AllianceBernstein Holding LP (AB) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the AllianceBernstein second quarter 2025 earnings review. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded and will be available for replay on our website shortly after the conclusion of this call.

感謝您的支持，歡迎參加 AllianceBernstein 2025 年第二季財報回顧。（操作員指示）提醒一下，本次會議正在錄製，並將在本次通話結束後不久在我們的網站上提供重播。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host for this call, Head of Investor Relations for AllianceBernstein, Mr. Ioanis Jorgali. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給本次電話會議的主持人、聯博投資者關係主管 Ioanis Jorgali 先生。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone and welcome to our second quarter 2025 earnings review. This conference call is being webcast and accompanied by a slide presentation that's posted in the Investor Relations section of our website www.alliancebernstein.com.

大家早安，歡迎參加我們的 2025 年第二季財報回顧。本次電話會議將透過網路直播，並附有幻燈片演示，發佈在我們的網站 www.alliancebernstein.com 的投資者關係部分。

With us today to discuss the company's results for the quarter are Seth Bernstein, President and CEO, and Tom Simeone, CFO. Onur Erzan, Head of Global Client Group and Private Wealth, will join us for questions after our prepared remarks.

今天與我們一起討論公司本季業績的是總裁兼執行長 Seth Bernstein 和財務長 Tom Simeone。在我們發表準備好的演講後，全球客戶集團和私人財富主管 Onur Erzan 將加入我們並回答問題。

Some of the information we'll present today is forward-looking and subject to certain SEC rules and regulations regarding disclosure. So I would like to point out the safe harbor language on slide 2 of our presentation. You can also find our safe harbor language in the MD&A of our 10-Q which we filed this morning.

我們今天提供的一些資訊是前瞻性的，並受美國證券交易委員會關於披露的某些規則和規定的約束。因此，我想指出我們簡報第二張投影片上的安全港語言。您也可以在我們今天早上提交的 10-Q 的 MD&A 中找到我們的安全港語言。

We base our distribution to unit holders on our adjusted results which we provide in addition to and not as a substitute for our GAAP results. Our standard GAAP reporting and a reconciliation of GAAP to adjusted results are in our presentation appendix, press release, and our 10-Q.

我們根據調整後的結果向單位持有人進行分配，調整後的結果作為對 GAAP 結果的補充而不是替代。我們的標準 GAAP 報告以及 GAAP 與調整後結果的對帳均在我們的示範附錄、新聞稿和 10-Q 中。

Under regulation FD, management may only address questions of material nature from the investment community in a public forum. So please ask all such questions during this call.

根據公平揭露條例，管理階層只能在公開論壇上回答投資界提出的實質問題。因此，請在通話期間詢問所有此類問題。

Now I'll turn it over to Seth.

現在我將把話題交給賽斯。

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. During the second quarter, investors grappled with concerns about escalating geopolitical tensions, policy uncertainty, and debt sustainability. Sentiment improved as trade tensions eased and risk assets ultimately delivered solid returns for the period.

早安，感謝您今天加入我們。第二季度，投資者面臨地緣政治緊張局勢升級、政策不確定性和債務可持續性的擔憂。隨著貿易緊張局勢的緩解以及風險資產最終在該時期實現穩健回報，市場情緒有所改善。

AB ended the quarter with record assets under management of $829 billion which provides a helpful tailwind as we started the second half of the year.

本季結束時，AB 的管理資產達到了創紀錄的 8,290 億美元，這為我們開始下半年提供了有益的推動力。

On slide 3, I'll review key business highlights for the quarter. As I noted, firmwide assets under management reached a post-financial crisis high of $829 billion. Private Wealth represents 17% of our assets and 35% of our base management fees as of the second quarter. Approximately 10% of our $685 billion asset management business consists of permanent capital managed for Equitable.

在投影片 3 上，我將回顧本季的主要業務亮點。正如我所指出的，公司管理的資產總額達到了金融危機後的最高水準 8,290 億美元。截至第二季度，私人財富占我們資產的 17% 和基本管理費的 35%。在我們 6,850 億美元的資產管理業務中，約有 10% 是為 Equitable 管理的永久資本。

While market turbulence can impact short-term flows, it doesn't impact our connectivity with clients. Our pipeline AUM reached nearly $22 billion, reflecting sizable mandate additions across retirement, insurance asset management, and passive equities. We are making good progress in accessing long duration capital pools that we can rapidly scale, leveraging our partnership with Equitable and our differentiated distribution and investment capabilities.

雖然市場動盪會影響短期流量，但不會影響我們與客戶的聯繫。我們的管道資產管理規模 (AUM) 已達到近 220 億美元，反映了退休、保險資產管理和被動股票領域授權資產的大幅增加。利用與 Equitable 的合作夥伴關係以及我們差異化的分銷和投資能力，我們在獲取可快速擴展的長期資本池方面取得了良好進展。

These include insurance asset management, alternatives and retirement, where we've consistently gained market share, including in the second quarter of 2025. However, we did see pressure on firm-wide net flows which turned negative in the second quarter with active strategies shedding $4.8 billion.

其中包括保險資產管理、另類投資和退休，我們在這些領域的市佔率持續成長，包括在 2025 年第二季。然而，我們確實看到全公司淨流量面臨壓力，第二季淨流量轉為負值，主動策略流失了 48 億美元。

The outflows were largely concentrated in April during the height of the recent market volatility, and we observed steady improvement as this turbulence subsided, with June flows turning positive. Active equity shed $6 billion firm wide, primarily led by retail. Client redemptions were broad-based across strategies, although we did see slight inflows into our active ETFs, thematic and international strategies.

資金流出主要集中在近期市場波動最劇烈的 4 月份，隨著市場動盪的消退，我們觀察到資金流出穩定改善，6 月份資金流出轉為正值。主動股票市場在整個公司範圍內損失了 60 億美元，主要由零售業所帶動。儘管我們確實看到主動型 ETF、主題型和國際型策略有少量資金流入，但客戶贖回在各個策略中都很普遍。

After six consecutive quarters of organic growth, active fixed income experienced slight outflows. The downturn in overseas demand for our marquee income strategies resulted in 1.5 billion of firmwide taxable outflows, which were largely offset by continued growth within our tax-exempt franchise, which generated 1.2 billion of inflows. Our industry-leading retail Muni platform continues to deliver impressive market share gains, growing organically at 14% annualized in the second quarter.

經過連續六個季度的有機成長後，主動固定收益出現小幅流出。海外對我們主要收入策略的需求下滑，導致全公司 15 億美元的應稅資金流出，但這在很大程度上被我們免稅特許經營權的持續增長所抵消，免稅特許經營權產生了 12 億美元的資金流入。我們行業領先的零售市政債券平台繼續實現令人矚目的市場份額成長，第二季的有機成長率達到 14%。

Alternatives multi-asset inflows totaled $1.6 billion, largely driven by strong deployments into our newly established private placements ABS strategy, our US real estate debt platform, CLOs, mortgages and middle market lending. Our private markets platform reached $77 billion in fee paying and net fee eligible AUM for quarter end, growing 20% year-over-year. We're focused on delivering consistent and profitable growth supported by scale gains, improved operating leverage and a durable fee rate.

另類多資產流入總額達 16 億美元，主要得益於我們新建立的私募 ABS 策略、美國房地產債務平台、CLO、抵押貸款和中間市場貸款的強勁部署。我們的私人市場平台在季度末的費用支付和淨費用合格 AUM 達到了 770 億美元，年增 20%。我們專注於透過規模成長、提高營運槓桿和持久的費率來實現持續盈利的成長。

Our diversified asset mix, coupled with our enhanced operational efficiency, provides downside protection to our revenue base and margins while we retain upside leverage to favorable markets. We're on track to deliver a 33% operating margin in 2025, assuming flat markets versus the fourth quarter of 2024. This will put us above the midpoint of our 2027 margin range target of 30% to 35%, two years ahead of schedule. We see further potential for margin expansion over time as we scale our business.

我們多元化的資產組合，加上我們提高的營運效率，為我們的收入基礎和利潤率提供了下行保護，同時我們保留了對有利市場的上行槓桿。假設市場與 2024 年第四季持平，我們預計在 2025 年實現 33% 的營業利潤率。這將使我們提前兩年達到 2027 年利潤率目標的中點 30% 至 35%。隨著業務規模的擴大，我們看到利潤率進一步擴大的潛力。

Finally, we continue to broaden our distribution coverage by expanding existing partnerships forming new ones and extending the addressable market for our differentiated investment capabilities via vehicle versatility.

最後，我們繼續擴大我們的分銷覆蓋範圍，擴大現有的合作夥伴關係，建立新的合作夥伴關係，並透過車輛多功能性擴展我們差異化投資能力的目標市場。

Year-to-date, we've added four new general account relationships across six strategies and five new mandates across existing relationships. These relationships require high-touch client service beyond conventional asset management. We've invested significant operational resources and institutional expertise to deliver a holistic client experience that is scalable, unlocking incremental revenue opportunities beyond management fees.

年初至今，我們在六種策略中增加了四種新的一般帳戶關係，並在現有關係中增加了五種新的授權。這些關係需要超越傳統資產管理的高接觸客戶服務。我們投入了大量營運資源和機構專業知識，以提供可擴展的整體客戶體驗，釋放管理費以外的增量收入機會。

We entered the second half of 2025 with 18 active ETFs and nearly $8 billion in AUM, more than double the prior year level. The majority of our flows are coming from net new assets. Our SMA platform has surpassed $54 billion in assets under management, generating more than $700 million of inflows in the second quarter driven by Munis. We were among the industry pioneers in Tax Aware SMAs filtering strong investment outcomes for our clients and the highest standards for client service.

