Interactive Brokers Group Inc (IBKR) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Interactive Brokers Group 4Q '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。歡迎參加盈透證券集團 23 年第四季財報電話會議。 （操作員指示）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.

現在我想將會議交給今天的發言人，投資者關係總監南希·斯圖貝 (Nancy Stuebe)。

Good afternoon. Happy New Year, and thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter '23 earnings call. Thomas is on the call and 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.

午安.新年快樂，感謝您參加我們 23 年第四季的財報電話會議。湯瑪斯正在打電話，請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. 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。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。

In 2023, we added over 470,000 net new accounts. Client equity at year-end was up 39% to $426 billion, an increase of over $100 million from last year. We earned over $4 billion in net revenues and over $3 billion in pretax income, both for the first time. Our pretax margin was 71% for the full year by far, the highest in the industry. In fact, very few public companies in any industry have that kind of profit margin. If market conditions continue as they are, even with the 3 interest rate cuts being predicted, I see no reason why we wouldn't be able to maintain pretax margin at the 70% level.

2023 年，我們淨新增帳戶超過 47 萬個。年末客戶資產成長 39%，達到 4,260 億美元，比去年增加超過 1 億美元。我們的淨收入首次超過 40 億美元，稅前收入首次超過 30 億美元。迄今為止，我們全年稅前利潤率為 71%，為業界最高水準。事實上，任何行業的上市公司都很少有這樣的利潤率。如果市場狀況持續下去，即使預計將有 3 次降息，我認為我們沒有理由不能將稅前利潤率維持在 70% 的水平。

We saw stronger markets in 2023 with the same focus on options and on the Magnificent Seven names that we have seen for a year now. We see options being traded actively both traditionally as a means to offset risk and a stand-alone zero data expiry.

我們看到 2023 年市場將更加強勁，期權和七巨頭的焦點與我們一年來看到的一樣。我們看到期權交易活躍，傳統上作為抵消風險的手段和獨立的零數據到期。

Regarding interest rates, we are not willing to argue with the market. If the market believes that long-term rates will be under 4%, we don't think it's our business to dispute it. However, there are several long-term trends that, in my opinion, call for higher inflation and higher rates in the long run.

關於利率，我們不願意與市場爭論。如果市場認為長期利率將低於 4%，我們認為我們無權對此提出異議。然而，在我看來，有幾個長期趨勢需要更高的通膨和更高的利率。

First is deglobalization. Over the past few decades, where goods are manufactured has been reallocated around the globe, often far from consumers as containerization reduced shipping expenses and manufacturing went where it's cheapest Prices of some goods were driven down 50% to 90%. But now as we have been predicting, geopolitical uncertainty has driven transportation costs up with insurance of transport rising every day as vessels are attacked and routes become unsafe. To start producing closer to consumers, where labor is often more expensive, means higher costs and prices.

首先是去全球化。在過去的幾十年裡，商品的製造地點已在全球範圍內重新分配，通常遠離消費者，因為集裝箱化降低了運輸費用，並且製造轉移到了最便宜的地方。一些商品的價格下降了50%至90%。但現在正如我們所預測的那樣，地緣政治的不確定性已經推高了運輸成本，隨著船隻遭到襲擊和航線變得不安全，運輸保險費用每天都在上漲。開始在距離消費者更近的地方生產意味著更高的成本和價格，因為那裡的勞動力往往更昂貴。

Second is demographics. For the most part, skilled labor is produced in developed countries like the U.S. and Europe and some extent in Asia. Population growth, however, is occurring in those countries where skilled labor is not produced. Growth rates and population growth have dramatically reversed and developed countries to decreasing instead of growing, meaning that skilled labor will cost more and more over time.

其次是人口統計。大多數熟練勞動力是在美國和歐洲等已開發國家以及一定程度上在亞洲生產的。然而，人口成長卻發生在那些不生產熟練勞動力的國家。成長率和人口成長已經急劇逆轉，已開發國家的成長率和人口成長速度正在下降而不是成長，這意味著隨著時間的推移，熟練勞動力的成本將越來越高。

Third are deficits. Deficits contribute to inflation as interest payments get funded through deficit spending, which then means bigger deficits and higher interest, which gets added on to the deficit on and on, so it is unclear to me how inflation can substantially decrease as the deficit grows.

三是赤字。赤字會加劇通貨膨脹，因為利息支出是透過赤字支出來提供資金的，這意味著更大的赤字和更高的利息，這會不斷地增加到赤字中，所以我不清楚隨著赤字的增長，通貨膨脹如何能夠大幅下降。

Fourth, the ever-increasing demand for spending on environmental projects will continue to become more and more expensive.

第四，環境項目支出的不斷增長的需求將繼續變得越來越昂貴。

Combining these factors, it is hard to see how inflation will subside over the long term, even if in the next several months, it may ameliorate somewhat. These trends are inescapable. And while you may see long-term rates at 4% for now. They could go back to 5%, 6%, 7% or more as costs, deficit spending and the national debt keep increasing.

綜合這些因素，很難看出通膨將如何長期消退，即使在未來幾個月內可能會有所改善。這些趨勢是不可避免的。雖然目前您可能會看到長期利率為 4%。隨著成本、赤字支出和國債不斷增加，利率可能會回到 5%、6%、7% 或更高。

Turning to our business. Our client accounts and client equity grew fastest in Europe and Asia as more and more people worldwide want to access international markets, invest in securities they feel offer the most upside regardless of what type of security it is or where it is traded and hold what they perceive as safer currencies.

轉向我們的業務。我們的客戶帳戶和客戶資產在歐洲和亞洲成長最快，因為世界各地越來越多的人希望進入國際市場，投資於他們認為具有最大上漲空間的證券，無論該證券是什麼類型或在哪裡交易並持有他們想要的證券。被視為更安全的貨幣。

In 2023, individuals saw the fastest account growth among our 5 client segments and the second highest commission in net interest growth. Proprietary traders had the fastest client equity and commission growth. Introducing brokers had the highest net interest growth followed by individuals and financial advisers, all well over 50%.

2023 年，個人帳戶在我們的 5 個客戶群中成長最快，佣金淨利息成長排名第二。自營交易者的客戶資產和佣金成長最快。介紹經紀人的淨利息成長率最高，其次是個人和財務顧問，均遠超過 50%。

While we saw growth in hedge fund accounts and significantly higher client equity, they showed a smaller increase in commission and interest activity than our proprietary traders or individuals. This is likely due to so many funds holding the same Magnificent Seven names. But as many of you are on the call, maybe you can expand on this.

