Pzena Investment Management, Inc. - Annual Report: 2019 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2019

or

For the transition period from             to

Commission file number 001-33761

PZENA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

320 Park Avenue

New York, New York 10022

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 355-1600

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 Section 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 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

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

The aggregate market value of the common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2019, the last business day of its most recently completed second fiscal quarter, was approximately $153.5 million based on the closing sale price of $8.59 per share of Class A common stock of the registrant on such date on the New York Stock Exchange. For purposes of this calculation only, it is assumed that the affiliates of the registrant include only directors and executive officers of the registrant.

As of March 6, 2020, there were 17,447,680 outstanding shares of the registrant’s Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share.

As of March 6, 2020, there were 54,194,168 outstanding shares of the registrant’s Class B common stock, par value $0.000001 per share.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement relating to its 2020 annual meeting of shareholders (the “2020 Proxy Statement”) are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K where indicated. The 2020 Proxy Statement will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year to which this report relates.

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CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K, or Annual Report, contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 27E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"). Forward-looking statements provide our current views, expectations, or forecasts, of future events and performance and include statements about our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project” or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to those noted below and described in Part I, Item 1A — "Risk Factors" of this Annual Report, and are based on assumptions and estimates.  If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if one or more of our assumptions or estimates prove incorrect, our actual results could differ materially from those expected or implied by the forward-looking statements.  Accordingly, you should not unduly rely on any forward-looking statements.  The forward-looking statements in this Annual Report, speak only as of the date of this Annual Report. There may be additional risks, uncertainties and factors that we do not currently view as material or that are not known. We undertake no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this Annual Report, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should, however, review the factors and risks we describe in the reports we will file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, (the “SEC”), after the date of this Annual Report.

Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

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Preliminary Notes

In this Annual Report, “we,” “our,” “us,” and “the Company” refer to Pzena Investment Management, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

All rights in the Russell 1000^® Value Index, Russell Mid Cap^® Value Index, Russell 2000^® Value Index vest in the relevant London Stock Exchange Group plc (“LSE Group”) company which owns the relevant Index. “Russell^®” is a trade mark of the relevant LSE Group company and is used by any other LSE Group company under license.

Information with respect to MSCI, Inc. (“MSCI”) requires a license from MSCI.  The MSCI information provided in this Annual Report may only be used for your internal use, may not be reproduced or re-disseminated in any form and may not be used as a basis for or a component of any financial instruments or products or indices.  None of the MSCI information is intended to constitute investment advice or a recommendation to make (or refrain from making) any kind of investment decision and may not be relied on as such. Historical data and analysis should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of any future performance analysis, forecast or prediction. The MSCI information is provided on an “as is” basis and the user of this information assumes the entire risk of any use made of this information.  MSCI, each of its affiliates and each other person involved in or related to compiling, computing or creating any MSCI information (collectively, the “MSCI Parties”) expressly disclaims all warranties (including, without limitation, any warranties of originality, accuracy, completeness, timeliness, non-infringement, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose) with respect to this information.  Without limiting any of the foregoing, in no event shall any MSCI Party have any liability for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, punitive, consequential (including, without limitation, lost profits) or any other damages. (www.msci.com)

The S&P 500 Index is licensed from Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC, which is the source of the performance statistics of this index.

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PART I

Overview

Pzena Investment Management, Inc. was formed in 2007 and is the sole managing member of Pzena Investment Management, LLC, which is our operating company.  Founded in 1995, Pzena Investment Management, LLC is a value-oriented investment management company.  We believe that we have established a positive, team-oriented culture that enables us to attract and retain highly qualified people.  Since our inception, over twenty years ago, we have built a diverse, global client base of respected and sophisticated institutional investors, select third-party distributed mutual funds for which we act as sub-investment adviser, and funds for which we act as investment adviser.

Equity interests in Pzena Investment Management, LLC are comprised of Class A, Class B, and Class B-1 membership units. Class A and Class B membership units each have an identical economic interest in the operating company. Class B-1 membership units, first issued on December 31, 2019, are entitled to receive distributions and will participate in additional value only to the extent there has been appreciation subsequent to the issuance of the Class B-1 membership unit. As a holding company, we hold all of the Class A membership units and recognize income generated from our economic interest in our operating company's net income.  The Class B membership units of the operating company are held by employees and certain outside members. The Class B-1 membership units of the operating company are held by employees. For each Class A membership unit held, we have issued one corresponding share of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, which entitles the holder to one vote per share.  For each Class B membership unit, we have issued one corresponding share of Class B common stock, par value $0.000001 per share, which entitles the holder to five votes per share without dividend rights, as described below in the graphic illustration. Class B-1 membership units have not been issued corresponding shares and do not have voting rights. As of December 31, 2019, we owned approximately 25.4% of the economic interest in the December 31, 2019 value of our operating company and our Class A shareholders held approximately 6.4% of our outstanding voting interests. As of December 31, 2019, we owned 24.1% of the right to the future income and distributions of the operating company. The percentages presented above are subject to continued changes including, but not limited to, issuances of awards, exercise of options and exchanges of Class B-1 membership units for Class A common stock.

Pzena Investment Management, Inc. also serves as the general partner of Pzena Investment Management, LP, a partnership formed with the objective of aggregating employee ownership in one entity. Certain of the owners of shares of Class B stock and Class B membership units have contributed such interests to Pzena Investment Management, LP in exchange for membership interests therein. Pzena Investment Management, LP may only vote such shares of Class B stock and Class B membership units in accordance with its operating agreement, which provides for a preliminary vote of the limited partners thereof to direct such voting.

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The graphic below illustrates our holding company structure and ownership as of December 31, 2019.

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We utilize a classic value approach to investing and seek to make investments in good businesses at low prices, which requires:

Our approach and process aim to achieve attractive returns over the long term.  We manage assets in value-oriented investment strategies reflecting varying degrees of portfolio concentrations across a wide range of market capitalizations in both U.S. and non-U.S. capital markets.

Our assets under management, (“AUM”), was $41.2 billion at December 31, 2019, and we managed money on behalf of institutions, acted as sub-investment adviser to a variety of SEC-registered mutual funds and non-U.S. funds as well as investment adviser to Pzena SEC-registered mutual funds, certain private placement funds, and non-U.S. funds.

Our operating company is led by a committee, consisting, as of December 31, 2019, of our Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Richard S. Pzena; each of our Presidents, Messrs. John P. Goetz and William L. Lipsey; our Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr. Gary J. Bachman; our Executive Vice President, Ms. Caroline Cai; and our Chief Information & Operations Officer and Chief Information Security Officer, Mr. Evan Fire (the “Executive Committee”).

Our Competitive Strengths

We believe that the following are our competitive strengths:

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Our Business Strategy

The key to our success is continued long-term investment performance.  In conjunction with this, we believe the following strategies will enable us to grow our business over time:

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Our commitment to incorporating ESG into our investment approach drives us to enhance the way we look at ESG factors.  For example, in the beginning of 2018, we became a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), which is a leading global responsible investment network of investment managers, service providers and asset owners.

Our Investment Team

We have built an investment team that is well-suited to implement our classic value investment strategy.  The members of our investment team have a diverse set of backgrounds, including former corporate management, private equity, management consulting, accounting, and Wall Street professionals. Their diverse business backgrounds are instrumental in enabling us to make investments in companies where we would be comfortable owning the entire business for a three- to five-year period.  We look beyond temporary earnings shortfalls that result in stock price declines, which may lead others to forego investment opportunities, if we believe the long-term fundamentals of a company remain attractive.

As of December 31, 2019, we had a 27-member investment team.  Each member serves as a research analyst, and certain members of the team also have portfolio management responsibilities. There are generally three portfolio managers for each investment strategy.  These managers have joint decision-making responsibility, and each has “veto authority” over all decisions regarding the relevant portfolio.  Research analysts have sector and company-level research responsibilities which span all of our investment strategies, including those with a non-U.S. focus.  In order to facilitate the professional development of our team, and to keep a fresh perspective on the companies in our investment portfolios, our research analysts generally rotate industry coverage every three to four years.

We follow a collaborative, consensus-oriented approach to making investment decisions, such that all members of our investment team, irrespective of their seniority, can play a significant role in this decision-making process.  We hold weekly research review meetings attended by all portfolio managers and relevant research analysts, and that are open to other employees, at which we openly discuss and debate our findings regarding the normalized earnings power of potential portfolio companies.  In addition, we hold daily morning meetings, attended by our portfolio managers, research analysts, portfolio implementation, and client service personnel, in order to review developments in our holdings and set a trading strategy for the day.  These meetings are critical for sharing relevant developments and analysis of the companies in our portfolios.  We believe that our collaborative culture is attractive to our investment professionals.

Our Investment Strategies

As of December 31, 2019, our approximately $41.2 billion in AUM was invested in a variety of value-oriented investment strategies, representing differing degrees of concentration, and capitalization segments of U.S. and non-U.S. markets. See "Item 7 — Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition & Results of Operations — Operating Results — Assets Under Management and Flows" for additional details about our strategies.  

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The following table identifies our current U.S. and non-U.S. investment strategies, and the allocation of our AUM among them, as of December 31, 2019 and 2018:

We follow the same investment process for each of these strategies.  Our investment strategies are distinguished by the market capitalization ranges from which we select securities for their portfolios, which we refer to as each strategy’s investment universe, as well as the regions in which we invest.  In addition, the number of holdings typically found in the portfolios of each of our investment strategies may vary depending on the degree of concentration in the portfolio, with our Focused Value strategies generally reflecting fewer holdings than our Value strategies.

Our largest investment strategies as of December 31, 2019 are further described below.  This strategy detail is representative of our Value and Focused Value strategies, and variations thereof.

U.S. Strategies

Large Cap Value.  These strategies reflect a portfolio composed of approximately 30 to 80 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 500 of the largest U.S. listed companies, based on market capitalization.

Mid Cap Value.  These strategies reflect a portfolio composed of approximately 30 to 80 stocks drawn generally from a universe of U.S. listed companies ranked from the 201st to 1,200th largest, based on market capitalization.

Small Cap Value.  These strategies reflect a portfolio composed of approximately 40 to 50 stocks drawn generally from a universe of U.S. listed companies ranked from the 1,001st to 3,000th largest, based on market capitalization.

Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of a portfolio of approximately 30 to 40 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 1,000 of the largest U.S. listed companies, based on market capitalization.

Global and Non-U.S. Strategies

Global Value.  These strategies reflect a portfolio composed of approximately 40 to 95 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 2,000 of the largest companies across the world, based on market capitalization.

International Value.  These strategies reflect a portfolio composed of approximately 30 to 80 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 1,500 of the largest companies across the world, excluding the United States, based on market capitalization.