進入 2025 年下半年，我們擁有 18 檔活躍 ETF，資產管理規模近 80 億美元，是前一年的兩倍多。我們的資金流大多來自淨新增資產。我們的 SMA 平台管理的資產已超過 540 億美元，在第二季由市政債券推動的資金流入超過 7 億美元。我們是稅務意識 SMA 產業的先驅之一，為客戶篩選出強勁的投資成果，並提供最高標準的客戶服務。

Moving on to slide 4, I'll highlight our strategic relationship with Equitable. Partnering with a leading insurance provider gives AllianceBernstein a competitive edge, supporting our client-focused asset-light approach. Leveraging the permanent capital commitment from Equitable helps us see then scale our higher feed, longer-dated private alternative strategies. To date, we've deployed over $15 billion of the $20 billion commitment Equitable made to AB Private Markets strategies.

轉到投影片 4，我將重點介紹我們與 Equitable 的策略關係。與領先的保險提供者合作為聯博帶來了競爭優勢，支持了我們以客戶為中心的輕資產方法。利用 Equitable 的永久資本承諾可以幫助我們擴大更高收益、更長期的私人替代策略。迄今為止，我們已經部署了 Equitable 為 AB Private Markets 戰略承諾的 200 億美元中的 150 多億美元。

The attractive yields produced by these strategies allow Equitable to offer compelling products to its policyholders, driving growth in sales and more general account assets for AB to manage. This creates a positive flywheel effect which benefits both companies. The new capabilities we've developed for Equitable such as residential mortgages and private ABS can then be commercialized and offered to other insurance and institutional clients, helping drive sustainable growth in private markets AUM. We remain on target to grow our private markets AUM to $90 billion to $100 billion by 2027, up from $77 billion today.

這些策略產生的誘人收益使 Equitable 能夠為其保單持有人提供極具吸引力的產品，從而推動銷售額成長並為 AB 管理更多一般帳戶資產。這會產生正面的飛輪效應，使兩家公司受益。我們為 Equitable 開發的新功能（例如住宅抵押貸款和私人 ABS）可以商業化並提供給其他保險和機構客戶，從而幫助推動私人市場 AUM 的可持續成長。我們仍致力於將私募市場資產管理規模從目前的 770 億美元增加到 2027 年的 900 億至 1,000 億美元。

Slide 5 reflects a summary page of our key financial metrics, which Tom will cover shortly. Turning to slide 6. I'll review our investment performance starting with fixed income. During the second quarter, major government bond markets saw steepening yield curves amid escalating geopolitical and trade tensions. Despite the uncertain backdrop, credit markets displayed remarkable resilience, supported by high all-in yields and low net issuance.

投影片 5 展示了我們的主要財務指標摘要頁面，Tom 將很快進行介紹。翻到幻燈片 6。我將從固定收益開始回顧我們的投資績效。第二季度，隨著地緣政治和貿易緊張局勢升級，主要政府公債市場殖利率曲線趨陡。儘管背景不確定，信貸市場仍表現出顯著的彈性，這得益於高總收益率和低淨發行量。

The Bloomberg US Aggregate Index returned 1.2%, while the global aggregate returned 4.5% in the second quarter, reflecting US dollar depreciation versus major currencies. Our portfolios continue to perform well in this challenging market, particularly through curve positioning and credit selection. More than half of our fixed income assets outperformed over a one-year period, while 87% outperformed over three years and 75% over the five-year period.

彭博美國綜合指數第二季報酬率為 1.2%，而全球綜合指數第二季報酬率為 4.5%，反映出美元兌主要貨幣貶值。我們的投資組合在這個充滿挑戰的市場中繼續表現良好，特別是透過曲線定位和信用選擇。我們的固定收益資產中有一半以上在一年內表現出色，87% 在三年內表現出色，75% 在五年內表現出色。

Our Tax Aware Muni SMA is continuing to generate strong relative performance across all periods. Global high-yield performance has softened recently, underperforming both the benchmark and the category over the one year, largely due to underweight exposure to emerging market sovereigns. However, our 3- and 5-year relative returns remain compelling vis-a-vis the peer category.

我們的 Tax Aware Muni SMA 在所有期間內持續產生強勁的相對錶現。全球高收益債券的表現近期有所減弱，一年來的表現均遜於基準和類別債券，這主要是由於對新興市場主權債券的持股不足。然而，與同類產品相比，我們的 3 年和 5 年相對回報率仍然具有吸引力。

Our American Income portfolio maintained strong absolute and relative performance in the second quarter, mainly driven by yield curve positioning. AIP is outperforming its benchmark over the 1-, 3- and 5 years while also outperforming its category over the 1- and 3-year periods for the institutional share class.

我們的美國營收投資組合在第二季度保持了強勁的絕對和相對錶現，主要受殖利率曲線定位的推動。AIP 在 1 年、3 年和 5 年內的表現均優於其基準，同時在 1 年和 3 年期間的機構股票類別中也優於其類別。

Volatility in rates in foreign exchange, coupled with concerns around unpredictable fiscal and trade policies in the United States have dampened demand for US dollar-denominated assets. While the safe heaven status of dollar dominated assets is being questioned, the US dollar remains the world's most liquid currency, supported by compelling rate differentials in the world's deepest capital markets.

外匯利率波動，加上對美國財政和貿易政策不可預測的擔憂，抑制了對美元計價資產的需求。儘管美元主導資產的避風港地位受到質疑，但美元仍然是世界上流動性最強的貨幣，受到全球最深資本市場顯著的利差支撐。

Diversification is a healthy process, particularly given the severely overweight exposure to US assets. We have built a robust, all-weather platform that can help clients optimize their geographical exposures and capitalize on potential reallocation. We're already seeing increasing interest for our European income portfolio, balancing credit and duration offer a euro-denominated barbell approach. The strategy has attracted over $200 million in inflows in the second quarter and continuous outperformance its benchmark year-to-date.

多元化是一個健康的過程，特別是考慮到對美國資產的曝險嚴重過大。我們建立了一個強大的全天候平台，可以幫助客戶優化其地理覆蓋範圍並利用潛在的重新分配。我們已經看到對我們的歐洲收入組合的興趣日益濃厚，平衡信貸和期限提供了一種以歐元計價的槓鈴方法。該策略在第二季吸引了超過 2 億美元的資金流入，今年迄今的表現持續優於基準。

Today's environment also increases potential excess return from security selection. Active systematic fixed income approaches may help investors harvest these opportunities. We continue to see increased client interest for our systematic strategies of over $1 billion in inflows in the second quarter.

當今的環境也增加了證券選擇的潛在超額回報。積極的系統性固定收益方法可能有助於投資人抓住這些機會。我們持續看到客戶對我們系統性策略的興趣日益濃厚，第二季流入資金超過 10 億美元。

Turning to equities. Following the sharp pullback in early April, US equities quickly rebounded to new highs, with the S&P 500 rallying 10.6% in the second quarter. US equity gains remain concentrated as big techs surged with the S&P growth outperforming value by more than 15%. European and emerging markets outperformed US stocks in the first half of the year, largely driven by a weaker dollar.

轉向股票。繼4月初大幅回檔後，美國股市迅速反彈至新高，標普500指數在第二季上漲了10.6%。由於大型科技股飆升，美國股市漲幅仍集中，標準普爾成長股指數表現優於價值股指數 15% 以上。今年上半年，歐洲和新興市場的表現優於美國股市，主要得益於美元走弱。

Our relative performance was mostly unchanged versus prior quarter with 24% of our assets outperforming in one year and 48% over the three-year period, continuing to reflect the narrow leadership of a few mega cap companies. Our five-year performance improved with 57% of our equity AUM outperforming.

我們的相對錶現與上一季相比基本上沒有變化，24% 的資產在一年內表現出色，48% 的資產在三年內表現出色，這繼續反映了少數幾家大型公司的狹窄領導地位。我們的五年業績有所改善，其中 57% 的股權資產管理規模表現優異。

In the current environment, we maintain a proactive and disciplined approach to identifying high-quality, profitable companies with sustainable business models and significant recurring revenue streams. These defensive characteristics serve as a buffer against sudden spikes in market volatility.

在當前環境下，我們保持積極主動和嚴謹的方法來尋找具有可持續商業模式和大量經常性收入來源的高品質、盈利的公司。這些防禦性特徵可以緩衝市場波動的突然加劇。

Importantly, we have a diverse selection of active equity strategies with strong breadth and high-quality product offerings balanced across geographies. Examples include our highly rated international low volatility equity strategy, which was recently launched an ETF wrapper under the ticker, ILOW.

重要的是，我們擁有多樣化的主動股票策略選擇，這些策略具有強大的廣度和跨地區的均衡的高品質產品。例如，我們備受好評的國際低波動性股票策略，該策略最近以股票代碼 ILOW 推出了 ETF 包裝。

We have over 30 global international and emerging market services with established track records that have exhibited strong performance. Nearly all of them are outperforming in the respective benchmarks for composites over the 3- and 5-year periods and nearly ¾ of the retail products sitting in the top quartile or top decile of their Morningstar categories for either the 3- or 5-year periods.

