(IBKR) 2023 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Interactive Brokers Group Third Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) I would like to advise that today's conference call is being recorded.

美好的一天，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加盈透證券集團 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）我想提醒您，今天的電話會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to your speaker for today, Nancy Stuebe. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人南希·斯圖貝 (Nancy Stuebe)。請繼續。

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for our third 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.

謝謝。下午好，感謝您參加我們的 2023 年第三季財報電話會議。湯瑪斯再次接聽電話，但要求我發表他對這項業務的評論。今天加入我們的還有我們的執行長 Milan Galik；和我們的財務長保羅·布羅迪。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.

提醒一下，今天的電話會議可能包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述代表了公司對未來事件的信念，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所示的內容有所不同，甚至可能存在重大差異。

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.

我們要求您參閱我們新聞稿中的免責聲明。您還應該查看我們向 SEC 提交的財務報告中包含的風險因素描述。

Our robust operating metrics once again translated into strong financial results this quarter. Our account growth remained strong at 21%, while our client equity was up 29%. Net interest income reached a record as did our total adjusted net revenues, which were over $1 billion for the third consecutive quarter.

我們強勁的營運指標再次轉化為本季強勁的財務業績。我們的帳戶成長依然強勁，達到 21%，而我們的客戶資產則成長了 29%。淨利息收入和調整後淨收入總額均創下歷史新高，連續第三季超過 10 億美元。

On the other hand, markets were down in nearly every country in the quarter and trading volumes dropped. Low market volatility, customers moving to higher price stocks of companies with greater capitalization and overwhelming competitive strengths and a geopolitical environment that is increasingly uncertain, all led to lower DARTs.

另一方面，本季幾乎每個國家的市場均下跌，交易量也下降。市場波動性較低、客戶轉向資本規模更大、競爭優勢更強的公司的更高價格股票，以及日益不確定的地緣政治環境，所有這些都導致​​ DART 下降。

This meant that while we were able to increase our commission revenue slightly, reaching its fourth highest level in our history, it is still the case that investors are holding on to the same 7 equities and not trading others actively. However, options volumes continue to be strong and option commissions were up the most this quarter, then came futures, while stock commission revenue dropped. As I've said previously, I do not expect the situation to reverse.

這意味著，雖然我們的佣金收入略有增加，達到了歷史上的第四高水平，但投資者仍然持有相同的 7 隻股票，而不是積極交易其他股票。然而，選擇權交易量持續強勁，本季選擇權佣金漲幅最大，其次是期貨，而股票佣金收入下降。正如我之前所說，我預計情況不會逆轉。

There are several competing crosscurrents in the markets. If you are a long-term investor, I'm looking 10 years out, what you want most is stability and not to lose a lot of money. You want to put your assets in a politically, currency and inflation-wise, stable place. While historically, that has been the U.S. The U.S. will look less stable politically as the election approaches, and inflation will look worse because of wage increases and union issues as well as the increasing cost of carrying U.S. government debt.

市場上存在著多種相互競爭的逆流。如果你是長期投資者，我展望10年後，你最想要的是穩定，而不是損失很多錢。您希望將您的資產置於政治、貨幣和通膨方面穩定的地方。從歷史上看，這就是美國。隨著選舉的臨近，美國的政治局勢將變得不太穩定，而且由於工資上漲和工會問題以及美國政府債務成本的增加，通貨膨脹看起來會更糟。

As a parent U.S. political stability weakens, people are less likely to invest in equities. On the other hand, there is the tax liability for U.S. taxpayers on substantially appreciated stock prices, should that gain be realized. This background explains what we have been seeing lately in the markets.

隨著美國政治穩定性的減弱，人們投資股票的可能性降低。另一方面，如果股票價格大幅上漲，如果實現這項收益，美國納稅人就要承擔稅務義務。這一背景解釋了我們最近在市場上看到的情況。

Our customers' top stock holdings, the Magnificent Seven, haven't changed much, but corresponding options activity has increased. In addition, we are seeing more and more investors getting into U.S. treasuries. Generally, activity on our government and corporate bond platform has picked up appreciably.

我們客戶持有的頂級股票「七大股票」沒有太大變化，但相應的期權活動有所增加。此外，我們看到越來越多的投資者進入美國國債。總體而言，我們的政府和企業債券平台上的活動已大幅增加。

We do not see inflation coming down substantially and still see interest rates staying at elevated levels for a long time, which will in turn increase spending to pay the interest on this debt, adding to inflationary pressures. It remains the case that investors globally are looking to the markets to stay ahead of inflation and uncertainty. More people want to invest in securities markets, hold their choice of currency in their accounts and gain exposure to different countries, particularly the U.S. as a way to build wealth and security.

我們認為通膨不會大幅下降，利率仍將長期維持在較高水平，這反過來將增加支付債務利息的支出，從而增加通膨壓力。全球投資者仍希望市場能夠領先通膨和不確定性。越來越多的人希望投資證券市場，在帳戶中持有自己選擇的貨幣，並獲得不同國家（尤其是美國）的投資，作為累積財富和安全的一種方式。

We continue to advertise and closely watch which outlets work the best for us. We have built an automated advertising system where we measure the yield and use an algorithm to adjust spending on each channel where we advertise. Telling everyone about our 4.83% return on immediately available qualified cash may have prevented withdrawals but it barely help to increase customer cash, which grew only by a little more than 2% from the prior year.

我們繼續做廣告，並密切關注哪些管道最適合我們。我們建立了一個自動廣告系統，我們可以在其中測量收益並使用演算法來調整我們廣告的每個管道的支出。告訴大家我們立即可用的合格現金的回報率為 4.83%，可能會阻止提款，但對增加客戶現金幾乎沒有幫助，客戶現金僅比上一年增長了 2% 多一點。

In terms of our client segments, our strongest ones for account growth have been individuals and proprietary traders, which have also shown the strongest growth in 12-month commission revenue. While financial advisers, individuals and introducing brokers have seen the strongest growth in net interest income.

就我們的客戶群而言，我們帳戶成長最強勁的是個人和自營交易者，他們的 12 個月佣金收入成長也最為強勁。而財務顧問、個人和介紹經紀人的淨利息收入成長最為強勁。

Geographically, Europe has seen the fastest account growth followed by Asia, then the Americas.

從地理上看，歐洲的帳戶增長最快，其次是亞洲，然後是美洲。

I would like to talk about our introducing broker segment. I spoke of 2 large accounts coming. I regret that now because the timing of these accounts is out of our control and with the larger of the 2, it is difficult to put an exact time on it. But we have so much else going on that I feel it is a disservice to focus only on when, when, when for this 1 client when we have so many other promising items lined up.

我想談談我們的介紹經紀商部分。我談到有兩個大客戶即將到來。我現在很遺憾，因為這些帳戶的時間超出了我們的控制範圍，而且對於兩個帳戶中較大的一個，很難給出準確的時間。但我們還有太多其他事情要做，我覺得當我們有這麼多其他有希望的項目排隊時，只專注於何時、何時、何時為這一位客戶服務是一種傷害。

First, the smaller of the 2 IBrokers successfully began onboarding the are approximately 52,000 accounts. So far, more than half of them are with us, and we expect the bulk of the rest by the end of the year. Next, a couple of other introducing brokers are joining us. All this is to say when that other IBroker starts to onboard, I will let you know. Until then, I cannot put a date on it. I've been wrong on the date for a while now, so it is unclear to me what you would want me to keep giving one.

