Equitable Holdings Inc (EQH) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, my name is Krista, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Equitable Holdings Third Quarter Earnings Call 2023. (Operator Instructions)

早安，我叫克里斯塔，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時，我歡迎大家參加 Equitable Holdings 2023 年第三季收益電話會議。（操作員說明）

I will now turn the conference over to Erik Bass, Head of Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

我現在將會議交給投資者關係主管 Erik Bass。您可以開始您的會議了。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Equitable Holdings Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Call. Material for today's call can be found on our website at ir.equitableholdings.com.

謝謝。早安，歡迎參加 Equitable Holdings 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。今天電話會議的資料可以在我們的網站 ir.equitableholdings.com 上找到。

Before we begin, I would like to note that some of the information we present today is forward-looking and subject to certain SEC rules and regulations regarding disclosure. Our results may materially differ from those expressed in or indicated by such forward-looking statements. Please refer to the safe harbor language on Slide 2 of our presentation for additional information.

在開始之前，我想指出，我們今天提供的一些資訊具有前瞻性，並受到 SEC 某些有關披露的規則和法規的約束。我們的結果可能與此類前瞻性陳述中表達或顯示的結果有重大差異。請參閱我們簡報投影片 2 上的安全港語言，以了解更多資訊。

Joining me on today's call is Mark Pearson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Equitable Holdings; Robin Raju, our Chief Financial Officer; Nick Lane, President of Equitable Financial; Bill Siemers, AllianceBernstein's Interim Chief Financial Officer; and Onur Erzan, Head of AllianceBernstein's Global Client Group and Private Wealth business.

與我一起參加今天電話會議的是 Equitable Holdings 總裁兼執行長 Mark Pearson； Robin Raju，我們的財務長； Nick Lane，Equitable Financial 總裁； Bill Siemers，聯博公司臨時財務長；奧努爾‧艾爾贊 (Onur Erzan)，聯博全球客戶集團與私人財富業務主管。

During this call, we will be discussing certain financial measures that are not based on generally accepted accounting principles, also known as non-GAAP measures. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures and related definitions may be found on the Investor Relations portion of our website, in our earnings release, slide presentation, and financial supplement.

在本次電話會議中，我們將討論某些不基於公認會計原則的財務指標，也稱為非 GAAP 指標。這些非公認會計準則衡量標準與最直接可比較的公認會計準則衡量標準和相關定義的調節可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分、我們的收益發布、幻燈片演示和財務補充中找到。

I would now like to turn the call over to Mark and Robin for their prepared remarks.

現在我想將電話轉給馬克和羅賓，讓他們聽聽他們準備好的發言。

Good morning, and thank you for joining today's call. This is a promising time for Equitable and the life insurance industry as the combination of higher interest rates and favorable demographic trends, provides the best backdrop for growth we've seen in well over a decade.

早安，感謝您參加今天的電話會議。對於 Equitable 和人壽保險行業來說，這是一個充滿希望的時期，因為較高的利率和有利的人口趨勢相結合，為我們提供了十多年來最好的成長背景。

Equitable is particularly well positioned to capitalize on these tailwinds given our unique business model which allows us to monetize all 3 components of the insurance value chain: Product manufacturing; asset management; and distribution.

鑑於我們獨特的商業模式使我們能夠將保險價值鏈的所有三個組成部分貨幣化：產品製造；資產管理;和分配。

On Slide 3, we present an overview of the third quarter. Third quarter non-GAAP operating earnings were $413 million or $1.15 per share, up 16% year-over-year, but down 2% compared to the second quarter, modestly below our expectations. Adjusting for notable items in the period, which included lower alternative returns, elevated mortality and a higher tax rate. Non-GAAP operating earnings per share was $1.30, which is up 15% compared to third quarter of last year and up 2% sequentially.

在投影片 3 上，我們概述了第三季。第三季非 GAAP 營業利潤為 4.13 億美元，即每股 1.15 美元，年增 16%，但較第二季下降 2%，略低於我們的預期。對這一時期的值得注意的項目進行了調整，其中包括較低的替代回報、較高的死亡率和較高的稅率。非 GAAP 每股營運收益為 1.30 美元，比去年第三季成長 15%，比上一季成長 2%。

Robin will touch on this in more detail in a few minutes. We continue to benefit from momentum in both our retirement and wealth management businesses with a combined $3 billion of net inflows in the quarter, supported by record demand for our industry-leading buffered annuity and 4,100 proprietary advisers, which enable us to capture distribution margin for our retirement offerings and investment products.

羅賓將在幾分鐘內更詳細地討論這一點。我們繼續受益於退休和財富管理業務的發展勢頭，本季淨流入總計30 億美元，這得益於對我們行業領先的緩衝年金和4,100 名自營顧問的創紀錄需求，這使我們能夠獲得分配利潤我們的退休產品和投資產品。

In Asset Management, we were not immune to industry-wide pressures with $1.9 billion in outflows in Quarter 3, but active flows were nearly flat in the quarter, a better result than for most peers. Turning to capital. Our businesses continue to deliver diverse sources of earnings, which ultimately leads to a more predictable cash flow. Year-to date we have generated approximately $1 billion of cash to holdings and remain on track for our $1.3 billion guidance for the year.

在資產管理領域，我們也未能倖免於全行業的壓力，第三季的資金流出量為 19 億美元，但本季的活躍資金流幾乎持平，這比大多數同業的結果要好。轉向資本。我們的業務持續提供多樣化的收入來源，最終帶來更可預測的現金流。年初至今，我們已為持有的股票產生了約 10 億美元的現金，並仍有望實現今年 13 億美元的目標。

Importantly, more than half of our cash flow now comes from nonregulated entities, which makes it more predictable. Our cash generation and holdco cash position of $2 billion continue to support meaningful capital return to shareholders. We returned $315 million in the quarter and over $900 million year-to-date, putting us on track to come in at or above the high end of our 60% to 70% payout ratio target.

重要的是，我們一半以上的現金流現在來自不受監管的實體，這使其更具可預測性。我們的現金產生和控股公司現金狀況為 20 億美元，繼續為股東提供有意義的資本回報。我們本季返還了 3.15 億美元，今年迄今返還了超過 9 億美元，這使我們預計將達到或高於 60% 至 70% 支付率目標的上限。

Our third quarter results also reflect our annual assumption review, the first under the LDTI accounting framework. The minimal impact to operating results reflects the benefits of our conservative approach to setting assumptions and designing products with a narrow range of outcomes. We continue to focus on driving profitable, organic growth across our businesses, executing against these strategic priorities outlined at our Investor Day, including our yield enhancement and productivity initiatives. We are also benefiting from higher interest rates, which are at levels we haven't experienced in over 15 years and favorable demographics with 11,000 Americans turning 65 each day.

我們的第三季業績也反映了我們的年度假設審查，這是 LDTI 會計框架下的首次審查。對經營績效的影響極小，反映出我們採用保守方法設定假設和設計結果範圍狹窄的產品的好處。我們繼續專注於推動整個業務的獲利、有機成長，執行投資者日概述的這些策略重點，包括我們的產量提高和生產力計劃。我們也受益於更高的利率（這是我們 15 年來從未經歷過的水平）以及有利的人口結構（每天有 11,000 名美國人年滿 65 歲）。

In our general account, higher new money yields and the continued demand for our RILA product furthers the shift in our retirement business towards spread-based earnings. Higher interest rates have also been a tailwind for our Wealth Management segment with revenue on cash balances supporting operating earnings growth of over 80% over prior year quarter. Current interest rate levels put us ahead of plan relative to our 2027 target to double earnings to $200 million per annum.