我們擁有超過 30 個全球國際和新興市場服務，擁有良好的業績記錄並表現出色。幾乎所有這些產品在 3 年期和 5 年期的綜合指數基準中都表現優異，並且近 ¾ 的零售產品在 3 年期或 5 年期的晨星類別中位於前四分之一或前十分位。

This includes one of our largest retail offerings, international strategic equities, which continues to deliver alpha year-to-date and sits at the top 3% of its Morningstar category. We also launched our first active ETF in emerging markets.

其中包括我們最大的零售產品之一——國際戰略股票，該股票今年迄今繼續提供阿爾法收益，並位居晨星類別的前 3%。我們也在新興市場推出了首隻主動式ETF。

We recognize the enduring appeal of US stocks, and we believe the US market will continue to offer exceptional opportunities. We’re also encouraged by the increased focus on fiscal and governance standards across Europe and Asia that could potentially attract more capital to these regions. In this landscape, flexibility is important and opportunistic adjustments to regional and sector exposures is crucial to capitalize on emerging opportunities.

我們認識到美國股票的持久吸引力，並相信美國市場將繼續提供絕佳的機會。我們也對歐洲和亞洲越來越重視財政和治理標準感到鼓舞，這可能會吸引更多資本流入這些地區。在這種情況下，靈活性非常重要，對區域和產業風險進行機會性調整對於利用新興機會至關重要。

We’re witnessing growing momentum in systematic equity strategies as institutional investors were rekindling their appreciation for this style. We won a $500 million mandate for our global core equity portfolio that utilizes fundamental stock selection combined with proprietary quantitative risk and return tools. The strategy has outperformed over the 1-, 3- and 5-year periods, delivering consistent alpha with a lower tracking error.

隨著機構投資人重新燃起對系統性股票策略的欣賞，我們見證了系統性股票策略日益增長的勢頭。我們贏得了 5 億美元的全球核心股票投資組合授權，該投資組合採用基本面股票選擇並結合專有的量化風險和回報工具。該策略在 1 年、3 年和 5 年期間均表現出色，實現了穩定的 alpha 值和較低的追蹤誤差。

Finally, our private alternatives platform remains invested in delivering better outcomes for our clients. AB Private Credit Investors, our middle market corporate lending platform continues to exhibit solid long-term performance, in line with stated objectives, supported by the resilience of our invested sectors and the rigorous underwriting process.

最後，我們的私人替代平台將繼續致力於為客戶提供更好的結果。AB Private Credit Investors，我們的中型市場企業貸款平台繼續表現出穩健的長期業績，符合既定目標，並受到我們投資行業的韌性和嚴格的承保流程的支持。

AB CarVal’s investment footprint spanning US and Europe underscores our belief in the benefits of geographic diversification for optimizing risk-adjusted returns. We’re seeing increased deployment opportunities within our commercial real estate debt platform in the US and Europe as the commercial real estate market has continued to show signs of stabilization.

AB CarVal 的投資足跡遍布美國和歐洲，這凸顯了我們對地理多元化對於優化風險調整後回報的益處的信念。隨著商業房地產市場持續呈現穩定跡象，我們看到美國和歐洲商業房地產債務平台的部署機會增加。

Now turning to slide 7. Retail flows turned negative in the second quarter as macro turbulence halted the streak of seven consecutive quarterly inflows. Active equity shed $3.7 billion across a wide range of different services. US large cap growth accounted for approximately $1.5 billion of those outflows, primarily concentrated within the United States. It’s noteworthy that US large cap growth flows in Japan remained slightly positive for the quarter. Otherwise, client interest was limited to thematic, global and international strategies.

現在翻到幻燈片 7。由於宏觀經濟動盪，零售資金流入中斷，第二季零售資金流入轉為負值，連續七季的流入動能被打斷。主動股權投資在各種不同的服務領域損失了 37 億美元。美國大盤股成長佔這些資金流出量的約 15 億美元，主要集中在美國境內。值得注意的是，本季美國大盤股流入日本的資金仍略微為正。否則，客戶的興趣僅限於主題、全球和國際策略。

Taxable fixed income also generated $2.4 billion in outflows as demand for our more key income strategies such as American Income and Global High Yield remained weak in the second quarter. As rate volatility subsided, we observed a slight improvement in demand dynamics, particularly for AIP, where outflows decreased compared to prior quarter. Encouragingly, we are seeing constructive demand for European income strategy, which replicates our barbell approach for euro-denominated assets.

由於第二季對我們更關鍵的收入策略（例如美國收入和全球高收益）的需求仍然疲軟，應稅固定收益也產生了 24 億美元的資金流出。隨著利率波動的減弱，我們觀察到需求動態略有改善，尤其是 AIP，其流出量與上一季相比有所減少。令人鼓舞的是，我們看到了對歐洲收入策略的建設性需求，這與我們對歐元計價資產的槓鈴方法相同。

We’re also excited about our ETF driven market share gains in the taxable fixed income space within the US retail channel, where we’ve historically been underexposed to the asset class. We continue to gain retail market share in tax exempt for the tenth consecutive quarter, growing at a strong 14% annualized rate.

我們也對我們在美國零售通路的應稅固定收益領域中由 ETF 推動的市佔率成長感到興奮，而我們歷來對該資產類別的曝險不足。我們連續第十個季度繼續獲得免稅零售市場份額，年增長率高達 14%。

Retail Altan MAS generated $300 million in inflows in the second quarter. Our adjusted base management fees were up 6% versus prior year, while the channel fee rate was down 2% sequentially, reflective of lower daily average AUM for higher fee active equity services.

零售 Altan MAS 在第二季產生了 3 億美元的流入。我們的調整後基本管理費較上年上漲 6%，而通路費率環比下降 2%，這反映了費用較高的主動股票服務的每日平均 AUM 較低。

Moving on to slide 8. Excluding the impact of passive redemptions, our core active strategies generated slight inflows within the institutional channel during the second quarter. Notably, a single institutional index redemption is expected to bring in a $1 billion in net inflows over the coming quarters. The clients entrusting us to redeploy the proceeds from the redemption with incremental capital to manage in passive equities. This mandate is already reflected within our pipeline.

移至幻燈片 8。剔除被動贖回的影響，我們的核心主動策略在第二季度在機構管道內產生了少量流入。值得注意的是，預計單一機構指數贖回將在未來幾季帶來 10 億美元的淨流入。客戶委託我們將贖回所得與增量資本重新部署到被動股票進行管理。這項任務已經體現在我們的管道中。

Institutional organic growth was primarily driven by inflows of approximately $1 billion each into taxable fixed income and alternatives. Our US investment-grade systematic fixed income strategy continues to gain strong traction with institutional clients and has received solid support from consultants recently earning an A rating from a top consultant.

機構有機成長主要由應稅固定收益和替代資產各約 10 億美元的流入所推動。我們的美國投資等級系統性固定收益策略繼續受到機構客戶的強烈關注，並得到了顧問的大力支持，最近獲得了頂級顧問的 A 級評級。

Within alternatives, we continue to deploy at a healthy pace despite market volatility. Net of distributions, we put over $900 million to work across private placements, commercial real estate, asset-based finance and private credit.

在替代方案方面，儘管市場波動，我們仍繼續以健康的速度進行部署。扣除分配額，我們已向私募、商業房地產、資產融資和私人信貸投入了超過 9 億美元。

Although active equity outflows continued in the second quarter, the trend continues to moderate year-over-year and sequentially. Our pipeline includes $5 billion from RGA, and we’re thrilled to expand our relationship with this important partner. Note that these assets are related to the recent RGA Equitable reinsurance transaction, which we expect to result in an overall net outflow of approximately $4 billion of lower fee AUM.

儘管第二季股票主動流出現象仍在繼續，但與去年同期和上一季相比，這一趨勢仍在放緩。我們的管道包括來自 RGA 的 50 億美元，我們很高興能夠擴大與這個重要合作夥伴的關係。請注意，這些資產與最近的 RGA Equitable 再保險交易有關，我們預計該交易將導致費用較低的 AUM 總體淨流出約 40 億美元。

Other notable wins in the second quarter included $3 billion in customized retirement and $500 million wins in third-party insurance and structured equity. Our best-in-class defined contribution platform manages nearly $100 billion in assets, including nearly $13 billion in lifetime income. The decrease in pipeline fee rate is influenced by the asset mix and the magnitude of the wins in the second quarter.

第二季其他值得注意的收益包括 30 億美元的客製化退休金收益以及 5 億美元的第三方保險和結構性股權收益。我們一流的固定繳款平台管理著近 1,000 億美元的資產，其中包括近 130 億美元的終身收入。管道費率的下降受到資產組合和第二季獲利幅度的影響。

Turning to slide 9. Net flows into our private wealth channel flipped to negative weighed by seasonal tax-related selling coupled with turbulent macro conditions. As we’ve discussed in the past, our Private Wealth net flows exclude reinvested dividends and interest income, which is typically reported within net new assets across key wealth management peers.

翻到第 9 張投影片。受季節性稅收相關拋售以及宏觀環境動盪的影響，我們私人財富管道的淨流入變為負值。正如我們過去所討論過的，我們的私人財富淨流量不包括再投資股息和利息收入，這些收入通常在主要財富管理同行的淨新資產中報告。

On a net new assets basis, our client channel grew at a 2.6% annualized rate. Quarterly dividends and interest have ranged between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion over the last four quarters, this is a durable and underappreciated source of growth for our private wealth asset base. Demand dynamics within the channel favored passive equities and alternatives and multi-asset. Our passive tax loss harvesting strategy eclipsed $7 billion in AUM growing organically in the second quarter at a 7% annualized rate.

