Company: LAZ
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001628280-25-007441
Chunk: 101

Company: Lazard, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1
Chunk 101
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 believe that we have good relations with our employees.

Competition

The financial services industry, and all of the businesses in which we operate, are intensely competitive, and we expect them to remain so. Our competitors are other investment banking and financial advisory firms, broker-dealers, commercial and “universal” banks, insurance companies, traditional asset management firms, hedge fund management firms, alternative investment firms, private banks and other financial institutions. We compete with some of them globally and with others on a regional, product or niche basis. We compete on the basis of a number of factors, including industry and product expertise, innovative insights of our people, transaction execution skills, investment track record, quality of client service, individual and institutional client relationships, absence of conflicts, range and price of products and services, innovation, brand recognition and business reputation.

In Financial Advisory, while we believe our independent perspective and global footprint offer a uniquely competitive position, many of our competitors are large, consolidated financial institutions that have the ability to offer a wider range of products, including loans, insurance, foreign exchange, hedging, research, brokerage and underwriting services, which may enhance their competitive position. They also may have the ability to support clients with other financial services in an effort to gain market share, which could result in pricing pressure in our business or loss of opportunities for us. At the same time, demand for independent financial advice has created opportunities for a number of 

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boutique financial advisory firms. These boutique firms frequently compete, among other factors, on the basis of their independent financial advice, and their activities also could result in pricing and other competitive pressure in our businesses. In Asset Management, our competitors may offer financial products or services that we do not offer, such as low-cost passive or private investment vehicles. We compete based on the quality and breadth of our products and innovative solutions we offer, which are derived from our objectivity, differentiated insights and fundamental research orientation. 

Competition is also intense in each of our businesses for the attraction and retention of qualified employees, and we compete, among other factors, on the level and nature of compensation and long-term incentives, workplace culture and opportunities for professional and personal development for our employees. Our ability to continue to compete effectively in our businesses will depend upon our ability to attract new employees and retain and motivate our existing employees, in each case, at appropriate compensation levels.

See Item 1A, “Risk Factors—The financial services industry, and all of the businesses in which we compete, are intensely competitive” below.