在我們的普通帳戶中，更高的新貨幣收益率和對 RILA 產品的持續需求進一步推動了我們的退休業務向利差收益的轉變。較高的利率也是我們財富管理部門的推動力，現金餘額收入支持營業利潤較上年同期成長 80% 以上。目前的利率水準使我們提前實現了 2027 年收益翻倍至每年 2 億美元的計畫。

On Slide 4, I'll touch on the favorable impact of higher interest rates in a bit more detail. We have often talked about our market-neutral balance sheet, which means that we hedge first dollar interest rate exposures and equity market exposures on the guarantees we've made to our clients. This means that we are not making a bet on the direction of markets when we price products. As a result, our RBC has remained in a narrow and comfortable range despite significant volatility in interest rates and markets over the past few years.

在投影片 4 上，我將更詳細地討論高利率的有利影響。我們經常談論我們的市場中性資產負債表，這意味著我們根據我們向客戶提供的擔保來對沖第一美元利率風險和股票市場風險。這意味著我們在為產品定價時並不是押注市場的走向。因此，儘管過去幾年利率和市場大幅波動，但我們的 RBC 仍保持在狹窄且舒適的範圍內。

This ultimately enables us to drive consistent cash generation and capital return to shareholders. While our balance sheet is neutralized from the impact of interest rate movements, higher rates provide a meaningful tailwind to our earnings and growth outlook. Our retirement product offering is more attractive to clients, evidenced by our second consecutive quarter of record sales and net flows.

這最終使我們能夠持續創造現金並為股東帶來資本回報。雖然我們的資產負債表受到利率變動的影響，但較高的利率為我們的獲利和成長前景提供了有意義的推動力。我們的退休產品對客戶更具吸引力，我們連續第二季創紀錄的銷售額和淨流量就證明了這一點。

Importantly, higher rates also mean better economics for our shareholders and we're generating IRRs above 15% and a record value of new business. As a reminder, strong retirement sales also benefit AB and our Wealth Management business. In our general account, we're investing new money at levels that are 160 basis points above our portfolio yield, which is driving higher net investment income and wider spread.

重要的是，更高的利率也意味著我們股東的經濟效益更好，我們的 IRR 超過 15%，新業務價值創歷史新高。提醒一下，強勁的退休銷售也有利於 AB 和我們的財富管理業務。在我們的普通帳戶中，我們投資的新資金水準比我們的投資組合收益率高出 160 個基點，這推動了更高的淨投資收入和更廣泛的利差。

Finally, we are also realizing a benefit in Wealth Management with increased revenue on cash sweeps supporting strong year-over-year earnings growth. Turning to Slide 5. We highlight the strong results we are seeing across our businesses as we continue to execute against our growth strategy. In Retirement, we reported a record quarter with $1.5 billion of net inflows, a 5% annualized organic growth rate with strong results in individual retirement offsetting typical third quarter seasonality in our Group Retirement segment.

最後，我們也實現了財富管理的收益，現金掃款收入增加，支持強勁的年比獲利成長。轉向投影片 5。我們重點介紹了我們在繼續執行成長策略的過程中在各個業務中看到的強勁成果。在退休業務方面，我們報告了創紀錄的季度淨流入 15 億美元，年化有機成長率為 5%，個人退休業務的強勁業績抵消了集團退休業務第三季度典型的季節性因素。

Total premiums were $5.4 billion in the quarter, up 17% year-over-year, led by our industry-leading RILA product with $3.1 billion in premiums, up 37% year-over-year.

本季總保費為 54 億美元，年增 17%，其中我們業界領先的 RILA 產品領先，保費為 31 億美元，較去年同期成長 37%。

In Asset Management, we continue to drive growth in our private markets platform with $8 billion of our initial $10 billion capital commitment from Equitable's general account deployed to date and an additional $10 billion committed at our Investor Day in May, bringing our cumulative commitment to $20 billion.

在資產管理方面，我們繼續推動私募市場平台的成長，迄今為止，我們已從Equitable 普通帳戶中部署了100 億美元的初始資本承諾中的80 億美元，並在5 月份的投資者日額外承諾了100 億美元，使我們的累計承諾達到20 美元十億。

The acquisition of CarVal, also significantly enhanced AB's offering and private markets AUM has grown 11% year-over-year to $61 billion as of quarter end. Total net outflows at AB of $1.9 billion in the quarter were modest relative to the industry with active flows nearly flat and outpacing peers. Organic growth in the retail channel was attributable to taxable fixed income and municipals and U.S. retail flows have been positive for 12 of the last 13 quarters.

收購 CarVal 也顯著增強了 AB 的產品和私人市場 AUM，截至季末，其 AUM 年增 11%，達到 610 億美元。 AB 本季的淨流出總額為 19 億美元，相對於該產業而言規模不大，活躍資金幾乎持平，且成長速度超過同業。零售通路的有機成長歸因於應稅固定收益和市政和美國零售流量在過去 13 個季度中有 12 個季度為正值。

Fixed income performance remained strong with nearly 75% of assets outperforming over the 1- and 3-year periods. In the institutional channel, fixed income and passive outflows offset organic growth in active equities. The pipeline remains strong with $12.5 billion of unfunded mandates and private alternatives comprise more than 80% of the fee base.

固定收益表現依然強勁，近 75% 的資產在 1 年和 3 年期間表現出色。在機構管道中，固定收益和被動資金流出抵消了主動股票的有機成長。管道仍然強勁，有 125 億美元的無資金委託，私人替代方案佔費用基數的 80% 以上。

Our Wealth Management segment, which is the fastest-growing portion of our business reported 8% annualized organic growth in the quarter, with $1.6 billion of net inflows. Net inflows and market tailwinds over the last 12 months drove 16% year-over-year growth in assets under administration, now $79 billion. While operating earnings are benefiting from higher interest rates, we are also seeing improved adviser productivity, which was up 2% compared to the second quarter of this year. Increasing adviser productivity is a key lever to drive higher wealth management margins, and we are encouraged by the momentum in this business.

我們的財富管理業務是我們業務中成長最快的部分，本季年化有機成長 8%，淨流入 16 億美元。過去 12 個月的淨流入和市場順風推動管理資產年增 16%，目前達到 790 億美元。雖然營業收入受益於較高的利率，但我們也看到顧問生產力的提高，與今年第二季相比提高了 2%。提高顧問的生產力是推動更高財富管理利潤的關鍵槓桿，我們對該業務的發展勢頭感到鼓舞。

I will now turn it over to Robin to provide additional updates on the quarter. Robin?

我現在將其轉交給 Robin，以提供有關本季度的更多最新資訊。羅賓？

Thanks, Mark. Turning to Slide 6. I will touch on the results for the third quarter. On a consolidated basis, Equitable Holdings reported non-GAAP operating earnings of $413 million in the quarter or $1.15 per share, up 16% year-over-year. After adjusting for $67 million of unfavorable after-tax notable items and a favorable assumption update of $12 million, non-GAAP operating earnings were $468 million or $1.30 per share, up 15% on a comparable year-over-year per share basis.

謝謝，馬克。轉向幻燈片 6。我將談談第三季的結果。在合併基礎上，Equitable Holdings 報告本季非公認會計準則營業利潤為 4.13 億美元，即每股 1.15 美元，年增 16%。在調整 6,700 萬美元的不利稅後顯著項目和 1,200 萬美元的有利假設更新後，非 GAAP 營業利潤為 4.68 億美元，即每股 1.30 美元，每股可比同比增長 15%。

We also generated net income of $1.1 billion or $3.02 per share. Under LDTI, every quarter that we have reported has resulted in positive net income. This ensures we remain eligible for inclusion into S&P indices. While pleased with the underlying growth momentum across our business, third quarter EPS came in below consensus expectations and our view of the run rate earnings power for the business. This was a noisy quarter. And on Page 7, I'll walk you through the major moving pieces and how we're thinking about the outlook going forward.