雖然我們看到對沖基金帳戶的成長和客戶資產的顯著提高，但與我們的自營交易商或個人相比，它們的佣金和利息活動的增幅較小。這可能是因為有太多基金持有相同的「七雄」名字。但由於你們中的許多人都在通話中，也許你們可以對此進行擴展。

We had one of our busiest years ever of programming. During 2023, we added a wide range of features and capabilities including those for financial advisers and enhanced IBKR Mobile, PortfolioAnalyst, our CRM and student training lab, plus added comprehensive new content at our Traders' Academy, Quant Blog and Traders' Insight.

我們度過了有史以來最忙碌的程式設計年份之一。 2023 年，我們增加了廣泛的功能和功能，包括面向財務顧問的功能和功能，以及增強的IBKR Mobile、PortfolioAnalyst、我們的CRM 和學生培訓實驗室，並在我們的交易者學院、量化部落格和交易者洞察中加入了全面的新內容。

Our new Discover tool, let's you see technical insights using actionable analysis and alerts with a market buzz bubble map to identify the company's most in the news. Allowing clients to go more in-depth analytics and sentiment and has proven quite popular.

我們的新發現工具可讓您透過可操作的分析和警報以及市場熱點氣泡圖來了解技術見解，以識別該公司最熱門的新聞。允許客戶進行更深入的分析和情緒，事實證明非常受歡迎。

For our long short hedge fund to proprietary trading clients, we added features like a securities lending dashboard, which gives an expanded universe of securities lending data like borrower and lender depth among other items.

對於我們向自營交易客戶提供的多頭空頭對沖基金，我們添加了證券借貸儀表板等功能，該儀表板提供了更廣泛的證券借貸數據，例如藉款人和貸方深度等項目。

For financial advisers, we are significantly less expensive than competitors. To give an idea of the value add we offer to financial advisers. When an adviser buys a mutual fund for his or her clients at Interactive Brokers, we charge a maximum of $14.95 for the entire trade and nothing for allocating the mutual fund among any number of clients after the trade.

對於財務顧問來說，我們的費用明顯低於競爭對手。了解我們為財務顧問提供的加值服務。當顧問在盈透證券為其客戶購買共同基金時，我們對整個交易最高收取 14.95 美元的費用，並且在交易後向任意數量的客戶分配共同基金時不收取任何費用。

In contrast, competitors charge $45 per account to allocate a trade. Our biggest issue is that FAs do not believe us and we tell them that they can save thousands of dollars each time they update their customers' portfolios.

相比之下，競爭對手分配交易的費用為每個帳戶 45 美元。我們最大的問題是 FA 不相信我們，我們告訴他們每次更新客戶的投資組合時可以節省數千美元。

For options traders who do not absolutely need an immediate fill. We built a facility to trade at the mid-price against our marketable order flow. Option orders and frequently traded options have a very good chance of being filled within a few minutes. A growing percentage of our options order flow gets successfully executed through this facility. This is in addition to our similar facility for equities, which we've had for some time now and which we continue to build.

對於並非絕對需要立即成交的選擇權交易者而言。我們建立了一個設施，可以根據我們的適銷訂單流以中間價格進行交易。選擇權訂單和頻繁交易的選擇權很有可能在幾分鐘內被成交。我們越來越多的選擇權訂單流透過該設施成功執行。這是對我們類似的股票設施的補充，我們已經擁有該設施一段時間了，並且還在繼續建造。

As we onboard more and more institutional clients, we get more and more liquidity in our ATS, especially for institutions willing to rest orders for a brief period of time.

隨著我們吸引越來越多的機構客戶，我們的 ATS 中的流動性也越來越多，特別是對於願意短期擱置訂單的機構。

Ultimately, we believe that the most a broker can do for its customers who trade frequently is to give them the best possible execution prices. This has always been the most important consideration as we have developed our platform over the years.

最終，我們相信經紀商能為頻繁交易的客戶做的最多的事情就是為他們提供盡可能最好的執行價格。多年來，這一直是我們開發平台時最重要的考量。

In 2024, we have another active year of programming projects planned, and you will see further upgrades to our platform with more features and capabilities. We are also adding new countries where our clients can trade. I will not say more to avoid tipping off our competitors.

2024 年，我們規劃了另一個活躍的程式設計專案年，您將看到我們的平台進一步升級，具有更多特性和功能。我們也增加了客戶可以進行交易的新國家。我不會再多說，以免給我們的競爭對手通風報信。

Finally, we are well aware that we have now reached $14 billion on equity on our balance sheet. We are considering possible opportunities in the space that would help us grow the business. Our public float is small, so we are unlikely to buy back shares. And personally speaking, I would hope that an opportunity presents itself as raising the dividend is not something I think helps the company grow in the long run.

最後，我們清楚地意識到，我們的資產負債表上的權益現已達到 140 億美元。我們正在考慮該領域可能的機會，以幫助我們發展業務。我們的公眾持股量很小，因此我們不太可能回購股票。就我個人而言，我希望機會出現，因為我認為提高股利並不能幫助公司長期發展。

There is much to look forward to. The Interactive Brokers platform is built with the purpose of bringing investors and marketplaces together to interact with each other, all over the world, optimizing the allocation of capital and resources. It is our job to educate current and beginning investors to develop the best tools and capabilities to facilitate their investing journey.

還有很多值得期待的事。盈透證券平台的建立旨在將世界各地的投資者和市場聚集在一起，相互互動，優化資本和資源的配置。我們的工作是教育當前和新手投資者開發最好的工具和能力來促進他們的投資之旅。

We are as busy programming as we've ever been. This and our much lower cost structure is what sets us apart and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

我們一如既往地忙於程式設計。這種結構以及我們更低的成本結構使我們與眾不同，並將在未來幾年繼續如此。

With that, I will turn the call over to Paul Brody. Paul?

這樣，我會將電話轉給保羅·布羅迪。保羅？

Thank you, Nancy. Good afternoon, everybody, and thanks for joining the call. I'll review the fourth quarter results, and then we'll open it up for questions.

謝謝你，南希。大家下午好，感謝您加入通話。我將回顧第四季度的業績，然後我們將開放提問。

Starting with our revenue items on Page 3 of the release. We're pleased with our financial results this quarter, roughly matching the record adjusted net revenues and pretax income of the prior quarter. And for the full year 2023, we achieved record results in every major financial measure. Commissions rose versus last year's fourth quarter, reaching $348 million. The full year commissions were $1.4 billion, up 3% from 2022. In '23, we saw higher trading volumes in options and futures coming from our large base of sophisticated and active traders, investors and advisers.

