LPL Financial Holdings Inc (LPLA) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining the Fourth Quarter 2022 Earnings Conference Call for LPL Financial Holdings Inc. Joining the call today are our President and Chief Executive Officer, Dan Arnold; and Chief Financial Officer, Matt Audette. Dan and Matt will offer introductory remarks, and then the call will be open for questions. (Operator Instructions) The company has posted its earnings press release and supplementary information on the Investor Relations section of the company's website, investor.lpl.com.

下午好，感謝您參加 LPL Financial Holdings Inc 的 2022 年第四季度收益電話會議。今天參加電話會議的有我們的總裁兼首席執行官 Dan Arnold；和首席財務官 Matt Audette。 Dan 和 Matt 將提供介紹性發言，然後電話將開放提問。 （操作員說明）該公司已在公司網站 investor.lpl.com 的投資者關係部分發布了其收益新聞稿和補充信息。

Today's call will include forward-looking statements, including statements about LPL's Financial (sic) [LPL Financial's] future financial and operating results, outlook, business strategy and plans as well as other opportunities and potential risks that management foresees. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current estimates or beliefs and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or the timing of events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. For more information about such risks and uncertainties, the company refers listeners to the disclosures set forth under the caption Forward-Looking Statements in the earnings press release as well as the risk factors and other disclosures contained in the company's recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

今天的電話會議將包括前瞻性陳述，包括有關 LPL 財務 (sic) [LPL Financial] 未來財務和經營業績、前景、業務戰略和計劃以及管理層預見的其他機會和潛在風險的陳述。此類前瞻性陳述反映了管理層當前的估計或信念，並受到已知和未知的風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性可能導致實際結果或事件發生的時間與此類前瞻性陳述中明示或暗示的內容存在重大差異。有關此類風險和不確定性的更多信息，公司建議聽眾參閱收益新聞稿中前瞻性聲明標題下的披露，以及公司最近向證券交易委員會提交的文件中包含的風險因素和其他披露委員會。

During the call, the company will also discuss certain non-GAAP financial measures. For a reconciliation of such non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP figures, please refer to the company's earnings release, which can be found at investor.lpl.com.

在電話會議期間，公司還將討論某些非 GAAP 財務措施。有關此類非 GAAP 財務指標與可比較的 GAAP 數據的對賬，請參閱公司的收益發布，可在 investor.lpl.com 上找到。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Mr. Arnold.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給阿諾德先生。

Thank you, John, and thanks to everyone for joining our call today. Over the past quarter and throughout 2022, our advisers remained a source of support and guidance for their clients against a backdrop of increased market volatility. In doing so, they reinforce the value of their advice and the important role they play for their clients. We thank them for their continued commitment and dedication as we focus on our mission of taking care of our advisers, so they can take care of their clients.

謝謝你，約翰，感謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。在過去一個季度和整個 2022 年，在市場波動加劇的背景下，我們的顧問仍然是他們客戶的支持和指導來源。通過這樣做，他們強化了建議的價值以及他們為客戶所扮演的重要角色。我們感謝他們在我們專注於照顧我們的顧問的使命時的持續承諾和奉獻精神，以便他們可以照顧他們的客戶。

With respect to our performance, our fourth quarter business results drove solid financial outlook while, at the same time, we continue to make progress on the execution of our strategic plan. I'll review both of these areas, starting with our fourth quarter business results.

就我們的業績而言，我們第四季度的業績推動了穩健的財務前景，與此同時，我們在執行戰略計劃方面繼續取得進展。我將回顧這兩個領域，從我們第四季度的業務結果開始。

In the quarter, total assets increased to $1.1 trillion as continued solid organic growth was complemented by higher equity markets. With respect to organic growth, fourth quarter net new assets were $21 billion, representing 8% annualized growth. This contributed to net new assets for the year of $96 billion, also representing an 8% organic growth rate.

在本季度，由於持續穩健的有機增長以及較高的股票市場，總資產增至 1.1 萬億美元。在有機增長方面，第四季度淨新資產為 210 億美元，年化增長率為 8%。這為當年的淨新資產貢獻了 960 億美元，也代表著 8% 的有機增長率。

Recruited assets were $15 billion in Q4, bringing our total for the full year to $82 billion. These results were driven by the ongoing enhancements to our model and our expanded addressable markets.

第四季度招募的資產為 150 億美元，使我們全年的資產總額達到 820 億美元。這些結果是由我們模型的持續改進和我們擴大的潛在市場推動的。

Looking at same-store sales, our advisers remain focused on serving the clients and delivering a differentiated experience. As a result, our advisers are both winning new clients and expanding wallet share with existing clients, a combination which drove solid same-store sales in the fourth quarter.

從同店銷售額來看，我們的顧問仍然專注於為客戶提供服務並提供差異化的體驗。因此，我們的顧問既贏得了新客戶，又擴大了與現有客戶的錢包份額，這種結合推動了第四季度的穩健同店銷售。

With respect to retention, we continue to enhance the adviser experience through the delivery of new capabilities and technology as well as the ongoing modernization of our service and operations functions. As a result, asset retention for the fourth quarter and full year was approximately 98%.

在保留方面，我們通過提供新的功能和技術以及我們服務和運營功能的持續現代化，繼續提升顧問體驗。因此，第四季度和全年的資產保留率約為 98%。

Our fourth quarter business results led to solid financial outcomes of $4.21 of EPS prior to intangibles and acquisition costs, which brought our full year total to $11.52, an increase of 64% from a year ago.

我們第四季度的業務成果導致扣除無形資產和收購成本的每股收益為 4.21 美元，這使我們的全年總額達到 11.52 美元，比去年同期增長 64%。

Now let's turn to the progress we made on our strategic plan. As a reminder, our long-term vision has become the leader across the adviser-centered market, which for us means being the best at empowering advisers and enterprises to deliver great advice to their clients and to be great operators of the business.

現在讓我們來看看我們在戰略計劃方面取得的進展。提醒一下，我們的長期願景是成為以顧問為中心的市場的領導者，這對我們來說意味著最擅長幫助顧問和企業向他們的客戶提供出色的建議，並成為出色的業務運營商。

Now to bring this vision to life, we are providing the capabilities and solutions to help our advisers deliver personalized advice and planning experience to their clients. And at the same time, through human-driven, technology-enabled solutions and expertise, we're supporting advisers in their efforts to be extraordinary business owners. Doing this well gives us a sustainable path to industry leadership across the adviser experience, organic growth and market share.

現在，為了將這一願景變為現實，我們正在提供能力和解決方案，以幫助我們的顧問向他們的客戶提供個性化的建議和規劃經驗。同時，通過以人為本、技術支持的解決方案和專業知識，我們支持顧問努力成為非凡的企業主。做好這件事為我們提供了一條可持續的途徑，讓我們在顧問經驗、有機增長和市場份額方面成為行業領導者。

Now to execute on our strategy, we have organized our work into 4 strategic plays, which I'll review in turn. Our first strategic play involves meeting advisers and institutions where they are in the evolution of the business by winning in our traditional markets, while also leveraging new affiliation models, which expand our addressable markets.

現在執行我們的戰略，我們將我們的工作組織成 4 個戰略行動，我將依次回顧。我們的第一個戰略行動是通過在我們的傳統市場中取勝，與處於業務發展中的顧問和機構會面，同時還利用新的從屬關係模型來擴大我們的目標市場。

In our traditional markets, ongoing enhancements to our platform and the efficacy of our business development team led to continued improvement to our win rates and an expansion of the depth and breadth of our pipeline despite adviser movement in the industry remaining at lower levels. As a result, Q4 was our strongest quarter of recruiting in 2022 in our traditional markets with approximately $11 billion in assets. Looking ahead, we expect to carry this recruiting momentum into Q1.

在我們的傳統市場中，儘管行業中的顧問流動仍處於較低水平，但我們平台的持續增強和我們業務開發團隊的效率導致我們的贏率持續提高，並擴大了我們渠道的深度和廣度。因此，第四季度是我們 2022 年傳統市場招聘最強勁的一個季度，資產約為 110 億美元。展望未來，我們希望將這種招聘勢頭帶入第一季度。

With respect to our new affiliation models, Strategic Wealth, Employee and our enhanced RIA offering, we recruited over $1 billion in assets in Q4. In each of these models, we continue to see growing demand and expanding pipelines, which position them for increased contributions for our organic growth.

關於我們新的從屬關係模型、戰略財富、員工和我們增強的 RIA 產品，我們在第四季度招募了超過 10 億美元的資產。在這些模型中的每一個中，我們都繼續看到不斷增長的需求和不斷擴大的管道，這使它們能夠為我們的有機增長做出更大的貢獻。

With respect to large enterprises, they remained a meaningful source of recruiting in 2022, including the additions of CUNA and People's United Bank. Looking ahead, we expect to onboard Commerce Bank around the middle of this year and continue to see our pipeline build as demand for our model grows. Now at the same time, we continued to have success recruiting in our traditional enterprise channel, including the addition of BancorpSouth in Q4.

就大型企業而言，它們仍然是 2022 年有意義的招聘來源，包括 CUNA 和人民聯合銀行的加入。展望未來，我們預計將在今年年中左右加入商業銀行，並隨著對我們模型的需求的增長繼續看到我們的渠道建設。與此同時，我們繼續在傳統企業渠道中成功招聘，包括在第四季度增加了 BancorpSouth。

Within this strategic play, we are also seeing positive early momentum with our most recent innovation of liquidity and succession capability where we are providing a differentiated offering to meet succession needs of the advisers. Over the next decade, it is estimated that up to 1/3 of advisers will be retiring and will likely address succession needs of their practices.

在這一戰略行動中，我們也看到了我們最近的流動性和繼任能力創新的積極早期勢頭，我們正在提供差異化產品以滿足顧問的繼任需求。在接下來的十年裡，據估計多達 1/3 的顧問將退休，並且可能會解決他們業務的繼任需求。

To solve for this need, our first innovation was providing M&A support as a service to help facilitate the transition of practices from adviser to adviser. Our key learnings from that experience, there are many instances due to factors like large practice size or lack of an identified successor that will require a different solution.

