富途控股 (FUTU) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Futu Holdings Third Quarter 2022 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

女士們、先生們，大家好。歡迎參加富途控股2022年第三季電話會議。 （操作員指令）

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host for today's conference call, Daniel Yuan, Chief of Staff and Head of IR at Futu. Please go ahead, sir.

現在，我想將今天的電話會議主持人、富途證券首席參謀長兼投資者關係主管 Daniel Yuan 交給您。先生，請繼續。

Thanks, operator, and thank you for joining us today to discuss our third quarter 2022 earnings results. Joining me on the call today are Mr. Leaf Li, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Arthur Chen, Chief Financial Officer; and Robin Xu, Senior Vice President.

謝謝，接線員，感謝您今天加入我們討論我們的 2022 年第三季收益結果。今天與我一起參加電話會議的還有董事長兼執行長李立先生； Arthur Chen，財務長；以及資深副總裁 Robin Xu。

As a reminder, today's call may include forward-looking statements, which represent the company's belief regarding future events, which by their nature are not certain and are outside of the company's control. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution you that a number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. For more information about the potential risks and uncertainties, please refer to the company's filings with the SEC, including its registration statement.

提醒一下，今天的電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述代表了公司對未來事件的看法，這些事件本質上並不確定且不在公司的控制範圍內。前瞻性陳述涉及固有風險和不確定性。我們提醒您，許多重要因素可能導致實際結果與任何前瞻性陳述中的結果有重大差異。有關潛在風險和不確定性的更多信息，請參閱公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，包括其註冊聲明。

So with that, I will now turn the call over to Lee. Lee will make his comments in Chinese, and I will translate.

因此，我現在將電話轉給李。李將用中文發表評論，我負責翻譯。

[Interpreted] Thank you all for joining us today. As of quarter end, we had 1.44 million paying clients, representing a 24% year-over-year growth. In the third quarter, we added 58,000 paying clients, a 5% sequential decline due to stock market tumbles. Despite the market downturn, we achieved over 98% quarterly paying client retention rate for each of the 5 countries and regions for the first time. Our industry-leading retention metric speaks to the stickiness of our product and the resilience of our premier client base.

[翻譯] 感謝大家今天的出席。截至季末，我們擁有 144 萬付費客戶，年增 24%。第三季度，我們增加了 58,000 名付費客戶，由於股市下跌，季減 5%。儘管市場不景氣，我們首次在5個國家和地區實現了超過98%的季度付費客戶保留率。我們業界領先的保留指標反映了我們產品的黏性和我們優質客戶群的彈性。

In Singapore, new paying client growth accelerated by over 1/3 sequentially as we successfully launched targeted online and offline marketing campaigns around mutual funds and expanded client acquisition channels. We are able to attract many allocation-driven clients who gravitated towards lower risk mutual funds amid market volatility. In the U.S. market, client growth remained robust as we iterated on online marketing and deepen our collaboration with KOLs. The deceleration of client acquisition in Hong Kong was mainly due to sluggish equity market performance and, to a lesser extent, limited traction of our promotions around silver bond.

在新加坡，由於我們成功圍繞共同基金開展了有針對性的線上和線下行銷活動並擴大了客戶獲取管道，新付費客戶成長環比增長超過 1/3。我們能夠吸引許多配置驅動的客戶，他們在市場波動時傾向於選擇風險較低的共同基金。在美國市場，隨著我們不斷迭代線上行銷並深化與KOL的合作，客戶成長依然強勁。香港客戶獲取速度的減速主要是因為股市表現低迷，其次，也是因為我們對白銀債券的促銷強度有限。

The residents between the age of 35 and 55 will remain our priority in Hong Kong as our current penetration is around 10%, offering significant room for further growth. Total client assets declined 13% year-over-year and 15% quarter-over-quarter to HKD 370 billion. While the challenging equity market weighed on client portfolio valuation, net asset inflow remains strong. In Singapore, total client assets grew by 11% quarter-over-quarter due to higher quality new clients and strong asset inflows.

35歲至55歲的居民仍將是我們在香港的重點客戶，因為我們目前的滲透率約為10％，為進一步增長提供了巨大的空間。客戶總資產年減 13%，季減 15%，至 3,700 億港元。儘管充滿挑戰的股票市場對客戶投資組合估值造成壓力，但淨資產流入仍強勁。在新加坡，由於新客戶品質提高和資產流入強勁，客戶總資產較上季成長 11%。

Total trading volume declined 19% sequentially to HKD 1.1 trillion, of which U.S. stock trading constituted 69%. Lower turnover of technology names led to a 15% sequential decline in U.S. stock trading volumes, partially offset by strong trading interest and leveraged and inverse ETFs. Hong Kong stock trading volume was HKD 304 billion, down 28% sequentially amid deteriorating market sentiment across all sectors. Margin financing and securities lending balance increased by 2% sequentially, driven by client's bottom fishing of Chinese new economy name.