從新聞稿第 3 頁的收入項目開始。我們對本季的財務表現感到滿意，大致相當於上一季創紀錄的調整後淨收入和稅前收入。 2023 年全年，我們在每個主要財務指標上都取得了創紀錄的成果。佣金較去年第四季上升，達到 3.48 億美元。全年佣金為 14 億美元，比 2022 年增長 3%。23 年，我們看到選擇權和期貨交易量增加，這些交易量來自我們龐大的成熟且活躍的交易者、投資者和顧問群體。

Net interest income of $730 million for the quarter and a record $2.8 billion for the year reflected a risk on environment that led to steadily higher margin lending as well as higher yields on our margin loans and segregated cash portfolio. This is partially offset by the higher interest paid to our customers on their cash balances as Interactive Brokers passes through to them all rate hikes above the first 50 basis points on their qualified funds, which differentiates us in an environment or many competitors pay little to nothing to their customers.

本季淨利息收入為 7.3 億美元，全年淨利息收入達到創紀錄的 28 億美元，反映出環境風險導致保證金貸款穩步上升，以及保證金貸款和獨立現金投資組合的收益率上升。這部分被我們向客戶現金餘額支付的較高利息所抵消，因為盈透證券將其合格基金的前50 個基點以上的所有加息轉嫁給他們，這使我們在一個環境中脫穎而出，或者許多競爭對手幾乎不支付任何費用給他們的客戶。

Other fees and services generated $55 million for the quarter and $197 million for the year. The increase from the prior year quarter was driven by the risk on positioning of customers, which led to a rise in risk exposure fees to $17 million as well as higher FDIC sweep fees, which rose to $6 million this quarter.

其他費用和服務本季產生 5,500 萬美元，全年產生 1.97 億美元。與去年同期相比的成長是由客戶部位風險推動的，這導致風險敞口費用上漲至 1,700 萬美元，以及 FDIC 清算費用上漲，本季該費用上漲至 600 萬美元。

Market data fees of $17 million and exchange liquidity payments of $8 million were the other factors in this category.

1700 萬美元的市場數據費和 800 萬美元的交易所流動性支付是該類別中的其他因素。

Other income 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, without these excluded items, other income was $16 million for both the quarter and the full year.

其他收入包括我們的投資、貨幣多元化策略和主要交易的損益。請注意，許多非核心項目都被排除在我們的調整後收益中，如果沒有這些排除項目，本季和全年的其他收入均為 1600 萬美元。

Turning to expenses. Execution and clearing and distribution costs were $100 million in the quarter and $386 million for the year up versus last year, primarily due to higher volumes in options and futures, which carry higher fees.

轉向開支。與去年相比，本季的執行、清算和分銷成本為 1 億美元，年比為 3.86 億美元，這主要是由於選擇權和期貨交易量增加，費用也更高。

As a percent of commission revenues, execution and clearing costs were 23% in the fourth quarter, for a gross transactional profit margin of 77%, unchanged from last quarter. We calculate this by excluding from execution and clearing $20 million of cost, predominantly market data, without a direct commission revenue component.

第四季執行和清算成本佔佣金收入的百分比為 23%，交易毛利率為 77%，與上季持平。我們透過排除執行和清算 2000 萬美元的成本（主要是市場數據）來計算這一點，沒有直接佣金收入部分。

Compensation and benefits expense was $136 million for the quarter for a ratio of compensation expense to adjusted net revenues of 12%, unchanged from last year.

本季薪資與福利費用為 1.36 億美元，薪資費用與調整後淨收入的比率為 12%，與去年持平。

For the year, this ratio was also 12%, down from 14% in 2022. We are always focused on expense discipline while improving our strong top line. Our head count at year-end was 2,932.

今年，這一比率也為 12%，低於 2022 年的 14%。我們始終專注於支出紀律，同時提高我們強勁的營收。截至年底，我們的員工人數為 2,932 人。

G&A expenses were $45 million, down from the year ago quarter. For the full year, recall that 2023's number is inflated due to a previously disclosed regulatory settlement in the second quarter. Without that, full year G&A would have been even with 2022. Our pretax margin was 72% for the quarter and 71% for the year. Automation and expense control, along with thoughtful management of our balance sheet, remain our key means of maintaining high margins while we invest in the future of our business.

一般管理費用為 4,500 萬美元，較去年同期下降。就全年而言，請記住，由於先前在第二季度披露的監管和解協議，2023 年的數字有所誇大。如果沒有這一點，全年的一般管理費用將與 2022 年持平。本季我們的稅前利潤率為 72%，全年稅前利潤率為 71%。自動化和費用控制以及對資產負債表的周到管理仍然是我們在投資業務未來的同時保持高利潤的關鍵手段。

Income taxes of $77 million reflects the sum of the public company's $45 million and the operating company's $32 million. The public company's taxes included a decrease in the deferred tax asset, which reflects an annual remeasurement of future tax benefit. Together with some other items, these had an $8 million impact on income taxes, removing these onetime noncash items the public company's adjusted effective tax rate was 17.9% within its usual range. For the year, taxes of $257 million by the sum of the public company's $142 million and the operating company's $115 million.

7700 萬美元的所得稅是上市公司 4,500 萬美元和營運公司 3,200 萬美元的總和。上市公司的稅收包括遞延所得稅資產的減少，這反映了對未來稅收收益的年度重新計量。連同其他一些項目，這些項目對所得稅產生了 800 萬美元的影響，除去這些曾經的非現金項目，上市公司調整後的有效稅率為 17.9%，在正常範圍內。本年度，上市公司稅款 1.42 億美元及營運公司稅 1.15 億美元之和為 2.57 億美元。

Moving to our balance sheet on Page 5 of the release. Our total assets ended the year 12% higher at $128 billion with growth driven by higher customer cash and margin loan balances from both new and existing customers. We maintain a balance sheet geared towards supporting our growing business and providing sufficient financial resources during volatile markets. We have no long-term debt. Our ample capital base is deployed primarily in running our current business and our liquidity positions us to support our customers during periods of high market stress. It also helps us win new business by showing the strength and depth of our balance sheet to current and prospective clients and partners.

前往新聞稿第 5 頁的資產負債表。截至年底，我們的總資產成長了 12%，達到 1,280 億美元，成長的動力來自新客戶和現有客戶的客戶現金和保證金貸款餘額的增加。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。我們沒有長期債務。我們充足的資本基礎主要用於經營我們目前的業務，我們的流動性使我們能夠在市場壓力較大的時期為我們的客戶提供支援。它還透過向現有和潛在的客戶及合作夥伴展示我們資產負債表的實力和深度，幫助我們贏得新業務。

In our operating data on Pages 6 and 7. Our contract volumes in options for all customers rose 21% over the prior year quarter, well above industry growth. Futures contract volumes rose 4%, while stock share volume declined for us as it did across the industry. For the full year, options and futures contract volumes rose 12% and 1%, respectively. The decrease in stock share volume is largely attributable to lower trading and pink sheet and other very low-priced stocks. Notional value of brokerage shares traded, however, was up in most markets, particularly in the U.S. as clients gravitated to larger, higher quality names.

