Interactive Brokers Group Inc (IBKR) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Interactive Brokers Group first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加盈透證券集團2025年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，今天的會議正在錄音。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Nancy Stuebe, Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將會議交給投資者關係總監 Nancy Stuebe。請繼續。

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for our first quarter 2025 earnings call. Joining us today are Thomas Peterffy, our Founder and Chairman; Milan Galik, our President and CEO; and Paul Brody, our CFO. I will be presenting Milan's comments on the business, and all three will be available at our Q&A.

謝謝。下午好，感謝您參加我們的 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我們一起出席的有我們的創始人兼董事長 Thomas Peterffy；我們的總裁兼首席執行官米蘭·加利克 (Milan Galik)；以及我們的首席財務官保羅·布羅迪 (Paul Brody)。我將介紹米蘭對這項業務的評論，所有這三點都可以在我們的問答環節中獲得。

As a reminder, today's call may include forward-looking statements which represent the company's belief regarding future events, which by their nature are not certain and are outside of the company's control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ, possibly materially, from what is indicated in these forward-looking statements. We ask that you refer to the disclaimers in our press release. You should also review a description of risk factors contained in our financial reports filed with the SEC.

提醒一下，今天的電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，代表公司對未來事件的看法，這些事件本質上並不確定且超出了公司的控制範圍。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存在重大差異。我們請您參閱我們新聞稿中的免責聲明。您還應該查看我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的財務報告中包含的風險因素描述。

We saw in the first quarter the value of a global automated platform that can leverage its low cost and offer a broad range of products and markets. After a solid January buoyed by post-US election enthusiasm, market indexes around the world reached peaks in February in the US and early March, everywhere else after two years of nearly unbroken market increases. After that, cracks in the market began to show.

我們在第一季看到了全球自動化平台的價值，它可以利用其低成本並提供廣泛的產品和市場。在美國大選後市場熱情的推動下，一月份全球股市表現強勁，隨後，美國股市在二月份和三月初分別達到峰值，而其他所有股市在經歷了兩年幾乎不間斷的上漲之後也都出現了同樣的情況。此後，市場裂縫開始出現。

News of DeepSeek and its less capital-intensive AI caused the market to give back half its gains in February. Talk about tariffs further accelerated the decline in March. The S&P 500 ended the quarter down 5%, but it was off 9% from February peak. Six of the Magnificent Seven, the 7 stocks that have dominated investor attention, fell significantly more than the market this quarter.

DeepSeek 及其資本密集度較低的人工智慧的消息導致市場在 2 月回吐了一半的漲幅。有關關稅的討論進一步加速了三月的下降。標準普爾 500 指數本季下跌 5%，但較 2 月的峰值下跌了 9%。「七大豪強」即備受投資人關注的 7 隻股票，其中 6 隻在本季的跌幅遠超市場平均。

However, Interactive Brokers does not need up markets to generate revenue. Our customers are active and remain faithful to their favorite names. Of our 25 most active names, 22 saw net buying activity. We also saw global interest from investors, both institutional and individual, and opening accounts. Internationally, it remains the case that investors want broad portfolios, with some invested in securities in their home markets and a more significant portion overseas.

然而，盈透證券並不需要藉助上漲的市場來創造收入。我們的客戶很活躍並且忠於他們喜歡的名字。在我們最活躍的 25 個股票中，有 22 個出現淨買入活動。我們也看到來自全球機構和個人投資者的興趣並開設了帳戶。從國際上看，投資者仍然希望擁有廣泛的投資組合，一部分投資於本國市場的證券，而更大一部分則投資於海外市場。

Product-wise, the popularity of options continued, with our contract volumes up 25% to a quarterly record. Futures volumes were up 16%, also to a record, and stock share volumes were up 47%. Our volume growth rates were ahead of industry volumes. What all of the above is meant for our business starts with strong account growth as we add more investors to our platform. In the first quarter, we added 279,000 new accounts, a record that well surpassed even the mean stock days of the first quarter 2021. Total account growth was 32%, with even faster growth internationally.

從產品角度來看，選擇權繼續受到歡迎，我們的合約量成長了 25%，創下了季度新高。期貨交易量成長 16%，也創下歷史新高，股票交易量成長 47%。我們的銷量成長率領先於產業銷量。隨著我們平台上投資者數量的增加，以上所有內容對我們的業務而言都意味著帳戶的強勁成長。第一季度，我們新增了 279,000 個帳戶，這項記錄甚至遠遠超過了 2021 年第一季的平均庫存天數。總帳戶成長率為 32%，國際帳戶成長率甚至更快。

New accounts met more cash in those accounts, which helped raise our client credit balances 19% to a record $125.2 billion. Our client equity rose 23% versus 2024 to $573.5 billion and was up 1% in the quarter despite the drop in the market. This translated into strong financial results. Quarterly commission revenue was a record, reaching $0.5 billion for the first time, as were total net revenues. We do not only focus on the top line, however. Our expenses remained well controlled, and our adjusted pretax profit margin was an industry-leading 74%, the eighth time our adjusted pretax margin reached 70% or more.

新帳戶帶來了更多現金，幫助我們的客戶信用餘額提高 19%，達到創紀錄的 1252 億美元。我們的客戶權益較 2024 年成長 23%，達到 5,735 億美元，儘管市場下跌，但本季仍成長了 1%。這轉化為強勁的財務業績。季度佣金收入創歷史新高，首次達到 5 億美元，總淨收入也創歷史新高。然而，我們不僅僅關注收入。我們的開支仍然得到很好的控制，調整後的稅前利潤率達到行業領先的74%，這是我們第八次調整後的稅前利潤率達到或超過70%。

In recognition of this, and as a sign of confidence in the strength of our business model, its growth potential and of our capital base, we revisited our allocation of capital and decided to increase the amount of dividend we pay to $0.32 a quarter. We will also split the stock forward for one to achieve greater liquidity in our float and to make it more affordable for shareholders to buy round lots in the company.

認識到這一點，並作為對我們的商業模式實力、成長潛力和資本基礎的信心的標誌，我們重新審視了我們的資本配置，並決定將我們支付的股息金額增加到每季 0.32 美元。我們也將對股票進行拆分，以提高流通股的流動性，使股東能夠以更實惠的價格購買公司的整股股票。

With respect to M&A, we have not stopped looking at potential acquisitions. Realistically, there is a dearth of opportunities at a price that makes sense for us. In most cases, because target companies charge more and pay less interest than we do. When we run their accounts using our pricing, the income we estimate and put a multiple on is lower than what they wish. We will keep looking. But in the meantime, for now, returning capital to shareholders via the dividend makes sense.