總成交量較上季下降 19% 至 1.1 兆港元，其中美國股票交易佔 69%。科技股成交量下降導緻美國股票交易量環比下降 15%，但強勁的交易興趣以及槓桿和反向 ETF 部分抵消了這一影響。由於各產業的市場情緒惡化，香港股票成交量為 3,040 億港元，較上季下降 28%。融資融券餘額比上一季成長2%，受客戶對中國新經濟名稱抄底的推動。

Client assets in wealth management grew 47% year-over-year and 19% quarter-over-quarter to HKD 26 billion. In Singapore, we became the exclusive distributor of a newly launched USD-denominated money market fund with [free flow zero] settlement, the first of its kind in Singapore. We also introduced SmartSave in Singapore, which gives our clients the option to automatically subscribe for and redeem money market funds based on the cash positions and their trading accounts.

財富管理客戶資產較上年同期成長47%，較上季成長19%，達260億港元。在新加坡，我們成為新推出的以[自由流動零]結算的美元計價貨幣市場基金的獨家經銷商，這是新加坡首隻此類基金。我們也在新加坡推出了 SmartSave，讓我們的客戶可以根據現金部位和交易帳戶自動認購和贖回貨幣市場基金。

We were intentional about adding money market products and enhancing their functionality amid a rate hike environment, thereby growing our wealth management assets in Singapore by five-fold quarter-over-quarter.

我們在升息環境下有意增加貨幣市場產品並增強其功能，使我們在新加坡的財富管理資產環比增長了五倍。

Client assets in private funds increased by 67% sequentially, mainly attributable to a new cash management product that offers 4.2% expected annualized return for professional investors with a 1-month lockup. As of quarter end, wealth management penetration among paying clients increased from 15% in the second quarter to 17% as we continue to expand fund offerings and upgrade product features.

私募基金客戶資產較上季成長 67%，主要由於推出了一款新現金管理產品，為專業投資者提供 4.2% 的預期年化收益，鎖定期為 1 個月。截至季末，隨著我們不斷擴大基金產品範圍和升級產品功能，付費客戶中的財富管理滲透率從第二季的 15% 上升至 17%。

Our enterprise business have 301 IPO and IR clients as well as 572 ESOP clients as of quarter end, up 40% and 76% year-over-year, respectively. Over 50 companies adopted our ESOP services during the quarter, including Ganfeng Lithium and MicroPort. In the first 3 quarters of this year, we underwrote 23 Hong Kong IPOs and ranked second among all brokers according to [Wind].

截至季末，我們的企業業務擁有 301 個 IPO 和 IR 客戶以及 572 個 ESOP 客戶，分別年增 40％ 和 76％。本季度，超過 50 家公司採用​​了我們的 ESOP 服務，其中包括贛鋒鋰業和微創醫療。今年前三季度，我們承銷了23隻香港IPO，根據[Wind]的數據，我們承銷的香港IPO數量在所有券商中排名第二。

Next, I'd like to invite our CFO Officer, Arthur, to discuss our financial performance.

接下來，我想邀請我們的財務長 Arthur 來討論我們的財務表現。

Thanks, Leaf and Daniel. Please allow me to walk you through our financial performance in the third quarter. All the numbers are in Hong Kong dollars unless otherwise noted.

謝謝，Leaf 和 Daniel。請容許我向您介紹我們第三季的財務表現。除非另有說明，所有數字均為港元。

Our total revenue was HKD 1.9 billion, up 12% from HKD 1.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021. Brokerage commission and handling charge income was HKD 958 million, an increase of 3% year-over-year and a decrease of 7% Q-o-Q. The year-over-year increase was mainly driven by a higher blended commission rate of 8.8 basis points, up from 6.9 basis points in the year ago quarter.

我們的總營收為19億港元，較2021年第三季的17億港元成長12%。經紀佣金及手續費收入為9.58億港元，年增3%，季減7%。年成長主要由於混合佣金率上漲 8.8 個基點，高於去年同期的 6.9 個基點。

The Q-over-Q decrease was close to 20% sequential decline in trading volume, partially offset by the higher blended commission rates. Interest income was HKD 881 million, an increase of 39% year-over-year and 42% Q-over-Q. The year-over-year increase was mainly due to higher income from cash deposits, which more than offset lower margin financing income and IPO 0:11:58 financing interest income.

交易量較上季下降接近 20%，但被混合佣金率的提高部分抵銷。利息收入為8.81億港元，年增39%，季增42%。年成長主要由於現金存款收入增加，抵銷了保證金融資收入和IPO 0:11:58融資利息收入的下降。

The Q-over-Q increase was mostly attributable to higher interest income from cash deposits and higher margin financing income. Other incomes was HKD 107 million, down 36% year-over-year and up 16% Q-over-Q. The year-over-year decrease was mainly due to lower IPO financing service charge income, enterprise public relationship service charge income and currency exchange service income.