首先，兩家 IBroker 中規模較小的一家成功開始入駐約 52,000 個帳戶。到目前為止，其中一半以上與我們在一起，我們預計其餘大部分將在今年年底前完成。接下來，其他幾位介紹經紀人也將加入我們。所有這一切都是說，當其他 IBroker 開始加入時，我會通知您。在那之前，我無法確定具體日期。我已經在約會上弄錯了一段時間了，所以我不清楚你希望我繼續給你什麼。

But unfortunately, it is not only the date I have been wrong on. I've also misestimated the size of these operations. They now both appear to be smaller than I originally expected. And accordingly, I need to reduce my estimate of long-term account growth from 30% to below 20% area.

但不幸的是，我錯的不僅僅是日期。我還錯誤地估計了這些操作的規模。它們現在看起來都比我原先預期的要小。因此，我需要將長期帳戶成長的預期從 30% 降低到 20% 以下。

On the hedge fund side, the most recent Preqin statistics show us moving into the #5 position in terms of number of hedge funds for which we serve as prime broker. We were once again the fastest-growing of the top prime brokers this year. We plan to be #4 next year behind only Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.

在對沖基金方面，最新的 Preqin 統計數據顯示，就我們擔任主要經紀商的對沖基金數量而言，我們已躍居第五位。我們再次成為今年成長最快的頂級主要經紀商。我們計劃明年排名第四，僅次於高盛、摩根士丹利和摩根大通。

Our developers have been extremely busy with new products and's tools and have a full plate for the remainder of the year. This quarter, we introduced fractional shares trading for Canadian stocks and ETFs, launched a securities lending dashboard for a more sophisticated clients to be able to assess short-selling activity for specific securities and inform their decision-making, introduce the next-generation IBKR desktop trading platform, launched the Discover tool to help clients find opportunities based on their own customized settings and trading preferences, started our Cents of Security podcast, designed to help improve financial literacy for newer investors, and introduce long-term investment accounts in Hungary.

我們的開發人員一直非常忙於開發新產品和工具，並在今年剩餘的時間裡忙得不可開交。本季度，我們推出了加拿大股票和 ETF 的碎股交易，為更成熟的客戶推出了證券借貸儀表板，以便能夠評估特定證券的賣空活動並為他們的決策提供信息，推出下一代 IBKR 桌面交易平台，推出了Discover 工具，幫助客戶根據自己的客製化設定和交易偏好尋找機會，啟動了我們的Cents of Security 播客，旨在幫助新投資者提高金融知識，並在匈牙利引入長期投資帳戶。

We remain very optimistic about what our business model international market access, a strong and secure balance sheet and multiple features and tools, all at low prices with high interest paid on cash balances, offers to clients and potential clients around the world.

我們對我們的業務模式保持非常樂觀的態度，包括國際市場准入、強大而安全的資產負債表以及多種功能和工具，所有這些都以低廉的價格和高額現金餘額利息向世界各地的客戶和潛在客戶提供。

In an increasingly uncertain world, the greater degrees of freedom our clients have to manage their portfolios as they wish, the better their ability to educate themselves as events change and economies increasingly fluctuate and diverge, the better off they will be.

在一個日益不確定的世界中，我們的客戶按照自己的意願管理投資組合的自由度越大，他們在事件變化和經濟日益波動和分化時進行自我教育的能力就越強，他們的境況就會越好。

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

接下來，我會將電話轉給我們的財務長保羅‧布羅迪 (Paul Brody)，他將審核本季的數據。保羅？

Thank you, Nancy. Welcome, everyone, to the call. As usual, starting with our revenue items on Page 3 of the release. We followed on our strong first and second quarter performances with net revenues reaching over $1.1 billion. With ongoing customer account and balance sheet growth, we continue to build a strong base for revenue growth in the future.

謝謝你，南希。歡迎大家來電諮詢。像往常一樣，我們從新聞稿第 3 頁的收入項目開始。我們延續了第一季和第二季的強勁表現，淨收入超過 11 億美元。隨著客戶帳戶和資產負債表的持續成長，我們將繼續為未來的收入成長奠定堅實的基礎。

Commissions were $333 million, up 4% from the year ago quarter, despite industry-wide declines in equities volume. Our options volumes, in particular, came in at a quarterly high, doubling the pace of industry volume growth. Stock share volumes declined from last year's quarter, once again driven by a drop in trading of lower-priced stocks, but also reflective of lower industry volumes.

儘管全行業股票交易量下降，但佣金為 3.33 億美元，較去年同期成長 4%。尤其是我們的選擇權交易量達到了季度最高水平，使行業交易量成長速度翻了一番。股票交易量較去年季度有所下降，這再次受到低價股票交易量下降的推動，但也反映出產業交易量的下降。

Net interest income was a quarterly record $733 million, reflecting higher interest and margin loans and segregated cash. 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.

季度淨利息收入達到創紀錄的 7.33 億美元，反映出利息和保證金貸款以及獨立現金的增加。這些收益被我們對客戶信貸餘額支付的較高利息部分抵消，因為我們的長期政策是將超過 50 個基點的升息轉嫁給客戶的合格資金。

Other fees and services generated $52 million with the biggest contributors being market data fee revenue of $17 million, risk exposure fee revenue of $13 million and options exchange liquidity payments of $8 million. The $8 million overall increase in risk exposure fees from the prior year quarter was driven by more risk on positioning of customers.

其他費用和服務產生 5,200 萬美元，其中最大的貢獻者是 1,700 萬美元的市場數據費收入、1,300 萬美元的風險暴露費收入和 800 萬美元的選擇交易所流動性支付。風險暴露費用較去年同期整體增加 800 萬美元，原因是客戶定位風險增加。

Other income was $27 million, and includes gains and losses on our investments, our currency diversification strategy and principal transactions. Note that many of these noncore items are excluded in our adjusted earnings. And without these excluded items, other income was $20 million for the quarter.

其他收入為 2700 萬美元，包括我們的投資、貨幣多元化策略和主要交易的損益。請注意，許多非核心項目不包括在我們的調整後收益中。如果不考慮這些排除項目，該季度的其他收入為 2000 萬美元。

Turning to expenses. Execution, clearing and distribution costs rose 14% versus last year, led by higher volumes and options, which carry higher fees than equities. We measure the profitability of our commissions by looking at gross transactional profit, which is commission revenue less action and clearing costs. This measure excludes market data expense, which is a pass-through.

轉向開支。執行、清算和分銷成本較去年上升 14%，主要是由於交易量和選擇權增加，費用高於股票。我們透過查看總交易利潤來衡量佣金的獲利能力，即佣金收入減去操作和清算成本。此指標不包括市場數據費用，這是一種轉嫁。

In the third quarter, execution and clearing costs were 23% of commission revenue for a gross transactional profit margin of 77%.

第三季度，執行和清算成本佔佣金收入的 23%，交易毛利率為 77%。

Compensation and benefits expense rose 14% over the prior year quarter on a combination of a 5% increase in average head count and also on inflation. Compensation and benefits expense was 11% of our adjusted net revenues versus 13% last year and below its historical level. Our head count at quarter end was 2,927.