關於併購，我們一直在尋找潛在的收購機會。實際上，對於我們來說，以合理的價格獲得機會的機會很少。大多數情況下，因為目標公司收取的費用比我們高，而支付的利息卻比我們少。當我們使用我們的定價來運行他們的帳戶時，我們估計的收入和倍數低於他們的期望。我們會繼續尋找。但同時，就目前而言，透過股利向股東返還資本是合理的。

In terms of how the business looked on the client front, our accounts and client equity once again grew fastest in Asia, with Europe a close second. Again, the trend of growing numbers of investors worldwide wanting access to international, and particularly US markets, has not waned. Individuals saw the fastest account growth among our five client segments, with introducing brokers and proprietary traders not far behind.

從客戶業務來看，我們的帳戶和客戶權益在亞洲再次成長最快，歐洲緊隨其後。再一次，全球越來越多的投資者希望進入國際市場，特別是美國市場的趨勢並沒有減弱。在我們的五個客戶群中，個人帳戶成長最快，而介紹經紀人和自營交易員緊隨其後。

On the client equity side, individuals grew fastest, with introducing brokers and proprietary trading clients just behind them. Commission-wise, individuals saw the fastest growth, followed closely by proprietary traders, while net interest growth was led by individuals, followed by financial advisers. Regarding introducing brokers, our pipeline of potential clients remains healthy. We are onboarding iBrokers to the platform and adding prospective ones to it at a steady pace. Onboarding iBrokers can take time since we offer a variety of ways for them to come on to our platform.

在客戶權益方面，個人客戶成長最快，其次是介紹經紀商和自營交易客戶。從佣金比例來看，個人佣金成長最快，其次是自營交易員；從淨利息收入成長來看，個人佣金成長最快，其次是理財顧問佣金。關於介紹經紀人，我們的潛在客戶管道仍然保持健康。我們正在將 iBrokers 引入該平台，並以穩定的速度增加潛在的用戶。由於我們提供了多種方式讓他們加入我們的平台，因此加入 iBrokers 可能需要一些時間。

The more complex the iBrokers, the more time needed. We customize our offering for larger iBrokers' needs, with many needing special programming on our part to make sure their clients' investment, tax and compliance needs are met. We are up to the task.

iBrokers 越複雜，所需的時間就越多。我們根據大型 iBrokers 的需求量身定制我們的服務，其中許多需要我們進行特殊編程，以確保滿足其客戶的投資、稅收和合規需求。我們能夠勝任這項任務。

In terms of new product introductions, we had a busy quarter. We began offering our ForecastEx contracts in Canada as well as across the EEA for professional clients. And we will soon roll them out to the general EEA population. We added to our growing portfolio of country-specific savings and investment accounts, launching Canadian first home savings accounts this quarter. We added four new cryptocurrencies: Solana, Cardano, Ripple and Dogecoin, and last week introduced three more, Chainlink, Avalanche and Sui, bringing our total offering to 11 cryptocurrencies.

就新產品推出而言，我們度過了一個繁忙的季度。我們開始在加拿大以及整個歐洲經濟區為專業客戶提供 ForecastEx 合約。我們很快就會向歐洲經濟區廣大民眾推出這些服務。我們擴大了針對特定國家/地區的儲蓄和投資帳戶組合，並於本季推出了加拿大首個房屋儲蓄帳戶。我們增加了四種新的加密貨幣：Solana、Cardano、Ripple 和 Dogecoin，上週又推出了三種加密貨幣：Chainlink、Avalanche 和 Sui，使我們提供的加密貨幣總數達到 11 種。

We launched trading of NIFTY 50 index futures in Singapore and of equities in Slovenia. We recently made forecast trader available, so clients using our IBKR Desktop or trader workstation platforms can simultaneously use forecast traders side by side. We continue to see increasing activity in our overnight trading hours. We offer over 10,000 US stocks and ETFs, as well as US equity index futures and options.

我們在新加坡推出了 NIFTY 50 指數期貨交易，並在斯洛維尼亞推出了股票交易。我們最近推出了預測交易員，因此使用我們的 IBKR 桌面或交易員工作站平台的客戶可以同時使用預測交易員。我們持續看到隔夜交易時段的活動不斷增加。我們提供超過 10,000 隻美國股票和 ETF，以及美國股票指數期貨和選擇權。

And on the fixed income side, global corporate bonds, plus US Treasury and European and UK government bonds. We added a focused overnight plus day order type so clients can submit an order in the overnight hours that will remain open until the end of the next regular trading session.

固定收益方面，包括全球公司債、美國公債、歐洲和英國政府公債。我們增加了專注的隔夜加日間訂單類型，以便客戶可以在隔夜時段提交訂單，該訂單將一直有效到下一個常規交易時段結束。

Overall, our overnight volumes grew 250% from first quarter 2024 to first quarter 2025. We spent significant time this quarter on our client service and onboarding projects, our compliance and regulatory projects and on further automating our internal operations to make them run more efficiently. We are as busy as we have ever been, with multiple projects touching all client types and geographic regions. We are excited to introduce them to you in the quarters ahead.

總體而言，從 2024 年第一季到 2025 年第一季度，我們的隔夜交易量增加了 250%。本季度，我們在客戶服務和入職項目、合規和監管項目以及進一步實現內部營運自動化以使其更有效率地運行上花費了大量時間。我們像以前一樣忙碌，有多個專案涉及所有客戶類型和地理區域。我們很高興在未來幾季向您介紹它們。

Automating substantial parts of the brokerage business for client success is the heart of what we do. While market direction may appear significant in the short run, the long-term trend towards more global investing across multiple customer types and jurisdictions continues. This trend and our ability to serve it with a much lower cost structure and a much broader product and tool set is what sets us apart and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

實現經紀業務大量部分的自動化以實現客戶的成功是我們工作的核心。雖然短期內市場方向可能顯得很重要，但長期來看，跨多種客戶類型和司法管轄區的全球投資趨勢仍在持續。這一趨勢以及我們以更低的成本結構和更廣泛的產品和工具集滿足這一趨勢的能力使我們脫穎而出，並將在未來幾年繼續保持這種優勢。

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

說完這些，我將把電話轉給保羅·布羅迪。保羅？

Thank you, Nancy. Thanks, everyone, for joining the call again. We'll start with our revenue items on page 3 of the release. We are pleased with the financial results this quarter as we again produced record net revenues and pretax income. Commissions rose 36% versus last year's first quarter, reaching over $0.5 billion for the first time.