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期權合約量比去年同期增長了 21%，遠高於行業增長率。期貨合約交易量成長了 4%，而我們的股票交易量卻像整個產業一樣下降了。全年選擇權和期貨合約交易量分別成長 12% 和 1%。股票交易量的減少主要是由於交易量下降以及粉紅單和其他價格極低的股票所致。然而，在大多數市場，特別是在美國，隨著客戶傾向於規模更大、品質更高的公司，經紀股票交易的名義價值上升。

On Page 7, you can see the total customer DARTs were 1.9 million trades per day, up 2% from the prior year and reflecting a more risk on period for investors. Commission for cleared commissionable order of $3.19 was up slightly from last year, driven by increases in futures volume and average trade size. Options contributed higher volume but a lower average trade size and stock trade volume and average trade size both declined.

在第 7 頁上，您可以看到每天的客戶 DART 交易總數為 190 萬筆，比上年增長 2%，反映出投資者的期間風險更大。由於期貨交易量和平均交易規模的增加，已清算佣金訂單的佣金為 3.19 美元，較去年略有上升。選擇權貢獻了較高的交易量，但平均交易規模較低，股票交易量和平均交易規模均下降。

Page 8 shows our net interest margin numbers. Total GAAP net interest income was $730 million for the quarter, up 29% and $2.8 billion for the year, up 68%. Our net interest margin -- net interest income as displayed in our NIM was $9 million higher or $739 million as we include income here that for GAAP purposes is classified as other fees or other income but that we feel is more appropriately considered interest. These results reflect strength in margin loan and segregated cash interest, partially offset by higher interest expense on customer cash balances.

第 8 頁顯示了我們的淨利差數字。本季 GAAP 淨利息收入總額為 7.3 億美元，成長 29%；全年 GAAP 淨利息收入為 28 億美元，成長 68%。我們的淨利差－NIM 中顯示的淨利息收入增加了900 萬美元，即7.39 億美元，因為我們在此將收入納入其中，出於GAAP 目的，這些收入被歸類為其他費用或其他收入，但我們認為更適合將其視為利息。這些結果反映了保證金貸款和獨立現金利息的強勁勢頭，部分被客戶現金餘額利息支出的增加所抵消。

Most central banks around the world including the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady this quarter with only Australia increasing its benchmark rate slightly. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates 4x over the year, raising the average U.S. Fed funds rate for the fourth quarter to 5.33% from 3.65% in the prior year.

包括聯準會在內的全球大多數央行本季維持利率穩定，只有澳洲小幅提高基準利率。聯準會年內升息四次，將第四季美國聯邦基金平均利率從去年同期的3.65%提高至5.33%。

Our segregated cash interest income rose 67% on a 4% increase in average balances, while margin loan interest rose by 50% on a 9% increase in average balances. The average duration of our portfolio remained at under 30 days. With the U.S. dollar yield curve inverting further over the fourth quarter, we have been maximizing what we earn by capturing higher short-term yield rather than accept the significantly lower yields of longer maturities.

隨著平均餘額增加 4%，我們的獨立現金利息收入增加了 67%，而隨著平均餘額增加 9%，保證金貸款利息增加了 50%。我們投資組合的平均久期維持在 30 天以下。隨著美元殖利率曲線在第四季度進一步倒掛，我們一直在透過獲取更高的短期收益率來最大化我們的收益，而不是接受期限較長的收益率大幅降低的情況。

In this rate environment, this strategy allows us to maintain a relatively tight maturity match with the rate we pay our customers.

在這種利率環境下，該策略使我們能夠與向客戶支付的利率保持相對嚴格的期限相符。

Securities lending net interest has not been as strong as in prior quarters for 2 main reasons. First, overall customer demand for shorting stocks has fallen. There were fewer hard-to-borrow names industry-wide with the market's low volatility are the drivers of securities lending.

證券借貸淨利息沒有前幾季那麼強勁，主要有兩個原因。首先，整體客戶做空股票的需求下降。全行業難借的名字較少，市場的低波動性是證券借貸的驅動力。

Second, as we have noted on previous calls, higher average interest rates versus prior periods means more of what we earn from securities lending is classified as interest on segregated cash. To more accurately compare our securities lending revenue with the year ago quarter, we estimate that at the interest earned on this cash collateral fell under securities borrowed and loaned, it would have been $18 million higher or $61 million.

其次，正如我們在先前的電話會議中指出的那樣，平均利率高於前期意味著我們從證券借貸中賺取的更多收入被歸類為獨立現金利息。為了更準確地將我們的證券借貸收入與去年同期相比，我們估計，如果現金抵押品賺取的利息屬於借入和借出的證券，則該利息將增加 1800 萬美元或 6100 萬美元。

Interest on customer credit balances, the interest we pay to our customers on the cash in their account, rose on both higher rates and nearly all currencies and higher balances from new account growth. As we've noted many times in the past, the high interest rates we pay on customer cash, currently 4.83% on qualified U.S. dollar balances is a significant driver of new customers. Fully rate-sensitive balances were about $18 billion this quarter.

客戶信貸餘額的利息，即我們向客戶帳戶中的現金支付的利息，由於利率上升、幾乎所有貨幣以及新帳戶增長帶來的餘額增加而上漲。正如我們過去多次指出的那樣，我們對客戶現金支付的高利率（目前合格美元餘額的利率為 4.83%）是新客戶的重要推動力。本季完全利率敏感的餘額約為 180 億美元。

Now for our estimates of the impact of changes in rates. Given market expectations of rate cuts in 2024, we estimate the effect of such changes in the Fed funds rate to be a $56 million reduction in annual net interest income for each 25 basis point decrease in the benchmark.

現在我們對利率變動的影響進行估計。鑑於市場對 2024 年降息的預期，我們估計聯邦基金利率變化的影響是，基準每下降 25 個基點，年度淨利息收入將減少 5,600 萬美元。

Note that our starting point for these estimates is year-end, the Fed funds effective rate at 5.33% and average balances as of December 31, any growth in our balance sheet and interest-earning assets would reduce this impact.

請注意，我們這些估計的起點是年底，聯邦基金有效利率為 5.33%，截至 12 月 31 日的平均餘額，我們資產負債表和生息資產的任何增長都會減少這種影響。

About 25% of our customer cash balances is not in U.S. dollars. So estimates of the U.S. rate change exclude those currencies. We estimate the effect of decreases in all the relevant non-U.S. dollar benchmark rates would further reduce annual net interest income by $18 million to $20 million for each 25 basis point decrease in those benchmarks.