以淨新資產計算，我們的客戶通路年增率為 2.6%。過去四個季度，季度股息和利息一直在 12 億美元至 15 億美元之間，這是我們私人財富資產基礎持久且被低估的成長來源。通路內的需求動態有利於被動股票、替代品和多種資產。我們的被動稅收損失收穫策略在第二季以 7% 的年率實現了 70 億美元的有機 AUM 成長。

We fund raised over $0.5 billion in private alternatives in the second quarter. General redemptions were primarily concentrated within active equities totaling $1 billion in outflows. Taxable and taxes fixed income posted marginal outflows.

我們在第二季籌集了超過 5 億美元的私人替代資金。普遍贖回主要集中在活躍股票領域，總額達 10 億美元。應稅和固定所得稅公佈邊際流出。

We continue to grow our high net worth and ultra-high net worth client base underscoring the distinctive value proposition that Bernstein offers to this important client segment. Base management fees grew 5% year-over-year and declined marginally on a sequential basis.

我們繼續擴大我們的高淨值和超高淨值客戶群，強調伯恩斯坦為這個重要客戶群提供的獨特價值主張。基本管理費較去年同期成長5%，季減。

Now, I will pass it to Tom to cover our financial results. Tom?

現在，我將把報告交給湯姆來介紹我們的財務結果。湯姆？

Thank you, Seth. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining our call. We are pleased to report strong financial performance in the second quarter, reflecting market-driven growth in asset management fees, continued expense discipline and enhanced operational leverage. Adjusted earnings for the second quarter came in at $0.76 per unit, representing a 7% increase compared to the prior year. Distributions in EPU grew uniformly as we distribute 100% of our adjusted earnings to unitholders.

謝謝你，塞斯。大家早安，感謝你們參加我們的電話會議。我們很高興地報告第二季強勁的財務業績，這反映了市場驅動的資產管理費成長、持續的費用控制和增強的營運槓桿。第二季調整後收益為每股 0.76 美元，較上年同期成長 7%。由於我們將 100% 的調整後收益分配給單位持有人，因此 EPU 的分配也均勻成長。

On slide 10, we present our adjusted results, which exclude certain items not considered part of our core operating business. For a detailed reconciliation of GAAP and adjusted financials, please refer to our presentation appendix or our 10-Q.

在第 10 張投影片上，我們展示了調整後的結果，其中排除了不屬於我們核心營運業務的某些項目。有關 GAAP 和調整後財務狀況的詳細對賬，請參閱我們的演示附錄或 10-Q。

In the second quarter, net revenues reached $844 million, a 2% increase compared to the prior year. Base fees saw a 4% increase year-over-year. Total performance fees of $30 million decreased by $12 million from the prior year, primarily due to lower public market performance fees. Dividend and interest revenue, along with broker-dealer related interest expense declined compared to the prior year, reflecting lower cash and margin balances within private wealth. Investment gains doubled to $8 million, while other revenues remained flat versus the prior year.

第二季度，淨營收達8.44億美元，較上年成長2%。基本費用較去年同期成長4%。總績效費用為 3,000 萬美元，比前一年減少 1,200 萬美元，主要原因是公開市場績效費用降低。股利和利息收入以及經紀交易商相關的利息支出與上年相比有所下降，反映出私人財富中的現金和保證金餘額較低。投資收益翻了一番，達到 800 萬美元，而其他收入與前一年相比持平。

Moving to expenses. Our second quarter total expenses remained relatively flat at $571 million. Compensation and benefits expense of $419 million, which includes other compensation costs of $10 million was up 1% versus the prior year, reflecting 2% higher revenues, offset by a lower compensation ratio of 48.5% in line with our guidance and below the 49% compensation ratio in the prior year.

轉向開支。我們第二季的總支出保持相對平穩，為 5.71 億美元。薪酬和福利支出為 4.19 億美元，其中包括 1000 萬美元的其他薪酬成本，比上年增長 1%，反映出收入增長 2%，但薪酬比率較低，為 48.5%，符合我們的預期，低於上年的 49%。

Given the volatile market backdrop, we will continue to accrue at a 48.5% compensation to adjusted revenue ratio in the third quarter of 2025. Compared to the prior year second quarter, promo and servicing costs were roughly flat, while G&A expenses decreased by 6%, reflecting lower occupancy costs due to the relocation of our New York City office.

鑑於市場背景動盪，我們將在 2025 年第三季繼續以 48.5% 的薪酬與調整後收入比率提列。與去年同期第二季相比，促銷和服務成本基本上持平，而一般及行政費用下降了 6%，這反映了由於我們紐約市辦公室搬遷導致的入住成本降低。

Year-to-date, non-compensation expenses amounted to $293 million and are tracking better than our prior full year 2025 guidance range of $600 million to $625 million, driven by continued expense discipline and enhanced operational efficiency. Therefore, we are tightening our non-compensation expense projection to fall within $600 million to $620 million for the full year with a seasonal uptick later in 2025.

年初至今，非薪酬支出已達 2.93 億美元，並且由於持續的費用控制和營運效率的提高，表現優於我們先前對 2025 年全年 6 億至 6.25 億美元的指導範圍。因此，我們收緊了非薪資支出預測，全年非薪資支出將在 6 億美元至 6.2 億美元之間，2025 年稍後將出現季節性上漲。

We expect promotion and servicing to make up roughly 20% to 25% of non-comp expenses with G&A accounting for 75% to 80%. Second quarter interest on borrowings decreased by $3 million versus the prior year due to lower cost of debt and lower debt balances following repayments we made using the proceeds from the Bernstein joint venture and the private unit issuance.

我們預計促銷和服務費用將佔非公司營業費用的 20% 至 25%，而一般及行政費用將佔 75% 至 80%。由於債務成本降低以及我們使用伯恩斯坦合資企業和私人單位發行所得進行償還後債務餘額減少，第二季度借款利息與上年相比減少了 300 萬美元。

It Is important to note that we plan to utilize the additional debt capacity in the future to support our commitment to the Ruby Re sidecar and capitalize on potential growth opportunities that may arise. ABLP's effective tax rate was 6.7% in the second quarter, in line with our full year guidance of 6% to 7%.

值得注意的是，我們計劃在未來利用額外的債務能力來支持我們對 Ruby Re 側車的承諾，並利用可能出現的潛在成長機會。ABLP 第二季的有效稅率為 6.7%，與我們全年預期的 6% 至 7% 一致。

Turning to slide 11. Allow me to walk through the trajectory of our firm-wide base fee rate, net of distribution expenses. In the second quarter of 2025, our firm-wide fee rate decreased to 38.7 basis points. down versus the prior quarter and the prior year. The decline was primarily driven by a mix shift in AUM and flows.

翻到第 11 張投影片。請容許我介紹一下我們公司扣除分銷費用後的基本費率的變化軌跡。2025 年第二季度，我們全公司的費率下降至 38.7 個基點，低於上一季和去年同期。下降的主要原因是 AUM 和流量的組合變化。

During periods of market volatility, the simple average AUM may not accurately reflect the daily asset-based fluctuations of individual funds. For example, despite the strong recovery in the US equity markets, the average daily NAV for key services like US Large Cap growth was lower in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the prior quarter.

在市場波動期間，簡單平均 AUM 可能無法準確反映單一基金的每日資產波動。例如，儘管美國股市強勁復甦，但 2025 年第二季美國大盤股成長等主要服務的平均每日資產淨值低於上一季。

Consequently, our base fee growth lagged the market appreciation of the underlying assets. Flow dynamics also had a negative impact on the fee rate in the second quarter due to outflows from higher fee retail services, coupled with organic growth in lower fee categories such as SMAs, ETFs, insurance, asset management and retirement. We continue to see good momentum in these secularly growing long-duration capital pools as we leverage our partnership with Equitable and our differentiated distribution capabilities.

因此，我們的基本費用成長落後於基礎資產的市場升值。由於費用較高的零售服務的資金流出，加上 SMA、ETF、保險、資產管理和退休等費用較低的類別的有機增長，流動動態也對第二季度的費率產生了負面影響。隨著我們利用與 Equitable 的合作夥伴關係和差異化的分銷能力，我們繼續看到這些長期成長的長期資本池的良好勢頭。

We are excited about the value proposition for our clients and shareholders from these scalable long-duration assets, and we prioritize sustainable organic growth and long-term profitability over focusing solely on the fee rate.

我們對這些可擴展的長期資產為我們的客戶和股東帶來的價值主張感到非常興奮，我們優先考慮可持續的有機增長和長期盈利能力，而不是僅僅關注費率。

Over the past five years, our fee rate has remained relatively stable in the 39 basis points to 40 basis point range as our regional sales mix and strategic growth initiatives have helped to mitigate industry-wide fee erosion. Looking forward, we expect the fee rate trajectory will continue to reflect the mix of organic growth and market movements, which have been more supportive in early 3Q.

