Bgc Group Inc (BGC) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Welcome To BGC Partners, Inc. Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker today, Chryssicas, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. Please go ahead.

歡迎來到 BGC Partners, Inc. 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。 （接線員說明）請注意，今天的通話正在錄音中。我現在想把會議轉交給您今天的發言人，投資者關係主管 Chryssicas。謝謝。請繼續。

Good morning, everyone. We issued BGC's fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results press release and the presentation summarizing these results this morning prior to the market open. You can find it at ir.bgcpartners.com. Please note, you can find additional details on our results in today's press release and investor presentation.

大家，早安。我們在今天上午開市前發布了 BGC 的第四季度和 2022 年全年財務業績新聞稿以及總結這些業績的演示文稿。您可以在 ir.bgcpartners.com 找到它。請注意，您可以在今天的新聞稿和投資者介紹中找到有關我們結果的更多詳細信息。

Unless otherwise stated, any historical results provided on today's call comparably the fourth quarter of '22 with the prior year period, and compare revenue excluding insurance due to the sale on November 1, 2021. Certain revenue figures are provided for the first 35 trading days in the first quarter to date 2023. We will be referring to our results on this call only on an adjusted earnings basis, unless otherwise stated. We may also refer to adjusted EBITDA. We may refer to our liquidity, which we define as cash and cash equivalents plus marketable securities that have not been financed, reverse repurchase agreements and securities owned, less securities loaned and repurchase agreements. We define total capital as redeemable partnership interest, total stockholders' equity and noncontrolling interest in subsidiaries.

除非另有說明，否則今天的電話會議提供的任何歷史結果都是將 2022 年第四季度與去年同期進行比較，並比較不包括因 2021 年 11 月 1 日出售而產生的保險的收入。提供了前 35 個交易日的某些收入數據截至 2023 年第一季度。除非另有說明，否則我們將僅在調整後的收益基礎上提及我們在本次電話會議上的結果。我們也可以參考調整後的 EBITDA。我們可以參考我們的流動性，我們將其定義為現金和現金等價物加上尚未融資的有價證券、逆回購協議和擁有的證券，減去借出的證券和回購協議。我們將總資本定義為可贖回的合夥權益、股東權益總額和子公司的非控股權益。

BGC generated a significant amount of its revenue in non-U.S. dollar-denominated currencies, particularly in the euro and pound sterling. BGC presents revenue comparisons on a constant currency basis in order to present a better comparison of the company's revenues during the period, which exhibited volatile foreign exchange movements. BGC's constant currency movements assume no foreign exchange rates, used to determine the company's prior period revenues applied to the current period revenues. Please see today's press release, the results under generally accepted accounting principles or GAAP. Please also see the relevant sections in the back of today's press release for the complete and updated definitions of any non-GAAP terms, reconciliations of these items to the corresponding GAAP results and how and when and why management uses such terms. Additional information with respect to our GAAP and non-GAAP results mentioned on today's call is available on our website at ir.bgcpartners.com and in our investor presentation.

BGC 產生了大量非美元計價貨幣的收入，尤其是歐元和英鎊。 BGC 在固定貨幣基礎上進行收入比較，以便更好地比較公司在此期間的收入，該期間表現出波動的外匯變動。 BGC 的恆定貨幣變動假設沒有外匯匯率，用於確定適用於當期收入的公司前期收入。請參閱今天的新聞稿，這是根據公認會計原則或 GAAP 得出的結果。另請參閱今天新聞稿後面的相關部分，了解任何非 GAAP 術語的完整和更新定義、這些項目與相應 GAAP 結果的調節以及管理層如何、何時以及為何使用這些術語。有關我們今天電話會議中提到的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 結果的更多信息，請訪問我們的網站 ir.bgcpartners.com 和我們的投資者介紹。

We refer to the company's technology-driven business is Fenics. Fenics offerings include Fenics markets and Fenics growth platforms. I also remind you that the information regarding our business on today's call that are not historical are forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and except as required by law, BGC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Any outlook and targets discussed on the call assume no material acquisitions, buybacks, extraordinary transactions or meaningful changes to the company's stock price. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see BGC's SEC filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and special note on forward-looking information set forth in these filings and any updates to such risk factors and special note on forward-looking information contained in the subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K.

我們指公司的技術驅動業務是Fenics。 Fenics 產品包括 Fenics 市場和 Fenics 增長平台。我還提醒您，今天電話會議上有關我們業務的非歷史信息是前瞻性陳述。任何前瞻性陳述都涉及風險和不確定性，除法律要求外，BGC 不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務。電話會議上討論的任何前景和目標均假設公司股價沒有重大收購、回購、特殊交易或重大變化。有關可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中包含的結果不同的其他風險和不確定性的討論，請參閱 BGC 提交給 SEC 的文件，包括但不限於風險因素和前瞻性信息集的特別說明這些文件以及此類風險因素的任何更新以及關於 10-K 表格、10-Q 表格和 8-K 表格的後續報告中包含的前瞻性信息的特別說明。

And with that, I'm now happy to turn the call over to Howard Lutnick, Chairman of the Board and CEO of BGC Partners.

因此，我現在很高興將電話轉給 BGC Partners 的董事會主席兼首席執行官 Howard Lutnick。

Thank you, Jason. Good morning. Thank you all for joining us for our fourth quarter and full year 2022 conference call. With me today are BGC's Chief Operating Officer, Sean Windeatt; and our Chief Financial Officer, Jason Hauf. Today, I have the pleasure of discussing how our business fundamentally changed starting in December of 2022, BGC became a growth company.

