Interactive Brokers Group Inc (IBKR) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by, and welcome to Interactive Brokers Group First Quarter '23 Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持，歡迎來到盈透證券集團第一季度 23 財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Nancy Stuebe, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給今天的演講者，投資者關係總監 Nancy Stuebe。請繼續。

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. Once again, Thomas is on the call, but asked me to present his comments on the business. Also joining us today are Milan Galik, our CEO; and Paul Brody, our CFO. After prepared remarks, we will have a Q&A.

下午好，感謝您加入我們的 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。 Thomas 再次接聽電話，但要我介紹他對業務的評論。今天加入我們的還有我們的首席執行官 Milan Galik；和我們的首席財務官 Paul Brody。在準備好發言後，我們將進行問答。

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. Our actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from what is indicated in these forward-looking statements. We ask that you refer to the disclaimers in our press release. You should also review a description of risk factors contained in our financial reports filed with the SEC.

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，這些事件本質上是不確定的，並且不在公司的控制範圍內。我們的實際結果和財務狀況可能與這些前瞻性陳述中的內容存在差異，甚至可能存在重大差異。我們要求您參考我們新聞稿中的免責聲明。您還應該查看我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的財務報告中對風險因素的描述。

This quarter at IBKR had something for everybody. Account growth was strong, DARTs rose despite uncertain markets and commission revenue was the second highest in our history. Meanwhile, our net interest income reached a record, and our reported pretax margin reached 72%.

IBKR 的這個季度對每個人都有好處。賬戶增長強勁，儘管市場不確定，但 DART 仍上漲，佣金收入是我們歷史上第二高的。與此同時，我們的淨利息收入創下歷史新高，我們報告的稅前利潤率達到 72%。

We achieved this using our simple strategy, one that seems to be unique in our industry today, we run a conservative balance sheet with ample equity and an extremely short duration portfolio. That means we have over $12 billion in equity and our portfolio duration is a matter of 3 to 4 weeks, not months, not years. This balance sheet supports the global business where we charge the lowest prices on commissions and we pay the highest rates on uninvested client cash.

我們使用我們簡單的策略實現了這一點，這在當今行業中似乎是獨一無二的，我們運行一個保守的資產負債表，擁有充足的資產和極短的期限投資組合。這意味著我們擁有超過 120 億美元的股本，我們的投資組合期限是 3 到 4 週，而不是幾個月，而不是幾年。該資產負債表支持全球業務，我們收取最低的佣金價格，並為未投資的客戶現金支付最高的利率。

We pay these rates on cash that you can use right now. You don't have to sweep it out and then wait if you need it back. With us, our clients' cash can do 2 things, be available and earn interest at the same time. Because of this, we do not and have not seen clients taking cash out of their Interactive Brokers accounts and moving it elsewhere. We do see them using their cash to invest in the markets.

我們以您現在可以使用的現金支付這些費用。您不必將其清空，然後在需要時再等待。通過我們，我們客戶的現金可以做兩件事，同時可用和賺取利息。正因為如此，我們沒有也沒有看到客戶從他們的盈透證券賬戶中取出現金並將其轉移到其他地方。我們確實看到他們用現金投資市場。

Because of our high rates and qualified client cash, we are paying more than most, if not all, banks. We also have active customers who want instant access to the markets. We simply do not see cash and client accounts moving elsewhere on a net basis.

由於我們的高利率和合格的客戶現金，我們支付的費用超過大多數（如果不是全部）銀行。我們也有想要即時進入市場的活躍客戶。我們根本看不到現金和客戶賬戶淨轉移到其他地方。

More and more investors are looking to the markets to earn a return that will allow them to build their wealth beyond the level of inflation. And this has been true for us around the world. I still believe inflation is going to stay with us. And as it has done, will likely remain above 4%. U.S. government debt is now about $31 trillion, 120% of GDP. This is forecast to grow by $2 trillion a year, thanks to rising interest costs that end up adding somewhat to the inflation sparked by extraordinary U.S. government spending during COVID.

越來越多的投資者希望在市場上賺取回報，從而使他們能夠在通貨膨脹水平之外積累財富。這對我們世界各地都是如此。我仍然相信通貨膨脹將與我們同在。正如它所做的那樣，可能會保持在 4% 以上。美國政府債務現在約為 31 萬億美元，佔 GDP 的 120%。預計這一數字每年將增長 2 萬億美元，這要歸功於不斷上升的利息成本最終會在一定程度上加劇美國政府在 COVID 期間的超額支出引發的通貨膨脹。

Now even though they contribute to inflation, we need higher rates to fight it. This is not a short-term state of affairs that will soon result in rate cuts. We are still seeing retail engagement, 12-month commissions for the individual client segment as well as for the hedge fund of proprietary client segments rose this quarter versus last year.

現在，即使它們助長了通貨膨脹，我們也需要更高的利率來對抗它。這不是很快會導致降息的短期情況。我們仍然看到零售參與，個人客戶群以及自營客戶群的對沖基金的 12 個月佣金本季度與去年相比有所上升。

Hedge fund 12-month commissions alone grew 81%. Product-wise, while stock share volumes did not keep pace with a very active quarter last year, futures and options contract volumes continue to rise with both reaching monthly volume records here in March. More activity in futures and options contributed to our higher cleared commission per DART of $3.16, up over 20% as these products carry higher commissions.

僅對沖基金 12 個月的佣金就增長了 81%。在產品方面，雖然股票交易量跟不上去年非常活躍的季度，但期貨和期權合約交易量繼續上升，均在 3 月份創下月交易量記錄。期貨和期權的更多活動導致我們每 DART 的清算佣金更高，達到 3.16 美元，增長超過 20%，因為這些產品的佣金更高。

As a note, higher futures commissions include very high exchange and regulatory fees, which in part explain our higher execution and clearing direct expense.

請注意，較高的期貨佣金包括非常高的交易所和監管費用，這在一定程度上解釋了我們較高的執行和清算直接費用。

As clients continue to want to engage with the options market, we have made it even more appealing by introducing a new routing venue for our clients, [IB-OPT], where our customers can give us an order pegged to the midpoint or to the bid and offer and give us their parameters of how much above the bid or below the offer they're willing to pay and their options order floats as they bid and offer move. If we get a counter order, it gets executed. This is a unique product in the space, one that works especially well with very active liquid options and allows our customers to act like market makers.

由於客戶繼續希望參與期權市場，我們通過為我們的客戶引入一個新的路由場所 [IB-OPT] 來使其更具吸引力，我們的客戶可以在其中給我們一個與中點或掛鉤的訂單出價和報價，並向我們提供他們願意支付的高於或低於報價的參數，以及他們的期權訂單隨著他們的出價和報價變動而浮動。如果我們收到反訂單，它就會被執行。這是該領域的獨特產品，特別適用於非常活躍的流動性選擇，並允許我們的客戶像做市商一樣行事。

This is the heart of what we do, automate for client success. It is the complicated part of what we do. What we see in the future is more of what we already deliver. Our net new accounts are growing just over 20%, and we are still looking to onboard the first of the 2 large introducing broker accounts this quarter. It will start slowly, and we hope to see it completed by the end of the year. We also remain on track to start onboarding the second large IBroker account sometime in the third quarter.