在過去五年中，我們的費率保持相對穩定，在 39 個基點至 40 個基點的範圍內，因為我們的區域銷售組合和策略性成長措施有助於緩解整個行業的費用侵蝕。展望未來，我們預計費率走勢將繼續反映有機成長和市場走勢的結合，這在第三季初起到了更大的支持作用。

Slide 12 offers a breakdown of our performance fees across private and public strategies. Second quarter performance-related fees from our private market strategies totaled $22 million, showcasing consistent alpha generation from our middle market lending platform. Additionally, public strategies contributed $8 million, predominantly fueled by our top-rated US select long/short portfolio, which has demonstrated resilience and outperformance across market cycles.

投影片 12 列出了我們的私人和公共策略的績效費用的明細。我們私人市場策略在第二季的績效相關費用總計 2,200 萬美元，顯示我們的中階市場借貸平台持續產生阿爾法收益。此外，公共策略貢獻了 800 萬美元，主要由我們評級最高的美國精選多頭/空頭投資組合推動，該投資組合在整個市場週期中表現出了韌性和優異表現。

We now project total performance fees for 2025 of $110 million to $130 million, up from our prior estimate of $90 million to $105 million. This upward revision is primarily driven by the flow-through of slight upside in public markets and the more active deployment outlook for our commercial real estate debt platform.

我們現在預計 2025 年的總績效費為 1.1 億美元至 1.3 億美元，高於先前估計的 9,000 萬美元至 1.05 億美元。此次上調主要是由於公開市場的小幅上漲以及我們商業房地產債務平台更為積極的部署前景。

Assuming flat markets, we view the lower end of our guidance as a floor rather than a ceiling, although we caution that last year's upside was largely driven by public alternatives and the robust equity market performance. For the remainder of the year, we expect our private alternative strategies will be the primary contributors to our performance fees as they have been in recent years.

假設市場平穩，我們將指導的下限視為底線而不是上限，儘管我們警告說，去年的上行主要是受到公共替代品和強勁的股票市場表現的推動。在今年剩餘的時間裡，我們預計我們的私人另類策略將像近年來一樣成為我們績效費用的主要貢獻者。

These strategies include commercial real estate debt, CarVal and middle market lending also known as AB Private Credit Investors, or AB PCI, which is the largest contributor.

這些策略包括商業房地產債務、CarVal 和中間市場貸款（也稱為 AB Private Credit Investors 或 AB PCI），後者是最大的貢獻者。

Turning to slide 13. Despite slightly lower average AUM in the first half of 2025 versus 4Q '24 coupled with a negative mix shift, our year-to-date operating margin remains in line with 33% expectation. We continue to view 33% as a reasonable baseline for our full year 2025 operating margins, assuming stable market conditions. Focusing on this quarter, the adjusted operating margin of 32.3% was up 150 basis points versus the prior year, reflective of lower real estate expenses since our move to Hudson Yards.

翻到第 13 張投影片。儘管 2025 年上半年的平均 AUM 與 2024 年第四季相比略有下降，且組合出現負面變化，但我們今年迄今的營業利潤率仍與 33% 的預期相符。假設市場條件穩定，我們仍然認為 33% 是我們 2025 年全年營業利益率的合理基準。著眼於本季度，調整後的營業利潤率為 32.3%，較上年同期上升了 150 個基點，這反映出我們遷至哈德遜城市廣場以來房地產支出有所降低。

We will remain disciplined on expenses while also investing in growth to generate long-term value for our unitholders. Targeted growth investments may include onboarding new investment teams and launching new products, which we expect to drive future growth and profits.

我們將嚴格控制開支，同時投資於成長，為我們的基金份額持有者創造長期價值。有針對性的成長投資可能包括加入新的投資團隊和推出新產品，我們預計這將推動未來的成長和利潤。

Before we proceed to the Q&A session, I want to express my sincere appreciation to all my colleagues for their significant contributions. We are steadfast in our commitment to efficiently allocate capital, create value for our clients, investors, employees and stakeholders, while simultaneously diversifying and expanding our business.

在進入問答環節之前，我想向所有同事的重大貢獻表示誠摯的感謝。我們堅定不移地致力於有效配置資本，為我們的客戶、投資者、員工和利害關係人創造價值，同時實現業務多元化和擴展。

With that, we are pleased to take your questions. Operator?

我們很高興回答您的問題。操作員？

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Craig Siegenthaler, Bank of America.

克雷格·西根塔勒，美國銀行。

This is [Ivory] on for Craig. With Pacific Life insurer now joining your multi-insurer lifetime income platform, how are you thinking about scaling your retirement income business more broadly? And how should we think about AV share of economics on the retirement income platform? Is this more of a pass-through structure?

這是 [Ivory] 為 Craig 表演的。現在太平洋人壽保險公司加入了您的多保險公司終身收入平台，您如何考慮更廣泛地擴展您的退休收入業務？我們該如何看待AV在退休收入平台上的經濟份額？這更像是直通結構嗎？

Thanks for the question. Let me answer it in a couple of different ways. And one is, as we highlighted in our earnings announcement and call, insurance segment is very critical for us, and we continue to expand our engagement and deepening of the insurance segment in many different aspects of the business and lifetime income is one of those.

謝謝你的提問。讓我用幾種不同的方式來回答這個問題。一方面，正如我們在收益公告和電話會議中所強調的那樣，保險業務對我們來說非常重要，我們將繼續在業務的許多不同方面擴大和深化保險業務，終身收入就是其中之一。

We are one of the pioneers in lifetime income. Obviously, we have seen an uptick in interest in lifetime income solutions given the demographics, aging of baby boomers as well as some of the Secure Act 2.0 kind of dynamics. So there's no material change in our product structure. We continue to add insurers and some insurers drop off. So that's a bit of the backdrop on the Pac Life announcement, but we're excited about our relationship with them and ability to do more over time.

我們是終身收入領域的先驅之一。顯然，考慮到人口結構、嬰兒潮世代的老化以及《安全法案 2.0》的一些動態，我們看到人們對終身收入解決方案的興趣上升。因此我們的產品結構沒有發生重大變化。我們繼續增加保險公司，但有些保險公司卻退出了。這就是 Pac Life 公告的一些背景，但我們對與他們的關係以及隨著時間的推移做更多事情的能力感到非常興奮。

In terms of the economics on these products, ultimately, we continue to focus on delivering the guaranteed income for our clients. So although these can be relatively sizable mandates, they tend to be lower fee from an asset management perspective while some of the economics, obviously, accrue to the insurers based on their liability structure.

就這些產品的經濟性而言，最終，我們將繼續專注於為客戶提供有保障的收入。因此，儘管這些可能是相對較大的授權，但從資產管理的角度來看，它們的費用往往較低，而部分經濟效益顯然會根據保險公司的負債結構而累積。

And then finally, we continue to work on different lifetime income solutions, both with our main shareholder equitable and as well as other third-party insurers. Over time, we might come to the market with different fee economics that could be even more accretive to our overall top line.

最後，我們繼續與我們的主要股東以及其他第三方保險公司合作，研究不同的終身收入解決方案。隨著時間的推移，我們可能會以不同的費用經濟進入市場，這可能會進一步增加我們的整體收入。

And just as a quick follow-up, following the amended exchange agreement with Equitable, can you clarify how we should think about the likelihood of further exchanges into AllianceBernstein holding units?

作為一個快速的後續問題，在與 Equitable 修改交換協議之後，您能否澄清我們應該如何考慮進一步交換 AllianceBernstein 控股單位的可能性？

Sure. Let me start and Tom and Seth Bernstein, can add. Look, the actual conversion from public units to private units is really driven by a more beneficial tax treatment for the private units. So it really has no bearing on the daily trading volume or anything else. And it has been something that has been done before. So there's nothing unusual about it. Tom, do you have anything you want to add?

當然。讓我開始吧，湯姆和賽斯伯恩斯坦可以補充一下。看起來，從公共單位到私人單位的實際轉換實際上是由對私人單位更優惠的稅收待遇推動的。所以它實際上與每日交易量或其他任何事情都沒有關係。這是以前就做過的事。所以這沒什麼不尋常的。湯姆，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. I guess the only thing I'd add there is, I'd remind everybody that this brings everybody equitable back to similar to what they had pre-2022 before the CarVal acquisition.

是的。我想我唯一要補充的是，我想提醒大家，這會讓每個人的公平程度回到 2022 年收購 CarVal 之前的狀態。

You mean in terms of their total holdings.

您的意思是就他們的總持股量而言。

Yes.

是的。

Alex Blostein, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的亞歷克斯‧布洛斯坦 (Alex Blostein)。

This is Anthony on for Alex. I wanted to hit on the capital allocation strategy. There were some recent headlines on maybe potential M&A. So if you could speak to your willingness to go down that route and what that would look like.

這是安東尼 (Anthony) 代替亞歷克斯 (Alex)。我想談談資本配置策略。最近有一些關於潛在併購的頭條新聞。因此，如果您可以談談您是否願意走這條路以及這條路會是什麼樣子。

Anthony, it's Seth. Just sorry, with regard to the optimization of capital that Tom was referring to or with respect to our investment M&A -- just wanted to clarify.

安東尼，我是賽斯。很抱歉，關於湯姆提到的資本優化或關於我們的投資併購——我只是想澄清一下。

M&A.

併購。

Okay. Sorry. Yes. So look, we continue to look at a number of opportunities, whether it's insurance sidecars or other forms of partnerships with key insured clients around the world. And it's been pretty active. And we think that we have an opportunity, particularly if we can utilize Equitable's underwriting skills and analyzing those risks to actually utilize our capital, potentially Equitable's capital or a combination of the two to realize incremental flows into our key private alternative strategies.

