Jonathan Gray

M&A activity was up 64% in the US.

We did three IPOs globally in the quarter, which is the first time in four years that that's occurred.

We announced an $18 billion deal this week with Whole Logic.

It does feel like things are coming together.

And what's helping is the cost of capital is coming down.

The Fed's lowering rates.

The long end has come down.

Spreads have tightened.

High yield spreads are down almost in half from their highs a couple of years ago.

And we've got record highs in the stock market.

That is a very good combination for more deal activity.

And so we get a little bit of calm here in the overall environment with this kind of backdrop.

I would expect next year will be an even better year for M&A and IPOs.

Well, I would tick through some of these.

Certainly on the tariffs, we've been an advocate of letting this tariff diplomacy play out.

Obviously, around Liberation Day, there was a lot of concern.

But ultimately, we saw progress and deals being made by the administration.

I would expect that will continue to happen.

There will be noise as the negotiations go back and forth, but I do believe this will settle.

And I don't think six, 12 months from now, this will be on the front page.