由於平均人數增加 5% 以及通貨膨脹，薪資和福利費用比去年同期增加 14%。薪資和福利費用佔調整後淨收入的 11%，而去年為 13%，低於歷史水準。截至季末，我們的員工人數為 2,927 人。

G&A expenses returned to a more typical level this quarter after we recorded a reserve in the second quarter for regulatory matters, which have since been settled. Versus the prior year quarter, increases were related to advertising and legal expenses, partially offset by a reduction in consulting fees. Our adjusted pretax margin was 73%, up from 68% in the year ago quarter.

在我們在第二季度為監管事項記錄了準備金（該準備金現已解決）後，本季的一般管理費用恢復到更典型的水平。與去年同期相比，廣告和法律費用的增加部分被諮詢費用的減少所抵消。我們調整後的稅前利潤率為 73%，高於去年同期的 68%。

Income tax expense of $68 million reflects the sum of the public company's $36 million and the operating company is $32 million.

6,800 萬美元的所得稅費用是上市公司 3,600 萬美元和營運公司 3,200 萬美元的總和。

Moving to our balance sheet on Page 5 of the release. Our total assets were $121 billion at the end of the quarter, with growth over last year driven primarily by increases in our margin lending and securities lending businesses. We maintain a balance sheet aimed at supporting our growing businesses and providing ample financial resources during volatile markets. with maximum flexibility and short-term liquidity. We have no long-term debt and the duration of our U.S. investment portfolio at September 30, was 26 days.

前往新聞稿第 5 頁的資產負債表。截至本季末，我們的總資產為 1,210 億美元，較去年成長的主要原因是我們的保證金借貸和證券借貸業務的成長。我們維持資產負債表，旨在支持我們不斷成長的業務，並在市場波動期間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 9 月 30 日，我們的美國投資組合的期限為 26 天。

In our operating data on Pages 6 and 7, our contract volumes for all customers were strong, with options reaching their highest quarterly level, up 18% from a year ago. Futures contract volumes were down slightly, in line with industry volumes. And in stocks, the drop-off of 22% was largely attributable to investors moving to higher quality stocks as trading in pink sheet and other very low-priced stocks declined the most.

在我們第 6 頁和第 7 頁的營運數據中，我們為所有客戶提供的合約量都很強勁，選擇權達到了季度最高水平，比一年前增長了 18%。期貨合約成交量略有下降，與業界成交量一致。在股票方面，下跌 22% 主要是由於投資者轉向更高品質的股票，因為粉紅單和其他價格極低的股票交易跌幅最大。

On Page 7, you can see that our account growth remains robust with over 140,000 net account adds in the quarter and total accounts of $2.4 million, up 21% over the prior year.

在第 7 頁上，您可以看到我們的帳戶成長依然強勁，本季淨帳戶增加超過 14 萬個，帳戶總數達到 240 萬美元，比上一年增長 21%。

Total customer DARTs were 1.9 million trades per day, down slightly from the prior year quarter.

每天的客戶 DART 交易總數為 190 萬筆，比去年同期略有下降。

Our cleared IBKR Pro customers paid an average of $3.11 commission per cleared commissionable order, up 5% from last year, as our clients' volume mix included higher per order contributions from options and futures.

我們的清算IBKR Pro客戶平均為每個清算委託訂單支付3.11美元的佣金，比去年增加5%，因為我們客戶的交易量組合包括來自選擇權和期貨的每筆訂單貢獻更高。

Page 8 presents our net interest margin numbers. Total GAAP net interest income rose 55% to $733 million from the year ago quarter, reflecting stronger earnings on segregated cash and margin loans, partially offset by higher interest expense and customer cash balances.

第 8 頁顯示了我們的淨利差數據。 GAAP 淨利息收入總額較去年同期成長 55%，達到 7.33 億美元，反映出獨立現金和保證金貸款的獲利強勁，但部分被較高的利息支出和客戶現金餘額所抵銷。

With 1 more 25 basis point hike in the latest quarter, the average federal funds rate was over 300 basis points higher this year than last. Many other central banks also raised this quarter. This group includes the U.K., Canada, Hong Kong and the Euro zone.

隨著最近一個季度再一次升息25個基點，今年聯邦基金平均利率比去年高出300多個基點。許多其他央行也在本季升息。該組包括英國、加拿大、香港和歐元區。

Net interest earned on segregated cash was $728 million, up $500 million from last year, primarily from global rate hikes. Maintaining a short duration on our invested funds continue to allow us to closely match asset and liability maturities and pick up benchmark rate increases quickly.

獨立現金賺取的淨利息為 7.28 億美元，比去年增加 5 億美元，主要來自全球升息。維持投資基金的短期存續期，使我們能夠緊密匹配資產和負債期限，並迅速提高基準利率。

As I said, at September 30, our U.S. portfolio duration was 26 days, so the investments have rolled over into new higher rates with a fairly short lag time. A 5% increase over the year ago quarter and average segregated cash and securities balances also helped drive interest income higher.

正如我所說，截至 9 月 30 日，我們的美國投資組合久期為 26 天，因此投資已在相當短的滯後時間內轉入新的更高利率。與去年同期相比成長 5%，平均獨立現金和證券餘額也有助於推動利息收入上升。

Margin loan interest rose to $623 million, nearly doubling the prior year quarter despite average margin loan balances rising only slightly. Higher rates in the U.S. and internationally have driven higher margin interest income. Securities lending net interest was $66 million, down from the year ago quarter due both to lighter overall demand for so-called hard-to-borrow stock. And to a rate dynamic we have noticed previously, namely, as benchmark rates rise, the greater portion of the revenue generated by lending securities, for which we received cash collateral that we invest as segregated funds is categorized as interest on segregated cash.

儘管平均保證金貸款餘額僅略有上升，但保證金貸款利息已升至 6.23 億美元，幾乎是去年同期的兩倍。美國和國際上較高的利率推動了利潤利息收入的增加。證券借貸淨利息為 6,600 萬美元，較去年同期有所下降，原因是對所謂「難借股票」的總體需求減少。對於我們先前註意到的利率動態，即隨著基準利率上升，貸款證券產生的收入的大部分被歸類為獨立現金的利息，我們為此獲得了作為獨立基金投資的現金抵押品。

We estimate this impact to be about $28 million for the quarter versus last year. In other words, without the shift in reporting line item, net interest from securities lending would have been $94 million versus $114 million in the year ago quarter.

我們估計本季的影響約為 2800 萬美元，與去年相比。換句話說，如果沒有報告項目的變化，證券借貸的淨利息將為 9,400 萬美元，而去年同期為 1.14 億美元。

Interest on customer credit balances or the interest we pay our customers grew as higher rates in many currencies led to our paying interest and qualifying balances as we pass through rate increases. We paid $832 million to our customers on their balances in the third quarter.

客戶信貸餘額的利息或我們向客戶支付的利息隨著許多貨幣的利率上升而增加，導致我們在利率上漲時支付利息和合格餘額。第三季我們向客戶支付了 8.32 億美元的餘額。

Fully rate-sensitive balances were up about 5% from the second quarter at $21 billion. We consider our policy offering clients the 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 continues to set us apart. We believe this leads to clients choosing to keep their cash with us, especially active clients who do not want to use suite programs that prevent them from immediately accessing their cash to invest.