這是我們工作的核心，為客戶的成功實現自動化。這是我們所做工作的複雜部分。我們在未來看到的更多是我們已經交付的。我們的淨新賬戶增長略高於 20%，我們仍在尋求本季度加入 2 個大型介紹經紀人賬戶中的第一個。它會慢慢開始，我們希望看到它在年底前完成。我們也有望在第三季度的某個時候開始加入第二個大型 IBroker 賬戶。

We have also focused on appealing to financial advisers with several features. We are soon introducing customized indexing to make it easy for them to build stock portfolios modeled on ETF, but customizable for tax efficiency and investment goals. Unlike a one-size-fits-all ETF with customers indexing, clients will own fractional shares of each component stock so an adviser can adjust waiting, capitalize on gains or losses for tax purposes or exclude specific stocks or sectors, personalizing as their clients need. We do not require minimums, we have no ticket charges and charge no custodial technology, software platform or reporting fees.

我們還專注於通過多種功能吸引財務顧問。我們很快將推出定制索引，讓他們可以輕鬆地建立以 ETF 為模型的股票投資組合，但可根據稅收效率和投資目標進行定制。與採用客戶指數的一刀切 ETF 不同，客戶將擁有每隻成份股的零星股份，因此顧問可以調整等待時間、利用收益或損失進行稅收或排除特定股票或行業，根據客戶的需要進行個性化設置.我們沒有最低要求，我們不收取門票費用，也不收取保管技術、軟件平台或報告費用。

We also save financial advisers money on their mutual fund investments. As just one example, at other firms, if an adviser chooses an allocation to a particular mutual fund for 100 customers, that means 100 separately charged ticket fees. At IBKR, you only pay 1 commission, $14.95 and no ticket fees, no matter how many customers you put into a fund even for 1,000 customers.

我們還為財務顧問節省共同基金投資的資金。僅舉一個例子，在其他公司，如果一名顧問為 100 名客戶選擇分配給特定共同基金，這意味著 100 份單獨收取的門票費用。在 IBKR，您只需支付 1 筆佣金，即 14.95 美元，並且無需支付手續費，無論您將多少客戶投入基金，即使是 1,000 名客戶。

And finally, we now offer third-party research from global independent research firm, ISI Evercore, to our financial adviser clients in the U.S. and several other countries.

最後，我們現在向我們在美國和其他幾個國家/地區的財務顧問客戶提供來自全球獨立研究公司 ISI Evercore 的第三方研究。

I have great confidence in Interactive Brokers' capabilities and strengths and in the secular trends that are taking place around the world, more people wanting to invest in securities markets, more investors globally looking to gain exposure to different countries, particularly the U.S., rising income levels in developing countries and the acceptance worldwide that investing in the markets is the way to build wealth.

我對盈透證券的能力和優勢以及世界各地正在發生的長期趨勢充滿信心，越來越多的人希望投資證券市場，全球越來越多的投資者希望在不同國家（尤其是美國）獲得投資，收入增加發展中國家的水平以及世界範圍內對市場投資是積累財富的方式的接受。

I have less confidence in the responses seen so far to inflation, bank sector troubles and the mounting cost of U.S. debt service. Interest expense in 2023 on U.S. debt is expected to rise 35% this year to $640 billion and to $0.75 trillion next year. This all gets added to our growing deficit.

我對迄今為止對通貨膨脹、銀行業問題和美國償債成本上升的反應信心不足。到 2023 年，美國債務的利息支出預計今年將增長 35%，達到 6400 億美元，明年將達到 0.75 萬億美元。這一切都增加了我們不斷增長的赤字。

This means investors around the world look increasingly to the markets to stay ahead of inflation and uncertainty. It has grown clear to more and more people that holding on to cash when it is earning low or no interest is a losing proposition. We let all investors know that Interactive Brokers pays its clients 4.33% on their cash balances without having to sweep.

這意味著世界各地的投資者越來越多地希望市場能夠領先於通脹和不確定性。越來越多的人越來越清楚，在現金收入低或沒有利息時持有現金是一個失敗的主張。我們讓所有投資者知道，Interactive Brokers 向客戶支付 4.33% 的現金餘額，而無需清空。

We continuously add relevant content to our IBKR campus educational website to make it simple to use and easier for clients to find topics of interest to better understand the world of investing. We will serve our customers in over 200 countries and territories and educate them about their options, both their opportunities and the security.

我們不斷將相關內容添加到我們的 IBKR 校園教育網站，使其易於使用，並更容易讓客戶找到感興趣的主題，從而更好地了解投資世界。我們將為 200 多個國家和地區的客戶提供服務，並教育他們了解他們的選擇、機會和安全。

We continue to add accounts and are excited about where our position as a leader in international access with a strong and safe balance sheet, offering a good deal to people as well as comprehensive educational tools for all will take us.

我們繼續增加賬戶，並且很高興我們作為國際訪問領導者的地位，擁有強大而安全的資產負債表，為人們提供優惠以及為所有人提供全面的教育工具。

With that, I will turn the call over to our CFO, Paul Brody, who will go through the numbers for the quarter. Paul?

有了這個，我將把電話轉給我們的首席財務官保羅布羅迪，他將審查本季度的數字。保羅？

Thank you, Nancy. Thanks, everyone, for joining the call. As usual, we're going to review the first quarter operating results, and then we'll open it up for questions.

謝謝你，南希。謝謝大家加入電話會議。像往常一樣，我們將回顧第一季度的經營業績，然後我們將公開提問。

Starting with the revenue items on Page 3 of the release. We recorded another strong quarter with record net revenues that exceeded $1 billion in the quarter, the first time with ongoing customer account and balance sheet growth, we continue to expand our potential for both commission and interest revenues in the future.

從新聞稿第 3 頁上的收入項目開始。我們記錄了另一個強勁的季度，本季度淨收入超過 10 億美元，這是第一次隨著客戶賬戶和資產負債表的持續增長，我們將繼續擴大未來佣金和利息收入的潛力。

Commissions are strong, reaching $357 million despite mixed equity markets worldwide. Futures and options volumes reached record levels, while stock share volumes declined from last year's quarter, once again driven by a drop in trading of lower-priced stock.

儘管全球股票市場參差不齊，但佣金仍然很高，達到 3.57 億美元。期貨和期權交易量達到創紀錄水平，而股票交易量較去年同期下降，再次受到低價股票交易量下降的推動。

Net interest income of $637 million reflected higher interest from margin loans and segregated cash, owing to increases in benchmark rates and the larger segregated cash portfolio. U.S. benchmark rates have moved from an average effective rate of 12 basis points in the first quarter of last year to 451 basis points this quarter.