謝謝你，南希。感謝大家再次加入電話會議。我們將從新聞稿第 3 頁的收入項目開始。我們對本季的財務表現感到滿意，因為我們再次創造了創紀錄的淨收入和稅前收入。佣金較去年第一季成長 36%，首次達到 5 億美元以上。

We saw higher trading volumes from our growing base of active customers, with stock share volume up 47% and new quarterly volume records in both options and futures. Net interest income rose 3% year on year to $770 million, driven by higher balances and partially offset by lower benchmark interest rates. We saw strength from margin borrowing and from a decline in interest paid to customers, partially offset by lower yields on our segregated cash portfolio.

我們看到不斷增長的活躍客戶群的交易量有所增加，其中股票交易量增長了 47%，期權和期貨的季度交易量均創下了新高。淨利息收入年增 3% 至 7.7 億美元，這得益於餘額增加，但被基準利率降低部分抵銷。我們從保證金借款和支付給客戶的利息下降中看到了優勢，但被我們獨立現金投資組合的收益率下降部分抵消了。

Other fees and services generated $78 million, up 32% from the prior year, primarily driven by higher risk exposure fees with contributions from ForecastEx fees and from payments for order flow from options exchange mandated programs. Other income includes gains and losses on our investments, our currency diversification strategy and principal transactions.

其他費用和服務產生了 7,800 萬美元的收入，比上年增長 32%，這主要得益於 ForecastEx 費用貢獻帶來的更高風險敞口費用以及期權交易所授權計劃的訂單流支付。其他收入包括我們的投資、貨幣多元化策略和本金交易的收益和損失。

Note that many of these noncore items are excluded in our adjusted earnings. Without these excluded items, other income was $34 million for the quarter. Turning to expenses. Execution, clearing and distribution costs were $121 million in the quarter, up 20% over the year ago quarter on higher volumes across all product classes. Execution and clearing costs were 19% of commission revenues in the first quarter for a gross transactional profit margin of 81%.

請注意，許多非核心項目均未計入我們的調整後收益中。除去這些排除項目，本季其他收入為 3,400 萬美元。談到費用。本季的執行、清算和分銷成本為 1.21 億美元，由於所有產品類別的交易量增加，比去年同期增長 20%。第一季執行和清算成本佔佣金收入的 19%，總交易利潤率為 81%。

We calculate this by excluding from execution, clearing and distribution, $19 million of nontransaction-based costs, predominantly market data fees, which do not have a direct commission revenue component. And as a note for the upcoming quarters, the SEC reduced its fee rate to 0, effective this coming May 15, which should be a tailwind for execution and clearing costs thereafter. SEC fees totaled $27 million for the current quarter.

我們透過從執行、清算和分銷中排除 1900 萬美元的非交易成本（主要是市場數據費用，不包含直接佣金收入成分）來計算這一數字。值得一提的是，在接下來的幾個季度中，美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 將從 5 月 15 日起將費用率降至 0，這將對之後的執行和清算成本產生推動作用。本季美國證券交易委員會的費用總計 2,700 萬美元。

Compensation and benefits expense was $154 million for the quarter, for a ratio of compensation expense to adjusted net revenues of 11%, down slightly from last year's quarter. We remain focused on expense discipline, as reflected in our modest staff increase of 3% over the prior year. Our headcount at March 31, was 3,027.

本季薪資與福利支出為 1.54 億美元，薪資支出佔調整後淨收入的比率為 11%，較去年同期略有下降。我們仍然注重費用控制，這反映在我們的員工人數比前一年僅增加了 3%。截至 3 月 31 日，我們的員工總數為 3,027 人。

G&A expenses were $62 million, up from the year ago quarter, mainly on expansion of advertising. Our pretax margin was 74% for the quarter as we reported and 73% as adjusted. Income taxes of $91 million reflects the sum of the public company's $47 million and the operating company's $44 million. This quarter, the public company's adjusted effective tax rate was 18.2%, within its usual range. This is a return to expected tax levels from the fourth quarter, which benefited from the annual revaluation of our deferred tax asset and from some foreign tax credits.

一般及行政費用為 6,200 萬美元，較去年同期增加，主要用於擴大廣告支出。我們本季報告的稅前利潤率為 74%，調整後為 73%。9,100 萬美元的所得稅是上市公司的 4,700 萬美元和營運公司的 4,400 萬美元的總和。本季度，該上市公司的調整後有效稅率為18.2%，在正常範圍內。這是從第四季度開始恢復到預期稅收水平，這得益於我們遞延稅務資產的年度重估和一些外國稅收抵免。

Moving to the balance sheet on page 5 of the release. The consistent strength of our business and our healthy balance sheet support our raising the dividend from $1 per year to $1.28, returning capital to shareholders while still maintaining an ample capital base for the current business and future opportunities. Our total assets ended the quarter 19% higher at $158 billion, with growth driven by margin lending and rising cash balances. We have no long-term debt. Profit growth drove our firm equity up 19% to $17.5 billion.

前往新聞稿第 5 頁的資產負債表。我們業務的持續強勁和健康的資產負債表支持我們將股息從每年 1 美元提高到 1.28 美元，向股東返還資本，同時仍為當前業務和未來機會保持充足的資本基礎。本季末，我們的總資產成長 19%，達到 1,580 億美元，成長主要得益於保證金貸款和現金餘額的增加。我們沒有長期債務。獲利成長推動我們公司股本上漲 19%，達到 175 億美元。

We maintain a balance sheet geared towards supporting growth in our existing business and helping us win new business by demonstrating our strength to prospective clients and partners while also considering overall capital allocation.

我們保持資產負債表，旨在支持現有業務的成長，並透過向潛在客戶和合作夥伴展示我們的實力來幫助我們贏得新業務，同時考慮整體資本配置。

Turning to our operating data on pages 6 and 7. Our trading volumes for all customers outpaced industry growth over the prior year quarter in all three major product classes. Options and futures contract volumes rose 25% and 16%, respectively, and stock share volume rose 47%.

前往第 6 頁和第 7 頁的營運資料。我們所有客戶的交易量在所有三大產品類別中都超過了去年同期的產業成長。選擇權和期貨合約交易量分別成長25％和16％，股票交易量增加47％。

On page 7, you can see that total customer DARTs were 3.5 million trades per day, up 50% from the prior year and strong in all product classes. Commission per cleared commissionable order of $2.76 was down from last year due to both smaller average order sizes and earning higher rebates, which reduced the cost of a trade and are generally passed through to the customer.

在第 7 頁，您可以看到客戶 DART 總數為每天 350 萬筆交易，比上年增長 50%，並且所有產品類別都表現強勁。每筆已結算可佣金訂單的佣金為 2.76 美元，較去年有所下降，原因是平均訂單規模較小且獲得的返利較高，從而降低了交易成本，並且通常會轉嫁給客戶。

Page 8 shows our net interest margin numbers. Total GAAP net interest income was $770 million for the quarter, up 3% on the year ago quarter, and our net interest margin table, net interest income was $794 million, up 4%. We include for NIM purposes certain income that is more appropriately considered interest, but that for GAAP purposes is classified as other fees and services or as other income. Our net interest income reflects both the strong increases in balances and the decline in benchmark rates, resulting in a rise in margin loan interest income and lower interest expense on customer cash balances, partially offset by lower interest income on segregated cash.