完全利率敏感的餘額較第二季增加約 5%，達到 210 億美元。我們認為，我們的政策為客戶的合格現金提供了在前 50 個基點後所有加息的全面轉嫁，這是我們成功的重要組成部分，也是我們繼續與眾不同的因素。我們相信這會導致客戶選擇將現金留在我們這裡，特別是那些不想使用阻止他們立即獲取現金進行投資的套件計劃的活躍客戶。

Now for our estimates of the impact of increases in rates, increases and decreases, given market expectations of near-term rate hikes and further out rate reduction, we estimate the effects of both increases and decreases in the Fed funds rate on our net interest income. We estimate increases in the Fed funds rate to produce additional annual net interest income of approximately $56 million for each 25 basis point increase in the benchmark.

現在我們對升息、升息和減息的影響進行估計，考慮到市場對近期升息和進一步降息的預期，我們估計聯邦基金利率的加息和減息對我們淨利息收入的影響。我們估計，聯邦基金利率每提高 25 個基點，就會產生約 5,600 萬美元的額外年度淨利息收入。

Symmetrically, decreases in the Fed funds rate should reduce annual net interest income by approximately $56 million for each 25 basis point decrease in the benchmark.

與之相對應的是，聯邦基金利率每下降 25 個基點，年度淨利息收入就會減少約 5,600 萬美元。

Note that our starting point for these estimates is September 30, with the Fed funds effective rate at 5.33% and based on balances at that date.

請注意，我們的這些估計的起點是 9 月 30 日，聯邦基金有效利率為 5.33%，並基於該日的餘額。

About 25% of our customer cash balances is not in U.S. dollars. So estimates of U.S. rate change effect exclude those currencies. We estimate increases in all the relevant non-USD benchmark rates to produce additional annual net interest income of approximately $20 million for each 25 basis point increase in the benchmarks.

我們大約 25% 的客戶現金餘額不是美元。因此，對美國利率變化影響的估計不包括這些貨幣。我們預計，所有相關非美元基準利率每增加 25 個基點，就會產生約 2,000 萬美元的額外年度淨利息收入。

In conclusion, the company performed well in the third quarter in a complex and uncertain environment, reflecting our continued ability to grow our customer base and deliver our core services to customers at low cost competitive interest rates as we manage the business effectively with strong controls over risk and operating expenses.

總而言之，公司在複雜和不確定的環境中第三季度表現良好，反映出我們有能力繼續擴大客戶群，並以低成本、有競爭力的利率向客戶提供核心服務，因為我們透過強有力的控制來有效管理業務。風險和營運費用。

And with that, we will turn it over to our moderator and happy to take questions.

至此，我們將把它交給我們的主持人並樂意回答問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today will be coming from Craig Siegenthaler of Bank of America.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題將來自美國銀行的 Craig Siegenthaler。

With equity now over $13 billion, we wanted to get your updated thoughts on the potential usage for deployments, either returning capital to shareholders via a dividend increase or special dividend or even through M&A. And I think you just talked up the prospects of M&A at a competitor conference last month. So maybe refresh us on that topic, please.

目前股本已超過 130 億美元，我們希望了解您對部署潛在用途的最新想法，可以透過增加股息或特別股息，甚至透過併購向股東返還資本。我想您剛剛在上個月的競爭對手會議上談到了併購的前景。請讓我們重新了解這個主題。

So we have looked at 2 specific opportunities, neither 1 of them have the DART. They wanted higher price than -- no, actually, in 1 case, the target wanted more than we were willing to pay. And in the other case, they were not interested in doing anything. And since they have very strong voting power, there is nothing we can do. But we keep on looking. So if anybody hears of anything, please let us know.

因此，我們研究了 2 個特定機會，其中 1 個都沒有 DART。他們想要的價格比——不，實際上，在一種情況下，目標想要的價格高於我們願意支付的價格。在另一種情況下，他們對做任何事情都不感興趣。而且由於他們有很強的投票權，我們也無能為力。但我們繼續尋找。因此，如果有人聽到任何消息，請告訴我們。

And Thomas, also on the dividend, too, please.

湯瑪斯也請談談股息。

We are not looking to increase. The dividend, we are looking to increase the amount of money we have because it gives us greater -- it gives our clients a greater sense of security. And as you have heard, we are hoping to get larger and larger investors to come with us and that security cushion is very important to them, especially since we are not systematically important counterpart.

我們不希望增加。股息，我們希望增加我們擁有的資金量，因為它為我們帶來了更多——它給了我們的客戶更大的安全感。正如您所聽到的，我們希望越來越多的投資者加入我們，安全緩衝對他們來說非常重要，特別是因為我們不是系統上重要的對手。

Great. And I think, Thomas, do I get a follow-up? Or is it just one?

偉大的。我想，托馬斯，我會得到跟進嗎？或只是一個？

As far as I'm concerned, go ahead.

就我而言，繼續吧。

All right. Great. So my second one is on the expense side. Employee comp and benefits down about $9 million sequentially. So any comment on that? And is this a good run rate to work on for next quarter? And I think you also consolidated some European offices in the quarter. So I don't know if that benefited this quarter or if that's going to benefit a future quarter?

好的。偉大的。所以我的第二個是關於費用方面的。員工薪資和福利比上一季減少約 900 萬美元。對此有何評論？這是下個季度的良好運行率嗎？我認為你們在本季也整合了一些歐洲辦事處。所以我不知道這是否有利於本季度，或者是否會對未來季度有利？

Right. So Craig, we mentioned last quarter that there was an odd accounting requirement that we measure vacation days taken by employees around the world every quarter. And we accrue them at a certain rate, and then we subtract the days taken, and we have to take an expense for the difference. That tends to build up in the second quarter and then go back down in the third quarter as people take vacation over the summer. It only seems obvious to many of us.

正確的。克雷格，我們在上個季度提到有一個奇怪的會計要求，就是我們每季測量世界各地員工的休假天數。我們以一定的比率累積它們，然後減去所用的天數，我們必須為差額支付費用。這種情況往往會在第二季度增加，然後隨著人們在夏季度假而在第三季度回落。對我們許多人來說，這似乎是顯而易見的。

We have -- so that unfortunately generates a little bit of quarter-to-quarter noise. We've done some research into this and determined that we can measure this annually instead of quarterly sort of anticipating that it does go up and down and employees do, in fact, take their vacations annually. And by the end of the year, it's mostly even again. So we're going to adopt that next year, starting with the 2024 and you should stop seeing the quarter-to-quarter variations. And that accounted for $4 million, $5 million of the change upside and then downside -- upside in the second quarter, downside in the third quarter.

我們有—所以不幸的是，這會產生一點季度間的噪音。我們對此進行了一些研究，並確定我們可以每年測量一次，而不是每季一次，預計它確實會上下波動，而且事實上，員工每年都會休假。到了年底，情況基本上又恢復平衡了。因此，我們將於明年採用這種做法，從 2024 年開始，您應該不會再看到季度與季度之間的變化。這佔了 400 萬美元、500 萬美元的變化的上行和下行——第二季的上行，第三季的下行。

As far as consolidating office or rather merging operations in Europe, we would not expect that to have a material impact. It's primarily driven by our desire to simplify our regulatory environment by having 1 regulator instead of 2, not driven by rationalizing the staff as they say.