我們還創造了 11 億美元的淨利潤，即每股 3.02 美元。根據 LDTI，我們報告的每個季度都產生了正的淨利潤。這確保了我們仍然有資格納入標準普爾指數。儘管對我們整個業務的潛在成長勢頭感到滿意，但第三季每股收益低於共識預期以及我們對該業務運行率盈利能力的看法。這是一個喧鬧的季度。在第 7 頁，我將向您介紹主要的進展以及我們如何思考未來的前景。

Turning to Page 7. There are 3 items that affected the results across the enterprise. First, alternatives and prepayment income were $20 million below our normal expectation. Our alternative portfolio had an annualized return of 6% in the quarter as solid private equity results were offset by the continued weakness in our real estate equity investments, which represent 20% of the alternative portfolio. As a reminder, we normalized to the low end of our 8% to 12% normalized return expectations.

翻到第 7 頁。有 3 個專案影響了整個企業的結果。首先，替代品和預付款收入比我們的正常預期低 2,000 萬美元。我們的另類投資組合本季的年化報酬率為 6%，因為穩健的私募股權表現被我們的房地產股權投資（佔另類投資組合的 20%）的持續疲軟所抵消。提醒一下，我們將回報率預期標準化至 8% 至 12% 的低端。

Looking forward, we expect similar returns in the fourth quarter but project further recovery in performance in 2024. Second, we completed our 2023 assumption update and made some model changes in the third quarter, which resulted in $16 million favorable adjustment. The modest changes reflect our fair value management philosophy, which incorporates emerging experience into our assumptions. This limit surprises like large unlocks for investors.

展望未來，我們預計第四季度會有類似的回報，但預計2024 年業績將進一步復甦。其次，我們完成了2023 年假設更新，並在第三季度進行了一些模型更改，從而帶來了1600 萬美元的有利調整。這些適度的變化反映了我們的公允價值管理理念，它將新興經驗納入我們的假設中。這項限制讓投資者感到驚訝，就像大量解鎖一樣。

Lastly, the consolidated tax rate in the quarter was 22%, above our 19% expectations. This quarter, we had an unfavorable dividend received deduction true-up, which drove the higher rate. While taxes can bounce around each quarter, we continue to estimate a 19% consolidated tax rate and a 17% tax rate for the insurance business. We also had a few items that affected specific business segments that I wanted to highlight.

最後，本季綜合稅率為 22%，高於我們 19% 的預期。本季度，我們的股息收到扣除調整不利，導致利率上升。雖然稅收每季都會反彈，但我們繼續估計綜合稅率為 19%，保險業務稅率為 17%。我們還有一些影響特定業務部門的項目，我想強調一下。

Protection Solutions earnings were $34 million higher than the second quarter, but below our guidance of $50 million to $75 million per quarter near term. Overall, gross mortality claims were close to our updated assumptions but net claims came in higher than expected due to less reinsurance coverage. In a typical quarter, about 15% of our gross claims are covered by reinsurance. But this quarter, we only had coverage on 10%, this was about a $23 million after-tax variance. Adjusted for which segment earnings would have been at the lower end of our expected range. We still viewed $50 million to $75 million as our best estimate of near-term quarterly earnings power of the business and we expect this to move higher over time.

Protection Solutions 的收益比第二季高出 3,400 萬美元，但低於我們近期每季 5,000 萬至 7,500 萬美元的指引。總體而言，總死亡率索賠接近我們最新的假設，但由於再保險覆蓋範圍減少，淨索賠高於預期。在典型的季度中，我們約 15% 的索賠總額由再保險承保。但本季度，我們的保險覆蓋率僅為 10%，稅後差異約為 2,300 萬美元。調整了哪些部門的獲利將處於我們預期範圍的下限。我們仍然認為 5,000 萬至 7,500 萬美元是我們對該業務近期季度盈利能力的最佳估計，並且我們預計這一數字會隨著時間的推移而上升。

As a reminder, while we expect some continued drag from a pull-forward and mortality in the next few quarters, this has a minimal impact on cash generation since we have already adjusted the statutory assumptions to account for the increased COVID endemic related mortality. I would also note, that we had a modest positive adjustment from our actuarial assumption update, underscoring the conservative assumptions for our block.

提醒一下，雖然我們預計未來幾季的提前和死亡率會繼續造成拖累，但這對現金的影響很小，因為我們已經調整了法定假設，以考慮到與新冠疫情相關的死亡率增加。我還要指出的是，我們對精算假設更新進行了適度的積極調整，強調了我們區塊的保守假設。

Moving forward, we will explore ways to reduce the earnings volatility in the Protection Solutions segment, such as by adding more reinsurance or reducing retention limits. In Individual Retirement, we delivered a second straight quarter of record sales in net flows, highlighting the growing consumer demand for protected equity and secure income solutions. Total sales were $3.8 billion, and net flows were $1.7 billion, which continues to be driven by our spread-based RILA product, SCS. This momentum bodes well for the future growth in Individual Retirement earnings and cash generation.

展望未來，我們將探索減少保護解決方案領域收益波動的方法，例如增加更多再保險或減少保留限額。在個人退休方面，我們連續第二季的淨流量銷售額創歷史新高，突顯了消費者對受保護的股權和安全收入解決方案的需求不斷增長。總銷售額為 38 億美元，淨流量為 17 億美元，這繼續受到我們基於價差的 RILA 產品 SCS 的推動。這種勢頭預示著個人退休收入和現金生成的未來成長。

However, one of the dynamics we've seen is that as the terms we can offer, the policyholders improves with higher interest rates. There is some increased lapse activity in our in-force block, which we have factored into our near-term assumptions. Under GAAP accounting, this requires us to amortize more DAC, and we expect quarterly amortization expense to be roughly $5 million higher going forward. While this is a modest near-term headwind for earnings, I would emphasize 2 things.

然而，我們看到的動態之一是，隨著我們可以提供的條款，保單持有人的利益隨著利率的增加而提高。我們的有效區塊中的失效活動增加，我們已將其納入我們的近期假設中。根據 GAAP 會計準則，這要求我們攤銷更多 DAC，我們預計未來季度攤銷費用將增加約 500 萬美元。雖然這對獲利來說是一個溫和的近期阻力，但我要強調兩件事。

One, as we mentioned earlier, we're seeing record net flows and the growth in this block will have a much bigger impact on earnings over time. Secondly, DAC amortization is a noncash expense, that is no change in projected cash flow for the business. Overall, we continue to be very bullish on the outlook for Individual Retirement.

一，正如我們之前提到的，我們看到創紀錄的淨流量，隨著時間的推移，該區塊的成長將對利潤產生更大的影響。其次，DAC 攤提是一項非現金支出，即業務預期現金流量沒有變動。整體而言，我們仍然非常看好個人退休的前景。

In Wealth Management, we collected $5 million of lower commission related earnings this quarter due to a lower level of 403(b) sales. This corresponds with the seasonality in our Group Retirement business related to teachers being off during the summer months. Going forward, you should assume some seasonal pressure on the wealth management results in the third quarter. But we viewed $45 million of earnings as a better run rate to think about for the fourth quarter.

在財富管理領域，由於 403(b) 銷售額水準較低，本季我們獲得了 500 萬美元的佣金相關收入減少。這與我們的團體退休業務中與教師在夏季休假相關的季節性相對應。展望未來，第三季理財業績應該承受一定的季節性壓力。但我們認為 4500 萬美元的收益是第四季更好的運行率。

Finally, on Corporate and Other, we generated a normalized loss of $109 million which is worse than our expected quarterly run rate of roughly $100 million This is due to timing of some expenses. As a backdrop, we remain confident in our ability to grow EPS at 12% to 15% annual rate through 2027. Across all our businesses, we continue to control the controllables. We are ahead of our plan for achieving the $110 million general account yield enhancement target helped by the higher rate environment.