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 7.7 億美元，比去年同期成長 3%，而我們的淨利差表顯示，淨利息收入為 7.94 億美元，成長 4%。出於 NIM 目的，我們納入了某些更適合視為利息的收入，但出於 GAAP 目的，這些收入被歸類為其他費用和服務或其他收入。我們的淨利息收入反映了餘額的強勁增長和基準利率的下降，導致保證金貸款利息收入增加和客戶現金餘額的利息支出降低，但被獨立現金的利息收入降低部分抵消。

Regarding rates, central banks in most major markets lowered their benchmarks, several held theirs constant and a few raised, reflecting a decline in benchmark rates versus last year, including 100 basis points of cuts in the average US Fed funds rate, which represents a 19% decline in that rate. Our segregated cash interest income was down 13%, while margin loan interest rose by 14% on a 38% increase in average balances.

利率方面，大多數主要市場的央行都下調了基準利率，一些央行維持基準利率不變，還有一些央行上調了基準利率，反映出基準利率較去年有所下降，其中包括美國聯邦基金平均利率下調 100 個基點，降幅達 19%。我們的獨立現金利息收入下降了 13%，而保證金貸款利息上漲了 14%，平均餘額增加了 38%。

At a high level, in the first quarter of 2024, we estimated that a 1% decrease in all benchmark rates would decrease our annual net interest income by $304 million. In the past year, the US Fed funds benchmark did, in fact, fall 1%, and other countries' rates moved more or less than that. But driven by higher balances, this quarter's net interest income represented an annualized increase of $128 million.

從高層次來看，在 2024 年第一季度，我們估計所有基準利率下降 1% 將導致我們的年度淨利息收入減少 3.04 億美元。過去一年，美國聯邦基金基準利率確實下降了1%，其他國家的利率變動幅度也大致上或小體上。但在餘額增加的推動下，本季淨利息收入年化成長了 1.28 億美元。

The average duration of our investment portfolio remained at less than 30 days. The US dollar yield curve remains inverted through the medium term so that we continue to maximize what we earn by focusing on short-term yields rather than accept the lower yields and significantly higher duration risk of longer maturities, particularly in an unpredictable economic environment. This strategy also allows us to maintain a relatively tight maturity match between our assets and liabilities.

我們的投資組合平均期限維持在30天以內。美元殖利率曲線在中期內保持倒掛，因此我們繼續透過專注於短期殖利率來實現收益最大化，而不是接受較長期限的較低殖利率和顯著更高的持續時間風險，尤其是在不可預測的經濟環境下。這項策略也使我們能夠保持資產和負債之間相對緊密的期限匹配。

Securities lending net interest remained muted for a couple of reasons. There are fewer names that are hard to borrow industry-wide as some of the typical drivers of securities lending, including IPOs and merger and acquisition activities, have remained subdued. Despite this, we've been consistently successful in raising the total notional dollar value of securities we lend.

證券借貸淨利息因多種原因而維持低點。由於一些典型的證券借貸驅動因素（包括 IPO 和併購活動）依然低迷，整個產業中難以藉貸的公司數量有所減少。儘管如此，我們仍然不斷成功提高所借出證券的名義美元總價值。

As benchmark interest rates rose from near 0 in 2022, more of what we earned from securities lending became classified as interest on segregated cash. We estimate that if the additional interest earned and paid on cash collateral were included under securities borrowed in loan, then securities lending net revenue would have been $186 million this quarter versus $167 million in the prior year quarter.

隨著基準利率在 2022 年從接近 0 的水平上升，我們從證券借貸中獲得的更多收益被歸類為獨立現金的利息。我們估計，如果將現金抵押品所賺取和支付的額外利息計入貸款中藉入的證券，那麼本季度證券借貸淨收入將為 1.86 億美元，而去年同期為 1.67 億美元。

Interest on customer credit balances, the interest we pay to our customers on the cash in their accounts, declined on lower benchmark rates despite higher balances from new account growth. As we have noted in the past, the high interest rates we pay on customer cash, currently 3.83% on qualified US dollar balances, is a significant attraction to new customers. Fully rate sensitive customer balances ended the current quarter at $20.3 billion versus $18.5 billion in the year ago quarter and $19.1 billion at year-end.

儘管新帳戶餘額因成長而增加，但客戶信用餘額的利息（即我們根據客戶帳戶中的現金向其支付的利息）因基準利率降低而下降。正如我們過去所指出的，我們為客戶現金支付的高利率（目前合格美元餘額的利率為 3.83%）對新客戶具有很大的吸引力。本季末，完全利率敏感型客戶餘額為 203 億美元，而去年同期為 185 億美元，年底為 191 億美元。

Now for estimates of the impact of changes in rates. Given market expectations of further rate cuts in the future, we estimate the effect of a 25 basis points decrease in the benchmark Fed funds rate to be a $65 million reduction in annual net interest income. Our starting point for this estimate is March 31, with the Fed funds effective rate at 4.33% and balances as of that date. Any growth in our balance sheet and interest-earning assets would reduce this impact. About 25% of our customer cash balances is not in US dollars, so estimates of the US rate change exclude those currencies. We estimate the effect of decreases in all of the relevant non-USD benchmark rates would reduce annual net interest income by about $29 million for each 25 basis points decrease in those benchmarks.

現在來估計一下利率變動的影響。鑑於市場對未來進一步降息的預期，我們估計基準聯邦基金利率下降 25 個基點將導致年度淨利息收入減少 6,500 萬美元。我們進行這項估算的起點是 3 月 31 日，當時聯邦基金有效利率為 4.33%，餘額為截至該日的數值。我們的資產負債表和生息資產的任何成長都會減少這種影響。我們客戶的現金餘額中約有 25% 不是美元，因此對美國匯率變動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的下降將導致年度淨利息收入減少約 2,900 萬美元。

At a high level, a full 1% decrease in all benchmark rates would decrease our annual net interest income by $364 million. In conclusion, we started the year with another financially strong quarter, reflecting our continued ability to grow our customer base and deliver on our core value proposition to customers while scaling the business. We raised our dividend in recognition of our financial strength. Our business strategy continues to be effective, automating as much of the brokerage business as possible and expanding what we offer while minimizing what we charge. And with that, we will turn it over to the moderator and take questions.