6.37 億美元的淨利息收入反映了由於基準利率上升和更大的獨立現金投資組合，保證金貸款和獨立現金的利息增加。美國基準利率已從去年第一季度的平均有效利率 12 個基點上升至本季度的 451 個基點。

These gains were partially offset by the higher interest we paid on customer credit balances as our long-standing policy is to pass through rate hikes above 50 basis points to our customers on their qualified funds.

這些收益部分被我們為客戶信貸餘額支付的更高利息所抵消，因為我們的長期政策是通過將超過 50 個基點的利率上調給客戶的合格資金。

Other fees and services generated $43 million with the biggest contributors being market data fees of $18 million, options exchange liquidity payments of $8 million and risk exposure fee revenue of $6 million. The drop from the prior year quarter was driven primarily by the risk of positioning of customers, which led to a $9 million reduction in risk exposure fees.

其他費用和服務產生了 4300 萬美元，其中貢獻最大的是 1800 萬美元的市場數據費、800 萬美元的期權交易所流動性支付和 600 萬美元的風險敞口費收入。與去年同期相比下降的主要原因是客戶定位風險導致風險敞口費用減少 900 萬美元。

Other income of $19 million includes gains and losses on our investments, our currency diversification strategy and principal transactions.

1900 萬美元的其他收入包括我們的投資收益和損失、我們的貨幣多元化戰略和主要交易。

Note that many of these noncore items are excluded in our adjusted earnings. And without these excluded items, other income was a $22 million loss for the quarter as we removed realized and unrealized gains on our U.S. treasury portfolio.

請注意，我們調整後的收益中不包括許多這些非核心項目。如果沒有這些排除項目，本季度其他收入損失 2200 萬美元，因為我們去除了美國國債投資組合的已實現和未實現收益。

Turning to expenses. Execution, clearing and distribution costs rose 34% versus last year, led by higher volumes and options and futures, which carry higher fees, lower liquidity rebates and higher regulatory transaction fees.

談到開支。執行、清算和分銷成本與去年相比上升了 34%，這主要是由於交易量增加以及期權和期貨帶來的更高費用、更低的流動性回扣和更高的監管交易費用。

We find it useful to measure what we call gross transactional profit, which is commissions less the pure volume-driven execution and clearing costs as a percent of commission revenues, execution and clearing costs, which are driven by a combination of trading volume, exchange rebates and changing fee schedules or 21% this quarter. In other words, a gross transactional profit of 79%.

我們發現衡量我們所謂的總交易利潤很有用，即佣金減去純交易量驅動的執行和清算成本佔佣金收入、執行和清算成本的百分比，這些成本由交易量、交易所回扣共同驅動以及本季度更改收費表或 21%。換句話說，交易利潤總額為 79%。

Market data expense, a pass-through item is included in execution clearing and distribution fees, while the corresponding market data revenue is reported in other fees and services rather than in commission. For this purpose, in the first quarter, we exclude $18 million in primarily market data expense.

市場數據費用，一個傳遞項目包含在執行清算和分銷費用中，而相應的市場數據收入在其他費用和服務而不是佣金中報告。為此，在第一季度，我們排除了 1800 萬美元的主要市場數據費用。

Compensation and benefits expense rose $17 million or 15% over the prior year, driven by hiring in Europe and APAC and in part by inflation. While up in dollar terms for the quarter, comp and benefits expense fell to 13% of our adjusted net revenues versus 16% last year end somewhat below its historical level. Our head count at quarter end was 2,872.

薪酬和福利支出比上一年增加了 1700 萬美元或 15%，這是受歐洲和亞太地區招聘以及通貨膨脹的部分推動。雖然本季度以美元計算有所上升，但補償和福利費用下降至我們調整後淨收入的 13%，而去年為 16%，略低於其歷史水平。季度末我們的員工人數為 2,872 人。

G&A expenses were down 5% versus last year's first quarter, primarily on lower advertising and legal expenses. Our adjusted pretax margin was a record 71%, while higher interest rates benefit us, automation remains our key means of maintaining consistently high margins as well as continued expense control while we hire talented people and invest in the future of our business.

G&A 費用與去年第一季度相比下降了 5%，這主要是由於廣告和法律費用的減少。我們調整後的稅前利潤率達到創紀錄的 71%，而更高的利率使我們受益，自動化仍然是我們保持持續高利潤率和持續費用控制的關鍵手段，同時我們聘請人才並投資於我們業務的未來。

Income tax expense of $61 million reflects the sum of the public company's $31 million and the operating companies $30 million.

6100 萬美元的所得稅費用反映了上市公司 3100 萬美元和運營公司 3000 萬美元的總和。

Moving to the balance sheet on Page 5 of the release. Our total assets were $119 billion at the end of the quarter with growth over the last year, driven by increases in our segregated cash and securities. We maintain a balance sheet aimed at supporting our growing business and providing ample financial resources during volatile markets with maximum flexibility and short-term liquidity. We have no long-term debt. The duration of our investment portfolio as of March 31 was 24 days.

轉到新聞稿第 5 頁的資產負債表。本季度末，我們的總資產為 1,190 億美元，較去年有所增長，這主要得益於我們的獨立現金和證券的增加。我們維持資產負債表，旨在支持我們不斷增長的業務，並在動蕩的市場中提供充足的財務資源，具有最大的靈活性和短期流動性。我們沒有長期債務。截至 3 月 31 日，我們的投資組合期限為 24 天。

Turning to our operating data on Pages 6 and 7 of the release. Our contract volumes for all customers were strong, reaching their highest quarterly level in both options and futures, up 2% and 4%, respectively, over the year ago quarter. Stock share volume was down 22% versus last year's first quarter, and the drop-off was largely attributable to investors moving to higher quality stocks as trading in pink sheet and other very low-priced stocks was impacted most.

轉向我們在新聞稿第 6 頁和第 7 頁上的運營數據。我們所有客戶的合約量都很強勁，期權和期貨均達到季度最高水平，分別比去年同期增長 2% 和 4%。與去年第一季度相比，股票交易量下降了 22%，下降的主要原因是投資者轉向更高質量的股票，因為粉單和其他價格極低的股票交易受到的影響最大。

On Page 7, you can see that our account growth remains robust with over 100,000 net account adds in the quarter and the total accounts at $2.2 million, up 21% over the prior year.

在第 7 頁，您可以看到我們的賬戶增長依然強勁，本季度淨賬戶增加超過 100,000 個，賬戶總額為 220 萬美元，比上一年增長 21%。

Total customer DARTs were 2.1 million trades per day, down 19% from the stronger prior year quarter and our cleared IBKR Pro customers paid an average of $3.16 commission per cleared commissionable order, up 23% from last year as our clients volume mix included higher per order contributions from all product categories and particularly from stocks and options.