好的。對不起。是的。所以，我們將繼續尋找各種機會，無論是保險邊車還是與世界各地主要保險客戶建立其他形式的合作關係。而且它一直都非常活躍。我們認為我們有機會，特別是如果我們能夠利用 Equitable 的承保技能並分析這些風險來實際利用我們的資本，潛在的 Equitable 的資本或兩者的結合來實現流入我們關鍵私人替代策略的增量資金。

And so there is obviously a limit. We don't want to become an asset heavy or capital-heavy type of entity, and we would raise the money through issuance of units to fund that as a general proposition just as we did in the case of Ruby Re. So I don't think it will ever be a material amount of money on our balance sheet and we are going to watch it very closely. But we do think it's a competitive edge we have, particularly with Equitable's underwriting skills that we want to take advantage of. Onur, if there's anything you want to add?

因此顯然存在一個限制。我們不想成為資產密集或資本密集的實體，我們會透過發行單位來籌集資金，作為一項一般性提議的資金，就像我們在 Ruby Re 案例中所做的那樣。因此，我認為這永遠不會成為我們資產負債表上的一大筆錢，我們將密切關注它。但我們確實認為這是我們的競爭優勢，尤其是我們希望利用 Equitable 的核保技能。Onur，您還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes, one minor add and one additional extension. These sidecar investments, obviously, we have been looking at it for multiple years and looking at the return profile. These tend to generate low to mid-teen kind of ROE. So they're also attractive on a stand-alone basis and any economics we get on the investment management side is accretive or additive to that ROE. So we really like the ROE profile, number one.

是的，一個小的添加和一個額外的擴展。顯然，我們已經關注這些附屬投資多年，並關注其回報狀況。這些往往會產生低至中等水平的 ROE。因此，從獨立角度來看，它們也具有吸引力，而且我們在投資管理方面獲得的任何經濟效益都會對 ROE 產生增值或附加作用。因此，我們真的很喜歡 ROE 概況，這是第一點。

Number two, I think some of the, obviously, the press has been around our active posture in wealth management. That shouldn't be new news, if you will, going back to previous earnings calls and other market communication. We are always active in the wealth management space. We like wealth management. We have an at-scale platform in terms of independent platforms with $150 billion. And we have been in this business for a long time, and we believe we do a good job of serving our clients and growing our business.

第二，我認為有些媒體顯然一直在報導我們在財富管理上的正面姿態。如果你願意的話，回顧一下之前的收益電話會議和其他市場交流，這應該不是什麼新消息。我們一直活躍於財富管理領域。我們喜歡財富管理。就獨立平台而言，我們擁有一個規模達 1500 億美元的平台。我們從事這項業務已有很長時間，我們相信我們在服務客戶和發展業務方面做得很好。

The way we think about M&A is an enabler. It's not a hammer looking for the nail. We are not a private equity-backed roll-up. But we believe we have operating leverage in our business and scalability in private wealth. And as a result, we can easily double, triple our adviser headcounts.

我們對併購的看法是一種推動因素。這不是用錘子尋找釘子。我們不是私募股權支持的公司。但我們相信，我們的業務具有經營槓桿，而私人財富具有可擴展性。因此，我們可以輕鬆地將顧問人數增加一倍或兩倍。

We organically continue to hire advisers in attractive geographies and segments. We will continue to add experienced advisers and teams and in certain cases, adding a small to midsized business might be a faster path to getting that expanded growth.

我們將繼續在有吸引力的地區和領域聘請顧問。我們將繼續增加經驗豐富的顧問和團隊，在某些情況下，增加一家中小型企業可能是實現擴大成長的更快途徑。

That being said, we're always very selective from a culture perspective, from a platform perspective as well as our financial discipline. But the good news is we are getting a lot of inbounds and this is true both for insurance transactions as well as wealth management transactions.

話雖如此，我們從文化角度、平台角度以及財務紀律的角度始終非常挑剔。但好消息是，我們獲得了大量的入站交易，無論是保險交易還是財富管理交易都是如此。

And just to add, I guess, Alex, it's important that Onur made the point about small to midsize because we're very cognizant of the prices for these kinds of businesses. So we need to be careful.

我想補充一點，亞歷克斯，奧努爾提到中小型企業這一點很重要，因為我們非常清楚這類企業的價格。所以我們需要小心。

Bill Katz, TD Cowen.

比爾·卡茨（Bill Katz），TD Cowen。

Maybe just coming back to the margin discussion for a moment. I appreciate the affirmation of the 33% guide. It does look like either on a end-of-period number now, even think through the averages that you're running a bit ahead of where you were at the end of the year.

也許我們只是暫時回到保證金討論。我很欣賞33%指南的肯定。現在看起來確實像是期末數字，甚至想想平均值，你都會比年底的水平稍微領先一點。

So maybe a two-part question. How do you think about the incremental margin as we look out to the second half of the year? And since you're already running at the midpoint of the '27 guidance, how do we think about the trajectory into '26 and beyond?

所以這可能是由兩個部分組成的問題。展望下半年，您如何看待增量利潤率？既然您已經處於 27 年指導的中點，我們如何看待 26 年及以後的發展軌跡？

Bill, thank you for the question. I think we're now at a 33% margin on a year-to-date basis, and that's what we're hoping for planning and forecasting for the second half of the year just as we noted in our guidance here. So I think it's going to be equal 33% first half, 33% in the second half. And then as far as our guidance into 2026, we would plan to be -- you know what, we're not prepared to answer that just yet. We haven't done the 2026 forecasting yet. And we'll provide that information possibly at the end of the year.

比爾，謝謝你的提問。我認為，以年初至今計算，我們的利潤率為 33%，這正是我們對下半年規劃和預測的期望，正如我們在指南中指出的那樣。所以我認為上半年會是 33%，下半年將是 33%。至於我們對 2026 年的指導，我們計劃——你知道嗎，我們還沒準備好回答這個問題。我們還沒有做 2026 年的預測。我們可能會在年底提供該資訊。

Okay. And then maybe one for Onur or Seth. I'm just curious, since you're generating significant incremental yield or cash flows through the financial advisers, but not sort of disclosing it in a way that's sort of comparable to what your peers do. What's the holdback to sort of shifting the organic growth calculation, part one?

好的。然後也許還有 Onur 或 Seth 的一個。我只是很好奇，因為您透過財務顧問獲得了可觀的增量收益或現金流，但卻沒有以與您的同行相當的方式披露它。第一部分，改變有機成長計算的障礙是什麼？

And then part two, just in terms of you mentioned you could scale up 2x to 3x in terms of financial advisers. Is that just on the existing book of the platform, if you will? And then seems to be a lot of pressure we're hearing from some of your peers around private equity sponsored players for recruitment. Could you speak a little bit about what you're seeing in terms of transition assistance as you think about scaling beyond your sort of de novo focus?

然後是第二部分，正如您所提到的，您可以將財務顧問的數量擴大 2 倍到 3 倍。如果你願意的話，這只是關於平台的現有書籍嗎？然後，我們聽到一些同行對私募股權贊助的球員招募施加了很大壓力。當您考慮擴大範圍，超越您從頭開始關注的範疇時，您能否稍微談談您在過渡援助方面看到的情況？

Sure. Thanks for the question, Bill. So yes, let me answer those questions. Number one, why do we talk about net new client assets in addition to net flows. It's very simple. We have a wealth management business that's comparable to other pure wealth management players or wealth managers embedded in larger institutions.

當然。謝謝你的提問，比爾。是的，讓我來回答這些問題。第一，為什麼除了淨流量之外，我們還要討論淨新客戶資產。這很簡單。我們的財富管理業務可與其他純粹的財富管理公司或大型機構內的財富管理公司相媲美。

We wanted to make sure we make the life easy for analysts and other buy-side community to be able to make apples-to-apples comparisons between our growth rate and most of the wealth management industry works on net new client assets versus the asset management metric of net flows. So that's the reason why we wanted to provide that information. There is no catalyst other than ongoing improvements in terms of how we represent the key metrics in our business.

我們希望確保分析師和其他買方社群能夠輕鬆地對我們的成長率和大多數財富管理產業基於淨新客戶資產與淨流量資產管理指標的成長率進行同類比較。這就是我們想要提供該資訊的原因。除了持續改進我們如何表現業務中的關鍵指標之外，沒有其他催化劑。

In terms of like my point around doubling or tripling the adviser, my point is, given we have been in this business for a long time, given we have a very established infrastructure. We have our own custody and clearing. We have a robust investment organization, manager selection capabilities, direct indexing, et cetera, et cetera. For us, it's pretty straightforward to add new advisers to our platform. It doesn't require massive improvements to our platform to add new advisers or sales points, if you will. So that was my key point around that.

關於將顧問數量增加一倍或兩倍，我的觀點是，鑑於我們從事這個行業已經很長時間了，鑑於我們擁有非常完善的基礎設施。我們有自己的保管和清算。我們擁有強大的投資組織、經理人選擇能力、直接索引等等。對我們來說，在我們的平台上新增的顧問非常簡單。如果您願意的話，增加新的顧問或銷售點並不需要對我們的平台進行大規模改進。這就是我的重點。

And in terms of our transition support in a highly competitive industry relative to private equity back platforms, et cetera. Again, we have been bringing over advisers to our business for decades. We have strong transition capabilities, both in the technology team as well as in the investment team.