最後，在企業和其他方面，我們產生了 1.09 億美元的正常化虧損，這比我們預期的大約 1 億美元的季度運行率要差，這是由於某些費用的時間安排所致。在此背景下，我們仍然對 2027 年每股收益以 12% 至 15% 的年增長率成長的能力充滿信心。在我們所有的業務中，我們繼續控制可控因素。在較高利率環境的幫助下，我們提前實現了 1.1 億美元普通帳戶收益提升目標。

Additionally, we're ahead of schedule on our $150 million expense savings target and expect to capture $30 million run rate of savings this year.

此外，我們提前實現了 1.5 億美元的費用節省目標，並預計今年將實現 3,000 萬美元的節省運行率。

Finally, as Mark touched on earlier, the higher rate environment provides a strong tailwind for new business. Across all 3 retirement businesses, we are running well ahead of our projection for D&B in 2023, which will contribute to future earnings and cash flow.

最後，正如馬克早些時候提到的，較高的利率環境為新業務提供了強勁的推動力。在所有 3 項退休業務中，我們的運作情況遠遠超出了 D&B 對 2023 年的預測，這將為未來的獲利和現金流做出貢獻。

Turning to Slide 8. Let's dive deeper into the diverse sources of earnings that lead to our consistent cash generation. Our deliberate actions over the last 5 years to shrink our legacy block, grow our wealth management and private markets business and expand our core retirement and asset management markets have led us to meaningfully grow earnings and cash flows, while also shifting to a higher-quality mix. At the same time, we consistently convert earnings to cash flows in our retirement business for 2 reasons.

轉向幻燈片 8。讓我們更深入地探討導致我們持續產生現金的多樣化收入來源。在過去5 年裡，我們採取了審慎行動，縮小了我們的遺留業務，發展了我們的財富管理和私人市場業務，並擴大了我們的核心退休和資產管理市場，這使我們的收益和現金流得到了有意義的成長，同時也轉向了更高品質的業務。混合。同時，我們始終將退休業務的收益轉換為現金流，原因有二。

First, the business is strongly capitalized and tightly hedged, ensuring our balance sheet is market neutral. This enables our earnings and cash to remain stable through volatile markets. Second, $200 million of the cash flows from these businesses are unregulated and go directly to the holding company through our investment management contracts. As a result, our retirement cash flows are much more consistent and higher quality than other retirement players in the industry.

首先，該業務資本雄厚，對沖嚴格，確保我們的資產負債表保持市場中立。這使我們的收入和現金能夠在動盪的市場中保持穩定。其次，這些業務產生的 2 億美元現金流不受監管，並透過我們的投資管理合約直接流向控股公司。因此，我們的退休現金流比業內其他退休參與者更加一致和更高品質。

At the same time, we have 2 high-quality unregulated businesses in asset and wealth management that comprise the remaining 40% of our anticipated $1.3 billion of cash flows this year. This business converts nearly 100% of their earnings to cash flow. The quality and durability of cash flows enabled us to increase our payout target earlier this year to 60% to 70% of operating earnings. This is a 20 percentage point increase since our IPO, demonstrating a significant shift in our business over time.

同時，我們在資產和財富管理方面擁有 2 項高品質、不受監管的業務，占我們今年預期 13 億美元現金流的剩餘 40%。該業務將近 100% 的收入轉化為現金流。現金流的品質和持久性使我們能夠在今年稍早將派息目標提高至營業收入的 60% 至 70%。自 IPO 以來，這一數字增長了 20 個百分點，表明我們的業務隨著時間的推移而發生了重大轉變。

This leads me to our next slide where I'll dive deeper into our capital management program. Turning to Slide 9. Our strong cash generation continues to drive shareholder value. In the quarter, we returned $315 million, which includes $238 million of share repurchases, resulting in an $8 million share count reduction. Over the last 12 months, we have returned 1.1 billion to shareholders, reducing our shares outstanding by 8%. At the same time, our holding company cash increased to $2 billion after taking a dividend from the insurance subsidiary.

這將引導我進入下一張投影片，我將在其中更深入地探討我們的資本管理計畫。轉向投影片 9。我們強勁的現金產生能力持續推動股東價值。本季度，我們返還了 3.15 億美元，其中包括 2.38 億美元的股票回購，導致股票數量減少了 800 萬美元。過去 12 個月，我們向股東返還 11 億美元，流通股減少了 8%。同時，從保險子公司分紅後，我們的控股公司現金增加至20億美元。

Our cash position gives us confidence to continue paying out 60% to 70% of non-GAAP operating earnings, even in volatile markets. It also enables us to play offense and be opportunistic rather than being on the defense. Year-to-date, we have upstreamed $1 billion of dividends to the holding company and remain confident that we will hit our $1.3 billion target for the year.

我們的現金狀況使我們有信心繼續支付 60% 至 70% 的非 GAAP 營業利潤，即使在波動的市場中也是如此。它還使我們能夠進攻並機會主義，而不是防守。今年迄今為止，我們已向控股公司上調了 10 億美元的股息，並對今年 13 億美元的目標仍然充滿信心。

In the fourth quarter, we will receive unregulated dividends from AllianceBernstein, our wealth management business and our investment management contract with the retirement company. From an investor perspective, we believe that Equitable Holdings presents an excellent value proposition. After paying interest expense, we expect to generate $1.1 billion of distributable free cash flow, which represents a 12% free cash flow yield. Our businesses have strong organic growth potential and we expect cash generation to increase by 50% to $2 billion by 2027.

在第四季度，我們將從AllianceBernstein、我們的財富管理業務以及我們與退休公司的投資管理合約中獲得不受監管的股息。從投資者的角度來看，我們相信 Equitable Holdings 提供了極好的價值主張。支付利息費用後，我們預計將產生 11 億美元的可分配自由現金流，即自由現金流收益率為 12%。我們的業務具有強大的有機成長潛力，我們預計到 2027 年現金產生量將增加 50%，達到 20 億美元。

With that, I will now turn the call back to Mark for closing remarks. Mark?

現在，我將把電話轉回給馬克，讓他發表結束語。標記？

Thanks, Robin. In closing, we continue to benefit from momentum in both our retirement and wealth management businesses, with a combined $3 billion of net inflows in the quarter. Our balance sheet and capital position remained robust with conservative assumptions resulting in no material assumption review impact.

謝謝，羅賓。最後，我們繼續受益於退休和財富管理業務的成長勢頭，本季淨流入總計 30 億美元。我們的資產負債表和資本狀況保持穩健，假設保守，不會對假設審查產生重大影響。

Our cash generation and HoldCo cash position of $2 billion continues to support consistent capital return to shareholders, tracking at or above the high end of our 60% to 70% target payout ratio. We remain on track for the financial guidance we outlined at our Investor Day as we continue to focus on driving growth across our businesses while capitalizing on the tailwind provided by higher interest rates.

我們的現金產生和控股公司 20 億美元的現金部位繼續支持股東持續的資本回報，追蹤或高於我們 60% 至 70% 目標支付率的上限。我們仍將遵循我們在投資者日概述的財務指引，因為我們將繼續專注於推動整個業務的成長，同時利用利率上升帶來的順風車。

With that, we'll now open the line for questions.

現在，我們將開放提問熱線。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Your first question comes from the line of Elyse Greenspan from Wells Fargo.