客戶 DART 總交易量為每天 210 萬筆交易，比去年同期強勁下降 19%，我們清算的 IBKR Pro 客戶平均為每個清算的佣金訂單支付 3.16 美元的佣金，比去年增長 23%，因為我們的客戶交易量組合包括更高的每筆從所有產品類別，特別是股票和期權訂購貢獻。

Page 8 presents our net interest margin numbers. Total GAAP net interest income more than doubled to $637 million on the year ago quarter, reflecting stronger earnings on segregated cash and margin loans, partially offset by higher interest expense on customer cash balances. After a series of 7 target rate increases in 2022, the federal reserve raised interest rates twice this quarter by 25 basis points each in February and March. Many other central banks also raised rates this quarter. This group includes the U.K., Canada, Australia and Hong Kong as well as the Eurozone and Switzerland.

第 8 頁顯示了我們的淨息差數據。 GAAP 淨利息收入總額比去年同期翻了一番多，達到 6.37 億美元，反映出分離現金和保證金貸款的收益增加，部分被客戶現金餘額的利息支出增加所抵消。在 2022 年連續 7 次加息後，美聯儲本季度在 2 月和 3 月兩次加息 25 個基點。許多其他中央銀行也在本季度提高了利率。該組包括英國、加拿大、澳大利亞和香港以及歐元區和瑞士。

Net interest on segregated cash was $603 million, primarily due to federal reserve rate hikes, but also to our managing to short duration on invested funds, which has allowed us to more closely match asset liability maturities and to pick up benchmark rate increases quickly.

獨立現金的淨利息為 6.03 億美元，這主要是由於美聯儲加息，但也由於我們設法縮短了投資資金的期限，這使我們能夠更緊密地匹配資產負債期限並迅速提高基準利率。

At March 31, our U.S. portfolio duration was 24 days. So the investments roll over into new higher rates with fairly short lag time. A 38% increase over the year ago quarter and average segregated cash and securities balances also drove interest income higher. Margin loan interest rose to $477 million, up significantly from $149 million last year despite average margin loan balances declining 17% from last year's first quarter. Higher rates in the U.S. and internationally have driven higher margin interest income.

截至 3 月 31 日，我們的美國投資組合久期為 24 天。因此，投資會以相當短的滯後時間滾動到新的更高利率。與去年同期相比增長 38%，平均分離現金和證券餘額也推高了利息收入。保證金貸款利息從去年的 1.49 億美元增至 4.77 億美元，儘管平均保證金貸款餘額比去年第一季度下降了 17%。美國和國際上較高的利率推動了更高的保證金利息收入。

Securities lending net interest was $88 million, down 20% from the year ago quarter. It's worth noting that while securities lending opportunities maintain a relatively strong pace, it's also the case that as benchmark rates rise, a greater portion of the revenue generated by lending securities is reflected in interest on segregated cash because the cash collateral received is invested as segregated funds. We estimate this impact to be about $41 million for the quarter versus last year.

證券借貸淨利息為 8800 萬美元，比去年同期下降 20%。值得注意的是，雖然證券借貸機會保持相對強勁的步伐，但隨著基準利率上升，證券借貸產生的收入中有很大一部分反映在隔離現金的利息中，因為收到的現金抵押品作為隔離現金進行投資資金。我們估計本季度與去年相比，這一影響約為 4100 萬美元。

In other words, without this shift in reporting line item, net interest from securities lending would be $129 million, up 18% from the year ago quarter.

換句話說，如果沒有這種報告項目的轉變，證券借貸的淨利息將為 1.29 億美元，比去年同期增長 18%。

Interest on customer credit balances or the interest we pay our customers grew as higher rates in many currencies led to our paying interest on qualifying balances as we pass through rate increases. We paid $653 million to our customers on these balances in the first quarter.

客戶信貸餘額的利息或我們支付給客戶的利息隨著許多貨幣的較高利率導致我們在利率上漲時支付合格餘額的利息而增加。我們在第一季度就這些餘額向客戶支付了 6.53 億美元。

Fully rate-sensitive balances were roughly unchanged at about $20 billion. We consider our policy offering clients a full pass-through of all rate hikes after the first 50 basis points on their qualified cash, a significant component in our success and one that sets us apart. We believe this leads to clients choosing to keep their cash with us, especially active clients who do not want to use sweep programs that prevent them from immediately accessing their cash to invest. As Thomas mentioned, on balance, we do not see clients moving their cash away from us.

完全對利率敏感的餘額大致沒有變化，約為 200 億美元。我們認為，我們的政策為客戶提供合格現金前 50 個基點後所有加息的完全轉嫁，這是我們成功的重要組成部分，也是我們與眾不同的地方。我們認為，這會導致客戶選擇將現金留在我們這裡，尤其是不想使用阻止他們立即使用現金進行投資的清倉計劃的活躍客戶。正如 Thomas 提到的，總的來說，我們沒有看到客戶將他們的現金從我們這裡轉移出去。

Now for our estimate of the impact of increases in rates, given market expectations of possibly 1 or more rate hikes to come, we estimate the effects of increases in the Fed funds rate to produce an additional annual net interest income of approximately $50 million for each 25 basis points increase in the benchmark. Note that our starting point for these estimates is March 31 with Fed funds effective rate at 4.83% and based on balances at that date.

現在，對於我們對加息影響的估計，鑑於市場預期可能會出現 1 次或多次加息，我們估計聯邦基金利率上升的影響將產生大約 5000 萬美元的額外年度淨利息收入基准上調 25 個基點。請注意，我們進行這些估計的起點是 3 月 31 日，聯邦基金有效利率為 4.83%，並基於該日的餘額。

About 26% of our customer cash balances is not in U.S. dollars, so estimates of U.S. rate change effect include -- exclude those currencies. We estimate a 25 basis point increase in all the relevant non-USD benchmark rate would produce additional annual net interest income of $26 million and rising to about $100 million at a 100 basis point rate increase.

我們大約 26% 的客戶現金餘額不是美元，因此對美國匯率變化影響的估計包括 - 排除這些貨幣。我們估計所有相關的非美元基準利率增加 25 個基點將產生 2600 萬美元的額外年度淨利息收入，並在利率增加 100 個基點時增加至約 1 億美元。

In conclusion, the company generated a strong performance in the first quarter in a complex and volatile environment, reflecting our continued ability to grow our customer base and deliver our core services to customers all at a low cost and while offering meaningful cash interest as we manage the business effectively with strong risk and expense controls.

總之，公司在復雜多變的環境中在第一季度取得了強勁的業績，反映了我們繼續擴大客戶群並以低成本向客戶提供核心服務的能力，同時在我們管理的過程中提供有意義的現金利息通過強大的風險和費用控制有效地開展業務。

And with that, we'll open up the line for questions. Thank you.