謝謝你，傑森。早上好。感謝大家加入我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年電話會議。今天和我在一起的有 BGC 的首席運營官 Sean Windeatt；以及我們的首席財務官 Jason Hauf。今天，我很高興討論我們的業務如何從 2022 年 12 月開始發生根本性變化，BGC 成為一家成長型公司。

Historically, huge issuance, which we've seen over the past decade, would have produced record trading volume instead of zero and near zero interest rates over the last 14 years have caused rates trading volumes to remain flat and credit volumes to actually decline since 2008. This, despite an over 3x increase in global issuance. The trading environment has been overshadowed by manufactured zero interest rates, which created an over decade-long headwind for our business.

從歷史上看，我們在過去十年中看到的大量發行本應產生創紀錄的交易量，而不是過去 14 年的零利率和接近零的利率導致利率交易量保持平穩，信貸量自 2008 年以來實際上下降. 儘管全球發行量增長了 3 倍以上。人為製造的零利率給貿易環境蒙上了陰影，這給我們的業務造成了長達十多年的逆風。

During the last 14 years of these zero interest rates, the relationship between new issuance and trading volume growth broke down and disappeared, leaving catalyst transactions and electronification as the best tools available to BGC to dampen the impact of these headwinds.

在過去 14 年的零利率期間，新發行與交易量增長之間的關係破裂並消失，催化劑交易和電子化成為 BGC 用來抑制這些逆風影響的最佳工具。

In catalyst transactions, we sold eSpeed for 12x revenues or $1.2 billion. We built Newmark, which we spun off to our shareholders with a market cap of $2.3 billion. We bought GFI for $780 million and sold one of its technology assets, Trayport for $650 million shortly thereafter. We built and sold an insurance brokerage business, producing over $500 million in gross proceeds. The results of all these catalyst transactions was that BGC shareholders have earned a total return of over 2.5x their investment since BGC went public in April of 2008.

在催化劑交易中，我們以 12 倍的收入或 12 億美元的價格出售了 eSpeed。我們建立了 Newmark，我們將其剝離給我們的股東，市值達到 23 億美元。我們以 7.8 億美元的價格收購了 GFI，並在不久之後以 6.5 億美元的價格出售了其技術資產之一 Trayport。我們建立並出售了保險經紀業務，產生了超過 5 億美元的總收益。所有這些催化劑交易的結果是，自 BGC 於 2008 年 4 月上市以來，BGC 股東獲得的總回報超過其投資的 2.5 倍。

Additionally, over the last decade, we have made a massive investment in Fenics technology, building the infrastructure to electronify our business. This differentiates us from our historical peers. Today, these higher-margin Fenics businesses represent 1/4 of BGC's overall revenues. We believe Fenics alone is worth more than BGC's current market capitalization.

此外，在過去十年中，我們對 Fenics 技術進行了大量投資，構建了使我們的業務電子化的基礎設施。這使我們有別於歷史上的同行。如今，這些利潤率較高的 Fenics 業務佔 BGC 總收入的 1/4。我們認為僅 Fenics 一家的價值就超過了 BGC 目前的市值。

Since 2008, Voice hybrid business, the largest part of our company, faced a difficult trading environment. If you were to look at BGC, GFI and a dozen or more other financial service acquisitions we have made, their pro forma revenues in 2008 would have been close to $2.5 billion. This 14-year macro environment resulting in these businesses producing $1.8 billion of revenue in 2022, which should have been impossible given that global issuance has more than tripled during this period.

自 2008 年以來，我們公司最大的業務語音混合業務面臨著艱難的貿易環境。如果您查看 BGC、GFI 和我們進行的十幾個或更多其他金融服務收購，它們 2008 年的預估收入將接近 25 億美元。這 14 年的宏觀環境導致這些企業在 2022 年產生了 18 億美元的收入，考慮到在此期間全球發行量增加了兩倍多，這本來是不可能的。

Historically, trading volumes have been directly correlated with issuance. When issuance would double, trading volumes would grow on average 60%. With meaningful interest rates and issuance that is multiples above 2008 levels, we believe the return of this strong positive correlation will drive our trading volumes significantly higher. It is only a matter of time before we believe BGC will exceed the $2.5 billion I just mentioned. We are now a growth company.

從歷史上看，交易量與發行量直接相關。當發行量翻倍時，交易量將平均增長 60%。由於利率和發行量是 2008 年水平的數倍，我們相信這種強正相關性的回歸將推動我們的交易量顯著增加。我們相信 BGC 將超過我剛才提到的 25 億美元只是時間問題。我們現在是一家成長型公司。

We will remain an opportunistic catalyst company. We will remain a company that is driving high-margin electronification, but we now have the macro environment that will drive fundamental growth across all of our businesses.

我們仍將是一家機會主義的催化劑公司。我們仍將是一家推動高利潤電子化的公司，但我們現在擁有的宏觀環境將推動我們所有業務的根本性增長。

And with that, I will turn the call over to Sean.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給肖恩。

Thanks, Howard, and good day, everyone. As Howard just mentioned, in order to highlight the growth of the company, my focus today will be on providing updates on how our business is performing so far through almost 2 months of the first quarter of 2023.