至於合併歐洲辦事處或更確切地說合併業務，我們預計這不會產生重大影響。這主要是因為我們希望透過設定 1 個監管機構而不是 2 個監管機構來簡化監管環境，而不是像他們所說的那樣透過人員合理化來推動。

Let me clarify that a little bit. So your question was whether we are already seeing the benefits in the numbers of the consolidation. And the answer to that is no. The migration of the accounts to our Irish entity as well as consolidation of the 2 entities into 1 is going to take anywhere between 6 and 9 months.

讓我澄清一下。所以你的問題是我們是否已經看到了合併數量的好處。答案是否定的。將帳戶遷移到我們的愛爾蘭實體以及將 2 個實體合併為 1 個實體將需要 6 到 9 個月的時間。

At first, we are going to see a restructuring charge as we migrate the accounts to Ireland. We're going to be paying into an insurance fund. But after that, we are expecting to see the benefit of $7 million or so dollars per year that is direct cost savings aside from reduced distraction that we have to suffer because we have to pay attention to 2 European entities as opposed to 1. So the $7 million is a direct benefit, plus there are significant benefits by reducing the distraction and being able to focus on fewer entities.

首先，當我們將帳戶遷移到愛爾蘭時，我們將看到重組費用。我們將向保險基金付款。但在那之後，我們預計每年會看到大約 700 萬美元的好處，這是直接成本節省，除了減少我們必須承受的干擾，因為我們必須關注 2 個歐洲實體而不是 1 個。所以700 萬美元是直接收益，此外，透過減少分心並能夠專注於更少的實體，還有顯著的收益。

And our next question will be coming from Benjamin Budish of Barclays.

我們的下一個問題將來自巴克萊銀行的本傑明·布迪什。

Thomas, I wanted to ask if you could maybe clarify the sort of long-term account guidance you talked about. I think earlier last month at a presentation, you talked about sort of moving away from the 30% target to like a 20% plus. I'm just wondering how much of today's commentary is different from that? Is it sort of because you have less clarity around the timing of the IBroker accounts that you talked about before? Or is it sort of more of a material change in your longer-term outlook?

湯瑪斯，我想問您是否可以澄清一下您談到的那種長期帳戶指導。我想上個月早些時候，在一次演講中，您談到了從 30% 的目標轉向 20% 以上的目標。我只是想知道今天的評論與此有多少不同？是不是因為您之前談到的 IBroker 帳戶的時間安排不太清楚？或者這對你的長期前景來說更像是一個實質的改變？

Well, no. I mean what happened was that initially, when these 2 introducing brokers came on the scene, I thought that they were both having more customers that they, in fact, do and that is a size of the fact that it is extremely cumbersome to a lengthy process to onboard the second one.

嗯，不。我的意思是，最初發生的事情是，當這兩個介紹經紀人出現時，我認為他們都擁有更多的客戶，而事實上，這對於長期的客戶來說是非常麻煩的。處理第二個。

Generally, I thought I went too far in guessing and saying, yes, I think that it's going to be 30%. I just have to come back and have up to -- that now I realize that I really don't know. I mean the fact is that we don't see into the future, and there is no big truck out there that tells me what it's going to be, right?

總的來說，我認為我的猜測太過分了，我說，是的，我認為會是 30%。我只需要回來並完成——現在我意識到我真的不知道。我的意思是，事實是我們看不到未來，也沒有大卡車告訴我未來會是什麼，對嗎？

So it remains a guess, but I think that I'd rather give you a more conservative guess, and I'm comfortable with 20% to 22%, 23%, 24%, maybe even 25%, but somewhere in the 20% to 25% range, I feel more comfortable.

所以這仍然是一個猜測，但我想我寧願給你一個更保守的猜測，我對 20% 到 22%、23%、24%，甚至可能是 25% 感到滿意，但在 20% 的某個地方到25%的範圍，我覺得比較舒服。

Got it. Well, I really appreciate the candor there. Maybe a follow-up on the options activity. Just curious if you can give any more color on like what the breakout of that is? Is it more opportunity outside the U.S.? Is it the shorter dated pieces? Is it your hedge fund clients or the retail clients? What are the key drivers of that?

知道了。嗯，我真的很欣賞那裡的坦誠。也許是選擇權活動的後續行動。只是好奇你能否提供更多的信息，例如突破是什麼？美國以外的地方是否有更多機會？是日期較短的作品嗎？是您的對沖基金客戶還是零售客戶？其主要驅動因素為何？

And just thinking about as we kind of seen options activity grow over the last several years. How much more room do you think there is to go kind of based on all those pieces that you see?

想想我們在過去幾年中看到的期權活動的成長。根據您看到的所有這些作品，您認為還有多少空間可以去？

So I think that options activity has a tremendous future because what has been going on in the United States, as you all know, is generally followed by other places around the world with a lag of 10, 20, 30 years. And so we see more and more interest outside of the United States, and we also -- there is no options trading overnight. So it's basically 24 hours a day, even though overnight, is still very little volume, but it's catching on. And I see everyone in 5 to 10 years from when options volume will be the same 24 hours, no matter what time of the day, you're looking at it.

所以我認為選擇活動有著巨大的未來，因為眾所周知，美國所發生的事情通常會被世界其他地方所跟隨，落後10年、20年、30年。因此，我們看到美國以外的人越來越感興趣，而且我們也沒有隔夜交易的選擇權。所以基本上是一天24小時，即使是過夜，成交量仍然很少，但正在流行。我認為每個人在 5 到 10 年內，期權交易量將在 24 小時內保持不變，無論一天中的任何時間，你都會查看它。

And it is also true that, yes, short-term dated options, the larger the largest volume is in (inaudible) date options. And that's just what's happening.

確實，是的，短期到期期權，（聽不清楚）日期期權的最大交易量越大。這就是正在發生的事情。

And our next question will be coming from Patrick Moley of Piper Sandler.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Piper Sandler 的帕特里克·莫利。

Congrats on a strong quarter. So maybe just diving back to Ben's question. Can you maybe hammer in on the trend you're seeing in the 0 DTE piece and maybe the flow buildout...

恭喜季度表現強勁。所以也許只是回到本的問題。您能否談談您在 0 DTE 作品中看到的趨勢以及流量構建…

Hold it. Please, hold it. We do not understand your words. So it comes across very garbled. Could you please move whatever you're talking into further away from yourself?

拿住。請堅持住。我們不明白你的話。所以它看起來很亂。你能把你正在談論的東西移到離你自己遠一點的地方嗎？

Yes. Can you hear me better now?

是的。現在你能聽得更清楚了嗎？

Yes, it's better and slower, please.

是的，請更好、更慢。

Yes, sure. So just was hoping we could maybe dive back into the 0 DTE piece. Can you talk a little bit more about the breakout that you're seeing there, the flow between institutional in retail and the sustainability there and maybe what it means for growth going forward.

是的，當然。所以只是希望我們可以回到 0 DTE 部分。您能否多談談您所看到的突破、零售業機構與永續性之間的流動，以及它對未來成長的意義。

Well, between institution and retail, I never quite understood how to categorize something into institution versus retail. So when the account is opened in the name of an entity rather than a person, we call that institutional. Now as you know, introducing brokers are entities. So even though there are individuals at the other end of the process. So I cannot tell you the (inaudible) between what's institutional, what's retail. But there are certainly many, many trading shops that I assume basically are institutional who trade a lot of options.