環比成長主要歸因於現金存款利息收入增加以及保證金融資收入增加。其他收入為1.07億港元，年減36%，較上季成長16%。年減主要由於IPO融資服務費收入、企業公關服務費收入及貨幣兌換服務收入下降。

The Q-over-Q increase was mainly due to some one-off income items. Our total cost was HKD 218 million, a decrease of 18% from HKD 267 million in the third quarter of 2021. Brokerage commission and handling charge expenses were HKD 83 million, down 34% year-over-year and 5% Q-o-Q. The commission expenses didn't move in line with brokerage commission income due to the cost savings from our U.S. sales clearing migration and upgrade service package with our U.S. clearing house. A Q-over-Q decrease was mainly due to lower trading volumes.

環比增長主要由於一些一次性收入項目。我們的總成本為 2.18 億港元，較 2021 年第三季的 2.67 億港元下降 18%。經紀佣金及手續費支出為 8,300 萬港元，年減 34%，季減 5%。由於我們與美國清算所進行美國銷售清算遷移和升級服務包所節省的成本，佣金支出並未與經紀佣金收入同步變動。環比下降主要是由於交易量下降。

Interest expenses were HKD 44 million, down 40% year-over-year and up 68% Q-over-Q. The year-over-year decrease was mostly due to lower expenses from market financing and security lending. The sequential uptick was driven by higher daily average margin financing balance and higher lending and funding costs and rate hike. Processing and servicing costs were HKD 91 million, up 35% year-over-year and down 3% Q-o-Q.

利息支出為0.44億港元，年減40%，較上季增加68%。年比下降主要由於市場融資和證券借貸費用減少。環比上漲主要是由於每日平均保證金融資餘額增加、貸款及融資成本上升、利率上調。加工及服務成本為9,100萬港元，年增35%，季減3%。

The year-on-year increase was primarily driven by higher cloud service fee to support our overseas market expansion. As a result, total gross profit was HKD 1.7 billion, an increase of 18% from HKD 1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2021. Gross margin was 89%, expand from 85% in the third quarter of 2021.

年比成長主要是由於雲端服務費上漲，以支持我們海外市場的擴張。因此，總毛利為17億港元，較2021年第三季的15億港元成長18%。毛利率為89%，較2021年第三季的85%擴大。

Operating expenses were HKD 761 million, down 0.3% year-over-year, up 5% Q-o-Q. R&D expenses were HKD 313 million, up 40% year-over-year and 7% Q-over-Q. The increase was mainly due to increase in R&D headcount as we continue to support new product offering, invest in U.S. sales clearing capabilities and customized product experience for different new markets.

營運費用為7.61億港元，年減0.3%，較上季成長5%。研發費用為3.13億港元，較去年成長40%，較上季成長7%。成長的主要原因是，我們繼續支持新產品的供應、投資美國銷售清算能力以及針對不同新市場的客製化產品體驗，從而增加了研發人員的數量。

Selling and marketing expenses was HKD 235 million, down 42% year-over-year, up 7% Q-o-Q. The year-over-year decrease was mainly due to slowing paying client growth. Expenses increased Q-o-Q as client acquisition cost hike due to weak market sentiments.

銷售及行銷費用為2.35億港元，年減42%，較上季成長7%。年比下降主要是由於付費客戶成長放緩。由於市場情緒疲軟導致客戶獲取成本增加，因此費用較上季增加。

G&A expenses were HKD 212 million, up 55% year-on-year and 1% Q-on-Q. The increase was primarily due to increase in headcount for general and administrative personnel. As a result, our net income increased by 23% year-over-year and 18% Q-o-Q to HKD 755 million.

一般行政開支為 2.12 億港元，較去年同期增加 55%，較上一季增加 1%。成長的主要原因是一般及行政人員數量增加。因此，我們的淨收入年增23％，季增18％，達到7.55億港元。

Net income margin increased to 39% in the third quarter as compared to 36% in the same quarter last year. Our [differed] tax rate for the quarter increased to 12.2% as the tax credit from our US clearing has been fully utilized.

第三季淨利率由去年同期的36%上升至39%。由於我們美國清算的稅收抵免已被充分利用，本季的[遞延]稅率增加至 12.2%。

That concludes our prepared remarks. We now like to open the call to questions. Operator, please go ahead.

我們的準備好的演講到此結束。我們現在開始回答問題。接線員，請繼續。

(Operator Instructions) We'll now take our first question. Please stand by. This is from the line of Cindy Wang from China Renaissance.

（操作員指示）現在我們來回答第一個問題。請稍候。這是來自華興資本的 Cindy Wang 的系列。

(foreign language) My first question is regarding to the interest income in third quarter. Since interest income show very strong growth in the third quarter, could you give us a breakdown by margin financing income, bank deposit and IPO financing interest income in third quarter? Since that rate hike was another 75 bps in November and possibility to raise another 50 bps in December, how do you see the contribution from bank deposits in fourth quarter?

（外語）我的第一個問題是關於第三季的利息收入。由於第三季利息收入成長非常強勁，您能否分別介紹一下第三季保證金融資收入、銀行存款和IPO融資利息收入的明細？由於11月利率再升息75個基點，且12月份可能再升息50個基點，您如何看待第四季銀行存款的貢獻？

The second question is regarding to the commission rate. In third quarter, the commission rate was up again to 8.8 bps. Could you give us the reasoning behind it? And how sustainable for the rate in fourth quarter?