Emerging Markets Value.  These strategies reflect a portfolio composed of approximately 40 to 80 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 1,500 of the largest emerging market companies, based on market capitalization.

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European Value.  These strategies reflect a portfolio composed of approximately 40 to 50 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 750 of the largest European companies, based on market capitalization.

We believe that our ability to retain and grow assets has been, and will continue to be, driven primarily by delivering attractive long-term investment results to our clients.  We have therefore prioritized, and will continue to prioritize, investment performance over asset accumulation.  Where we have deemed it necessary, we have, at times, closed certain products to new investors in order to preserve capacity to effectively implement our concentrated investment strategies for the benefit of existing clients.  Currently, all of our investment strategies are open to new investors.

Our Strategy Development Approach

Historically, a component of our growth has been the development of new strategies.  Prior to incubating a new strategy, we perform in-depth research on the potential market for the product, as well as its overall compatibility with our investment expertise.  This process involves analysis by our client team, as well as by our investment professionals.  We will only launch a new product if we believe that it can add value to a client’s investment portfolio.  Prior to marketing a new strategy, we generally incubate the product for a period of one to five years, so that we can test and refine our investment strategy and process before actively marketing the product to our clients.

Our Investment Performance

Since we are long-term fundamental investors, we believe that our investment strategies yield the most benefits and are best evaluated, over a long-term timeframe.  For more information on our performance, see “Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Operating Results — Assets Under Management and Flows.”

Our Client Relationships and Distribution Approach

We believe that strong relationships with our clients are critical to our ability to succeed and to grow our AUM.  In building these relationships, we have focused our efforts where we can efficiently access and service large pools of sophisticated clients with our team of dedicated business development and client service professionals.

We distribute our products primarily through the efforts of our business development and client service team, who communicate directly with our clients and with the consultants who serve them, as well as through the marketing programs of our sub-investment advisory partners and intermediary distribution partners.  Since our objective is to attract long-term investors with an investment horizon in excess of three years, our business development and client service efforts focus on educating our investors and intermediary distribution partners regarding our disciplined classic value investment process and philosophy.

Our business development and client service team is responsible for:

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Our business development and client service team is actively engaged with our research team to ensure our clients receive content-based information.  We introduce members of our research and portfolio management team into client portfolio reviews to ensure that our clients are exposed to the full breadth of our investment resources.  We also provide quarterly reports to our clients in order to share our investment perspectives.  We additionally meet and hold conference calls regularly with clients to share perspectives on the portfolio and the current investment environment.

Distribution Channels

We manage assets in three principal distribution channels.  A summary of selected financial data attributable to our operations for each distribution channel is included in “Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”  The following table provides information regarding the composition of our total assets under management by distribution channel:

Separately Managed Accounts

Since our inception, we have directly offered institutional investment products to public and corporate pension funds, endowments, foundations, high net worth individuals and their investment vehicles.  We continue to develop direct relationships with the largest institutional investors and consultants around the world.

Sub-Advised Accounts

We have established relationships with mutual fund and fund providers globally, that offer us opportunities to efficiently access market segments through sub-investment advisory roles.  The funds that we sub-advise are either multi-manager funds, in which we manage only a portion of the fund's portfolio, or funds for which we are the sole sub-adviser.

Pzena Funds

U.S. investors that do not meet our minimum account size for a separate account, or who otherwise prefer to invest through a mutual fund, can invest in certain of our strategies through our Pzena mutual funds.  We act as the investment adviser to five Pzena mutual funds that offer no-load, open-end share classes designed to meet the needs of a range of investor types.

In addition, we offer investors outside of the U.S. the ability to invest in our strategies through Pzena Value Funds plc and its respective sub-funds, a family of Irish-based UCITS funds for which we serve as investment manager and promoter.  Pzena Value Funds plc began operations in 2005 and offers shares to non-U.S. investors.  We currently offer a sub-fund corresponding to our Emerging Markets Focused Value, Global Value, Global Focused Value, and Large Cap Value strategies.

In the U.S., we offer access to many of our U.S., global and non-U.S. strategies through private placement vehicles and collective investment trusts.

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Advisory Fees

We earn advisory fees on our separately managed and sub-advised accounts, as well as funds for which we act as the sole investment adviser.

On our separately managed accounts, we are paid fees according to a schedule which varies by investment strategy.  The substantial majority of these accounts pay us management fees pursuant to a schedule in which the rate we earn on the AUM declines as the amount of AUM increases.

With respect to our sub-advised accounts, as of December 31, 2019, we sub-advised eighteen SEC-registered mutual funds that each have an initial two-year term and are thereafter subject to annual renewal by each fund’s board of directors pursuant to the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”).  Thirteen of these eighteen sub-investment advisory agreements are beyond their initial two-year terms as of December 31, 2019.  In addition, we sub-advise thirty non-U.S. funds.  Under these agreements, we are generally paid a management fee according to a schedule, pursuant to which the rate we earn on the AUM declines as the amount of AUM increases.  Certain of these funds pay us fixed-rate management fees.  Due to the substantially larger account size of certain of these accounts, the average advisory fees we earn on them, as a percentage of AUM, are lower than the advisory fees we earn on our separately managed accounts.

Advisory fees we earn on separately managed accounts and Pzena funds are generally based on the value of AUM at a specific date on a quarterly basis.  Certain of our separately managed accounts, sub-advised accounts, and Pzena funds are calculated based on the average of the monthly or daily market value of the account.  Advisory fees are also generally adjusted for any cash flows into or out of a portfolio, where the cash flow represents greater than 10% of the value of the portfolio.  While a specific group of accounts may use the same fee rate, the calculation methodology may differ, as described above.

Certain of our clients pay us performance fees according to the performance of their accounts relative to certain agreed-upon benchmarks, which results in a lower base fee, but allows for us to earn higher fees if the relevant investment strategy outperforms the agreed-upon benchmark.  Some performance-based fee arrangements include high-water mark provisions, which generally provide that if a client account underperforms relative to its performance target, it must gain back such underperformance before we can collect future performance-based fees.  Fulcrum fee arrangements related to one client relationship require a reduction in the base fee, or allow for a performance fee if the relevant investment strategy underperforms or outperforms, respectively, the agreed-upon benchmark.

Competition

We compete in all aspects of our business with a large number of investment management firms, commercial banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies, and other financial institutions.

In order to grow our business, we must be able to compete effectively to maintain existing AUM and attract additional AUM.  Historically, we have competed for AUM principally on the basis of:

Our ability to continue to compete effectively will also depend upon our ability to attract highly qualified investment professionals and retain our existing employees.

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Employees

At December 31, 2019, we had 115 full-time employees, including 27 investment professionals and 14 business development and client service professionals.

Cybersecurity

We maintain our information technology infrastructure with a focus on business efficiency, continuity, security and controls. The information technology environment is designed to oversee and maintain all aspects of information security risk to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of information assets. We regularly perform evaluations of our security program and continue to invest in our capabilities to keep clients, employees, and critical assets safe. The Chief Information & Operations Officer and Chief Information Security Officer (“CIOO/CISO”) is ultimately responsible for our cybersecurity program which includes the implementation of controls aligned with industry guidelines and applicable statutes and regulations to identify threats, detect attacks and protect these information assets. We have implemented security monitoring capabilities designed to alert us to suspicious activity and developed an incident response program that includes periodic testing and is designed to restore business operations as quickly and as orderly as possible in the event of a breach. In addition, employees participate in ongoing mandatory trainings and receive communications regarding the cybersecurity environment to increase awareness throughout the firm.

Regulatory Environment and Compliance

Our business is subject to extensive regulation in the United States at both the federal and state level, as well as by self-regulatory organizations.  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.  Our business is also subject to foreign regulation, as discussed below.

SEC Regulation

Our operating company, Pzena Investment Management, LLC, is registered as an investment adviser with the SEC.  As a registered investment adviser, it is subject to the requirements of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, (the “Investment Advisers Act”), and the SEC’s regulations thereunder, as well as to examination by the SEC’s staff.  The Investment Advisers Act imposes substantive regulation on virtually all aspects of Pzena Investment Management, LLC's business and its relationships with its clients.  As an investment adviser, Pzena Investment Management, LLC owes fiduciary duties to its clients, which relate to conflicts of interest, client recommendations and other fundamental matters.  Applicable requirements relate to, among other things, engaging in transactions with clients, maintaining an effective compliance program, performance fees, solicitation arrangements, advertising, recordkeeping, reporting, and disclosure requirements.

Certain U.S. funds for which Pzena Investment Management, LLC acts as the sub-investment adviser and five of the U.S. funds for which Pzena Investment Management, LLC acts as investment adviser, are registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act.  The Investment Company Act imposes additional obligations, including detailed operational requirements for both the funds and their advisers.  Moreover, the Investment Company Act requires that an investment adviser’s contract with a registered fund may be terminated by the fund on not more than 60 days’ notice, and is subject to annual renewal by the fund’s board after an initial two-year term.

Both the Investment Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act regulate the “assignment” of advisory contracts by the investment adviser.  The SEC is authorized to institute proceedings and impose sanctions for violations of the Investment Advisers Act and the Investment Company Act, ranging from fines and censures to termination of an investment adviser’s registration.

Pzena Financial Services, LLC, our SEC registered broker-dealer subsidiary, is subject to the SEC's Uniform Net Capital Rule, which requires that at least a minimum part of a registered broker-dealer's assets be kept in relatively liquid form.  At December 31, 2019, Pzena Financial Services, LLC had net capital of $428,608, which was $416,620 in excess of its net capital requirement of $11,988.

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ERISA-Related Regulation

With respect to our benefit plan clients, Pzena Investment Management, LLC is a “fiduciary” under the Employment Retirement Act of 1974, (“ERISA”), and is therefore subject to ERISA, and to regulations promulgated thereunder.  ERISA 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 provide monetary penalties for violations of these prohibitions.

Foreign Regulation

Pzena Investment Management, LLC maintains a representative office in Melbourne, Australia, and maintains an exemption from the Australian Financial Services license requirement under the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Pzena Investment Management, Ltd, our United Kingdom subsidiary, is an appointed representative of Mirabella Advisers LLP which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") in the United Kingdom. In Europe outside of the United Kingdom, Pzena Investment Management, Ltd is an appointed representative and tied agent of DMS Capital Solutions (UK) Limited which is authorized and regulated by the FCA. Pzena Investment Management, LLC has a Category I Financial Service Provider License and is regulated in South Africa by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.

