if the integration process takes longer than expected or is more costly than expected. The failure of the Company to meet the challenges involved in successfully integrating the operations or to otherwise realize any of the anticipated benefits could impair the operations of the Company. Potential difficulties that we may encounter in the integration process include the following:

The anticipated benefits and synergies include the elimination of duplicative personnel, realization of efficiencies in consolidating duplicative corporate, business support functions and amortization of purchased intangibles for tax purposes. However, these anticipated benefits and synergies assume a successful integration and are based on projections, which are inherently uncertain, and other assumptions. Even if integration is successful, anticipated benefits and synergies may not be achieved.

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Certain liabilities resulting from acquisitions are estimated and could lead to a material impact on earnings.

Through our acquisition activities, we may record liabilities for future contingent earnout payments that are to be settled in cash. The fair value of these liabilities is assessed on a quarterly basis and changes in assumptions used to determine the amount of the liability could lead to an adjustment that may have a material impact, favorable or unfavorable, on our results of operations.

Indebtedness Risks

Our substantial indebtedness may expose us to material risks.

As of December 31, 2021, we had $1,151 million of outstanding debt that consisted of (i) an existing term loan balance of $646.2 million and (ii) incremental term loans in an aggregate principal amount of $505.0 million. In addition, we maintain a $100.0 million revolving credit facility, though no amounts were outstanding as of December 31, 2021.  

Our substantial indebtedness may make it more difficult for us to withstand or respond to adverse or changing business, regulatory and economic conditions or to take advantage of new business opportunities or make necessary capital expenditures. In addition, the 2019 Credit Agreement contains financial and operating covenants that may limit our ability to conduct our business. While we are currently in compliance in all material respects with the financial and operating covenants under the 2019 Credit Agreement, we cannot assure that at all times in the future we will satisfy all such financial and operating covenants (or any such covenants applicable at the time) or obtain any required waiver or amendment, in which event all outstanding indebtedness could become immediately due and payable. This could result in a substantial reduction in our liquidity and could challenge our ability to meet future cash needs of the business.

To the extent we service our debt from our cash flow, such cash will not be available for our operations or other purposes. Because of our significant debt service obligations, the portion of our cash flow used to service those obligations could be substantial if our revenues decline, whether because of market declines or for other reasons. Any substantial decrease in net operating cash flows or any substantial increase in expenses could make it difficult for us to meet our debt service requirements or force us to modify our operations. Our ability to repay the principal amount of any outstanding loans under the 2019 Credit Agreement, to refinance our debt or to obtain additional financing through debt or the sale of additional equity securities will depend on our performance, as well as financial, business and other general economic factors affecting the credit and equity markets generally or our business in particular, many of which are beyond our control. Any such alternatives may not be available to us on satisfactory terms or at all.

2020 Debt Refinancing

On January 17, 2020, we entered into the First Amendment (the “First Amendment”) to the 2019 Credit Agreement with the other loan parties thereto, Barclays Bank PLC, as administrative agent, and the Royal Bank of Canada as fronting bank. Pursuant to the First Amendment, the Company refinanced the existing term loans (the “2019 Term Loans”) with replacement term loans in an aggregate principal amount of $952.0 million (the “2020 Term Loans”). The 2020 Term Loans provided for substantially the same terms as the 2019 Term Loans, including the same maturity date of July 1, 2026, except that the 2020 Term Loans provide for a reduced applicable margin on LIBOR of 75 basis points. The applicable margin on LIBOR under the 2020 Term Loans was 2.50%, compared to 3.25% under the 2019 Term Loans.

2021 Debt Refinancing

On February 18, 2021, we entered into the Second Amendment (the “Second Amendment”) to the 2019 Credit Agreement (as amended by the First Amendment to the Credit Agreement dated as of January 17, 2020, the “2020 Term Loans”) with the other loan parties thereto, Barclays Bank PLC, as administrative agent and collateral agent, the Royal Bank of Canada as fronting bank, and the lenders party thereto from time to time. Pursuant to the Second Amendment, the Company refinanced the 2020 Term Loans with replacement term

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loans in an aggregate principal amount of $755.7 million (the “Repriced Term Loans”). The Repriced Term Loans provide for substantially the same terms as the Existing Term Loans, including the same maturity date of July 1, 2026, except that the Repriced Term Loans provide for a reduced applicable margin on LIBOR of 25 basis points. The applicable margin on LIBOR under the Repriced Term Loans is 2.25%, compared to 2.50% under the Existing Term Loans.

2021 Incremental Term Loans

On December 31, 2021, we entered into the Third Amendment (the “Third Amendment”) to the 2019 Credit Agreement with the guarantors party thereto, Barclays Bank PLC, as administrative agent, and the lenders party thereto from time to time. Pursuant to the Third Amendment, the Company obtained incremental term loans (the “2021 Incremental Term Loans”) in an aggregate principal amount of $505.0 million and used the proceeds to fund the acquisition of 100% of the equity interest of WestEnd Advisors, LLC and to pay fees and expenses incurred in connection therewith. The 2021 Incremental Term Loans will mature in December 2028 and will bear interest at an annual rate equal to, at the option of the Company, either LIBOR (adjusted for reserves and subject to a 50 basis point floor) plus a margin of 2.25% or an alternate base rate plus a margin of 1.25%.

Subsequent to December 31, 2021, we reduced outstanding debt on the 2021 Incremental Term Loans by $65.0 million.

The phase out of LIBOR may have a negative impact on our funds and our debt obligations and may require significant operational work.

The Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), which regulates the administrator of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”) has announced that it will no longer compel panel banks to submit rates for LIBOR after year-end 2021. On November 30, 2020, the ICE Benchmark Association announced its intention to cease publication of the one-week and two-month U.S. dollar-denominated (“USD”) LIBOR rates immediately following December 31, 2021, and the remaining USD LIBOR rates following the LIBOR publications on June 30, 2023. While we expect LIBOR to be available in substantially its current form until at least such date, it is possible that LIBOR will become unavailable prior to that point; in which case, the risks associated with the transition to an alternative reference rate will be accelerated and magnified. The introduction of an alternative rate also may create additional basis risk and increased volatility as alternative rates are phased in and utilized in parallel with LIBOR.

The expected phase-out of LIBOR could negatively impact our net interest revenue and require significant operational work. Certain securities in our investment portfolio and the floating rate loans that our strategies may hold reference LIBOR as the benchmark rate to determine the applicable interest rate or payment amount. The expected discontinuation of LIBOR could create uncertainty or differences in the calculation of the applicable interest rate or payment amount depending on the terms of the governing instruments. There could be significant work required to transition using the new benchmark rates and to implement necessary changes to our systems. Regulators and industry working groups have suggested alternative reference rates, but global consensus is lacking. This could result in different financial performance for previously booked transactions and may impact our existing transaction data, products, systems, operations, and pricing processes.

The transition away from LIBOR may lead to increased volatility and illiquidity in markets that are tied to LIBOR, reduced values of LIBOR-related investments, and reduced effectiveness of hedging strategies. The calculation of interest rates under the replacement benchmarks could also impact our net interest revenue. In addition, LIBOR may perform differently during the phase-out period than in the past which could result in lower interest payments and a reduction in the value of certain securities in our investment portfolio. While our 2019 Credit Agreement provides for a mechanism for determining an alternative interest rate following the phase-out of LIBOR, uncertainty regarding alternative rates may make borrowing under our 2019 Credit Agreement or refinancing more expensive or difficult to achieve on terms we consider favorable.  