你的第一個問題來自富國銀行的愛麗絲‧格林斯潘。

My first question is on Protection Solutions. So if in the fourth quarter, if mortality is expected to still remain elevated. And I know in the slides, you guys pointed to alternative results being similar to the Q3 sequentially. So when does that imply that in the fourth quarter, you would still fall below that $50 million to $75 million target? Or is there something I'm missing in there? Or is there normalizing on the reinsurance side? I'm just trying to piece that all together.

我的第一個問題是關於保護解決方案。因此，如果在第四季度，死亡率預計仍將保持在較高水準。我知道在幻燈片中，你們指出了與第三季相似的替代結果。那麼，這何時意味著在第四季度，您仍將低於 5,000 萬至 7,500 萬美元的目標？或者我在那裡缺少什麼東西？或者再保險方面是否正在走向常態化？我只是想把這一切拼湊起來。

Thanks, Elyse. So for protection in the fourth quarter, we continue to expect to see some of the pull forward come through. That would put us in the range of the $50 million to $75 million guidance. We continue to expect that range over the near term in Protection Solutions. And then obviously, some of the alts would come against that as well. And so from a normalized basis, we should be at the lower end of the range when considering alts as long as we remain at that midpoint. In the third quarter, to give you comfort, as you see, on a normalized basis, we are at the lower end of the range of $49 million or $50 million. We continue to see good momentum and improvement in actually gross claims. But as you noted, we did see some of the reinsurance coming lower than expected. We're at 10% in the quarter versus 15% historically and we'd expect that to normalize going forward as well.

謝謝，愛麗絲。因此，為了第四季度的保護，我們繼續預計會看到一些拉動。這將使我們處於 5000 萬至 7500 萬美元的指導範圍內。我們繼續預期保護解決方案短期內會出現此範圍。顯然，有些另類也會反對這一點。因此，從標準化的基礎來看，只要我們保持在中點，我們在考慮替代品時就應該處於範圍的下限。在第三季度，為了給您帶來安慰，如您所見，在正常化的基礎上，我們處於 4900 萬美元或 5000 萬美元範圍的下限。我們繼續看到實際索賠總額的良好勢頭和改善。但正如您所指出的，我們確實看到一些再保險低於預期。我們本季的成長率為 10%，而歷史水準為 15%，我們預期未來這一比例也將正常化。

But a reminder, again, the pull forward and what we see in the range has no impact on the cash flows and the cash flows continue to grow strongly overall across our businesses.

但再次提醒大家，拉動和我們在該範圍內看到的情況對現金流沒有影響，而且我們業務的現金流總體上繼續強勁增長。

And then there was like around a $1.5 billion impact to net income for the VA product feature line this quarter. I had thought that, that would be smoother under LDTI, can you just give some color on what went on there in the quarter.

然後，本季 VA 產品功能線的淨利潤受到約 15 億美元的影響。我原以為，在 LDTI 下會更順利，您能否對本季發生的情況提供一些說明。

Sure. So we -- as I mentioned on the call, this is the seventh straight quarter that we've seen positive net income post LDTI. And so we're comforted and continuing to see positive results there. On our hedging program, we do hedge with the general account and some on the interest rate side. So the general account flows through AOCI versus the liability flowing through the VA product features and then we do that purposely to avoid statutory volatility, and so we can have consistent capital return. So it should be in line with the sensitivity that we've given for interest rates as it relates to LDTI.

當然。正如我在電話會議上提到的，這是我們在 LDTI 後連續第七個季度實現正淨利。因此，我們感到欣慰並繼續看到積極的成果。在我們的對沖計劃中，我們會對普通帳戶和利率方面的一些進行對沖。因此，一般帳戶流經 AOCI，負債流經 VA 產品功能，然後我們故意這樣做以避免法定波動，這樣我們就可以獲得一致的資本回報。因此，它應該與我們給出的與 LDTI 相關的利率敏感度一致。

Your next question comes from the line of Tom Gallagher from EVR.

您的下一個問題來自 EVR 的 Tom Gallagher。

Robin, just following up on your comment on considering reinsurance, additional reinsurance purchases on your protection block to lower volatility, can you talk a little bit about what you're considering there? what pricing is like? is that likely to lower the earnings in the segment? Or would you not see -- would you not expect it to have much of an impact?

羅賓，只是跟進您關於考慮再保險、在您的保護塊上購買額外再保險以降低波動性的評論，您能談談您正在考慮的事情嗎？定價是怎樣的？這可能會降低該領域的收益嗎？或者你不會看到——你不會期望它會產生很大的影響嗎？

Sure, Tom. Look, for protection, we're not -- we're obviously not happy with the results for the business. And so therefore, we are exploring options to mitigate volatility of the results. And we'd hope to mitigate it by hopefully at some point in the first half of next year. Certainly, in the -- if you look relative to peers, we've historically had higher retention limits on that business. That's a function of us being a subsidiary part of a big company previously before our IPO. And so we have to explore those retention limits. Obviously, if we give up and we reduce the volatility, you're giving up some long-term economic returns. So that's the trade-off that we'll continue to assess. But we're in discussions with reinsurers and assessing those trade-offs.

當然，湯姆。看，為了保護，我們不是——我們顯然對業務結果不滿意。因此，我們正在探索減輕結果波動性的方案。我們希望在明年上半年的某個時候能夠減輕這種影響。當然，如果你看看相對於同行，我們歷來對該業務有更高的保留限制。這是我們在首次公開募股之前作為一家大公司的子公司的功能。因此，我們必須探索這些保留限制。顯然，如果我們放棄並減少波動性，那麼您就放棄了一些長期經濟回報。這就是我們將繼續評估的權衡。但我們正在與再保險公司討論並評估這些權衡。

Okay. And any -- I know it's early, it just came out yesterday, but any initial thoughts on this new Department of Labor proposal on retirement and how that might impact either the industry or Equitable?

好的。我知道現在還為時過早，昨天剛發布，但是對於勞工部關於退休的新提案以及這可能對行業或公平有何影響有什麼初步想法嗎？

Sure, Tom. This is Nick. We are still digesting the almost 500 pages. With that said, initial reading, the main for us from the DOL is that all rollovers from ERISA 401(k) plans will be considered fiduciary activities.

當然，湯姆。這是尼克。我們仍在消化這近 500 頁的內容。話雖如此，初步解讀，DOL 為我們帶來的主要訊息是，ERISA 401(k) 計劃的所有展期都將被視為信託活動。

And while in spirit, this aligns with the 2016 rule. What is different in this iteration, it does not include any private rights of actions. And since 2016, a majority of firms have revamped their compliance processes to align with the existing SEC and stay best interest in fiduciary rules.

從精神上來說，這與 2016 年的規則是一致的。這次迭代的不同之處在於，它不包括任何私人權利的行為。自 2016 年以來，大多數公司都修改了合規流程，以與現有 SEC 保持一致，並保持對信託規則的最大利益。

What does this mean for the industry? The biggest impact appears to be that nonsecurity licensed insurance agents that sell nonregistered products like fixed index annuities will now be covered.

這對產業意味著什麼？最大的影響似乎是銷售固定指數年金等非註冊產品的非證券許可保險代理人現在將受到保護。

There's also some interesting language pulling robo-advisers in scope. For Equitable, we see no material impact given the investments we've made and the changing landscape. As a reminder, Equitable advisers operates today under the higher SEC Reg BI fiduciary standards. 403(b) plans are not in scope and our individual annuity products or registered product, registered product securities sold through registered broker-dealer channels.