為了滿足這一需求，我們的第一個創新是提供併購支持服務，以幫助促進從顧問到顧問的實踐轉變。我們從那次經歷中學到的主要經驗是，由於實踐規模大或缺乏確定的繼任者等因素，有許多實例需要不同的解決方案。

Now it was out of this need, we created our differentiated liquidity and succession offering, which LPL will step in to purchase an adviser's business and serve as a bridge to the next entrepreneurial successor, all while preserving the principles of independence.

現在出於這種需要，我們創建了差異化的流動性和繼任產品，LPL 將介入以購買顧問的業務並充當下一位創業繼任者的橋樑，同時保持獨立性原則。

The offering has been well received and we are encouraged by our early momentum, having already executed on a handful of transactions with advisers on our platform. This year, we will also plan to take the capability to the external marketplace and look forward to sharing our progress.

此次發行受到好評，我們對早期的勢頭感到鼓舞，我們已經在我們的平台上與顧問進行了少量交易。今年，我們還將計劃將該能力帶到外部市場，並期待分享我們的進展。

Our second strategic play is to provide capability to help our advisers differentiate the marketplace and drive efficiency in their practices. In 2023, we will focus our development of new capabilities and solutions within this play across 4 key areas. First, we will continue to enhance our wealth management platform to help advisers provide their clients with differentiated advice, products and pricing.

我們的第二個戰略行動是提供能力幫助我們的顧問區分市場並提高他們的實踐效率。 2023 年，我們將在 4 個關鍵領域重點開發新功能和解決方案。首先，我們將繼續完善我們的財富管理平台，幫助顧問為客戶提供差異化的建議、產品和定價。

Second, we will continue to advance ClientWorks, our core operating platform, with additional digitized workflows to help advisers operate more efficiently and increase their scalability to serve more clients. Third, we will expand our banking and lending services to help advisers address a broader spectrum of the clients' financial needs and thus deepen their role as an essential partner. And the final area is to enrich the end-client experience with additional digital solutions that increase personalization and self-service and enable advisers to create customized experiences for their business. We believe these evolving capabilities will help drive increased adviser growth, productivity and retention.

其次，我們將繼續推進我們的核心運營平台 ClientWorks，增加額外的數字化工作流程，以幫助顧問更高效地運營並提高其可擴展性以服務更多客戶。第三，我們將擴大我們的銀行和貸款服務，以幫助顧問滿足更廣泛的客戶金融需求，從而深化他們作為重要合作夥伴的作用。最後一個領域是通過額外的數字解決方案來豐富終端客戶的體驗，這些解決方案可以增加個性化和自助服務，並使顧問能夠為他們的業務創造定制的體驗。我們相信這些不斷發展的能力將有助於推動顧問的增長、生產力和保留率的提高。

Now let's move to our third strategic play, which is focused on creating an industry-leading service experience that delights advisers and their clients and, in turn, helps drive adviser recruiting and retention. As a reminder, over the past couple of years, we've been on a journey to transform our service model into an omnichannel client care model, including voice, chat and digital support. And as part of this journey, we have evolved the technology and instrumentation of our traditional voice channel while also making meaningful enhancements to our always-on, digital support capabilities. As a result, approximately 75% of engagements with our digital channel fully resolve the service request and don't necessitate a phone call to complete the task. As we continue to expand and refine our digital support channel, we believe that an increasing share of advisers will leverage digital-first support for more flexible and efficient service experience.

現在讓我們轉向我們的第三個戰略行動，它專注於創造行業領先的服務體驗，讓顧問及其客戶滿意，進而幫助推動顧問的招聘和保留。提醒一下，在過去的幾年裡，我們一直在將我們的服務模式轉變為全渠道客戶服務模式，包括語音、聊天和數字支持。作為這一旅程的一部分，我們改進了傳統語音渠道的技術和儀器，同時還對我們始終在線的數字支持能力進行了有意義的增強。因此，大約 75% 的與我們數字渠道的互動完全解決了服務請求，不需要打電話來完成任務。隨著我們繼續擴大和完善我們的數字支持渠道，我們相信越來越多的顧問將利用數字優先支持來獲得更靈活、更高效的服務體驗。

Now as we continue to evolve our service interface, we're also transforming the operational processing that takes place behind that interface. For example, last year, we began automating much of the processing for our core clearing functions, including money movement, account opening and account transfers, which collectively drive the majority of our operational processing. And with these learnings from our transformation in service and operations, we are reengineering other areas of the business, including our compliance and risk management functions. To that end, we've applied robotics and AI capabilities through a number of our compliance review workflows, which has improved both the efficiency of the reviews as well as the efficacy of the overall risk management. Efforts on this front include automating the reviews of client communications, marketing materials and transactions. Now by automating more workflows, we continue to increase the scalability of our platform while also enhancing the client experience.

現在，隨著我們繼續發展我們的服務接口，我們也在轉變發生在該接口後面的操作處理。例如，去年，我們開始將大部分核心清算功能的處理過程自動化，包括資金流動、開戶和轉賬，這些共同推動了我們大部分的運營處理。憑藉我們從服務和運營轉型中獲得的這些經驗教訓，我們正在重新設計業務的其他領域，包括我們的合規和風險管理職能。為此，我們在多個合規審查工作流程中應用了機器人技術和人工智能功能，這既提高了審查效率，也提高了整體風險管理的效力。這方面的努力包括自動審查客戶通信、營銷材料和交易。現在，通過自動化更多的工作流程，我們繼續提高平台的可擴展性，同時增強客戶體驗。

Our fourth strategic play is focused on developing a services portfolio that helps advisers and institutions run thriving businesses and deliver comprehensive advice to their clients. As we discussed last quarter, we are encouraged by the seasoning of this business and the evolving appeal of our value proposition. As a result of solid demand, in Q4, the number of advisers utilizing our services group continued to increase. We ended the year at over 3,000 active users, up more than 30% year-over-year and generating run rate revenue of $36 million.

我們的第四個戰略重點是開發服務組合，幫助顧問和機構經營蓬勃發展的業務，並為他們的客戶提供全面的建議。正如我們上個季度所討論的那樣，我們對這項業務的發展和我們價值主張不斷變化的吸引力感到鼓舞。由於需求強勁，在第四季度，使用我們服務團隊的顧問數量繼續增加。我們在年底擁有 3,000 多名活躍用戶，同比增長超過 30%，並產生了 3,600 萬美元的運行率收入。

Now when we started our Services Group, we focused on addressing some of the most complex challenges facing our advisers, which were often more acute for advisers with larger practices. With the insights and learnings from this initial client segment, we're now expanding our service portfolio to address the needs of a broader adviser base.

現在，當我們成立服務團隊時，我們專注於解決我們的顧問面臨的一些最複雜的挑戰，這些挑戰對於業務規模較大的顧問來說往往更為尖銳。憑藉從最初的客戶群中獲得的見解和經驗教訓，我們現在正在擴展我們的服務組合，以滿足更廣泛的顧問群的需求。

As we continue to evolve the offering in 2023, we are focused on several key opportunities for our Services Group: first, addressing additional channels, specifically building solutions that solve for needs of enterprise partners; second, leveraging our structured approach to innovation in order to continue to develop new services and evolve our existing portfolio; and third, contributing to the growth of our new affiliation models, Strategic Wealth and Linsco, as well as expanding our ability to serve "high net worth oriented" advisers.

隨著我們在 2023 年繼續發展產品，我們專注於我們服務集團的幾個關鍵機會：首先，解決更多渠道，特別是構建解決企業合作夥伴需求的解決方案；其次，利用我們的結構化創新方法繼續開發新服務並發展我們現有的產品組合；第三，促進我們新的附屬模式 Strategic Wealth 和 Linsco 的發展，以及擴大我們為“高淨值導向”顧問提供服務的能力。

So in summary, in the fourth quarter and throughout the year, we continued to invest in value proposition for advisers and their clients while driving growth and increasing our market leadership. As we look ahead, we remain focused on executing our strategy to help our advisers further differentiate and win in the marketplace and as a result, drive long-term shareholder value.

因此，總而言之，在第四季度和全年，我們繼續投資於顧問及其客戶的價值主張，同時推動增長並提高我們的市場領導地位。展望未來，我們將繼續專注於執行我們的戰略，以幫助我們的顧問進一步脫穎而出並在市場中取勝，從而推動長期股東價值。

With that, I'll turn the call over to Matt.

有了這個，我會把電話轉給馬特。

All right. Thank you, Dan, and I'm glad to speak with everyone on today's call.

好的。謝謝丹，我很高興在今天的電話會議上與大家交談。

Before I review our fourth quarter results, I'd like to highlight our progress during 2022. Against an evolving market backdrop, we maintained our focus on supporting our advisers and their clients while executing on our strategic priorities. We continue to grow assets organically in both our traditional and new markets, successfully onboarded new enterprise clients, developed and piloted our new liquidity and succession capability and announced 2 strategic acquisitions. We accomplished this all while continuing to invest in our industry-leading value proposition and delivering record earnings per share.

在回顧我們的第四季度業績之前，我想強調一下我們在 2022 年取得的進展。在不斷變化的市場背景下，我們在執行戰略重點的同時繼續專注於支持我們的顧問及其客戶。我們繼續在傳統市場和新市場有機地增加資產，成功吸引新的企業客戶，開發和試行我們新的流動性和繼任能力，並宣布了 2 項戰略收購。我們在實現這一切的同時繼續投資於我們行業領先的價值主張並實現創紀錄的每股收益。

Now let's turn to our fourth quarter business results. Total advisory and brokerage assets were $1.1 trillion, up 7% from Q3 as continued organic growth was complemented by higher equity markets. Total net new assets were $21 billion or an 8% annualized growth rate. Our Q4 recruited assets were $15 billion. I would note, this included $11 billion from our traditional independent model, which was the highest quarter of the year.