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Capital Structure and Public Company Risks

A relatively large percentage of our Common Stock is concentrated with a small number of shareholders, which could increase the volatility in our stock trading and affect our share price.

A large percentage of our common stock is held by a limited number of shareholders. If our larger shareholders decide to liquidate their positions, it could cause significant fluctuation in the share price of our common stock. Public companies with a relatively concentrated level of institutional shareholders, such as we have, often have difficulty generating trading volume in their stock, which may increase the volatility in the price of our common stock.

Crestview GP beneficially owns a significant amount of our common stock and its interests may conflict with ours or other shareholders’ in the future.

Crestview GP does not hold any of our common stock, but beneficially owns 45.7% of our common stock as of December 31, 2021. As a result, Crestview GP has the ability to elect several members of our board of directors and thereby significantly  influence our policies and operations, including the appointment of management, future issuances of our common stock or other securities, the payment of dividends, if any, on our common stock, the incurrence of debt by us, amendments to our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws, and the entering into of extraordinary transactions. Crestview GP may also be able to significantly influence all matters requiring shareholder approval including without limitation a change in control of us or a change in the composition of our board of directors and or precluding any acquisition of us. This significant voting control could deprive other shareholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for shares of their common stock as part of a sale of us and ultimately might affect the market price of our common stock. Further, the interests of Crestview GP may not in all cases be aligned with other shareholders’ interests.

In addition, Crestview GP may have an interest in pursuing acquisitions, divestitures and other transactions that, in its judgment, could enhance its investment, even though such transactions might involve risks to other shareholders. For example, Crestview GP could influence us to make acquisitions that increase our indebtedness or sell revenue‑generating assets. Crestview GP is in the business of making investments in companies and may from time to time acquire and hold interests in businesses that compete directly or indirectly with us. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that none of Crestview GP or Reverence Capital or any of their respective affiliates will have any duty to refrain from engaging, directly or indirectly, in the same business activities or similar business activities or lines of business in which we operate. Crestview GP or Reverence Capital also may pursue acquisition opportunities that may be complementary to our business, and, as a result, those acquisition opportunities may not be available to us, which could have an adverse effect on our growth prospects.

The market price of our Common Stock is likely to be volatile and could decline.

The stock market in general has been highly volatile. As a result, the market price and trading volume for our Common Stock may also be highly volatile, and investors our Common Stock may experience a decrease in the value of their shares, including decreases unrelated to our operating performance or prospects. Factors that could cause the market price of our Common Stock to fluctuate significantly include:

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Any of these factors may result in large and sudden changes in the trading volume and market price of our Common Stock.

Following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, shareholders often file securities class‑action lawsuits against such company. Our involvement in a class‑action lawsuit could divert our senior management’s attention and, if adversely determined, could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Future sales of shares by shareholders could cause our stock price to decline.

Sales of substantial amounts of our Common Stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could cause the market price of our Common Stock to decline. As of February 28, 2022, 68,750,266 shares of our Common Stock are outstanding. Shares of our Common Stock are freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act, unless purchased by our “affiliates,” as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act.

In the future, we may issue additional shares of common stock or other equity or debt securities convertible into common stock in connection with a financing, acquisition or employee arrangement, or in certain other circumstances. Any of these issuances could result in substantial dilution to our existing shareholders and could cause the trading price of our Common Stock to decline.

If securities or industry analysts publish misleading or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our Common Stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more of these analysts downgrades our shares or publishes misleading or unfavorable research about our business, our stock price would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our shares could decrease, which could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline.

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We are an “emerging growth company,” and any decision on our part to comply with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our Common Stock less attractive to investors.

We are an “emerging growth company,” as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Start-ups Act, or the JOBS Act, enacted in April 2012, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies, including, but not limited to, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation (including Chief Executive Officer pay ratio disclosure) in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. As an emerging growth company, we have elected to use the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. As a result, our consolidated financial statements may not be comparable to the financial statements of issuers who are required to comply with the effective dates for new or revised accounting standards that are applicable to public companies.

We may take advantage of these exemptions until such time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. Accordingly, the information contained herein may be different than the information provided by other public companies. We could remain an emerging growth company for up to five years, or until the earliest of (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenues are at least $1.07 billion, (ii) the date that we become a “large accelerated filer” as defined in Rule 12b‑2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if, among other things, the market value of our common equity securities held by non‑affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, or (iii) the date on which we have issued more than $1 billion in nonconvertible debt securities during the preceding three‑year period. Acquisitions could accelerate the timing of when we cease to be an emerging growth company to a period shorter than the fifth anniversary of our IPO. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements. Any decision on our part to comply with certain reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our Common Stock less attractive to investors.

We cannot predict whether investors will find our Common Stock less attractive if we choose to rely on one or more of the exemptions described above. If investors find our Common Stock less attractive as a result of any decisions to reduce future disclosure, there may be a less active trading market for our Common Stock and our stock price may be more volatile.

The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and distract our management, which could make it difficult to manage our business, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company.”

Prior to February 2018, we operated as a private company and had not been subject to the same financial and other reporting and corporate governance requirements of a public company. As a public company, we are now required to file annual, quarterly and other reports with the SEC. We need to prepare and timely file financial statements that comply with SEC reporting requirements. We also are subject to other reporting and corporate governance requirements under the listing standards of NASDAQ and the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act, which impose significant compliance costs and obligations upon us. Being a public company requires a significant commitment of additional resources and management oversight, which add to operating costs. These changes place significant additional demands on our finance and accounting staff, which may not have prior public company experience or experience working for a newly public company, and on our financial accounting and information systems, and we may need to, in the future, hire additional accounting and financial staff with appropriate public company reporting experience and technical accounting knowledge. Other expenses associated with being a public company include increases in auditing, accounting and legal fees and expenses, investor relations expenses, increased directors’ fees and director and officer liability insurance costs, registrar and transfer agent fees and listing fees, as well as other expenses. As a public company, we are required, among other things, to:

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In particular, the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act requires us to document and test the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting in accordance with an established internal control framework, and to report on our conclusions as to the effectiveness of our internal controls. Currently we choose to utilize the exemption pursuant to Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for “emerging growth companies” whereby our independent registered public accounting firm is not required to provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. As described in the previous risk factor, we could potentially qualify as an emerging growth company until December 31, 2023. In addition, we are required under the Exchange Act to maintain disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting. Any failure to implement required new or improved controls, or difficulties encountered in their implementation, could harm our operating results or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting, investors could lose confidence in the reliability of our financial statements. This could result in a decrease in the value of our Common Stock. Failure to comply with the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act could potentially subject us to sanctions or investigations by the SEC or other regulatory authorities.

Failure to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and stock price.

Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related SEC rules require that we perform an annual management assessment of the design and effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our assessment concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2021; however, there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as such standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time in future periods. Accordingly, we cannot assure that we will be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Moreover, effective internal control is necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and is important to help prevent financial fraud. If we cannot provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud, our business and operating results could be harmed, investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, and the trading price of our Class A common stock could drop significantly.

Our ability to pay regular dividends is subject to our Board’s discretion and Delaware law.

We intend to pay dividends to holders of our Common Stock as described in “Dividend Policy.” Our board of directors may, in its sole discretion, change the amount or frequency of dividends or discontinue the payment of dividends entirely. In making decisions regarding our quarterly dividends, we consider general economic and business conditions, our strategic plans and prospects, our businesses and investment opportunities, our financial condition and operating results, working capital requirements and anticipated cash needs, contractual restrictions (including under the terms of our Third Amendment to the 2019 Credit Agreement) and legal, tax, regulatory and such other factors as we may deem relevant.