從高層次來看，所有基準利率下降 1% 將導致我們的年度淨利息收入減少 3.64 億美元。總而言之，我們以又一個財務強勁的季度開始了新的一年，這反映了我們在擴大業務規模的同時繼續擴大客戶群並向客戶實現核心價值主張的能力。我們提高了股息，以表彰我們的財務實力。我們的業務策略持續有效，盡可能實現經紀業務的自動化，擴大我們提供的服務範圍，同時盡量降低收費。接下來，我們將把時間交給主持人並回答問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

James Yaro, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的詹姆斯·亞羅。

Sorry. Hello? Can you hear me? It's James. Sorry, the moderator got cut off there.

對不起。你好？你聽得到我嗎？是詹姆斯。抱歉，主持人的發言被打斷了。

So just two questions here. The first one, could you just speak to the impact of retail pressure on equity market levels on your business in April? Has there been any notable deleveraging across your client base? And what has this meant for trading activity? And then separately, could you just speak to a shift in client allocations to cash versus in risk assets? And then the impact on margin loans.

這裡只有兩個問題。第一個問題，您能否談談零售壓力對股票市場水平對您四月份業務的影響？您的客戶群中是否出現了明顯的去槓桿現象？這對貿易活動意味著什麼？然後，您能否單獨談談客戶對現金和風險資產的配置轉變？然後對保證金貸款產生影響。

I'll take it. Thank you for your question. So we have seen a very significant volumes as the market dropped and then it bounced back up, we saw record volumes. There were some shifts that we noticed. Our clients traded less -- fewer options.

我要買它。感謝您的提問。因此，我們看到市場在下跌和反彈時交易量非常大，創下了歷史新高。我們注意到了一些變化。我們的客戶交易的選擇權更少了。

They trade in more futures than usual. And as you would expect, we saw more trading in the fixed income instruments and foreign exchange. I think our customers are very happy that from a single platform, they can access all these asset classes. And there are market dislocations like we noticed a week ago, they can seamlessly trade from a single account, all these asset classes. I think it's a great benefit that our customers enjoy and appreciate.

他們交易的期貨比平常多。正如您所期望的，我們看到固定收益工具和外匯交易增加。我認為我們的客戶非常高興，他們可以透過單一平台存取所有這些資產類別。正如我們一周前註意到的那樣，市場出現了混亂，他們可以透過一個帳戶無縫地交易所有這些資產類別。我認為這是我們客戶享受和讚賞的一大好處。

As far as the deleveraging is concerned, we saw a slight decrease, around 10% or so, 10% to 12% decrease in margin loans, which is something you would expect when there is such a large move downward, you would expect the customers to reduce their risk posture. We also saw somewhat less aggressive positions in options and futures. I think that roughly summarizes what we've recently seen.

就去槓桿而言，我們看到保證金貸款略有下降，大約 10% 左右，下降 10% 至 12%，當出現如此大的下降趨勢時，這是可以預料到的，你會期望客戶降低他們的風險狀況。我們也發現選擇權和期貨的持倉積極性有所下降。我認為這大致總結了我們最近看到的情況。

Thank you, Milan. That's very helpful. Just one other one here. I know you talked a little bit about continued appetite for US investments by non-US customers. But any change in the appetite for US stocks since the tariff news began? And then, I guess, just your longer-term expectations for what tariffs could mean for that non-US appetite for trading US stocks given that of course, the fact that you do offer US markets is a key aspect of your value proposition versus local brokers?

謝謝你，米蘭。這非常有幫助。這裡還有另外一個。我知道您談到了非美國客戶對美國投資的持續興趣。但自從關稅消息傳出以來，市場對美國股票的興趣有什麼改變嗎？然後，我想，您對關稅對美國以外地區交易美國股票的興趣意味著什麼的長期預期，當然，考慮到您確實提供美國市場服務這一事實是您相對於當地經紀商的價值主張的一個關鍵方面？

So as I mentioned earlier, we saw a very significant influx of new accounts, and most of them were coming from overseas. So we do not yet see any decrease in the appetite of our non-US clients for opening an account and trading mostly the US markets. As to what the tariffs can mean in the long run, I mean it is very difficult to gauge because I think we see a lot of inconsistency as to what's announced, what goes into effect and then it gets reversed a few days later. So I don't think anybody can guess as to what the tariffs will ultimately mean.

正如我之前提到的，我們看到大量新帳戶的湧入，其中大多數來自海外。因此，我們尚未發現非美國客戶開設帳戶和主要交易美國市場的興趣有任何下降。至於關稅的長期影響，我認為這很難衡量，因為我認為我們看到很多不一致之處，包括宣布的內容、生效的內容以及幾天后取消的內容。所以我認為沒有人能夠猜到關稅最終意味著什麼。

But I think the investors probably remember that there are other tenants of the administration posture. They did announce tariff increases, but the plans call for lower taxes and lower regulation. So these two effects should help the markets and should continue generating a lot of appetite in our customers for investing in the United States.

但我認為投資者可能還記得，政府還有其他立場。他們確實宣布提高關稅，但計劃要求降低稅收和放鬆監管。因此，這兩種效應應該會對市場有所幫助，並且應該會繼續激發我們的客戶對在美國投資的興趣。

Craig Siegenthaler, Bank of America.

克雷格·西根塔勒，美國銀行。

Good evening, Thomas, Milan. I hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to ask that last question a different way. But we view IBKR's model as the ability to provide global assets to most of the individual investors around the world at a low cost. But given this new emerging trade conflict, we could see a period where investors, especially individuals, focus more domestically and less on the US market. Even though you haven't seen this yet, as you pointed out, how do you think this could impact IBKR's global model, with most of your accounts coming from outside the US?

晚上好，托馬斯，米蘭。我希望每個人都一切順利。我想用不同的方式問最後一個問題。但我們認為IBKR的模式是能夠以低成本向全球大多數個人投資者提供全球資產。但鑑於新出現的貿易衝突，我們可能會看到投資者（尤其是個人投資者）更關注國內市場，而較少關注美國市場。儘管您還沒有看到這一點，但正如您所指出的，鑑於您的大多數帳戶都來自美國以外，您認為這會對 IBKR 的全球模式產生什麼影響？

We do not think that it will impact our model because as you recall, our aim is always offer not just US markets, but the local market side by side on the same platform to our clients so that they can have their assets in a single account and be able to deploy their capital to investments outside their home country or region as well as in the United States.

我們認為這不會影響我們的模式，因為正如您所記得的，我們的目標始終是不僅向客戶提供美國市場，還在同一平台上向客戶提供本地市場，以便他們可以將資產放在一個帳戶中，並能夠將他們的資本部署到他們本國或地區以外以及美國的投資中。

So we do not think that it will negatively affect us in any way. But more importantly, something that I explained a little earlier, something that we noticed last week was, we are very well positioned, exceptionally well positioned for volatility and the type of market movement like we saw last week. We -- as our customers notice changes in yields, they were able to act on them.