第二個問題是關於佣金率。第三季度，佣金率再漲至8.8個基點。您能告訴我們背後的原因嗎？第四季的利率能否持續？

Thank you, Cindy. This is Arthur. I will take 2 of your questions. First about the interest income. I think the contribution from the IPO margin financing is relatively small. So most of our interest income now comes from the client's idle cash and also our margin business, which I think you are right. We are one of the beneficiary from the rate hike cycle, especially in the third quarter. We see the contribution from the client deposits become more meaningful. And down the line, I think on a like-for-like basis, it may contribute more interest income in the fourth quarter.

謝謝你，辛蒂。這是亞瑟。我將回答您的兩個問題。首先說利息收入。我認為IPO融資的貢獻相對較小。所以我們現在的大部分利息收入來自客戶的閒置現金以及我們的保證金業務，我認為你是對的。我們是升息週期的受益者之一，尤其是在第三季。我們看到客戶存款的貢獻變得更有意義。從長遠來看，我認為以同類基礎計算，它可能會在第四季度貢獻更多的利息收入。

But having said that, you can understand that our interest income actually comes from 2 parameters. What is the interest rate, i.e., the deposit rate we get from the batch. The other is the client's idle cash average balance, which may be related to the market volatilities. For instance, in the third quarter, the market becomes very challenging, and we can see the average cash balance among our clients become much higher, they lower down their stock position. So I'm not sure whether such the allocations versus clients' stock and the clients' cash will remain in the fourth quarter or not. But if I assume such ratio remain the same versus the third quarter, I think we will get more interest income in the fourth quarter.

不過話說回來，你可以理解，我們的利息收入其實是來自於2個參數。利率是多少，也就是我們從批次中獲得的存款利率。另外就是客戶閒置現金平均餘額，可能和市場的波動有關。例如，在第三季度，市場變得非常具有挑戰性，我們可以看到客戶的平均現金餘額變得更高，他們降低了股票部位。因此，我不確定第四季度客戶股票和客戶現金的這種分配是否會繼續。但如果我假設該比率與第三季相比保持不變，我認為我們將在第四季度獲得更多的利息收入。

For your second question about the blended commission rate, there comes from several factors. Number one, as Leaf mentioned, in the third quarter, our U.S. trading contributions roughly accountable close to 70%, which has positive impact on our blended commission rate. It is very difficult to forecast whether such (inaudible) will continue or not given it is more driven by the market conditions.

對於您的第二個問題關於混合佣金率，有幾個因素。第一，正如 Leaf 所提到的，第三季度，我們美國交易的貢獻約佔 70% 左右，這對我們的混合佣金率產生了積極影響。由於這種情況更受市場條件的驅動，因此很難預測這種（聽不清楚）是否會持續。

And secondly, the trading volatility in the third quarter comes more clients trading derivatives, such options and the futures, et cetera. In the third quarter, our trading commission, among our trading commission, roughly 30% came from clients activities in the derivatives. So it will enhance our blended commission rate as well. Thank you.

其次，第三季的交易波動帶來更多客戶交易衍生性商品，例如選擇權和期貨等。第三季度，我們的交易佣金中約有30%來自客戶在衍生性商品中的活動。因此它也會提高我們的混合佣金率。謝謝。

Thank you. We'll now take our next question. This is from the line of Zoe Zhang from Jefferies.

謝謝。我們現在來回答下一個問題。這是 Jefferies 的 Zoe Zhang 發來的消息。

(foreign language) This is Zoey from Jefferies. Congratulations on the solid result, and I have 2 questions. So first, we have already achieved our annual target of acquiring 200,000 new paying clients. So wondering, based on the current market conditions, could you please provide some color about our user acquisition in Q4 and next year?

（外語）我是 Jefferies 的 Zoey。恭喜你取得了可靠的結果，我有兩個問題。首先，我們已經實現了年度新增 20 萬名付費客戶的目標。所以我想知道，基於目前的市場狀況，您能否提供一些有關我們第四季和明年的用戶獲取情況的資訊？

And my second question is regarding our Singapore business. As we have seen strong growth in the number of new paying clients and the client assets, wondering how many total paying clients do we have in Singapore as of Q3? And what about the average assets per paying client? How do we think about the penetration rate and (inaudible)?

我的第二個問題是關於我們的新加坡業務。我們看到新付費客戶數量和客戶資產強勁成長，想知道截至第三季我們在新加坡總共有多少付費客戶？那麼每個付費客戶的平均資產又如何呢？我們如何看待滲透率和（聽不清楚）？

I'll take your first question, and I will leave your second question to my colleagues, Robin, regarding the situation in Singapore.

我來回答您的第一個問題，第二個問題留給我的同事羅賓來回答，關於新加坡的情況。

For your first question, you are right. We are already approaching our full year guidance for 200,000 new paying clients acquired this year quarter-to-date. I think you can understand and everybody can imagine the market condition was quite challenging across the U.S. and also the Asian markets as well.