謝謝，霍華德，大家好。正如霍華德剛才提到的，為了突出公司的增長，我今天的重點將是提供我們的業務在 2023 年第一季度近兩個月的最新表現。

For the first 35 trading days of the first quarter, BGC's total revenue is up 8% or 10% on a constant currency basis. We are seeing revenue growth across all our asset classes. Rates increased 6% or 8% on a constant currency basis. FX increased 6% or 7% in constant currency. Credit increased 4% or 6% in constant currency. Additionally, energy and commodities increased 15% or 16% in constant currency, and equities increased 14% or 16% in constant currency.

在第一季度的前 35 個交易日，BGC 的總收入按固定匯率計算增長了 8% 或 10%。我們看到所有資產類別的收入都在增長。按固定匯率計算，利率上漲 6% 或 8%。按固定匯率計算，外匯增長了 6% 或 7%。按固定匯率計算，信貸增長了 4% 或 6%。此外，能源和大宗商品按固定匯率計算上漲 15% 或 16%，而股票按固定匯率計算上漲 14% 或 16%。

Fenics, our higher-margin technology-driven business generated strong growth through the first 35 trading days of the first quarter with revenue currently up 11% or 13% on a constant currency basis. This strong electronic momentum has been driven by rates, credit, foreign exchange and market data.

Fenics，我們利潤率較高的技術驅動業務在第一季度的前 35 個交易日實現了強勁增長，目前收入按固定匯率計算增長了 11% 或 13%。這種強勁的電子勢頭是由利率、信貸、外彙和市場數據推動的。

Fenics markets revenue increased 10% or 12% on a constant currency basis. This growth reflects the strength of our comprehensive Fenics offering that provide access to the deepest wholesale liquidity pools using our state-of-the-art technology. Fenics growth platforms revenue increased 22% for the first 35 trading days of 2023. This growth has been led by our broad range of fully electronic platforms such as Fenics U.S. Treasuries, Lucera, Fenics GO and portfolio match.

按固定匯率計算，Fenics 市場收入增長了 10% 或 12%。這一增長反映了我們全面的 Fenics 產品的實力，這些產品使用我們最先進的技術提供了進入最深的批發流動性池的途徑。 Fenics 增長平台的收入在 2023 年的前 35 個交易日增長了 22%。這一增長是由我們廣泛的全電子平台帶動的，例如 Fenics U.S. Treasuries、Lucera、Fenics GO 和 portfolio match。

With the details I've just described, I'm pleased to provide the following outlook for the first quarter of 2023. We expect to generate total revenue of between $515 million and $565 million as compared to $506.5 million last year. Revenue guidance would be approximately $10 million higher on a constant currency basis. We anticipate pretax adjusted earnings to be in the range of $118 million to $138 million versus $113.1 million. And we anticipate our pre-corporate conversion adjusted earnings tax rate to be in the range of 8.4% to 10.4% versus 7.3% for full year 2022.

根據我剛才描述的細節，我很高興提供以下對 2023 年第一季度的展望。我們預計總收入將在 5.15 億美元至 5.65 億美元之間，而去年為 5.065 億美元。按固定匯率計算，收入指引將增加約 1000 萬美元。我們預計稅前調整後收益將在 1.18 億美元至 1.38 億美元之間，而 1.131 億美元。我們預計公司轉換前調整後的所得稅稅率將在 8.4% 至 10.4% 之間，而 2022 年全年為 7.3%。

And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Jason.

有了這個，我想把電話轉給傑森。

Thank you, Sean, and hello, everyone. Our fourth quarter and full year 2022 financial results press release and other investor materials were made available this morning and can be found on our Investor Relations website.

謝謝你，肖恩，大家好。我們的第四季度和 2022 年全年財務業績新聞稿和其他投資者材料於今天上午發布，可在我們的投資者關係網站上找到。

With respect to share count, for the fourth quarter of 2022, our fully diluted weighted average share count decreased 0.9% sequentially and 3.3% year-over-year to 492.5 million shares. This also represents a 71 million share or approximately 13% decrease compared to the second quarter of 2021 after we announced the sale of our insurance brokerage business. Our fully diluted share spot count as of December 31 decreased by 1.1 million shares or 0.2% sequentially to 493.6 million shares. Compared to a year ago, BGC's fully diluted spot share count has decreased by 3.9 million shares or 0.8%.

在股份數量方面，2022 年第四季度，我們完全攤薄後的加權平均股份數量環比下降 0.9%，同比下降 3.3% 至 4.925 億股。在我們宣佈出售保險經紀業務後，與 2021 年第二季度相比，這也意味著 7100 萬股或減少約 13%。截至 12 月 31 日，我們完全稀釋的現貨股票數量減少 110 萬股或 0.2%，至 4.936 億股。與一年前相比，BGC 完全稀釋後的現貨股份數量減少了 390 萬股或 0.8%。

Generally speaking, we expect to make the majority of our share repurchases in the second half of the year. As we invest in our business to accelerate growth, we expect our share count to decline slightly for the year.

一般而言，我們預計將在下半年進行大部分股票回購。由於我們投資於我們的業務以加速增長，我們預計今年我們的股票數量將略有下降。

Turning to our electronic U.S. treasury and rates platform, FMX. We expect all regulatory filings and submissions will be completed by the end of the first quarter. We remain on track for a soft launch of our Futures platform, and we expect to announce FMX' strategic investors prior to the launch. The FMX partnership brings together LCH, the largest holder of interest rate collateral, strategic investors, representing the largest users of U.S. interest rate products, and Fenics industry-leading technology and distribution creating enormous value for BGC as it competes in the world's most valuable futures markets.