還有一些有趣的語言將機器人顧問納入範圍。對於 Equitable 來說，考慮到我們所做的投資和不斷變化的情況，我們認為不會產生實質影響。謹此提醒，Equitable 顧問目前在更高的 SEC Reg BI 信託標準下運作。 403(b) 計畫不在範圍內，我們的個人年金產品或註冊產品、註冊產品證券透過註冊經紀交易商管道出售。

Going forward, we'll continue to review the details. And I do expect there to be significant industry comments over the next 60-day period. On specific provisions that will provide more clarity.

展望未來，我們將繼續審查細節。我確實預計在接下來的 60 天內將會有重要的行業評論。關於具體規定，將提供更明確的內容。

Your next question comes from the line of Jimmy Bhullar from JPMorgan.

您的下一個問題來自摩根大通的吉米·布拉爾 (Jimmy Bhullar)。

So first, just a question on AB. Should we assume that flows in the business and obviously, other asset managers have been affected by this, but should we assume the flows are going to be challenging until there's a little bit more stability in interest rates in the equity market? Or are there other things that suggest that things might improve in your business in the near term?

首先，問一個關於AB 的問題。我們是否應該假設業務流動，顯然其他資產管理公司也受到了影響，但我們是否應該假設在股市利率更加穩定之前，流動將面臨挑戰？或者是否有其他事情表明您的業務在短期內可能會有所改善？

Thanks, Jimmy. This is Onur Erzan from AB. As you pointed out, it has been a tough environment. That said, if you look at our active flows in the third quarter, we were roughly flat, which was better than other peers that reported so far. So we feel good about our relative performance on the business. And when we look at the growth engines, we feel pretty good about the momentum. We were top 5% in equities and [Munis] in the U.S. retail, top 3% in cross-border taxable fixed income. So definitely feeling good about those, even in institutional, which led to the outflows overall, including passive, actually institutional equities had an annualized organic growth rate of 7%.

謝謝，吉米。我是來自 AB 的 Onur Erzan。正如您所指出的，這是一個艱難的環境。也就是說，如果你看看我們第三季的活躍流量，就會發現我們大致持平，這比迄今為止報告的其他同行要好。因此，我們對我們在業務上的相對錶現感到滿意。當我們看到成長引擎時，我們對這種勢頭感覺非常好。我們在美國零售業的股票和市政債券領域排名前 5%，在跨國應稅固定收益領域排名前 3%。因此，即使是機構股票，也肯定會感覺良好，這導致了整體資金流出，包括被動的，實際上機構股票的年化有機成長率為 7%。

So we feel confident about the diversity of our growth engines. It's -- and finally, our institutional pipeline remains very strong at $12 billion, and the effective fee rate on that is 3x the effective fee rate we have today in the institutional business, so definitely revenue accretive. So we have a lot of strength to feel good about. That said, we cannot predict the rates and the rate uncertainty definitely keeps the investors on the sidelines and skews the flows towards money market funds and low risk, low fee products.

因此，我們對成長引擎的多樣性充滿信心。最後，我們的機構管道仍然非常強勁，達到 120 億美元，其有效費率是我們目前機構業務有效費率的 3 倍，因此絕對會增加收入。所以我們有很多力量可以感覺良好。也就是說，我們無法預測利率，利率的不確定性肯定會讓投資人保持觀望，並使資金流向貨幣市場基金和低風險、低費用產品。

So cannot time it perfectly, feel confident in terms of our ability to perform well, but definitely, there could be some sluggish growth depending on the rate environment.

因此，不能完美地掌握時機，對我們表現良好的能力充滿信心，但肯定的是，根據利率環境，可能會出現一些緩慢的成長。

And then, Robin, on the protection, I think earnings have been weaker than your estimates or your guidance for 6 of the past 7 quarters, and there's always some reason, obviously, for that, and it's varied over time. But what still gives you the confidence that $50 million to $75 million is the right range should -- or have you thought about lowering the range given results in the last several quarters?

然後，羅賓，關於保護，我認為過去 7 個季度中有 6 個季度的盈利低於您的預期或指導，顯然，總是有一些原因，而且隨著時間的推移而變化。但是，是什麼讓您仍然相信 5000 萬至 7500 萬美元是正確的範圍——或者您是否考慮過根據過去幾個季度的結果降低該範圍？

Sure, Jimmy, you're right. It's come in below our expectations over the last few periods. But on a normalized basis for those -- for the reinsurance that I mentioned, it did come in at the lower end of our range, even given -- even taking into account the alternative portfolio. So seeing that come through and knowing if we went back to our 15% reinsurance coverage that we've had, we would have been at the lower end of the range and also seeing gross claims improved quarter-over-quarter. That's what gives us confidence in the range, but we're not just relying on confidence. We're going to obviously explore actions to reduce the volatility of the business because, honestly, it's a small part of Equitable Holdings. We generated $1.3 billion of cash flows. It's growing at $2 billion of cash flows and we're answering questions about volatility in a smaller segment here. So we look to reduce that going forward and get the focus back on how we're growing cash flows by 50% to 2027.

當然，吉米，你是對的。過去幾個時期的表現低於我們的預期。但在標準化的基礎上，對於我提到的再保險，即使考慮到替代投資組合，它確實處於我們範圍的下限。因此，看到這一情況的發生，並知道如果我們回到我們已有的 15% 的再保險覆蓋範圍，我們將處於該範圍的下限，並且總索賠額也將逐季度有所改善。這讓我們對這個系列充滿信心，但我們不僅僅依賴信心。顯然，我們將探索減少業務波動的行動，因為老實說，它只是 Equitable Holdings 的一小部分。我們產生了 13 億美元的現金流。它的現金流量正在以 20 億美元的速度成長，我們在這裡回答有關較小細分市場波動性的問題。因此，我們希望未來減少這種情況，並將重點重新放在如何在 2027 年之前將現金流增加 50%。

Your next question comes from the line of Alex Scott from Goldman Sachs.

您的下一個問題來自高盛的 Alex Scott。

First one I had just a quick follow-up on the comments on the fiduciary rule. I think you mentioned there was no private right of action. I noticed in the -- I thought there was an enforcement section that mentioned the private right of action. I think there may be a nuance there with like Title 1 versus Title 2 or something, but just interested in that piece of your comment. And what your read of that language on enforcement was?

第一個我只是對信託規則的評論進行了快速跟進。我想你有提到沒有私人訴訟權。我注意到——我認為有一個執行部分提到了私人訴權。我認為標題 1 與標題 2 之類的可能存在細微差別，但只是對您的評論感興趣。您對有關執行的語言的理解是什麼？

Yes. At this time, we would view it as a nuance, but we'll be coming back with more details on that.

是的。目前，我們會認為這是一個細微差別，但我們會回來提供更多細節。

Okay. Understood. Second question I had was just on the environment for RILA products and competition. Are you seeing any more competition coming in from the private equity players? Are they starting to get any more traction in some of the distribution channels, where I think you all haven't, had they competed directly with them? Are you still able to avoid some of that pressure? Is there a sort of lagging more into private debt allocations and able to provide pretty strong pricing.

好的。明白了。我的第二個問題是關於 RILA 產品和競爭的環境。您是否看到來自自私募股權公司的更多競爭？他們是否開始在某些分銷管道中獲得更多吸引力（我想你們都還沒有），如果他們直接與他們競爭的話？你還能避免一些壓力嗎？私人債務配置是否存在某種滯後性，並且能夠提供相當強勁的定價？

Yes. At this time and for the comments Robin made, we had a record quarter in terms of flows and sales. Competitive dynamics continue to be positive vis-a-vis other markets given our edge in terms of being a pioneer in the market, given our distribution footprint, both Equitable advisers and privileged third party. And given our innovation in the space, we think we're uniquely captured to capture a disproportionate share of the value there.