Pzena Investment Management, LLC currently avails itself of the international adviser exemption in Ontario, Canada.  In addition, Pzena Investment Management, LLC is registered as an exempt market dealer in Ontario, Canada.  As an exempt adviser, Pzena Investment Management, LLC is only permitted to provide advice in Ontario to certain institutional and high net worth individual clients.  As an exempt market dealer, Pzena Investment Management, LLC is permitted to act as a market intermediary for only certain types of trades, and is permitted to market, sell and distribute prospectus-exempt securities to accredited investors. An exempt adviser and market dealer must, upon the request of the Ontario Securities Commission, (“OSC”), produce all books, papers, documents, records and correspondence relating to its activities in Ontario, and inform the OSC if it becomes the subject of an investigation or disciplinary action by any financial services or securities regulatory authority or self-regulatory authority.  In the Netherlands, Pzena Investment Management, LLC avails itself of the Section 10 Exemption, which allows U.S. investment managers to provide investment services to certain eligible Dutch clients.  This exemption subjects Pzena Investment Management, LLC to certain conduct of business requirements under the Dutch regulations.

We operate in various other foreign jurisdictions without registration in reliance upon applicable exemptions under the laws of those jurisdictions.

Available Information

We make available free of charge through our website, www.pzena.com, our annual reports on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and our current reports on Form 8-K, as well as amendments to those reports, and other filings required under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with the SEC.  To retrieve these reports, and any amendments thereto, visit the Investor Relations section of our website.  The SEC maintains a website at www.sec.gov.  All of the materials we filed with the SEC may be accessed free of charge on the SEC's website through its EDGAR page.  

Our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, Code of Ethics for Senior Financial Officers, and Board of Directors committee charters (including the charters of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee) are also available free of charge through our website under "Investor Relations — Corporate Governance."

The information on the Company's website is not part of, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report, or any other report we file with, or furnish to the SEC.

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We face a variety of significant and diverse risks, many of which are inherent in our business. Described below are the risks we currently believe could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our primary source of revenue is derived from management fees, which are directly tied to our assets under management. Fluctuations in AUM therefore will directly impact our revenue.

Substantially all of our revenue is derived from management fees paid by our clients, based on a percentage of the market value of our AUM. Any decline and/or significant impairment in AUM would greatly affect our revenue, and could occur due to a variety of factors, including:

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We may face capacity constraints in certain of our strategies which may prevent us from accepting new investors in those strategies.

Our ability to retain and grow assets as a firm has been, and will be, driven primarily by delivering attractive investment results to our clients. As a consequence, we have prioritized, and will continue to prioritize, investment performance over asset accumulation. Where we deemed it necessary, we have, in the past, closed certain strategies to new investors in order to preserve capacity to effectively implement our concentrated investment strategies for the benefit of existing clients. We may in the future close certain of our strategies to new investors or to new inflows from existing investors. Any such closures may limit our future AUM growth and hence our revenue growth.

Market and competitive pressures to lower our advisory fees could lead to a decline in our profit and earnings.

Market and competitive pressures in recent years have created a trend towards lower management fees in the asset management industry and there can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our current fee structure going forward. As a result, a shift in the composition of our AUM from higher to lower fee-generating client relationships would result in a decrease in revenue, even if our aggregate level of AUM remains unchanged or increases.

A portion of our investment advisory revenue is also derived from performance fees. We generally earn performance fees under certain client agreements according to the performance relative to an agreed-upon benchmark. This fee structure results in a lower base fee but allows for us to earn higher fees if the investment strategy outperforms the benchmark. Some performance-based fee arrangements include high-water mark provisions, which generally provide that if a client account underperforms relative to its performance target, it must gain back such underperformance before we can collect future performance-based fees. Therefore, if we fail to achieve the performance target for a particular period, we may not earn a performance fee for that period and for accounts with a high-water mark provision, our ability to earn future performance fees may be impaired. During fiscal years 2019 and 2018, we earned $1.1 million and $2.9 million in performance fees, respectively.  An increase in performance-based fee arrangements with clients could create greater fluctuations in our revenue and earnings.

In addition, certain accounts related to one retail client relationship have fulcrum fee arrangements. These fee arrangements require a reduction in the base fee, or allow for a performance fee if the relevant investment strategy underperforms or outperforms, respectively, the agreed-upon benchmark over the contract's measurement period, which extends to three years. During the fiscal years 2019 and 2018, we recognized a reduction in base fees in the amounts of $1.8 million and $0.2 million, respectively, related to fulcrum fee arrangements.  To the extent the three-year performance records of these accounts fluctuate relative to their relevant benchmarks, the amount of base fees recognized may vary.

Increases in our expenses could lead to a decline in our profit margin and increase the volatility of our earnings.

Our expenses are subject to increase based on a variety of factors such as higher operating expenses resulting from business expansion, product development and increased marketing efforts; higher compensation expense due to increased competition for talent, headcount and seniority level; and related expenses to meet business and regulatory needs.  Some or all of these expenses may remain at higher levels for the foreseeable future, leading to higher costs for our business.  Fluctuations in expenses could impact our profit margins and contribute to earnings volatility.

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Loss of key employees, and difficulties in attracting qualified investment professionals, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The success of our business largely depends on the participation of Richard S. Pzena and the other members of our Executive Committee. Their professional reputations, expertise in investing, and relationships with our clients and within the investing community in the U.S. and abroad are critical to executing our business strategy and attracting and retaining clients. The retention of these individuals is crucial to our future success. There is no guarantee that they will not resign, join our competitors or form a competing company. The terms of the current operating agreement of our operating company restrict each of these individuals from competing with us or soliciting our clients or employees during the term of their employment with us and, in certain circumstances, for a certain period thereafter. The penalty for breach of these restrictive covenants may be the forfeiture of a number of Class B or Class B-1 units held by the individual, and his permitted transferees, as of the earlier of the date of his breach or the termination of his employment. Although we may seek specific performance of these restrictive covenants, there can be no assurance that we would be successful in obtaining this relief. After this post-employment restrictive period, we may not be able to prohibit them from competing with us or soliciting our clients or employees. Furthermore, we do not carry any "key man" insurance that would provide us with proceeds in the event of the death or disability of any of the above mentioned employees.

In addition to the participants mentioned above, our success also depends on our ability to retain the senior members of our investment team and to recruit additional qualified investment professionals.  We may not be successful in our efforts to retain and recruit such individuals as the market for investment professionals is extremely competitive.  Our portfolio managers possess substantial experience and expertise in classic value investing and maintain significant relationships with our clients. The loss of any of our senior investment professionals could limit our ability to successfully execute our investment approach and to sustain the performance of our investment strategies, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, client relationships and our revenue and earnings.

Future growth of our business may place significant demands on our resources and employees and may increase our expenses, risks and regulatory oversight.

Future growth of our business may place significant demands on our infrastructure, our investment team and other employees, which may increase our expenses. In addition, we are required to continuously develop our infrastructure in response to the increasing sophistication of the investment management market, as well as compliance with legal and regulatory developments.  We may face significant challenges in: maintaining and developing adequate financial and operational controls; implementing new or updated information and financial systems, and procedures and training; and managing and appropriately sizing our work force, and other components of our business on a timely and cost-effective basis. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage the growth of our business effectively, or that we will be able to continue to grow, and any failure to do so could adversely affect our ability to generate revenue and control expenses.

The potential inability of our systems to accommodate an increasing volume of transactions could also constrain our ability to expand our businesses and potentially raise regulatory issues.  In recent years, we have substantially upgraded and expanded the capabilities of our data processing systems and other operating technology, and we expect that we may need to continue to upgrade and expand these capabilities in the future to avoid disruption of, or constraints on, our operations.

We face risks, and corresponding potential costs and expenses, associated with conducting operations and growing our business in numerous countries.

We offer investment management services in different regulatory jurisdictions around the world, and intend to continue to expand our operations internationally. In order to remain competitive, we must be proactive and prepared to deploy necessary resources when and where growth opportunities present themselves. If we lack the necessary resources and/or personnel, we may be unable to take full advantage of strategic opportunities when they appear and our strategic decisions may not be efficiently implemented. Meeting local requirements and complying with local industry standards may also place additional demands on sales and compliance personnel and resources that we may not be able to meet. Finding and hiring additional, well-qualified personnel and crafting and adopting policies, procedures and controls to address local or regional requirements remain a challenge as we expand our operations internationally. Moreover, regulators could also change their policies or laws in a manner that might restrict or otherwise impede our ability to offer our investment products in their respective markets. Any of these requirements, activities, or needs could increase the costs and expenses we incur in a specific jurisdiction without any corresponding increase in revenue and income from operating in such jurisdiction.

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The investment management business is intensely competitive.

Competition in the investment management business is based on a variety of factors, including investment performance; investor perception of an investment manager’s drive, focus and alignment of interests; quality of service provided to clients and duration of client relationships; business reputation; and level of fees charged for services. We compete in all aspects of our business with a large number of investment management firms, commercial banks, broker-dealers, insurance companies and other financial institutions. Our competitive risks are heightened by the fact that some of our competitors may implement investment styles that are viewed more favorably than ours or they may invest in alternative asset classes which the markets may perceive as more attractive than the public equity markets. If we are unable to compete effectively, our revenue could be reduced, and our business could be materially affected.

We may not be successful in expanding into new investment strategies, markets and businesses.

We actively consider the opportunistic expansion of our businesses, but we may not be successful in any such attempted expansion.  Attempts to expand our businesses involve a number of risks, including entry into markets in which we may have limited or no experience, increasing the demands on our operational systems, the broadening of our geographic footprint, increasing the risks associated with conducting operations in non-U.S. jurisdictions and the diversion of management’s attention from our core businesses.

We also may not be successful in identifying new investment strategies or geographic markets that increase our profitability. Because we have not yet identified all of these potential new investment strategies, geographic markets or businesses, we cannot identify all the risks we may face and the potential adverse consequences.  We also do not know how long it may take for us to expand, if we do so at all.

A change of control could result in termination of our investment advisory or sub-investment advisory agreements.

Pursuant to the Investment Company Act, each of the investment advisory or sub-investment advisory agreements for the SEC-registered mutual funds that we advise will automatically terminate upon their deemed “assignment,” and a fund’s board and shareholders must approve a new agreement in order for us to continue to act as its investment adviser or sub-investment adviser. In addition, pursuant to the Investment Advisers Act, each of our investment advisory agreements for the separate accounts we manage contains a provision that states that the agreement may not be “assigned” without the consent of the client. An "assignment," pursuant to both the Investment Company Act and the Investment Advisers Act, could be deemed to occur upon a sale or transfer of a controlling block of our voting securities. Such an assignment may be deemed to occur in the event that the holders of the Class B units of our operating company exchange enough of their Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock such that they no longer own a controlling interest in us. If such a deemed assignment occurs, there can be no assurance that we will be able to obtain the necessary consents from clients whose assets are managed pursuant to separate accounts, or the necessary approvals from the boards and shareholders of the SEC-registered funds that we sub-advise. An assignment, actual or constructive, would trigger these termination and consent provisions and, unless the necessary approvals and consents are obtained, could adversely affect our ability to continue managing client accounts, resulting in the loss of AUM and a corresponding loss of revenue.