嗯，在機構和零售之間，我一直不太明白如何將某些東西分成機構和零售。因此，當帳戶以實體而非個人名義開設時，我們稱之為機構帳戶。如您所知，介紹經紀人是實體。因此，即使過程的另一端還有個人。所以我無法告訴你（聽不清楚）什麼是機構，什麼是零售。但肯定有很多很多交易商店，我認為基本上都是機構性的，他們交易很多選擇權。

Maybe I can give you a little bit of a color. Perhaps it's going to be helpful. The way we participate and our customers participate in this zero-day options, expiring options is that we often send the customer orders into price improvement options.

也許我可以給你一點顏色。也許這會有所幫助。我們和我們的客戶參與這種零日期權、到期選擇權的方式是，我們經常將客戶訂單發送到價格改進選擇權。

Now that requires that we first find liquidity for the customers order from one of the market makers, one of the institutions that we are connected to. So a lot of the trading we do in these zero-day options, we have an institution on 1 side and the customer on the other side. It's not obviously 100% of the volume, but it's quite a bit of it. So in short, it's mixed participation.

現在，這要求我們先從做市商之一（我們所聯繫的機構之一）找到客戶訂單的流動性。因此，我們在這些零日期權中進行的許多交易，我們的一邊是機構，另一邊是客戶。顯然不是 100% 的體積，但也不少了。簡而言之，就是混合參與。

Our next question today will be coming from Brennan Hawken of UBS.

今天我們的下一個問題將來自瑞銀集團的布倫南·霍肯。

I'd actually like to follow up on that 0 DTE and try and get some color from a different perspective. You mentioned that it was a material part of the option volume. Could you give some more specific color around what proportion 0 DTE represents today versus maybe a year ago? And when you think about...

我實際上想跟進 0 DTE，並嘗試從不同的角度獲得一些顏色。您提到它是期權量的重要組成部分。您能否給出一些更具體的顏色來說明今天 0 DTE 與一年前相比所佔的比例？當你想到...

We do not measure that.

我們不衡量這一點。

Okay. Well, then that's straightforward. Maybe shifting to your perspective, Thomas. When you think about this product and its maturity, what inning do you think we are in its emergence and in its growth?

好的。嗯，那就簡單了。也許改變你的觀點，湯瑪斯。當您思考這個產品及其成熟度時，您認為我們處於它的出現和成長的哪個階段？

No, I think it takes -- I would guess. Again, I'm just guessing. I mean I don't have anything more than anybody else does. I'm guessing that the relative proportion of 0-date and very short date options is going to probably remain the same, but overall option volume will keep increasing. And I think that it's probably going to increase by 5% to 10% a year going forward indefinitely.

不，我認為這需要——我猜。再說一遍，我只是猜測。我的意思是我沒有比其他人多的東西。我猜 0 日期和非常短日期期權的相對比例可能會保持不變，但總體期權數量將繼續增加。我認為它可能會無限期地每年增加 5% 到 10%。

That's overall option volume?

這是總選擇權量？

Yes.

是的。

Got it. Got it.

知道了。知道了。

And there is 1 interesting thing, if I could add. There is 1 interesting thing happening in Europe. The European exchanges were obviously observing this phenomenon in the United States with NV, and they are going to be listing a zero-day options or 5-day options that are listed every day. So every day you will have an expiring option in cash settled index options, and that's what they really are. So we will see some of the same phenomenon over time outside of the United States.

如果我可以補充的話，有一件有趣的事。歐洲發生了一件有趣的事。歐洲交易所顯然也在觀察美國NV的這個現象，他們將推出每天上市的零日期權或5日期權。因此，每天您都會有一個到期的現金結算指數選擇權選擇權，這就是它們的真正意義。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們將在美國以外的地區看到一些相同的現象。

That is true, but European option volume -- option volume and European exchanges is very, very tiny percentage of the total.

確實如此，但歐洲選擇權交易量——選擇權交易量和歐洲交易所的交易量僅佔總量的非常非常小的比例。

We'll see what NV can get us on that front. I'd like to -- and I totally appreciate this is really sort of challenging to nail down. But when you were answering the prior question about the introducing broker, Thomas, sort of a couple of other questions jump to mind. You mentioned that the -- your sense of the size of one of the introducing brokers has changed. It's not as large as you thought.

我們將看看 NV 在這方面能為我們帶來什麼。我願意——而且我完全理解這確實是一個很難確定的挑戰。但是，當您回答先前有關介紹經紀人托馬斯的問題時，腦海中浮現出一些其他問題。您提到，您對介紹經紀商之一的規模的感覺已經改變。它沒有你想像的那麼大。

Was that -- I was kind of curious about what might cause that. Was that because maybe they aren't growing as fast as you had thought when you initially started to talk to them or that maybe the opportunity set to move a portion of their business over to Interactive is going to be just smaller than you had initially guessed?

那是——我有點好奇是什麼導致了這種情況。這是因為也許他們的成長速度沒有你最初開始與他們交談時想像的那麼快，或者也許將他們的部分業務轉移到互動的機會將比你最初猜測的要小？

To be quite frank, I was so enthusiastic when they first showed up and the C&I estimated that we would have several million accounts. And now it turns out that they probably have hundreds of thousands of accounts.

坦白說，當他們第一次出現時我非常熱情，C&I 估計我們會有幾百萬個帳戶。現在事實證明他們可能擁有數十萬個帳戶。

Well, maybe a little bit different color. So what remains the same is the institution that we're talking about is one of the top multinational banks in the world by assets. So that remains the same. What we have learned recently is that instead of them bringing over a large chunk of the accounts that would be migrated from one broker to another, that's not what we're going to see. We're going to see very little of that.

嗯，也許顏色有點不同。因此，不變的是我們正在談論的機構是世界上資產規模最大的跨國銀行之一。所以這仍然是一樣的。我們最近了解到的是，我們不會看到這樣的情況，而不是他們將大量帳戶從一個經紀商遷移到另一個經紀商。我們會看到很少這樣的情況。

What the hope is, is that a lot of the banking clients of these global institutions are going to become self-directed investors on the platform. This bank is integrating with us. So that's what really is changing. They are having hopes of turning their banking clients into brokerage clients.

我們希望這些全球機構的許多銀行客戶將成為該平台上的自主投資者。這家銀行正在與我們整合。這就是真正正在改變的事情。他們希望將銀行客戶轉變為經紀客戶。

Our next question will be coming from Daniel Fannon of Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Jefferies 的 Daniel Fannon。

Another question just on the account growth. I think, Thomas, you mentioned other introducing brokers that have signed up. Could you maybe talk to the discussions and/or the backlog of what might be smaller or the pipeline of how you were thinking about the broader introducing broker opportunity?

另一個關於帳戶增長的問題。我想，托馬斯，你提到了其他已經簽約的介紹經紀人。您能否談談討論和/或可能較小的積壓工作，或者您如何考慮更廣泛的介紹經紀人機會的流程？

So there are several banks and brokerage firms around the world that had a relatively small customer base, it doesn't pay for them to develop the technology that's necessary to compete in this world today. So they are relatively easy to get on to our platform. And with our very automated platform, we hope that they will grow very quickly and other firms, other similar firms seeing daily situation, the leader come along also or will drop out of the business. That's what I see.