是的。此時，根據羅賓的評論，我們在流量和銷售額方面創下了季度記錄。鑑於我們作為市場先驅的優勢，考慮到我們的分銷足跡（包括公平顧問和特權第三方），相對於其他市場，競爭動態仍然是積極的。鑑於我們在該領域的創新，我們認為我們具有獨特的優勢，可以捕捉該領域不成比例的價值份額。

Nick, it's still the case that it's sort of 8 players in the market there against nearly 50 players in the fixed annuity market. So we are aware, [Alex] -- the possible new entrants. But at the moment, we don't see it and pricing remains very, very strong.

Nick，市場上仍有 8 位參與者，而固定年金市場有近 50 位參與者。所以我們知道，[Alex]——可能的新進入者。但目前我們還沒有看到這一點，而且定價仍然非常非常強勁。

Your next question comes from the line of Suneet Kamath from Jefferies.

您的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Suneet Kamath。

So Mark, I think in your closing comments, you talked about being opportunistic with capital. And clearly, you have a lot of capital at the holding company. Is one way we might see that is you traveling above the 60% to 70% payout target for some period of time as we move into 2024.

馬克，我認為在您的結束語中，您談到了對資本的機會主義。顯然，您在控股公司擁有大量資本。我們可能看到的一種方式是，在進入 2024 年的一段時間內，您的支付目標將超過 60% 至 70%。

We're not changing any guidance, but if you look in this last quarter, we actually did travel up slightly higher than that particular ratio. I think as both Robin and I, have said with a healthy balance sheet as we have now and the excess cash that does enable us to look at opportunities. I mean, the most recent one we did, of course, 15 months or so ago was CarVal. That really was a way to accelerate our strategy in the build-out of alts. That remains an area where we're very interested in and we remain very interested in wealth management and growing distribution in that size.

我們不會改變任何指導，但如果你看看上個季度，我們實際上確實略高於該特定比率。我認為，正如羅賓和我所說，我們現在擁有健康的資產負債表，並且擁有過剩的現金，這確實使我們能夠尋找機會。我的意思是，我們最近做的一個專案是 CarVal，當然是 15 個月前左右。這確實是加速我們建構替代品策略的一種方式。這仍然是我們非常感興趣的領域，我們仍然對財富管理和擴大這種規模的分配非常感興趣。

So all I would say, Suneet, for the right deal at the right price and where we can see accretion for our shareholders, we'll be very interested in looking at them. But it's not our strategy. Our strategy remains to build out those businesses. And if we see a way to accelerate it, we will sort of look at it.

因此，Suneet，我想說的是，為了以正確的價格進行正確的交易，並且我們可以看到股東的增值，我們將非常有興趣關注它們。但這不是我們的策略。我們的策略仍然是擴大這些業務。如果我們找到加速它的方法，我們就會考慮它。

Got it. Makes sense. And then I guess, as we think about the build-out of the private asset portfolio within the general account, I think you're marching towards that sort of $25 billion, how should we think about the capital requirements associated with that growth in privates?

知道了。說得通。然後我想，當我們考慮一般帳戶內私人資產投資組合的建設時，我認為您正在朝著 250 億美元的目標邁進，我們應該如何考慮與私人資產增長相關的資本要求？

Sure. So we're about 80% of the year through and getting to our $10 billion for the year. And so we have confidence in that. And then we have another $10 billion commitment to AB's business. And as you know, the big -- the big surprise there is AB growing that to almost $90 billion by 2027 and it being 20% of the revenues at AllianceBernstein. So that's the big price for EQH.

當然。因此，我們今年已經完成了大約 80% 的時間，並達到了 100 億美元的目標。所以我們對此充滿信心。然後我們又承諾投資 AB 的業務 100 億美元。如你所知，令人驚訝的是，AB 到 2027 年將這一數字增長到近 900 億美元，佔聯博公司收入的 20%。這就是 EQH 的巨大代價。

Obviously, as our business grows, we have to hold capital for the risk that we take. But this is coming with the growth in our overall business, and we're not fundamentally shifting the mix that we see. So we don't see a significant capital constraint as a result in the movement of the general account. And so for -- historically, if you look back, for every dollar that we put in, into AllianceBernstein, they've grown $4 worth of third-party money. So we think it's a great value proposition for shareholders without constraining capital.

顯然，隨著我們業務的成長，我們必須持有資本來承擔所承擔的風險。但這是隨著我們整體業務的成長而出現的，我們並沒有從根本上改變我們所看到的組合。因此，我們認為一般帳戶的變動不會造成重大的資本限制。因此，從歷史上看，如果你回顧一下，我們向 AllianceBernstein 投入的每一美元，他們都會增加價值 4 美元的第三方資金。因此，我們認為，在不限制資本的情況下，這對股東來說是一個巨大的價值主張。

Sorry. So the capital requirements on the privates are not materially different than what you guys were holding before?

對不起。那麼，對私人股本的要求與你們先前持有的資本要求沒有本質上的不同嗎？

No. If you look at our business mix today in terms of what we have in private credit and what we have in alternatives, that mix in the general account isn't shifting significantly from now to 2027. So it's coming -- a lot of it's coming from growth in our underlying business.

不會。如果你從私人信貸和替代品的角度來審視我們今天的業務組合，那麼從現在到 2027 年，一般帳戶的組合併沒有發生重大變化。所以它即將到來——很多它來自我們基礎業務的增長。

Your next question comes from the line of Tracy Benguigui from Barclays.

您的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Tracy Benguigui。

Going back to Protection in your comment that gross claims were 10% reinsured versus your 15% average. Did the lower reinsurance recovery have anything to do with risk recapture maybe under a YRT treaty.

回到您評論中的保護問題，總索賠率為 10%，而您的平均值為 15%。再保險回收率較低是否與 YRT 條約下的風險回收有關？

No, it's just a function of lower high base amount claims in the quarter.

不，這只是本季較低的高基數索賠的函數。

Okay. Got it. And just wondering on the comment about normalizing going forward, do you think the face amount might be lower? Or is your normalized recovery dependent upon the comment that you need to add more reinsurance or reduced retention limit?

好的。知道了。只是想知道關於未來正常化的評論，您認為面額可能會更低嗎？或者您的正常恢復是否取決於您需要增加更多再保險或減少保留限額的評論？

No. It has nothing to do with the actions that we take. If you look in the appendix, we put a slide in for the Protection Solutions business and it shows the historical reinsurance coverage that we had. And on average, we've been about 15% and in the quarter, you can see it sticks out to you at 10% in the quarter. So we'd assume that we get back to that historical average just based on the mix of business that we have. And that should put us within that $50 million to $75 million guidance that we've given.

不，這與我們採取的行動無關。如果您查看附錄，我們會為保護解決方案業務新增一張投影片，其中顯示了我們的歷史再保險承保範圍。平均而言，我們的成長率約為 15%，在本季度，您可以看到該季度的成長率為 10%。因此，我們假設我們會根據我們擁有的業務組合回到歷史平均水平。這應該使我們在我們給出的 5000 萬至 7500 萬美元指導範圍內。

Okay. I did see that. So your comment was just based on your track record.

好的。我確實看到了。所以你的評論只是基於你的記錄。

Correct.

正確的。

Yes. Okay. But also just to be sure, did your capital returns this quarter exceed your 60% to 70% payout because of just nuances with GAAP accounting like higher DAC. It doesn't translate to statutory cash flow generation?

是的。好的。但也要確定的是，您本季的資本回報率是否超過了 60% 至 70% 的支出，因為 GAAP 會計的細微差別（例如更高的 DAC）。它不轉化為法定現金流量產生嗎？

That's right. And in the quarter, on a reported basis, we paid more than the 60% to 70% payout ratio. On a normalized basis, we paid at the higher end of that range and continue to see returning cash to shareholders as a great way to drive value, given where the stock trades today. And so we'll continue to return capital to shareholders as we see fit.