轉向我們的電子美國國債和利率平台 FMX。我們預計所有監管備案和提交將在第一季度末完成。我們仍在按計劃試運行我們的期貨平台，我們希望在發布前宣布 FMX 的戰略投資者。 FMX 合作夥伴關係匯集了最大的利率抵押品持有人 LCH、代表美國利率產品最大用戶的戰略投資者以及 Fenics 行業領先的技術和分銷，為 BGC 在全球最具價值的期貨競爭中創造巨大價值市場。

With respect to the corporate conversion, we expect to file a Form S-4 registration statement in the second quarter of 2023. We also expect to provide additional information with respect to our expected tax rate going forward as soon as practicable.

關於公司轉換，我們預計將在 2023 年第二季度提交 S-4 表格註冊聲明。我們還希望在切實可行的情況下盡快提供有關我們未來預期稅率的更多信息。

With that, I'd like to turn back to Howard for closing remarks.

有了這個，我想回到霍華德的結束語。

Thank you, Jason. We are at the beginning of BGC's growth trajectory, driven by a return of meaningful interest rates, which means we don't really worry about whether they're up or down, just that we have meaningful interest rates, and the reemergence of the strong positive correlation to issuance and increasing trading volumes. We believe these improving trading volumes will benefit those with strong technological capabilities and scale across the capital markets.

謝謝你，傑森。我們正處於 BGC 增長軌蹟的開端，受到有意義的利率回歸的推動，這意味著我們並不真正擔心它們是上升還是下降，只是我們有有意義的利率，以及強勢的重新出現與發行量和交易量增加呈正相關。我們相信，這些交易量的改善將使那些在資本市場上擁有強大技術能力和規模的公司受益。

Understanding the importance of technology, we made the investment in Fenics, which coupled with our global scale, will deliver strong growth, earnings and cash flow. Given our highly attractive trading multiple, our growth outlook and our highly valuable Fenics assets, we believe BGC offers the best value proposition in the industry.

了解技術的重要性，我們對 Fenics 進行了投資，加上我們的全球規模，將帶來強勁的增長、收益和現金流。鑑於我們極具吸引力的交易倍數、我們的增長前景和我們極具價值的 Fenics 資產，我們相信 BGC 提供了業內最佳的價值主張。

With that, operator, we're happy to turn the call over for questions.

有了這個，接線員，我們很樂意將電話轉過來提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question is from Gautam Sawant with Credit Suisse.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Gautam Sawant。

Can we please start with the momentum you're seeing within the Voice hybrid business, how the activity could evolve over the course of 2023? And in terms of the better broker production and the better outlook, is that being driven by larger notional sizes traded across the platform? And is there a positive mix shift, I guess, amongst the asset classes being traded?

我們能否從您在語音混合業務中看到的勢頭開始，該活動在 2023 年將如何發展？就更好的經紀人生產和更好的前景而言，這是由跨平台交易的更大名義規模推動的嗎？我想，在交易的資產類別中是否存在積極的組合轉變？

So we'll start at the beginning. The return of the positive correlation between issuance and trading volume, we are feeling it and seeing it across our business. Now it has only just begun. So for example, there was the relationship in credit, where since 2008, credit issuance was up about 2.7x and credit volume had actually decreased and was 0.5 of what it was in 2008. Imagine issuance of 2.7x and volumes having, and that's simply because it's just no fun to trade when interest rates are near zero. They're just no spread. There's not -- there's a reason for the clients to trade.

所以我們將從頭開始。發行量和交易量之間正相關關係的回歸，我們正在感受到並在我們的業務中看到它。現在才剛剛開始。因此，例如，存在信貸關係，自 2008 年以來，信貸發行量增長了約 2.7 倍，而信貸量實際上下降了，是 2008 年的 0.5。想像一下 2.7 倍的發行量和數量，這很簡單因為當利率接近於零時交易毫無樂趣可言。他們只是沒有傳播。沒有——客戶進行交易是有原因的。

That relationship going from 0.5 to 0.6, which is nothing means volumes are going to grow 20%. So you just have so much pent-up volume coming that you're going to see our numbers improve relentlessly over the course of the year, and for years to come. You're going to see banks trading arms improve and dramatically deliver better results because these things are just good for our clients, and good for us. So the industry is going to do better, and you're going to see it across the platforms.

這種關係從 0.5 變為 0.6，這並不意味著銷量將增長 20%。所以你有這麼多被壓抑的數量，你會看到我們的數字在一年中和未來幾年裡不斷提高。你會看到銀行武器交易得到改善，並顯著提供更好的結果，因為這些事情對我們的客戶和我們都有好處。所以這個行業會做得更好，你會在各個平台上看到它。

Are you going to see it in larger volume? You will. Are you going to see it in smaller volumes? You will. In fact, you're going to see it across broker productivity; volumes, big and small across our platform. These are just fundamental returns to core mathematical relationships that were broken because interest rates were driven to zero by incredibly aggressive actions by governments in buying their own debt, quantitative easing and driving interest rates to zero or near zero.