因此，世界各地有幾家銀行和經紀公司的客戶群相對較小，因此他們無法開發當今世界競爭所需的技術。所以他們相對容易進入我們的平台。透過我們非常自動化的平台，我們希望他們能夠快速成長，其他公司、其他類似的公司看到日常情況，領導者也加入或退出該業務。這就是我所看到的。

Okay. And then I wanted to follow up on the conversation or topic of M&A. We -- you have not been an acquirer previously. So could you talk to what it is you're looking for, how we should think about the return profile or accretion or economic kind of thresholds that you have for doing a transaction?

好的。然後我想跟進併購的對話或話題。我們——你們以前不是收購者。那麼您能否談談您正在尋找什麼，我們應該如何考慮您進行交易的回報率或增值或經濟類型的門檻？

So we believe that by far, we have the most efficient operation and our technology is by far the best. So it would make sense that other firms that have less are less automated would benefit -- I mean overall day operation with benefit coming on to our platform. So that would be the basic idea.

所以我們相信，到目前為止，我們的營運是最高效的，我們的技術也是迄今為止最好的。因此，其他自動化程度較低的公司將會受益，這是有道理的——我指的是我們平台上的整體日常營運。這就是基本的想法。

One additional strength that we have compared to the other players in this space is that we are global in terms of accessing the markets. So when an Asian or European institution integrates with us, they can serve not only access to the U.S. markets, but to their local markets as well.

與該領域的其他參與者相比，我們的另一個優勢是，我們在進入市場方面具有全球性。因此，當亞洲或歐洲機構與我們整合時，他們不僅可以提供進入美國市場的服務，還可以提供進入當地市場的服務。

And just a follow-up. Is there -- from a size or capacity, I mean is there a limit like in terms of what you're looking at? Are these small acquisition -- small potential targets? Is it -- just trying to get a sense of how big to think about what type of M&A you would be contemplating.

只是後續行動。我的意思是，從尺寸或容量來看，是否存在像您所看到的那樣的限制？這些小收購是小潛在目標嗎？是嗎——只是想了解您正在考慮的併購類型有多大。

It all depends, right? So what we would obviously be looking at is what is the opportunity. Is it an institution that has relatively little automation and we can jump in and generate a lot of cost savings by automating the operations. Is it a large number of active accounts that they have. It all depends.

這一切都取決於，對吧？因此，我們顯然要關注的是機會是什麼。這是一個自動化程度相對較低的機構，我們可以介入並透過自動化操作來節省大量成本嗎？他們是否擁有大量活躍帳戶？這一切都取決於。

So when we are presented with an opportunity, we look at the economics. We have usually a couple of ideas of how we would go about the integration. What is it that we would be looking for in the final outcome, and that determines the price we're willing to pay. Unfortunately, in 1 of the 2 cases that Thomas mentioned, we were short of the price that the seller was demanding. They haven't sold yet. They may come back to us, but it's unclear whether they will.

因此，當我們遇到機會時，我們會考慮經濟因素。對於如何進行集成，我們通常有一些想法。我們在最終結果中尋找什麼，這決定了我們願意付出的代價。不幸的是，在托馬斯提到的兩種情況中的一種，我們沒有達到賣方要求的價格。他們還沒有賣掉。他們可能會回到我們身邊，但目前還不清楚他們是否會回來。

Our next question will be coming from Chris Allen of Citi.

我們的下一個問題將來自花旗銀行的克里斯艾倫。

One thing we've been watching is margin balances have been trending up nicely even in September when the markets were down. And you noted the strength and interest income being driven by financial advisers and hedge funds earlier. On the financial adviser front, are you seeing any benefit from the Schwab Ameritrade integration that's going on right now? On the hedge fund side, are you -- is the existing hedge fund client base expanding in size? Are you winning new hedge fund clients?

我們一直關注的一件事是，即使在 9 月市場下跌時，保證金餘額也一直呈現良好上升趨勢。您早些時候注意到財務顧問和對沖基金推動的實力和利息收入。在財務顧問方面，您認為目前正在進行的 Schwab Ameritrade 整合有什麼好處嗎？在對沖基金方面，現有的避險基金客戶群規模是否在擴大？您正在贏得新的對沖基金客戶嗎？

Well, there are certainly -- our salespeople speak a lot about the unhappiness of especially Ameritrade clients that had to go to Schwab on the one hand, on the other about Ameritrade clients who were Ameritrade clients in addition to Schwab clients because those clients wanted to have 2 independent brokerage firms and now that they are only one, they are looking for a second. So these are the 2 types of clients we are getting from this merger.

嗯，當然有——我們的銷售人員談到了很多不滿，尤其是Ameritrade 客戶，一方面他們不得不去Schwab，另一方面也談到Ameritrade 客戶，他們除了Schwab 客戶之外也是Ameritrade 客戶，因為這些客戶想要有兩家獨立經紀公司，現在只有一家，他們正在尋找第二家。這是我們從這次合併中獲得的兩類客戶。

Now your second question was about the hedge funds, what did you actually ask?

現在你的第二個問題是關於對沖基金的，你實際上問了什麼？

Yes. Just wanting on the hedge fund side, are you seeing new hedge fund wins or the existing customer base...

是的。只是想在對沖基金方面，您是否看到新的對沖基金獲勝或現有的客戶群...

Definitely. Yes. Yes. We definitely see new hedge fund wins, yes. They turn on balance to be smaller funds in the $10 million to $50 million range, and so we get them regularly and quite often.

確實。是的。是的。是的，我們肯定會看到新的對沖基金獲勝。總的來說，它們是 1000 萬至 5000 萬美元範圍內的較小基金，因此我們定期且經常獲得它們。

And just a quick follow-up on the M&A discussion. Are you looking at domestic opportunities overseas, both basically what you do see out there?

這是併購討論的快速跟進。您是否正在尋找海外國內機會，基本上都是您在國外看到的機會？

It doesn't matter to us. It's going either way. We're happy. We don't care whether it's U.S. or outside.

這對我們來說並不重要。無論哪種方式都會發生。很高興。我們不在乎是在美國還是國外。

Our next question will be coming from James Yaro of Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題將來自高盛的詹姆斯·亞羅。

It's James Yaro. I think it's quite clear today what the opportunity is in terms of retail trading in Asia. But I think retail trading remains somewhat more subdued in Europe. You are investing in Europe clearly. So maybe you can just speak to your outlook for whether retail trading in Europe will accelerate and potentially over time, look more like what we see in the U.S. and what gives you that sort of confidence?

我是詹姆斯·亞羅。我認為今天亞洲零售交易的機會已經很清楚了。但我認為歐洲的零售交易仍較為低迷。很明顯，您正在歐洲投資。因此，也許您可以談談您對歐洲零售交易是否會加速並可能隨著時間的推移而看起來更像我們在美國看到的情況的展望，是什麼給了您這種信心？

Generally, I think that, as you know, the United States is basically the hot seat of capitalism and has a history of 200 years, right? In Europe, it has a somewhat longer history, but much more subdued history.

總的來說，我認為，如你所知，美國基本上是資本主義的熱點，有200年的歷史，對嗎？在歐洲，它的歷史要長一些，但歷史要低調得多。

So it -- in Europe, the traditionally people who are investing in the stock market were a very small layer of society. And we expect that, that will expand just like it has expanded in the United States. On the other hand, the average European person has only about 60% to 70% of the funds that the average American person has.