有了這個，我們將打開問題熱線。謝謝。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Richard Repetto from Piper Sandler.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Piper Sandler 的 Richard Repetto。

I guess first question is sort of the accounting question -- an accounting question. And just trying to understand the $40 million mark that I think you said, Paul, that you removed realized and unrealized gains. Is this a onetime thing? I'm just trying to understand whether you are missing something that -- is this a onetime thing in the quarter? Or has this been done in other quarters as well?

我想第一個問題是會計問題——會計問題。保羅，我想你只是想了解 4000 萬美元的大關，你去掉了已實現和未實現的收益。這是一次性的嗎？我只是想了解您是否遺漏了一些東西 - 這是本季度的一次性事情嗎？還是其他小區也這樣做了？

Sure. So -- well, this quarter's effect is a onetime effect. Let me explain it this way. As you know, we have considered that our investment in the treasury portfolio to have temporary mark-to-market fluctuations, which are reflected in our financial statements, both the income statement and the balance sheet. By the end of the year, the accumulated losses on our treasury portfolio because of market movement, were about $39 million. That was all in the income statement and the balance sheet.

當然。所以——好吧，這個季度的影響是一次性的。讓我這樣解釋。如您所知，我們已經考慮到我們對資金組合的投資會出現暫時的按市值計算的波動，這反映在我們的財務報表中，包括損益表和資產負債表。到年底，由於市場波動，我們的資金投資組合累計損失約為 3900 萬美元。這些都在損益表和資產負債表中。

For non-GAAP reporting, which is what we call noncore to our operating results in the release -- it's in the earnings release every quarter, we pull out those mark-to-market effects. So cumulatively, by the end of the year, we had a $39 million accumulated loss that we had pulled out for the purposes of the noncore reporting. We have pulled out the losses and that raised the noncore reporting.

對於非 GAAP 報告，也就是我們在發布中稱我們的經營業績為非核心——它在每個季度的收益發布中，我們剔除了那些按市值計算的影響。因此，到年底，我們累計損失了 3900 萬美元，用於非核心報告。我們已經消除了損失並提高了非核心報告。

During the first quarter, we liquidated some securities rather than holding them to maturity. And by liquidating them, it erases the previous accumulated loss. In effect, putting it back in when it was realized upon the sale of those securities. So those were sold. That also played a role in reducing our duration on the remaining portfolio down to 24 days, extremely short. And we wouldn't expect much mark-to-market impact at all going forward because it is unlikely to be much on a very short duration portfolio.

在第一季度，我們清算了一些證券，而不是將其持有至到期。通過清算它們，它消除了以前的累積損失。實際上，在出售這些證券後變現時將其放回原處。所以那些都賣了。這也有助於將我們剩餘投資組合的期限縮短至 24 天，非常短。而且我們預計未來不會有太大的按市值計算的影響，因為它不太可能對非常短期的投資組合產生太大影響。

Okay. Just one quick follow-up on that point, Paul. So why weren't these securities held to maturity then?

好的。保羅，就這一點進行快速跟進。那麼，為什麼這些證券當時沒有持有至到期呢？

We make investment decisions from time to time based on market conditions. We felt that it made sense to sell a security and reinvest in currently higher rates. And looking forward, it also reduced fluctuation in our mark-to-market results. Had we held it to maturity, it would have approached -- it would have resulted in approaching par value each quarter until what would have been the end of this year. They were not very long term. And at the end of the year, they would have made it all the way back to par value, and we would have recaptured the exact thing that we declared this quarter all at once, we would have done it over 4 quarters toward maturity.

我們不時根據市場情況做出投資決定。我們認為出售證券並重新投資於當前較高的利率是有意義的。展望未來，它還減少了我們按市值計價結果的波動。如果我們持有它直到到期，它就會接近——它會導致每個季度都接近票面價值，直到今年年底。他們不是很長期。在年底，他們會一直回到票面價值，我們會重新獲得我們本季度宣布的確切內容，我們會在 4 個季度完成到期。

It also allowed us to reduce our taxes a little bit last year.

這也讓我們去年減稅了一點。

Understood. Understood. And just one quick question away from that topic. Thomas, just on the introducing brokers that I guess you expected to start this quarter. Could you give us an update on, I guess, the -- you said it's going to go gradually. So I guess, is it more of the same, just dealing with large financial institutions that it's difficult to deal with? Any other detail on the progress there?

明白了。明白了。離那個話題只有一個簡短的問題。托馬斯，我猜你希望在本季度開始的介紹經紀人。你能不能給我們更新一下，我猜，你說它會逐漸進行。所以我猜，是不是更雷同，只是跟比較難打交道的大型金融機構打交道？關於那裡的進展還有其他細節嗎？

Milan, would you like to answer that?

米蘭，你願意回答這個問題嗎？

Sure. So the first of the 2 IBrokers already started onboarding its employees. The employees are basically testing the quality of the integration going through all the functionality. The aim currently is for them to onboard the entire set of their clients and move them from the -- from their existing vendor broker in the summer. So the first IBroker should be fully onboarded in the summer. There could be some delay. So maybe latest Q3.

當然。因此，2 個 IBrokers 中的第一個已經開始讓其員工入職。員工基本上是在測試所有功能的集成質量。目前的目標是讓他們加入他們的整個客戶群，並在夏季將他們從現有的供應商經紀人那裡轉移出去。因此，第一個 IBroker 應該在夏季全面上線。可能會有一些延遲。所以也許是最新的第三季度。

The second of the 2 IBrokers is moving a little bit slower. That relationship is bigger. It involves more of their entities. They have not yet started onboarding, they will most likely start in Q3.

2 個 IBrokers 中的第二個移動速度稍慢。那關係就大了。它涉及更多的實體。他們還沒有開始入職，很可能會在第三季度開始。

And our next question comes from Daniel Fannon from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Daniel Fannon。

I was hoping you could expand upon the hedge fund segment. I know you've been taking share and growing there. But maybe I think you said commissions were up 80% year-over-year. But if there's other stats that you could provide to help us think about the success you're having and the contribution of that segment?

我希望你能擴展對沖基金領域。我知道你一直在分享並在那裡成長。但也許我認為你說佣金同比增長了 80%。但是，您是否可以提供其他統計數據來幫助我們思考您所取得的成功以及該細分市場的貢獻？

So what other stats do you have in mind?

那麼你還有什麼其他的統計數據？

Well, I guess, in terms of number of customers, the customer count and the growth and then I think you have some goals, I think you've said previously in terms of what you want go through over time.