現在讓我們來看看我們第四季度的經營業績。總諮詢和經紀資產為 1.1 萬億美元，比第三季度增長 7%，這是由於持續的有機增長得到更高股票市場的補充。淨新資產總額為 210 億美元，年增長率為 8%。我們第四季度招募的資產為 150 億美元。我要指出，這包括來自我們傳統獨立模式的 110 億美元，這是今年最高的一個季度。

Looking ahead to Q1, our overall pipelines continue to remain strong. In particular, I would highlight that within our traditional models, the momentum we saw in Q4 has continued into Q1, and we are on pace to deliver one of our strongest first quarters in what is typically our slowest quarter of the year.

展望第一季度，我們的整體管道繼續保持強勁。我要特別強調的是，在我們的傳統模型中，我們在第四季度看到的勢頭一直延續到第一季度，我們有望在通常是一年中最慢的季度中實現最強勁的第一季度之一。

As for our Q4 financial results, the combination of organic growth, rising interest rates and expense discipline led to EPS prior to intangibles and acquisition costs of $4.21, the highest in our history.

至於我們第四季度的財務業績，有機增長、利率上升和支出紀律的結合導致扣除無形資產和收購成本的每股收益為 4.21 美元，這是我們歷史上最高的。

Looking at our top line growth, gross profit reached a new high of $972 million, up $135 million or 16% sequentially. As for the components, commission and advisory fees net of payout were $172 million, down $10 million from Q3, primarily driven by the seasonal increase in production bonus. In Q4, our payout rate was 88.4%, up about 50 basis points from Q3 due to the seasonal build in the production bonus. Looking ahead to Q1, we anticipate our payout rate will decline to approximately 87% as the production bonus reset at the beginning of each year.

從我們的收入增長來看，毛利潤達到 9.72 億美元的新高，比上一季度增長 1.35 億美元或 16%。至於組成部分，扣除支出後的佣金和諮詢費為 1.72 億美元，比第三季度減少 1000 萬美元，這主要是由於生產獎金的季節性增長。在第四季度，由於生產獎金的季節性增加，我們的支付率為 88.4%，比第三季度高出約 50 個基點。展望第一季度，我們預計我們的派息率將下降至約 87%，因為每年年初都會重置生產獎金。

With respect to client cash revenue, it was $439 million, up $136 million from Q3 as the impact of higher short-term interest rates more than offset a sequential decline in balances.

客戶現金收入為 4.39 億美元，比第三季度增加 1.36 億美元，這是因為較高的短期利率的影響抵消了余額的環比下降。

Looking at overall client cash balances, they ended the quarter at $64 billion, down $3 billion driven by record net buying of $25 billion. Within our ICA

從整體客戶現金餘額來看，他們在本季度結束時為 640 億美元，在創紀錄的 250 億美元淨買入量的推動下減少了 30 億美元。在我們的 ICA 中

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

As for Q1, we expect our ICA yield to increase to approximately 315 basis points, which include yesterday's 25 basis point hike at an assumed deposit beta of 25%.

至於第一季度，我們預計我們的 ICA 收益率將增加至約 315 個基點，其中包括昨天在假定存款貝塔率為 25% 時加息 25 個基點。

As for service and fee revenue, it was $120 million in Q4, down $2 million from Q3. This decline was primarily driven by lower conference revenue, following our largest adviser conference of the year in Q3. Looking ahead to Q1, we expect typical seasonal increases in IRA fees to be offset by lower conference revenue. So we anticipate service and fee revenue to be roughly flat to Q4.

至於服務和費用收入，第四季度為 1.2 億美元，比第三季度下降 200 萬美元。這一下降主要是由於我們在第三季度舉行了年度最大的顧問會議後會議收入下降。展望第一季度，我們預計 IRA 費用的典型季節性增長將被較低的會議收入所抵消。因此，我們預計服務和費用收入與第四季度大致持平。

Regarding Q4 transaction revenue, it was $47 million, up $4 million sequentially as trading volume increased. Based on what we have seen in Q1 to date, we would expect transaction revenue to be roughly flat with Q4.

第四季度交易收入為 4700 萬美元，隨著交易量的增加，環比增加 400 萬美元。根據我們迄今為止在第一季度看到的情況，我們預計交易收入將與第四季度大致持平。

Turning to expenses. Our core G&A was $327 million in Q4, bringing our full year core G&A to $1.192 billion. This was in the middle of our outlook range and, for the full year, represents approximately 13% growth.

談到開支。我們的核心 G&A 在第四季度為 3.27 億美元，使我們全年的核心 G&A 達到 11.92 億美元。這處於我們展望範圍的中間，全年增長約 13%。

As for our outlook for 2023, our long-term cost strategy remains unchanged. We plan to continue to prioritize investments that drive organic growth and create incremental operating leverage in our core business. As we shared at our Investor and Analyst Day, the current environment is creating opportunities to accelerate our investment plans. As such, we expect to grow our investments at a similar pace this year. More specifically, we plan to grow our 2023 core G&A in the range of 12% to 15%.

至於我們對 2023 年的展望，我們的長期成本策略保持不變。我們計劃繼續優先考慮推動有機增長的投資，並在我們的核心業務中創造增量運營槓桿。正如我們在投資者和分析師日分享的那樣，當前環境正在為加快我們的投資計劃創造機會。因此，我們預計今年我們的投資將以類似的速度增長。更具體地說，我們計劃將 2023 年的核心 G&A 增長 12% 至 15%。

To share a little more color on where our investments are focused, this expense growth spans the following 3 broad categories, with each driving approximately 4% to 5% growth in core G&A: first, to support our core business growth, including investments in technology and capabilities; second, to support growth in our expanded addressable market and to scale our new services; and third, to accelerate the timing of investments that advance our strategy.

為了進一步說明我們的投資重點，這種支出增長涵蓋以下三大類，每類都推動核心 G&A 增長約 4% 至 5%：首先，支持我們的核心業務增長，包括技術投資和能力；其次，支持我們擴大的潛在市場的增長並擴展我們的新服務；第三，加快推進我們戰略的投資時機。

To give you a sense of the near-term timing of this spend, as we look ahead to Q1, we would expect core G&A to be in the range of $320 million to $325 million. As always, we will remain flexible and can adjust to shifts in the operating environment.

為了讓您了解這筆支出的近期時間安排，在我們展望第一季度時，我們預計核心 G&A 將在 3.2 億美元至 3.25 億美元之間。一如既往，我們將保持靈活性，並能夠適應運營環境的變化。

Turning to promotional expense. In Q4, it was $84 million, down $15 million sequentially, primarily driven by lower conference spend. In Q1, we expect promotional expense will increase by approximately $25 million as we have 2 of our largest conferences of the year during the quarter.

談到促銷費用。第四季度為 8400 萬美元，環比下降 1500 萬美元，主要原因是會議支出減少。在第一季度，我們預計促銷費用將增加約 2500 萬美元，因為我們在本季度舉辦了 2 場年度最大的會議。

Looking at share-based compensation expense, it was $12 million in Q4, up $1 million from Q3. As we look ahead, we anticipate this expense will increase by approximately $5 million sequentially in Q1 as it tends to be our highest quarter of the year given the timing of our annual stock awards. As for interest expense, it was $37 million in Q4, up $4 million sequentially as higher LIBOR rates increased the cost of our floating rate debt.

從基於股份的薪酬支出來看，第四季度為 1200 萬美元，比第三季度增加了 100 萬美元。展望未來，我們預計第一季度這筆費用將連續增加約 500 萬美元，因為考慮到我們年度股票獎勵的時間安排，這往往是我們今年最高的季度。至於利息支出，第四季度為 3700 萬美元，連續增加 400 萬美元，因為 LIBOR 利率上升增加了我們浮動利率債務的成本。

Regarding capital management. Our balance sheet remained strong in Q4 with corporate cash of $459 million, up $35 million from Q3. Our leverage ratio was 1.4x, down from 1.7x in Q3. This decline was driven by a combination of our continued growth in a higher interest rate environment, both of which have meaningfully improved our earnings power. As for capital deployment, our framework remains focused on allocating capital aligned with the returns we generate, investing in organic growth, first and foremost; pursuing M&A, where appropriate; and returning excess capital to shareholders.

關於資金管理。我們的資產負債表在第四季度保持強勁，公司現金為 4.59 億美元，比第三季度增加 3500 萬美元。我們的槓桿率為 1.4 倍，低於第三季度的 1.7 倍。這種下降是由我們在更高利率環境中的持續增長共同推動的，這兩者都顯著提高了我們的盈利能力。至於資本部署，我們的框架仍然側重於根據我們產生的回報分配資本，首先是投資於有機增長；酌情進行併購；並將多餘的資本返還給股東。

As we look ahead to 2023, the strength of our balance sheet leaves us with ample capacity to allocate capital across our entire framework. Specific to organic growth, we see opportunities in recruiting and continued investment in our technology platform. On M&A, we see opportunities in the marketplace overall and within our liquidity and succession offering where we are emerging from the pilot phase and closed 4 deals in 2022 for around $50 million. With regards to capital return, we plan to increase our share repurchases to roughly $250 million in Q1. And lastly, we plan to increase our quarterly dividend by 20% beginning in Q1.

展望 2023 年，我們強大的資產負債表使我們有足夠的能力在整個框架內分配資本。具體到有機增長，我們看到了招聘和繼續投資我們技術平台的機會。在併購方面，我們在整個市場以及我們的流動性和繼任產品中看到了機會，我們正在從試點階段中脫穎而出，並在 2022 年以約 5000 萬美元的價格完成了 4 筆交易。關於資本回報，我們計劃在第一季度將股票回購增加到大約 2.5 億美元。最後，我們計劃從第一季度開始將季度股息提高 20%。

To summarize, our balance sheet is strong, and we are well positioned to drive value through our capital allocation framework. In closing, we delivered another quarter of strong business and financial results. As we look forward, we remain excited about the opportunities we see to continue investing to serve our advisers, grow our business and create long-term shareholder value.