Extensive regulation of our business has been and will be expensive and time consuming, and exposes us to the potential for significant penalties, including fines or limitations on our ability to conduct our business.

We are subject to extensive regulation of our investment management business and operations. As a registered investment adviser, the SEC oversees our activities pursuant to its regulatory authority under the Investment Advisers Act. In addition, we must comply with certain requirements under the Investment Company Act with respect to the SEC-registered funds for which we act as investment adviser or sub-investment adviser. As a Category I License holder in South Africa, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority has regulatory oversight over our practices and activities in South Africa.  Pzena Financial Services, LLC, our SEC registered broker dealer subsidiary is regulated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA").  Each of the regulatory bodies with jurisdiction over us has the authority to regulate various aspects of financial services, including the authority to grant, and, in specific circumstances to cancel, permissions to carry on particular businesses. Our failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations could result in fines, censure, suspensions of personnel or other sanctions,

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including revocation of our registration as an investment adviser. Even if a sanction imposed against us is small in monetary amount, the adverse publicity arising from the imposition of such sanctions by regulators could harm our reputation, result in withdrawal by our clients and/or impede our ability to retain clients and develop new client relationships. As we continue to expand into the international market, we may also be under the regulatory scope of local regulatory authorities and non-compliance with any of these authorities may result in fines, sanctions and inability to operate in that local market.

The SEC and its staff continue to engage 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.  During the past few years, the SEC proposed, among other things, enhanced reporting by investment advisors, enhanced reporting on registered mutual funds and cyber security and new vendor concerns.  While these proposals have yet to be finalized into new rules, any new rules, guidance or regulatory initiatives resulting from these efforts could expose us to additional compliance and reporting costs and may require us to change how we operate our business or manage funds.

The United Kingdom (“U.K.”) and other European jurisdictions in which we operate have implemented the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (“MiFID”) rules into national legislation.  MiFID II, which took effect on January 3, 2018, builds upon many initiatives introduced through MiFID which primarily focused on equity trading activity to migrate onto open and transparent markets.  MiFID II has been implemented through a number of more detailed directives, regulations and standards made by the European Commission and by the European Securities Markets Authority (“ESMA”).  MiFID II has significant impact on the European Union (“EU”) securities market, including (i) enhanced investor protection and governance standards, (ii) rules regarding the ability of portfolio management firms to receive and pay for investment research relating to all asset classes, (iii) an enhanced role for ESMA in supervising EU securities, (iv) new requirements regarding non-EU investment firms’ access to EU financial markets, as well as many other requirements for derivatives and trading activities. In particular, compliance with MiFID II may increase costs and affect the manner in which our businesses obtain investment research services.

The U.K. exited the EU effective January 31, 2020 (referred to as Brexit) and has now entered a transition period, expected to last for 11 months, during which there will be no substantive changes regarding trade, employment, and movement between the U.K. and European Union States. During the transition period, the U.K. and European Union will negotiate to determine a holistic agreement to govern trade and all other aspects of the relationship. Depending on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations, our ability to market and provide services within the European Union could be restricted, in whole or in part, temporarily or in the long term. Our contingency plans for certain Brexit scenarios require the cooperation of counterparties or a regulator of financial services to make timely arrangements. We cannot guarantee that counterparties or regulators will cooperate or the timeliness of their cooperation. Our operating expenses may increase as we implement our plan to continue to market and provide our services and distribute our products in the short and/or long term. There is no assurance that any of our Brexit contingency plans will succeed.

In May 2018, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) became effective. The primary objectives of GDPR are to give citizens control of their personal data and to simplify the regulatory environment for international business by unifying data protection regulation in the European Union. Compliance with the stringent rules under GDPR requires continuous monitoring and evaluation of our global data processing. Failure to comply with GDPR could result in fines up to the higher of 20 million Euros or 4% of annual global revenues, regulatory action, and reputational risk.

In addition to the European Union’s GDPR data protection rules, we may also be or become subject to or affected by additional, federal and state laws, regulations, and guidance impacting consumer privacy, such as the recently enacted California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”) effective January 2020, which provides for enhanced consumer protections for California residents and statutory fines for data security breaches or other CCPA violations. Noncompliance with our legal obligations relating to privacy and data protection could result in penalties, legal proceedings by governmental entities or affected individuals, and significant legal and financial exposure.

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We also 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. The requirements imposed by our regulators are designed to ensure the integrity of the financial markets and to protect customers and other third parties who deal with us, and are not designed to protect our stockholders. Any regulatory and legislative actions and reforms affecting the investment advisory industry may negatively impact earnings by increasing our costs of operations.

Specific regulatory changes also may have a direct impact on the revenue of our business. In addition to regulatory scrutiny and potential fines and sanctions, regulators continue to examine different aspects of the asset management industry. For example, the use of “soft dollars,” where a portion of commissions paid to broker-dealers in connection with the execution of trades also pays for research and other services provided to advisors, has been reexamined by different regulatory bodies and may in the future be limited or modified. Although a substantial portion of the research relied on by our business in the investment decision-making process is generated internally by our investment analysts, external research, including external research paid for with soft dollars, is important to the process. This external research generally is used for information gathering or verification purposes, and includes broker-provided research, as well as third-party provided databases and research services. If the use of soft dollars were to be limited, we would have to bear additional costs.

Changes in tax laws or exposure to additional income tax liabilities could have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.

We are subject to income- as well as non-income-based taxes, in both the U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions.  Additional guidance or changes to tax law may be issued that may have a direct effect on our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity.  We are also subject to potential tax audits in various jurisdictions and in such event, tax authorities may disagree with certain positions we have taken and assess penalties or additional taxes. We regularly assess the likely outcomes of these potential audits in order to determine the appropriateness of our tax provision; however, there can be no assurance that we will accurately predict the outcomes of these potential audits. The actual outcomes of these potential audits could have a material impact on our net income or financial condition and any changes in tax laws or tax rulings could materially impact our effective tax rate and earnings.

Certain changes in accounting and/or financial reporting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”), the SEC or other standard-setting bodies could have a material impact on our reported financial position or results of our operations.

We are subject to the application of accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”), which are periodically revised and/or expanded. As such, we are required to adopt new or revised accounting and/or financial reporting standards issued by recognized accounting standard setters or regulators, such as the FASB and the SEC.  Changes associated with the adoption of revised financial reporting standards could have a material impact on our reported financial position or results of our operations.

Inadequate business continuity plans, including those of our significant third-party vendors, could lead to material financial loss, reputational harm and inability to continue business.

We rely heavily on our financial, accounting, trading, compliance and other data processing systems. Any failure or interruption of these systems, whether caused by natural disaster, power or telecommunications failure, 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 back-up systems that we have in place and other protective measures that we have taken may not be adequate in the event of a failure or interruption.

We depend on our headquarters in New York City for the continued operation of our business. A disaster or a disruption in the infrastructure that supports our business, or directly affecting our headquarters, may have a material adverse impact on our ability to continue to operate our business without interruption.

We have a detailed business continuity plan in place that is tested on a quarterly basis. We strive to understand the protective measures of our third-party vendors, however there can be no assurance that these measures will be sufficient to mitigate the harm that may result from such a disaster or disruption.

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Any significant security breach of our software applications, technology or other systems critical to our operations, may disrupt our business or cause us to lose sensitive and confidential information which in turn may cause reputational and financial harm.

We are dependent on the effectiveness of our, and our third-party vendors', information and cyber security infrastructure, policies, procedures and capabilities to protect our computer and telecommunications systems and the data that resides in or is transmitted through them. As part of our normal operations, we maintain and transmit confidential information about our clients as well as proprietary information relating to our business operations. We maintain a system of internal controls designed to provide reasonable assurance that fraudulent activity, including misappropriation of assets, fraudulent financial reporting, and unauthorized access to sensitive or confidential data is either prevented or detected in a timely manner. We are continuously working to install new, and upgrade existing, information technology systems and provide employee awareness training around phishing, malware, and other cyber risks to ensure that we are protected, to the greatest extent possible, against cyber risks and security breaches.

We also strive to understand the protective measures of our third-party vendors and ensure that we have complementary user controls in place to mitigate risk, however our information technology systems may still be vulnerable to unauthorized access or may be corrupted by cyber-attacks, computer viruses or other malicious software code, or authorized persons could inadvertently or intentionally release confidential or proprietary information. Although we take precautions to password protect and/or encrypt our electronic hardware, if such hardware is stolen, misplaced or left unattended, it may become vulnerable to hacking or other unauthorized use, creating a possible security risk and resulting in potentially costly consequences to us. A breach of our technology systems could result in the loss of valuable information, liability for stolen assets or information, remediation costs to repair damage caused by the breach, additional security costs to mitigate against future incidents and legal costs resulting from the incident. Moreover, loss of confidential customer information could harm our reputation, result in the termination of contracts by our existing customers and subject us to liability under laws that protect confidential data, resulting in loss of revenue.

The individuals, counterparties or issuers on whom we rely to perform services for us may be unable or unwilling to honor their contractual obligations to us.

We rely on various third parties and other vendors to fulfill their obligations to us, whether specified by contract, course of dealing or otherwise.  Disruptions in the financial markets and other economic challenges may cause our counterparties and other vendors to experience significant cash flow problems or even render them insolvent, which may expose us to credit, operational or other risk.

Operational risk, such as trade errors or system limitations or failures, may create significant financial impact to us, hamper future growth and cause potential reputational harm.

We face potential operational risk from our management of client assets and daily business. Risks include errors that may occur during the execution, confirmation or settlement phase of transactions and such errors may cause material financial loss, which in turn may cause material financial and reputational harm to us.  We also face the potential of inaccurate recording of transactions in our internal systems, caused by human error, system limitations or system malfunctions.  Such errors may involve client and public reporting, execution, confirmation and settlement of trades, and billing. The potential for operational risk could have significant regulatory, financial or reputational impact.  There can be no assurance that all risks and errors can be prevented.

We are exposed to legal risks which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations or cause significant reputational harm to us. Additionally, litigation may result in higher insurance premiums and increased insurance coverage risks which could increase our costs and reduce our profitability.

We depend to a large extent on our relationships with our clients and our reputation for integrity and high-caliber professional services to attract and retain clients. As a result, dissatisfaction with our services could be more damaging to our business than to other types of businesses. If our clients suffer significant losses, or are otherwise dissatisfied with our services, such as for breach of trading guidelines and/or perceived conflicts of interest, we could be subject to the risk of legal liabilities or actions alleging negligent misconduct, breach of fiduciary duty, or breach of contract. These risks are often difficult to assess or quantify and their existence and magnitude often remain unknown for substantial periods of time.