我們大約 25% 的客戶現金餘額不是美元。因此，對美國利率變化的估計不包括這些貨幣。我們估計，所有相關非美元基準利率每下降 25 個基點，年度淨利息收入將進一步減少 1,800 萬至 2,000 萬美元。

In conclusion, we had a financially strong quarter to close out a record year in net revenues and pretax margin reflecting our continued ability to grow our customer base and deliver on our core value proposition to customers while scaling the business. This highlights the attractiveness of our strategy, automating as much of the brokerage business as possible and expanding what we offer while minimizing what we charge.

總而言之，我們的季度財務狀況強勁，淨收入和稅前利潤率創下歷史新高，反映出我們在擴大業務的同時不斷擴大客戶群並為客戶提供核心價值主張的能力。這凸顯了我們策略的吸引力，即盡可能實現經紀業務的自動化，並擴大我們提供的服務，同時最大限度地減少我們的收費。

And with that, we'd like to open it up for questions.

至此，我們願意開放提問。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from James Yaro with Goldman Sachs.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自高盛的 James Yaro。

I'd like to start with your outlook for deploying your excess capital. Maybe you could just speak to how you think about the balance between organic investment and inorganic growth. And then perhaps if you could just speak to the time line over which you might contemplate that inorganic growth and what sort of businesses you might be looking for?

我想先談談您對部署過剩資本的展望。也許您可以談談您如何看待有機投資和無機成長之間的平衡。然後，也許您可以談談您可能考慮無機成長的時間線以及您可能正在尋找什麼樣的業務？

So as you know, we have significant cash reserves, significant amount of capital that we could deploy and would like to deploy. We have been looking for possible acquisition targets. They are all in our industry. They tend to be brokers who are less efficient than we are. We have closely looked at a number of them. We either find the price to be too high for acquisition or find that the acquisition would represent a very significant amount of work in terms of the integration. So, so far, we have not found any target that we would actively go after. But we hope that, that will change in the future.

如您所知，我們擁有大量現金儲備，以及我們可以部署和願意部署的大量資本。我們一直在尋找可能的收購目標。他們都在我們這個行業。他們往往是效率比我們低的經紀人。我們仔細研究了其中的一些。我們要麼發現收購價格太高，要麼發現收購在整合方面意味著非常大量的工作。所以，到目前為止，我們還沒有找到任何我們會積極追求的目標。但我們希望，這種情況將來會改變。

Okay. That's very helpful. Maybe if we could just touch quickly on the prime brokerage and prop trading opportunity. Maybe if you could just speak to where you see -- where you are in the growth ramp for prime. And what do you think the business could look like on your platform over the next few years? You have talked about adding new hedge funds, both the small and large. So maybe you could just speak about when you talk to those clients, what attracts the larger hedge funds to your platform?

好的。這非常有幫助。也許我們可以快速接觸一下大宗經紀業務和自營交易機會。也許你可以談談你所看到的地方——你處於黃金成長坡道的哪個階段。您認為未來幾年您平台上的業務會是什麼樣子？您談到了增加新的對沖基金，無論規模大小。因此，也許您可以在與這些客戶交談時談談，是什麼吸引了更大的對沖基金來到您的平台？

Interactive Brokers has been successful in attracting smaller hedge funds. These are typically the hedge funds that the bigger primes declined to do business with because of the higher cost structure that they have. And then what we find is as the hedge funds get bigger, they start to look around and consider these larger competitors of ours. We would obviously like to reverse that trend, but it's not going to be easy.

盈透證券在吸引規模較小的對沖基金方面取得了成功。這些對沖基金通常是大型優質公司拒絕與其開展業務的對沖基金，因為它們的成本結構較高。然後我們發現，隨著對沖基金規模的擴大，他們開始環顧四周並考慮我們這些更大的競爭對手。我們顯然希望扭轉這種趨勢，但這並不容易。

Part of the problem that we are dealing with is that the large primes are banks that have been in business for 100 years or more and they have created a very significant brand recognition. That is what we are up against. So we hope that the significant amount of capital that we have on our balance sheet will be attractive for the manager that looks at our large competitors, they will consider us because they will walk away with the belief that their assets are safe with us.

我們正在處理的部分問題是，大型優質銀行是已經經營 100 年或更長時間的銀行，它們已經建立了非常顯著的品牌認知。這就是我們所面臨的。因此，我們希望資產負債表上的大量資本對於關注我們大型競爭對手的管理者來說具有吸引力，他們會考慮我們，因為他們會相信他們的資產在我們這裡是安全的。

Our next question comes from Craig Siegenthaler with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的克雷格·西根塔勒。

We wanted your perspective on the potential money in motion in the active trader segment. So your biggest active trader competitor will be integrated into a larger financial services firm in a few months. And I'm wondering if you think this is an opportunity for IBKR to pick up share in the active trader segment.

我們希望了解您對活躍交易者領域潛在資金流動的看法。因此，您最大的活躍交易對手將在幾個月內併入更大的金融服務公司。我想知道您是否認為這是 IBKR 在活躍交易者領域獲得份額的機會。

Are we talking about thinkorswim and Schwab?

我們是在談論 thinkorswim 和 Schwab 嗎？

Yes.

是的。

So to my knowledge, the thinkorswim platform is going to be made available to the active traders on the Schwab platform. So I would not necessarily see this as an opportunity for the accounts to move from Schwab to Interactive Brokers, but you might have heard something different. I'm not sure.

據我所知，thinkorswim 平台將向 Schwab 平台上的活躍交易者開放。因此，我不一定認為這是帳戶從嘉信理財轉移到盈透證券的機會，但您可能聽到了不同的說法。我不知道。

Okay. For my follow-up, can you provide us your outlook for margin loan balances? Are we at a point where you think they can start to grow?

好的。對於我的後續行動，您能否向我們提供您對保證金貸款餘額的展望？您認為我們已經到了可以開始成長的地步了嗎？

Well, the margin loan balances are somewhat related to the interest rates, how expensive it is to put the positions on -- margin positions on. They also depend the market opportunities that are in the market. So the higher the volatility, the greater these balances tend to be. As the number of accounts is growing that should also increase the margin balances. So I'm optimistic that they will increase over time.

嗯，保證金貸款餘額在某種程度上與利率、建立保證金部位的成本有關。它們還取決於市場上的市場機會。因此，波動性越高，這些餘額往往就越大。隨著帳戶數量的增加，保證金餘額也會增加。所以我樂觀地認為它們會隨著時間的推移而增加。

One moment for questions. Our next question comes from Benjamin Budish with Barclays.