因此我們認為它不會對我們產生任​​何負面影響。但更重要的是，正如我之前解釋過的，我們上週注意到的一點是，我們處於非常有利的位置，對於波動性和我們上週看到的市場走勢類型，我們處於非常有利的位置。當我們的客戶注意到收益率的變化時，他們就能採取行動。

They were able to trade sovereign bonds as they saw changes in the currencies. If they fear that the US dollar is weakening, they can buy other currencies on the same platform or do the investments via ForEx futures. If they think the oil or copper is undervalued, they can buy them through futures. If they want to increase their allocation in gold, they can buy bullion our platform. So we think that we are very well positioned for markets that are as uncertain as we have seen last week.

他們能夠根據貨幣的變化來交易主權債券。如果他們擔心美元走弱，他們可以在同一平台上購買其他貨幣或透過外匯期貨進行投資。如果他們認為石油或銅被低估，他們可以透過期貨購買。如果他們想增加黃金配置，他們可以在我們的平台上購買金條。因此，我們認為，對於上週所見的不確定的市場，我們已經做好了充分的準備。

Thanks, Milan. And I actually had a follow-up on James' first question too, but I wanted to go outside of trading. We wanted to see if you could provide any insight on how client activity was tracking month to date. Specifically, we're curious if you saw any deviations to your 1Q trajectory for account growth, customer credit balances and margin loans?

謝謝，米蘭。我實際上也對詹姆斯的第一個問題進行了跟進，但我想談談交易之外的問題。我們想看看您是否可以提供關於客戶活動本月迄今情況的見解。具體來說，我們很好奇您是否發現第一季的帳戶成長、客戶信用餘額和保證金貸款軌跡有任何偏差？

We saw very significant client inflows. So our department that approves new accounts, so significant increase in the number of approved accounts. These were obviously -- not all of them were funded. The defunding event happens a day later. So there was an influx of new accounts. And I'm sorry, what was the other part of your question?

我們看到了非常大量的客戶流入。因此，我們的部門負責批准新帳戶，因此批准的帳戶數量顯著增加。顯然，並非所有項目都得到了資助。撤資事件發生在一天後。因此，新帳戶大量湧入。抱歉，您問題的另一部分是什麼？

So what I wanted to get at is, account growth, customer credit balances and margin loans, did you see any deviation in the trajectory of those three in the first two weeks of April?

所以我想知道的是，帳戶成長、客戶信用餘額和保證金貸款，您是否看到四月前兩週這三項的軌跡有任何偏差？

But there was the drop in the margin loans by around 12%. There was greater than I would expect inflow of cash, which could be somewhat related to deleveraging, but could also be related to new funds coming in. We do not separate these two numbers. So it's hard for me to tell. But as far as the trading activity is concerned, the values that we see roughly correspond to average volume levels in the previous quarter. So we're back to the normal trading.

但保證金貸款下降了約12%。現金流入量超出了我的預期，這可能與去槓桿有一定關係，但也可能與新資金流入有關。我們不分開這兩個數字。所以我很難說。但就交易活動而言，我們看到的數值大致與上一季的平均交易量水準相對應。因此我們恢復了正常交易。

Patrick Moley, Piper Sandler.

派崔克莫利、派珀桑德勒。

Maybe shifting to the product side of things. You nearly -- or you're on pace to nearly triple the size of your crypto offering this year. So can you talk about what drove the decision and your comfortability with expanding that offering? And then going forward, how are you thinking about the growth opportunity here? Is this something you could think could be a significant growth driver? Or is this more of just -- you're plugging a previous -- or what you view as a previous product gap?

也許會轉向產品方面。您今年的加密貨幣發行規模幾乎——或者說您正按計劃增加近三倍。那麼，您能談談是什麼促使您做出這項決定，以及您對擴大該產品供應範圍的感受嗎？那麼展望未來，您如何看待這裡的成長機會？您是否認為這會成為重要的成長動力？還是這只是 — — 您正在填補以前的 — — 還是您認為以前的產品差距？

So we have added seven currencies. We mentioned in one of the previous earnings calls that we would do that as soon as we see changes in the regulatory environment by the SEC. And we indeed see that there were several changes that took place, the accounting guidance that requires that we record the obligation associated with safeguarding crypto assets on the balance sheet has been rescinded by the SEC. That's one change that we saw.

因此我們增加了七種貨幣。我們在先前的收益電話會議上提到，一旦我們看到美國證券交易委員會的監管環境發生變化，我們就會這樣做。我們確實看到發生了一些變化，要求我們在資產負債表上記錄與保護加密資產相關的義務的會計指南已被美國證券交易委員會撤銷。這是我們看到的一個改變​​。

Another change that we saw was the there was an announcement that the SEC tends to decrease the regulation by enforcement going forward in crypto. We also saw that the Coinbase lawsuits have been dismissed. So all these changes gave us -- we increased our appetite for the crypto space, and we added the seven currencies, as well as we increased the limit that covers how much assets a client account can hold in cryptocurrencies. We went from 10% to 30% of NRV. So these are the changes that we have made.

我們看到的另一個變化是，有消息稱美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 傾向於透過執法來減少對加密貨幣的監管。我們也看到 Coinbase 訴訟已被駁回。因此，所有這些變化都為我們帶來了——我們增加了對加密貨幣領域的興趣，我們增加了七種貨幣，同時我們增加了客戶帳戶可以持有的加密貨幣資產的限制。我們的 NRV 從 10% 上升到了 30%。這些就是我們所做的改變。

As far as what the crypto space means to us, we would obviously like it to grow. It's not growing as fast as we would like, which, to me, personally, is somewhat of a surprise because if you look at the cost of trading of crypto assets on our platform, it is significantly lower than the cost that our competitors charge, yet we do not see a huge influx of cryptocurrency traders to our platform. So I would expect more. For now, we just have to be satisfied with rounding up our offering, giving our clients and financial advisers access to the crypto cash so that they can access these asset costs for themselves and for their clients as well.

就加密空間對我們的意義而言，我們顯然希望它能夠發展。它的成長速度沒有像我們希望的那麼快，對我個人而言，這有點令人驚訝，因為如果你看看我們平台上加密資產的交易成本，它明顯低於我們的競爭對手收取的成本，但我們並沒有看到大量加密貨幣交易者湧入我們的平台。所以我期望更多。目前，我們只需滿足於完善我們的服務，讓我們的客戶和財務顧問能夠使用加密現金，以便他們自己和他們的客戶能夠獲得這些資產成本。

All right. Great. And then just a follow-up on the ForecastEx platform and maybe event contracts more broadly. We've seen -- one of your competitors has really leaned into event contracts, specifically sports events contracts. I know that IBKR in the past has been a little bit more hesitant to pursue launching sports-related event contracts. But just curious on your thoughts about expanding that offering and maybe whether you could in the future, look to maybe rethink about sports contracts?