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While we strive to conduct our business in accordance with the highest ethical standards, we are always open to the risk of litigation by parties in addition to our clients, for instance by our shareholders, employees and regulators. We may incur significant legal expenses in defending against litigation. Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action against us could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, or cause significant reputational harm to us.

Potential regulatory and governmental inquiries, civil litigation or employment-related claims could involve substantial financial penalties. Certain insurance coverage may not be available or may be prohibitively expensive in future periods. As our insurance policies come up for renewal, we may need to assume higher deductibles or co-insurance liabilities, or pay higher premiums, which could increase our expenses and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Insurance coverage may not protect us from all of the liabilities that could arise from the risks inherent in our business.

We maintain insurance coverage focused on reducing potential losses related to our operations. We purchase insurance in amounts, and against risks, that we consider appropriate. There can be no assurance, however, that a claim or claims will be completely covered by insurance or, if covered at all, will not exceed the limits of our existing insurance coverage. If a loss occurs that is partially or completely uninsured, we may be exposed to substantial liability. Insurance costs are impacted by market conditions and our risk profile, and may increase significantly over relatively short periods. Renewals of insurance policies may result in additional costs through higher premiums or the assumption of higher deductibles or co-insurance liability. In addition, insurance and other safeguards might only partially reimburse us for our losses in the event our business continuity plan fails and our operations are significantly disrupted.

Our ability to conduct our business may be materially adversely impacted by catastrophic events, including natural disasters, pandemics and other international health emergencies, weather-related events, terrorist attacks, and other disruptions.

We may encounter disruptions involving power, communications, transportation, travel or other utilities or essential services depended on by us or by third parties with whom we conduct business. This could include disruptions as the result of natural disasters, pandemics, other international health emergencies, or weather-related or similar events (such as fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, landslides and other natural conditions including the effects of climate change), political instability, labor strikes or turmoil, or terrorist attacks. For example, in recent years, several parts of the U.S., including Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and Puerto Rico, sustained significant damage from hurricanes and California sustained significant damage from wildfires and landslides.  Additionally, Australia sustained significant damage from wildfires in recent years. In 2020, China and other countries have experienced the spread of the coronavirus. Similar potential disruptions may occur in any of the locations in which we or our clients do business. We continue to assess the potential impact on our investments and clients of such events, and what impact, if any, these events could have on our businesses, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Furthermore, we often service our clients and prospects by visiting their offices or having them visit our offices.  Any disruptions that prevent our ability to meet with our clients may adversely impact our ability to gain new clients or service our existing clients.

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Risks Related to Our Investment Strategies and Process

Our classic value investment style subjects us to the risk that the companies in which we invest may not achieve the level of earnings recovery that we initially expect, or at all.

We generally invest in companies after they have experienced, or are expected by the market to soon experience, a shortfall in their historic earnings, due to an adverse business development, management error, accounting scandal or other disruption, and before there is clear evidence of earnings recovery or business momentum. While investors are generally less willing to invest when companies lack earnings visibility, our classic value investment approach seeks to capture the return that can be obtained by investing in a company before the market has confidence in its ability to achieve earnings recovery. However, our investment approach entails the risk that the companies included in our portfolios are not able to execute as we had expected when we originally invested in them, thereby reducing the performance of our strategies. Since our positions in these investments are often substantial, even partial sales of a substantial position into the market may cause the market price of our investment to decline and there is the risk that we may be unable to find willing purchasers for our investments when we decide to sell them.

Since we apply the same investment process across all of our investment strategies, utilizing one analyst team, and given the overlapping universes of many of our investment strategies, we could have common positions and industry or sector concentrations across many of our investment strategies at the same time. As such, factors leading one of our investment strategies to underperform may lead other strategies to underperform simultaneously.

Our global and non-U.S. strategies may consist of investments in the securities of issuers located outside of the United States, which may involve foreign currency exchange, political, social and economic uncertainties and risks.

Our global and non-U.S. strategies, which together represented $24.5 billion and $18.9 billion of our AUM as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively, are primarily invested in securities of companies located outside the United States.  As of December 31, 2019, approximately 45% of our assets under management were invested in securities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.  Investments in non-U.S. issuers may be affected by political, social and economic uncertainty affecting a country or region in which we are invested.  Many emerging financial markets are not as developed, or as efficient, as the U.S. financial market, and, as a result, liquidity may be reduced and price volatility may increase. The legal and regulatory environments, including financial accounting standards and practices, may also be different, and there may be less publicly available information in respect of such companies. These risks could adversely impact the performance of our strategies that are invested in securities of non-U.S. issuers. In addition, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may affect investment return and AUM since we do not engage in currency hedging for these portfolios. Due to these factors, our AUM may fluctuate from one reporting period to another, causing volatility in earnings.

Our investment approach may underperform other investment approaches during certain market conditions.

Our products are best suited for investors with long-term investment horizons. In accordance with our classic value investment approach, we typically hold securities for an average of three to five years. Our strategies may not perform well during points in the economic cycle when value-oriented stocks are relatively less attractive. For instance, during the late stages of an economic cycle, investors may purchase relatively expensive stocks in order to obtain access to above average growth. Value-oriented strategies may also experience weakness during periods when the markets are focused on one investment thesis or sector.

Even when securities prices are rising generally, portfolio performance can be affected by our investment approach. The classic value approach has outperformed the market in some economic and market environments and underperformed it in others. In particular, a prolonged period in which the growth-style of investing outperforms the value-style may cause our investment strategy to go out of favor with clients, consultants and sub-advised relationships. Our investment strategy may be less favored during certain time periods for other reasons as well, including due to perceived riskiness or volatility of our approach. Poor performance relative to peers, coupled with changes in personnel, extensive periods in particular market environments, or other difficulties may result in a decline in our AUM.

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Our investment process requires us to conduct extensive fundamental research on any company before investing, which may result in missed investment opportunities and reduce the performance of our investment strategies.

We take a considerable amount of time to complete the in-depth research projects that our investment process requires before adding any security to our portfolio. Our process requires that we take this time to understand the company and the business well enough to make an informed decision as to whether we are willing to own a significant position in a company that does not yet have clear earnings visibility. However, the time we take to make this judgment may cause us to miss the opportunity to invest in a company that has a sharp and rapid earnings recovery. Any such missed investment opportunities could adversely impact the performance of our investment strategies.

Our investment strategies subject us to the risk that the companies in which we invest may be exposed to catastrophic events, including natural disasters, pandemics and other international health emergencies, weather-related events, terrorist attacks and other disruptions.

We invest in companies globally that may encounter disruptions involving power, communications, transportation, travel or other utilities or essential services they depend on to conduct business. This could include disruptions as the result of natural disasters, pandemics, other international health emergencies, or weather-related or similar events (such as fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, landslides and other natural conditions including the effects of climate change), political instability, labor strikes or turmoil, or terrorist attacks. For example, in recent years, several parts of the U.S., including Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and Puerto Rico, sustained significant damage from hurricanes and California sustained significant damage from wildfires and landslides.  Additionally, Australia sustained significant damage from wildfires in recent years. In 2020, China and other countries have experienced the spread of the coronavirus. Although we continue to assess the potential impact of such events on the companies in which we invest, there can be no assurance that these events will not adversely affect our investment and may lead one or more of our investment strategies to underperform. Such disruptions may affect our investment process by limiting our ability to complete our fundamental research in a timely manner.

Risks Related to Our Structure

We are dependent upon distributions from Pzena Investment Management, LLC to make distributions to our Class A stockholders, and to pay taxes and other expenses.

We are a holding company and have no material assets other than our ownership of membership units of our operating company. We have no independent means of generating revenue and cash flow. Our operating company is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and, as such, is not itself subject to U.S. federal income tax. Instead, its taxable income is allocated to its members, including us, pro-rata according to the number of membership units each member owns. Accordingly, we incur income taxes on our proportionate share of any taxable income of our operating company. We also incur expenses related to our operations. We intend to have our operating company distribute cash to its members in an amount at least equal to that necessary to cover their tax liabilities, if any, with respect to the earnings of our operating company. To the extent we need funds to pay our tax or other liabilities or to fund our operations, and our operating company is restricted from making distributions to us under applicable laws or regulations, or contractual restrictions, or does not have sufficient earnings to make these distributions, we may have to borrow funds to meet these obligations and run our business and, thus, our liquidity and financial condition could be materially adversely affected. There can be no assurance that funds will be available to borrow under such circumstances on terms acceptable to us, or at all.

We are required to pay most of the tax benefit of any amortization deductions we may claim as a result of the tax basis step up we receive in connection with the sales of membership units and any exchanges of Class B units and this tax treatment could be challenged by tax authorities.

As part of the reorganization we implemented with our initial public offering ("IPO"), we purchased membership units of our operating company from three of its members (the "Selling Members"). In addition, holders of Class B units may, at least once each year, exchange their Class B units of our operating company for shares of our Class A common stock. These purchases and subsequent exchanges have resulted, and are expected to continue to result, in increases in our share of the tax basis in the tangible and intangible assets of our operating company that otherwise would not have been available. These increases in tax basis have reduced, and are expected to continue to reduce, the amount of tax that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future, although the Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") might challenge all or part of this tax basis increase, and a court might sustain such a challenge.

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Pursuant to a tax receivable agreement dated October 30, 2007, among us, the Selling Members, and all holders of Class B units after our IPO, we are required to pay the Selling Members, and certain holders of Class B units who elect to exchange their Class B units for shares of our Class A common stock, 85% of the amount of the cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax that we realize as a result of the increases in amortizable tax basis due to the sale to us of their membership units. The actual increase in tax bases, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under this agreement, may vary depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges, the price of our Class A common stock at the time of the exchange, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable, the amount and timing of our income, and the tax rates and related laws then applicable. Payments under the tax receivable agreement are expected to give rise to certain additional tax benefits attributable to further increases in basis. Any such benefits are covered by the tax receivable agreement and may increase the amounts due thereunder. We expect that, as a result of the size and increases in our share of the tax basis in the tangible and intangible assets of our operating company attributable to our interest therein, the payments that we may make to these members likely may be substantial.

If we exercise our right to terminate the tax receivable agreement early, we may be obligated to make an early termination payment to the selling and converting shareholders, based upon the net present value of all payments that would be required to be paid by us. If certain change of control events were to occur, we would also be obligated to make an early termination payment.

Were the IRS to successfully challenge the tax bases increases described above, we would not be reimbursed for any payments made under the tax receivable agreement. As a result, in certain circumstances, we could be required to make payments under the tax receivable agreement in excess of our cash tax savings.

Risks Related to Our Class A Common Stock

The market price and trading volume of our Class A common stock may be volatile, which could result in rapid and substantial losses for our stockholders.