請稍等一下提問。我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的本傑明·布迪什。

You made the comment earlier in the prepared remarks about the 70% margin for this year, and I think earlier at a public appearance, you talked about sort of high single-digit operating expense growth for the year. Can you maybe talk about what that means for the top line? How do you think about sort of the interplay between lower rates potentially impacting net interest income, maybe this is offset by higher commissions. We've seen cash balances come up a little bit. How do you think about those 2 -- sort of the interplay between those 2 and how that could evolve over the year and perhaps how you think about that a little bit longer term? I know in the past, you've sort of commented well, the margin could maybe in the low 60s to high 60s. It sounds like there's a little bit more confidence on that 70% mark. So just curious of your thoughts there.

您早些時候在準備好的關於今年 70% 利潤率的評論中發表了評論，我認為早些時候在公開露面時，您談到了今年高個位數的營運費用增長。您能談談這對營收意味著什麼嗎？您如何看待較低利率之間可能影響淨利息收入之間的相互作用，也許這會被較高的佣金所抵消。我們看到現金餘額略有增加。你如何看待這兩者——這兩者之間的相互作用以及在一年內如何發展，也許你如何看待更長遠的問題？我知道過去你的評論不錯，利潤可能在 60 多歲到 60 多歲之間。聽起來人們對 70% 的分數更有信心了。所以只是好奇你的想法。

So I think it's going to be a risk that heat between lower interest rates, reducing our earnings and higher -- more activity increase in our earnings. So that's how I see it.

因此，我認為較低的利率會減少我們的收入，而更多的活動會增加我們的收入，這將是一個風險。我就是這麼看的。

Got it. And maybe any -- last year, you sort of gave us an early look on the account -- expected account growth into '23. I understand your position on the introducing brokers at this point, but any thoughts on what to expect this year or sort of 20% the right way to think about it? Any potentially large partners onboarding that might come on at any point?

知道了。也許還有——去年，你讓我們對這個帳戶進行了初步了解——預計帳戶增長到 23 年。我了解您目前對介紹經紀商的立場，但對於今年的預期或 20% 的正確思考方式有什麼想法嗎？是否有任何潛在的大型合作夥伴可能隨時加入？

Well, I think the best piece of guidance we can give you is that you can look at how we have been growing over time and you can sort of jump to your own conclusions as to how that is going to look. The mix of the business, the various segments of the business that we have individual clients, introducing brokers, hedge funds, prop trading firms, financial advisers. It's not obvious to me how that makes you change over time. So I would expect roughly the same growth numbers for the next year.

嗯，我認為我們可以給你的最好的指導是，你可以看看我們如何隨著時間的推移而成長，你可以跳到你自己的結論，看看它會是什麼樣子。業務組合，我們擁有個人客戶、介紹經紀人、對沖基金、自營交易公司、財務顧問的各個業務領域。對我來說，這如何讓你隨著時間的推移而改變並不明顯。因此，我預計明年的成長數字大致相同。

Our next question comes from Brennan Hawken with UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的布倫南霍肯。

Thomas, you just talked about this sort of briefly, but I'm curious if you drill down into it a little bit in more detail. So -- and how we should be thinking about the offsets? And obviously, there's a $56 million impact for each 25 basis point rate cut. But how do you think about lower rates and how that translates into volumes and commissions and higher cash balances and margin loans? Like how do you anticipate that interplay to actually develop?

湯瑪斯，你只是簡單地談到了這一點，但我很好奇你是否能更詳細地深入探討。那麼——我們該如何考慮抵銷？顯然，每降息 25 個基點就會產生 5,600 萬美元的影響。但您如何看待較低的利率以及如何轉化為交易量和佣金以及更高的現金餘額和保證金貸款？例如你預期這種相互作用如何真正發展？

So I expect rates to be cut by 75 basis points in the course of the year. As you heard, our interest income would come down by $300 million -- actually $304 million, if you extrapolate what Paul said putting U.S. dollar deposits and foreign deposits together. So if we come down by 3 quarters that will be $220 million -- about $230 million. And I think that -- I mean, look -- I believe that our earnings increased due to the continuing increasing activity and increasing number of accounts and new accounts being onboarded will outstrip that. But I can promise you that it's just what I think. So I do believe that on balance, our earnings in 2024 will be higher than they were in 2023.

因此，我預計年內降息 75 個基點。正如你所聽到的，如果你將保羅所說的美元存款和外國存款放在一起推斷，我們的利息收入將減少 3 億美元——實際上是 3.04 億美元。因此，如果我們減少 3 個季度，這將是 2.2 億美元——大約 2.3 億美元。我認為——我的意思是，你看——我相信，由於活動的持續增加、帳戶數量的增加以及新加入的帳戶數量的增加，我們的收入增長將超過這一數字。但我可以向你保證，這只是我的想法。因此，我確實相信，總的來說，我們 2024 年的收入將高於 2023 年。

Okay. And then when we think about the margin balances, the margin balances continue to show good growth. How much of the growth in margin balances coming from new accounts, right? And therefore, that doesn't really have to do with any change in risk appetite in the existing customer base versus new accounts that are coming on and growing the margin organically?

好的。然後，當我們考慮保證金餘額時，保證金餘額繼續顯示出良好的成長勢頭。保證金餘額的成長有多少來自新帳戶，對嗎？因此，這實際上與現有客戶群的風險偏好與新帳戶的出現和利潤有機成長之間的任何變化無關嗎？

We slice and dice our accounts in many ways, but we don't look at new accounts versus old accounts, sorry.

我們以多種方式對我們的帳戶進行切片和切塊，但抱歉，我們不會將新帳戶與舊帳戶進行比較。

Fair enough. Maybe let me try and say it another way. The increase in the margin balances that we've been seeing here recently, do you believe that this is sustainable?

很公平。也許讓我試著用另一種方​​式說。我們最近在這裡看到保證金餘額的增加，您認為這是可持續的嗎？

Of course. Look, we are the least expensive provider of margin loans to -- especially to retail customers, but also to institutional traders.

當然。瞧，我們是最便宜的保證金貸款提供者——尤其是零售客戶，也包括機構交易者。

Our next question comes from Dan Fannon with Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自傑弗里斯的丹·範農。

My question is on sec lending and the outlook there, understanding that hard to borrowers have declined. But are you seeing replacement through other options, futures that behavior is changing? Or as you think about markets normalizing engagement picking up, but we should see a natural pickup in the demand for sec lending?

