mc-10ka_20181231.htm

Delaware	46‑4500216
(State or other jurisdiction of	(I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization)	Identification No.)

399 Park Avenue, 5th Floor, New York NY	10022
(Address of principal executive offices)	(Zip Code)

Title of each class		Name of each exchange on which registered
Class A common stock, par value $0.01		New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is a well‑known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S‑T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S‑K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10‑K or any amendment to this Form 10‑K. ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, non‑accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer”, “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b‑2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer ☒

Accelerated filer ☐

Non‑accelerated filer ☐

Smaller reporting company ☐

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in rule 12b‑2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the voting and nonvoting common equity held by non‑affiliates of the Registrant as of June 30, 2018 was $2,340 million.

As of February 13, 2019, there were 45,557,272 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, and 10,493,358 shares of Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share, outstanding.

The sole purpose of this Amendment No. 1 to Moelis & Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 (the “Original Form 10-K”), as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 27, 2019, is to replace Item 1, which in the Original Form 10-K contained an error in formatting of the diagram that depicts Moelis & Company’s organization structure. No other items of the Original Form 10-K are being amended. This Amendment No. 1 does not reflect subsequent events occurring after the original filing date of the Original Form 10-K or modify or update in any way disclosures made in the Original Form 10-K other than the diagram that depicts the Company’s organization structure. Item 1 of this Amendment No. 1 supersedes Item 1 in the Original Form 10-K.


		Page
Part I.
Item 1.	Business	3
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	14
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	26
Part IV.
Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedule	27
Signatures		28

When we use the terms “Company,” “we,” “our,” or “us,” we mean Moelis & Company, a Delaware corporation (incorporated in January 2014), and its consolidated subsidiaries. “Old Holdings” refers solely to Moelis Asset Management LP (formerly Moelis & Company Holdings LP). References to the “IPO” refer to our initial public offering in April 2014 where Old Holdings reorganized its business in connection with the offering of 7,475,000 shares of Moelis & Company Class A common stock. Following the reorganization, the advisory business is now held under Moelis & Company Group LP (“Group LP”), a Delaware limited partnership, and Group LP is controlled by Moelis & Company.

This Form 10‑K contains forward‑looking statements, which reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, our operations and financial performance. You can identify these forward‑looking statements by the use of words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “intend,” “predict,” “potential” or “continue,” the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These forward‑looking statements, which are subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance, based on our growth strategies and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward‑looking statements. In particular, you should consider the numerous risks outlined in Item 1A.

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward‑looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward‑looking statements. You should not rely upon forward‑looking statements as a prediction of future events. We are under no duty to and we do not undertake any obligation to update or review any of these forward‑looking statements after the date of this filing to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Moelis & Company is a leading global independent investment bank that provides innovative strategic and financial advice to a diverse client base, including corporations, governments and financial sponsors. We assist our clients in achieving their strategic goals by offering comprehensive, globally integrated financial advisory services across all major industry sectors. Our team of experienced professionals advises clients on their most critical decisions, including mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”), recapitalizations and restructurings, capital markets transactions and other corporate finance matters.

Moelis & Company was founded in 2007 by veteran investment bankers to create a global independent investment bank that offers multi-disciplinary solutions and exceptional transaction execution combined with the highest standard of confidentiality and discretion. We create lasting client relationships by providing focused innovative advice through a highly collaborative and global approach not limited to specific products or access to particular regions. Our compensation model fosters our holistic approach to clients by emphasizing quality of advice and is not a commission based structure where employees are compensated on a defined percentage of the revenues they generate. We believe our discretionary approach to compensation leads to exceptional advice, strong client impact and enhanced internal collaboration.

Since our inception, we have achieved rapid growth by hiring high‑caliber professionals, expanding the scope and geographic reach of our advisory services, developing new client relationships and cultivating our professionals through training and mentoring. Today we serve our clients with nearly 600 advisory professionals, including 130 Managing Directors, based in 19 geographical locations around the world. We have demonstrated strong financial performance, achieving revenues of $885.8 million in 2018, our eleventh full year of operations, and have advised on over $2.5 trillion of transactions since inception.

We offer holistic advisory solutions to clients by integrating our bankers’ deep industry knowledge and broad corporate finance experience with our global capabilities. With 19 geographical locations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, we combine local and regional expertise with international market knowledge to provide highly integrated information flow and strong cross‑border capabilities. Since our founding, we have rapidly scaled our global platform, as we believe clients value our ability to be relevant in their local market as well as to provide valuable global insights.

We combine our global capabilities with expertise in all major industries including Consumer, Retail & Restaurants; Energy, Power & Infrastructure; Financial Institutions; Financial Sponsors; General Industrials; Healthcare; Real Estate, Gaming, Lodging & Leisure and Technology, Media & Telecommunications. We collaborate globally to bring our deep industry knowledge to the local markets where our clients operate.

We focus on a wide range of clients from large public multinational corporations to middle market private companies to individual entrepreneurs, and we deliver the full resources of our firm and the highest level of senior attention to every client, regardless of size or situation.

We advise our clients through all phases of the business cycle using our strong capabilities in M&A, recapitalization and restructuring, capital markets advisory and other advisory services.

We have established a premier M&A franchise advising clients on mergers, acquisitions, sales and divestitures. We counsel our clients through all stages of the process as we evaluate strategic alternatives, assess potential acquirers and targets, provide valuation analyses and advise on transaction terms including valuation, structuring, timing and potential financing. Additionally, we have an exclusive sales franchise with a strong track record in achieving maximum value for clients in their sale processes.

Moelis & Company has substantial expertise in guiding special committees of boards of directors to evaluate strategies and negotiate proposals by leveraging decades of transaction experience. We execute a rigorous process to help special committees synthesize alternatives and develop an appropriate course of action. We bring a strong understanding of key deal points and the interplay between deal terms, value and the various stakeholders involved.

Moelis & Company’s shareholder defense team provides corporate boards with effective solutions to a broad range of contested shareholder situations. We draw from decades of experience working with both public companies, boards and management to advise clients across every industry, at every stage of an activist campaign; from privately engaging with shareholders to stave off a formal campaign, to defending the company’s interests in a proxy fight or hostile media campaign.

For our clients in financial distress, we partner senior recapitalization and restructuring professionals with our industry, M&A and capital markets experts to provide holistic advice. We advise both companies and creditors, utilizing our strong relationship network to access capital, identify potential partners and drive support for our transactions. Since our inception, almost 60% of our recapitalization and restructuring engagements have been on the company or debtor side of a transaction. We understand that during times of financial distress, having a true partner as an advisor is of critical importance, and our partnership and collaboration with our clients during these times has helped us develop long‑lasting company relationships. In addition, our deep relationships throughout the creditor and recapitalization and restructuring communities provide multiple creditor side origination opportunities and allow us to develop a comprehensive perspective from all constituents. We understand that in distressed situations, many creditors become temporary equity holders of businesses, and we help these clients realize value which leads to further M&A activity for us.

As part of our holistic approach to client service, we have substantial experience in advising clients on complex risk exposures. Our team consists of experts in structured products, securitization, derivatives and risk management who are highly qualified to value complex assets and advise on repositioning and divesting underperforming portfolios. These capabilities have been particularly relevant to our financial institutions clients since the global financial crisis.

We also advise clients on capital markets matters, providing comprehensive capital structure advice and developing financing solutions tailored to the specific needs of issuers. Our independence and objectivity, coupled with our direct and long‑standing institutional buy‑side relationships, inform our market views and enhance the likelihood of a successful transaction. We advise clients on all aspects of public and private debt and equity transactions.

We provide capital raising, secondary transaction and other advisory services to private fund sponsors and limited partners. Our team’s extensive experience raising capital for a wide variety of fund sponsors located in North America, Europe, Asia and the emerging markets is fully integrated with our global platform, ensuring the broadest possible marketing efforts for our clients. We specialize in private equity fund structures across a wide range of strategies, including buyout, growth capital, distressed, special situations, venture and sector‑specific strategies.

In addition, we provide a broad range of other financial advisory services tailored to the specific circumstances and needs of our clients. For example, we act as defense advisor to boards of directors responding to unsolicited proposals, we act as expert witness for clients in major litigation and we assist private clients and governments in negotiations of significant commercial matters.

We seek to generate repeat business from our clients by becoming long‑term partners with them as opposed to being solely transaction focused. We are also committed to developing new client relationships, and we maintain an active dialogue with a large number of potential clients, as well as with their financial and legal advisors, on an ongoing basis. We continue to penetrate new relationships through our business development initiatives, growing our senior team with professionals who bring additional client relationships and through introductions from our strong network of relationships with senior executives, board members, attorneys and other third parties.

With 19 geographical locations around the world, capabilities in all major industries and deep advisory expertise, we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of the strong market opportunity for independent investment banks. Furthermore, we believe our business is differentiated from that of our competitors in the following respects:

Globally Integrated Firm with Innovative Advisory Solutions: We provide the high‑touch and conflict free benefits of an independent investment bank with the global reach, sector depth and product expertise more commonly found at larger financial institutions. With 19 geographical locations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, we combine local and regional expertise with international market knowledge to provide our clients with highly integrated information flow and strong cross‑border capabilities. We harness the deep industry expertise and broad corporate finance experience of our 130 global Managing Directors, which include 66 former sector and product heads from major investment banks. We reinforce our model with a discretionary incentive compensation structure that encourages a high degree of collaboration and our “One Firm” mentality.

Advisory Focus with Strong Intellectual Capital: We primarily focus on advising clients, unlike most of our major competitors who derive a large percentage of their revenues from lending, trading and underwriting securities. We believe this independence allows us to offer advice free from the actual or perceived conflicts associated with lending to clients or trading in their securities. In addition, our focus on advisory services frees us from the pressure of cross‑selling products, which we believe can distract from the dialogue with clients around their long‑term strategy, compromising the advice. We provide intellectual capital based on our judgment, expertise and relationships combined with intense senior level attention to all transactions. The business of delivering intellectual capital allows us to operate a low risk and capital light model with attractive profit margins. We are not exposed to the financial risk and regulatory requirements that arise from, or the capital investments required in, balance sheet lending and trading activities.

Fast Growing Global Independent Investment Bank: Since our inception in 2007, we have achieved rapid growth, earning revenues of $886 million in 2018. In our early years, we took advantage of the dislocation in the financial services industry following the global financial crisis and capitalized on the unique opportunity to hire talent. We currently have 19 offices globally with 842 employees, including 130 Managing Directors who have on average over 20 years of investment banking experience. We believe the quality and scale of our global franchise and the speed at which it has been achieved would be a challenge to replicate today.

Strong Financial Discipline: We have remained financially disciplined with an intense focus on managing our organic growth in a profitable manner. We hired aggressively during the global financial crisis to take advantage of the dislocation among our competitors and in recent years have taken a more measured approach to hiring as the markets and compensation levels have stabilized. We are also highly focused on growing our Managing Directors through internal promotions, adding to our talent base with individuals that are engrained

in our culture and have proven track records on our platform. Currently, approximately 30% of our Managing Directors have been internally promoted. We believe our investment in talent at the junior level creates a self-sustaining pool of Managing Director talent, which in turn helps us manage profitable growth and allows us to return more capital to shareholders in the long run. We incentivize our bankers as owners by awarding equity compensation in order to align the interests of our employees and equity holders. Additionally, we have focused on entering new regions and sectors through cost effective strategies. We intend to maintain our financial discipline as we continue to grow our revenues, expand into new markets and increase our areas of expertise.

Significant Organic Growth Opportunities: We have made significant investments in our intellectual capital with the hiring or promotion of over 70 Managing Directors in the last five years. In addition, we have invested time and resources in our recruiting and training and development programs. We established a meaningful presence at the top undergraduate programs in our first year of operations, which has resulted in the hiring of over 600 analysts and associates from campus since our inception. We are poised to continue realizing meaningful organic growth from these investments. We have achieved critical size in key industry sectors and regions around the globe, as well as recognition for advising on innovative transactions, which have enhanced our brand globally. We are positioned to continue to grow revenues as a result of increased individual productivity as our investments in people mature and as we continue to leverage our global platform through enhanced connectivity and idea generation and expanded brand recognition.

High Standard of Confidentiality and Discretion: Due to the highly sensitive nature of M&A discussions where confidentiality is of paramount importance to clients, the M&A business is most effectively operated on a “need to know” basis. We believe that large financial conglomerates with multiple divisions, “Chinese Walls” and layers of management have a significantly greater number of employees who have access to sensitive client information, which can increase the risk of confidential information leaking. Such leaks can materially impair the viability of transactions and other strategic decisions. We have established a high standard of confidentiality and discretion, as well as instituted procedures designed to protect our clients and minimize the risk of sensitive information leaking to the market.

Diversified Advisory Platform: Our business is highly diversified across sectors, types of advisory services and clients. Our broad corporate finance expertise positions us to advise clients through any phase of their life cycle and in any economic environment. We focus on a wide range of clients from large public multinational corporations to middle market private companies to individual entrepreneurs, and we deliver the full resources of our firm and the highest level of senior attention to every client, regardless of size or situation. In addition, we have no meaningful client concentration, with our top 10 transactions representing less than 20% of our revenues in 2018. Our holistic “One Firm” approach also reduces dependence on any one product or banker and allows us to leverage our intellectual capital across the firm as necessary to offer multiple solutions to our clients, increase our client penetration and adapt to changing circumstances.

Partnership Culture: We believe that our momentum and commitment to excellence have created an environment that attracts and retains high quality talent. Our people are our most valuable asset and our goal is to attract, retain and develop the best and brightest talent in our industry across all levels. We strive to foster a collaborative environment, and we seek individuals who are passionate about our business and are a fit with our culture. We have established a compensation philosophy that reinforces our long‑term vision and values by rewarding collaboration, client impact and lasting relationships and encourages employees to put the interests of our clients and our Company first. Above all, our core values nurture a culture of partnership, passion, optimism and hard work, inspiring the highest level of quality and integrity in every interaction with our clients and each other.

Our growth strategy is to continue to take advantage of what we believe are attractive market opportunities to enhance our leadership position as a global independent investment bank, advising our clients on important mergers and acquisitions, recapitalization and restructuring transactions and other strategic matters. We seek to achieve these objectives through the following two primary strategies:

Deepen and Expand our Client Relationships: We seek to continue to deepen and expand our client relationships, which are the foundation of our business. We are tireless in our pursuit of offering the highest quality integrated advice and most innovative solutions that lead to the long‑term success of our clients. We believe this approach has enhanced our reputation as a trusted advisor to our clients, and we intend to leverage this approach further as we increase our touch points with our clients and develop new client relationships.

Broaden our Areas of Expertise Based on Client Needs: We intend to pursue further industry and geographic expansion and introduce new product expertise based on client needs. In addition to hiring high quality professionals who will expand our market share, we will seek to grow through increasing the tenure of our Managing Directors, investing in and training our next generation of Managing Directors and continuing to hire analysts and associates from leading undergraduate and graduate programs. We believe that developing talent internally creates a more sustainable franchise and reinforces the culture of our firm.

We believe that our people are our most valuable asset. Our goal is to attract, retain and develop the best and brightest talent in our industry across all levels. We strive to foster a collaborative environment, and we seek individuals who are passionate about our business and fit our culture. Our Managing Directors are compensated based on the quality of advice and execution provided to a client, which is predicated on delivering our full suite of advisory services through a high degree of collaboration across different industries, products and regions. This collaborative approach is demonstrated by the fact that on almost all of our transactions, at least two Managing Directors support the client. We reinforce our long‑term vision and values by rewarding for client impact and lasting relationships. Our year‑end evaluation process measures both performance and alignment with our core value system, ensuring that we continue to integrate our expertise to meaningfully enhance the quality of our advice and strengthen our client relationships. We do not compensate on a commission‑based pay model and do not manage our business based on industry, product or regional silos. Our compensation structure for junior bankers is based on a system of meritocracy whereby bankers are rewarded for top performance.

We recruit our junior bankers from the world’s leading undergraduate and graduate programs. Since our inception we have had a dedicated campus recruiting effort through which we have hired over 600 analysts and associates from these programs. We devote significant time and resources to training and mentoring our employees and have implemented a generalist program in which our junior professionals receive significant transaction experience across a wide range of products and industries. We believe this exposure enhances the investment banking experience and allows our junior professionals to develop and refine their proficiency in a broad variety of corporate finance matters at an early stage in their career. We are committed to talent retention and our goal is to develop our brightest and most ambitious junior professionals into successful Managing Directors. As of December 31, 2018, we had 845 employees globally, including 583 advisory professionals and 125 Managing Directors.

In 2009, we opened our sixth global office in Sydney to provide investment banking services in Australia and expand our coverage of the Asia Pacific region. Following the establishment of this office and the hiring of what we believed to be a strong executive team, we entered into a 50%-50% joint venture with Moelis Australia Holdings PTY Limited on April 1, 2010 (“Moelis Australia”). Moelis Australia operates a financial advisory services business, an equity capital markets and research, sales and trading business covering Australian public equity securities and asset management businesses.

On April 10, 2017, Moelis Australia consummated its initial public offering and became listed on the Australian Securities Exchange as Moelis Australia Limited (ASX: MOE). We continue to hold our original position of 50 million shares of MOE; however, as a result of the initial public offering and subsequent follow-on offerings, the Company’s ownership interest has been diluted to less than 50%. In connection with Moelis Australia’s initial public offering, the Company and Moelis Australia entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement pursuant to which Moelis Australia continues to conduct its investment banking advisory business in Australia and New Zealand as an integrated part of the global advisory business of the Company.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and its Subsidiary, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc.

Effective January 1, 2012, we entered into a strategic alliance with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”) and its subsidiary, SMBC Nikko Securities Inc. (“Nikko”) to provide advisory services, including advising on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, restructurings and other corporate finance matters, to Japanese companies in regions where our firms conduct business. The alliance provides us and our clients with access to the Japanese market and provides us with opportunities to advise Japanese clients on the full suite of our advisory services, with a particular focus on cross‑border M&A. Established in 1876 as Mitsui Bank, SMBC is the second largest bank in Japan based on market capitalization. Nikko is one of the five major securities companies in Japan.

Effective September 2, 2016, we entered into a strategic alliance with Alfaro, Dávila y Scherer, S.C. (“ADS”), the leading independent strategic and financial advisory firm in Mexico, to provide advisory services to our global client base with a focus on cross-border transactions. ADS’s successful track record of developing long-term relationships and advising multinational corporations and privately held companies in strategic transactions benefits our global clients looking to expand into Mexico or for Mexican corporates eager to grow internationally. With this strategic alliance, coupled with our office in Brazil, Moelis & Company has a presence in the two largest markets in Latin America.

We believe our primary competitors in securing advisory engagements include the investment banking businesses of Bank of America Corporation, Citigroup Inc., Credit Suisse Group AG, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and other large investment banking firms as well as independent investment banking firms such as Evercore Partners Inc., Greenhill & Co., Inc., Houlihan Lokey, Inc., Lazard Ltd, NM Rothschild & Sons Limited, PJT Partners, Inc., and many closely held boutique firms.

We compete to attract and retain qualified employees. Our ability to continue to compete effectively in our business will depend upon our ability to attract new employees and retain and motivate our existing employees.

In past years there has been substantial consolidation in the financial services industry. In particular, a number of large commercial banks and other broad‑based financial services firms have established or acquired broker‑dealers or have merged with other financial institutions. Many of these firms have the ability to offer a wider range of products, from loans, deposit‑taking and insurance to brokerage, asset management and investment banking services, which may enhance their competitive position. They also have the ability to support investment banking and securities products with commercial lending and other financial services revenues in an effort to gain market share, which could result in pricing pressure in our business or loss of opportunities for us. In addition, we may be at a competitive disadvantage relative to certain of our competitors who are able to, and regularly do, provide financing or market making services that are often instrumental in effecting transactions. The trend toward consolidation has significantly increased the capital base and geographic reach of our competitors as well as the potential for actual or perceived conflicts of these firms.

Our business, as well as the financial services industry generally, is subject to extensive regulation in the U.S. and across the globe. As a matter of public policy, regulatory bodies in the U.S. and the rest of the world are charged with safeguarding the integrity of the securities and other financial markets and with protecting the interests of customers participating in those markets, not with protecting the interests of our stockholders or creditors. In the U.S., the SEC is the federal agency responsible for the administration of the federal securities laws. Moelis & Company LLC, our wholly‑owned subsidiary through which we conduct our financial advisory business in the U.S., is registered as a broker‑dealer with the SEC. Moelis & Company LLC is subject to regulation and oversight by the SEC. In addition, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”), a self‑regulatory organization that is subject to oversight by the SEC, adopts and enforces rules governing the conduct, and examines the activities, of its member firms, including Moelis & Company LLC. State securities regulators also have regulatory or oversight authority over Moelis & Company LLC.

Broker‑dealers are subject to regulations that cover all aspects of the securities business, including capital structure, record‑keeping and the conduct and qualifications of directors, officers and employees. In particular, as a registered broker‑dealer and member of a self‑regulatory organization, we are subject to the SEC’s uniform net capital rule, Rule 15c3‑1. Rule 15c3‑1 specifies the minimum level of net capital a broker‑dealer must maintain and also requires that a significant part of a broker‑dealer’s assets be kept in relatively liquid form. The SEC and various self‑regulatory organizations impose rules that require notification when net capital falls below certain predefined criteria, limit the ratio of subordinated debt to equity in the regulatory capital composition of a broker‑dealer and constrain the ability of a broker‑dealer to expand its business under certain circumstances. Additionally, the SEC’s uniform net capital rule imposes certain requirements that may have the effect of prohibiting a broker‑dealer from distributing or withdrawing capital and requiring prior notice to the SEC for certain withdrawals of capital.

In addition to the regulation we are subject to in the United States, we are also subject to regulation internationally by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom, the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission and the Dubai Financial Services Authority.

Certain parts of our business are subject to compliance with laws and regulations of U.S. federal and state governments, non‑U.S. governments, their respective agencies and/or various self‑regulatory organizations or exchanges relating to, among other things, the privacy of client information, and any failure to comply with these regulations could expose us to liability and/or reputational damage.

The U.S. and non‑U.S. government agencies and self‑regulatory organizations, as well as state securities commissions in the United States, are empowered to conduct periodic examinations and initiate administrative proceedings that can result in censure, fines, the issuance of cease‑and‑desist orders or the suspension or expulsion of a broker‑dealer or its directors, officers or employees.

Federal anti‑money‑laundering laws make it a criminal offense to own or operate a money transmitting business without the appropriate state licenses, which we maintain, and registration with the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). In addition, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 and the Treasury Department’s implementing federal regulations require us, as a “financial institution,” to establish and maintain an anti‑money‑laundering program.

In connection with its administration and enforcement of economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, publishes a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries. It also lists individuals, groups and entities, such as terrorists and narcotics traffickers, designated under programs that are not country‑specific. Collectively, such individuals and companies are called “Specially Designated Nationals,” or SDNs. Assets of SDNs are blocked, and we are generally prohibited from dealing with them. In addition, OFAC administers a number of comprehensive sanctions and embargoes that target certain countries, governments and geographic regions. We are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions involving any country, region or government that is subject to such comprehensive sanctions.

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”) and the UK 2010 Bribery Act (the “UK Bribery Act”) prohibit the payment of bribes to foreign government officials and political figures. The FCPA has a broad reach, covering all U.S. companies and citizens doing business abroad, among others, and defining a foreign official to include not only those holding public office but also local citizens acting in an official capacity for or on behalf of foreign government‑run or ‑owned organizations or public international organizations. The FCPA also requires maintenance of appropriate books and records and maintenance of adequate internal controls to prevent and detect possible FCPA violations. Similarly, the UK Bribery Act prohibits us from bribing, being bribed or making other prohibited payments to government officials or other persons to obtain or retain business or gain some other business advantage.

Chairman of the Executive Advisory Council of the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, member of the Cato Institute’s Board of Directors and Former Co‑Chairman and CEO of BB&T Corp.

Executive Vice President of Global Programs for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the Global Health Advocacy Incubator

Adidas Distinguished Professor of Global Sport and CEO of Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University, David W. Hauck Professor Emeritus, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Former Faculty Director of Wharton Sports Business Initiative

Moelis & Company is a holding company and its only assets are its partnership interests in Group LP, its equity interest in the sole general partner of Group LP, Moelis & Company Group GP LLC, and its interests in its subsidiaries. Moelis & Company operates and controls all of the business and affairs of Group LP and its operating entity subsidiaries indirectly through its equity interest in Moelis & Company Group GP LLC.

The simplified diagram below depicts our organizational structure (percentages are as of December 31, 2018).

1.Includes certain current and former Managing Directors and employees of the Company. 2.Mr. Moelis controls the managing member of Partner Holdings. See ”-- Rights of Partner Holdings and Stockholders Agreement.”3.A portion of these Class A partnership units are held indirectly through subsidiaries. Moelis & Company also holds Class B partnerships units in Group LP. See “--Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement of Group LP–Voting and Economic Rights.”4.Includes certain non-U.S. based Managing Directors and employees, who hold Class A common stock. Class A common stock may be held directly or indirectly. Note: All entities on the chart above are incorporated or formed in Delaware Operating Entities Moelis & Company Group LP Sole General Partner Moelis & Company Group GP LLC 100% Equity Interest Class A Partnership Units Non-Voting 78% Economic Interest 3 Exchangeable Class A Partnership Units Non-Voting 18% Economic Interest Moelis & Company Class B Common Stock 70% Voting Interest Class A Common Stock 29% Voting Interest Class A Common Stock 1% Voting Interest Exchangeable Class A Partnership Units Non-Voting 4% Economic Interest Certain Pre-IPO Group LP Unitholders Certain Former Group LP and Old Holdings Unitholders 4 Public Stockholders Certain Managing Director and Other Employees 1 Moelis & Company Partner Holdings LP 2

Prior to our initial public offering, our business was owned by Old Holdings. In connection with the consummation of our initial public offering, a reorganization of the existing businesses of Old Holdings was effected pursuant to which the advisory business was transferred to Group LP. Old Holdings retained its asset management business, which includes managers of direct lending funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, collateralized loan obligation funds and certain other asset management businesses. Moelis & Company generally does not engage in these activities.

We operate our business through Group LP and its subsidiaries. The provisions governing the operations of Group LP and the rights and obligations of its partners are set forth in the amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Group LP, the material terms of which are described below. The amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Group LP is filed as an exhibit to this Form 10‑K.

Through our control of the general partner of Group LP, we have unilateral control (subject to the consent of Moelis & Company Partner Holdings LP (“Partner Holdings”) on various matters) over the affairs and decisions of Group LP. As such, we, through our officers and directors, are responsible for all operational and administrative decisions of Group LP and the day‑to‑day management of Group LP’s business.

Group LP issued Class A partnership units to Moelis & Company and to the holders of Old Holdings units at the time of the reorganization. In addition, Group LP issued Class B partnership units to Moelis & Company. The Group LP Class B partnership units correspond with the economic rights of shares of Moelis & Company’s Class B common stock. Group LP Class A unitholders have no voting rights by virtue of their ownership of Group LP partnership units, except for the right to approve certain amendments to the amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Group LP, certain changes to the capital accounts of the limited partners of Group LP and any conversion of Group LP to a corporation other than for purposes of a sale transaction. Partner Holdings holds all shares of Moelis & Company Class B common stock, enabling it to exercise majority voting control over Moelis & Company and, indirectly, over Group LP.

Pursuant to the Group LP amended and restated limited partnership agreement, we have the right to determine when distributions will be made to the partners of Group LP and the amount of any such distributions. If we authorize a distribution, such distribution will be made, except as required under applicable tax law, to the partners of Group LP (i) in the case of a tax distribution, generally to the holders of partnership units in proportion to the amount of taxable income of Group LP allocated to such holder and (ii) in the case of other distributions, pro rata in accordance with the percentages of their respective partnership units.

At any time we issue a share of Class A common stock for cash, unless we use the proceeds for certain specified permitted purposes (including the acquisition Group LP Class A partnership units or other property), the proceeds received by us will be promptly transferred to Group LP, and Group LP will issue to us one of its Group LP Class A partnership units. At any time we issue a share of Class A common stock pursuant to our equity incentive plan we will contribute to Group LP all of the proceeds that we receive (if any), and Group LP will issue to us one of its Group LP Class A partnership units, having the same restrictions, if any, attached to the shares of Class A common stock issued under the equity incentive plan. Conversely, if we redeem or repurchase any of our shares of Class A common stock, Group LP will, immediately prior to our redemption or repurchase, redeem or repurchase an equal number of Group LP Class A partnership units held by us, upon the same terms and for the same price, as the shares of Class A common stock are redeemed or repurchased. We can only redeem or repurchase shares of Class A common stock if Group LP first redeems or repurchases an equivalent amount of Group LP Class A partnership units that we hold.

Subject to the terms and conditions of the Group LP amended and restated limited partnership agreement and the lock‑up restrictions described below, each Group LP Class A unitholder (except for Moelis & Company) has the right to exchange Group LP Class A partnership units, either for shares of our Class A common stock on a one‑for‑one basis, or cash (based on the market price of the shares of Class A common stock), at Group LP’s option. If Group LP chooses to exchange such units for our Class A common stock, Moelis & Company will deliver an equivalent number of shares of Class A common stock to Group LP for further delivery to the exchanging holder and receive a corresponding number of newly issued Group LP Class A partnership units. The exchanging holder’s surrendered Group LP Class A partnership units will be cancelled by Group LP. As Group LP Class A unitholders exchange their Group LP Class A partnership units, Moelis & Company’s percentage of economic ownership of Group LP will be correspondingly increased. Following each such exchange, Partner Holdings will be required to surrender to Moelis & Company a corresponding number of shares of Class B common stock, and each such share will be converted into approximately 0.00055 shares of Class A common stock, which will be delivered to Partner Holdings. Group LP will also convert an equivalent number of Class B partnership units held by Moelis & Company into Class A partnership units based on the same conversion rate.

Group LP Class A partnership units and Moelis & Company Class A common stock held by our Managing Directors (including through Partner Holdings) are subject to lock‑up agreements for four years from the date of our initial public offering. After this period, Group LP Class A partnership units held by a Managing Director will become exchangeable into Class A common stock or cash as described above and Moelis & Company Class A common stock held by a Managing Director will become transferable, in each case in three equal installments on each of the fourth, fifth and sixth anniversary of our initial public offering. In connection with the follow-on offerings of Class A common stock in March and August of 2018, the number of Group LP Class A partnership units subject to lock-up decreased and is currently 10,398,557 units. If a Managing Director terminates his or her employment with the Company prior to the end of the lock‑up period, the Company will be entitled to extend the lock‑up period until up to the tenth anniversary of our initial public offering. We may waive the transfer and exchange restrictions set forth in the Group LP amended and restated limited partnership agreement, including in connection with an offering of shares of our Class A common stock by our Managing Directors. In addition, these restrictions cease to apply upon the death or termination of employment by us due to disability of the applicable Managing Director with respect to such Managing Director’s Group LP Class A partnership units.

Prior to the expiration of the Managing Director lock‑up, our Managing Directors are generally subject to forfeiting their interests in vested Group LP partnership units and Moelis & Company Class A common stock they held as of the initial public offering if they terminate their employment without good reason and compete with the Company within 12 months thereafter, except for a certain limited number of designated units and stock which were awarded to replace equity of a former employer forfeited upon joining. Our Managing Directors have agreed not to solicit our employees during the term of their employment and for 12 months thereafter.

Moelis & Company has granted certain registration rights in the amended and restated limited partnership agreement of Group LP, the stockholders agreement with Partners Holdings and the strategic alliance agreement with SMBC, each filed as exhibits to this Form 10‑K.

Moelis & Company is party to a stockholders agreement with Partner Holdings pursuant to which, for so long as the Class B Condition (as defined in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation) is satisfied, Partner Holdings has approval rights over significant corporate actions by Moelis & Company. Our board of directors will nominate individuals designated by Partner Holdings equal to a majority of the board of directors, for so long as the Class B Condition is satisfied.

After the Class B Condition ceases to be satisfied, for so long as the Secondary Class B Condition (as defined in the stockholders agreement with Partners Holdings) is satisfied, Partner Holdings will have certain approval rights (including, among others, over the appointment or termination of the Chief Executive Officer) and our board of directors will nominate individuals designated by Partner Holdings equal to one quarter of the board of directors.

The industry, market and competitive position data referenced throughout this Form 10‑K are based on research, industry and general publications, including surveys and studies conducted by third parties. Industry publications, surveys and studies generally state that they have been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. We have not independently verified such third party information. While we are not aware of any misstatements regarding any industry, market or similar data presented herein, such data involve uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under the headings “Special Note Regarding Forward‑Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors” in this Form 10‑K. The M&A market data for announced and completed transactions in 2018 and 2017 referenced throughout this Form 10‑K was obtained from Thomson Financial as of January 4, 2019 and January 4, 2018, respectively.

In this Form 10‑K, we use the term “independent investment banks” or “independent advisors” to refer to investment banks primarily focused on advisory services and that conduct limited or no commercial banking or sales and trading activities. We use the term “global independent investment banks” to refer to independent investment banks with global coverage capabilities across all major industries and regions. We consider the global independent investment banks to be our publicly traded peers, Evercore Partners Inc., Greenhill & Co., Inc., Houlihan Lokey, Inc., Lazard Ltd, PJT Partners, Inc., and us.

Our website address is www.moelis.com. We make available free of charge on the Investor Relations section of our website (http://investors.moelis.com) this Annual Report on Form 10‑K (“Form 10‑K”), Quarterly Reports on Form 10‑Q, Current Reports on Form 8‑K and all amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after such material is electronically filed or furnished with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; as amended (the “Exchange Act”). We also make available through our website other reports filed with or furnished to the SEC under the Exchange Act, including our Proxy Statements and reports filed by officers and directors under Section 16(a) of that Act, as well as our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics. From time to time we may use our website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding the Company is routinely posted on and accessible at http://investors.moelis.com. In addition, you may automatically receive email alerts and other information about us by enrolling your email by visiting the “Contact Us” section at http://investors.moelis.com. We do not intend for information contained in our website to be part of this Form 10‑K. The inclusion of our website in this Form 10‑K does not include or incorporate by reference the information on our website into this Form 10‑K.

Our future growth will depend on, among other things, our ability to successfully identify, recruit and develop talent and will require us to commit additional resources.

We have experienced rapid growth over the past several years, which may be difficult to sustain at the same rate. Our future growth will depend on, among other things, our ability to successfully identify and recruit individuals and teams to join our firm. It typically takes time for these professionals to become profitable and effective. During that time, we may incur significant expenses and expend significant time and resources toward training, integration and business development aimed at developing this new talent. If we are unable to recruit and develop profitable professionals, we will not be able to implement our growth strategy and our financial results could be materially adversely affected.

In addition, sustaining growth will require us to commit additional management, operational and financial resources and to maintain appropriate operational and financial systems to adequately support expansion, especially in instances where we open new offices that may require additional resources before they become profitable. See “—Our growth strategy may involve opening or acquiring new offices and expanding internationally and would involve hiring new Managing Directors and other senior professionals for these offices, which would require substantial investment by us and could materially and adversely affect our operating results.” There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage our expanding operations effectively, and any failure to do so could materially adversely affect our ability to grow revenue and control our expenses.

Changing market conditions can adversely affect our business in many ways, including by reducing the volume of the transactions involving our business, which could materially reduce our revenue.

As a financial services firm, we are materially affected by conditions in the global financial markets and economic conditions throughout the world. For example, our revenue is directly related to the volume and value of the transactions in which we are involved. During periods of unfavorable market or economic conditions, the volume and value of M&A transactions may decrease, thereby reducing the demand for our M&A advisory services and increasing price competition among financial services companies seeking such engagements. In addition, during periods of strong market and economic conditions, the volume and value of recapitalization and restructuring transactions may decrease, thereby reducing the demand for our recapitalization and restructuring advisory services and increasing price competition among financial services companies seeking such engagements. Our results of operations would be adversely affected by any such reduction in the volume or value of such advisory transactions. Further, in the period following an economic downturn, the volume and value of M&A transactions typically takes time to recover and lags a recovery in market and economic conditions.

Our profitability may also be adversely affected by our fixed costs and the possibility that we would be unable to scale back other costs within a time frame sufficient to match any decreases in revenue relating to changes in market and economic conditions. The future market and economic climate may deteriorate because of many factors beyond our control, including rising interest rates or inflation, terrorism or political uncertainty.

Our revenue in any given period is dependent on the number of fee‑paying clients in such period, and a significant reduction in the number of fee‑paying clients in any given period could reduce our revenue and adversely affect our operating results in such period.

Our revenue in any given period is dependent on the number of fee‑paying clients in such period. We had 198 clients and 175 clients paying fees equal to or greater than $1 million in 2018 and 2017, respectively. We may lose clients as a result of the sale or merger of a client, a change in a client’s senior management, competition from other financial advisors and financial institutions and other causes. A significant reduction in the number of fee‑paying clients in any given period could reduce our revenue and adversely affect our operating results in such period.

Our ability to retain our Managing Directors and our other professionals, including our executive officers, is critical to the success of our business.

Our future success depends to a substantial degree on our ability to retain qualified professionals within our organization, including our Managing Directors. However, we may not be successful in our efforts to retain the required personnel as the market for qualified investment bankers is extremely competitive. Our investment bankers possess substantial experience and expertise and have strong relationships with our advisory clients. As a result, the loss of these professionals could jeopardize our relationships with clients and result in the loss of client engagements. For example, if any of our Managing Directors or other senior professionals, including our executive officers, or groups of professionals, were to join or form a competing firm, some of our current clients could choose to use the services of that competitor rather than our services. There is no guarantee that our compensation and non‑competition arrangements with our Managing Directors provide sufficient incentives or protections to prevent our Managing Directors from resigning to join our competitors. In addition, some of our competitors have more resources than us which may allow them to attract some of our existing employees through compensation or otherwise. The departure of a number of Managing Directors or groups of professionals could have a material adverse effect on our business and our profitability.

We depend on the efforts and reputations of Mr. Moelis and our other executive officers. Our senior leadership team’s reputations and relationships with clients and potential clients are critical elements in the success of our business. The loss of the services of our senior leadership team, in particular Mr. Moelis, could have a material adverse effect on our business, including our ability to attract clients.

Substantially all of our revenue is derived from advisory fees. As a result, our revenue and profits are highly volatile on a quarterly basis and may cause the price of our Class A common stock to fluctuate and decline.

Our revenue and profits are highly volatile. We derive substantially all of our revenue from advisory fees, generally from a limited number of engagements that generate significant fees at key transaction milestones, such as closing, the timing of which is outside of our control. We expect that we will continue to rely on advisory fees for most of our revenue for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, a decline in our advisory engagements or the market for advisory services would adversely affect our business. In addition, our financial results will likely fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on the timing of when fees are earned, and high levels of revenue in one quarter will not necessarily be predictive of continued high levels of revenue in future periods. Because we lack other, more stable, sources of revenue, which could moderate some of the volatility in our advisory revenue, we may experience greater variations in our revenue and profits than other larger, more diversified competitors in the financial services industry. Fluctuations in our quarterly financial results could, in turn, lead to large adverse movements in the price of our Class A common stock or increased volatility in our stock price generally.

Because in many cases we are not paid until the successful consummation of the underlying transaction, our revenue is highly dependent on market conditions and the decisions and actions of our clients, interested third parties and governmental authorities. For example, we may be engaged by a client in connection with a sale or divestiture, but the transaction may not occur or be consummated because, among other things, anticipated bidders may not materialize, no bidder is prepared to pay our client’s price or because our client’s business experiences unexpected operating or financial problems. We may be engaged by a client in connection with an acquisition, but the transaction may not occur or be consummated for a number of reasons, including because our client may not be the winning bidder, failure to agree upon final terms with the counterparty, failure to obtain necessary regulatory consents or board or stockholder approvals, failure to secure necessary financing, adverse market conditions or because the target’s business experiences unexpected operating or financial problems. In these circumstances, we often do not receive significant advisory fees, despite the fact that we have devoted considerable resources to these transactions.

In addition, we face the risk that certain clients may not have the financial resources to pay our agreed‑upon advisory fees. Certain clients may also be unwilling to pay our advisory fees in whole or in part, in which case we may have to incur significant costs to bring legal action to enforce our engagement agreement to obtain our advisory fees.

Our joint venture, strategic investments and acquisitions may result in additional risks and uncertainties in our business.

In addition to recruiting and internal expansion, we may grow our core business through joint ventures, strategic investments or acquisitions.

In the case of joint ventures and strategic investments, such as Moelis Australia, we are subject to additional risks and uncertainties relating to governance and controls, in that we may be dependent upon personnel, controls and systems, including management of the business by third parties, and subject to, liability, losses or reputational damage relating to such personnel, controls and systems and the management decisions of third parties that are not under our control. Moelis Australia is a public company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and the value of the shares held by us at any given time are subject to fluctuation as a result of their performance and prevailing market and business conditions. These fluctuations in value may be material.

In the event we make further strategic investments or acquisitions, we would face numerous risks and would be presented with financial, managerial and operational challenges, including the difficulty of integrating personnel, financial, accounting, technology and other systems and management controls.

If the number of debt defaults, bankruptcies or other factors affecting demand for our recapitalization and restructuring advisory services declines, our recapitalization and restructuring business could suffer.

We provide various financial recapitalization and restructuring and related advice to companies in financial distress or to their creditors or other stakeholders. A number of factors affect demand for these advisory services, including general economic conditions, the availability and cost of debt and equity financing, governmental policy and changes to laws, rules and regulations, including those that protect creditors. In addition, providing recapitalization and restructuring advisory services entails the risk that the transaction will be unsuccessful or take considerable time and can be subject to a bankruptcy court’s authority to disallow or discount our fees in certain circumstances. If the number of debt defaults, bankruptcies or other factors affecting demand for our recapitalization and restructuring advisory services declines, our recapitalization and restructuring business would be adversely affected.

Our failure to deal appropriately with actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest could damage our reputation and materially adversely affect our business.

We confront actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest in our business. For instance, we face the possibility of an actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest where we represent a client on a transaction in which an existing client is a party. We may be asked by two potential clients to act on their behalf on the same transaction, including two clients as potential buyers in the same acquisition transaction, and we may act for both clients if both clients agree to us doing so. In each of these situations, we face the risk that our current policies, controls and procedures do not timely identify or appropriately manage such conflicts of interest.

It is possible that actual, potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to client dissatisfaction, litigation or regulatory enforcement actions. Appropriately identifying and managing actual or perceived conflicts of interest is complex and difficult, and our reputation could be damaged if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with one or more potential or actual conflicts of interest. Regulatory scrutiny of, or litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest could have a material adverse effect on our reputation which could materially adversely affect our business in a number of ways, including a reluctance of some potential clients and counterparties to do business with us.

Employee misconduct, which is difficult to detect and deter, could harm us by impairing our ability to attract and retain clients and talent and by subjecting us to legal liability and reputational harm.

There have been a number of highly-publicized cases involving fraud or other misconduct by employees in the financial services industry, and there is a risk that our employees could engage in misconduct that would adversely affect our business. For example, our business often requires that we deal with confidential matters of great significance to our clients. Our employees’ improper use or disclosure of confidential information provided by our clients, could subject us to regulatory sanctions and we could suffer serious harm to our reputation, financial position, current client relationships and ability to attract future clients. In addition, our financial professionals and other employees are responsible for following proper measures to maintain the confidentiality of information we hold. If an employee’s failure to do so results in the improper release of confidential information, we could be subject to reputational harm and legal liability, which could impair our ability to attract and retain clients and in turn materially adversely affect our business. We also face the risk that our employees engage in work place misconduct, such as sexual harassment or discrimination, despite our implementation of policies and training to prevent and detect misconduct. In addition to impairing our ability to attract and retain clients, such misconduct may also impair our ability to attract and retain talent resulting in a materially adverse affect on our business. It is not always possible to deter employee misconduct, and there can be no assurance that the precautions we take to prevent and detect misconduct will be effective in all cases. If our employees engage in misconduct, our business could be materially adversely affected.

We may face damage to our professional reputation if our services are not regarded as satisfactory or for other reasons.

As an advisory service firm, we depend to a large extent on our relationships with our clients and reputation for integrity and high‑caliber professional services to attract and retain clients. As a result, if a client is not satisfied with our services, it may be more damaging in our business than in other businesses.

We face strong competition from other financial advisory firms, many of which have the ability to offer clients a wider range of products and services than those we can offer, which could cause us to fail to win advisory mandates and subject us to pricing pressures that could materially adversely affect our revenue and profitability.

The financial services industry is intensely competitive, and we expect it to remain so. Our competitors are other investment banking and financial advisory firms. We compete on both a global and a regional basis, and on the basis of a number of factors, including depth of client relationships, industry knowledge, transaction execution skills, our range of products and services, innovation, reputation and price. In addition, in our business there are usually no long‑term contracted sources of revenue. Each revenue‑generating engagement typically is separately solicited, awarded and negotiated.

We have experienced intense competition over obtaining advisory mandates in recent years, and we may experience further pricing pressures in our business in the future as some of our competitors may seek to obtain increased market share by reducing fees.

Our primary competitors are large financial institutions, many of which have far greater financial and other resources than us and, unlike us, have the ability to offer a wider range of products, from loans, deposit taking and insurance to brokerage and trading, which may enhance their competitive position. They also regularly support investment banking, including financial advisory services, with commercial lending and other financial services and products in an effort to gain market share, which puts us at a competitive disadvantage and could result in pricing pressures or loss of opportunities, which could materially adversely affect our revenue and profitability. In addition, we may be at a competitive disadvantage with regard to certain of our competitors who are able to and often do, provide financing or market making services that are often a crucial component of the types of transactions on which we advise.

In addition to our larger competitors, over the last few years a number of independent investment banks that offer independent advisory services have emerged, with several showing rapid growth. As these independent firms or new entrants into the market seek to gain market share there could be pricing pressures, which would adversely affect our revenues and earnings.

As a member of the financial services industry, we face substantial litigation risks.

Our role as advisor to our clients on important transactions involves complex analysis and the exercise of professional judgment, including rendering “fairness opinions” in connection with mergers and other transactions. Our activities may subject us to the risk of significant legal liabilities to our clients and affected third parties, including shareholders of our clients who could bring securities class actions against us. Litigation risks often may be difficult to assess or quantify and their existence and magnitude often remain unknown for substantial periods of time. Our engagements typically include broad indemnities from our clients and provisions to limit our exposure to legal claims relating to our services, but these provisions may not protect us in all cases, including when a client does not have the financial capacity to pay under the indemnity. As a result, we may incur significant legal expenses in defending against or settling litigation. In addition, we may have to spend a significant amount to adequately insure against these potential claims. Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action against us could have material adverse financial effects or cause significant reputational harm to us, which could seriously harm our business prospects.

Extensive and evolving regulation of our business and the business of our clients exposes us to the potential for significant penalties and fines due to compliance failures, increases our costs and may result in limitations on the manner in which our business is conducted.

As a participant in the financial services industry, we are subject to extensive financial regulation in the U.S. and internationally. We are subject to general laws and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate.

Our ability to conduct business and our operating results, including compliance costs, may be adversely affected as a result of any new requirements imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), FINRA or other U.S. or foreign governmental regulatory authorities or self‑regulatory organizations that regulate financial services firms or supervise financial markets. We may be adversely affected by changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules by these governmental authorities and self‑regulatory organizations. In addition, some of our clients or prospective clients may adopt policies that exceed regulatory requirements and impose additional restrictions affecting their dealings with us. Accordingly, we may incur significant costs to comply with U.S. and international regulation. In addition, new laws or regulations or changes in enforcement of existing laws or regulations applicable to our clients may adversely affect our business. For example, changes in antitrust enforcement could affect the level of M&A activity and changes in applicable regulations could restrict the activities of our clients and their need for the types of advisory services that we provide to them.

Our failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations could result in adverse publicity and reputational harm as well as fines, suspensions of personnel or other sanctions, including revocation of the registration of us or any of our subsidiaries as a financial advisor and could impair executive retention or recruitment. For example, we are subject to bribery and anti-corruption regulation, especially with respect to businesses we conduct for clients that are governmental entities or owned by governmental entities. In addition, any changes in the regulatory framework could impose additional expenses or capital requirements on us, result in limitations on the manner in which our business is conducted, have an adverse impact upon our financial condition and business and require substantial attention by senior management. In addition, our business is subject to periodic examination by various regulatory authorities, and we cannot predict the outcome of any such examinations.

We are exposed to risks and costs associated with protecting the integrity and security of our clients’, employees’ and others’ personal data and other sensitive information.

As part of our business, we manage, utilize and store sensitive or confidential client or employee data, including personal data. As a result, we are subject to various risks and costs associated with the collection, handling, storage and transmission of sensitive information, including those related to compliance with increasingly stringent U.S. and foreign data collection and privacy laws and other contractual obligations, as well as those associated with the compromise of our information systems collecting such information. For example, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), which becomes effective in May 2018 and replaces the current data protection laws of each EU member state, requires companies to meet new and more stringent requirements regarding the handling of personal data. Any failure to comply with these regulations could expose us to liability and/or reputational damage.

If any person, including any of our employees, negligently disregards or intentionally breaches our established controls with respect to client or employee data, or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates that data, we could be subject to significant monetary damages, regulatory enforcement actions, fines and/or criminal prosecution. In addition, unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential client or employee data, whether through cyber-attacks, systems failure, employee negligence, fraud or misappropriation, could damage our reputation and cause us to lose clients and their related revenue in the future.

We face various cybersecurity and other operational risks related to our business on a day‑to‑day basis. We rely heavily on financial, accounting, communication and other information technology systems, including, without limitation, cloud based storage systems, and the people who operate them. These systems, including the systems of third parties on whom we rely, may fail to operate properly or become disabled as a result of tampering or a breach of our network security systems or otherwise.

Our clients typically provide us with sensitive and confidential information. We are dependent on information technology networks and systems to securely process, transmit and store such information and to communicate among our locations around the world and with our clients, alliance partners and vendors. We may be subject to attempted security breaches and cyber‑attacks and a successful breach could lead to shutdowns or disruptions of our systems or third‑party systems on which we rely and potential unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential information. Breaches of our or third‑party network security systems on which we rely could involve attacks that are intended to obtain unauthorized access to our proprietary information, destroy data or disable, degrade or sabotage our systems, often through the introduction of computer viruses, cyber‑attacks and other means and could originate from a wide variety of sources, including foreign governments or other unknown third parties. If our or third‑party systems on which we rely are compromised, do not operate properly or are disabled, we could suffer a disruption of our business, financial losses, liability to clients, regulatory sanctions and damage to our reputation. Phishing attacks and email spoofing attacks are often used to obtain information to impersonate employees or clients in order to, among other things, direct fraudulent bank transfers or obtain valuable information. Fraudulent transfers resulting from phishing attacks or email spoofing of our employees could result in a material loss of assets, reputational harm or legal liability and in turn materially adversely affect our business. In addition, our investment banking professionals and other employees are responsible for following proper measures to maintain the confidentiality of information we hold. If an employee’s failure to do so results in the improper release of confidential information, or our systems are otherwise compromised or do not operate properly, we could suffer a disruption of our business, financial losses, liability to clients, regulatory sanctions and reputational harm and in turn materially adversely affect our business.

We operate a business that is highly dependent on information systems and technology. Any failure to keep accurate books and records can render us liable to disciplinary action by governmental and self‑regulatory authorities, as well as to claims by our clients. We rely on third‑party service providers for certain aspects of our business. Any interruption or deterioration in the performance of these third parties or failures of their information systems and technology could impair our operations, affect our reputation and adversely affect our business.

In addition, a disaster or other business continuity problem, such as a pandemic, other man‑made or natural disaster or disruption involving electronic communications or other services used by us or third parties with whom we conduct business, could lead us to experience operational challenges, and if we were unable to timely and successfully recover that could materially disrupt our business and cause material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm or legal liability.

Negative publicity regarding our business and our people could adversely impact our reputation and our business.

We depend to a large extent on our reputation for integrity and high‑caliber professional services to attract and retain clients. We may experience negative publicity from time to time relating to our business and our people, regardless of whether the allegations are valid. Such negative publicity may adversely affect our business in a number of ways, including whether potential clients choose to engage us and our ability to attract and retain talent.

We may not be able to generate sufficient cash in the future to service any future indebtedness.

Our ability to make scheduled payments on or to refinance any future debt obligations depends on our financial condition and operating performance. We cannot provide assurance that we will maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the principal of, and interest on, any future indebtedness. If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund any future debt service obligations, we may be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures, or to sell assets, seek additional capital or restructure or refinance such indebtedness.

Our international operations are subject to certain risks, which may affect our revenue.

In 2018, we earned approximately 17% of our revenues from our international operations. We intend to grow our non‑U.S. business, and this growth is important to our overall success. In addition, many of our larger clients are non‑U.S. entities seeking to enter into transactions involving U.S. businesses. Our international operations carry special financial and business risks, which could include the following:

If our international business increases relative to our total business, these factors could have a more pronounced effect on our operating results.

On June 23, 2016, the U.K. voted to exit the European Union (“EU”). The U.K. is due to exit the EU on March 29, 2019. The exit arrangements and future relationship between the EU and U.K. are currently uncertain and difficult to predict, and such uncertainty regarding their outcome may continue for a significant period of time. The exit arrangements and the uncertainty around them may have an adverse impact on M&A transactions in Europe and our business therefrom and increase our legal, compliance and operational costs in Europe.

Our growth strategy may involve opening or acquiring new offices and expanding internationally and would involve hiring new Managing Directors and other senior professionals for these offices, which would require substantial investment by us and could materially and adversely affect our operating results.

Our ability to grow our advisory business organically depends in part on our ability to open or acquire new offices, expand internationally and hire new Managing Directors and other senior professionals for these offices. We may not be successful in any efforts to open new offices, expand internationally or hire new Managing Directors and other senior professionals for these offices. The costs of opening a new office, expanding internationally and hiring the necessary personnel to staff the office are substantial. If we are not successful in these efforts, we may not be able to recover our investments or our substantial cost outlays, and new international operations may not achieve profitability.

We may enter into new lines of business which may result in additional risks and uncertainties in our business.

We currently generate substantially all of our revenue from advisory transactions. However, we may grow our business by entering into new lines of business. To the extent we enter into new lines of business, we will face numerous risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with actual or perceived conflicts of interest because we would no longer be limited to the advisory business, the possibility that we have insufficient expertise to engage in such activities profitably or without incurring inappropriate amounts of risk, the required investment of capital and other resources and the loss of clients due to the perception that we are no longer focusing on our core business.

Entry into certain lines of business may subject us to new laws and regulations with which we are not familiar, or from which we are currently exempt, and may lead to increased litigation and regulatory risk. In addition, certain aspects of our cost structure, such as costs for compensation, occupancy and equipment rentals, communication and information technology services, and depreciation and amortization will be largely fixed, and we may not be able to timely adjust these costs to match fluctuations in revenue related to our entering into new lines of business. If a new business generates insufficient revenues or if we are unable to efficiently manage our expanded operations, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could adversely affect our results.

Because our financial statements are denominated in U.S. dollars and we receive a portion of our net revenue in other currencies (including euros and pound sterling), we are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currencies. In addition, we pay certain of our expenses in such currencies. We have not entered into any transactions to hedge our exposure to these foreign exchange fluctuations through the use of derivative instruments or otherwise. An appreciation or depreciation of any of these currencies relative to the U.S. dollar would result in an adverse or beneficial impact, respectively, to our financial results.

The cost of compliance with international broker‑dealer, employment, labor, benefits and tax regulations may adversely affect our business and hamper our ability to expand internationally.

Since we operate our business both in the U.S. and internationally, we are subject to many distinct broker‑dealer, employment, labor, benefits and tax laws in each country in which we operate, including regulations affecting our employment practices and our relations with our employees and service providers. If we are required to comply with new regulations or new interpretations of existing regulations, or if we are unable to comply with these regulations or interpretations, our business could be adversely affected or the cost of compliance may make it difficult to expand into new international markets. Additionally, our competitiveness in international markets may be adversely affected by regulations requiring, among other things, the awarding of contracts to local contractors, the employment of local citizens and/or the purchase of services from local businesses or favoring or requiring local ownership.

Moelis & Company’s only assets are its partnership interests in Group LP, its equity interest in the sole general partner of Group LP, Moelis & Company Group GP LLC, and its interests in its subsidiaries, and Moelis & Company is accordingly dependent upon distributions from Group LP to pay dividends, taxes and other expenses.

Moelis & Company is a holding company, and its only assets are its partnership interests in Group LP, its equity interest in the sole general partner of Group LP, Moelis & Company Group GP LLC, and its interests in its subsidiaries. Moelis & Company has no independent means of generating revenue. Moelis & Company intends to cause Group LP to make distributions to its partners in an amount sufficient to cover all applicable taxes payable, other expenses and dividends, if any, declared by us.

Group LP is generally prohibited under Delaware law from making a distribution to a partner to the extent that, at the time of the distribution, after giving effect to the distribution, liabilities of Group LP (with certain exceptions) exceed the fair value of its assets. Furthermore, certain subsidiaries of Group LP may be subject to similar legal limitations on their ability to make distributions to Group LP. Moreover, our regulated subsidiaries may be subject to regulatory capital requirements that limit the distributions that may be made by those subsidiaries.

Deterioration in the financial condition, earnings or cash flow of Group LP and its subsidiaries for any reason could limit or impair their ability to pay such distributions. Additionally, to the extent that Moelis & Company requires funds and Group LP is restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or under the terms of financing arrangements, or is otherwise unable to provide such funds, our liquidity and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

A change in relevant income tax laws, regulations, or treaties, or an adverse interpretation of these items by tax authorities, could result in an audit adjustment or revaluation of our deferred tax assets that may cause our effective tax rate and tax liability to be higher than what is currently presented in the consolidated statements of financial condition.

As part of the process of preparing our consolidated statements of financial condition, we are required to estimate income taxes in each of the jurisdictions in which we operate. Significant management judgment is required in determining our provision for income taxes, our deferred tax assets and liabilities, and any valuation allowance recorded against our deferred tax assets. This process requires us to estimate our actual current tax liability and to assess temporary differences resulting from differing book versus tax treatment. Our effective tax rate and tax liability is based on the application of current income tax laws, regulations, and treaties. These laws, regulations, and treaties are complex, and the manner in which they apply to our facts and circumstance is sometimes open to interpretation. We believe our application of current laws, regulations, and treaties to be correct and sustainable upon examination by the tax authorities. However, the tax authorities could challenge our interpretation resulting in additional tax liability or adjustment to our income tax provision that could increase our effective tax rate. In addition, tax laws, regulations, or treaties enacted in the future may cause us to revalue our net deferred tax assets and have a material change to our effective tax rate.

We will be required to pay our Managing Directors for certain tax benefits we may claim as a result of the tax basis step‑up we receive in connection with follow-on offerings and related transactions. In certain circumstances, payments under the tax receivable agreement may be accelerated and/or significantly exceed the actual tax benefits we realize.

Group LP Class A partnership units may be exchanged for shares of Class A common stock. On the date of our initial public offering in April 2014, we were treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as having directly purchased Class A partnership units in Group LP from the then existing unitholders which resulted in an increase in the tax basis of the assets of Group LP that otherwise would not have been available. The exchange and purchases of Class A partnership units in Group LP in connection with the initial public offering and additional follow-on offerings, may also result in increases in the tax basis of the assets of Group LP that otherwise would not have been available. Such increases in tax basis are likely to increase (for tax purposes) depreciation and amortization deductions and therefore reduce the amount of income tax we would otherwise be required to pay in the future. These increases in tax basis may also decrease gain (or increase loss) on future dispositions of certain capital assets to the extent the increased tax basis is allocated to those capital assets. The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) may challenge all or part of these tax basis increases, and a court could sustain such a challenge.

We have entered into a tax receivable agreement with our Managing Directors that provides for the payment by us to our Managing Directors of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize as a result of (a) the increases in tax basis attributable to our Managing Directors and (b) tax benefits related to imputed interest deemed to be paid by us as a result of this tax receivable agreement. While the actual increase in tax basis, as well as the amount and timing of any payments under the tax receivable agreement, will vary depending upon a number of factors, including the timing of exchanges, the price of shares of our Class A common stock at the time of the exchange, the extent to which such exchanges are taxable, and the amount and timing of our income, we expect that, as a result of the size of the increases in the tax basis of the tangible and intangible assets of Group LP attributable to our interests in Group LP, during the expected term of the tax receivable agreement, the payments that we may make to our Managing Directors could be substantial.

Although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the IRS to challenge a tax basis increase, our Managing Directors generally will not reimburse us for any payments that may previously have been made under the tax receivable agreement. As a result, in certain circumstances we could make payments to the Managing Directors under the tax receivable agreement in excess of our cash tax savings. Our ability to achieve benefits from any tax basis increase, and the payments to be made under the tax receivable agreement, will depend upon a number of factors, as discussed above, including the timing and amount of our future income.

In addition, the tax receivable agreement provides that, upon a merger, asset sale or other form of business combination or certain other changes of control or if, at any time, we elect an early termination of the tax receivable agreement, our (or our successor’s) obligations with respect to exchanged or acquired Class A partnership units (whether exchanged or acquired before or after such change of control or early termination) would be based on certain assumptions, including that we would have sufficient taxable income to fully utilize the deductions arising from the increased tax deductions and tax basis and other benefits related to entering into the tax receivable agreement, and, in the case of certain early termination elections, that any Class A partnership units that have not been exchanged will be deemed exchanged for the market value of the Class A common stock at the time of termination. Consequently, it is possible, in these circumstances also, that the actual cash tax savings realized by us may be significantly less than the corresponding tax receivable agreement payments.

If Moelis & Company were deemed an “investment company” under the Investment Company Act of 1940 as a result of its ownership of Group LP, applicable restrictions could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and could materially and adversely affect our operating results.

If Moelis & Company were to cease participation in the management of Group LP, its interests in Group LP could be deemed an “investment security” for purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”). Generally, a person is deemed to be an “investment company” if it owns investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items), absent an applicable exemption. Moelis & Company has no assets other than its partnership interests in Group LP and its equity interest in the sole general partner of Group LP, Moelis & Company Group GP LLC and its interests in its subsidiaries. A determination that this interest in Group LP was an investment security could result in Moelis & Company being an investment company under the 1940 Act and becoming subject to the registration and other requirements of the 1940 Act. We intend to conduct our operations so that we will not be deemed an investment company. However, if we were to be deemed an investment company, restrictions imposed by the 1940 Act, including limitations on our capital structure and our ability to transact with affiliates, could make it impractical for us to continue our business as contemplated and have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results and the price of our Class A common stock.

We and Old Holdings have entered into various arrangements, including a master separation agreement, which contains cross‑indemnification obligations of us and Old Holdings.

The master separation agreement that we entered into with Old Holdings provides, among other things, that Old Holdings generally will indemnify us for losses that we incur arising out of, or relating to, the businesses conducted by Old Holdings and losses that we incur arising out of, or relating to, Old Holdings’ breach of the master separation agreement. In addition, we generally will indemnify Old Holdings for losses that Old Holdings incurs arising out of, or relating to, our business and losses Old Holdings’ incurs arising out of, or relating to, our breach of the master separation agreement. We may not be able to recover any or all of the amount of indemnified losses from Old Holdings should it be financially unable to perform under its indemnification obligations. In addition, we may be required to make substantial payments under our indemnity obligations to Old Holdings, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

The use of the “Moelis” brand name by either Old Holdings and its subsidiaries or Moelis Australia may expose us to reputational harm that could adversely affect our business should they take actions that damage the brand name.

Old Holdings and Moelis Australia operate as separate legal entities. We have licensed to Old Holdings and its subsidiaries the use of the “Moelis” brand name for certain purposes, including in connection with asset management activities. We have licensed to Moelis Australia the use of the “Moelis” brand name in connection with its financial advisory services business, an equity capital markets and research, sales and trading business covering Australian public equity securities and asset management businesses. As Old Holdings and its subsidiaries and Moelis Australia historically have and will continue to use the “Moelis” brand name, and because we no longer control these entities, there is a risk of reputational harm to us if any of Old Holdings, its subsidiaries or Moelis Australia, among other things, have engaged, or in the future were to engage in poor business practices, or were to experience adverse results or otherwise damage the reputational value of the “Moelis” brand name. These risks could adversely affect our revenue and our business prospects.

Control by Mr. Moelis of the voting power in Moelis & Company may give rise to actual or perceived conflicts of interests.

Moelis & Company is controlled by Mr. Moelis, through his control of Partner Holdings. Mr. Moelis’ interests may differ from those of other stockholders. As of December 31, 2018, Mr. Moelis controls approximately 70% of the voting interest in Moelis & Company primarily through his control of Partner Holdings, which currently holds all outstanding Class B common stock. The shares of Class B common stock entitle Partner Holdings to (i) for so long as the Class B Condition is satisfied, ten votes per share and (ii) after the Class B Condition ceases to be satisfied, one vote per share. In addition, Moelis & Company has entered into a stockholders agreement with Partner Holdings, pursuant to which, for so long as the Class B Condition is satisfied, Partner Holdings has certain approval rights over certain transactions. As a result, because Mr. Moelis has a majority of the voting power in Moelis & Company and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides for cumulative voting, he has the ability to elect all of the members of our board of directors and thereby to control our management and affairs, including determinations with respect to acquisitions, dispositions, borrowings, issuances of Class A common stock or other securities, and the declaration and payment of dividends. Mr. Moelis is able to determine the outcome of all matters requiring stockholder approval and is able to cause or prevent a change of control of Moelis & Company or a change in the composition of our board of directors and could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of Moelis & Company. Mr. Moelis’ voting control could deprive our stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their Class A common stock as part of a sale of Moelis & Company and might ultimately affect the market price of our Class A common stock. As a result of the control exercised by Mr. Moelis over us, our agreements entered into with him prior to or in connection with our initial public offering may not have been negotiated on “arm’s length” terms. We cannot assure you that we would not have received more favorable terms from an unaffiliated party.

We are a “controlled company” within the meaning of the rules of the New York Stock Exchange and, as a result, qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You do not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to such requirements.

Mr. Moelis, through his control of Partner Holdings, holds more than 50% of the voting power of our shares eligible to vote. As a result, we are a “controlled company” under the rules of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”). Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power in the election of directors is held by an individual, group or another company is a “controlled company” and may elect not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements, including the requirements that (i) a majority of the board of directors consist of independent directors and (ii) that the board of directors have compensation and nominating and corporate governance committees composed entirely of independent directors.

For at least some period, we intend to utilize these exemptions. As a result, we do not have a majority of independent directors on our board of directors. Accordingly, although we may transition to a board with a majority of independent directors prior to the time we cease to be a “controlled company,” for such period of time you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements set by the NYSE. In the event that we cease to be a “controlled company” and our shares continue to be listed on the NYSE, we will be required to comply with these provisions within the applicable transition periods. These exemptions do not modify the independence requirements for our audit committee, and we intend to comply with the applicable requirements of the SEC and the NYSE with respect to our audit committee within the applicable time frame.

Failure to maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act of 2002 could have a material adverse effect on our business and share price.

As a publicly traded company, we are required to document and test our internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404(a) of Sarbanes‑Oxley, which requires, beginning with the filing of our second annual report with the SEC, annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Our independent registered public accounting firm may not be able or willing to issue an unqualified report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Matters impacting our internal controls may cause us to be unable to report our financial information on a timely basis and thereby subject us to adverse regulatory consequences, including sanctions by the SEC, or violations of applicable stock exchange listing rules. There could also be a negative reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of investor confidence in us and the reliability of our financial statements. Confidence in the reliability of our financial statements is also likely to suffer if our independent registered public accounting firm reports a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting. This could materially adversely affect us and lead to a decline in the market price of our shares.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they downgrade our Company or our sector, the price of our Class A common stock could decline.

The trading market for our Class A common stock depends in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrades our Company or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, the price of our Class A common stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our Company, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.

Our share price may decline due to the large number of shares eligible for future sale and for exchange.

The market price of our Class A common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of Class A common stock in the market as a result of and after the offering contemplated by our Registration Statement on Form S‑3 Registration No. 333‑203499 or the perception that such sales could occur. These sales, or the possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate. As of February 13, 2019, we had outstanding 45,557,272 shares of Class A common stock, most of which may be resold immediately in the public market. In addition, holders of a significant amounts of Group LP Class A partnership units may elect to exchange their units and they may receive shares of our Class A common stock. Further, restrictions on sales of certain shares of Class A common stock by certain of our pre‑IPO equity holders expired on April 22, 2015, and such shares are now eligible for resale from time to time, and employees who have received shares of Class A common stock upon settlement of restricted stock units are currently able to sell such shares, subject to any blackout periods we impose on employees and restrictions under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). On April 30, 2015, we entered into an agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”), our strategic alliance partner. The agreement permits SMBC, subject to the terms of the Group LP limited partnership agreement, to exchange its Group LP Class A partnership units (2,560,107 units) on or after July 1, 2015. Existing Group LP Class A partnership unitholders (including certain Managing Directors) owned, as of February 13, 2019, an aggregate of 13,053,465 Class A partnership units. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation allows the exchange of Class A partnership units in Group LP (other than those held by us) for shares of our Class A common stock on a one‑for‑one basis, subject to customary conversion rate adjustments for stock splits, stock dividends and reclassifications. Further, Partner Holdings held 10,493,358 shares of our Class B common stock, which will be convertible into 5,807 shares of our Class A common stock. Shares of Class A common stock (including those issuable upon exchange of Group LP partnership units) that are held by the Group LP Class A partnership unitholders (including our Managing Directors) will be eligible for resale from time to time, subject to certain contractual restrictions and to restrictions under the Securities Act.

The general partner of Group LP (“General Partner”) has determined that certain holders of Group LP Class A partnership units will be eligible to exchange on a one‑for‑one basis for our Class A common stock in May 2019, subject to the General Partner’s discretion to postpone or cancel the redemption date. The number of units eligible for exchange on such date is up to 2,777,501 units, 2,560,107 of which are Group LP partnership units held by SMBC. Holders who elect to exchange may choose to sell or hold the Class A common stock. Units eligible for exchange in May 2019 exclude 10,275,964 units held by Managing Directors that they received as Managing Directors which units remain subject to lock‑up provisions through the sixth anniversary of our initial public offering. Approximately 1% of the outstanding Group LP Class A partnership units are no longer subject to lock-up provisions. 1% and 98% of the outstanding Group LP Class A partnership units will become transferable on the fifth and sixth anniversary of our initial

public offering, respectively. The General Partner intends to establish redemption dates from time to time in the ordinary course in accordance with the terms of the Group LP limited partnership agreement and the Company does not intend to disclose future redemption dates.

Certain Class A partnership unitholders in Group LP and holders of our Class A common stock are parties to agreements with us pursuant to which we have granted them registration rights. Under those agreements, these persons will have the ability to cause us to register the shares of our Class A common stock (including the shares they could acquire upon exchange of Class A partnership units in Group LP), subject to certain contractual restrictions. See “Exchanges of Group LP Class A Partnership Units For Moelis & Company Class A Common Stock.”

The market price of our Class A common stock may be volatile, which could cause the value of your investment to decline.

Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations. This market volatility, as well as general economic, market or political conditions, could reduce the market price of our Class A common stock in spite of our operating performance. In addition, our operating results could be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors, and in response, the market price of our Class A common stock could decrease significantly. You may be unable to resell your shares of our Class A common stock at or above the public offering price.

While we currently intend to pay a quarterly cash dividend to our stockholders, we may change our dividend policy at any time. There can be no assurance that we will continue to declare cash dividends.

On February 5, 2019, the Board of Directors of Moelis & Company declared a special dividend of $1.25 per share in addition to a regular quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share. The $1.75 per share will be paid on March 29, 2019 to Class A common stockholders of record on February 19, 2019. Although we currently intend to pay a quarterly cash dividend to our stockholders, we have no obligation to do so, and our dividend policy may change at any time. Returns on stockholders’ investments will primarily depend on the appreciation, if any, in the price of our Class A common stock. Whether we continue and the amount and timing of any dividends are subject to capital availability and periodic determinations by our Board of Directors that cash dividends are in the best interest of our stockholders and are in compliance with all respective laws and agreements of the Company applicable to the declaration and payment of cash dividends. Future dividends, including their timing and amount, may be affected by, among other factors: general economic and business conditions; our financial condition and operating results; our available cash and current anticipated cash needs; capital requirements; contractual, legal, tax and regulatory restrictions and implications on the payment of dividends by us to our stockholders; and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant. Our dividend payments may change from time to time, and we cannot provide assurance that we will continue to declare dividends in any particular amounts or at all. The reduction in or elimination of our dividend payments could have a negative effect on our stock price.

Anti‑takeover provisions in our organizational documents and Delaware law could delay or prevent a change in control.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws may delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that a stockholder may consider favorable by permitting our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock, requiring advance notice for stockholder proposals and nominations and placing limitations on convening stockholder meetings. In addition, there is no cumulative voting in the election of directors, and our amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that directors may be removed, with or without cause, only with the affirmative vote of at least 80% of the voting interest of stockholders entitled to vote; provided, however, that for so long as the Class B Condition is satisfied, directors may be removed, with or without cause, with the affirmative vote of a majority of the voting interest of stockholders entitled to vote. In addition, we are subject to provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law that restrict certain business combinations with interested stockholders. These provisions may also discourage acquisition proposals or delay or prevent a change in control, which could harm our stock price. See “Description of Capital Stock.”

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized this 8^th day of March, 2019.

Moelis & Company

By:	/s/ JOSEPH SIMON
	Name:	Joseph Simon
	Title:	Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)

Exhibit Number		Description

31.3		Rule 13a‑14(a) Certification of Chief Executive Officer of the Registrant in accordance with Section 302 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act of 2002

31.4		Rule 13a‑14(a) Certification of Chief Financial Officer of the Registrant in accordance with Section 302 of the Sarbanes‑Oxley Act of 2002