好的。偉大的。然後只是對 ForecastEx 平台進行跟進，也許還會更廣泛地開展活動合約。我們已經看到——你們的一個競爭對手確實傾向於活動合同，特別是體育賽事合約。我知道 IBKR 過去對於推出體育相關賽事合約有些猶豫。但我只是好奇您對擴大該產品範圍的想法，以及將來您是否可以重新考慮體育合約？

So I would answer the question in two parts. So Interactive Brokers is the owner of the ForecastEx Exchange, which forecast exchange can have other FCM members. ForecastEx Exchange will be listing sports contracts so that other SCMs can offer them to their clients. We at Interactive Brokers, we have not yet made a decision as to whether we will or will not offer them. That is where we currently are.

因此我將分兩部分來回答這個問題。因此，盈透證券是 ForecastEx 交易所的所有者，該預測交易所可以擁有其他 FCM 成員。ForecastEx Exchange 將列出體育合同，以便其他 SCM 可以將其提供給他們的客戶。在盈透證券，我們尚未決定是否提供這些服務。這就是我們目前的狀況。

Chris Allen, Citi.

花旗銀行的克里斯艾倫。

Wanted to ask actually about Europe over the course of the first quarter, so a really strong overall European equity volumes. Anecdotally, it sounds like European retail investors are starting to increase their activity and becoming a little bit more like US-based customers. I'm just wondering, are you seeing similar things from that region? Where do things stand from adoption of options as well? Any color on that front would be helpful.

實際上想問一下第一季歐洲的情況，歐洲股票交易量總體上非常強勁。有趣的是，聽起來歐洲散戶開始增加他們的活動，變得更像美國客戶。我只是想知道，你在那個地區看到過類似的事情嗎？從所選的採用情況來看，情況如何？任何顏色在這方面都會有幫助。

Well, our international clients are busy trading options, mostly US options because that's where the volumes are. But we are offering European options as well as Asian options. And we see significant volumes in Asian options being traded by Asian clients. I am sort of curious whether Europe is going to have their own Magnificent Seven or Six, I don't know how many. There is some talk of the defense stocks in Europe taking up that role. So it's going to be interesting to see whether that happens.

嗯，我們的國際客戶忙於交易選擇權，主要是美國選擇權，因為那裡的交易量最大。但我們不僅提供亞洲選擇權，也提供歐洲選擇權。我們看到亞洲客戶交易的亞洲選擇權數量龐大。我有點好奇歐洲是否會有自己的七大奇蹟或六大奇蹟，我不知道有多少個。有傳言稱歐洲的國防股將承擔這一角色。因此看看這是否會發生將會很有趣。

And just maybe on net interest income related to say, cash, just the sequential movement. When you -- just given the color last quarter, it seems -- I mean, it basically implies you saw an overall decline, about 100 basis points across central banks. Is that correct? Is this just driven by movements in benchmark rates? Or was there anything else underneath the surface, maybe short the duration or anything like that that impact the seg cash and --

也許只是與現金相關的淨利息收入，只是連續的變動。當你 — — 只給出上個季度的顏色，似乎 — — 我的意思是，它基本上意味著你看到了整體下降，各國央行的降幅約為 100 個基點。對嗎？這只是由基準利率的變動所驅動的嗎？或是否有其他隱藏因素，例如縮短持續時間或類似因素，從而影響 seg 現金和--

Yeah, I'll take that. So yes, primarily, the drop in rates, there were several drops by the Fed in late fourth quarter. So the fourth quarter itself carried some higher rates from earlier, really right through the middle of the quarter. So the full impact of those decreases were felt in the first quarter and some of the foreign rates dropped at least that much on a percentage basis. So for example, I think the euro went from a 3% benchmark to 2.5%. So that does impact all of the seg cash. But as well, it impact what we're paying our customers on the other side. So we do have offsets there.

是的，我會接受的。是的，主要是利率下降，聯準會在第四季末進行了幾次降息。因此，第四季度本身的利率從早些時候開始就有所上升，實際上一直持續到本季中期。因此，這些下降的效應在第一季就已顯現，而且部分外國利率至少按百分比下降了那麼多。例如，我認為歐元從 3% 基準上升到了 2.5%。所以這確實會影響所有的 seg 現金。但它也會影響我們向客戶支付的費用。所以我們確實存在抵消。

Benjamin Budish, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的班傑明‧布迪什 (Benjamin Budish)。

I wanted to follow back up on the earlier comment on margin balances. Just want to make sure we're kind of clear. When you commented that margins declined 12% from the end of the quarter, is that as of sort of the lowest point, perhaps a week ago? Or is that as of yesterday? Just hoping to get a better sense of kind of where we are currently.

我想跟進一下之前關於保證金餘額的評論。只是想確保我們表達清楚。您說利潤率較季度末下降了 12%，這是否是最低點，大概是一周前？還是從昨天開始？只是希望能夠更了解我們目前的狀況。

The drop happened very quickly, and then it remained the same for several days. So no further decreases. There was a significant reaction. I wouldn't even call it significant, 12% is not that bad. There was a reaction by our clients initially, and then they remained the same.

下降非常快，並且持續了好幾天都沒有變化。因此不會進一步減少。引起了強烈反響。我什至不會稱其為顯著，12% 並不算太糟。我們的客戶最初有一些反應，但之後就沒有什麼反應了。

Understood. Very helpful. One other kind of modeling, maybe for Paul. In terms of making sure we kind of calibrate our models correctly given the SEC reduction, I think you said $27 million for the current quarter. Should it be fair to assume those kind of equally come out of commissions and transaction-based expenses? Is that the way to think about the impact going forward?

明白了。非常有幫助。另一種建模方式可能適合保羅。在確保我們根據 SEC 的削減正確校準我們的模型方面，我認為您說的是本季 2700 萬美元。是否可以公平地假設這些收入均等地來自佣金和基於交易的費用？這是思考未來影響的方式嗎？

Yeah, the regulatory fees are passed through, right. And it was about $27 million out of that total number for execution, clearing and distribution line.

是的，監管費用是轉嫁的，對的。其中，用於執行、清算和分配的金額約為 2700 萬美元。

Very helpful. And then maybe one other like super kind of small one, but just curious, for the market data fees, I think you said $19 million of expense in the quarter. If I recall, that was $21 million last quarter. I know that line goes up very, very gradually over time. And I think it's kind of assumed there's cost inflation. Curious if there's any reason that number went down? Anything you can kind of comment on there?