對於你的第一個問題，你是對的。今年第一季迄今，我們已接近全年預期，獲得 20 萬名新付費客戶。我想你可以理解，每個人都可以想像美國和亞洲市場的市場狀況都相當嚴峻。

So based on the current quarter-to-date run rate, we think the new clients acquired in the fourth quarter may be smaller or slower than the third quarter. But we are very confident we will continue to acquire the client across different markets. And also quarter-to-date, we still record decent net asset inflows across the different markets.

因此，根據目前季度迄今的運行率，我們認為第四季度獲得的新客戶數量可能比第三季更少或更慢。但我們非常有信心，我們將繼續在不同的市場獲得客戶。本季迄今為止，我們仍然記錄到不同市場的淨資產流入情況良好。

It is too early to give you some sense of the guidance for our next year's the new paying clients guidance.

現在為我們明年的新付費客戶指引提供一些指導還為時過早。

[Interpreted] So in Singapore, we have over 200,000 paying clients now, which we think is about 15% of market share, and we think there's a lot of room for further growth. And in the third quarter, we recorded decent growth. It's mainly because we introduced lower risk wealth management product such as money market funds to capture the conservative investment appetite of Singapore clients. And in the rate hike environment, the yields of the money market funds kept rising and become rather attractive to Singapore clients and that's driving the growth of local new paying clients. And we also continue to optimize the account opening and [outside] deposit process, thereby driving conversion from users to clients and also to paying clients.

[翻譯] 在新加坡，我們現在有超過 20 萬名付費客戶，我們認為這約佔市場份額的 15%，而且我們認為還有很大的成長空間。第三季度，我們實現了不錯的成長。主要是因為我們推出了貨幣市場基金等風險較低的理財產品，以滿足新加坡客戶的保守投資偏好。而在升息環境下，貨幣市場基金收益率持續上升，對新加坡客戶頗具吸引力，從而推動了本地新付費客戶的成長。我們也正在不斷優化開戶和[外部]存款流程，從而推動用戶向客戶以及付費客戶的轉換。

And meanwhile, we also saw improving client quality. So for the clients that we acquired in the third quarter, the average net asset inflow in the first month exceeded SGD 9,000, while the average net asset inflow of clients acquired in January this year will take about 3 months to reach this level. And as of the end of the 3Q, the average assets of our Singapore clients was over SGD 10,000, recording a modest Q-on-Q growth, and the increase in net asset inflow was able to more than offset the negative impact of the weak equity market. Thank you.

同時，我們也看到客戶品質的提升。所以第三季我們獲得的客戶，第一個月的平均淨資產流入就超過了9,000新元，而今年一月獲得的客戶，平均淨資產流入要花3個月左右的時間才能達到這個水準。截至三季末，新加坡客戶的平均資產規模超過1萬新元，季增適度，淨資產流入的增加足以抵銷股市疲軟帶來的負面影響。謝謝。

We'll now take our next question. This is from the line of [Yu San] from CICC.

我們現在來回答下一個問題。這是來自 CICC 的 [Yu San] 發來的消息。

(foreign language) Okay, I will translate my question. Thanks management for taking my question. This is (inaudible) from CICC. First congratulations on the exciting results achieved this quarter despite the volatile market environment. I have 2 questions here. The first one is about the client regional breakdown. Will you please introduce more on the regional breakdown of the newly added and also the existing paying clients?

（外語）好的，我會翻譯我的問題。感謝管理層回答我的問題。這是（聽不清楚）來自 CICC 的。首先恭喜您本季在市場環境動盪的情況下仍然取得令人振奮的業績。我有 2 個問題。第一個是關於客戶區域分佈。您能否介紹一下新增和現有付費客戶的區域分佈？

And also my second question is about the client asset breakdown. We see that the total client assets decreased by 15% quarter-over-quarter. Would you please give us the breakdown of the asset inflow and the mark-to-market loss?

我的第二個問題是關於客戶資產細目。我們發現客戶總資產較上季下降了15%。您可以提供我們一下資產流入和市價損失的明細嗎？

My colleague, Robin, will answer 2 of your questions. Thank you.

我的同事 Robin 將回答您的 2 個問題。謝謝。

[Interpreted] First of all, to your question on the breakdown of our paying clients. So among the new additions in the third quarter, Asia contributed about half of that, among which Singapore was the main contributor followed by Hong Kong, and the U.S. contributed roughly the other half. And as of the end of the third quarter, our overseas paying clients was around 30%, in which Singapore outnumber the U.S. by a small margin. And then in total, Hong Kong contributed close to 40%. And overall Singapore and U.S. each contributed less than 20% of our overall paying client base.