總而言之，我們的資產負債表強勁，我們有能力通過我們的資本配置框架推動價值。最後，我們又交付了一個季度強勁的業務和財務業績。展望未來，我們仍然對繼續投資以服務我們的顧問、發展我們的業務和創造長期股東價值的機會感到興奮。

With that, operator, please open the call for questions.

有了這個，接線員，請打開問題電話。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question comes from the line of Alexander Blostein from Goldman Sachs.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自高盛的 Alexander Blostein。

So Matt, maybe we can start with the question around just the cash dynamics. Obviously, it's an area that creates a lot of anxiety for investors still. Maybe talk a little bit about dynamics you saw in December that kind of let the balances being a little bit better than we saw with some of the peers, what you're seeing so far in January and then, importantly, the demand from the bank channel given that the fixed extensions you highlighted in the deck seemed pretty robust. So maybe kind of walk us through the current environment and cash.

所以馬特，也許我們可以從圍繞現金動態的問題開始。顯然，這個領域仍然給投資者帶來很多焦慮。也許談談你在 12 月看到的動態，讓余額比我們在一些同行中看到的要好一點，你在 1 月份到目前為止看到的情況，然後，重要的是，來自銀行的需求考慮到您在甲板上突出顯示的固定擴展似乎非常強大。因此，也許可以讓我們了解當前的環境和現金。

Yes. Sure, Alex. So I think in December, we saw the typical seasonal build that you see from tax loss harvesting and rebalancing. And I think as you pull that forward into what we're seeing in January, that cash typically goes back into the marketplace. So that $1.6 billion or so that we saw a build in December in January naturally went back into the market. I'd also highlight, from a seasonality standpoint, advisory fees for the 3 months of the quarter, the first quarter of the month, as I think you know well, is typically the highest month for advisory fees, and those are about $1 billion in the month of January. So if you just look from a seasonal standpoint, you'd have a decline of around $2.5 billion, $2.6 billion in the month.

是的。當然，亞歷克斯。所以我認為在 12 月，我們看到了典型的季節性構建，您可以從稅收損失收穫和再平衡中看到。而且我認為當你將其推進到我們在 1 月份看到的情況時，現金通常會回到市場。因此，我們在 12 月份看到的 16 億美元左右的建築自然又回到了市場。我還要強調，從季節性的角度來看，本季度 3 個月的諮詢費，我想你很清楚，第一季度通常是諮詢費最高的月份，約為 10 億美元在一月份。因此，如果僅從季節性的角度來看，本月將減少約 25 億美元，即 26 億美元。

And then in addition to that and just commenting on the overall market activity, we have seen just broad adviser and investor reengagement in the marketplace. I think a good way to summarize that is our customer net buying metric. The highest month -- if you look at our monthly metrics, the highest month we've ever had was back in August of 2022 at $10 billion for the month. For January, what we're seeing is just north of $11 billion, so the strongest engagement that we've had. And that money is really going back into the equity markets and, as you may expect, longer-dated fixed income securities and things like that. So that's naturally going to drive down balances. When you pull those seasonal factors, and combined with the investment engagement, we expect January cash sweep to be around $60 billion, in the $60 billion zone.

然後除了評論整體市場活動之外，我們還看到了市場上廣泛的顧問和投資者重新參與。我認為一個很好的總結方法是我們的客戶淨購買指標。最高月份——如果你看一下我們的月度指標，我們有史以來最高的月份是在 2022 年 8 月，當月達到 100 億美元。對於 1 月份，我們所看到的只是超過 110 億美元，因此是我們所擁有的最強大的參與度。那些錢真的回到了股票市場，正如你所預料的那樣，長期固定收益證券和類似的東西。所以這自然會降低餘額。當你考慮這些季節性因素並結合投資參與時，我們預計 1 月份的現金清掃將在 600 億美元左右，約為 600 億美元。

I think specific to the -- I think the third question, the last part of your question, on the market for ICA contracts. The headline I'd give you is it continues to improve. It improved throughout 2022, continued to improve in Q4 and maybe break it up into 2 buckets. The market for the floating rate balances, the demand continues to be well in excess of the deposits that we have, and you're starting to see that lead to price improvement. So for the contracts that we're putting from a floating rate standpoint now, they're more fed funds plus 10 or 15 as opposed to last quarter, they were plus 5 to 10. And then back in the heart of the pandemic, if we could place them at all, it was fed funds flat to down. So the market there is quite good.

我認為具體到 - 我認為第三個問題，你問題的最後一部分，關於 ICA 合同市場。我要給你的標題是它在不斷改進。它在整個 2022 年都有所改善，在第四季度繼續改善，並可能將其分為兩個部分。浮動利率餘額市場的需求繼續遠遠超過我們擁有的存款，你開始看到這導致價格上漲。因此，對於我們現在從浮動利率的角度來看的合同，它們是更多的聯邦基金加 10 或 15，而不是上個季度，它們加 5 到 10。然後回到大流行的中心，如果我們完全可以放置它們，它是聯邦基金持平到下降。所以那裡的市場非常好。

On the fixed rate side, we're able to add $4 billion in balances this quarter ranging from 2 to 6 years. And I think when you combine that with the progress in the past few quarters, we're now not at our high but starting to get close to the high that we've had from a percent of the portfolio at 45%. And when we look ahead to Q1, we've got $2 billion of maturities coming up. And I think we feel quite good about being able to place those into new fixed rate agreements and, even beyond that, starting to be able to continue to grow the portfolio overall, just seeing the overall demand. So headline, I'd say from my side, Alex, is pretty good.

在固定利率方面，本季度我們能夠在 2 至 6 年的餘額中增加 40 億美元。我認為，當你將其與過去幾個季度的進展結合起來時，我們現在還沒有達到我們的高點，但開始接近我們從 45% 的投資組合中獲得的高點。當我們展望第一季度時，我們有 20 億美元的到期債券。而且我認為我們對能夠將這些納入新的固定利率協議感到非常滿意，甚至超越這一點，開始能夠繼續擴大整體投資組合，只看到整體需求。所以標題，我想從我這邊說，亞歷克斯，非常好。

Great. And maybe just a second question around the balance sheet. It's nice to see the leverage come down now below your guidance target, which I think you guys revisited recently to lower that. So as you think about priorities between building out the lending practice, perhaps inorganic opportunities and maybe accelerating some of the share repurchases, how would you think about that?

偉大的。也許只是資產負債表的第二個問題。很高興看到槓桿率現在低於您的指導目標，我認為你們最近重新審視了這一目標。因此，當您考慮建立借貸業務（可能是無機機會）和可能加速部分股票回購之間的優先級時，您會如何考慮？

Yes. Well, I think, Alex, the key point on the lending side is it's not a big use of the balance sheet. So it's really more about connecting the capabilities so our clients can use that. I think on the buyback, I think just going back to our overall capital allocation framework, I think we're focused on investing in organic growth first, M&A second and capital returns third. And I think from a pace of the buyback, it would just all depend upon the opportunities that we see. So if the opportunities to invest in organic growth weren't there or M&A wasn't as strong as we would expect, I think that's a scenario where we could accelerate buyback. And then the opposite is also true. We can slow it down if opportunities would lead there. So the key for us is really to be flexible. And maybe I'd just reiterate that our center of gravity is really that $250 million.

是的。好吧，我認為，亞歷克斯，貸款方面的關鍵是它沒有大量使用資產負債表。因此，實際上更多的是連接功能，以便我們的客戶可以使用它。我認為在回購方面，我想回到我們的整體資本配置框架，我認為我們首先專注於投資有機增長，其次是併購，第三是資本回報。我認為從回購的速度來看，這完全取決於我們看到的機會。因此，如果不存在投資有機增長的機會或併購不如我們預期的那麼強勁，我認為這是我們可以加速回購的情況。然後反之亦然。如果有機會，我們可以放慢速度。所以我們的關鍵是要靈活。也許我只是重申我們的重心真的是那 2.5 億美元。

And our next question comes from the line of Steven Chubak from Wolfe Research.

我們的下一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Steven Chubak。

So I really appreciated the additional granularity in terms of the expense guidance. Your prior expense guide was 15% growth in '23. This latest update appears better or at least a tighter range of 12% to 15%. Is that the right way to interpret the guidance, a bit better than what you offered up last time? And just looking beyond '23 and thinking about that longer-term expense growth algorithm, is there anything we can infer from those buckets that you offered as to what's a normal pace of expense growth, say, in a period where you're not accelerating your investment plans?

因此，我真的很欣賞在費用指導方面的額外粒度。您之前的費用指南是 23 年增長 15%。這一最新更新似乎更好，或者至少縮小了 12% 至 15% 的範圍。這是解釋指南的正確方式，比你上次提供的更好一點嗎？看看 23 年後的情況並考慮長期費用增長算法，我們是否可以從您提供的那些桶中推斷出什麼是正常的費用增長速度，比如說，在您沒有加速的時期你的投資計劃？

Yes, Steve. I think on our plans, I mean they really -- they didn't change at all from Investor Day. I think the key is we gave our preliminary thinking there and really went through our typical year-end process to finalize those plans. And I think that's where the 12% to 15% comes from. So I think the strategy that we have of using this environment really to advance our investments is just the same, and you're just seeing us now land the plane with a sharper pencil.

是的，史蒂夫。我認為在我們的計劃中，我的意思是他們真的 - 他們從投資者日開始根本沒有改變。我認為關鍵是我們在那裡進行了初步思考，並真正通過了典型的年終流程來最終確定這些計劃。我認為這就是 12% 到 15% 的來源。所以我認為我們利用這種環境真正推進投資的策略是一樣的，你只是看到我們現在用更鋒利的鉛筆降落飛機。

I think specific to the 3 categories, I think the answer to your question is, yes, it is informative. I think when you look at the investments to support our core business growth, right, assuming that growth is continuing, I think that level of 4% to 5% supports that growth. When you look at the second and third categories, by definition, that's where we have flexibility. And we can adjust those based on the market and whether there's opportunity to spend in those areas or not, especially that third category where it's all about advancing things that we may have otherwise done in '24 and beyond that we're now going to do in ['23].