因此，在歐洲，傳統上投資股票市場的人只是社會的一小部分。我們預計，這種情況將會像在美國一樣擴大。另一方面，歐洲人平均擁有的資金只有美國人平均擁有的資金的60%到70%左右。

Okay. That's very clear. And then if we were to potentially see Fed funds start to come down, and I'm not saying that's going to happen imminently. But just -- maybe you could just speak to...

好的。這非常清楚。然後，如果我們有可能看到聯準會資金開始下降，我並不是說這種情況很快就會發生。但也許你可以跟...談談

Sorry for the laugh. No. I believe that Fed funds will remain in the 5% range indefinitely for the very, very long term. They may come -- made it down to 4%, but then they will come up because there is nothing you can do about the ever increasing debt payments. So hedge funds will go to 5%, 6%, 7%, 8%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% until we go into the whole.

抱歉讓大家笑了。不會。我相信聯邦基金利率將在非常非常長的一段時間內無限期地保持在 5% 的範圍內。它們可能會出現——把它降低到 4%，但隨後它們就會出現，因為你對不斷增加的債務支付無能為力。因此，對沖基金將達到 5%、6%、7%、8%、10%、20%、30%、40%、50%，直到我們進入整體。

Okay. But the market forward curve obviously has cut. So just -- you obviously manage risks very well, Thomas. So I just want to understand how you think about let's say there's downside risk and rates do come down. How do you think about hedging that, if at all? Do you extend securities duration or do you need something else?

好的。但市場遠期曲線明顯已縮短。所以，托馬斯，你顯然很好地管理了風險。所以我只是想了解您如何看待存在下行風險並且利率確實下降的情況。如果有的話，您如何看待對沖這一點？您是否需要延長證券期限或需要其他東西？

If forward rates go above nearby rates, we may go out forward. But as long as nearby rates are higher, we will not do so.

如果遠期匯率高於近期匯率，我們可能會遠期出局。但只要附近的費率較高，我們就不會這麼做。

Our next question will be coming from Kyle Voigt of KBW.

我們的下一個問題將來自 KBW 的 Kyle Voigt。

Thomas, maybe the first one is for you. Just on your automatic share sale plan. I think that's been paused for most of 2023. Can you just kind of provide an update there on any plans to convert and sell shares? And also just remind us...

湯瑪斯，也許第一個適合你。就在您的自動股票銷售計劃上。我認為這在 2023 年的大部分時間裡都被暫停了。您能否提供有關轉換和出售股票計劃的最新資訊？而且還只是提醒我們...

I have a number of -- large number of shares that I have converted. I have constantly and always have a sales program on file, and I have a target price, which is 20% under what I believe the fair price for the stock would be. We have not reached that point yet. So when we will, you will see sales from me.

我已經轉換了大量的股票。我一直並始終將銷售計劃存檔，並且我有一個目標價格，該價格比我認為的股票合理價格低 20%。我們還沒有達到這一點。所以當我們這樣做的時候，你就會看到我的銷售。

Understood. And that's all automatically set in the -- this year plan. Understood. The second question is just on the expenses. Last quarter, you spoke about some of the very recent challenges you were seeing in hiring technology talent. Just wondering if you could provide an update there on the market for talent. Are you still seeing the same inflationary pressures that you spoke about last quarter? And how is your hiring plan progressing in 2023 at 5% head count growth versus where you expect it to be when this year started?

明白了。這一切都在今年的計劃中自動設定。明白了。第二個問題只是關於費用。上個季度，您談到了最近在招募技術人才方面遇到的一些挑戰。只是想知道您是否可以提供人才市場的最新資訊。您是否仍面臨上個季度提到的相同通膨壓力？與今年年初時的預期相比，您 2023 年的招募計畫進展如何（員工人數成長 5%）？

So we do not think about hiring in terms of budgeting the number of people that we have to hire in a particular year. It's much more short term than that. We always know the projects that we are currently working on, the projects that we have, we would like to work on. We see how many people we need in various groups. There is obviously some amount of attrition that we have to deal with. And these are the factors that determine when we approve a new position and we go to the market and try to hire them.

因此，我們不會根據特定年份必須僱用的人數預算來考慮招聘。它比這更短期。我們始終知道我們目前正在進行的專案、我們擁有的專案以及我們想要進行的專案。我們看到不同的群體需要多少人。顯然，我們必須應對一定程度的人員流失。這些因素決定了我們何時批准新職位並進入市場並嘗試僱用他們。

Recently, we have not had great difficulty finding people at the prices we thought that we would find them. So there is a little bit less competition for the talent compared to last year. But good technologies, the really good technologies are still hard to find and you have to pay up for them.

最近，我們以我們認為可以找到的價格找到人並不困難。因此，與去年相比，人才競爭減少。但是好的技術，真正好的技術仍然很難找到，而且你必須付出代價。

Understood. And if I could just sneak one in at the end of the call here for Paul. Other income, I think, on an adjusted basis, was that $20 million. It was the highest in quite some time. Just wondering if you could provide any color on kind of what drove that line and what -- if that's a good run rate or we should think about it kind of reverting lower from here?

明白了。如果我能在通話結束時偷偷插一句給保羅的話。我認為，調整後的其他收入為 2000 萬美元。這是相當一段時間以來的最高水準。只是想知道您是否可以提供任何顏色來說明驅動這條線的因素以及什麼 - 如果這是一個良好的運行率，或者我們應該考慮它從這裡恢復到更低的水平？

Right. So it's always difficult to talk about run rate and other income because the primary components are our currency diversification strategy, which obviously fluctuates with the dollar. And we have some other -- we have some investments, a few substantial investments that also produced some variability. So in this quarter, it's not that hard to do the math. On our currency diversification, we lost about $17 million, and we made back $20-something million on investments.

正確的。因此，談論運行率和其他收入總是很困難，因為主要組成部分是我們的貨幣多元化策略，這顯然會隨著美元的波動而波動。我們還有其他一些投資，一些重大投資也產生了一些變化。所以在這個季度，做數學計算並不難。在我們的貨幣多元化方面，我們損失了大約 1700 萬美元，但我們在投資上賺回了 20 多萬美元。

So the net of the whole thing was -- I mean, together with other normal things, we still have small trading activities and so forth. So we looked at other income of $27 million, but mostly that was because we had a non-repeat of last year's $40 million loss on the currency. They produce a lot of noise, which is why we exclude them when we report our non-GAAP numbers.

所以整個事情的網路是——我的意思是，與其他正常的事情一起，我們仍然有小型的貿易活動等等。因此，我們查看了 2700 萬美元的其他收入，但這主要是因為我們沒有重複去年 4000 萬美元的貨幣損失。它們會產生大量噪音，這就是為什麼我們在報告非公認會計準則數據時將它們排除在外的原因。

Thank you. This concludes today's Q&A session. I would like to turn the call back over to Nancy Stuebe for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給南希·斯圖貝 (Nancy Stuebe)，讓其致閉幕詞。請繼續。

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

謝謝大家今天的參與。謹此提醒，此電話會議可在我們的網站上重播。明天我們也會在我們的網站上發布乾淨版本的成績單。再次感謝您，我們將在下個季度末與您交談。

Thank you all for joining today's conference call. You may all disconnect. And everyone, enjoy the rest of your evening.

感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。你們都可以斷開連線。大家，祝大家度過餘下的夜晚。