好吧，我想，就客戶數量、客戶數量和增長而言，我認為你有一些目標，我想你之前已經說過隨著時間的推移你想要經歷什麼。

Yes, yes, yes. So look, we are #6 as far as number of hedge funds, we think that we -- and ahead of us was Credit Suisse that is not going to be there this quarter. So we'll be #5. And then ahead of us is also Bank of America barely ahead of us by a number of hedge funds. So we believe they will be #4 or #5. The next time (inaudible) issues based that some prime brokers for hedge funds. And it will probably be in the fall.

對對對。所以看，就對沖基金數量而言，我們排名第六，我們認為我們 - 領先於我們的是瑞士信貸，它本季度不會在那裡。所以我們將成為#5。然後在我們前面的還有美國銀行，僅次於我們的一些對沖基金。所以我們相信他們將成為#4 或#5。下一次（聽不清）問題基於一些對沖基金的主要經紀人。它可能會在秋天。

Okay. And in terms of the size of -- with the sweet spot you're -- or where you're having the most success, what's the average size? And I assume it's mostly in the U.S., but is it also outside...

好的。就大小而言——你的最佳位置——或者你最成功的地方，平均大小是多少？而且我假設它主要在美國，但它也在外面......

The average size is on, I think, $8 billion. So they are the smaller funds and our hope is, of course, that as you know, many of them -- I mean, quite a few of them lose money and quite a few of them make money. So some of them drop out and some of them become large, and we hope that does stay with us.

我認為平均規模為 80 億美元。所以他們是規模較小的基金，我們當然希望，正如你所知，他們中的許多人——我的意思是，他們中有相當多的人賠錢，也有相當多的人賺錢。所以他們中的一些人退出了，其中一些人變大了，我們希望它能留在我們身邊。

We also have large hedge funds, but we are probably the second or third or sometimes fourth prime broker. So they come to us because, a, our executions, they like our executions; b, they like the fact that they can see our short inventory and the rates at which they can borrow various equity issues from us. And when they compare that to the primary hedge fund, they either use our rates to build them up into giving them a better rate or they actually ask us to borrow the shares from.

我們也有大型對沖基金，但我們可能是第二或第三甚至第四主要經紀人。所以他們來找我們是因為，a，我們的處決，他們喜歡我們的處決； b，他們喜歡這樣一個事實，即他們可以看到我們的空頭庫存以及他們可以從我們那裡借入各種股權的利率。當他們將其與主要對沖基金進行比較時，他們要么使用我們的利率來為他們提供更好的利率，要么他們實際上要求我們從中藉入股票。

Understood. And then can you confirm just the other income, excluding the movements in the one-timers that you talked about with the portfolio and treasuries, what that would be on a kind of a run rate basis going forward?

明白了。然後你能不能只確認其他收入，不包括你談到的投資組合和國庫券的一次性變動，那將是一種基於運行率的基礎？

Paul?

保羅？

Well, other income includes investments and various other things. So it's a little difficult to say that it has a run rate. Investments will rise and fall over time. And it's difficult to pin that down.

那麼，其他收入包括投資和其他各種東西。所以說它有運行率有點難。投資會隨著時間的推移而上升和下降。很難確定這一點。

But I guess, just if I look historically, that there was no onetime as we look at the $19 million in the fourth quarter or the single digits for most of the 3 quarters before, that's -- everything was -- that's how we should think about it going forward. Those are the clean numbers.

但我想，如果我從歷史上看，沒有一次我們看到第四季度的 1900 萬美元或之前三個季度的大部分時間的個位數，那是——一切都是——我們應該這樣想關於它的前進。這些是乾淨的數字。

Yes. Let's remember that our currency diversification strategy that we call the GLOBAL, the result of currencies versus dollar going up and down are a component of other income. Sometimes it's a large component. This quarter, it was practically nothing. So that's at least for you because we disclosed the composition of our GLOBAL, that's for you a predictable number because you can imply exchange rates and make an estimate.

是的。讓我們記住，我們稱之為 GLOBAL 的貨幣多元化戰略，即貨幣對美元漲跌的結果是其他收入的一部分。有時它是一個很大的組件。這個季度，幾乎什麼都沒有。所以這至少對你來說是因為我們披露了我們 GLOBAL 的組成，這對你來說是一個可預測的數字，因為你可以暗示匯率並做出估計。

And our next question comes from Craig Siegenthaler from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Craig Siegenthaler。

So the Fed provided a nice tailwind for IBKR on the way up. If we start seeing cuts over the next year, is there any reason that the asset sensitivity on the way down would look any different than on the way up, just given the short duration of your assets and also the large equity position that partially fund your balance sheet.

因此，美聯儲為 IBKR 的上漲提供了良好的推動力。如果我們在明年開始看到削減，是否有任何理由表明資產敏感性在下降過程中與在上升過程中看起來有什麼不同，只是考慮到您的資產持續時間短以及部分為您提供資金的大量股票頭寸資產負債表。

Well, on the way down, we would decrease by the same amount we increased by except for the fact that we are getting in more and more accounts. So to the extent, we'll have more clients to do more trades and to keep with us more cash, it is going to be moderated. But if we went back to 0 interest rates, of course, it would be the same as -- I mean, our interest income would be very similar to what it was a year ago. But I do not believe that we will get back to 0.

好吧，在下降的過程中，除了我們獲得越來越多的賬戶這一事實外，我們將減少與增加的數量相同的數量。因此，在某種程度上，我們將有更多客戶進行更多交易並為我們保留更多現金，這將有所緩和。但是，如果我們回到零利率，當然，它會和——我的意思是，我們的利息收入會和一年前非常相似。但我不相信我們會回到 0。

And our next question comes from Benjamin Budish from Barclays.

我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Benjamin Budish。

I wanted to circle back on the introducing broker clients that are going to be onboarding later this year. I think there's a sort of a general understanding that as retail clients that are new to the platform join, they sort of become more productive over time. But these are generally existing clients from a previous broker. What's your sort of expectation in terms of the activity from these customers? Do you think that you could see sort of a step up over time as they become more familiar with perhaps new options that are offered with IBKR on the back end? And as part of that, how should we think about the cash balances coming over? Should we assume that it's a lot of fully rate-sensitive cash. Is that a fair assumption?

我想回到將於今年晚些時候入職的介紹經紀人客戶。我認為有一種普遍的理解，即隨著新加入該平台的零售客戶的加入，他們會隨著時間的推移變得更有效率。但這些通常是以前經紀人的現有客戶。您對這些客戶的活動有何期望？您是否認為隨著時間的推移，隨著他們越來越熟悉 IBKR 在後端提供的新選項，您是否會看到某種程度的提升？作為其中的一部分，我們應該如何考慮即將到來的現金餘額？我們是否應該假設它是大量對利率完全敏感的現金。這是一個公平的假設嗎？

So it is generally true that a new account starts at $3 and it grows to $6 in the first year and then goes to $9 after 2 or 3 years. So I do not expect these customers to be any different from that.

