SEI Investments posts record quarter as revenue jumps 15%

SEI Investments reported Q2 fiscal 2026 revenue of $641.6 million, up 15 percent year over year, with adjusted EPS of $1.66, a 38 percent gain.

"This quarter is less about what happened during the last three months and more a reflection of the changes we have made over the past few years," Ryan Hicke, Chief Executive Officer at SEI Investments, said.

Operating income rose 36 percent to $207 million, driven by 500 basis points of margin expansion and a 3 percent reduction in share count. Investment Managers Services revenue grew 17 percent, Private Banking rose 11 percent, and Advisors climbed 30 percent. Sales events totaled $43 million in the quarter, following a record $67 million in Q1, bringing year-to-date sales events to $110 million.

SEIC shares are up 28 percent this year and 24 percent over the past six months. The company ended the quarter with nearly $400 million in cash and repurchased $112 million of stock at an average price of $87. Management did not provide formal guidance but described pipelines as "as strong as they've ever been."

Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer Sean Denham said the adjusted EPS increase was driven primarily by core operating performance, including mid-teens revenue growth, 500 basis points of margin expansion and a 3 percent reduction in share count. The quarter also included investment-related gains, with SEI's co-investment in an LSV hedge fund contributing $7.5 million.

SEI's ETF business has grown from $3 billion to more than $8 billion in assets over the past 12 months, with the launch of its latest active factor ETF, SEUS, bringing the lineup to 10 funds. The company also cited its recently announced partnership with Carlyle as an example of product development tied to market opportunity.

Stratos, SEI's advisor-focused platform, contributed $21 million of revenue in the quarter, up 11 percent from Q1, with EBITDA exceeding $9 million excluding acquisition-related amortization. Management said retail alternatives and private markets retirement initiatives could become a business generating more than $100 million of annual run-rate revenue within five years.

SEI also emphasized investments in data, automation and artificial intelligence, including enhancements to SEI Data Cloud and a relationship with IBM to co-create agents for labor-intensive processes. The company has roughly a $600 million revolving credit facility that is essentially untouched, giving it capacity to support M&A activity.

The record quarter and sustained institutional inflows reinforce positive momentum for SEIC, which has been a top-rated stock at MoneyFlows and made the Outlier 20 report 69 times since 2000. Investors will watch second-half revenue growth and continued sales event conversion, with management citing pipelines "as strong as they've ever been."

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.