Future offerings of debt or equity securities may rank senior to our Common Stock.

If we decide to issue debt securities in the future, which would rank senior to shares of our common stock, it is likely that they will be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting our operating flexibility. We and, indirectly, our shareholders will bear the cost of issuing and servicing such

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securities. We may also issue preferred equity, which will have superior rights relative to our common stock, including with respect to voting and liquidation.

Furthermore, if our future access to public markets is limited or our performance decreases, we may need to carry out a private placement or public offering of our Common Stock at a lower price than the price at which investors purchased their shares.

Because our decision to issue debt, preferred or other equity or equity‑linked securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, holders of our Common Stock will bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our Common Stock and diluting the value of their shareholdings in us.

Provisions in our charter documents could discourage a takeover that shareholders may consider favorable.

Certain provisions in our governing documents could make a merger, tender offer or proxy contest involving us difficult, even if such events would be beneficial to the interests of our shareholders. Among other things, these provisions:

These provisions may delay or prevent attempts by our shareholders to replace members of our management by making it more difficult for shareholders to replace members of our board of directors, which is responsible for appointing the members of our management. Anti‑takeover provisions could depress the price of our common stock by acting to delay or prevent a change in control of us.

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Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for substantially all disputes between us and our shareholders, which could limit our shareholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us or our directors, officers or employees.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware is the exclusive forum for any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, any action asserting a breach of fiduciary duty, any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation or our amended and restated bylaws or any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. This choice of forum provision may limit a shareholder’s ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that it finds favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers or other employees and may discourage these types of lawsuits.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

As an investment management firm, we are subject to extensive regulation.

Investment management firms are subject to extensive regulation in the United States, primarily at the federal level, including regulation by the SEC under the 1940 Act and the Advisers Act, by the U.S. Department of Labor, or the DOL, under ERISA, by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or the CFTC, by the National Futures Association, or NFA, under the Commodity Exchange Act, and by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA. The U.S. mutual funds and ETFs we manage are registered with and regulated by the SEC as investment companies under the 1940 Act. The Advisers Act imposes numerous obligations on investment advisers, including recordkeeping, advertising, compliance and operating requirements, disclosure obligations and prohibitions on fraudulent activities. The 1940 Act imposes similar obligations, as well as additional detailed operational requirements, on registered funds, which must be adhered to by their investment advisers. Investment advisers also are subject to certain state securities laws and regulations. Non-compliance with the Advisers Act, the 1940 Act or other federal and state securities laws and regulations could result in investigations, sanctions, disgorgement, fines and reputational damage.

Trading and investment activities conducted by the investment adviser for its client accounts are regulated under the Exchange Act, as well as the rules of various securities exchanges and self-regulatory organizations, including laws governing trading on inside information, market manipulation and a broad number of technical requirements (e.g., short sale limits, volume limitations and reporting obligations) and market regulation policies. Violation of any of these laws and regulations could result in fines or sanctions, as well as restrictions on the investment management firm’s activities and damage to its reputation.

Certain client accounts subject the investment adviser to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), and to regulations promulgated thereunder by the DOL, since we act as a “fiduciary” under ERISA with respect to benefit plan clients that are subject to ERISA. ERISA and applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code impose certain duties on persons who are fiduciaries under ERISA, require the investment adviser to carry bonds insuring against losses caused by fraud or dishonesty, prohibit certain transactions involving ERISA plan clients and impose excise taxes for violations of these prohibitions, and mandate certain required periodic reporting and disclosures. ERISA also imposes additional compliance, reporting and operational requirements on investment advisers that otherwise are not applicable to clients that are not subject to ERISA.

We have also expanded our distribution effort into non‑U.S. markets through partnered distribution efforts and product offerings, including Australia, Europe, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. In the future, we may further expand our business outside of the United States in such a way or to such an extent that we may be required to register with additional foreign regulatory agencies or otherwise comply with additional non‑U.S. laws and regulations that do not currently apply to us and with respect to which we do not have compliance experience. Our lack of experience in complying with any such non‑U.S. laws and regulations may increase our risk of being subject to regulatory actions and becoming party to litigation in such non‑U.S. jurisdictions, which could be more expensive. Moreover, being subject to regulation in multiple jurisdictions may increase the cost, complexity and time required for engaging in transactions that require regulatory approval.

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Accordingly, we face the risk of significant intervention by regulatory authorities, including extended investigation and surveillance activity, adoption of costly or restrictive new regulations and judicial or administrative proceedings that may result in substantial penalties. Among other things, we could be fined, lose our licenses or be prohibited or limited from engaging in some of our business activities or corporate transactions. The requirements imposed by our regulators are designed to ensure the integrity of the financial markets and to protect clients and other third parties who deal with us, and are not designed to protect our shareholders. Consequently, these regulations often serve to limit our activities, including through net capital, client protection and market conduct requirements.

The regulatory environment in which we operate is subject to continual change and regulatory developments designed to increase oversight may materially adversely affect our business.

We operate in a legislative and regulatory environment that is subject to continual change, the nature of which we cannot predict. We may be adversely affected as a result of new or revised legislation or regulations imposed by the SEC, other U.S. or non‑U.S. governmental regulatory authorities or self‑regulatory organizations that supervise the financial markets. The SEC and its staff are currently engaged in various initiatives and reviews that seek to improve and modernize the regulatory structure governing the asset management industry, and registered investment companies in particular. In so doing, it has adopted rules that include (i) new monthly and annual reporting requirements for certain U.S. registered funds; (ii) enhanced reporting regimes for investment advisers; and (iii) implementing liquidity risk management programs for ETFs and open-end funds. In addition, more recently the SEC has also adopted the following rules, many of which are currently in an implementation period, which will increase our public reporting and disclosure requirements, which could be costly and may impede the Company’s growth.

SEC Fund of Funds Rule: In October 2020, the SEC adopted new Investment Company Act Rule 12d1-4 and related amendments intended to streamline and enhance the regulatory framework governing funds investing in other funds.

SEC Derivatives Rule for US Registered Funds: In November 2020, the SEC adopted rules regarding the use of derivatives by registered funds, as well as enhanced reporting and recordkeeping requirements.  The new rules require funds investing in derivatives beyond a 10% derivatives exposure threshold to adopt a formalized derivatives risk management program.

Consumer Privacy Protection Laws: In November 2020, California voters approved the CPRA, which amends the existing California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) and provides new and additional rights and obligations to the existing law.

SEC Fair Value Rule: In December 2020, the SEC adopted new rule 2a-5 under the Investment Company act of 1940 to modernize the process by which registered funds value their assets, including asset for which there is no market quotation readily available and would therefore be subject to fair valuation in good faith by the fund’s board.  The new rule allows the board to delegate fair value determinations to a valuation designee, which would likely be the adviser, subject to board oversight of process and responsibilities.

SEC Proposed Rules on Private Fund Advisers: The SEC has recently proposed new rules and amendments to enhance regulation of private fund advisors. These include proposed amendments to Form PF for SEC-registered investment advisers that add new required disclosures to the form, require advisers to file reports within one business day for certain significant events, lower the threshold for large private equity adviser reporting and impose increased reporting obligations on large liquidity fund advisers. The SEC has also proposed additional rules that would, among other things, require registered private fund advisers to (i) provide quarterly reports to investors of fund performance, fees and expenses, (ii) obtain an annual audit for each fund and (iii) distribute to investors a fairness opinion and summary of certain material business relationships with the opinion provider in connection with an adviser-led secondary transaction. In addition, the proposed rules would prohibit private fund advisers from engaging in certain activities and practices deemed to be contrary to the public interest and investor protection, providing certain types of preferential terms for selected investors and providing any other preferential treatment unless disclosed to current and prospective investors. These rules and amendments, if adopted as proposed, could significantly increase the Company’s reporting, disclosure and compliance obligations and create operational complexity for our alternative products.  