我認為具體到這 3 個類別，我認為你的問題的答案是，是的，它提供了信息。我認為，當您查看支持我們核心業務增長的投資時，假設增長持續，我認為 4% 至 5% 的水平支持這種增長。當您查看第二和第三類時，根據定義，這就是我們具有靈活性的地方。我們可以根據市場以及是否有機會在這些領域進行投資來調整這些，尤其是第三類，它是關於推進我們在 24 世紀及以後可能會做的事情，我們現在要做的事情在 ['23] 中。

And just for my follow-up on organic growth, certainly encouraging to hear that the NNA momentum in 4Q has continued to start the year. I was hoping you could just speak to some of the factors that's driving that better NNA momentum. Just trying to gauge how much is environmental, so the strength in the markets, maybe increasing advisers in motion versus more idiosyncratic. And you were talking about the pipeline strength in institutional as well in your NNA remarks, how much of that strength is coming from larger institutions?

就我對有機增長的後續行動而言，聽到第四季度的 NNA 勢頭繼續從今年開始當然令人鼓舞。我希望你能談談推動 NNA 勢頭更好的一些因素。只是想衡量環境的影響程度，以及市場的實力，可能會增加行動中的顧問，而不是更加特殊的顧問。你在 NNA 的評論中也談到了機構的管道實力，其中有多少實力來自大型機構？

So let me take that one, Steven. There's a lot there. So if I missed something, you give me guidance after I finish. So look, I think if we start as a jumping-off point, last year, [8%] organic growth rate, $96 billion in NNA, which is a pretty solid outcome against a challenging macro backdrop. And I think irrespective of that backdrop, I think making the progress or working through sort of that environment, both in terms of our teams and advisers, you just continue to evolve capabilities, skills and operating in any potential environment.

所以讓我拿那個，史蒂文。那裡有很多。所以如果我遺漏了什麼，你會在我完成後給我指導。所以看，我認為如果我們從去年開始，[8%] 有機增長率，960 億美元的 NNA，在充滿挑戰的宏觀背景下，這是一個相當可觀的結果。而且我認為，無論那種背景如何，我認為在我們的團隊和顧問方面取得進展或在那種環境中工作，你只是繼續發展能力，技能和在任何潛在環境中的操作。

So I think as we look forward and we think about going forward, we feel good that the sort of the acclamation to tougher macro, if it sustains itself, that we can execute in it better and ultimately contribute improved or better growth. So that's how I would sort of think about the environmentals. It may influence what I might call short-term progress around our growth [ethics].

因此，我認為，當我們展望未來並考慮前進時，我們對這種對更強硬宏觀的喝彩感到很高興，如果它持續下去，我們可以更好地執行它並最終促進改善或更好的增長。這就是我對環境的看法。它可能會影響我所謂的圍繞我們的成長 [道德規範] 的短期進展。

I think, probably more importantly, strategically, as we think about our opportunity, those drivers of that strategy, right, those significant 3, structural, big, durable trends all remain in place. It's growing demand for advice. The appeal of receiving that advice through a financial professional, the attractiveness of the independent model versus other models all continue. And I think we sit at the intersection of all of those and believe we're uniquely positioned to capitalize on that opportunity. And whether that's through our market leadership, singular focus on what we do, robust platform of which to leverage and use as a differentiator or even the capacity and commitment to invest, but that was just speaking of to evolve that platform and continue to differentiate it.

我認為，可能更重要的是，在戰略上，當我們考慮我們的機會時，該戰略的那些驅動因素，對，那些重要的 3、結構性、大的、持久的趨勢都仍然存在。它對建議的需求不斷增長。通過金融專業人士獲得建議的吸引力、獨立模式相對於其他模式的吸引力都在繼續。我認為我們處於所有這些的交叉點，並且相信我們處於獨特的位置來利用這個機會。無論是通過我們的市場領導地位、專注於我們所做的事情、可以利用和用作差異化因素的強大平台，甚至是投資能力和承諾，但這只是在談論發展該平台並繼續使其與眾不同.

So I think as we think about going forward, that concept of that 7% to 13% sort of growth rates that we talked about across different macro environments, I think, is still highly relevant, still how we think about it. And I think last year demonstrated the ability to persevere through a tougher macro and still reside within that range. So that's how we think about the shorter run and the longer run.

所以我認為，當我們考慮未來時，我們在不同的宏觀環境中談到的那種 7% 到 13% 的增長率的概念，我認為，仍然是高度相關的，仍然是我們如何看待它的。而且我認為去年展示了通過更嚴格的宏觀環境堅持不懈並仍然保持在該範圍內的能力。這就是我們考慮短期和長期的方式。

I think to your click down on the enterprises within that, look, it's a channel that we've talked about is a durable growth contributor. We've continued to evolve our capability set with more wins and with good success with those relationships, create better advocacy from our clients and that IP and insight from being on the court -- for a couple of years working on those large enterprises is certainly IP that's hard to replicate without that experience itself. And so when we look at that going forward, it's a pretty appealing model that is finding a marketplace that is in need of that type of model, and we're pretty convicted around our solution. So we do believe that, again, within those bookends of 7% to 13%, we do get some contribution from large enterprises throughout the year. So I hope that gives you a little color.

我想你點擊其中的企業，看，這是我們談到的一個渠道，它是一個持久的增長貢獻者。我們繼續發展我們的能力集，贏得了更多的勝利，並在這些關係中取得了良好的成功，從我們的客戶那裡創造了更好的宣傳，以及在球場上的知識產權和洞察力——在這些大企業工作了幾年肯定是沒有這種體驗本身就很難復制的 IP。因此，當我們展望未來時，這是一個非常有吸引力的模型，它正在尋找需要這種模型的市場，我們對我們的解決方案非常有信心。因此，我們再次相信，在 7% 至 13% 的賬簿範圍內，我們確實從全年的大型企業中獲得了一些貢獻。所以我希望這能給你一點顏色。

And our next question comes from the line of Bill Katz from Credit Suisse.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的 Bill Katz。

Okay. Unfortunately, my connection cut out a little bit, Matt, while you're talking a little bit about the ICA dynamics. I guess my broader question is, as you think about what's been happening in the forward market and expectations softening up a little bit, how is that informing the opportunity here to potentially accelerate the ratio of fixing out relative to the float? And then you mentioned that demand is very healthy. How should we be thinking about reinvestment rate opportunity?

好的。不幸的是，當你談論 ICA 動態時，我的連接中斷了一點，Matt。我想我的更廣泛的問題是，當你考慮遠期市場正在發生的事情並且預期有所軟化時，這如何告知這裡的機會以潛在地加速固定價格相對於浮動價格的比率？然後你提到需求非常健康。我們應該如何考慮再投資率機會？

Yes. I think, Bill, our perspective on fixed rates really to get into that target range we have of 50% to 75%. And I think the -- if you cut out while I was commenting, I think the comment on the market is it continues to improve, right? It's not perfect, right? We can't move exactly where we want. But I think if you look at the trends throughout 2022 and as we look ahead into what we're seeing already in Q1, demand continues to improve. So I think we feel good about the maturities that we have coming in Q1, being able to place those into new fixed rate agreements. You can see what we did in Q4 that we're targeting to go out in the 5 and even, in some cases, a 6-year zone based on what the market will bear. And then when you look at the demand overall, in addition to those maturities, I think we feel like we've got the opportunity to grow it in some amount from there. So the headline is the marketplace is strong. And I think with where the curve is, we still think it makes sense to target getting into that range if the market will allow us to do so.

是的。我認為，比爾，我們對固定利率的看法真的要達到我們 50% 到 75% 的目標範圍。而且我認為 - 如果你在我發表評論時切斷，我認為市場上的評論會繼續改善，對嗎？這並不完美，對吧？我們不能準確地移動到我們想要的地方。但我認為，如果你看看整個 2022 年的趨勢，並且當我們展望我們在第一季度已經看到的情況時，需求會繼續改善。因此，我認為我們對第一季度即將到期的債券感到滿意，能夠將它們納入新的固定利率協議。你可以看到我們在第四季度做了什麼，我們的目標是在 5 年，甚至在某些情況下，根據市場承受能力確定 6 年期。然後，當您查看總體需求時，除了那些到期日之外，我認為我們覺得我們有機會從那裡增加一定數量的需求。所以標題是市場很強勁。而且我認為，對於曲線所在的位置，我們仍然認為，如果市場允許我們這樣做，那麼以進入該範圍為目標是有意義的。

Terrific. And then just going back to expenses, again, I apologize my connection just cut out. Of the variability to this sort of more refined 12% to 15% and sort of bringing forward that growth, should we be interpreting that, as we look out into '24, all else being equal, that the absolute level of this growth rate would decelerate? Or might you be in the same kind of situation where you would have the opportunity here to sort of advance your organic growth? And is it really now a point of trade-off between organic growth and margin as you think about the business?

了不起。然後再回到費用問題上，我再次為我剛剛切斷的聯繫道歉。對於這種更精細的 12% 到 15% 的可變性以及某種程度上推動這種增長，我們是否應該解釋為，當我們展望 24 世紀時，在其他條件相同的情況下，這種增長率的絕對水平將減速？或者您可能處於同樣的情況，您將有機會在這裡推動您的有機增長？當您考慮業務時，現在真的是有機增長和利潤之間的權衡點嗎？

Yes. I mean I think when you get to our long-term cost strategy, Bill, where that fourth principle is really adjusting our cost to the market, right, so I think, as you may expect, we'll make judgments about 2024 as we get closer to that year. But I would emphasize from an optionality standpoint, when you look at that third category of 4% to 5%, that is opportunistic. The market, especially for 2023 with the interest rate benefits that we have, allow us to make those investments. And you can look at our op margins with the tailwind of interest rates or op margins continuing to be quite strong, we're in a good place to do that. If the market does not allow us to do that, we've got the ability to adjust. So I think I would definitely take away that we've got the flexibility. And when you start to look beyond 2023, we'll make those judgments as we get closer to that time period.

