We recently attended the Texas Alternatives Conference in Austin and LIFT AZ in Phoenix, two asset management industry events that made a similar point in different ways: capital is increasingly paying attention to markets that offer room to grow, have strong talent pipelines and display a clear message they are open for business. While each conference had its own tone and audience, both reflected a broader shift in how local ecosystems are thinking about their role in attracting investment, companies and people.
The Texas Alternatives Conference brought together allocators, managers and market participants around institutional investing, capital formation, private wealth, credit and Texas’ growing capital-markets ambitions — e.g. the planned Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE). The conversation was grounded in alternatives, but the subtext, in true Texas style (did you know TXSE will open and close with a cannon?), was bigger than that. Texas is not just marketing itself as a favorable place to do business; it is increasingly positioning itself as a serious long-term home for capital, infrastructure and innovation.
The LIFT AZ event focused on Arizona’s future through the lenses of capital, talent, venture, leadership, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and real estate. The tone in Phoenix felt a bit more ecosystem oriented, with a strong emphasis on what it takes to build enduring density and sophistication in a market that knows it has momentum, but also knows it still has work to do in telling its story more effectively (“AZ is Open for Business” billboards in CA and WA?).
What stood out across both conferences was how intentionally Texas and Arizona are positioning themselves as beneficiaries of migration and capital reallocation away from higher-tax, more constrained states. In both places, the pitch was consistent: abundant land, a growing base of educated talent, business friendly operating environments and a willingness to compete for companies, investors and entrepreneurs. Both markets are leaning into a message of possibility; not just lower taxes, but the practical ingredients required to scale: room to build, people to hire and leadership that wants growth rather than apologizes for it.
That message is landing at a moment when questions around tax policy, regulation and affordability are becoming more central to how investors and business leaders think about geography. Whether explicitly discussed or simply sitting in the background, there was a clear sense that markets like Texas and Arizona see an opening. They are not waiting passively for capital to arrive; they are actively trying to shape the conditions that make relocation, expansion and investment more likely.
From Austin, my biggest takeaway was that in alternatives, trust still compounds faster than almost anything else. Whether the discussion was LP negotiations, capital raising or wealth channel product design, speakers kept returning to authenticity, transparency, patience and the importance of helping allocators understand not just performance, but what it feels like to be in partnership with a manager. In a market where strategies can sound increasingly similar on paper, the differentiator is often not only what a manager does, but how they communicate, how they behave in volatility and whether they can build credibility over time. The emphasis was less on shortcuts and more on relationship equity, earned slowly, but carrying real value.
From Phoenix, the message was slightly broader but just as relevant: ecosystems do not emerge by accident. Arizona’s opportunity is real. Semiconductors, defense tech, healthcare and applied AI are all budding, and the venture community’s flywheel is flying. That said, Arizona is realizing it will require more density, sharper self-promotion and the discipline to make long-term decisions without losing sight of what makes the market distinctive. Several themes came through clearly: the importance of local capital supporting local companies, the value of large corporations in creating a broader ecosystem around them and the need for Arizona to be more confident in telling the market what it is already becoming (non-coastal humility is real).
Taken together, the two conferences reinforced an idea that feels increasingly important: winning markets are not just those with favorable tax profiles, but those that can translate structural advantages into real ecosystems. Land, talent and policy matter, but so do narrative, intentionality and execution. Texas and Arizona are each making the case, in their own way, that they are not simply alternatives to somewhere else. They are destinations in their own right.
Final word: Both conferences underscored that local investing stories are becoming more compelling where geography, talent and policy align. Texas and Arizona are each trying to convert those advantages into durable ecosystems, places where capital can not only arrive, but stay, scale and multiply.
Contact Camille Clemons or a member of your service team to discuss this topic further.
In this blog Cohen & Co is not rendering legal, accounting, investment, tax or other professional advice. Rather, the information contained in this blog is for general informational purposes only. Any decisions or actions based on the general information contained in this blog should be made or taken only after a detailed review of the specific facts, circumstances and current law with your professional advisers.