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The requirements imposed by our regulators (including both U.S. and non‑U.S. regulators) are designed to ensure the integrity of the financial markets and to protect clients and other third parties who deal with us, and are not designed to protect our shareholders. Consequently, these regulations often serve to limit our activities and/or increase our costs, including through client protection and market conduct requirements. New laws or regulations, or changes in the enforcement of existing laws or regulations, applicable to us and our clients may adversely affect our business. Our ability to function in this environment will depend on our ability to constantly monitor and promptly react to legislative and regulatory changes. There have been a number of highly publicized regulatory inquiries that have focused on the investment management industry. These inquiries already have resulted in increased scrutiny of the industry and new rules and regulations for mutual funds and investment managers. This regulatory scrutiny may limit our ability to engage in certain activities that might be beneficial to our shareholders.

We also may be adversely affected by changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules by these governmental authorities and self‑regulatory organizations, as well as by courts. It is impossible to determine the extent of the impact of any new U.S. or non‑U.S. laws, regulations or initiatives that may be proposed, or whether any of the proposals will become law. Compliance with any new laws or regulations could be more difficult and expensive and affect the manner in which we conduct business.

Industry Risks

Recent trends in the investment management industry could reduce our AUM, revenues and net income.

Certain passive products and asset classes, such as index and certain types of ETFs, are becoming increasingly popular with investors, including institutional investors. In recent years, across the investment management industry, passive products have experienced inflows and traditional actively managed products have experienced outflows, in each case, in the aggregate. In order to maintain appropriate fee levels in a competitive environment, we must be able to continue to provide clients with investment products and services that are viewed as appropriate in relation to the fees charged, which may require us to demonstrate that our strategies can outperform such passive products. If our clients, including our funds’ boards, were to view our fees as being high relative to the market or the returns provided by our investment products, we may choose to reduce our fee levels or existing clients may withdraw their assets in order to invest in passive products, and we may be unable to attract additional commitments from existing and new clients, which would lead to a decline in our AUM and market share. To the extent we offer such passive products, we may not be able to compete with other firms offering similar products.

Our revenues and net income are dependent on our ability to maintain current fee levels for the products and services we offer. The competitive nature of the investment management industry has led to a trend toward lower fees in certain segments of the investment management market. Our ability to sustain fee levels depends on future growth in specific asset classes and distribution channels. These factors, as well as regulatory changes, could further inhibit our ability to sustain fees for certain products. A reduction in the fees charged by us could reduce our revenues and net income.

Our fees vary by asset class and produce different revenues per dollar of AUM based on factors such as the type of assets being managed, the applicable strategy, the type of client and the client fee schedule. Institutional clients may have significant negotiating leverage in establishing the terms of an advisory relationship, particularly with respect to the level of fees paid, and the competitive pressure to attract and retain institutional clients may impact the level of fee income earned by us. We may decline to manage assets from potential clients who demand lower fees even though such assets would increase our revenue and AUM in the short term.

The investment management industry is intensely competitive.

The investment management industry is intensely competitive, with competition based on a variety of factors, including investment performance, fees, continuity of investment professionals and client relationships, the quality of services provided to clients, corporate positioning and business reputation, continuity of selling

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arrangements with intermediaries and differentiated products. A number of factors, including the following, serve to increase our competitive risks:

Additionally, intermediaries through which we distribute our funds may also sell their own proprietary funds and investment products, which could limit the distribution of our strategies. If we are unable to compete effectively, our earnings could be reduced and our business could be materially adversely affected.

Third Party Risks

We depend primarily on third parties to market and sell our products.

Our ability to attract additional assets to manage is highly dependent on our access to third‑party intermediaries. We gain access to investors in the Victory Funds, USAA Funds and VictoryShares primarily through consultants, 401(k) platforms, broker‑dealers, financial advisors and mutual fund platforms through which shares of the funds are sold. We have relationships with certain third‑party intermediaries through which we access clients in multiple distribution channels.

We compensate most of the intermediaries through which we gain access to investors in the Victory Funds and VictoryShares by paying fees, most of which are a percentage of assets invested in the Victory Funds and VictoryShares through that intermediary and with respect to which that intermediary provides shareholder and administrative services. The allocation of such fees between us and the Victory Funds and VictoryShares is determined by the board of the Victory Funds and VictoryShares and the board of the USAA Funds, based on information and a recommendation from us, with the intent of allocating to us all costs attributable to marketing and distribution of (i) shares of the Victory Funds and USAA Funds not otherwise covered by distribution fees paid pursuant to a distribution and service plan adopted in accordance with Rule 12b‑1 under the 1940 Act and (ii) VictoryShares.

In the future, our expenses in connection with those intermediary relationships could increase if the portion of those fees determined to be in connection with marketing and distribution, or otherwise allocated to us, increased. Clients of these intermediaries may not continue to be accessible to us on terms we consider commercially reasonable, or at all. The absence of such access could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We access institutional clients primarily through consultants. Our institutional business is dependent upon referrals from consultants. Many of these consultants review and evaluate our products and our firm from time to time. Poor reviews or evaluations of either a particular strategy or us as an investment management firm may result in client withdrawals or may impair our ability to attract new assets through these consultants.

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We rely on third parties to provide products or services for the operation of our business, and a failure or inability by such parties to provide these products or services could materially adversely affect our business.

We have determined, based on an evaluation of various factors, that it is more efficient to use third parties for certain functions and services. As a result, we have contracted with a limited number of third parties to provide critical operational support, such as middle‑ and back‑office functions, information technology services and various fund administration and accounting roles, and the funds contract with third parties in custody, transfer agent and sub transfer agent roles. Our third parties with which we do business may also be sources of cybersecurity or other technological risks. While we engage in certain actions to reduce the exposure, such as collaborating to develop secure transmission capabilities, performing onsite security control assessments and limiting third party access to the least privileged level necessary to perform job functions, our business would be disrupted if key service providers fail or become unable to continue to perform those services or fail to protect against or respond to cyber-attacks, data breaches or other incidents. Moreover, to the extent our third‑party providers increase their pricing, our financial performance will be negatively impacted. In addition, upon termination of a third‑party contract, we may encounter difficulties in replacing the third‑party on favorable terms, transitioning services to another vendor, or in assuming those responsibilities ourselves, which may have a material adverse effect on our business.

Operational and Cybersecurity Risks

Operational risks may disrupt our business, result in losses or limit our growth.

We are heavily dependent on the capacity and reliability of the communications, information and technology systems supporting our operations, whether developed, owned and operated by us or by third parties. We also rely on manual workflows and a variety of manual user controls. Operational risks such as trading or other operational errors or interruption of our financial, accounting, trading, compliance and other data processing systems, whether caused by human error, fire, other natural disaster or pandemic, power or telecommunications failure, cyber‑attack or viruses, act of terrorism or war or otherwise, could result in a disruption of our business, liability to clients, regulatory intervention or reputational damage, and thus materially adversely affect our business. The potential for some types of operational risks, including, for example, trading errors, may be increased in periods of increased volatility, which can magnify the cost of an error. Insurance and other safeguards might not be available or might only partially reimburse us for our losses.