是的。我的意思是，我認為當你談到我們的長期成本戰略時，比爾，第四條原則實際上是根據市場調整我們的成本，對，所以我認為，正如你所料，我們將對 2024 年做出判斷，因為我們離那一年越來越近。但我要從選擇性的角度強調，當你看第三類 4% 到 5% 時，那是機會主義的。市場，尤其是 2023 年我們擁有的利率優勢，使我們能夠進行這些投資。您可以在利率的順風下查看我們的運營利潤率，或者運營利潤率繼續保持強勁，我們處於這樣做的好地方。如果市場不允許我們這樣做，我們有能力進行調整。所以我想我肯定會認為我們有靈活性。當你開始展望 2023 年以後時，我們將在接近那個時間段時做出這些判斷。

And our next question comes from the line of Devin Ryan from JMP Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自 JMP Securities 的 Devin Ryan。

I guess first question, as we think about the opportunity to move upstream with larger advisers and higher net worth over time here, what are the capabilities that you need to add to be able to do that? Do you have everything you need and just kind of investing and improving? Or are there other types of capabilities that are maybe incorporated in some of that expense growth that are coming that could really help accelerate that push?

我想第一個問題，當我們考慮隨著時間的推移與更大的顧問和更高的淨資產向上游移動的機會時，您需要添加哪些功能才能做到這一點？您是否擁有所需的一切並且只是投資和改進？或者是否有其他類型的功能可能會納入即將到來的某些費用增長中，從而真正幫助加速推動？

Yes. Devin, it's Dan. So look, as we think about the opportunity set in the high net worth space, and I speak now of the end client segment when I refer to high net worth, that's a function of our advisers' overall evolving practices. And as they have clients or more clients that they have an opportunity to serve inside that category, that's really driven the demand for services and capabilities that traditionally may not have sat inside our overall sweet spot. And so I think that's been the real catalyst for the driver of our contemplation of building out certain capabilities.

是的。德文，是丹。所以看，當我們考慮高淨值領域的機會時，我現在談到的是終端客戶群，當我提到高淨值時，這是我們顧問整體不斷發展的實踐的一個功能。由於他們有客戶或更多客戶，他們有機會在該類別中提供服務，這確實推動了對傳統上可能不屬於我們整體最佳位置的服務和功能的需求。因此，我認為這是我們考慮構建某些功能的真正催化劑。

And so examples of that are us building out our own service around complex case design, right? And so that would be an investment that shows up in the core G&A reference that Matt was making, as an example, to your question. I think you also see that in extended financial planning support. It's not just the technology, but it's the Paraplanning Services that sit around it, as an example. So those are things that we're building ourselves or organic capabilities that we're building ourselves. So as we've gone on the journey, we have built and we'll continue to build certain things that are in-house.

因此，我們圍繞複雜案例設計構建自己的服務就是這樣的例子，對嗎？因此，這將是一項投資，它會出現在 Matt 針對您的問題所做的核心 G&A 參考中。我想您在擴展的財務規劃支持中也看到了這一點。這不僅僅是技術，而是圍繞它的輔助規劃服務，例如。所以這些是我們正在建立自己的東西或我們正在建立自己的有機能力。因此，在我們踏上旅程的過程中，我們已經並將繼續構建內部的某些東西。

There's also other things that we think are important to serve high net worth types of clients, maybe that's tailored insurance offerings that we traditionally haven't done inside our own insurance agency or services like helping to sell a small or midsized business. And that's where we are developing strategic partnerships of which to provide those integrated solutions and services inside our overall offering rather than building. And so that's how we're putting together what we think is a compelling set of solutions that position our advisers to serve and support their high net worth clients.

還有一些我們認為對服務高淨值客戶很重要的事情，也許是我們傳統上沒有在我們自己的保險機構內部提供的量身定制的保險產品，或者幫助出售中小型企業等服務。這就是我們正在發展戰略合作夥伴關係的地方，在我們的整體產品中提供這些集成解決方案和服務，而不是建立。因此，這就是我們將我們認為是一套引人注目的解決方案組合在一起的方式，這些解決方案使我們的顧問能夠為他們的高淨值客戶提供服務和支持。

Now as we built out those capabilities or we're in the progress of, it also challenges us then to say, well, how do we better deploy those to the marketplace or leverage those, if you will. And I think that's where we realized with the capability set that we have today, could we utilize that to even target what I might call advisers who specifically operate with only high net worth clients. And I think that would be an example of how we better leverage these capabilities, and that's something we continue to explore in terms of how we go to market with this capability. But think about it that way, is we're building some of these capabilities. We've been on a journey, we're not completely there, but we've made some significant progress. And then we'll look to the outside market strategic partnerships. And I'm doing that, I think we can take the capital-light model to what is a compelling value proposition, use it to support our existing advisers and help us potentially attract new.

現在，當我們建立這些能力或我們正在取得進展時，它也挑戰我們說，好吧，如果你願意的話，我們如何更好地將這些能力部署到市場或利用這些能力。而且我認為這就是我們意識到我們今天擁有的能力集的地方，我們是否可以利用它來瞄准我可能稱之為專門與高淨值客戶合作的顧問。我認為這將是我們如何更好地利用這些功能的一個例子，這是我們在如何利用這種能力進入市場方面繼續探索的東西。但是這樣想，我們是否正在構建其中的一些功能。我們一直在旅途中，我們還沒有完全在那裡，但我們已經取得了一些重大進展。然後我們將尋求外部市場戰略合作夥伴關係。我正在這樣做，我認為我們可以將輕資本模型帶到一個引人注目的價值主張中，用它來支持我們現有的顧問，並幫助我們潛在地吸引新顧問。

Okay. Great context. Just a quick follow-up here on kind of the M&A market and conditions. You sounded reasonably optimistic around what you're seeing now. There was a big wealth manager or deal in the wealth management space announced today. I guess just what are some of the themes that you're seeing in the market that is kind of the catalyst for activity? I'm not sure if it's the same across channels, but any context around maybe what's making you feel like it's a reasonable M&A market right now.

好的。偉大的背景。只是對併購市場和條件的快速跟進。您對現在所看到的情況聽起來相當樂觀。今天宣布的財富管理領域有一個大型財富管理公司或交易。我想您在市場上看到的哪些主題是活動的催化劑？我不確定跨渠道是否相同，但任何環境都可能讓你覺得現在是一個合理的併購市場。

Yes. I think we'll continue to see that ongoing trend around consolidation. I think you're continuing to see innovation around capabilities as well, and so that leads to transactions around a certain type of IP or capability set that firms may want to deploy or utilize in a different way. And then we're seeing more robust activity around solving for succession planning at the individual adviser level and/or smaller practices level. And so I think you're seeing a healthy amount of activity across the ecosystem. We continue to stay active in exploring all of those possibilities, right? And you see us deploying capital, as an example, the closings we did yesterday with Boenning & Scattergood and FRGIS.

是的。我認為我們將繼續看到圍繞整合的持續趨勢。我認為你也會繼續看到圍繞功能的創新，因此這會導致圍繞某種類型的 IP 或功能集進行交易，公司可能希望以不同的方式部署或利用這些 IP 或功能集。然後我們看到圍繞在個人顧問級別和/或較小的實踐級別解決繼任計劃的更強大的活動。所以我認為你在整個生態系統中看到了大量的活動。我們將繼續積極探索所有這些可能性，對嗎？你看到我們部署資本，例如，我們昨天與 Boenning & Scattergood 和 FRGIS 完成的關閉。

I would just remind you our framework for exploring those possibilities, and you know these, first, it's in sort of side that what I would call growth opportunities in traditional markets where we see opportunity for purposes of growth to potentially acquire a practice, and Boenning & Scattergood would be a great example of that, Waddell & Reed would be a great example of that. We also look in that second category where we can add capabilities faster through an acquisition than building them ourselves. We believe we've got to stay open and agile and nimble around that framework.

我只想提醒你我們探索這些可能性的框架，你知道這些，首先，我稱之為傳統市場的增長機會，我們看到了以增長為目的的機會，有可能獲得一種實踐，而博寧& Scattergood 就是一個很好的例子，Waddell & Reed 就是一個很好的例子。我們還關注第二類，我們可以通過收購比自己構建更快地增加能力。我們相信我們必須圍繞該框架保持開放和敏捷。

And then the final one, the third one, which is a little newer one and is aligned with this new capability of liquidity and succession, is putting capital work through acquiring these practices and being that bridge to that future successors. So I think that's where we're active, that's where we're exploring potential possibilities. And we see pretty good activity going on in the consumer market.

然後是最後一個，即第三個，這是一個更新一點的，並且與這種新的流動性和繼任能力保持一致，正在通過獲取這些實踐來投入資本工作，並成為通往未來繼任者的橋樑。所以我認為這是我們活躍的地方，也是我們探索潛在可能性的地方。我們看到消費市場正在發生相當好的活動。

And our next question comes from the line of Michael Cho from JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Michael Cho。

I just wanted to touch on -- just to kind of zoom out a little bit and touch on the pricing trends you're seeing in your business. I guess just given the environment we're all operating in, I mean, are there some areas where you're looking to either take price or actually invest in price as you look ahead given all the different initiatives that you're laying out there with the business?

我只是想談談 - 只是稍微縮小一點，談談你在你的業務中看到的定價趨勢。我想只是考慮到我們所處的環境，我的意思是，考慮到您正在製定的所有不同舉措，在展望未來時，是否有一些領域您正在尋求定價或實際投資價格與業務？

Yes, Michael, I'll take that one, and certainly, Matt, you can add anything you want at the end. Look, we look at pricing as above our overall offering. Think about such capability, services, technology. We look at pricing as part of our overall investment strategy, if you will. And I think as we shared in the past, we've created a reoccurring theme of investing back into the platform, specifically trying to use price to help our advisers differentiate and win in the marketplace. And so I think that places that we've been historically focused on for the past, call it, 4 to 5 years has been typically around the advisory platform, right? 70%, 75% of new assets -- sorry, yes, new cash is going to those types of solutions, and we want to make sure that we're enriching the appeal of them.