The market price of our Class A common stock has been, and may continue to be, highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. In addition, the trading volume of our Class A common stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our Class A common stock declines significantly, you may be unable to resell your shares of our Class A common stock at or above your purchase price, if at all. We cannot assure you that the market price of our Class A common stock may not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future.

The market price of our Class A common stock could decline due to the large number of shares of our Class A common stock eligible for future sale upon the exchange of Class B units of our operating company or future issuance of shares of Class A common stock.

Pursuant to the operating agreement of our operating company, on at least one date designated by us each year, certain holders of Class B units generally may exchange up to 15% of certain of their Class B units for an equivalent number of shares of our Class A common stock, subject to certain restrictions and conditions set forth in the operating agreement. Pursuant to the operating agreement of our operating company, no later than the second exchange date after holders of our Class B-1 units cease to be employed by us, such Class B-1 holders are required to exchange all of their Class B-1 units for a number of shares of our Class A common stock that will be determined based on the market value of our Class A common stock at the time of the grant of the Class B-1 units and at the time of the exchange. Also, since 2011, the non-employee members of our operating company may exchange all of their vested Class B units, in accordance with the timing restrictions set forth in the operating agreement.

Pursuant to the resale and registration rights agreement, dated October 30, 2007, among the holders of Class B units and us, these holders may resell the shares of Class A common stock issued to them upon the exchange of their Class B units as discussed above.

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During 2019, we established December 23, 2019 as an exchange date. Certain employee members, non-employee members and permitted transferees, elected to exchange an aggregate of 234,602 of their Class B units for an equivalent number of shares of our Class A common stock, which are freely tradable.  As of December 31, 2019, there remained 52,952,519 shares of our Class A common stock that have previously been registered in various registration statements filed with the SEC, which may be issued upon the exchange of currently outstanding Class B units as discussed above.  An additional 8,776,108 shares of Class A common stock are registered relating to Class B units that have not been issued. There are also shares of our Class A common stock registered in various registration statements filed with the SEC, which may be issued upon the exchange of 3,683,073 currently outstanding Class B-1 units as discussed above.  The number of such shares of our Class A common stock issuable upon exchange of currently outstanding Class B-1 units will depend on the market value of our Class A common stock at issuance of the relevant Class B-1 units and at the time of any such future exchange.

Anti-takeover provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws could discourage a change of control that our stockholders may favor, which could also adversely affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

Provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may make it more difficult and expensive for a third party to acquire control of us, even if a change of control would be beneficial to our stockholders. For example, our amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes our Board of Directors to issue up to 200,000,000 shares of our preferred stock and to designate the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of unissued series of our preferred stock, each without any vote or action by our stockholders. We could issue a series of preferred stock to impede the consummation of a merger, tender offer or other takeover attempt. The anti-takeover provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may impede takeover attempts, or other transactions, that may be in the best interests of our stockholders and, in particular, our Class A stockholders. In addition, the market price of our Class A common stock could be adversely affected to the extent that provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws discourage potential takeover attempts, or other transactions, that our stockholders may favor.

The disparity in the voting rights among the classes of our common stock may have a potential adverse effect on the price of our Class A common stock and may give rise to conflicts of interest.

As of December 31, 2019, our Class B stockholders collectively hold approximately 94% of the combined voting power of our common stock. These stockholders consist of our founders, 44 of our other employees (directly or through their interests in Pzena Investment Management, LP), the estate planning vehicles of our founders and certain of our other employees, certain other members of our operating company, including one of our directors and his related entities, and former employees (directly or through their interests in Pzena Investment Management, LP). Holders of shares of our Class B common stock have entered into a Class B Stockholders’ Agreement with respect to all shares of Class B common stock then held by them and any additional shares of Class B common stock they may acquire in the future. Pursuant to this agreement, they may vote these shares of Class B common stock together on all matters submitted to a vote of our common stockholders. To the extent that we cause our operating company to issue additional Class B units, which may be granted, subject to vesting, to our employees pursuant to the PIM LLC 2006 Equity Incentive Plan, these employees will be entitled to receive an equivalent number of shares of our Class B common stock, subject to the condition that they agree to enter into this Class B Stockholders’ Agreement. Each share of our Class B common stock entitles its holder to five votes per share for so long as the Class B stockholders collectively hold 20% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding. When a Class B unit is exchanged for a share of our Class A common stock, an unvested Class B unit is forfeited due to the employee holder’s failure to satisfy the conditions of the award agreement pursuant to which it was granted, or any Class B unit is forfeited as a result of a breach of any restrictive covenants contained in our operating company’s amended and restated operating agreement, a corresponding share of our Class B common stock will automatically be redeemed by us.

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For so long as our Class B stockholders hold at least 20% of the total number of shares of our common stock outstanding, they will be able to elect all of the members of our Board of Directors and thereby control our management and affairs, including determinations with respect to acquisitions, dispositions, borrowings, issuances of securities, and the declaration and payment of dividends. In addition, they will be able to determine the outcome of all matters requiring approval of stockholders, and will be able to cause or prevent a change of control of our Company or a change in the composition of our Board of Directors, and could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of our Company. Our Class B stockholders have the ability to prevent the consummation of mergers, takeovers or other transactions that may be in the best interests of our Class A stockholders. In particular, this concentration of voting power could deprive Class A stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their shares of Class A common stock as part of a sale of our company, and could ultimately affect the market price of our Class A common stock.

Each share of our Class A common stock entitles its holder to one vote on all matters to be voted on by stockholders. This difference in voting rights could adversely affect the value of our Class A common stock to the extent that investors view, or any potential future purchaser of our company views, the superior voting rights of the Class B common stock to have more value.

Our ability to pay dividends is subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and may be limited by our holding company structure and applicable provisions of Delaware law.

We currently intend to pay cash dividends on a quarterly basis and our Board of Directors has targeted a cash dividend payout ratio of approximately 60% to 70% of annual as adjusted earnings per share, subject to growth initiatives and other funding needs. However, our Board of Directors may, in its discretion, modify the level of dividends, or discontinue the payment of dividends entirely. Furthermore, we are a holding company, and depend upon the ability of Pzena Investment Management, LLC, our operating company, to generate earnings and cash flows and distribute them to us so that we may pay our obligations and expenses and pay dividends to our stockholders. We expect to cause Pzena Investment Management, LLC to make distributions to its members, including us. However, the ability of Pzena Investment Management, LLC to make such distributions is subject to its operating results, cash requirements and financial condition, and applicable Delaware laws (which may limit the amount of funds available for distribution to its members), as well as any contractual restrictions. If, as a consequence of these various limitations and restrictions, we do not receive distributions from our operating company, we may not be able to make, or may have to reduce or eliminate, the payment of dividends on our Class A common stock. Because of these various limitations and restrictions, we have, in the past, had to suspend our quarterly dividend payment. See “Item 5 — Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities — Our Dividend Policy.”

The dual class structure of our common stock may adversely affect the trading market for our Class A common stock.

S&P Dow Jones and FTSE Russell have announced changes to their eligibility criteria for inclusion of shares of public companies on certain indices, namely, to exclude companies with multiple classes of shares of common stock from being added to such indices. In addition, several shareholder advisory firms have announced their opposition to the use of multiple class structures. As a result, the dual class structure of our common stock may prevent the inclusion of our Class A common stock in such indices and may cause shareholder advisory firms to publish negative commentary about our corporate governance practices. Any such exclusion from indices could result in a less active trading market for our Class A common stock. Any actions or publications by shareholder advisory firms critical of our corporate governance practices or capital structure could also adversely affect the value of our Class A common stock.

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None.

As of the date of this Annual Report, our corporate headquarters and principal offices are located at 320 Park Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, New York 10022. We occupy approximately 45,050 square feet of space under a non-cancellable operating lease, the term of which expires on December 31, 2025.

In the normal course of business, we may be subject to various legal and administrative proceedings.

Currently, there are no material legal proceedings pending against us that we believe may have a material effect on our business, cash flow or results of operations.

Not Applicable.

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PART II.

Our Class A common stock is listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) under the symbol “PZN.” As of March 9, 2020, there were approximately 33 record holders of our Class A common stock and 34 record holders of our Class B common stock. These numbers do not include shareholders who hold their shares through one or more intermediaries, such as banks, brokers or depositories.

Our Dividend Policy

Our Board of Directors has targeted a cash dividend payout ratio of approximately 60% to 70% of our as adjusted diluted net income, subject to growth initiatives and other funding needs. However, our Board of Directors may, in its discretion, modify the level of dividends, or discontinue the payment of dividends entirely.

We use annual non-GAAP as adjusted earnings measures, discussed in further detail in “Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operation — Net Income” in Part II of this Annual Report, to assess the strength of the underlying operations of the business.  Included in our annual results are certain tax related and non-recurring adjustments that we feel add a measure of non-operational complexity to our results as reported under GAAP and obscure the underlying performance of the business.  Management therefore does not consider these adjustments when evaluating operating results or financial information in any given period, and instead uses as adjusted measures of earnings, which exclude these items, to analyze our operations between periods, and over time, and to evaluate the financial condition and results of operations.  Investors should consider the as adjusted measures in addition to, and not as a substitute for, financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP. The adjusted measures that we present are not determined in accordance with GAAP. We have made adjustments that we have determined are appropriate, but such adjustments may differ from the adjustments made by other companies using similarly titled measures. Accordingly, such measures may not be comparable to the similarly titled measures presented by other companies.

As a holding company, we have no material assets other than our ownership of membership interests in our operating company.  As a result, we depend upon distributions from our operating company to pay any dividends that our Board of Directors may declare to be paid to our Class A common stockholders, if any.  When and if our Board of Directors declares any such dividends, we then cause our operating company to make distributions to us in an amount sufficient to cover the dividends declared.  We may not pay dividends to our Class A common stockholders in amounts that have been paid to them in the past, or at all, if, among other things, we do not have the cash necessary to pay our intended dividends, or any of our financing facilities or other agreements restrict us from doing so.  To the extent we do not have cash on hand sufficient to pay dividends in the future, we may decide not to pay dividends.

Our ability to pay dividends is subject to Board of Director discretion and may be limited by our holding company structure and applicable provisions of Delaware law.  See “Item 1A — Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Class A Common Stock — Our ability to pay dividends is subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors and may be limited by our holding company structure and applicable provisions of Delaware law.”