Although we have backup systems in place, our backup procedures and capabilities in the event of a failure or interruption may not be adequate. As our client base, number and complexity of strategies and client relationships increase, developing and maintaining our operational systems and infrastructure may become increasingly challenging. We may also suffer losses due to employee negligence, fraud or misconduct. Non‑compliance with policies, employee misconduct, negligence or fraud could result in legal liability, regulatory sanctions and serious reputational or financial harm. In recent years, a number of multinational financial institutions have suffered material losses due to the actions of “rogue traders” or other employees. It is not always possible to deter or detect employee misconduct and the precautions we take to prevent and detect this activity may not always be effective. Employee misconduct could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Failure to implement effective information and cyber security policies, procedures and capabilities could disrupt operations and cause financial losses.

We electronically receive, process, store and transmit sensitive information of our clients including personal data, such as without limitation names and addresses, social security numbers, driver's license numbers, such information is necessary to support our clients’ investment transactions.  The uninterrupted operation of our information systems, as well as the confidentiality of the customer information that resides on such systems, is critical to our successful operation. Bad actors may attempt to harm us by gaining access to confidential or proprietary client information, often with the intent of stealing from or defrauding us or our clients. In some cases, they seek to disrupt our ability to conduct our business, including by destroying information maintained by us. For that reason, cybersecurity is one of the principal operational risks we face as a provider of financial

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services and our operations rely on the effectiveness of our information and cyber security policies, procedures and capabilities to provide secure processing, storage and transmission of confidential and other information in our computer systems, software, networks and mobile devices and on the computer systems, software, networks and mobile devices of third parties on which we rely. Although we maintain a system of internal controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that fraudulent activity is either prevented or detected on a timely basis and we take other protective measures and endeavor to modify them as circumstances warrant, our computer systems, software, networks and mobile devices may be vulnerable to cyber‑attacks, sabotage, unauthorized access, computer viruses, worms or other malicious code, and other events that have a security impact. In addition, our interconnectivity with service providers and other third parties may be adversely affected if any of them are subject to a successful cyber-attack or other information security event. While we collaborate with service providers and other third parties to develop secure transmission capabilities and other measures to protect against cyber-attacks, we cannot ensure that we or any third party has all appropriate controls in place to protect the confidentiality of such information.

An externally caused information security incident, such as a hacker attack, virus or worm, or an internally caused issue, such as failure to control access to sensitive systems, could materially interrupt business operations or cause disclosure or modification of sensitive or confidential client or competitive information and could result in material financial loss, loss of competitive position, regulatory actions, breach of clients contracts, reputational harm or legal liability. If one or more of such events occur, it could potentially jeopardize our or our clients’, employees’ or counterparties’ confidential and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, our or third‑party computer systems, software, networks and mobile devices, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions in our, our clients’, our counterparties’ or third parties’ operations. As a result, we could experience material financial loss, loss of competitive position, regulatory fines and/or sanctions, breach of client contracts, reputational harm or legal liability, which, in turn, could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

As a provider of financial services, we are bound by the disclosure limitations and if we fail to comply with these regulations and industry security requirements, we could be exposed to damages from legal actions from clients, governmental proceedings, governmental notice requirements, and the imposition of fines or prohibitions on the services we provide. Additionally, some of our client contracts require us to indemnify clients in the event of a cyber breach if our systems do not meet minimum security standards. We may be required to spend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures, and we may be subject to litigation and financial losses that are either not insured against fully or not fully covered through any insurance that we maintain.

Further, recent well-publicized security breaches at other companies have led to enhanced government and regulatory scrutiny of the measures taken by companies to protect against cyber-attacks and data privacy breaches, and have resulted in heightened security requirements, including additional regulatory expectations for oversight of vendors and service providers. If more restrictive privacy laws, rules or industry security requirements are adopted in the future on the Federal or State level, or by a specific industry body, they could have an adverse impact on us through increased costs or business restrictions.

Any inability to prevent security or privacy breaches, or the perception that such breaches may occur, could cause our existing clients to lose confidence in our systems and terminate their agreements with us, inhibit our ability to attract new clients, result in increasing regulation, or bring about other adverse consequences from the government agencies that regulate our business.

Disruption to the operations of third parties whose functions are integral to our ETF platform may adversely affect the prices at which VictoryShares trade, particularly during periods of market volatility.

Shares of ETFs, such as VictoryShares, trade on stock exchanges at prices at, above or below the ETF’s most recent net asset value. While ETFs utilize a creation/redemption feature and arbitrage mechanism designed to make it more likely that the ETF’s shares normally will trade at prices close to the ETF’s net asset value, exchange prices may deviate significantly from the ETF’s net asset value. ETF market prices are subject to numerous potential risks, including trading halts invoked by a stock exchange, inability or unwillingness of market makers, authorized participants, settlement systems or other market participants to perform functions

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necessary for an ETF’s arbitrage mechanism to function effectively, or significant market volatility. If market events lead to incidences where ETFs trade at prices that deviate significantly from an ETF’s net asset value, or trading halts are invoked by the relevant stock exchange or market, investors may lose confidence in ETF products and redeem their holdings, which may cause our AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.

General Risks

Reputational harm could result in a loss of AUM and revenues.

The integrity of our brands and reputation is critical to our ability to attract and retain clients, business partners and employees and maintain relationships with consultants. We operate within the highly regulated financial services industry and various potential scenarios could result in harm to our reputation. They include internal operational failures, failure to follow investment or legal guidelines in the management of accounts, intentional or unintentional misrepresentation of our products and services in offering or advertising materials, public relations information, litigation (whether substantiated or not), social media or other external communications, employee misconduct or investments in businesses or industries that are controversial to certain special interest groups. Any real or perceived conflict between our and our shareholders’ interests and our clients’ interests, as well as any fraudulent activity or other exposure of client assets or information, may harm our reputation. The negative publicity associated with any of these factors could harm our reputation and adversely impact relationships with existing and potential clients, third‑party distributors, consultants and other business partners and subject us to regulatory sanctions or litigation. Damage to our brands or reputation could negatively impact our standing in the industry and result in loss of business in both the short term and the long term.

Additionally, while we have ultimate control over the business activities of our Franchises, they generally have the autonomy to manage their day‑to‑day operations, and if we fail to intervene in potentially serious matters that may arise, our reputation could be damaged and our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

If our techniques for managing risk are ineffective, we may be exposed to material unanticipated losses.

In order to manage the significant risks inherent in our business, we must maintain effective policies, procedures and systems that enable us to identify, monitor and mitigate our exposure to operational, legal and reputational risks, including from the investment autonomy of our Franchises. Our risk management methods may prove to be ineffective due to their design or implementation, or as a result of the lack of adequate, accurate or timely information or otherwise. If our risk management efforts are ineffective, we could suffer losses that could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or operating results. Additionally, we could be subject to litigation, particularly from our clients or investors, and sanctions or fines from regulators.

Our techniques for managing operational, legal and reputational risks in client portfolios may not fully mitigate the risk exposure in all economic or market environments, including exposure to risks that we might fail to identify or anticipate. Because our clients invest in our strategies in order to gain exposure to the portfolio securities of the respective strategies, we have not adopted corporate‑level risk management policies to manage market, interest rate or exchange rate risks that could affect the value of our overall AUM.

Certain of our strategies invest principally in the securities of non‑U.S. companies, which involve foreign currency exchange, tax, political, social and economic uncertainties and risks.