[口譯]首先，回答您關於我們付費客戶分佈的問題。因此，在第三季的新增中，亞洲貢獻了約一半，其中新加坡是主要貢獻者，其次是香港，美國貢獻了大約另一半。截至第三季末，我們的海外付費客戶佔比約為30%，其中新加坡略高於美國。整體而言，香港的貢獻接近 40%。整體而言，新加坡和美國在我們整體付費客戶群中所佔比例均不到 20%。

And to your question on client assets, so market fluctuations and clients net asset inflow were the most important factors effecting our total client assets. And in the third quarter, the net asset inflow in clients in all markets were quite robust, and the total amount remained flat compared with the second quarter. However, the decline in Hong Kong and U.S. stock markets dragged down the total client assets. Thank you.

關於客戶資產的問題，市場波動和客戶淨資產流入是影響我們總客戶資產的最重要因素。且第三季各市場客戶資產淨流入均較為強勁，總量與第二季相比持平。然而，香港及美國股市的下跌拖累了客戶總資產。謝謝。

We'll now take the next question. And this is from Leon Qi from Daiwa.

我們現在回答下一個問題。這是 Daiwa 的 Leon Qi 提供的。

(foreign language) This is Leon Qi from Daiwa Securities. Thanks a lot management for taking my questions. I have 2 questions today, one on Singapore and the other on Hong Kong. Singapore, I just want to know that what management is thinking about in terms of your future product pipeline. I understand you have been launching money market funds and the wealth management product in order to expand your product ecosystem, especially in our equity-related ones. What else are in our product ecosystem tool book? Are we considering any new asset classes or subclasses, for example, crypto? Wondering how management think about these new asset classes.

(外語) 我是大和證券的 Leon Qi。非常感謝管理層回答我的問題。我今天有兩個問題，一個關於新加坡，一個關於香港。新加坡，我只是想知道管理階層對你們未來的產品線有何想法。據我了解，你們一直在推出貨幣市場基金和理財產品，以擴大你們的產品生態系統，尤其是我們的股票相關產品生態系統。我們的產品生態系工具書中還有什麼？我們是否考慮任何新的資產類別或子類別，例如加密貨幣？想知道管理層如何看待這些新資產類別。

Second question is on Hong Kong. Well, I understand there is still substantial upside in terms of per customer AUM in Hong Kong. But I appreciate if management can give any color on your user upside in Hong Kong. Do you think Hong Kong is already quite penetrating in terms of our current position? How do we see our future growth from Hong Kong? Is it more from new users or from per user AUM? Thanks a lot.

第二個問題是關於香港的。嗯，我知道香港的每位客戶 AUM 仍有很大的上升空間。但如果管理層可以提供有關你們在香港的用戶優勢的任何信息，我將非常感激。您認為以我們目前的地位來說，香港已經相當具有滲透力了嗎？我們如何看待香港未來的發展？它更多是來自新用戶還是來自每個用戶的 AUM？多謝。

My colleague, Robin, will answer your first question about Singapore and our founder, Mr. Leaf Li, will answer your second question about Hong Kong. Thank you.

我的同事 Robin 將回答您關於新加坡的第一個問題，我們的創辦人 Leaf Li 先生將回答您關於香港的第二個問題。謝謝。

[Interpreted] So since last year, we have continued to enhance our product functionality in Singapore. And going forward, we have a couple of new products that we want to roll out to the retail clients, including the Hong Kong options trading and select U.S. options trading as well. And we also plan to launch leverage Forex trading in Singapore and also bond trading. And we've also acquired a sell clearing license in Singapore. So going forward, we'll build our self-clearing capability and allow our clients to transfer their assets to CDP accounts.

[翻譯] 所以從去年以來，我們在新加坡不斷增強我們的產品功能。展望未來，我們有幾款新產品希望推出給零售客戶，包括香港選擇權交易和精選美國選擇權交易。我們還計劃在新加坡推出槓桿外匯交易以及債券交易。而且我們還在新加坡獲得了銷售清算許可證。因此，展望未來，我們將建立自我清算能力，並允許我們的客戶將其資產轉移到 CDP 帳戶。

And last but not least, I think we are also investing into our enterprise services, mostly geared towards a lot of family offices in Singapore.

最後但同樣重要的一點是，我認為我們也在投資我們的企業服務，主要面向新加坡的許多家族辦公室。

[Interpreted] So lately, Futu's penetration rate with our Hong Kong retail investors is around 20%, and we think nearly 10% of the middle-aged, AKA, 35 to 55 per client -- sorry, 35- to 55-year-old Hong Kong residents. So our penetration among the population is around 10%. And I will continue to focus on further penetrating these client cohort. In the long run, we'll also pay more attention to asset-related metrics, so just clients' net asset inflow. And we intend to continue to increase the wallet share of our clients through expansion of our product offerings and also increase client engagement.

[解讀] 最近，富途在我們香港散戶投資者中的滲透率在 20% 左右，我們認為每個客戶的中年滲透率接近 10%，也就是 35 到 55 歲——對不起，是 35 到 55 歲的香港居民。因此我們的人口滲透率約為 10%。我將繼續致力於進一步打通這些客戶群。從長遠來看，我們也將更加關注與資產相關的指標，因此只關注客戶的淨資產流入。我們打算透過擴大我們的產品供應並增加客戶參與度來繼續增加客戶的錢包份額。

We'll now take our next question. This is from the line of Frank Zheng from Credit Suisse.