因此，通常情況下，一個新賬戶的起價為 3 美元，第一年增長到 6 美元，然後在 2 或 3 年後增長到 9 美元。所以我不希望這些客戶與此有任何不同。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just thinking about sort of the strength in the quarter, particularly in March with futures and options activity. To what degree do you think that's sustainable? Was a lot of that just sort of in response to the volatility created by the banking crisis? Or do you think there's sort of a possibility for sort of -- this sort of sustained engagement from retail in options and futures to kind of continue over the next several months or taking part of longer term?

好的。這很有幫助。然後想想本季度的實力，尤其是 3 月份的期貨和期權活動。您認為這在多大程度上是可持續的？很多只是為了應對銀行業危機造成的波動嗎？或者你認為有某種可能性——這種零售對期權和期貨的持續參與會在未來幾個月繼續或長期參與嗎？

Well the value, frankly, the -- for the past 10 days or so, our commissions are certainly lower than they were in the preceding 10 days. So the banking crisis certainly contributed to some stronger activity that seems to have subsided now. But generally, when markets go down, the activity increases and when they stop going down and start to slowly climb up the activity decreases. So that's what we're seeing in the commission income side.

那麼價值，坦率地說，在過去 10 天左右，我們的佣金肯定低於前 10 天。因此，銀行業危機肯定促成了一些現在似乎已經消退的更強勁的活動。但一般來說，當市場下跌時，交易活動增加，而當市場停止下跌並開始緩慢攀升時，交易活動減少。這就是我們在佣金收入方面看到的。

And there is an additional component here. The options trading is getting generally more and more popular and the type of clientele that we attract looks toward the option offering that we have as part of our platform. So the expectation is that the options trading and derivatives trading in general is going to be growing over time even as the volatilities drop in the market.

這裡還有一個額外的組件。期權交易普遍越來越受歡迎，我們吸引的客戶類型也關注我們作為平台一部分的期權產品。因此，預計即使市場波動性下降，期權交易和衍生品交易總體上也會隨著時間的推移而增長。

And our next question is Kyle Voigt from KBW.

我們的下一個問題是來自 KBW 的 Kyle Voigt。

Thomas, you started the call in the prepared remarks, highlighting the yields you're paying on idle cash balances. And we've also been noticing that you're marketing this recently and comparing your yield to that of other brokers. I guess, have you ever -- have you seen evidence that clients are consolidating more cash or more assets at IBKR from other brokers or other accounts because of that yield differential and because of some of the marketing push that you've been making recently?

托馬斯，你在準備好的發言中開始了電話會議，強調了你為閒置現金餘額支付的收益率。而且我們也注意到您最近正在營銷這個並將您的收益與其他經紀人的收益進行比較。我想，你有沒有——你有沒有看到證據表明，由於收益率差異以及你最近進行的一些營銷推廣，客戶正在 IBKR 從其他經紀商或其他賬戶中整合更多現金或更多資產？

Well, I -- unfortunately, I did not. So the incoming moneys are about the same as they were a month ago or 2 months or 3 months ago. So we have steadily -- it's very, very steady. So we haven't seen any pickup. We also haven't seen any drawdowns.

好吧，我——不幸的是，我沒有。因此，收入與一個月前或 2 個月或 3 個月前大致相同。所以我們有穩定 - 它非常非常穩定。所以我們還沒有看到任何皮卡。我們也沒有看到任何回撤。

Understood. And I just wanted to follow up on the prior question. I know you've been quite positive on the growth trajectory for options, broadly speaking, and believe that growth is sustainable over the medium term. But I was wondering if you could comment on some of the growth in this SPX zero day to expiry option trading. We've seen grow rapidly over the past few quarters. I understand that your customers are one of the larger users of the zero-day products. Just wondering if you could give us any detail on which client segments you're seeing utilize those products within IB? And then also just give us your thoughts broadly on this zero-day options trend and whether you see the volume growth in those products as sustainable as we look out over the next few years as well?

明白了。我只是想跟進之前的問題。我知道您對期權的增長軌跡持相當樂觀的態度，從廣義上講，並且相信增長在中期是可持續的。但我想知道您是否可以評論 SPX 零日到到期期權交易的一些增長。在過去的幾個季度中，我們看到了快速增長。我了解到您的客戶是零日產品的較大用戶之一。只是想知道您是否可以向我們提供有關您看到哪些客戶群使用 IB 內的這些產品的任何詳細信息？然後也請向我們介紹一下您對這種零日期權趨勢的廣泛看法，以及您是否認為這些產品的銷量增長在未來幾年也像我們展望的那樣具有可持續性？

So it is certainly sustainable because people -- it's less expensive for people to take a position in 1 day options ahead of one day ahead of news, right? So whereas previously they had to take a position that would have several days to run even though they would take the position that they had of the news. So it is cheaper for them to use the 1-day option. Also when people want to take a position in the larger portfolio, it's easier for them to accumulate on the 1-day [phase] than (inaudible) options and train the portfolio on the market and on close order. And that way, they -- it's a lot cheaper for them to buy or sell their portfolio.

所以它肯定是可持續的，因為人們 - 人們在新聞發布前一天提前 1 天選擇頭寸的成本更低，對吧？因此，以前他們必須採取一個持續數天的立場，即使他們會採取他們對新聞的立場。因此，他們使用 1 天選項更便宜。此外，當人們想要在更大的投資組合中建立頭寸時，與（聽不清）期權相比，他們更容易在 1 天 [階段] 上積累，並在市場和收盤訂單上訓練投資組合。這樣，他們 - 他們買賣他們的投資組合要便宜得多。

Understood. And I just have one follow-up. One last question. It's just regarding the balance sheet of the company. You now have, I think, close to $9 billion of capital in excess of your regulatory requirements. And that excess capital figure has grown significantly over the past few years. I know you've previously stated you wanted that excess capital to help support the prime brokerage operations and to help customers kind of feel safe custody assets at IB. But I guess is there some level of excess capital where you'd feel as an adequate level and therefore, not needing to continue to build that as rapidly as it has over the past few years? And just updated thoughts there would be great.

明白了。我只有一個跟進。最後一個問題。這只是關於公司的資產負債表。我認為，您現在擁有超過監管要求的近 90 億美元資本。在過去幾年中，過剩資本的數字顯著增長。我知道您之前曾說過，您希望多餘的資金能夠幫助支持大宗經紀業務，並幫助客戶在 IB 獲得安全的託管資產。但我想是否存在某種程度的過剩資本，您會覺得這是一個足夠的水平，因此不需要像過去幾年那樣迅速地繼續建立它？並且剛剛更新的想法會很棒。

Very strange that you should ask that question at the time and many of our peers appear to have insufficient amount of capital. So no, we are very proud to have as much capital as we do, and we hope to keep growing it.

很奇怪你當時問這個問題，我們很多同行好像資金量不夠。所以不，我們為擁有與我們一樣多的資本而感到自豪，我們希望繼續增長。

(Operator Instructions) And we have one more question, bear with me. And our next question comes from Chris Allen from Citi.