As of December 31, 2021, approximately 9% of our total AUM was invested in strategies that primarily invest in securities of non‑U.S. companies and securities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could negatively affect the returns of our clients who are invested in these securities. In addition, an increase in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to non‑U.S. currencies is likely to result in a decrease in the U.S. dollar value of our AUM, which, in turn, would likely result in lower revenue and profits.

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Investments in non‑U.S. issuers may also be affected by tax positions taken in countries or regions in which we are invested as well as political, social and economic uncertainty. Declining tax revenues may cause governments to assert their ability to tax the local gains and/or income of foreign investors (including our clients), which could adversely affect client interests in investing outside their home markets. Many financial markets are not as developed, or as efficient, as the U.S. financial markets, and, as a result, those markets may have limited liquidity and higher price volatility and may lack established regulations. Liquidity may also be adversely affected by political or economic events, government policies, and social or civil unrest within a particular country, and our ability to dispose of an investment may also be adversely affected if we increase the size of our investments in smaller non‑U.S. issuers. Non‑U.S. legal and regulatory environments, including financial accounting standards and practices, may also be different, and there may be less publicly available information about such companies. These risks could adversely affect the performance of our strategies that are invested in securities of non‑U.S. issuers and may be particularly acute in the emerging or less developed markets in which we invest. In addition to our Trivalent and Sophus Franchises, certain of our other Franchises and Solutions Platform invest in emerging or less developed markets.

The expansion of our business outside of the United States raises tax and regulatory risks, may adversely affect our profit margins and places additional demands on our resources and employees.

We have expanded and intend to continue to expand our distribution efforts into non‑U.S. markets through partnered distribution efforts and product offerings, including Europe, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. For example, we organized and serve as investment manager of Irish‑domiciled UCIT fund. Clients outside the United States may be adversely affected by political, social and economic uncertainty in their respective home countries and regions, which could result in a decrease in the net client cash flows that come from such clients. This expansion has required and will continue to require us to incur a number of up‑front expenses, including those associated with obtaining and maintaining regulatory approvals and office space, as well as additional ongoing expenses, including those associated with leases, the employment of additional support staff and regulatory compliance.

Non‑U.S. clients may be less accepting of the U.S. practice of payment for certain research products and services through soft dollars (“soft dollars” are a means of paying brokerage firms for their services through commission revenue, rather than through direct payments) or such practices may not be permissible in certain jurisdictions, which could have the effect of increasing our expenses. In addition, the European Commission adopted several acts under the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (known as “MiFID II”) that prevent the “bundling” of the cost of research together with trading commissions. As a result, clients subject to MiFID II may be unable to use soft dollars to pay for research services in the United Kingdom and in Europe.

Our U.S.‑based employees routinely travel outside the United States as a part of our investment research process or to market our services and may spend extended periods of time in one or more non‑U.S. jurisdictions. Their activities outside the United States on our behalf may raise both tax and regulatory issues. If and to the extent we are incorrect in our analysis of the applicability or impact of non‑U.S. tax or regulatory requirements, we could incur costs or penalties or be the subject of an enforcement or other action. Operating our business in non‑U.S. markets is generally more expensive than in the United States. In addition, costs related to our distribution and marketing efforts in non‑U.S. markets generally have been more expensive than comparable costs in the United States. To the extent that our revenues do not increase to the same degree as our expenses increase in connection with our continuing expansion outside the United States, our profitability could be adversely affected. Expanding our business into non‑U.S. markets may also place significant demands on our existing infrastructure and employees.

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We are also subject to a number of laws and regulations governing payments and contributions to political persons or other third parties, including restrictions imposed by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), as well as trade sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of State. Similar laws in non‑U.S. jurisdictions may also impose stricter or more onerous requirements and implementing them may disrupt our business or cause us to incur significantly more costs to comply with those laws. Different laws may also contain conflicting provisions, making compliance with all laws more difficult. Any determination that we have violated the FCPA or other applicable anti‑corruption laws or sanctions could subject us to, among other things, civil and criminal penalties, material fines, profit disgorgement, injunctions on future conduct, securities litigation and a general loss of investor confidence, any one of which could adversely affect our business prospects, financial condition, or results of operations. While we have developed and implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure strict compliance by us and our personnel with the FCPA and other anti‑corruption laws or sanctions in jurisdictions in which we operate, such policies and procedures may not be effective in all instances to prevent violations.

On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom (“UK”) held a referendum in which voters approved an exit from the EU, commonly referred to as "Brexit". The UK’s withdrawal from the EU occurred on January 31, 2020, and the UK remained in the EU’s customs union and single market until December 31, 2020 (the “Transition Period”). The UK and the EU agreed a Trade and Cooperation Agreement on December 24, 2020 (the “TCA”), which is intended to be operative from the end of the Transition Period. The TCA was ratified by the UK on December 30, 2020 and is expected to come into full force in February 2021 once relevant EU institutions have also ratified the TCA. Until then, the TCA governs the UK's relationship with the EU on an interim basis. While the TCA regulates a number of important areas, significant parts of the UK economy are not addressed in detail by the TCA, including in particular the services sector, which represents the largest component of the UK’s economy. A number of issues, particularly in relation to the financial services sector, remain to be resolved through further bilateral negotiations, which are currently expected to begin in the early part of 2021. Although we do not currently expect Brexit to have a major impact on our business, the new relationship between the UK and the EU could in the short-term, and possibly for longer, cause disruptions to and create uncertainty in the UK and European economies and any negative impact to overall investor confidence or instability in the global macroeconomic environment could have an adverse economic impact on our results of operations.

Failure to properly address conflicts of interest could harm our reputation, business and results of operations.

As we have expanded the scope of our businesses and our client base, we must continue to address conflicts between our interests and those of our clients. In addition, the SEC and other regulators have increased their scrutiny of potential conflicts of interest. We have procedures and controls that are reasonably designed to address these issues. However, appropriately dealing with conflicts of interest is complex and difficult and if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest, we could face reputational damage, litigation or regulatory proceedings or penalties, any of which may adversely affect our revenues or net income.

Insurance may not be available on a cost-effective basis to protect us from liability.

We face the inherent risk of liability related to litigation from clients, third-party vendors or others and actions taken by regulatory agencies. To help protect against these potential liabilities, we purchase insurance in amounts, and against risks, that we consider appropriate, where such insurance is available at prices, we deem acceptable. There can be no assurance, however, that a claim or claims will be covered by insurance or, if covered, will not exceed the limits of available insurance coverage, that any insurer will remain solvent and will meet its obligations to provide us with coverage or that insurance coverage will continue to be available with sufficient limits at a reasonable cost. Insurance costs are impacted by market conditions and the risk profile of the insured and may increase significantly over relatively short periods. In addition, certain insurance coverage may not be available or may only be available at prohibitive costs. Renewals of insurance policies may expose us to additional costs through higher premiums or the assumption of higher deductibles or co-insurance liability.

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None

The Company leases its principal executive offices, which are located in San Antonio, TX. In the United States, the Company also leases office space in Brooklyn, OH; Birmingham, MI; Boston, MA; Rocky River, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Charlotte, NC; Denver, CO; Des Moines, IA; Hanover, NH; Norwalk, CT; and San Francisco, CA. Outside the United States, the Company leases office space in Singapore and Hong Kong. The Company believes its existing facilities are adequate to meet its current and future business requirements.

From time to time, the Company may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business. The Company is not currently a party to any material legal proceedings.