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Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

On April 24, 2012, our Board of Directors authorized us to repurchase an aggregate of $10.0 million of our outstanding Class A common stock in the open market and Class B units of the operating company in private transactions in accordance with applicable securities laws.  On February 5, 2014, the Board of Directors authorized us to repurchase an additional $20.0 million of our outstanding Class A common stock and Class B units of the operating company.  On April 19, 2018, the Company announced that its Board of Directors approved an additional increase of $30.0 million in the aggregate amount authorized under the program.  The timing, number, and value of common shares and units repurchased are subject to our discretion.  Our share repurchase program is not subject to an expiration date and may be suspended, discontinued, or modified at any time, or for any reason.  Shares repurchased under the repurchase program during the fourth quarter of 2019 are as follows:

Securities Authorized for Issuance under Equity Compensation Plans

See Part III, Item 12 – Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters in this annual report for disclosure relating to our equity compensation plans. The information required will be included in the Company’s 2020 Proxy Statement and is incorporated by reference herein.

The following tables set forth selected historical consolidated financial data of Pzena Investment Management, Inc. The selected consolidated statements of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 and the selected consolidated statements of financial condition data as of December 31, 2019 and 2018, have been derived from Pzena Investment Management, Inc.’s audited consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report.

The selected consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, and the selected consolidated statements of financial condition as of December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, have been derived from Pzena Investment Management, Inc.’s audited consolidated financial statements not included in this report.

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You should read the following selected historical consolidated financial data together with “Item 7 — Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the historical consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in this Annual Report.

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Overview

We are an investment management firm that utilizes a classic value investment approach across all of our investment strategies.  We currently manage assets in a variety of value-oriented investment strategies across a wide range of market capitalizations in both U.S. and non-U.S. capital markets.  At December 31, 2019, our AUM was approximately $41.2 billion.  We manage separate accounts on behalf of institutions, act as sub-investment adviser for a variety of SEC-registered mutual funds and non-U.S. funds, and act as investment adviser for the Pzena mutual funds, certain private placement funds and non-U.S. funds.

We function as the sole managing member of our operating company, Pzena Investment Management, LLC (the “operating company”).  As a result, we: (i) consolidate the financial results of our operating company with our own, and reflect the membership interest in it that we do not own as a non-controlling interest in our consolidated financial statements; and (ii) recognize income generated from our interest in our operating company’s net income.  As of December 31, 2019, the holders of our Class A common stock and the holders of Class B units of our operating company held approximately 25.4% and 74.6%, respectively, of the economic interests in the December 31, 2019 value of our operating company. As of December 31. 2019, the holders of our Class A common stock and the holders of Class B and Class B-1 units of our operating company held approximately 24.1%, 71.0%, and 4.9%, respectively, of the future income and distributions. For the year ended December 31, 2019, the weighted-average non-controlling interest of our operating company was 74.4%.

The Company also serves as the general partner of Pzena Investment Management, LP, a partnership formed with the objective of aggregating employee ownership in one entity.

Our founders and certain of our employees have interests in Pzena Investment Management, LP and certain estate planning vehicles through which they indirectly own Class B and B-1 units of our operating company. As of December 31, 2019, through direct and indirect interests, our three founders; 44 other employee members; and certain other members of our operating company, including one of our directors, his related entities, and certain former employees, collectively held 49.9%, 6.0%, and 18.7% of the economic interests in the December 31, 2019 value of our operating company, respectively. As of December 31, 2019, through direct and indirect interests, our three founders; 44 other employee members; and certain former employees, collectively held 47.4%, 10.7%, and 17.8% of the future income and distributions of our operating company.

Net Income

GAAP diluted net income and GAAP diluted earnings per share were $34.0 million and $0.46, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2019, and $55.3 million and $0.77, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2018.

In evaluating the results of operations, management also reviews non-GAAP as adjusted measures of earnings, which are adjusted to exclude accounting items that add a measure of non-operational complexity which obscures the underlying performance of the business. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2019, earnings were adjusted to exclude non-recurring Compensation and Benefits expenses, the vast majority of which were related to the issuance of certain unit-based and other awards to a number of the firm’s key contributors pursuant to the terms of our equity incentive plans, in addition to costs related to certain employee departures. For the twelve months ended December 31, 2018, earnings were adjusted to exclude changes in the deferred tax asset and corresponding liability to the Company’s selling and converting shareholders associated with a change in the historical calculation of deferred tax assets discussed in Tax Receivable Agreement below. We believe that these adjustments, and the as adjusted measures derived from them, provide information to better analyze our operations between periods, and over time.  Investors should consider these as adjusted measures in addition to, and not as a substitute for, financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

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As adjusted diluted net income and as adjusted diluted earnings per share were $54.1 million and $0.73, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2019, and $55.6 million and $0.77, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2018.  GAAP and as adjusted net income for diluted earnings per share generally assumes all operating company membership units are converted into Company stock at the beginning of the reporting period, and the resulting change to our GAAP and as adjusted net income associated with our increased interest in the operating company is taxed at our historical effective tax rate, exclusive of the adjustments related to our tax receivable agreement and the associated liability to selling and converting shareholders and other adjustments. The as adjusted historical tax rate used to calculate the as adjusted diluted net income for the year ended December 31, 2019 also excludes the impact of the non-recurring charges recognized in operating expenses.  Our GAAP effective tax rate, exclusive of these adjustments, was 30.0% for the year ended December 31, 2019 and 24.1% for the year ended December 31, 2018. Our as adjusted effective tax rate, exclusive of these adjustments, was 24.4% for the year ended December 31, 2019 and 24.1% for the year ended December 31, 2018.  See “Operating Results — Income Tax Expense” below.

A reconciliation of the as adjusted measures to the most comparable GAAP measures is included below:

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Revenue

We generate revenue primarily from management fees and performance fees, which we collectively refer to as our advisory fees, by managing assets on behalf of our separately managed and sub-advised accounts, as well as our Pzena funds.  Our advisory fee income is primarily based on our AUM, as discussed below, and is recognized over the period in which investment management services are provided.  In accordance with Revenue Recognition Topic of the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification (“FASB ASC”), income from performance fees is recorded at the conclusion of the contractual performance period, when it is probable that significant reversal of the performance fee will not occur. Advisory fee income is presented net of fund expense cap reimbursements.

Our advisory fees are primarily driven by the level of our AUM.  Our AUM increases or decreases with the net inflows or outflows of funds into our various investment strategies and with the investment performance thereof.  In order to increase our AUM and expand our business, we must develop and market investment strategies that suit the investment needs of our target clients, and provide attractive returns over the long-term.  The value and composition of our AUM, and our ability to continue to attract clients will depend on a variety of factors as described in “Item 1 — Risk Factors — Risks Related to Our Business — Our primary source of revenue is derived from management fees, which are directly tied to our assets under management. Fluctuations in AUM therefore will directly impact our revenue."

For our separately managed accounts, we are paid management fees according to a schedule, which varies by investment strategy. The substantial majority of these accounts pay us management fees pursuant to a schedule in which the rate we earn on the AUM declines as the amount of AUM increases.

Pursuant to our sub-investment advisory agreements, we are generally paid a management fee according to a schedule in which the rate we earn on the AUM declines as the amount of AUM increases.  Certain of these funds pay us fixed-rate management fees.  Due to the substantially larger account size of certain of these sub-advised accounts, the average advisory fees we earn on them, as a percentage of AUM, are lower than the advisory fees we earn on our separately managed accounts.

Advisory fees we earn on separately managed accounts and Pzena funds are generally based on the value of AUM at a specific date on a quarterly basis.  Certain of our separately managed accounts, sub-advised accounts, and Pzena funds are calculated based on the average of the monthly or daily market value.  Advisory fees are also generally adjusted for any cash flows into or out of a portfolio, where the cash flow represents greater than 10% of the value of the portfolio.  While a specific group of accounts may use the same fee rate, the calculation methodology may differ as described above.

Certain of our clients pay us performance fees according to the performance of their accounts relative to certain agreed-upon benchmarks, which results in a lower base fee, but allows for us to earn higher fees if the relevant investment strategy outperforms the agreed-upon benchmark.  Some performance-based fee arrangements include high-water mark provisions, which generally provide that if a client account underperforms relative to its performance target, it must gain back such underperformance before we can collect future performance-based fees.  Fulcrum fee arrangements related to one client relationship require a reduction in the base fee, or allow for a performance fee if the relevant investment strategy underperforms or outperforms, respectively, the agreed-upon benchmark.

Our advisory fees may fluctuate based on a number of factors, including the following:

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Expenses

Our expenses consist primarily of Compensation and Benefits Expense, as well as General and Administrative Expense. Our largest expense is Compensation and Benefits, which includes the salaries, bonuses, equity-based compensation, and related benefits and payroll costs attributable to our employee members and employees.  Compensation and benefits packages are benchmarked against relevant industry and geographic peer groups in order to attract and retain qualified personnel. General and Administrative Expense includes lease expenses, professional and outside services fees, depreciation, costs associated with operating and maintaining our research, trading and portfolio accounting systems, and other expenses. Our occupancy-related costs and professional services expenses, in particular, generally increase or decrease in relative proportion to the overall size and scale of our business operations.

We incur additional expenses associated with being a public company for, among other things, director and officer insurance, director fees, SEC reporting and compliance (including Sarbanes-Oxley compliance), professional fees, transfer agent fees, and other similar expenses.

Our expenses may fluctuate due to a number of factors, including the following:

Other Income/ (Expense)

Other income/ (expense) is derived primarily from investment income or loss arising from our consolidated subsidiaries and interest income generated on our cash balances. Other income/ (expense) is also affected by changes in our estimates of the liability due to our selling and converting shareholders associated with payments owed to them under the tax receivable agreement which was executed in connection with our reorganization and IPO on October 30, 2007.  As discussed further below under “Tax Receivable Agreement,” this liability represents 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state, and local income tax that we realize as a result of the amortization of the increases in tax basis generated from our acquisitions of our operating company’s units from our selling and converting shareholders.  We expect the interest and investment components of other income/ (expense), in the aggregate, to fluctuate based on market conditions and the performance of our consolidated subsidiaries and other investments.

Non-Controlling Interests

We are the sole managing member of our operating company and control its business and affairs and, therefore, consolidate its financial results with ours.  In light of our employees' and outside investors' direct and indirect interests in our operating company (as noted in "Item 1 — Business — Overview"), we have reflected their membership interests as a non-controlling interest in our consolidated financial statements.  As of December 31, 2019, the holders of our Class A common stock and the holders of Class B units of our operating company held approximately 25.4% and 74.6%, respectively, of the economic interests in the December 31, 2019 value of the operating company. As of December 31, 2019, the holders of our Class A common stock and the holders of Class B and B-1 units of our operating company held approximately 24.1% and 75.9%, respectively, of the future income and distributions of our operating company. In addition, our operating company consolidates the results of operations of the private investment partnerships and Pzena-branded mutual funds over which we exercise a controlling influence.  Non-controlling interests recorded in our consolidated financial statements include the non-controlling interests of the outside investors in these consolidated subsidiaries.  

