Investment Banking & Corporate Finance · Private Equity, VC & Investor
William Blair
Employee-owned financial-services partnership for advisory, investment management and wealth clients.
Available information varies by company and source.
Profile record updated:
Company facts
- Official name
- William Blair and Company, L.L.C.
- Entity type
- COMPANY
- Founded
- 1935
- Headquarters
- United States
- Company size
- 1,001–5,000
- Market cluster / sector
- Investment Banking & Corporate Finance
- Market role
- Private Equity, VC & Investor
- Official website
- williamblair.com
What William Blair does
William Blair combines relationship-led advisory, asset management, wealth management and institutional securities activities. Investment banking generates fees when clients complete M&A, financing, private-capital, board-advisory and liquidity transactions. Investment Management and Private Wealth Management generate recurring fees linked to client assets under management or advisement. Equity research, institutional sales and trading, underwriting and market making monetise research distribution, trade execution, securities distribution, commissions and spreads. The integrated model creates cross-referral opportunities between corporate advisory, private-market liquidity planning, research, institutional distribution and wealth services.
Category differentiation
William Blair is a private financial-services partnership, not a retail bank, consumer fintech platform or advertising-technology provider. It provides human-led advisory, asset-management, wealth and institutional-securities services rather than software products.
Strategic context
AI-supported assessment from the existing company research; distinguish interpretation from sourced facts.
William Blair is a private, employee-owned financial-services firm headquartered in Chicago. It provides investment banking, active investment management, private wealth management, institutional equity and fixed-income sales and trading, market making, and sell-side equity research. The firm serves corporations, financial sponsors, owner-entrepreneurs, institutional investors, financial advisers, issuers, and high-net-worth clients across international markets. The firm earns transaction and underwriting fees from M&A and capital-markets mandates; recurring asset-based management and advisory fees from institutional and private-wealth client assets; and commissions, trading spreads and research-related revenue from institutional markets activity. Its July 2026 acquisition of Inner Circle Sports expanded its investment-banking coverage in sports, media and entertainment.
Company news briefing
Briefing updated:
William Blair analysts have actively evaluated key retail and healthcare developments, praising five Below's social media-driven sales surge and Ulta Beauty's resilient quarterly beat amid heightened competition. Additionally, the firm downgraded Alignment Healthcare following a drop in Medicare Advantage Star Ratings, triggering an ongoing securities investigation. These updates highlight the firm's ongoing analytical engagement across consumer retail and healthcare equities.
Business model & monetisation
William Blair monetises through advisory success fees and retainers for M&A, corporate-finance and capital-raising mandates; underwriting and distribution fees; recurring asset-based investment-management and wealth-advisory fees; brokerage commissions and market-making spreads from institutional trading; and institutional research-related fees. Pricing is mandate-, asset- and transaction-specific rather than standardised software subscription tiers.
- Investment banking advisory and capital markets
- Transaction fees, retainers and underwriting fees
- Investment management
- Recurring asset-based management fees
- Private wealth management
- Recurring asset-based advisory and management fees
- Institutional sales, trading and market making
- Commissions, execution income and bid-ask spreads
- Equity research
- Institutional research fees and bundled trading economics
Products & capabilities
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Recent recorded signals
Dates refer to the source publication. Older entries are historical context, not evidence of a new event.
SueWallSt Investigates Alignment Healthcare Over Star Ratings Drop
Financials · Recorded impact score: 1/5
SueWallSt.com, powered by Levi & Korsinsky LLP, has announced an investigation into potential securities law violations by Alignment Healthcare, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALHC) following a significant drop in its stock price. On October 9, 2026, shares opened roughly 20% lower after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) lowered the company's California H3815 HMO contract to 3.5 stars from 4.0 stars in the 2027 Medicare Advantage Star Ratings. This contract covers more than 75% of Alignment's health-plan members. The company's October 8 announcement revealed that six of its seven eligible contracts earned four stars or higher, but the H3815 contract slipped. Following the news, Bank of America and William Blair downgraded the stock and cut price targets. The investigation focuses on whether Alignment made misleading statements before the disclosure, particularly during the July 30, 2026 earnings call when CEO John E. Kao expressed confidence in the company's position.