Not applicable

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PART II

Shares of the Company’s Common Stock are listed and trade on NASDAQ under the symbol “VCTR”. As of December 31, 2021, there were approximately 3,000 beneficial shareholders of the Company’s Common Stock.

At a special meeting of stockholders held on November 19, 2021, The Company’s stockholders approved the elimination of the Company’s dual-class share structure. As a result of the stockholders’ vote, the Company filed its amended and restated charter with the Secretary of State of Delaware. Effective November 23, 2021, Victory Capital’s Class B common stock converted into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis, and the Company now has a single class of Common Stock. As a result, all holders of the Company’s Common Stock have identical economic and voting rights.

Performance Graph

The following graph shows a comparison from February 8, 2018 (the date our Common Stock commenced trading on NASDAQ) through December 31, 2021 of the cumulative total return of our Common Stock, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index (S&P 500 Index) and a peer group comprised of Affiliated Managers Group, Inc., Artisan Partners Asset Management Inc., BrightSphere Investment Group plc, Eaton Vance Corp., and Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. Eaton Vance Corp. was acquired and ceased to publicly trade on March 1, 2021. The graph assumes that $100 was invested at the market close on February 8, 2018 in our common stock, the S&P 500 Index and the peer group and assumes reinvestment of any dividends. The stock price performance of the following graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.

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Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers.

The following table sets out information regarding purchases of equity securities by the Company for the three months ended December 31, 2021.

Dividend Policy

In 2019, the Company announced the initiation of quarterly cash dividends and paid its first quarterly dividend in September of that year. During 2020, the Board authorized two increases in the quarterly cash dividend. In August 2020, the dividend was increased by 20%; and, in November, the dividend was increased by 17%. Combined, the two increases resulted in the quarterly cash dividend growing by 40%, from $0.05 per share in the first quarter of 2020, to $0.07 per share in the fourth quarter of 2020. During 2021, the Board authorized four increases in the quarterly cash dividend. Combined, the four increases resulted in the quarterly cash dividend growing by approximately 143%, from $0.07 per share in the fourth quarter of 2020, to $0.17 per share in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Holders of restricted stock awards on the Company’s Common Stock that are unvested at the time quarterly dividends are declared are entitled to be paid these dividends as and when the restricted stock vests. Potential future dividend payments will be at the sole discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon then‑existing conditions, including capital requirements to execute our growth strategy, results of operations, financial condition, projected cash flow, and terms associated with our current credit facility or any future financing. Potential increases to the Company’s cash dividend rate will be assessed annually.

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Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the “Company,” “Victory,” or in the first-person notations of “we,” “us,” and “our” shall mean Victory Capital Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation, and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. 

Objective

The objective of this section of the Annual Report on Form 10-K is to provide a discussion and analysis, from management’s perspective, of the key performance indicators and material information necessary to assess our financial condition, results of operations, liquidity and cash flows for the year ended December 31, 2021. In addition, we also discuss the Company’s contractual obligations and off-balance sheet arrangements. This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this report. In addition to historical information, this discussion and analysis contains forward‑looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which could cause actual results to differ materially from management’s expectations. Please refer to the sections of this report entitled “Forward‑Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors.”

Overview

Our Business – Victory is a diversified global asset management firm with $183.7 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2021. The Company operates a next-generation business model combining boutique investment qualities with the benefits of an integrated, centralized operating and distribution platform.

The Company provides specialized investment strategies to institutions, intermediaries, retirement platforms and individual investors. With 12 autonomous Investment Franchises and a Solutions Platform, Victory offers a wide array of investment products, including actively and passively managed mutual funds, rules-based and active ETFs, institutional separate accounts, VIPs, ESG and impact investment strategies, alternative investments, private closed end funds, and a 529 Education Savings Plan. Victory Capital’s strategies are also offered through third-party investment products, including mutual funds, third-party ETF model strategies, retail SMAs and UMAs through wrap account programs, CITs, and UCITs. As of December 31, 2021, our Franchises and our Solutions Platform collectively managed a diversified set of 130 investment strategies for a wide range of institutional and retail clients and direct investors.

Franchises – Our Franchises are largely operationally integrated, but are separately branded and make investment decisions independently from one another within guidelines established by their respective investment mandates. Our largely integrated model creates a supportive environment in which our investment professionals, largely unencumbered by administrative and operational responsibilities, can focus on their pursuit of investment excellence. VCM employs all of our U.S. investment professionals across our Franchises, which are not separate legal entities.

Solutions – Our Solutions Platform consists of multi-asset, multi-manager, quantitative, rules-based, factor-based, and customized portfolios. These strategies are designed to achieve specific return characteristics, with products that include values-based and thematic outcomes and exposures. We offer our Solutions Platform through a variety of vehicles, including separate accounts, mutual funds, UMA accounts, rules-based and active ETFs under our VictoryShares ETF brand. Like our Franchises, our Solutions Platform is operationally integrated and supported by our centralized distribution, marketing and operational support functions.

Professionals within our institutional and retail distribution channels, direct investor business and marketing organization sell our products through our centralized distribution model. Our institutional sales team focuses on cultivating relationships with institutional consultants, who account for the majority of the institutional market, as well as asset allocators seeking sub-advisers. Our retail sales team offers intermediary and retirement platform clients, including broker-dealers, retirement platforms and RIA networks, mutual funds and ETFs as well as SMAs through wrap fee programs and access to our investment models through UMAs. Our direct

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investor business serves the investment needs of clients including USAA members, the military community, and other individual clients.

We have grown our AUM from $17.9 billion following the management-led buyout with Crestview GP in August 2013 to $183.7 billion at December 31, 2021. We attribute this growth to our success in sourcing acquisitions and evolving them into organic growers, generating strong investment returns, and developing institutional, retail, and direct investor channels with deep penetration.

WestEnd Acquisition (the “WestEnd Acquisition”) – On December 31, 2021, the Company completed the acquisition of 100% of the equity interests of WestEnd pursuant to the WestEnd purchase agreement (as amended, the “WestEnd Purchase Agreement”), resulting in WestEnd becoming the Company’s 12^th investment franchise. Founded in 2004, and headquartered in Charlotte, NC, WestEnd provides financial advisors with a turnkey, core model allocation strategies serving as holistic solutions and complementary sources of alpha. The firm offers four primary ETF strategies and one large cap core strategy, all in tax efficient SMA structures. At December 31, 2021, the WestEnd acquired assets totaled $19.3 billion. The WestEnd acquired assets had no economic impact on operations in 2021 and no effect on asset flows, average assets, revenues or earnings in the full-year period ended December 31, 2021.

The aggregate purchase price (the “WestEnd Purchase Price”) for the WestEnd Acquisition is estimated at $716.1 million, net of cash acquired, which includes (i) $475.8 million in cash paid at closing (the “WestEnd Closing”) net of cash acquired plus the acquisition date value of contingent payments due to sellers of $239.7 million plus an estimated $0.6 million payable in cash in the first half of 2022 for net working capital adjustments. The contingent earn-out payments are based on net revenue of the WestEnd business during each of the first four years following the WestEnd Closing, subject to certain “catch-up” provisions over a five and one half year period following the WestEnd Closing. A maximum of $320.0 million ($80.0 million per year) in earn-out payments may be paid. The WestEnd Purchase Price is subject to adjustments based on the level of client consents received, net working capital, debt, cash and unpaid transaction expenses. Refer to Note 4, Acquisitions, for further details on the WestEnd Acquisition.