我們現在來回答下一個問題。這是瑞士信貸的 Frank Zheng 寄來的。

(foreign language) First question is on new market entries. What is our current progress in terms of exploring new markets and any tangible plans in 2023? Second question is on client acquisition expense. We note that in the third quarter, CAC is around HKD 4,000. How should we think about CAC going forward? Also, company mentioned 1% to 1.5% expense ratio based on net asset inflow. Are we on track in terms of this metric?

（外語）第一個問題是關於新市場進入的。目前我們在開拓新市場方面取得了什麼進展？ 2023年有什麼具體的計畫嗎？第二個問題是關於客戶獲取費用。我們注意到第三季CAC約為4,000港幣。我們該如何看待CAC未來的發展？此外，該公司也提到基於淨資產流入的費用率為 1% 至 1.5%。就這個指標而言，我們是否達到了預期目標？

Thank you, Frank. I will take your second question first, and our founder, Mr. Leaf Li, will answer your first question about new market expansion.

謝謝你，弗蘭克。我先回答您的第二個問題，然後我們的創辦人 Leaf Li 先生將回答您的第一個問題，關於新市場擴張。

For the CAC, I can understand everybody maybe a slightly disappointed about our third quarter results. I think there are some reasons behind that. Number one is definitely the market conditions in the third quarter is quite very challenging. [Cyclically], we actually continue to make some brand equity efforts in Hong Kong and in Singapore despite some of what here start to set back their marketing campaigns. As we do think the brand equity building up is a very long-term process, and we need some patience in the market volatility conditions.

對於CAC，我可以理解大家可能對我們的第三季業績感到有些失望。我認為背後有一些原因。第一，第三季的市場狀況肯定非常具有挑戰性。 [週期性地]，儘管香港和新加坡的一些因素開始阻礙他們的營銷活動，但我們實際上仍在繼續在香港和新加坡進行一些品牌資產建設。我們確實認為品牌資產建立是一個非常長期的過程，我們需要在市場波動的情況下保持耐心。

And certainly, as Leaf mentioned in the opening remarks, we try to do some new initiatives such as silver bonds, promotions in Hong Kong, which unfortunately didn't pay out very well, which increased our CAC in the third quarter. Down the road, I think in the fourth quarter maybe continue very challenging given the quarter-to-date market conditions. So on our CAC levels in the fourth quarter and may continue to be on a relatively high levels.

當然，正如 Leaf 在開場白中提到的那樣，我們嘗試了一些新舉措，例如銀色債券、在香港的促銷活動，但不幸的是，這些舉措的效果並不好，這增加了我們第三季度的 CAC。展望未來，我認為，考慮到本季迄今的市場狀況，第四季可能仍將面臨巨大挑戰。因此我們第四季的CAC水準可能會繼續保持相對較高的水準。

For the asset acquisition cost, I think you are right, we are still well on track in the range of 1% to 1.5% year-to-date. Thank you very much.

對於資產收購成本，我認為你是對的，今年迄今為止我們仍然處於 1% 至 1.5% 的範圍內。非常感謝。

[Interpreted] So we expect to enter into new overseas markets in the first half of next year. And we're also dynamically exploring the opportunities in some overseas markets. And we also consider launching certain select product features in a new market first for validation purposes and collect the feedback from the market so as to constantly optimize and upgrade the products to meet the needs of the local clients. Thank you.

[翻譯]所以我們預計明年上半年將進入新的海外市場。我們也正在積極探索一些海外市場的機會。同時，我們也會考慮先在新市場推出某些精選產品功能，以進行驗證，並收集市場回饋，從而不斷優化和升級產品，滿足當地客戶的需求。謝謝。

We'll now take our next question. This is from the line of Emma Xu from Bank of America.

我們現在來回答下一個問題。這是美國銀行的 Emma Xu 寄來的。

So my question is about your U.S. market. As Leaf just mentioned that U.S. market contributed to around 30% of new clients in third quarter. So this will be a very important new market for your company. Could you tell us what's your plan for this market in the medium to longer term? And could you tell us what your client characteristics in this market? For example, the average client asset, the client acquisition cost for U.S. clients as well as payback periods.

我的問題是關於你們的美國市場。正如 Leaf 剛才提到的，美國市場在第三季貢獻了約 30% 的新客戶。所以這對貴公司來說將會是一個非常重要的新市場。您能告訴我們您對這個市場的中長期計畫是什麼嗎？您能告訴我們這個市場的客戶特徵是什麼嗎？例如，平均客戶資產、美國客戶的客戶獲取成本、回報期間。

Our founder, Leaf, will answer this question.

我們的創辦人 Leaf 將回答這個問題。

[Interpreted] So we continue to iterate on client incentives across various channels in the U.S., and our continued marketing and thus cooperations with KOLs helped improve our brand awareness in the U.S. market. And despite the acceleration of client acquisition, average assets per paying client has decreased as market downturn offset strong net asset inflows of our clients.