就我們在與私募股權支援平台等競爭激烈的行業中提供的轉型支援而言。再說一次，幾十年來我們一直在為我們的業務聘請顧問。我們擁有強大的轉型能力，無論是技術團隊或投資團隊。

So if you think about it, our private wealth business has 1,000 employees. So it's a very well established platform compared to some of the RIAs and in terms of our scale, probably we compare very well against even the very largest IRA. So I believe we can compete head-to-head. Not to mention, we have the benefits, the balance sheet, the backing of a larger public entity AllianceBernstein with also the global infrastructure behind it.

如果你仔細想想，我們的私人財富業務有 1,000 名員工。因此，與一些 RIA 相比，它是一個非常成熟的平台，就我們的規模而言，我們甚至可以與最大的 IRA 相提並論。所以我相信我們可以正面競爭。更不用說，我們擁有更大的公共實體 AllianceBernstein 的優勢、資產負債表和支持，以及背後的全球基礎設施。

But we take your point around the notion around net new assets because, look, it's clear we have $1 billion to $1.5 billion a quarter that sits there that we don't in the net flows calculation doesn't get reflected. But given that we're an asset manager, principally, that's how we've been reporting. So that's why we tried to give you more color.

但我們接受您關於淨新資產概念的觀點，因為，你看，很明顯我們每季有 10 億到 15 億美元的資金閒置在那裡，而這在淨流量計算中沒有得到反映。但考慮到我們主要是一家資產管理公司，所以我們一直是這樣報告的。這就是我們試圖為您提供更多色彩的原因。

Yeah. Exactly. It's maybe not very different than some other peers. Franklin talks about both as an example as well.

是的。確切地。這可能與其他一些同行並沒有什麼不同。富蘭克林也以兩者為例進行了討論。

John Dunn, Evercore ISI.

約翰‧鄧恩 (John Dunn)，Evercore ISI。

Thank you. It was a nice increase in the institutional pipeline. How do you look at kind of the timing of that funding? Are the new mandates you just added going to take a while to flow through?

謝謝。這是機構通路的一次良好成長。您如何看待這筆融資的時機？您剛剛新增的新任務是否需要一段時間才能完成？

Onur, again, let me take that. I mean, look, at the end, typically it takes -- depending on the asset class. I mean blended, it takes 12- to 15 months to deploy. In general, obviously, it's longer for some private assets and much shorter for public.

奧努爾，再次請容許我回答。我的意思是，最後，通常需要——取決於資產類別。我的意思是混合部署需要 12 到 15 個月的時間。整體而言，顯然，有些私人資產的期限較長，而公共資產的期限則較短。

I think you're going to have a little bit of an accelerated timeline this time around, given the RGA transaction, its impact it will have on us as Seth mentioned in his opening remarks. So there's going to be probably a bit of a higher velocity this time given the unique composition of the pipeline, but that's kind of how we think about it.

我認為這次你們的時間表會稍微加快一些，考慮到 RGA 交易及其對我們的影響，正如 Seth 在開場白中提到的那樣。因此，考慮到管道的獨特組成，這次的速度可能會更高一些，但這就是我們的想法。

And we continue to see also strong commercial activity, as also Seth mentioned. We have been advancing on a couple of strategic insurance relationships that might -- that has the potential to add meaningfully to our Alts pipeline as well. If that happens, although on average, it's a good thing as you recognize strategic partnerships and private Alts that might be a little bit of a longer deployment cycle as well. But that's the picture.

正如塞思所提到的，我們也繼續看到強勁的商業活動。我們一直在推動一些戰略保險關係，這些關係可能會——也有可能對我們的 Alts 管道產生重大影響。如果發生這種情況，儘管平均而言，這是一件好事，但您認識到戰略合作夥伴關係和私人 Alts 的部署週期可能也會更長一些。但這就是圖片。

Got it. And then just because it's such an important driver of flows. Can you talk about some of the drivers of demand for American Income and the outlook for continued improvement over the rest of the year?

知道了。因為它是流量如此重要的驅動因素。您能否談談美國收入需求的一些驅動因素以及今年剩餘時間內持續改善的前景？

Sure, yes, I mean, in the second quarter, things got a little tougher with the Liberation Day, uncertainty, tariffs and impact on the rate outlook and the dollar, right. So at the end of the day, American income, by definition, has a strong US dollar exposure and treasury exposure. As a result, we were a little bit in the middle of that.

當然，是的，我的意思是，在第二季度，由於解放日、不確定性、關稅以及對利率前景和美元的影響，情況變得更加艱難，對吧。因此，從根本上來說，美國收入從定義上來說就具有很大的美元敞口和國債敞口。結果，我們就有點陷入其中了。

We have seen normalization starting in June and then that continues in July. So we have seen positive days in July, just to give you a little bit of -- I mean one day doesn't make a trend, and I don't want you to extrapolate that. But ultimately, we see definitely great signs of stabilization.

我們看到正常化從六月開始，並持續到七月。因此，我們在七月看到了積極的日子，只是為了給你一點——我的意思是一天並不能形成一種趨勢，我不希望你推斷這一點。但最終，我們確實看到了明顯的穩定跡象。

But it's a cyclical product. We have seen this over time. When the rate outlook is stable, when you have healthy upward sloping yield curve, et cetera, there are times from a macro perspective. AIP does very well when the duration is in demand. And in other environments, it pulls back and it pulls back the assets pulled back quite fast as well. So we are not structurally concerned, but we recognize a cyclical product.

但它是一種週期性產品。我們已經見證了這一點。當利率前景穩定時，當殖利率曲線健康向上傾斜時等等，從宏觀角度來看，有時會發生這種情況。當需要持續時間時，AIP 表現非常好。而在其他環境中，它也會回撤，而且資產回撤的速度也相當快。因此，我們並不擔心結構性問題，但我們認識到週期性產品。

I guess I would add that as a consequence of the tariff announcements, the dollar weakened pretty significantly, particularly in Asia, and that obviously hit us. But I have to say, it does seem to have stabilized and normalized, and we are seeing more positive days with the caveat that owner had provided.

我想補充一點，由於關稅公告的影響，美元大幅貶值，尤其是在亞洲，這顯然對我們造成了打擊。但我不得不說，它確實似乎已經穩定和正常化，隨著業主提供的警告，我們看到了更多積極的日子。

I'd also say we're seeing better flow activity domestically in fixed income as well. so that -- in retail. So that has been helpful. And we are seeing more institutional focus in the fixed income and even in the equity space.

我還想說，我們在國內固定收益領域的流動活動也得到了更好的改善。因此——在零售領域。這很有幫助。我們看到越來越多的機構關注固定收益甚至股票領域。

So look, the really pronounced low volatility of markets is interesting given the underlying uncertainties, but it certainly seeming to moving people to be deploying more than they had been 6-, 8 weeks ago. So I don't -- these are sort of insights that could change with changing policy announcements, but that's where I think we are now.

因此，考慮到潛在的不確定性，市場真正明顯的低波動性是有趣的，但它似乎肯定會促使人們比 6 至 8 週前部署更多資金。所以我不認為這些見解會隨著政策公告的變化而改變，但我認為我們現在就處於這個狀態。

Benjamin Budish, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的班傑明‧布迪什 (Benjamin Budish)。

You've talked about the wealth business and sort of adding new advisers over the years. I was wondering if you could talk more specifically about some of the more recent news about seeking more inorganic growth opportunities in that channel.

您多年來一直在談論財富業務以及增加新顧問的情況。我想知道您是否可以更具體地談談有關在該管道尋求更多無機增長機會的一些最新消息。

Just curious if you can comment on why now, what's changing? And what are your broader ambitions? It seems like this is a focus on the ultra-high net worth channel. Any other color there? And given we see a lot of other wealth managers that compete in this way, there's a little bit of a different level of capital intensity given TA payments and things like that. How do you think about the sort of capital needs of these ambitions.

只是好奇您是否可以評論一下現在發生什麼變化？您更大的抱負是什麼？這似乎是專注於超高淨值管道。還有其他顏色嗎？鑑於我們看到許多其他財富管理公司以這種方式競爭，考慮到技術援助支付和諸如此類的事情，資本密集度水平會略有不同。您如何看待這些目標所需的資本？

Yes, sure. Yes. First of all, again, although the press coverage might have increased our intentions or what we talked about is not new. Again, we talked about it, I think, over the last 2-, 3 years. In terms of our adviser growth, we typically target mid-single-digit adviser growth every year from an organic perspective. Year-to-date, we are tracking towards that. So that's healthy.

是的，當然。是的。首先，我再說一遍，儘管媒體的報導可能增加了我們的意圖，但我們談論的內容並不是什麼新鮮事。再說一次，我想，在過去的兩三年裡，我們一直在談論這個問題。就我們的顧問成長而言，從有機角度來看，我們通常以每年中等個位數的顧問成長為目標。今年迄今為止，我們正在朝著這個目標努力。這很健康。

In terms of the inorganic stuff. As I mentioned, it's -- we are not trying to hit a target. We don't have a number of acquisitions to make, AUM, GAAP or anything like that. If we had a target, we would have shared it. So as a result, this is more an extension of our strategy and an enabler of our strategy. So M&A by itself is not our strategy.