NEC Acquisition (the “NEC Acquisition”) – On November 1, 2021, the Company completed the acquisition of 100% of the equity interests in NEC, resulting in NEC becoming the Company’s 11^th investment franchise. Founded in 2004 and based in Hanover, NH, NEC is an alternative asset management firm focused on debt and equity investments in clean energy infrastructure projects and companies. At November 1, 2021, the NEC AUM that was acquired totaled $795.0 million.

The estimated purchase price for the NEC Acquisition is $63.1 million, which includes $62.8 million in cash paid at closing, net of cash acquired, and $0.3 million of net working capital adjustments to be settled in the first quarter of 2022. Under the terms of the purchase agreement, the Company will pay up to an additional $35.0 million in cash based on net revenue growth over a six year period following the closing date. Refer to Note 4, Acquisitions, for further details on the NEC Acquisition.

THB Acquisition (the “THB Acquisition”) – On March 1, 2021, the Company completed the acquisition of certain assets of THB, resulting in THB becoming the Company’s 10^th investment franchise. The acquisition expanded and diversified our investment platform, adding capacity constrained asset classes. The team manages strategies in U.S. micro-cap, small-cap and mid-cap assets classes as well as international small cap and global small cap portfolios; all of which are asset classes in which active management is an important part of a well-diversified portfolio. At March 1, 2021, the THB AUM that was acquired totaled $547 million.

In addition to servicing clients in the U.S., THB has a footprint in Australia and Europe which provides us with expanded distribution opportunities in regions in which we have a limited presence today. This will benefit all of our Franchises as we look to leverage THB’s distribution footprint to sell more of our investment strategies outside the U.S.  

Aligning with the Company’s responsible investing initiatives, all of THB’s strategies have ESG considerations integrated into their investment processes. THB was an early adopter of responsible investment practices and has been managing responsible investment portfolios for decades.

Nominal consideration was paid for the assets of THB. The THB investment team will share in the revenue generated on their products and benefit from our centralized operational, marketing and distribution platforms.

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THB has significant room for AUM growth across its product set, which we think will significantly accelerate with our distribution support. Refer to Note 4, Acquisitions, for further details on the THB Acquisition. 

USAA AMCO Acquisition – On July 1, 2019, the Company completed the acquisition (the “USAA AMCO Acquisition”) of USAA Asset Management (“USAA Adviser”) and VCTA, formally known as the USAA Transfer Agency Company. The acquisition expanded and diversified the Company’s investment platform and increased the Company’s size and scale. The acquisition also provided the Company the rights to offer products and services using the USAA brand and the opportunity to offer its products to USAA members through a direct distribution channel.

A maximum of $150.0 million ($37.5 million per year) in contingent payments is payable to sellers based on the annual revenue of USAA Adviser attributable to all “non-managed money”-related AUM in each of the first four years following the closing date. In the fourth quarter of 2020, we paid $37.5 million in cash to sellers for the first annual contingent payment. In the fourth quarter of 2021, we paid $37.5 million in cash to sellers for the second annual contingent payment.

The estimated fair value of contingent consideration payable to sellers was estimated at $68.8 million at December 31, 2021 as compared to $92.5 million at December 31, 2020 and is included in consideration payable for acquisition of business in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The increase in the liability of $13.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 was recorded in change in value of consideration payable for acquisition of business in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Refer to Note 4, Acquisitions, for further details on the USAA AMCO Acquisition.

Alderwood - On September 20, 2020, the Company acquired, through a wholly owned subsidiary, a 15% interest in Alderwood and made a capital contribution of $1.5 million in cash. Alderwood’s operating entity, Alderwood Capital, is a London-based investment advisory firm focused on taking minority stakes in specialist boutique asset management businesses. The Company had commitments to contribute additional capital of $4.5 million to Alderwood and $50 million to a private fund to be launched by Alderwood, upon the satisfaction of certain conditions. On January 31, 2022, the Company signed an amendment to the Alderwood members’ agreement (“Alderwood Amendment”) and made a $1.5 million capital contribution to Alderwood. The Alderwood Amendment reduced the Company’s commitment to contribute additional capital to Alderwood from $4.5 million to $3.0 million. Refer to Note 13, Equity Method Investment, for further discussion regarding the investment.

COVID-19 Pandemic – The global spread of COVID-19 has created significant volatility, uncertainty and economic disruption. While COVID-19 did not have a material adverse effect on our business, operations and financial results, the extent to which the pandemic impacts our business, operations and financial results going forward will depend on numerous evolving factors that we may not be able to accurately predict, including: the duration and scope of the pandemic; governmental, business and individuals’ actions that have been and continue to be taken in response to the pandemic; the impact of the pandemic on economic activity and actions taken in response; and the effect on our ability to sell and provide our services. We believe that doing our part to maintain the health and welfare of our employees is a critical element for achieving commercial success. As such, the Company has taken a proactive approach to addressing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on our employees in order to protect their health, encouraging and in some instances requiring working from home, and balancing these steps with a carefully considered return to office policy that complies with respective local guidelines for each of our offices.

Business Highlights in 2021

Assets under management:

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Investment performance:  

2021 corporate ESG initiatives:  

2021 investing ESG initiatives:  

Financial highlights:

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Other:

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Key Performance Indicators

The following table presents the key performance indicators we focus on when reviewing our results:

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Assets Under Management

Our profitability is largely affected by the level and composition of our AUM (including asset class and distribution channel) and the effective fee rates on our products. The amount and composition of our AUM are, and will continue to be, influenced by a number of factors, including; (i) investment performance, including fluctuations in the financial markets and the quality of our investment decisions; (ii) client flows into and out of our various strategies and investment vehicles; (iii) industry trends toward products or strategies that we either do or do not offer; (iv) our ability to attract and retain high quality investment, distribution, marketing and management personnel; (v) our decision to close strategies or limit growth of assets in a strategy when we believe it is in the best interest of our clients or conversely to re‑open strategies in part or entirely; and (vi) general investor sentiment and confidence. Our goal is to establish and maintain a client base that is diversified by Franchise and Solutions, asset class, distribution channel and vehicle.

Valuation of Assets Under Management

The fair value of assets under management of the Victory Funds, USAA Funds and VictoryShares is primarily determined using quoted market prices or independent third-party pricing services or broker price quotes. In certain circumstances, a quotation or price evaluation is not readily available from a pricing service. In these cases, pricing is determined by management based on a prescribed valuation process that has been approved by the directors/trustees of the sponsored products. The same prescribed valuation process is used to price securities in separate accounts and the Company’s other non-alternative investment vehicles for which a quotation or price evaluation is not readily available from a pricing service.

For certain alternative investment vehicles, including the NEC funds, AUM represents limited partner capital commitments during the commitment period of the fund. Following the earlier of the termination of the commitment period and the beginning of any commitment period for a successor fund, AUM generally represents, depending on the fund, the lesser of a) the net asset value of the fund and b) the aggregated adjusted cost basis of each unrealized portfolio investment or the limited partner capital commitments reduced by the amount of capital contributions used to make portfolio investments that have been disposed. The fair value of Level III assets held by alternative investment vehicles is determined under the respective valuation policy for each fund. The valuation policies address the fact that substantially all the investments of a fund may not have readily available market information and therefore the fair value for these assets is typically determined using unobservable inputs and models that may include subjective assumptions. AUM reported by the Company for alternative investment vehicles may not necessarily equal the funds’ net asset values or the total fair value of the funds’ portfolio investments as AUM represents the basis for calculating management fees. For the periods presented, less than one percent of the Company’s total AUM were Level III assets priced without using a quoted market price, broker price quote or pricing service quotation.

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