我的問題是關於證券貸款和那裡的前景，了解借款人的困難已經下降。但你是否看到其他選擇的替代，行為正在改變的未來？或者當您考慮市場正常化參與度回升時，但我們應該看到證券貸款需求自然回升？

So there's 2 things that work there, really. There's the baseline of what are the general shorts in the marketplace, which have been down and those are not under our control, but when things get more volatile, maybe more stocks get more interesting, look over value and the shorts go up. And then what really drives the P&L there is that particular stocks get very hot for a while, the demand outstrips the supply for borrowing those stocks because the shorts go up. And the rates go very high on those and we make much more money lending them as do our customers when they are signed up for our fully paid lending program, and they get generally about half of what we earn by lending to the Street. So it's very opportunity-driven. The best we can do is what we've been doing for years. We developed really expert systems at managing that inventory and trying to maximize the profitability when the opportunities come up.

所以確實有兩件事在那裡起作用。市場上的一般空頭有一個基線，這些空頭一直在下跌，並且不受我們控制，但當事情變得更加波動時，也許更多的股票會變得更有趣，看看價值，空頭就會上漲。然後，真正推動損益表的因素是，特定股票在一段時間內變得非常熱門，由於空頭增加，借入這些股票的需求超過了供應。這些利率非常高，當我們的客戶簽署我們的全額付款貸款計劃時，我們借給他們賺的錢要多得多，而且他們獲得的收入通常約為我們向華爾街貸款的一半。所以這是非常機會驅動的。我們能做的最好的就是我們多年來一直在做的事情。我們開發了真正的專家系統來管理庫存，並在機會出現時嘗試最大限度地提高盈利能力。

Maybe as the IPO space becomes more active, there are going to be some overpriced stocks trading out there with relatively small float and that could act as an increase of this activity.

也許隨著 IPO 空間變得更加活躍，將會有一些價格過高、流通量相對較小的股票上市，這可能會導致這種活動的增加。

Understood. That's helpful. And then just a follow-up on the inorganic discussion. Could we maybe put some financial metrics around what you guys would be looking to get in terms of returns. Obviously, your pretax margins are, as you mentioned, industry high. So the ability to make -- to replicate that through M&A is probably very difficult. But -- just is there a return threshold accretion, other kind of financial measures that we could think about as the bogeys for inorganic transaction.

明白了。這很有幫助。然後是無機討論的後續。我們能否針對你們希望獲得的回報制定一些財務指標？顯然，正如你所提到的，你們的稅前利潤率處於行業最高水平。因此，透過併購來複製這一點的能力可能非常困難。但是，是否存在回報門檻的增加，我們可以將其他類型的金融措施視為無機交易的障礙。

Well, so there are various factors that we take into consideration. Number one would be how big the acquisition is, how much of our capital would we have to spend. Obviously, we would not want to spend our energy on something too small. And at the same time, we would be too worried about getting into something very large.

嗯，我們要考慮多種因素。第一個問題是收購規模有多大，我們需要花費多少資本。顯然，我們不想把精力花在太小的事情上。同時，我們也會過度擔心進入非常大的領域。

We would look at what is the overlap between the financial services company we are looking at acquiring with what we are currently offering to our clients. How much synergies can we recognize the amount of work that we would have to do to integrate the acquired company systems with ours. So all these things are closely looked at apart from the pricing structure that the -- to-be acquired company has.

我們會研究我們正在考慮收購的金融服務公司與我們目前向客戶提供的服務之間有哪些重疊。我們可以認識到將收購的公司係統與我們的系統整合需要做多少工作。因此，除了要被收購的公司的定價結構之外，所有這些事情都受到密切關注。

In other words, how much would we have to adjust, the commissions and interest they charge. Would the revenues significantly change if the company becomes associated with Interactive Brokers. So there is a whole bunch of different factors that we that we look at, and we have done that a number of times. We have gotten close to 2 purchases in both of the cases, we were not able to agree on the price with the target.

換句話說，我們要調整多少，他們收取的佣金和利息。如果該公司與盈透證券建立關聯，收入是否會發生重大變化？因此，我們需要考慮很多不同的因素，並且我們已經這樣做了很多次。在這兩種情況下，我們都進行了接近兩次購買，但我們未能與目標公司就價格達成協議。

One moment for questions. Our next question comes from Kyle Voigt with KBW.

請稍等一下提問。我們的下一個問題來自 KBW 的 Kyle Voigt。

First question is on expenses. If we exclude the $45 million, I think, onetime expense that was realized in the second quarter of 2023, I'm calculating that your fixed expense growth was roughly 12% for full year 2023. Is that the best run rate expense growth rate that we should be thinking about for 2024 as well? And if we get into an environment where the Fed is significantly cutting interest rates, would that expense growth trajectory change at all in order to maintain that 70% pretax margin that you mentioned in your prepared remarks?

第一個問題是關於費用。如果我們排除 2023 年第二季度實現的 4500 萬美元一次性費用，我計算出 2023 年全年的固定費用增長率約為 12%。這是最佳運行率費用增長率嗎？我們也應該考慮2024年嗎？如果我們進入聯準會大幅降息的環境，那麼為了維持您在準備好的演講中提到的 70% 的稅前利潤率，費用成長軌跡是否會改變？

So 70% profit margin would get somewhat affected by the decrease in interest rates. You have already heard a little earlier, Paul Brody talking about the impact of the 25% cut on our net interest income. However, as Thomas alluded to, we hope that the commission income would offset these decreases in net interest income. So probably the revenue wouldn't change.

因此70%的利潤率會受到利率下降的影響。您早些時候已經聽過 Paul Brody 談到削減 25% 對我們淨利息收入的影響。然而，正如托馬斯所提到的，我們希望佣金收入能夠抵消淨利息收入的下降。所以收入可能不會改變。

What we have to pay very close attention to is our expenses. We have a very significant headcount. There's 2,900 employees working for the company. We have recently, over the past several years, we have had to increase the compensation every year because of the significant inflation, that inflation may stay with us, which would mean that we could expect the compensation expense to increase next year as well. And this is something that we really need to pay attention to. We would like to keep the headcount the same, if possible. But obviously, that could change. If we ever see that we are falling behind in customer service, we would have to adjust. But with the advances in, for example, AI, we hope that we can keep this number steady.

我們必須非常關注的是我們的開支。我們的員工數量非常可觀。該公司有 2,900 名員工。最近，在過去的幾年裡，我們每年都必須增加補償，因為通貨膨脹嚴重，通貨膨脹可能會持續下去，這意味著我們預計明年的補償費用也會增加。這是我們真正需要關注的事情。如果可能的話，我們希望保持員工人數不變。但顯然，這種情況可能會改變。如果我們發現我們在客戶服務方面落後了，我們就必須進行調整。但隨著人工智慧等領域的進步，我們希望能夠維持這個數字穩定。

Understood. Then just a follow-up, just going back to the M&A discussion. I think now you have over $10 billion of excess regulatory capital. But historically, you wanted to keep some of that as an additional cushion above the regulatory minimums to support the prime brokerage business. I guess when we're thinking about potential acquisition sizes that you are evaluating, I guess, how much of that $10 billion excess regulatory capital could theoretically be deployed for M&A? And anything you could share with respect to general size of assets that you're looking at relative to this excess capital level.

