Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
The following information, together with information
included in other parts of this Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, describes
key aspects of our market risk.
Market Risk
Market risk to us generally represents the risk of changes
in the value of our products that results from fluctuations in securities or commodity prices, the value of underlying real assets (including
farmland), foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar, and interest rates. Nearly all our revenues are derived from advisory
agreements for the WisdomTree ETPs and other managed investment vehicles, including those acquired through the Ceres Acquisition. Under
these agreements, the advisory fee we receive is based on the average market value of the assets in the WisdomTree ETP portfolios we manage
and, in the case of other managed investment vehicles, on investors’ capital account balances, which are influenced by the value
of the underlying farmland assets.
Fluctuations in the value of the ETPs are common and
are generated by numerous factors such as market volatility, the global economy, inflation, changes in investor strategies and sentiment,
availability of alternative investment vehicles, domestic and foreign government regulations, emerging markets developments and others.
With respect to farmland-focused investment products, changes in farmland values may be driven by factors such as agricultural commodity
prices, farm income, interest rates, inflation expectations, land supply and demand dynamics, climate and weather conditions, and government
agricultural and environmental policies. Accordingly, changes in any one or a combination of these factors may reduce the value of investment
securities or real assets and, in turn, the underlying AUM or investors’ capital account balances on which our revenues are earned.
These declines may cause investors to withdraw funds from our products in favor of investments that they perceive as offering greater
opportunity or lower risk, thereby compounding the impact on our revenues. We believe challenging and volatile market conditions will
continue to be present in the foreseeable future.
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Interest Rate Risk
We invest our corporate cash in short-term interest
earning assets, primarily in federal agency debt instruments, WisdomTree fixed income ETFs, U.S. treasuries, corporate bonds, money market
instruments at a commercial bank and other financial instruments which totaled $134.0 million and $268.2 million as of December 31,
2024 and 2025, respectively. During the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2025, we recognized losses on these financial instruments of
$4.9 million and $2.0 million, respectively, and any losses recognized in the future may be material to our operating results. We do not
anticipate that changes in interest rates will have a material impact on our financial condition or cash flows.
In addition, our Convertible Notes bear interest
at fixed rates of 3.25% for the 2026 Notes and the 2029 Notes and 4.625% for the 2030 Notes, respectively. Therefore, we have no direct
financial statement risk associated with changes in interest rates. However, the fair value of the Convertible Notes changes primarily
when the market price of our common stock fluctuates or interest rates change.
Exchange Rate Risk
We are subject to currency translation exposure
on the results of our non-U.S. operations, primarily in the U.K. and Europe. Foreign currency translation risk is the risk that exchange
rate gains or losses arise from translating foreign entities’ statements of earnings and balance sheets from functional currency
to our reporting currency (the U.S. dollar) for consolidation purposes. The advisory fees earned on our European listed ETPs are predominantly
in U.S. dollars (and also paid in gold ounces, as described below); however, expenses for corporate overhead are generally incurred in
British pounds. Currently, we do not enter into derivative financial instruments aimed at offsetting certain exposures in the statement
of operations or the balance sheet but may seek to do so in the future.
Exchange rate risk associated with the euro
is not considered to be significant.
Commodity and Cryptocurrency Price Risk
Fluctuations in the prices of commodities and
cryptocurrencies that are linked to certain of our ETPs could have a material adverse effect on our AUM and revenues. In addition, a portion
of the advisory fee revenues we receive on our ETPs backed by gold, other precious metals and cryptocurrencies are paid in the underlying
metal or cryptocurrency. While we readily sell the gold, precious metals and cryptocurrencies that we earn under these advisory contracts,
we still may maintain a position. We currently do not enter into arrangements to hedge against fluctuations in the price of these commodities
and cryptocurrencies and any hedging we may undertake in the future may not be cost-effective or sufficient to hedge against this exposure.