OPPENHEIMER HOLDINGS INC. Annual Report 2025

At Oppenheimer, we have built a firm designed to serve clients through a wide range of market conditions, not optimized for a single environment or a narrow set of outcomes. Our emphasis on bespoke client solutions, disciplined risk management, a conservative balance sheet, and long-term relationships reflects a belief that consistency and judgment matter most when conditions are changing.

During the year we witnessed long-standing assumptions around free trade, international order, and predictable policy frameworks all upended. In their place is a more fragmented global system in which uncertainty has become structural. Capital markets acted as a barometer of risk, with the bond market highlighting the potential consequences of major policy decisions.

Despite that backdrop, economic activity remained resilient, though uneven as the year progressed. Consumer spending held up better than many expected, even as labor market dynamics shifted, with hiring slowing and unemployment edging modestly higher. Inflation eased, financial conditions improved, and the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates three times to stimulate economic activity. Equity markets advanced for a third consecutive year, with the S&P 500 gaining nearly 18%, supported by a more accommodative policy environment and sustained investor confidence, particularly around artificial intelligence (AI).

Financial Highlights

AI emerged as the dominant long-term investment and capital-allocation theme of the year. The defining feature was not optimism alone, but an investment super-cycle unlike anything we have seen in many decades. Capital moved away from software enterprises and into semiconductors, data centers, energy generation, transmission, and connectivity—creating the systems designed to support infrastructure that will drive improvements in economic productivity for many years to come.

History provides some perspective. Prior waves of technological transformation were often marked by rapid company formation, aggressive capital raising, and periods of overinvestment. While outcomes varied widely by company, the infrastructure built during those cycles endured, supporting economic growth long after valuations reset. The current AI-driven cycle shares many of these characteristics, and while business models and leadership will evolve, the long-term impact of infrastructure built today is likely to persist beyond the present market cycle.

As the cycle has developed, opportunities have broadened. Advances in areas such as space-based technologies are expanding what is investable, enabling new forms of connectivity, data, and infrastructure that were previously difficult to access or scale. We remain focused on identifying these emerging opportunities early, recognizing that enduring investment themes tend to develop gradually at the intersection of technological progress, capital formation, and real-world application.

Importantly, capital allocation in 2025 extended beyond any single theme. Investment increased across healthcare, energy, defense, infrastructure, and communications, driven by the replacement of aging physical assets, demographic changes, and evolving security and energy needs. For our clients, this environment required more than access to markets—it required perspective. Individuals, institutions, and corporate issuers continued to make long-term decisions around capital allocation, risk, and growth, increasing demand for thoughtful advice, disciplined risk management, and reliable access to investment ideas. We delivered on all of these.

Most importantly, with that broader environment in view, we turn to Oppenheimer’s performance.

The firm reported record revenue of $1.6 billion and net income of $148.4 million in 2025. Basic earnings per share reached $14.13 for the year-ended December 31, 2025. These results translated into stockholders’ equity of $983.8 million and book value per share of $93.81 and tangible book value per share of $76.78, both at record levels.

Our Wealth Management business delivered strong and improved results, reflecting sustained client engagement and the benefits of scale. Segment revenue increased 6.5% to $1.04 billion, while pre-tax income rose nearly 10% to $292.1 million. Full-year retail commissions reached record highs, driven by elevated transaction volumes as clients remained actively engaged through periods of volatility. Advisory fees also reached record levels, increasing 14.9% year over year, supported by growth in assets under management and an increase in incentive fees from alternative investments. Assets Under Management reached $55.2 billion, an all-time high, while Assets Under Administration totaled $143.3 billion at year end. These outcomes underscore the durability of our advice-led, relationship-driven model.

While these results reflect a year of solid execution, we remain firmly focused on the opportunities and challenges ahead. The wealth management industry is entering a period that will be defined by the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history, accompanied by increasing complexity across estate planning, tax considerations, and investment management. This transition will unfold over many years and requires a depth of expertise, continuity, and disciplined execution. We have invested accordingly—in our people, our capabilities, and our platform—to support clients and families through these transitions.