- Alignment Healthcare shares opened down ~20% on October 9, 2026, after CMS lowered its California H3815 HMO contract to 3.5 stars from 4.0 stars.
- The H3815 contract covers more than 75% of Alignment's health-plan members.
Reformation Q2 revenue jumps 24%, plans to double stores
Financials · Recorded impact score: 1/5
Reformation, in its first earnings report as a public company, reported Q2 net revenue of $155.2 million, a 24% year-over-year increase. Direct-to-consumer revenue grew 21.2%, while wholesale revenue surged 48.7%. The company's net income rose 79.4% to $12.4 million. Active customers increased nearly 23%, though revenue per customer dipped slightly. The brand plans to double its store fleet from 70 to 140 over the next five years and expects full-year revenue between $602 million and $606 million. The IPO, which targeted a $1 billion valuation, initially traded at the lower end of its range.
- Reformation Q2 net revenue increased 24% year-over-year to $155.2 million.
- Direct-to-consumer revenue grew 21.2%, wholesale revenue grew 48.7%.
Five Below Q2 Sales Surge 23% on Social Media Shift
Financials · Recorded impact score: 4/5
Five Below reported strong fiscal Q2 2026 results, with net sales up nearly 23% year over year to $1.3 billion and comparable sales up about 14%. Operating income jumped 425% to $275.4 million, and net income grew 417% to $221.4 million, aided by tariff refunds. CEO Winnie Park attributed part of the success to a 2025 shift in media spending away from traditional commercial channels toward social media, which helped the retailer better capitalize on trends. The company raised its full-year net sales outlook to a range of $5.63 billion to $5.71 billion. Analysts at Jefferies and William Blair praised the retailer's momentum, traffic-driven comp growth, and merchandising overhaul. Five Below also plans to open its first Puerto Rico stores in the second half of 2027.
- Five Below's Q2 fiscal 2026 net sales grew nearly 23% year over year to $1.3 billion.
- Comparable sales increased about 14%, driven primarily by transaction growth and new store units.
On misses Q2 revenue; currency change may explain
Financials · Recorded impact score: 4/5
On reported second-quarter net sales of 850.3 million Swiss francs, a 13.5% year‑over‑year increase (21.6% on a constant currency basis), which missed analysts' expectations for mid‑20s constant‑currency growth. Direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) sales rose 26% while wholesale grew 4.8%; regionally, Asia‑Pacific led with 43.1% growth and the Americas were up 4.5%. The company lowered its full‑year outlook to low‑20% constant‑currency net sales growth and a gross profit margin of at least 65% (down slightly from prior guidance). Analysts cited currency effects and limited visibility in international and wholesale channels as drivers of the disconnect with Street estimates.
- On's Q2 net sales were 850.3 million Swiss francs, a 13.5% year‑over‑year increase.
- On reported 21.6% constant currency net sales growth for Q2, below analysts' mid‑20s expectations.
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Questions about William Blair
What is William Blair?
William Blair is an independent, employee-owned financial-services firm providing investment banking, investment management, private wealth management, equity research, and institutional sales and trading.
Who uses William Blair?
Its clients include corporations, financial sponsors, owner-entrepreneurs, institutional investors, financial advisers, issuers, and high-net-worth individuals and families.
How does William Blair make money?
It earns advisory and underwriting fees, asset-based investment and wealth-management fees, trading commissions and spreads, and institutional research-related revenue.
Sources & coverage
This profile uses public, official and technically observable information. Missing information does not prove that a product or relationship does not exist. The list below does not imply that every profile statement has been verified.
18 publicly documented primary sources and citations linked across the market graph.
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