明白了。然後是後續行動，回到併購討論。我認為現在你有超過 100 億美元的超額監管資本。但從歷史上看，您希望保留其中的一些作為高於監管最低限度的額外緩衝，以支持主要經紀業務。我想，當我們考慮您正在評估的潛在收購規模時，我想，理論上這 100 億美元的超額監管資本中有多少可以用於併購？以及您可以分享的關於您所關注的資產總體規模相對於超額資本水平的任何資訊。

Well, I would not necessarily look at $10 billion excess as the guidance towards the size of acquisitions we would be willing to make. It would be most likely the case that the acquired company will be paid for as a mix of stock and cash. So we would not use up all the cash. We like to have the strong balance sheet. We have seen what happened to Robinhood a few years ago. We have seen what happened to Knight Trading. I don't know whether you remember them. more than a decade ago, we like the safety that comes with a strong balance sheet. So we would not want to spend anywhere near to the entire excess capital that we have.

嗯，我不一定會將 100 億美元的超額視為我們願意進行的收購規模的指導。最有可能的情況是，被收購公司將以股票和現金的混合方式支付。所以我們不會用完所有的現金。我們希望擁有強勁的資產負債表。我們已經看到了幾年前羅賓漢身上發生的事。我們已經看到騎士貿易公司發生了什麼事。不知道你還記不記得他們。十多年前，我們喜歡強勁的資產負債表帶來的安全感。因此，我們不想花費我們擁有的全部過剩資本。

(Operator Instructions) Our next question comes from Chris Allen with Citi, may proceed.

（操作員指示）我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Chris Allen，可以繼續。

Just have a couple of follow-ups. Just on the M&A discussion, the targets you're looking at is -- any preference from a regional perspective or a product or a capability perspective that you're looking at? Or is it more just about efficiencies?

只需進行幾個後續操作即可。就併購討論而言，您所關注的目標是—從區域角度或產品或能力角度來看，您有什麼偏好？還是更注重效率？

It's about efficiencies. There is no preference. We are a global company, so it really doesn't matter a way.

這是關於效率的。沒有偏好。我們是一家全球性公司，所以這並不重要。

And then obviously, headcount has increased at healthy levels, which has driven some of the compensation increases. What's the outlook for hiring going forward? Do you need to continue to hire at a healthy pace to expand internationally in other areas? And what's the pressure in terms of compensation from a competitive dynamic?

顯然，員工人數以健康的水平增長，這推動了部分薪酬的增加。未來的招募前景如何？您是否需要繼續以健康的速度招募員工以在其他領域進行國際擴張？競爭動態帶來的薪資壓力是什麼？

So we are of the view that we are sufficiently staffed on the technology staff. As far as the customer service is concerned, we are paying very close attention to our metrics, the abandoned cause, causing queue, wait times. They have looked sufficiently healthy that we are running at the levels that we are comfortable with. If all of a sudden, we receive either by acquisitions or by organic growth, significantly higher number of accounts, we may have to adjust but we are trying to counteract it as much as possible by automating the customer service as much as possible.

因此我們認為我們的技術人員配備充足。就客戶服務而言，我們非常密切地關注我們的指標、被遺棄的原因、導致排隊、等待時間的情況。他們看起來足夠健康，我們正在以我們滿意的水平跑步。如果突然間，我們透過收購或自然成長獲得了顯著增加的帳戶數量，我們可能必須進行調整，但我們正在嘗試透過盡可能自動化客戶服務來盡可能地抵消它。

And I could probably say similar things about the surveillance employees and operators that we have, there are hundreds of them that we currently employ. We constantly work on making the tools that they use more efficient so that even if the market activity picks up and number of accounts increases, we would like to be able to operate with the same level of staffing as we currently do.

我可能會對我們擁有的監控員工和操作員說類似的話，我們目前僱用了數百人。我們不斷致力於提高他們使用的工具的效率，以便即使市場活動回升且帳戶數量增加，我們也希望能夠以與目前相同水平的人員配置進行運營。

One moment for questions. Our next question comes from Patrick Moley with Piper Sandler.

請稍等一下提問。我們的下一個問題來自派崔克·莫利和派珀·桑德勒。

I was just hoping to get your thoughts on the recent spot Bitcoin ETF approval. What impact, if any, it's had on your business? Maybe any sort of behavioral shifts you're seeing among your customer base and how you think you're positioned, I guess, in overall crypto digital asset space going forward?

我只是希望了解您對最近比特幣 ETF 現貨批准的看法。它對您的業務有何影響（如果有）？也許您在客戶群中看到了任何類型的行為轉變，以及您認為自己在未來整個加密數位資產領域中的定位如何？

So we were one of the firms and maybe the only broker that was making these 11 ETFs available on their platform on day 1. Our customers immediately started trading these ETFs. Obviously, this is going to make the cryptocurrency investing more mainstream because investors that were reluctant to jump into this space before having these ETFs in existence but easier for them. So I think they are going to -- the cryptocurrencies are going to become portion of a great number of investors out there as to what it's going to mean to our investors, our customers, it's hard to tell. As you know, our clientele tends to be a little bit more active, more sophisticated. I think some of them will recognize the opportunity to trade the cryptocurrency trading itself as well as the ETF on our platform. There may be some arbitrage opportunities that develop. I think it's too early to tell how it will play out.

因此，我們是第一天在其平台上提供這 11 檔 ETF 的公司之一，也許也是唯一一家經紀商。我們的客戶立即開始交易這些 ETF。顯然，這將使加密貨幣投資變得更加主流，因為在這些 ETF 存在之前，投資者不願意進入這個領域，但對他們來說更容易。所以我認為他們將會——加密貨幣將成為大量投資者的一部分，至於它對我們的投資者、我們的客戶意味著什麼，很難說。如您所知，我們的客戶往往更加活躍、更加成熟。我認為他們中的一些人會認識到在我們的平台上交易加密貨幣交易本身以及 ETF 的機會。可能會出現一些套利機會。我認為現在判斷結果如何還為時過早。

I would now like to turn the call back over to Nancy Stuebe for any closing remarks.

我現在想將電話轉回給南希·斯圖貝 (Nancy Stuebe)，讓其發表結束語。

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，本次電話會議將在我們的網站上重播，明天我們也會在網站上發布乾淨版本的文字記錄。再次感謝您，我們將在下個季度末與您交談。

Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。