美国券商与资产管理公司：瑞银年度投行巡回：稳步推进，不盲目冒险

On 9/17, we hosted our UBS Annual Investment Bank Tour and met with PJT, EVR, HLI, LCLN (not-covered), and LAZ. Overall sentiment is cautiously optimistic. The meetings reinforced our existing views: strategic buyers can remain active, and sponsor activity has room to accelerate, but likely at a gradual pace. The environment remains "good, not great." We left with greater confidence that the M&A cycle is far from over, though investors need to keep expectations grounded. Average P/E (1yr fwd EPS) multiples have fallen from roughly 20x at the beginning of the year to ~13x today, putting valuations back near Liberation Day lows. Our top five takeaways: 1) A multi-year M&A upcycle is taking shape, driven by strategic acquirers moving proactively amid AI disruption, aging sponsor backlogs, and growing boardroom confidence. 2) Greater acceleration in M&A requires an increase in conversion of sponsor pipelines. 3) Fed hiking 25-50bps is broadly viewed as neutral to deal activity. 4) Restruct