這是正確的。在本季度，根據報告，我們支付了超過 60% 至 70% 的支付率。在正常化的基礎上，我們支付了該範圍的較高端，並且考慮到股票目前的交易情況，我們繼續認為向股東返還現金是推動價值的好方法。因此，我們將繼續在我們認為合適的情況下向股東返還資本。

Your next question comes from the line of Wilma Burdis from Raymond James.

您的下一個問題來自雷蒙德詹姆斯 (Raymond James) 的威爾瑪布爾迪斯 (Wilma Burdis)。

The assumption review. Could you just go into a little bit more detail in the assumption review, it's interesting to see a favorable assumption review, especially it seemed like it was related to lapse and utilization.

假設審查。您能否在假設審查中更詳細地介紹一下，看到有利的假設審查很有趣，特別是它似乎與失效和利用率有關。

Sure. I would take the assumptions review in aggregate the way I look at it. And in aggregate, the net income impacts of the assumption review across all of our business was $4 million at the end, and that's why you should expect because that's how we manage our assumptions. We manage on a conservative basis. We move to emerging experience and we do not want to surprise investors with negative unlocks that are large, they're distracting and they're not represented in our core business.

當然。我會按照我的看法對假設進行總體審查。總的來說，假設審查對我們所有業務的淨利潤影響最終為 400 萬美元，這就是您應該預期的原因，因為這就是我們管理假設的方式。我們在保守的基礎上進行管理。我們轉向新興體驗，我們不想讓投資者大吃一驚，因為它們會分散注意力，而且在我們的核心業務中也沒有體現。

So if you look across every single business line that we have. We update assumptions on an annual basis and move towards emerging experience. So you're going to see ins and outs within every single assumption. But at the end of the day, it rounds to a very small number.

因此，如果你看看我們擁有的每一條業務線。我們每年更新假設並朝著新興經驗邁進。所以你會看到每一個假設的來龍去脈。但最終，它會四捨五入到一個非常小的數字。

And then -- well, could you talk about the opportunities to acquire Wealth Management teams versus the ability to grow organically?

然後，您能談談收購財富管理團隊的機會與有機成長的能力嗎？

Sure. Our model is succinct because we both bring in new people into the industry and grow them into wealth managers. We've amplified that through our experienced adviser initiatives, which would be looking for a supported independence model. The opportunity for a differentiated advice model, the platform that gives them open architecture to a full suite of fee-based reoccurring investment products, plus our strength of our retirement platform. Year-to-date, we've recruited roughly 80 advisers on the experience side. So we see traction on that side.

當然。我們的模式很簡潔，因為我們既引進新人進入這個產業，也將他們培養成財富管理者。我們透過經驗豐富的顧問計劃擴大了這一點，該計劃將尋找受支持的獨立模式。差異化建議模型的機會，該平台為他們提供了全套收費重複投資產品的開放式架構，再加上我們退休平台的實力。今年迄今為止，我們已經招募了約 80 名體驗方面的顧問。所以我們看到了這方面的牽引力。

Your next question comes from the line of Maxwell Fritscher from Truist Securities.

您的下一個問題來自 Truist Securities 的 Maxwell Fritscher。

I'm calling in for Mark Hughes. I joined a little late, so I apologize if you covered this. But in Wealth Management, you've had positive year-over-year sales growth in Advisory after contractions in the first 2 quarters of the year and strong growth in brokerage and direct. Is there anything in particular you're seeing there that you can share? I know you had just mentioned recruiting, but anything else?

我要找馬克·休斯。我加入得有點晚，所以如果你報道了這一點，我深表歉意。但在財富管理領域，在經歷今年前兩個季度的收縮之後，諮詢業務的銷售同比出現正增長，而經紀業務和直接業務的強勁增長。在那裡看到什麼特別的東西可以分享嗎？我知道你剛才提到了招聘，但是還有其他的嗎？

Yes. Structurally in the industry, you've seen with interest rates up, people move cash into fixed maturity options which are more on the -- which aren't fee-based investments. So that shifted some of it from the fee-based investment to the structure maturities. As Robin highlighted, we continue to see growth in our reoccurring fee-based investment accounts in terms of positive net flows, and that continues to be a growing percentage of our AUA.

是的。從結構上看，隨著利率的上升，人們將現金轉移到固定期限的選擇權中，這些選擇權更多地不是基於費用的投資。因此，這將其中一部分從收費投資轉移到了結構到期。正如 Robin 所強調的那樣，我們繼續看到我們的經常性收費投資帳戶的正淨流量不斷增長，並且這在我們的 AUA 中所佔的比例繼續不斷增長。

Your next question comes from the line of Mike Ward from Citi.

您的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的邁克沃德（Mike Ward）。

Maybe back to the regulatory landscape. I know the focus has been on the DOL. I think in some of the SEC priorities for '24 might include variable annuities too. Just wondering if you had any inklings or communications on what they're interested there.

也許回到監管環境。我知道焦點一直在勞工部。我認為 SEC 24 年的一些優先事項也可能包括可變年金。只是想知道您是否對他們感興趣的內容有任何暗示或交流。

At this time, the SEC has been focused on implementation of Reg BI in the interpretations of that regulation. That's been the major push. We'll have to come back to you on any specific variable annuity.

目前，SEC 在解釋該法規時一直關注 Reg BI 的實施。這是主要的推動力。我們必須就任何特定的可變年金向您回覆。

Okay. I know it's really. And then just a second on some of the good guys and the net flow metrics. I think some areas like private credit have been pretty strong in helping you guys strategically be dug into this at the Investor Day. What I'm wondering is kind of how the outlook for these asset classes might change, if and when we get to a point of declining interest rates? And how do you guys sort of think through that.

好的。我知道這是真的。然後簡單介紹一下一些好人和淨流量指標。我認為私人信貸等一些領域在幫助你們在投資者日策略性地深入研究這一問題方面發揮了相當大的作用。我想知道的是，如果我們達到利率下降的程度，這些資產類別的前景可能會發生什麼變化？你們是怎麼想的？

Mike, it's again Onur from AB. Yes, we feel pretty good about the outlook for our private alternatives platform. We have roughly $14 billion in dry powder there. So we can definitely deploy capital across all of our strategies, ranging from real estate debt to corporate lending and CarVal. In terms of the declining rates, first of all, it's hard to predict when that's going to happen. I think the base case seems to suggest it's more high for longer. But even in a relatively lower rate scenario, the attractiveness of private credit remains strong because we have a lot of floating rate exposures, but also you have the ability to go with fixed and we have seen this through the market cycle because if you think about history, we had these strategies depending on the strategy, except CarVal, going back to 2012, 2014 and we have generated consistent net flows, regardless of the interest rate environment. So it's pretty rate agnostic. So we believe the momentum will continue.

麥克，又是來自 AB 的奧努爾。是的，我們對我們的私人另類平台的前景感到非常滿意。我們在那裡擁有大約價值 140 億美元的乾粉。因此，我們絕對可以在所有策略中部署資本，從房地產債務到企業貸款和 CarVal。就利率下降而言，首先，很難預測何時會發生。我認為基本情況似乎表明它會持續更高的水平。但即使在利率相對較低的情況下，私人信貸的吸引力仍然很強，因為我們有很多浮動利率風險敞口，而且你也有能力選擇固定利率，我們已經在整個市場週期中看到了這一點，因為如果你考慮一下歷史上，我們有這些策略，這取決於策略，除了 CarVal，可以追溯到 2012 年、2014 年，無論利率環境如何，我們都產生了一致的淨流量。所以它與利率無關。因此我們相信這種勢頭將會持續下去。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。