你打算以更大的數量看到它嗎？你會。你會以較小的數量看到它嗎？你會。事實上，您會在整個經紀人生產力中看到它；我們平台上的大小交易量。這些只是核心數學關係的基本回報，這些關係被打破是因為政府購買自己的債務、量化寬鬆以及將利率推至零或接近零的令人難以置信的積極行動將利率推至零。

That is gone. My expectation is that has gone for the balance of my lifetime. So I think interest rates are here. They're here to stay. And I think the results for BGC will relentlessly improve as those relationships take hold, and they will do so relentlessly over quarter and quarter going forward, in our opinion.

那不見了。我的期望是，這已經耗盡了我的餘生。所以我認為利率在這裡。他們會留在這裡。而且我認為，隨著這些關係的建立，BGC 的業績將不斷改善，而且在我們看來，他們將在未來一個季度又一個季度不斷地這樣做。

Got it. And just switching gears to Fenics growth platforms. Given the 22% year-over-year revenue growth to $53 million, can you give us a sense of the revenue mix? I'm looking at like Lucera's 30% year-over-year growth. I'm just trying to determine like how that kind of breaks out relative to UST and maybe the other platforms.

知道了。並且只是切換到 Fenics 增長平台。鑑於收入同比增長 22% 至 5300 萬美元，您能否介紹一下收入組合？我正在看像 Lucera 的 30% 的同比增長。我只是想確定這種相對於 UST 和其他平台的爆發方式。

Yes. Look, I think that your -- what I did is I highlighted 4 or 5 of them, we've seen. You're correct to say the growth levels in Lucera, up and around those levels. Remember, it's 35 days in, which is why I gave 22% across the board. But I would say you're seeing double-digit growth in every single one of them in U.S. treasuries, in Lucera, Fenics GO and obviously portfolio match because that's credit related.

是的。看，我認為你的 - 我所做的是我突出了其中的 4 或 5 個，我們已經看到了。你說 Lucera 的增長水平是正確的，在這些水平之上和附近。請記住，已經過了 35 天，這就是為什麼我全面投入 22% 的原因。但我要說的是，你會看到美國國債、Lucera、Fenics GO 中的每一個都出現兩位數的增長，顯然投資組合匹配，因為這與信用相關。

So at this early point, I'd say strong double digits in the five main areas of our Fenics growth platforms.

所以在這個早期點，我會說我們 Fenics 增長平台的五個主要領域的強勁兩位數。

Yes. And you can imagine with our position in U.S. treasuries and Fenics UST, you have issuance at 5x what it historically was, and volumes basically equal to what it was in the past. And if you think about that for say, you say how can issuance be up 5x? And anyone who says it's structural, just go visit any bank, go visit any trading firm, you would see it has nothing to do with structure. It had to do with a treasury bills were zero and 2-year notes were zero. There wasn't much to trade.

是的。你可以想像我們在美國國債和 Fenics UST 中的地位，你的發行量是歷史的 5 倍，而且數量基本上與過去持平。如果你考慮一下，你說發行量怎麼能增加 5 倍？任何說它是結構性的，只要去訪問任何一家銀行，訪問任何一家貿易公司，你就會發現它與結構無關。這與國庫券為零和 2 年期票據為零有關。沒有太多可交易的。

With all those rates, 4%, 5%, maybe they'll be lower or maybe they'll be higher, this is great for U.S. treasury volumes and you should expect volume on that platform to grow and volume across our growth platforms to relentlessly grow as these relationships return. Our business is back to where it should have always been, which is volume and issuance are directly and highly correlated. And those issuance volumes are gigantic, and the volumes in our business will grow, and you will see these numbers continuously grow. And we are very excited about where things are going because they are just going back to where they always should have been.

考慮到所有這些利率，4%、5%，它們可能會更低，也可能會更高，這對美國國債的交易量來說非常好，你應該期望該平台上的交易量會增長，我們的增長平台上的交易量也會不斷增長隨著這些關係的恢復而成長。我們的業務回到了應有的狀態，即發行量和發行量直接且高度相關。這些發行量是巨大的，我們的業務量會增長，你會看到這些數字不斷增長。我們對事情的發展方向感到非常興奮，因為它們只是回到了它們應該在的地方。

This is not a new path we're cutting. It's just shocking that we were off the path for 14 years, made no sense. But then again, if I told you, 14 years ago, the governments were going to buy all their debt and printed with their own money, you would have laughed at me.

這不是我們要開闢的新道路。令人震驚的是，我們偏離了這條道路 14 年，這毫無意義。但話又說回來，如果我告訴你，14 年前，政府將購買所有債務並用自己的錢印鈔，你會嘲笑我的。

And just last question here for me on the capital deployment priorities. Can you expand on the Trident acquisition and I guess, decision-making around repurchases in the fourth quarter of 2022 and how we should think about, I guess, the level of repurchases in the second half of 2023?

最後一個關於資本部署優先事項的問題。你能否詳細談談 Trident 的收購，我想，關於 2022 年第四季度回購的決策，以及我們應該如何考慮，我想，2023 年下半年的回購水平？

So basically speaking, we make more money in the first half of the year, but we collect it in the second half of the year. So generally speaking, as Jason said, we'll be more aggressive in buying back shares in the second half of the year because our cash flow is just better because we collect the bigger numbers in the second half of the year.