是的，邁克爾，我會接受那個，當然，馬特，你可以在最後添加任何你想要的。看，我們將定價視為高於我們的整體產品。想想這樣的能力、服務、技術。如果您願意，我們將定價視為我們整體投資策略的一部分。我認為正如我們過去分享的那樣，我們已經創建了一個反復出現的主題，即投資回平台，特別是試圖利用價格來幫助我們的顧問在市場上脫穎而出並贏得勝利。所以我認為我們過去一直關注的地方，稱之為 4 到 5 年，通常是圍繞諮詢平台，對吧？ 70%、75% 的新資產——抱歉，是的，新現金將用於這些類型的解決方案，我們希望確保我們正在豐富它們的吸引力。

And so as we look at [2023], you'll see us continue to lower pricing around our centrally managed platforms as a way to create more applications for advisers to leveraging (inaudible), refined with the enriched capability set that we're adding to them, more and more using them versus Rep as PM type of approach. You're also seeing us look at transaction charges in certain areas where we're being very tactical around that. Although this holistic sort of lowering of transaction, we're trying to be very tactical about where we make those changes, such that we actually make the adjustments on where they make the most sense for our advisers that ultimately help them win.

因此，當我們展望 [2023] 時，您會看到我們繼續降低集中管理平台的定價，以此作為為顧問創建更多應用程序以利用（聽不清）的方式，這些應用程序通過我們正在添加的豐富功能集進行改進對他們來說，越來越多地使用他們而不是 Rep 作為 PM 類型的方法。您還看到我們正在研究某些領域的交易費用，我們對此非常有策略。儘管這種整體交易量減少了，但我們正努力在進行這些更改的地方採取非常有策略的做法，以便我們實際上在對我們的顧問最有意義的地方進行調整，最終幫助他們獲勝。

And so I think those are a couple of examples that we'll continue to pursue this year. So whatever we can do that we think is optimal to help our advisers differentiate and win in the places that matters most of them is what we're trying to solve for [our advisers]. Those are a couple of things. I hope that helps.

所以我認為這些是我們今年將繼續追求的幾個例子。因此，無論我們能做什麼，只要我們認為最適合幫助我們的顧問在最重要的地方脫穎而出並贏得勝利，這就是我們正在努力為 [我們的顧問] 解決的問題。這是幾件事。我希望這有幫助。

Yes, it does. No, I appreciate the color. And then just one quick follow-up. Dan, I think you kind of referenced this just on the expenses. Just looking at the third bucket of expenses where we're talking about the accelerated portion. I guess, are there areas you'd call out that's going to receive those accelerated investments?

是的，它確實。不，我喜歡這種顏色。然後只是一個快速跟進。丹，我認為你只是在費用方面提到了這一點。看看我們談論加速部分的第三項費用。我想，您是否會指出哪些領域將獲得加速投資？

Yes, this is Matt. I'll take that one. I think there's -- when you think about that third bucket, it's more about the timing of the investments. So there's no specific category. I think if you go back to the investments that we're making in technology and capabilities that help improve our value proposition or help support and open up our expanded markets. And when you think about those plans, we've got multiyear plans on the things that we think are quite important. And that third bucket is really about, given the environment that we're in, accelerating some of those plans. So that's the headline there. I don't know, Dan, if there's anything you want to add.

是的，這是馬特。我會拿那個。我認為有——當你考慮第三個桶時，更多的是關於投資的時機。所以沒有特定的類別。我想如果你回到我們在技術和能力方面的投資，這些投資有助於提高我們的價值主張或幫助支持和開放我們擴大的市場。當您考慮這些計劃時，我們已經針對我們認為非常重要的事情制定了多年計劃。考慮到我們所處的環境，第三個桶實際上是關於加速其中一些計劃的。這就是那裡的標題。丹，我不知道你是否還有什麼要補充的。

I would just give you an additional way to frame that. If you remember back at the Investor and Analyst Day that we did, we shared the framework around vertical integration and a lot of those investments are showing off that spectrum of opportunities that we have. So as we drive more and more solutions into sort of that lower in the ecosystem where it really helps the adviser operate at a local level, but you'll find it also coming all the way back to things that enhance our advisory platform. And so I think you're seeing an accelerated investment across that entire spectrum as opposed to any one specific play. So I hope that helps to keep your framework to think about how we think about the spectrum of investments and perhaps how that's been.

我只想給你一個額外的方式來構建它。如果你還記得在我們所做的投資者和分析師日，我們分享了垂直整合的框架，其中很多投資都展示了我們擁有的各種機會。因此，隨著我們將越來越多的解決方案推向生態系統中較低的位置，它真正幫助顧問在本地層面運作，但你會發現它也一直回到增強我們的諮詢平台的事情上。所以我認為你會看到整個領域的投資加速，而不是任何一個特定的遊戲。因此，我希望這有助於保持您的框架來思考我們如何看待投資範圍以及可能是怎樣的。

And our next question comes from the line of Kyle Voigt from KBW.

我們的下一個問題來自 KBW 的 Kyle Voigt。

Maybe just another question on centrally managed platforms. You mentioned that, in a response on pricing, the organic net new asset growth there is still strong but it's been decelerating over the past couple of quarters. Just wondering if you could provide a little bit more color on the recent trends and then kind of where you see the opportunity to take that penetration rate to over time for the centrally managed business.

也許只是集中管理平台的另一個問題。你提到，在對定價的回應中，那裡的有機淨新資產增長仍然強勁，但在過去幾個季度一直在減速。只是想知道您是否可以為最近的趨勢提供更多的顏色，然後您會看到在哪裡有機會將這種滲透率隨著時間的推移用於集中管理的業務。

Yes. So obviously, with respect to our advisory platforms, that fits inside that overall spectrum of offering. And as we think about enriching that entire platform, one of the places we've been focused on is centrally managed solutions. And we continue to add more capabilities and more value there. We think about the investment content that's available, the ability for advisers to use that in different ways, really turning that into a UMA and expanding the SMAs that are available on it. There's really cool enhancements and functionality that is materially improving the appeal and how one would apply it in more scenarios and cases. So we're excited about the potential opportunity and for it to continue to sort of grow share, if you will, in that overall mix of business, both with respect to advisory but we even think about it across a full spectrum of brokerage, because the more appealing we make this even at smaller accounts, where it's appropriate, and people feel that the plan is better served from that movement of brokerage to advisory, a lot of that would tend to move over to centrally managed solution.

是的。很明顯，就我們的諮詢平台而言，它適合整個產品範圍。當我們考慮豐富整個平台時，我們一直關注的地方之一是集中管理的解決方案。我們繼續在那裡增加更多的功能和更多的價值。我們考慮可用的投資內容，顧問以不同方式使用它的能力，真正將其轉化為 UMA 並擴展其上可用的 SMA。確實有很酷的增強功能和功能，它們在實質上提高了吸引力以及人們如何在更多場景和案例中應用它。因此，我們對潛在的機會感到興奮，並希望它繼續增加份額，如果你願意的話，在整個業務組合中，無論是在諮詢方面，還是在整個經紀業務中，我們甚至都在考慮它，因為即使在適當的情況下，即使在較小的賬戶中，我們也會使它更具吸引力，並且人們認為從經紀業務到諮詢業務的轉變更好地服務於該計劃，其中很多將傾向於轉向集中管理的解決方案。

So that's one way to think about how we add capability to make it more appealing to drive utilization. And I think we believe that upside can be significant, certainly continuing to invest in the pricing helps also drive the appeal and demand for it. And think about -- as you think about last year and rightfully so, still good demand but the trend was down. Historically speaking, centrally managed usually reacts more or is more impacted, if you will, by a challenging macro environment. The more volatility, the more sort of a downward trend in equity markets, and in fact, we had the combination of tough fixed income markets last year, and that's where we'll many times see an adviser sort of more want to put their hands on the wheel and drive that. So you're seeing some of that sort of volatility in the marketplace, the macro marketplace noise occurring in that trend. I think structurally speaking, we continue to invest in the appeal of it. And the more appealing we make it, the more it should drive up utilization on a relative basis. I hope that helps.

因此，這是考慮我們如何增加功能以使其更具吸引力來提高利用率的一種方式。而且我認為我們相信上升空間可能很大，當然繼續投資定價也有助於推動對它的吸引力和需求。想想——正如你去年所想的那樣，需求仍然很好，但趨勢在下降。從歷史上看，集中管理通常對具有挑戰性的宏觀環境做出更多反應或受到更大影響（如果您願意的話）。波動性越大，股票市場的下行趨勢就越明顯，事實上，我們去年遇到了艱難的固定收益市場，這就是我們多次看到顧問更願意出手的地方在車輪上並駕駛它。所以你會看到市場中出現了某種波動，這種趨勢中出現了宏觀市場噪音。我認為從結構上講，我們繼續投資於它的吸引力。我們做得越有吸引力，它就越應該在相對基礎上提高利用率。我希望這有幫助。

Good. And then for a follow-up, maybe just a modeling question here for Matt. The DCA yield came in a bit above our expectation. I know that's formulaic really. But just wondering maybe you could provide an update on the number of accounts that flow into that program currently and how or if that number has grown recently.

好的。然後對於後續行動，也許只是 Matt 的建模問題。 DCA 收益率略高於我們的預期。我知道這真的很公式化。但只是想知道，也許您可以提供有關當前流入該計劃的帳戶數量的最新信息，以及該數字最近如何增長或是否增長。

Yes. I mean I don't have an update on the number of accounts. I would emphasize, though, I think the point you're making, it is a fee per account. So we quote it in basis points, but it's a little hard for it to be predictive, just given balances to move up and down. So the fee per account, I would emphasize, they haven't changed materially. But when you get a pop perhaps like you've seen in this quarter, that may not be something that you would expect to see going forward just because it's not really rate driven, it's fee per account driven.

