June 10 (Reuters) - Moelis' incoming CEO Navid

Mahmoodzadegan told investors on Tuesday that he is optimistic

about the dealmaking environment, as confidence returns

following a pause in April triggered by U.S. tariff threats.

"I'm optimistic. It definitely feels better and better each

day ... The announcement in April, I think set us back a little

bit in terms of the M&A environment," he said at the Morgan

Stanley U.S. Financials Conference.

Investor sentiment soured and stock markets slid after U.S.

President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff threats,

stalling risk appetite and slowing deal activity.

Appetite for deals has since returned, with market

participants and bankers once again seeing an opening for

initial public offerings and signs of a pickup in M&A activity.

"Everywhere I go, people want to transact. They want to lean

into transactions, whether it's companies or private equity

firms or capital providers," Mahmoodzadegan said. "We're seeing

our clients push us to launch transactions, even if the

environment isn't crystal clear."

Earlier this week, Moelis said Ken Moelis would step down as

CEO of the investment bank and hand the reins to Mahmoodzadegan,

its co-founder and co-president.

The succession marks a major step for the bank, which has

been led solely by Ken Moelis since its founding in 2007.

While succession at companies closely tied to founding CEOs

can be challenging due to their outsized personal influence,

Mahmoodzadegan said it was part of the "natural evolution of the

firm."

"I think Ken felt that even though he's fully active and

will continue to be fully active with clients going forward ...

this was a great opportunity at a great time to give more

responsibility, not just to me, but to the next generation of

bankers," Mahmoodzadegan added.

The bank's deal pipeline currently is up from April and is

as high as "it's ever been at the firm, or close to it," the

CEO-designate said.

The comments echo Morgan Stanley ( MS ) CEO Ted Pick's

expectation of a strong end of the quarter for the bank as

dealmaking and the calendar for equity capital markets are

picking up.

Last week, top executives at the New York Stock Exchange

and Nasdaq also said the IPO market is gaining

momentum despite the Trump administration's rapidly shifting

tariff policy, adding to the industry's optimism about a

meaningful recovery.