所以基本上來說，我們上半年賺的錢多，但是下半年收錢。所以一般來說，正如傑森所說，我們將在下半年更積極地回購股票，因為我們的現金流更好，因為我們在下半年收集了更多的數字。

You are correct. We just bought a commodities brokerage company called Trident. And we're going to continuously invest in the business. Obviously, we view our growth path as very, very attractive now. So we're going to buy other companies and buy assets that we think are going to grow more quickly. However, we did say that we feel that our stock is very attractive at these multiples and you should expect us to buy more shares.

你是對的。我們剛剛收購了一家名為 Trident 的商品經紀公司。我們將繼續投資於這項業務。顯然，我們現在認為我們的增長道路非常非常有吸引力。因此，我們將購買其他公司併購買我們認為會更快增長的資產。但是，我們確實說過，我們認為我們的股票在這些倍數下非常有吸引力，您應該期望我們購買更多股票。

So I think we're going to continuously balance that as we go forward through the year, but we have great opportunity to grow now which we just didn't have in the past, right? We were a catalyst company because that's all we could do is just buy and sell companies and build businesses because our core business really wasn't growing. Now our core business is growing across the board and our opportunity to invest across our business is just much more exciting.

所以我認為我們將在今年繼續保持平衡，但我們現在有很好的增長機會，這是我們過去沒有的，對吧？我們是一家催化劑公司，因為我們所能做的就是買賣公司和建立業務，因為我們的核心業務確實沒有增長。現在我們的核心業務正在全面發展，我們投資整個業務的機會更加令人興奮。

So we have to balance that. That is different than the past. I know many of our shareholders in the past would say, why aren't -- when are you buying back shares? And when you saw -- when we sold our insurance business, we bought back a huge amount of shares. As Jason said, 71 million shares. But the opportunity of this company is changed. The growth is there and our ability to grow our business and get great returns for our shareholders, I think is in front of us. And we're going to balance buying our shares back, which we find very attractive, but also investing in our business, which we now also find very attractive.

所以我們必須平衡這一點。這與過去不同。我知道我們過去的許多股東會說，為什麼不——你什麼時候回購股票？當你看到 - 當我們出售我們的保險業務時，我們回購了大量股票。正如傑森所說，7100 萬股。但是這家公司的機會變了。增長就在那裡，我們發展業務並為股東獲得豐厚回報的能力，我認為就在我們面前。我們將平衡回購我們的股票，我們認為這非常有吸引力，但也要投資我們的業務，我們現在也認為這非常有吸引力。

That may be different from what it was 5 years ago and 7 years ago, but it is a really, really good place now. And it is a lot of fun to debate, which is better because they're both great choices.

這可能與 5 年前和 7 年前的情況有所不同，但它現在是一個非常非常好的地方。辯論很有趣，哪個更好，因為它們都是不錯的選擇。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question is from Rich Repetto with Piper Sandler.

（操作員說明）我們的下一個問題來自 Rich Repetto 和 Piper Sandler。

So the first question is more of a nuanced question. I believe rates helped you as well. But just trying to understand, I looked -- I just looked at the brokerage revenue in rates and in credit, and they're actually down a little bit, 2022 versus '21. And I know that could be FX. But when you look at the CME's interest rate, revenue and volume, it was up 18%. So can you talk about, like the nuances of why, I guess, the banks and your customers will better -- there'll be more activity with the banks this coming year rather than last year when the CME, and the CME is also up 23% year-to-date so far in volume -- in rates. But can you talk about why the lag effect with your platform?

所以第一個問題更像是一個微妙的問題。我相信利率也對您有所幫助。但我只是想了解一下——我只是查看了利率和信貸方面的經紀收入，它們實際上有所下降，2022 年與 21 年相比。我知道那可能是外匯。但是當你看一下 CME 的利率、收入和交易量時，它增長了 18%。那麼你能不能談談，比如我猜為什麼銀行和你的客戶會更好的細微差別——今年銀行將有更多的活動，而不是去年 CME，CME 也在上漲年初至今，銷量增長 23%——利率。但是你能談談為什麼你的平台會產生滯後效應嗎？

Well, Rich, maybe I'll start that, Rich, it's Sean. You're right to say so last year, last year, rates for us was up in constant currency, 4.3%. As we said last year, last year, as you're going into the rising interest rate environment, you get a bit of choppiness and lumpiness in terms of -- in some of the businesses. You can remember, we pointed out in Q3 and Q4, who would have thought that in inflation -- inflation business would actually be -- have lower volumes during Q3 and 4 of '22 at a time -- and rates are rising.

好吧，里奇，也許我會開始，里奇，我是肖恩。去年你這麼說是對的，去年，我們的利率以固定匯率計算上漲了 4.3%。正如我們去年所說，去年，當你進入利率上升的環境時，你會在某些業務方面出現一些波動和腫塊。你可以記住，我們在第三季度和第四季度指出，誰會想到在通貨膨脹中——通貨膨脹業務實際上是——在 22 年第三季度和第四季度的交易量較低——而且利率正在上升。

That piece is behind us now. And hence, the fact that I spent all of my prepared remarks talking about what's happened in Q1. And in Q1, you noticed that all of the asset classes are performing -- are increasing. Yes, up 8% overall, 10% on constant currency, but that's actually across the board. And albeit that is at the start of -- it started in December and it's continued favorably into Jan and Feb. And I think as Howard pointed out before, it takes -- the lag between going into the interest rate -- rising interest rate environment, now we are there. And that's where trading -- that's why trading volumes are increasing for us, starting in December and continued strongly into Q1.

