Company: COHN
Filing Date: 2025-03-12
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001437749-25-007158
Chunk: 293

Company: Cohen & Co Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-03-12
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 293
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 impeding the formation of new funds, including a relatively low cost of entering these businesses, and the successful efforts of new entrants into our various lines of business, including major commercial and investment banks and other financial institutions, have resulted in increased competition; 

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      certain fund investors may prefer to invest with an investment manager that is not publicly traded, is larger or manages more investment products; and 

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      other industry participants will from time to time seek to recruit our investment professionals and other employees away from us. 

We may lose investment opportunities in the future if we do not match investment prices, structures and terms offered by competitors. Our competitors that are corporate buyers may be able to achieve synergistic cost savings in respect of an investment, which may provide them with a competitive advantage in bidding for an investment.  Alternatively, we may experience decreased investment returns and increased risks of loss if we match investment prices, structures and terms offered by competitors. Moreover, as a result, if we are forced to compete with other investment firms on the basis of price, we may not be able to maintain our current fund fee, carried interest or other terms. There is a risk that fees and carried interest in the alternative investment management industry will decline, without regard to the historical performance of a manager. Fee or carried interest income reductions on existing or future funds, without corresponding decreases in our cost structure, could materially and adversely affect our revenues and profitability.

In addition, if interest rates were to rise or if market conditions for competing investment products become or are more favorable and such products begin to offer rates of return superior to those achieved by our funds, the attractiveness of our funds relative to investments in other investment products could decrease. This competitive pressure could materially and adversely affect our ability to make successful investments and limit our ability to raise future funds, either of which could adversely impact our business, results of operations and cash flow. 

If the investments we have made or make on behalf of our investment funds and separately managed accounts perform poorly, we will suffer a decline in our asset management revenue and earnings because some of our fees are subject to the credit performance of the portfolios of assets. In addition, the investors in our investment funds and our separately managed accounts may seek to terminate our management agreements based on poor performance. Any of these results could adversely affect our results of operations and our ability to raise capital for future investment funds and separately managed accounts. 

﻿Our revenue from our asset management business is partially derived from management fees paid by the investment funds and separate