（操作員說明）我們還有一個問題，請耐心等待。我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Chris Allen。

Just wanted to touch on -- you noted that advertising spending was down year-over-year, helping drive G&A lower. Can you just give us an update on the marketing strategy here. We -- I know in the past, you talked about being a targeted marketing strategy. How has that evolved recently? And is it the pullback in advertising just a result of the environment or just a lower opportunity set?

只是想談談——你注意到廣告支出同比下降，有助於降低 G&A。你能在這裡給我們介紹一下營銷策略的最新情況嗎？我們 - 我知道過去，你談到過有針對性的營銷策略。最近情況如何？廣告的回落僅僅是環境的結果還是機會較少？

So you will see that -- maybe you notice our heads cropping up all over the place. We're trying to advertise our 4.33% interest that we pay on instantly available cash. And so that is -- we roughly have doubled our advertising roughly months ago, so (inaudible) advertising spending. So you will see a much larger advertising spend in the next quarter.

所以你會看到——也許你注意到我們的腦袋到處都是。我們正試圖宣傳我們用即時可用現金支付的 4.33% 的利息。就是這樣——大約幾個月前，我們的廣告支出大約翻了一番，所以（聽不清）廣告支出。所以你會在下個季度看到更大的廣告支出。

Understood. And then just one more quick one. On headcount growth, the pace of growth has been moderating in recent quarters. Is that just because you're reaching scale in certain areas, whether it's from a country or regional perspective or just less -- just the near-term opportunity, so just you don't need to grow as fast as you have in the past?

明白了。然後再快一點。在員工人數增長方面，最近幾個季度的增長速度一直在放緩。這僅僅是因為你在某些領域達到了規模，無論是從國家或地區的角度還是更小的角度——只是近期的機會，所以你不需要像過去那樣快速增長？

I think this is a CEO question.

我認為這是一個 CEO 問題。

So we are obviously paying a lot of attention to our expenses. The human capital cost is significant. What we have seen is -- if I compare our numbers to 1 year ago quarter, the customer service personnel has decreased by 3%. Our compliance team has increased by, let's say, 10% and by -- and our information technology personnel, which is programmers, technicians, system administrators and similar, that number went up by 16%. So these numbers are not bad.

所以我們顯然非常關注我們的開支。人力資本成本巨大。我們所看到的是——如果我將我們的數字與一年前的季度進行比較，客戶服務人員減少了 3%。我們的合規團隊增加了，比方說，增加了 10%，而我們的信息技術人員，即程序員、技術人員、系統管理員和類似人員，這個數字增加了 16%。所以這些數字還不錯。

The fact that we are increasing the size of our information technology team just signifies our commitment to being a leader in the financial services technology tools for our investors. So you can expect us to grow the team as we have increasing amount of work.

事實上，我們正在擴大信息技術團隊的規模，這表明我們致力於成為投資者金融服務技術工具領域的領導者。所以你可以期待我們隨著工作量的增加而壯大團隊。

The customer service, I think that team is at a good level. We are closely paying attention to the wait times of our customers calling us, how long they have to stay in the phone Q, and that number is very low single-digit minutes. We like that. So the size of the team seemed to be appropriate to the level of business that we have and the number of accounts that we have.

客戶服務，我認為該團隊處於良好水平。我們正在密切關注客戶打電話給我們的等待時間，他們必須在電話 Q 中停留多長時間，而這個數字是非常低的個位數分鐘。我們喜歡這樣。因此，團隊的規模似乎適合我們擁有的業務水平和我們擁有的客戶數量。

One of the reasons that we do not have to grow that team has to do with the fact that our platform is over time becoming more user-friendly, and we have done a very good job in providing self-service customer service to various FAQs and chatbots and that type of technology.

我們不必擴大團隊的原因之一與我們的平台隨著時間的推移變得更加用戶友好這一事實有關，我們在為各種常見問題和解答提供自助客戶服務方面做得非常好聊天機器人和那種技術。

As far as the compliance staff, we had to increase it because there is a lot of surveillance that we have to do on both of the cacheting transactions that our customers perform as well as the trading activity. The operators that we have, there is a few hundred of them pay attention to the various alerts that our systems generate and then they check whether those alerts signify a problem or they're just [force positives].

至於合規人員，我們不得不增加它，因為我們必須對客戶執行的緩存交易以及交易活動進行大量監控。我們擁有的操作員中有數百人關注我們系統生成的各種警報，然後他們檢查這些警報是否表示存在問題或者它們只是 [force positives]。

We are putting significant amount of energy into making those alerts more targeted, decreasing the number of force positives as well as making it easier for the operators to service those alerts. So I would like the size of that team, the growth of that team to slow down as well, and I believe we will achieve that. So these numbers, I think, are good. The team is at the right size. Obviously, if it was smaller, our profit margin would be greater, and that is what we would like to deliver to our investors.

我們正在投入大量精力使這些警報更有針對性，減少強制陽性的數量，並使操作員更容易為這些警報提供服務。所以我希望那個團隊的規模，那個團隊的增長也能放緩，我相信我們會實現的。所以我認為這些數字很好。團隊規模合適。顯然，如果它更小，我們的利潤率會更高，這就是我們希望向投資者提供的。

Great color. Just one quick follow-up. On the IT personnel side, has the cost of talent has moderated at all as there's been more pressure in the tech sector?

很棒的顏色。只是一個快速跟進。在 IT 人員方面，隨著科技行業壓力的增加，人才成本是否有所下降？

So very lately, it has become easier to hire good technology. So obviously, there have been layoffs. We all can read about them in the news. So that made it easier. We now don't have to kill ourselves in making oversized offers, including the sign-up bonuses. So yes, it became easier. And we are taking advantage of that. Some of the talent that is available is very good, and we would obviously like to get a hold of that. So we can do that.

所以最近，聘請好的技術變得更容易了。很明顯，已經裁員了。我們都可以在新聞中讀到它們。這樣就更容易了。我們現在不必為了提供過大的優惠而自殺，包括註冊獎金。所以是的，它變得更容易了。我們正在利用這一點。一些可用的人才非常好，我們顯然希望抓住這些人才。所以我們可以這樣做。

And I am showing no further questions. I would like to turn it back to Nancy Stuebe for closing remarks.

我不再提出更多問題。我想把它轉回 Nancy Stuebe 作結束語。

Thank you, everyone, for participating today. As a reminder, this call will be available for replay on our website, and we will also be posting a clean version of our transcript on the site tomorrow. Thank you again, and we will talk to you next quarter end.

謝謝大家今天的參與。提醒一下，這個電話可以在我們的網站上重播，我們明天也會在網站上發布我們的記錄的干淨版本。再次感謝您，我們將在下個季度末與您交談。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. 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。