那件作品現在在我們身後。因此，我把所有準備好的發言都花在了談論第一季度發生的事情上。在第一季度，您注意到所有資產類別都在表現——都在增加。是的，整體增長 8%，按固定匯率計算增長 10%，但這實際上是全面的。儘管這是從 12 月開始的，並且一直持續到 1 月和 2 月。我認為正如霍華德之前指出的那樣，它需要 - 進入利率之間的滯後 - 利率上升的環境，現在我們在那裡。這就是交易的地方——這就是為什麼我們的交易量在增加，從 12 月開始並持續強勁到第一季度。

So the CME had is very pure in short-term rates, and you saw last year, they had volume growth and short-term rates. They had less volume growth and long-term rates. You were going to watch the volume just smoothly go out across the curve, across products, across our entire product mix. So I don't think it matters which product it is. It's not going to be -- smooth was the wrong word. It's going to be relentless would be the right word.

所以 CME 的短期利率非常純粹，去年你看到了，它們有交易量增長和短期利率。他們的銷量增長和長期利率較低。你會看到銷量在整個產品組合中平穩地跨越曲線、跨產品。所以我認為它是什麼產品並不重要。它不會是 - 順利是錯誤的詞。它將是無情的將是正確的詞。

I think volumes will go to the long end. I think volumes will go again, up in the short end. Where the Fed is moving things, where market perception is will change volumes up or down. But the answer is going to be the vast issuance of treasuries, the vast issuance of credit, the vast issuance that's coming will not be met with the government buying it. It will be met by trading volume happening. And that velocity will go through the business as we return to the traditional volume.

我認為交易量將長期存在。我認為交易量會再次上升，在短期內上升。美聯儲的行動在哪裡，市場的看法就會改變交易量。但答案將是大量發行國債，大量發行信貸，即將到來的大量發行不會被政府購買。它將通過發生的交易量來滿足。當我們回到傳統數量時，這種速度將貫穿整個業務。

So I would think you're going to see it now. I told you this in the -- right, in the middle of the year, I said we're going to be choppy. There are going to be many of our businesses that are going to be up big and some will be down illogically, but that will end by beginning of this year. It ended by December. But the answer is we are a growth business now and you're going to see it across our businesses, some stronger than others, right? In 1 quarter or another. But you are going to feel the path relentlessly move forward in a positive way as these relationships return.

所以我想你現在會看到它。我告訴過你這個 - 是的，在年中，我說過我們會變得不穩定。我們的許多業務將會發展壯大，有些會不合邏輯地倒閉，但這種情況將在今年年初結束。它在十二月結束。但答案是我們現在是一家成長型企業，你會在我們的所有業務中看到這一點，有些業務比其他業務更強大，對吧？在一個季度或另一個季度。但隨著這些關係的回歸，你會感覺到這條道路以積極的方式不斷向前推進。

Got it. It's going to be fun to watch, Howard. So the next -- my follow-up question would be on FMX. In the earnings release, you talked about it being on track, but you didn't mention that the launch date -- or the soft launch date to be reaffirmed in the second quarter. Could you talk about what contract means for FMX?

知道了。霍華德，觀看會很有趣。所以下一個——我的後續問題將是關於 FMX。在財報發布中，你談到它正在走上正軌，但你沒有提到發布日期——或者在第二季度重申的軟發布日期。你能談談合同對 FMX 意味著什麼嗎？

Yes. It means nothing has really changed, sorry. I mean, our perceptions are that we are -- we finished -- we will finish this quarter. The regulatory answers to their questions, we will get approval. Soon after when the government chooses to give us those approvals, we will then announce our soft launch date, and we will begin. So these processes are just -- we're moving forward. We're excited about it.

是的。這意味著什麼都沒有真正改變，抱歉。我的意思是，我們的看法是我們 - 我們完成了 - 我們將完成本季度。監管部門回答他們的問題，我們就會得到批准。在政府選擇給予我們這些批准後不久，我們將宣佈軟啟動日期，然後我們就會開始。所以這些流程只是——我們正在向前邁進。我們對此感到興奮。

Imagine being able to open a U.S. rates futures platform competing with the $67 billion Chicago Mercantile Exchange into the greatest reemergence of rates and volume in more than a decade. I mean, timing is -- you can't be more excited around this firm these days. It is so exciting. It is so exciting by the clients. They are ready for it. They want it. And this is the greatest timing for it. Volumes are here, volumes are going to grow. $67 billion monopoly, ready for a little competition. This is going to be fine.

想像一下，能夠開設一個美國利率期貨平台，與市值 670 億美元的芝加哥商品交易所競爭，實現十多年來利率和交易量的最大復蘇。我的意思是，時機是——這些天你對這家公司感到無比興奮。這太令人興奮了。這讓客戶非常興奮。他們已經準備好了。他們想要它。這是最好的時機。數量在這裡，數量將會增長。 670 億美元的壟斷，準備好進行小規模競爭。這會沒事的。

Okay. So I'm still expecting a 2Q soft launch no matter what your legal counsel probably wants you to tell you, say how. Anyway, last question is around the corporate conversion. I've gotten a couple of questions. So could you just review, Howard, what are the reasons for doing the benefits to you? And then the issue of the tax rate versus the savings? And when will we expect to see sort of the quantification of that?