Those same priorities were reflected in our Capital Markets businesses, where improving conditions translated into increased client activity and solid results.

Investment Banking delivered its second-highest revenue year in the firm’s history, driven by broad-based strength across the platform. We advised on more than $38 billion of transaction volume across over 100 deals and significantly expanded our role as bookrunner, with total issuances tripling compared with the prior year.

Our performance reflected improved market conditions and strong execution across key sectors, including financial institutions, healthcare, and technology, where issuance activity and advisory engagements increased meaningfully during the year. Our banking teams remained focused on disciplined execution and deepening client relationships throughout the year. We also continued to invest in our platform, making several key hires across the division to expand sector expertise and enhance coverage.

Overall, the operating results of the firm for 2025 reflect the skill, dedication, and professionalism of our people. Together we earned record earnings per share, repurchased 46,292 shares at an average price of $64.36, paid quarterly dividends of $0.72 per share and announced a special dividend of $1.00 per share paid in January.

One factor that increasingly distinguishes Oppenheimer — and contributed meaningfully to these results — is the way our businesses work together. Cross-firm collaboration is not a slogan here; it is how we operate. Our Capital Markets, and Wealth Management teams engage regularly and deliberately, bringing different perspectives to the same client relationships.

Our performance over the past year reflects the investments we have made over time, especially in our people and our culture. Across the firm, we continued to strengthen our teams, expand capabilities, and build for the future. 

Our investments over the past year have also focused on expanding the firm’s capabilities in ways that reflect the evolving needs of a global, high net worth client base. This includes continued geographic diversification, as well as the development of enhanced platform services designed to support increasingly complex, domestic, and cross -border client relationships.

At the same time, we continued to build specialized capabilities for U.S.-based clients with sophisticated needs, including expanded platform services in custody, precious metals, and private market related investments. These offerings are supported by close coordination with our industry investment partners, allowing us to structure opportunities that include direct investments, private placements, and pooled vehicles where appropriate. Together, these investments enhance the client experience and strengthen our ability to deliver tailored solutions across markets and asset classes.

Over the past year, we made steady progress toward improving the client experience, with a focus on building the foundations needed to support more tailored engagement over time. This includes advancing our use of data, laying the groundwork for more effective client interaction, and evolving our platform capabilities to enable more seamless communication between clients, advisors, and the firm. These efforts are ongoing and represent a key area of focus as we continue to enhance how advice is delivered. In the years to come, these investments in improved data architecture will be leveraged to take advantage of AI tools as they become more usable and trustworthy.

In 2025 we made additional investments in our brand. We are taking a more deliberate approach to telling our story—one grounded in The Power of Oppenheimer Thinking: the judgment, experience, and perspective our people bring to complex client solutions. The evolution of our brand campaign reflects this effort, giving us a clearer and more confident voice and a more distinctive way to articulate how we help clients navigate change. It is an important step in ensuring that what defines us inside the firm is consistently reflected in how we are known outside of it.

As we look ahead, Oppenheimer is approaching its 145th year in business. Few firms in our industry can point to a history like ours, and fewer still have sustained it by consistently putting clients first. The pace of change today is unmistakable—markets move faster, technology reshapes industries, and long-held certainties are continually reexamined—yet the principles that guide us remain steadfast. 

Those principles have carried the firm through world wars, economic depressions, financial crises, and periods of profound market transformation. While the environment continues to change, our approach has not: disciplined thinking, independent judgment, careful risk management, and a long-term commitment to our clients.

That continuity gives us confidence as we look ahead. While uncertainty will persist, we are prepared. We have the people, platform, and resources to help clients navigate change, manage risk, and pursue their goals with clarity and discipline. 

With a strong platform, improving market conditions, and an engaged firm working together, we are well positioned for the year ahead.

Sincerely,

Rob Lowenthal