非常有幫助。然後也許還有一個非常小的，但只是好奇，對於市場數據費用，我想你說的是本季的支出為 1900 萬美元。如果我沒記錯的話，上個季度是 2100 萬美元。我知道這條線會隨著時間的推移而逐漸上升。我認為這有點假設有成本膨脹。好奇這個數字下降的原因是什麼？您對此有何評論？

You're saying just the market data fees?

您說的只是市場數據費用嗎？

Yeah, the $19 million.

是的，1900萬美元。

That's fairly even with prior quarter and up a little bit from the -- it's actually up a little bit from the prior quarter and maybe $2 million from the year ago quarter.

這與上一季基本持平，並且略有上升——實際上比上一季略有上升，比去年同期可能高出 200 萬美元。

Dan Fannon, Jefferies.

丹‧範農 (Dan Fannon)，傑富瑞集團。

This is [Jin] on behalf of Dan. Could you maybe just remind us what your excess capital was as of March 31, that's the capital available for M&A? And any changes in terms of your inorganic priorities or maybe like progress in sourcing a new deal?

這是[金]代表丹。您能否提醒我們一下，截至 3 月 31 日，您的剩餘資本是多少，即可用於併購的資本？您的無機優先事項方面有任何變化嗎？或者在尋找新交易方面有進展嗎？

Yeah, it kind of remains in the $6 billion to $7 billion range. As this business grows, we earn more and we have more capital and more of it is devoted into the business to support things like customer trading and clearing fund deposits where we are self-clearing in most places and various buffers that have to be maintained both for regulatory purposes and for standard operating liquidity buffers. It does take a lot of capital, which is why we maintain it. And -- but we're profitable enough that we determined we could raise the dividend and still grow that capital.

是的，它仍然在 60 億到 70 億美元的範圍內。隨著業務的成長，我們的收入和資本都增加了，更多的資金被投入到業務中來支持客戶交易和清算基金存款等業務，在大多數地方我們都是自行清算的，而且為了監管目的和標準操作流動性緩衝，我們必須維持各種緩衝。它確實需要大量資金，這就是我們維護它的原因。而且——但是我們的利潤足夠多，我們決定可以提高股息並繼續增加資本。

And just in terms of M&A, has there been any progress on sourcing a new deal, any new prospective talks there?

就併購而言，在尋找新交易方面有任何進展嗎？有任何新的潛在談判嗎？

Not really. We still look at all the opportunities that arrive on our desks. We haven't yet found anything that would work. The last significant one, we did not succeed in purchasing the competitor. We actually -- we were able to offer a very significant and attractive price. The deal did not happen because we were interested in buying the entire ownership, 100%. And one of the sellers was not interested. So we were only -- we would be able to only acquire 70%, which was a deal breaker. That's why we didn't do it. It's difficult for us to find an acquisition that we would like. Obviously, it cannot be too small because it would be just a distraction. But so far, we haven't succeeded.

並不真地。我們仍然在關注擺在我們面前的所有機會。我們尚未找到任何可行的方法。最後一個重要的事情是，我們未能成功收購競爭對手。我們實際上——我們能夠提供一個非常優惠且有吸引力的價格。這筆交易沒有達成，因為我們有意購買全部所有權，100%。其中一位賣家不感興趣。所以我們只能——我們只能收購 70%，這是一個交易破壞者。這就是我們沒有這麼做的原因。對我們來說，找到自己想要的收購對象非常困難。顯然，它不能太小，因為那隻會分散注意力。但到目前為止，我們還沒有成功。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Kyle Voigt, KBW.

凱爾·沃伊特（Kyle Voigt），KBW。

Maybe I could ask a question about your dividend policy. You increased the dividend again this year after an increase at the same time last year. Can you just speak a bit more about your policy? Should investors expect an annual increase in the dividend going forward, whether you would be open to targeting a specific dividend payout ratio over time or whether you're instead targeting a certain implied dividend yield on the shares?

也許我可以問一個有關你們的股利政策的問題。繼去年同期增加股利之後，今年又再次增加股利。您能否再多談談您的政策？如果投資者預期未來股息每年都會增加，您是否願意隨著時間的推移設定特定的股息支付率，或者您是否以股票的某個隱含股息收益率為目標？

Yeah. We target our dividends to be between 0.5% and 1% of the stock price.

是的。我們的目標是股利佔股價的0.5%至1%之間。

Okay. Understood, Thomas. And then, Milan, you spoke about the 12% pullback in margin balances in April, just given the equity market volatility and a move towards less risky positioning by your clients more broadly. Within your other fees and services line, it looks like your risk exposure fees fell sequentially in 1Q for the first time in over two years. Is it also fair to assume that those fees move lower throughout the first quarter and also likely move lower into April as well? Or is there anything else to note that's driving that line and the decline in the first quarter?

好的。明白了，湯瑪斯。然後，米蘭，您談到了 4 月份保證金餘額回落 12% 的情況，這僅僅是考慮到股市波動以及您的客戶普遍轉向風險較低的定位。在您的其他費用和服務系列中，您的風險敞口費用在第一季似乎兩年多來首次出現連續下降。是否可以合理地假設這些費用在第一季會下降，並且到四月也可能下降？或者還有其他值得注意的原因導致了第一季的下滑？

The exposure fees, they fluctuate more than the margin balances. The margin balances tend to be very steady and they obviously reflect the income from shares that the customers buying margin. The exposure fees are generated based on the exposure that we as the firm can have from clients options and futures positions, not only the leverage stock position. So they tend to fluctuate more. These clients of ours are very nimble. They use their options exposures quickly as the market falls. So I -- we expect these exposure fees to fluctuate more than the margin balances.

風險費用的波動比保證金餘額更大。保證金餘額往往非常穩定，並且明顯反映了客戶購買保證金的股票收入。風險費用是根據我們公司從客戶選擇權和期貨部位中獲得的風險敞口產生的，而不僅僅是槓桿股票部位。因此它們往往會波動得更大。我們的這些客戶非常靈活。當市場下跌時，他們會迅速利用選擇權敞口。因此我－我們預期這些風險費用的波動幅度將大於保證金餘額。

Thank you. And that does conclude today's Q&A session. I would like to turn the call back to Nancy for closing remarks. Please go ahead.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。我想把電話轉回給南希，請她做最後發言。請繼續。

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，本次通話將在我們的網站上重播，我們明天也會在網站上發布清晰版本的通話記錄。再次感謝您，我們將在下個季度末與您聯繫。

Thank you for joining today's conference call. You may all disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的電話會議。你們都可以斷開連線。