September 10, 2025
To the Lazard community,
Two years have passed since we put forward our vision and long-term growth strategy for Lazard 2030. Now seems like a natural time to reflect on our progress and outline the path forward from here.
Over the past two years, we have made significant progress in re-energizing our culture and delivering outstanding client and shareholder results. Looking forward advances in artificial intelligence offer even more potential ahead. Clients choose us for the most sophisticated advice and investment solutions based upon the judgment, trust, and expertise that our professionals have accumulated over decades. With the opportunities presented by this transformative technology, we are committed to being the world’s leading independent financial firm. Realizing this ambition will require combining AI-driven insights with the collective intellectual capital of our people, to deliver exceptional results for our clients and shareholders—while also helping advise clients through their own AI transformations.
As we move into this new AI-enabled era, we continue to evaluate our success across three dimensions: relevance, revenue, and returns. Our vision for Lazard 2030 is to aim even higher together, leveraging technology to further enhance our relevance for clients around the world. Our goals remain clear: to double firmwide revenue from 2023 to 2030 and deliver an average annual shareholder return of at least 10 to 15 percent per year. We are well on our way—firmwide adjusted net revenue was $2.9 billion in 2024, up 18 percent from 2023. Despite a high degree of geopolitical uncertainty at the start of 2025, our revenue this year remains strong. Our total shareholder return since October 1, 2023 has been 100 percent, well ahead of our target pace.
Our success over the past two years is the result of our colleagues’ talent, hard work, and enthusiasm. To everyone at Lazard, I extend my deepest thanks and respect.
In Financial Advisory, we continue to build and strengthen existing client relationships, win new business opportunities, and attract top talent, underpinning our results to date. Two years ago, we outlined goals for expanding our team of Managing Directors and increasing productivity over time. To date, we have met and exceeded these goals, as covered in greater detail below.
In Asset Management, this year is proving to be the inflection point we had anticipated. Early, promising signs, driven by a strengthening of our investment engine, increased focus in our distribution function, and client demand for our products are reflected in a more balanced flow picture and a robust pipeline of new mandates. Now, we need to build on this momentum and accelerate our progress, to enhance investment performance and client service, evolve the business to meet client preferences, and contribute to firmwide profitable growth. We are therefore thrilled to welcome Chris Hogbin as our new CEO of Lazard Asset Management, and we are confident that his leadership will help to further advance our long-term growth strategy.
What has made Lazard unique throughout our history remains the same: We provide our clients with insights beyond what the world sees today. Our solid start to achieving our 2030 goals represents this unwavering dedication to providing trenchant analysis and guidance. At Lazard, we hold ourselves and one another accountable for delivering with excellence—our colleagues’ intellectual capabilities are remarkable, and our clients deserve nothing less.
In short, our ambition is to be the best advisors and investors in the world—and we intend to be the leaders in using AI to do so.
With gratitude for what we have already accomplished, let me provide an update on efforts to strengthen our culture and firm, and progress within our Financial Advisory and Asset Management businesses.