就無機物質而言。正如我所提到的那樣，我們並沒有試圖達到某個目標。我們沒有進行大量收購、資產管理規模 (AUM)、公認會計準則 (GAAP) 或諸如此類的事情。如果我們有一個目標，我們就會分享它。因此，這更像是我們策略的延伸和推動因素。因此，併購本身並不是我們的策略。

In terms of what we typically look at, we continue to look at more on the -- as Seth also emphasized, small to midsize RA space. And what we have seen in the marketplace is actually there is a little bit of a change in the multiple -- a pretty significant change in the multiple, if you go to the, for instance, the 5-plus billion AUM range.

就我們通常關注的內容而言，我們繼續關注——正如 Seth 所強調的那樣，小型到中型 RA 空間。我們在市場上看到的是，倍數實際上有一點變化——如果你看一下，比如說 50 多億的 AUM 範圍，倍數變化相當顯著。

The reason is there's a scarcity value, particularly for the private equity platforms as they get bigger, they are looking for larger acquisitions to get there faster, given their exit time lines and all that. We don't have those kind of pressures in our business. We are more permanent capital. We are not looking to buy and sell. So as a result, we have the ability to be patient. We have the ability to look at a lower size RAs that are in our target markets.

原因在於稀缺價值，特別是對於私募股權平台而言，隨著規模的擴大，考慮到退出時間表等，它們正在尋求更大規模的收購，以更快地實現目標。我們的業務中沒有這樣的壓力。我們是更永久的資本。我們不想買賣。因此，我們就有能力保持耐心。我們有能力檢視目標市場中規模較小的 RA。

Yes, [ultra] net worth would be one focus area. It's not the only focus area. There are other interesting verticals, if you will, we like, for instance, the entertainers that needs business owners, global families, family office. So there are different flavors of these. So we like platforms either that adds more geographical breadth to our business or more specialized capabilities, either in terms of client access or underlying expertise.

是的，超淨值將是一個重點領域。這不是唯一的重點領域。如果你願意的話，還有其他有趣的垂直產業，例如，我們喜歡需要企業主、全球家庭、家族辦公室的藝人。所以它們有不同的風味。因此，我們喜歡那些能夠擴大業務地理廣度或增強專業能力的平台，無論是在客戶訪問方面還是在基礎專業知識方面。

Again, let me remind you, we only have 20 locations. I mean private wealth is both national business but also a local business. So there's a -- that's the reason for looking for additional hires teams and businesses as they become available at the right price in new jurisdictions.

再次提醒您，我們只有 20 個地點。我的意思是私人財富既是國家事務，也是地方事務。因此，這就是為什麼在新的司法管轄區以合適的價格尋找額外僱用團隊和企業的原因。

Bill Katz, TD Cowen.

比爾·卡茨（Bill Katz），TD Cowen。

Just thinking just strategically now, to the extent that you continue to scale up your alternative platform and performance fees become a larger percentage of the overall revenue pie, how should we think about the comp ratio in particular? Is there any leverage to the platform? Or conversely, the payouts on performance fees a little bit higher than the sort of the overall rate?

現在從策略角度考慮，隨著您繼續擴大替代平台的規模，並且績效費在整體收入中所佔的比例越來越大，我們應該如何考慮補償比率？該平台有什麼優勢嗎？或者相反，績效費的支付會比整體費率高一點？

Well, let me start, and Tom may jump in, Bill. But first of all, most of our credit focus isn't performance fee-driven, just by the nature of what we're doing with higher credit quality pieces going to the insurance marketplace. There is a performance fee element and I suspect that will continue. And as you know, we also have it on the public equity side as well.

好吧，讓我先開始，然後湯姆可能會加入，比爾。但首先，我們大部分的信貸重點不是由績效費用驅動的，而是由我們進入保險市場的高信用品質部分所決定的。其中有一個績效費因素，我懷疑這種情況將會持續下去。如您所知，我們在公共股權方面也有這樣的業務。

But your inclination that the rev share on performance fees tends to be more favorable to the team than the underlying base fees, if that were to happen. But it's just not that huge a number for us. So I do think that there is leverage in the system as we get larger and private Alts. But Tom, why don't you pipe in?

但如果發生這種情況，您傾向於認為績效費的收入份額對團隊更有利，而不是基本費用。但對我們來說，這並不是什麼大數目。因此我確實認為，隨著我們獲得更大、更私密的 Alts，系統就會具有槓桿作用。但是湯姆，為什麼不插嘴呢？

Yes. No, I agree with everything you had just said, Seth. Obviously, as we talk about the compensation ratio, we continue to measure what we need to pay our people competitively and evaluate that against our revenues, and we'll continue to do so, whether it's base fees or performance fees.

是的。不，我同意你剛才說的一切，賽斯。顯然，當我們談論薪酬比率時，我們會繼續衡量我們需要向員工提供具有競爭力的薪酬，並根據我們的收入進行評估，我們將繼續這樣做，無論是基本費用還是績效費用。

Dan Fannon, Jefferies.

丹‧範農 (Dan Fannon)，傑富瑞集團。

Just a question on gross sales. No surprise given some of the turbulence early in the quarter that gross sales slowed. But just as you think about kind of what's happened as the quarter progressed, and as we are sitting here in July. From a gross sales perspective, do you see that more as 2Q dip more as temporary? Or are we seeing kind of more momentum on a go-forward basis?

這只是關於總銷售額的一個問題。考慮到本季初的一些動盪，總銷售額放緩並不令人意外。但正如您所想，隨著本季度的進展以及我們七月所處的情況。從總銷售額的角度來看，您是否認為第二季的下滑只是暫時的？或者我們看到了前進的更多動力？

Yes. So actually, year-to-date, our sales is I think up in the asset management side, 1%. So again, I'm not overly concerned about the sales trends, and we eat net-net growth. If you look at the redemptions for instance, on the institutional side, our redemption rate came down as well. So as a result, although it's an important metric in terms of momentum in the business. I mean I look at both growth and outflows. And I'm also quite happy with some of the improvement in the redemptions we had in the institutional channel.

是的。因此實際上，我認為年初至今我們的資產管理銷售額成長了 1%。所以，我再說一遍，我並不太擔心銷售趨勢，我們實現的是淨成長。例如，如果你看一下贖回情況，從機構方面來看，我們的贖回率也下降了。因此，儘管它是衡量業務發展勢頭的重要指標。我的意思是我同時關注成長和流出。我也對我們在機構通路贖回方面的一些改善感到非常高興。

I think we probably, as I mentioned a little bit in the context of AIP in my previous comments. We hit a little bit air pockets maybe particularly for a 6- to 8-week time frame, early April to mid to late May Memorial Day. We definitely have seen some signs of momentum starting in June and July is a continuation.

我認為我們可能正如我在之前的評論中在 AIP 背景下提到的那樣。我們可能遇到了一些小困難，特別是在 6 到 8 週的時間範圍內，即 4 月初到 5 月中下旬的陣亡將士紀念日。我們確實看到了從六月開始的一些勢頭跡象，七月這種勢頭還將持續。

So as a result, I remain relatively optimistic and bullish about our ability to growing our flagship strategies and expanding into new areas, and we definitely see a lot of opportunities, as I mentioned, in insurance. Our ETF platform continues to scale. I will remind us that -- in the ETF business, there's a little of a J curve when you launch a new product. Typically it takes a while for the product to mature to an AUM level, et cetera, or age to be put in major platforms.

因此，我對我們發展旗艦策略和拓展新領域的能力保持相對樂觀和看好，正如我所提到的，我們在保險領域確實看到了很多機會。我們的 ETF 平台不斷擴大。我要提醒我們—在 ETF 業務中，當你推出新產品時，會出現一點 J 曲線。通常，產品需要一段時間才能成熟到 AUM 等級等，或需要一段時間才能進入主要平台。

So we'll see some of the tailwind benefit of ETFs are monthly sales volumes on ETFs continues to grow exponentially, and we have the ability to expand in ETFs as another growth area like the new Taiwan ETF, which opens a completely new geography for us.

因此，我們將看到 ETF 的一些順風優勢，即 ETF 的月銷售量繼續呈指數級增長，並且我們有能力將 ETF 擴展為另一個增長領域，例如新的台灣 ETF，它為我們開闢了一個全新的地域。

So all in all, it's hard to predict exact sales volumes, and there's definitely some remaining uncertainty in terms of geopolitics, tariffs, policy, et cetera. So there could be definitely some continued sloppiness in sales, but I'm also optimistic that we have new ways to win or additional ways to generate business in terms of different distribution channels, different vehicles. And again, I focus on net. So it's both a retention game as well as a sales game.

總而言之，很難預測確切的銷售量，而且地緣政治、關稅、政策等方面肯定存在一些不確定性。因此，銷售方面肯定會繼續出現一些低迷的情況，但我也樂觀地認為，我們有新的方法來贏得勝利，或透過不同的分銷管道、不同的載體來增加業務。再次強調，我關注的是網路。所以這既是一場保留遊戲，也是一場銷售遊戲。

There are no further questions at this time. Mr. Jorgali, I turn the call back over to you.

目前沒有其他問題。喬加利先生，我把電話轉回給您。

Thank you, Jean-Louis. Thank you, everyone, for participating today. If you have any questions, please reach out to Investor Relations. We look forward to hearing back from you. Bye-bye.

謝謝你，讓·路易。謝謝大家今天的參與。如果您有任何疑問，請聯絡投資者關係部。我們期待您的回覆。再見。