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Operating Results

Assets Under Management and Flows

As of December 31, 2019, our approximately $41.2 billion of AUM was invested in a variety of value-oriented investment strategies, representing distinct capitalization segments of U.S. and non-U.S. equity markets.  The performance of our largest investment strategies as of December 31, 2019 is further described below.  We follow the same investment process for each of these strategies.  Our investment strategies are distinguished by the market capitalization ranges from which we select securities for their portfolios, which we refer to as each strategy’s investment universe, as well as the regions in which we invest and the degree to which we concentrate on a limited number of holdings.  While our investment process includes ongoing review of companies in the investment universes described below, our actual investments may include companies outside of the relevant market capitalization range at the time of our investment.  In addition, the number of holdings typically found in the portfolios of each of our investment strategies may vary, as described below.

The following tables describe the allocation of our AUM among our investment strategies and the domicile of our accounts, as of December 31, 2019 and 2018:

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The following table indicates the annualized returns, gross and net (which represents annualized returns prior to, and after, payment of advisory fees, respectively), of our largest investment strategies from their inception to December 31, 2019, and in the five-year, three-year, and one-year periods ended December 31, 2019, relative to the performance of the market index which is often used by our clients to compare the performance of the relevant investment strategy.

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Large Cap Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 50 to 80 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 500 of the largest U.S. listed companies, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in July 2012.  At December 31, 2019, the Large Cap Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 26.0%, underperforming its benchmark.  The top detracting sectors were the consumer discretionary and technology sectors, partially offset by the performance of the financial services sector.

International Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 60 to 80 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 1,500 of the largest companies across the world excluding the United States, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in November 2008.  At December 31, 2019, the International Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 18.1%, underperforming its benchmark. The top detracting sectors were the energy and consumer discretionary sectors as well as certain Chinese stocks, partially offset by the performance of the industrials sector.

Emerging Markets Focused Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 40 to 80 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 1,500 of the largest emerging market companies, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in January 2008.  At December 31, 2019, the Emerging Markets Focused Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 13.4%, underperforming its benchmark.  The top detracting sectors included the consumer discretionary and utilities sectors as well as certain Chinese and Korean stocks, partially offset by the performance of the consumer staples sector.

Large Cap Focused Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 30 to 40 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 500 of the largest U.S. listed companies, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in October 2000.  At December 31, 2019, the Large Cap Focused Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 26.5%, matching its benchmark.  The top detracting sectors were the consumer discretionary and technology sectors, offset by the performance of the financial services sector.

Global Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 60 to 95 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 2,000 of the largest companies across the world, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in January 2010.  At December 31, 2019, the Global Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 22.9%, underperforming its benchmark. The top detracting sectors included the information technology and consumer discretionary sectors as well as certain U.S. stocks, partially offset by the performance of the industrials sector.

European Focused Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 40 to 50 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 750 of the largest European companies, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in August 2008.  At December 31, 2019, the European Focused Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 17.4%, underperforming its benchmark.  The top detracting sectors were the materials and healthcare sectors as well as certain Swiss and German stocks.

Global Focused Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 40 to 60 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 2,000 of the largest companies across the world, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in January 2004.  At December 31, 2019, the Global Focused Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 23.6%, underperforming its benchmark.  The top detracting sectors included the information technology and consumer discretionary sectors as well as certain U.S. stocks.

Mid Cap Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 50 to 80 stocks drawn generally from a universe of U.S. listed companies ranked from the 201st to 1,200th largest, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in April 2014.  At December 31, 2019, the Mid Cap Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 26.8%, underperforming its benchmark.  The top detracting sectors were the healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors, partially offset by the performance of the producer durables sector.

Focused Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of a portfolio of approximately 30 to 40 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 1,000 of the largest U.S. listed companies, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in January 1996.  At December 31, 2019, the Focused Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 26.9%, outperforming its benchmark. The top performing sector was the financial services sector, partially offset by the underperformance of the technology and consumer discretionary sectors.

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Small Cap Focused Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 40 to 50 stocks drawn generally from a universe of U.S. listed companies ranked from the 1,001st to 3,000th largest, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in January 1996.  At December 31, 2019, the Small Cap Focused Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 26.7%, outperforming its benchmark. The top performing sectors included the materials & processing, producer durables, and consumer discretionary sectors, partially offset by the underperformance of the financial services sector.  

International Focused Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 30 to 50 stocks drawn generally from a universe of 1,500 of the largest companies across the world excluding the United States, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in January 2004.  At December 31, 2019, the International Focused Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 18.5%, underperforming its benchmark.  The top detracting sectors included the consumer discretionary and communication services sectors as well as certain Chinese stocks, partially offset by the performance of the industrials sector.

Mid Cap Focused Value.  This strategy reflects a portfolio composed of approximately 30 to 40 stocks drawn generally from a universe of U.S. listed companies ranked from the 201st to 1,200th largest, based on market capitalization.  This strategy was launched in September 1998.  At December 31, 2019, the Mid Cap Focused Value strategy generated a one-year annualized gross return of 29.6%, outperforming its benchmark.  The top performing sectors were the producer durables and financial services sectors, partially offset by the underperformance of the healthcare and consumer discretionary sectors. 

Our earnings and cash flows are heavily dependent upon prevailing financial market conditions.  Significant increases or decreases in the various securities markets, particularly the equities markets, can have a material impact on our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows.

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The change in AUM in our separately managed accounts, sub-advised accounts and Pzena funds for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 is described below. Inflows are composed of the investment of new or additional assets by new or existing clients. Outflows consist of redemptions of assets by existing clients.

During the year ended December 31, 2019, our AUM increased $7.8 billion, or 23.4%, from $33.4 billion at December 31, 2018. This increase is primarily due to market appreciation and net inflows during the year ended December 31, 2019.

At December 31, 2019, we managed $16.4 billion in separately managed accounts, $22.4 billion in sub-advised accounts, and $2.4 billion in Pzena funds, for a total of $41.2 billion in assets.  For the year ended December 31, 2019, we experienced $7.0 billion in market appreciation and total gross inflows of $6.6 billion, which were partially offset by total gross outflows of $5.8 billion.  Assets in separately managed accounts increased by $3.8 billion, or 30.2%, from $12.6 billion at December 31, 2018, due to $2.6 billion in market appreciation and $3.2 billion in gross inflows, partially offset by $ 2.0 billion in gross outflows.  Assets in sub-advised accounts increased by $3.6 billion, or 19.1%, from $18.8 billion at December 31, 2018, due to $4.0 billion in market appreciation and $3.0 billion in gross inflows, partially offset by $3.4 billion in gross outflows.  Assets in Pzena funds increased by $0.4 billion, or 20.0%, from $2.0 billion at December 31, 2018 as a result of $0.4 billion in gross inflows and $0.4 billion in market appreciation, partially offset by $0.4 billion in gross outflows.

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At December 31, 2018, we managed $12.6 billion in separately managed accounts, $18.8 billion in sub-advised accounts, and $2.0 billion in Pzena funds, for a total of $33.4 billion in assets. For the year ended December 31, 2018, we experienced $6.1 billion in market depreciation and total gross outflows of $4.5 billion, which were partially offset by total gross inflows of $5.5 billion. Assets in separately managed accounts decreased by $2.4 billion, or 16.0%, from $15.0 billion at December 31, 2017, due to $2.2 billion in market depreciation and $1.8 billion in gross outflows, partially offset by $1.6 billion in gross inflows. Assets in sub-advised accounts decreased by $3.0 billion, or 13.8%, from $21.8 billion at December 31, 2017, due to $3.6 billion in market depreciation and $2.4 billion in gross outflows, partially offset by $3.0 billion in gross inflows. Assets in Pzena funds increased by $0.3 billion, or 17.6%, from $1.7 billion at December 31, 2017 as a result of $0.9 billion in gross inflows, partially offset by $0.3 billion in market depreciation and $0.3 billion in gross outflows.

Revenue

Our revenue from advisory fees earned on our separately managed accounts, sub-advised accounts and Pzena funds for the two years ended December 31, 2019 is described below:

Year Ended December 31, 2019 versus December 31, 2018

Our total revenue decreased $2.8 million, or 1.8%, to $150.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $153.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.  This change was primarily driven by the effect of fulcrum fees and by a decrease in performance fees recognized during 2019.  For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, we recognized a reduction of base fees in the amount of $1.8 million and $0.2 million, respectively, related to fulcrum fee arrangements. We recognized $1.1 million in performance fees during 2019, compared to $2.9 million in performance fees recognized in 2018.  Average AUM also decreased 1.9% to $37.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $37.7 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Our weighted average fee rates were 0.409% and 0.408% for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.  Average assets in separately managed accounts decreased 2.1% to $14.0 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $14.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, and had weighted average fees of 0.543% and 0.539% for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.  Average assets in sub-advised accounts decreased 4.2% to $20.5 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $21.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, and had weighted average fees of 0.287% and 0.299% for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The decrease in weighted average fee rates for assets in sub-advised accounts is related to the impact of fulcrum fees and the decrease in performance fees recognized in 2019. Average assets in Pzena funds increased 21.1% to $2.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $1.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, and had weighted average fees of 0.688% and 0.635% for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The increase in weighted average fee rates for Pzena funds is driven by an increase in assets in products and strategies that typically carry higher fee rates and a decrease in expense cap reimbursements.

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Expenses

Our operating expense is driven primarily by our compensation costs.  The table below describes the components of our operating expense for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018.

Year Ended December 31, 2019 versus December 31, 2018

Total operating expenses increased by $30.3 million, or 40.4%, to $105.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $74.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.

Compensation and benefits expense increased by $26.7 million, or 43.5%, to $88.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $61.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2018.  This increase is driven by non-recurring compensation and benefits expenses of $22.7 million in 2019, the vast majority of which are related to the issuance of certain unit-based and other awards to a number of the firm’s key contributors pursuant to the terms of our equity incentive plans, in addition to costs related to certain employee departures. Additionally, there were increases in headcount and compensation rates.

General and administrative expense increased by $3.6 million, or 26.6%, to $17.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, from $13.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase in general and administrative expense reflects increases in professional fees, data and systems expenses, and occupancy costs.

Other Income/ (Expense)

Year Ended December 31, 2019 versus December 31, 2018

Other income/ (expense) was income of $5.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2019, and consisted primarily $2.3 million in net realized and unrealized gains from investments, $2.0 million in equity in the income of affiliates, and $1.4 million in interest and dividend income.  Other income/ (expense) was an expense of $2.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, and consisted primarily of $2.3 million in equity in the losses of affiliates and $1.2 million in net realized and unrealized losses from investments, partially offset by $1.0 million in interest and dividend income.  

Income Tax Expense

For the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, components of income tax expense are as follows: