We do not think much changes. The companies that have been acquired, even collectively, were not really big enough to make an impact. While their growth rates may increase under their new owners, this is not guaranteed, and even so we do not think they are big enough to be much of a threat to the large encumbents. Certainly recent bank earnings do not imply much competitive threat at all. So these are reasons to not expect lower valuations. The question is does it equate to higher valuations? We think probably not is still the answer. Having few public alternatives gives the incumbents a bit more scacity value in public markets, but again the amount of $$ going to the other (about to be private) public companies is not enough to make this a significant part of valuations. AI could help earnings, over time, by reducing costs and pricing loans better, but we are we think several quarters or years before seeing much of an impact from this.
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