[翻譯] 因此，我們繼續在美國各個管道迭代客戶激勵措施，我們持續的營銷以及與 KOL 的合作有助於提高我們在美國市場的品牌知名度。儘管客戶獲取速度加快，但由於市場低迷抵消了客戶強勁的淨資產流入，每個付費客戶的平均資產有所下降。

And looking into the fourth quarter, and as a result of the upcoming holiday season, we expect the sentiment to affect some U.S. clients' willingness to open accounts and transfer funds causing client acquisition to slow down in the U.S. And in the meantime, we'll continue to focus on improving the client quality and the efficiency of client acquisition.

展望第四季度，由於假期即將來臨，我們預期這種情緒將影響一些美國客戶開戶和轉移資金的意願，導緻美國客戶獲取速度放緩。同時，我們將持續致力於提高客戶品質和客戶獲取效率。

And in terms of client acquisition costs right now, the CAC in the U.S. is lower than the overall group's client acquisition costs. However, the payback period will be much longer. I think we're still patient on our monetization in the U.S. as we plan to roll out a number of new product features in the coming quarters that we think can meaningfully improve monetization. Thank you.

而且就目前的客戶獲取成本而言，美國的CAC低於整個集團的客戶獲取成本。然而，回報期將會更長。我認為我們對在美國實現貨幣化仍抱有耐心，因為我們計劃在未來幾季推出一些我們認為可以顯著提高貨幣化的新產品功能。謝謝。

We'll now take our next question. This is from the line of [Peter Zhang] from JPMorgan.

我們現在來回答下一個問題。這是摩根大通的 [Peter Zhang] 發來的消息。

(foreign language) Okay, let me do the translation. This is [Peter John] from JPMorgan. Congratulations on the strong results. My first question is about the market share in Hong Kong. We noticed that foothold trading volume in Hong Kong declined by 28% quarter-over-quarter, while Hong Kong, the total trading volume in Hong Kong market declined by 18%. So we wish to understand what's the reason behind?

（外語）好的，讓我來翻譯。我是摩根大通的 [Peter John]。恭喜您取得的優異成績。我的第一個問題是關於香港的市場佔有率。我們注意到，香港立足點交易量較上月下降了28%，而香港市場總交易量則下降了18%。所以我們想了解背後的原因是什麼？

My second question is on the IT spending. Management gave guidance of a 20% head count increase in 2022. I wish to check what's the progress on this initiative. And what will be the R&D expense trend going forward?

我的第二個問題是關於IT支出。管理層指導 2022 年員工人數將增加 20%。我想查看一下這項計劃的進展。 未來研發費用的趨勢如何？

I will take both of the questions. I think #1, the comparison is our trading volumes change patterns versus the overall market. The reason behind it in my humble view is that the overall market, including retail investors and also institutional investors, when the market becomes extremely volatile and extremely challenging, normally institution investors trade more tactically and responsibly versus retail investors. Given certain retail investors may continue to hold their positions unlike institutional investors will become more nimble and react to the market volatility. This is the question #1.

我將回答這兩個問題。我認為，第一，比較的是我們的交易量相對於整體市場的變化模式。在我看來，背後的原因是，當市場變得極不穩定且極具挑戰性時，包括散戶投資者和機構投資者在內的整個市場，通常機構投資者的交易會比散戶投資者更具策略性和責任感。鑑於某些散戶投資者可能會繼續持有其頭寸，而不像機構投資者那樣會變得更加靈活並對市場波動做出反應。這是問題#1。

For question #2, I think year-to-date, we are on track in terms of the net new head count increase in this year. And particularly, I think in terms of (inaudible), the overall headcount increase has already peaked in terms of speed versus the past 2 years. So down the line, I think we are continue -- we are still do the internal evaluations about next year's budgets in terms of headcount. But I do think the increase of the head count, especially in the R&D side next year will be quite stable or the speed may be smaller, even smaller than this year.

對於問題 2，我認為從年初至今，我們今年的新進員工淨增加數量處於正軌上。特別是，我認為就（聽不清楚）而言，與過去兩年相比，整體員工人數的成長速度已經達到頂峰。所以從長遠來看，我認為我們會繼續下去——我們仍將對明年的員工人數預算進行內部評估。但我確實認為明年員工數量的成長，特別是研發方面的成長會比較穩定，或者速度可能會比較慢，甚至比今年還要慢。

And this concludes the question-and-answer session. I would now like to hand back to Daniel for closing remarks.

問答環節到此結束。現在我想把發言交還給丹尼爾，請他作最後發言。

That concludes our call today. And on behalf of the Futu management team, I would like to thank you for joining us tonight. And if any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me or any of our Investor Relations representatives. Thank you, and goodbye.

今天的通話到此結束。我謹代表富途管理團隊感謝大家今晚的出席。如果還有其他問題，請隨時聯繫我或我們的任何投資者關係代表。謝謝你，再見。

Thank you. This does conclude the conference for today. Thank you for participating, and you may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的會議到此結束。感謝您的參與，您現在可以斷開連接。