好的。因此，無論您的法律顧問可能希望您告訴您什麼，我仍然期待 2Q 軟啟動，如何說。無論如何，最後一個問題是關於公司轉型的。我有幾個問題。那麼，霍華德，您能否回顧一下，為您帶來好處的原因是什麼？然後是稅率與儲蓄的問題？我們什麼時候才能看到這種量化？

Okay. So as Jason mentioned, we expected -- why don't you repeat what you said before, Jason?

好的。正如 Jason 提到的那樣，我們期待 — Jason，你為什麼不重複你之前說過的話？

We expect to provide additional information with respect to our expected tax rates going forward as soon as practical.

我們希望在可行的情況下盡快提供有關我們未來預期稅率的更多信息。

No, no. But what's the date we're doing it. You said we'll do it...

不，不。但是我們在哪一天做這件事。你說我們會做的...

We expect to file form S-4 registration statement in the second quarter of 2023.

我們預計將在 2023 年第二季度提交 S-4 表格註冊聲明。

Right. That's all about. So in the second quarter, we'll file our S-4. That then put the legal documents to the SEC. When they approve it, then we close. So that's pretty much how it works. There's nothing much in between. You just close as soon as practical thereafter. And so that's where we are. We'll file it in the second quarter. Then we will come out and we'll have a good understanding of tax rates, and we'll try to talk to everybody and go through the details.

正確的。僅此而已。所以在第二季度，我們將提交 S-4。然後將法律文件提交給美國證券交易委員會。當他們批准時，我們就會關閉。這就是它的工作原理。兩者之間沒有什麼。此後，您只要盡快關閉即可。這就是我們的處境。我們將在第二季度提交。然後我們會出來，我們會對稅率有一個很好的了解，我們會嘗試與每個人交談並了解細節。

Simplicity, right? We have met with many shareholders over time who found the structure, the up C structure complex and they would prefer to have a simple C corp structure in order to buy our stock. So we will put that in place. It will be a simple C-corp structure. We'll put that in place. Timing couldn't be better. We have the growth rate of the company coming hard, and you've got a simpler structure. I think that will be helpful.

簡單吧？隨著時間的推移，我們遇到了許多股東，他們發現這種結構，up C 結構很複雜，他們更願意擁有簡單的 C corp 結構來購買我們的股票。所以我們會把它放在適當的位置。這將是一個簡單的 C-corp 結構。我們會把它放在適當的位置。時機再好不過了。我們公司的增長率越來越高，而且結構更簡單。我認為這會有所幫助。

There will be some tax leakage. We know our rate will be higher, but we will have a much simpler structure. We should be able to save money and save expense. We should be able to -- as an example, we bought GFI. It had corporate broker dealers. We had BGC, we'd add partnership broker-dealers. So we're doing all of this work that can now be simplified, they can all be merged together. It could be just simpler, more capital-efficient, less work to do. And so we think that will mitigate some of the tax cost.

會有一些漏稅。我們知道我們的利率會更高，但我們的結構會簡單得多。我們應該能夠省錢和節省費用。我們應該能夠——例如，我們購買了 GFI。它有公司經紀交易商。我們有 BGC，我們會添加合夥經紀自營商。所以我們正在做所有這些現在可以簡化的工作，它們都可以合併在一起。它可能更簡單、資本效率更高、工作量更少。因此，我們認為這將減輕一些稅收成本。

Won't be perfect. So our tax rate will be higher, and we've said that all along. However, we should be able to mitigate it to a reasonable degree. And I think simplicity will just make the company better. It will be more transparent. It will be easier to understand. We'll get more shareholders to be able to buy the company. And I think it'll work. So second quarter, we file. Should be able to close in the third.

不會完美。所以我們的稅率會更高，我們一直都這麼說。但是，我們應該能夠將其減輕到合理的程度。我認為簡單只會讓公司變得更好。它會更透明。會更容易理解。我們將讓更多的股東能夠購買公司。而且我認為它會起作用。所以第二季度，我們提交。應該可以在第三關。

We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Lutnick for closing comments.

我們的問答環節已經結束。我想將會議轉回 Lutnick 先生的閉幕評論。

Well, thank you all. Our future is clearly bright. We feel that the volume -- trading volumes are going to be excellent for the industry. Banks will do very, very well. Trading firms will do well. We feel that our technology, our global scale and the incredibly attractive position that we're in from a comparative valuation perspective makes BGC a very, very, very attractive alternative in a marketplace where lots of people are going to win, but we feel BGC is just best positioned to have an extraordinary return for our investors. We look forward to talking to you again. We are delighted to call ourselves, again, a growth company, and we look forward to reporting, going forward, with higher volumes and interest rates. So stick with us for the long future. Thank you all and look forward to speaking to you again next quarter.

嗯，謝謝大家。我們的未來顯然是光明的。我們認為該行業的交易量將非常好。銀行會做得非常非常好。貿易公司會做得很好。我們認為，我們的技術、我們的全球規模以及從比較估值的角度來看我們所處的極具吸引力的地位使 BGC 成為一個非常、非常、非常有吸引力的選擇，在這個市場上很多人都會贏，但我們覺得 BGC最有能力為我們的投資者帶來非凡的回報。我們期待與您再次交談。我們很高興再次稱自己為一家成長型公司，我們期待著在未來報告更高的交易量和利率。因此，請與我們一起度過漫長的未來。謝謝大家，期待下個季度再次與您交談。

Thank you. This does conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開您的線路，感謝您的參與。