是的。我的意思是我沒有帳戶數量的更新。不過，我要強調的是，我認為你的意思是，這是按帳戶收費的。所以我們以基點報價，但它有點難以預測，只是給定餘額上下移動。因此，我要強調的是，每個賬戶的費用並沒有發生重大變化。但是，當你像本季度看到的那樣流行時，這可能不是你期望看到的事情，因為它不是真正的利率驅動，而是每個賬戶的費用驅動。

And our next question comes from the line of Jeff Schmitt from William Blair.

我們的下一個問題來自威廉·布萊爾的傑夫·施密特。

On recruited assets, I'm just curious how the recruiting environment for advisers looks right now. I know you mentioned it is pretty strong for you. But are you seeing any competitors get more aggressive on pricing just with organic growth down for the industry, maybe they're trying to look for growth?

關於招聘資產，我只是好奇顧問的招聘環境現在如何。我知道你提到它對你來說非常強大。但是你是否看到任何競爭對手在行業有機增長下降的情況下在定價方面變得更加激進，也許他們正在努力尋求增長？

Yes. So look, I think the recruiting environment, I think it's well documented over the last 3 years, the churn in the industry has slowed, right, from 2022 to -- sorry, 2020 to 2022, primarily driven on the backs of the pandemic and then the macro volatility last year, which are pretty extreme impacts. And so certainly, with less sort of swings in the batter's box, I think you have competitors that will tend to respond to that in different ways and some have gotten more aggressive on the transition of systems. That's what we're talking about, about being more aggressive. And then certainly, when you add to that the rising interest rates that can be more robustly monetized, and thus so in underwriting around deals, you'll see transition assistance get more aggressive in those types of environments. And I think it -- logic would have it, that's what would occur, and that's what we've seen over the last 3 years.

是的。所以看，我認為招聘環境，我認為在過去 3 年中有很好的記錄，該行業的流失已經放緩，對，從 2022 年到 - 抱歉，2020 年到 2022 年，主要是在大流行和然後是去年的宏觀波動，這是非常極端的影響。所以可以肯定的是，隨著擊球手盒子裡的搖擺越來越少，我認為你的競爭對手會傾向於以不同的方式對此做出反應，有些人在系統轉換方面變得更加積極。這就是我們所說的，關於更具侵略性。然後當然，當你加上可以更穩健地貨幣化的利率上升時，因此在圍繞交易的承銷中，你會看到過渡援助在這些類型的環境中變得更加積極。而且我認為它 - 邏輯會發生，這就是會發生的事情，這就是我們在過去 3 年中看到的情況。

I think, look, for us, we don't see any [structural] changes in the opportunity set. I think the -- as we think about it, the ongoing evolution of our capabilities, the expansion of our market opportunity set with our expanded affiliation models, introduction of our services group, advocacy of existing advisers from good experiences, are really the key drivers of that opportunity set and our ability to drive win rates regardless of what the churn or opportunity set is in the marketplace. We did see the -- sorry, the market stabilizing more in the third and fourth quarter and more advisers now getting past that volatility and reengaging and exploring their strategic options.

我認為，對我們來說，我們看不到機會集中有任何[結構性]變化。我認為——正如我們所考慮的那樣，我們能力的不斷發展、我們的市場機會集隨著我們擴展的從屬關係模型的擴展、我們服務團隊的引入、對現有顧問的良好經驗的宣傳，確實是關鍵的驅動力該機會集的數量以及我們提高贏率的能力，而不管市場上的客戶流失或機會集是什麼。我們確實看到 - 抱歉，市場在第三和第四季度更加穩定，現在越來越多的顧問克服了這種波動並重新參與並探索他們的戰略選擇。

And I think to the extent that there's not some big shift in the macro, we continue to expect to see that trend occurring. And you'll continue to see folks explore that movement from an employee-based model to independent model. We continue to see with more and more capabilities, a focus in the independent model, looking for something that can serve and support them better and taking care of their clients. And finally, even with -- being able to help with their own succession planning creates another catalyst of opportunities. So I think we think those things are much more important and bigger drivers of the ultimate sort of size of the movement. But certainly in the short run, there's been some noise or intermediate term, pretty extreme scenarios, right, of the macro, given the pandemic and the first equity markets last year since 2008. I hope that helps give you some color on at least what we're seeing over the recruiting landscape.

而且我認為，在宏觀上沒有發生重大變化的情況下，我們繼續期望看到這種趨勢的發生。你會繼續看到人們探索從基於員工的模型到獨立模型的轉變。我們繼續看到越來越多的能力，專注於獨立模式，尋找可以更好地服務和支持他們並照顧他們的客戶的東西。最後，即使 - 能夠幫助他們自己的繼任計劃創造了另一種機會催化劑。所以我認為我們認為這些事情是運動最終規模的更重要和更大的驅動因素。但肯定的是，在短期內，鑑於大流行病和去年自 2008 年以來的首次股市，宏觀上存在一些噪音或中期、相當極端的情景。我希望這至少能給你一些顏色我們看到了整個招聘環境。

Yes, absolutely. And then a question on the brokerage assets organic growth rate up 7% in the quarter. How much of that was driven by bank outsourcing? And I guess, like what deals specifically? Any breakdown of that would be helpful.

是的，一點沒錯。然後是關於經紀資產有機增長率在本季度增長 7% 的問題。其中有多少是由銀行外包推動的？我想，具體是什麼交易？任何細分都會有所幫助。

Yes. So the large financial institutions, that's what you're asking about on the brokerage assets?

是的。那麼大型金融機構，這就是你對經紀資產的要求？

Yes, right.

對，對。

Yes, it's relatively minor. I mean the growth rate was 7% for the quarter. Prior to that, it'd be 6.5%. So a relatively minor part of it in the quarter.

是的，它相對較小。我的意思是本季度的增長率為 7%。在此之前，它是 6.5%。因此，它在本季度所佔的比例相對較小。

Maybe to add to that, if you're curious around why the trend or better growth in brokerage over the past 3 to 4 quarters, I think that's the evolving interest rate environment and advisers using solutions that may be more brokerage-oriented solutions, whether that be fixed income or whether that be annuities of which to help clients seeking higher yield or higher rates. And so that's where you're seeing some of that growth come from that wasn't necessarily the trend prior to last year.

也許補充一點，如果你想知道為什麼過去 3 到 4 個季度經紀業務的趨勢或更好的增長，我認為這是不斷變化的利率環境和顧問使用的解決方案可能更面向經紀的解決方案，無論是是固定收益還是年金，以幫助客戶尋求更高的收益或更高的利率。所以這就是你看到的一些增長來自於去年之前不一定是趨勢的地方。

And our next question comes from the line of Gerry O'Hara from Jefferies.

我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Gerry O'Hara。

Maybe one for Matt. The leverage ratio of 1.4 coming down from 1.7, I think you said it kind of continue to grow in a higher interest rate environment. What do you feel is maybe sort of an optimal sort of long-term leverage ratio? I think some peers, both public and private, tend to run at a bit of a higher number. And just sort of want to get a little bit more color as to how you think this might be best set up to optimize the business, I think, kind of in a long-term environment.

也許一個給馬特。槓桿率從 1.7 下降到 1.4，我想你說的是在更高的利率環境下它會繼續增長。您認為哪種可能是最佳的長期槓桿比率？我認為一些同行，無論是公共的還是私人的，往往會以更高的數字運行。關於您認為這可能是優化業務的最佳設置，我想在長期環境中獲得更多的顏色。

Yes. I think the 1.5x to 2.5x, I think, is really the leverage ratio that we think makes sense in a range of different economic environments. And I think the ability to maintain a strong balance sheet and have the capacity to invest for growth in a range of different environments, I think, is a key part of our value proposition. I think it's a key part for our advisers and clients knowing that if the macro moves against us, and we're not at a leverage ratio, we're going to have to immediately pull back on investments or immediately pull back on being able to serve and support them and the host of capabilities that we have, recruiting and succession being an example. So I think the 1.5 to 2.5x, we landed on that with a view that that's the right leverage ratio in a range of environments. And I think it certainly a key part of the value prop that differentiates from some of the firms that you mentioned.

是的。我認為 1.5 倍到 2.5 倍，我認為，這確實是我們認為在一系列不同經濟環境中有意義的槓桿率。而且我認為，保持強大的資產負債表並有能力在一系列不同的環境中投資以實現增長的能力，我認為是我們價值主張的關鍵部分。我認為這對我們的顧問和客戶來說是一個關鍵部分，因為他們知道如果宏觀對我們不利，並且我們沒有達到槓桿率，我們將不得不立即撤回投資或立即撤回能夠服務和支持他們以及我們擁有的大量能力，招聘和繼任就是一個例子。所以我認為 1.5 到 2.5 倍，我們認為這是在一系列環境中的正確槓桿率。我認為它肯定是價值支柱的關鍵部分，它與你提到的一些公司不同。

And I think where we are today, being at the low end or just below the low end of that, with a fair bit of capital deployment coming our way in Q1, including the acquisitions that we closed as well as being positioned at that point in a macro that's, I think, anything but certain at this point, I think we like where we're sitting.

而且我認為我們今天所處的位置，處於低端或略低於低端，我們在第一季度進行了相當多的資本部署，包括我們完成的收購以及當時的定位一個宏，我認為，在這一點上還不確定，我認為我們喜歡我們現在坐的地方。

This does conclude the question-and-answer session of today's program. I'd like to hand the program back to Dan Arnold for any further remarks.

今天節目的問答環節到此結束。我想將該程序交還給 Dan Arnold 以徵求進一步意見。

Thanks much, John, and I just want to thank everyone for taking their valuable time out to join us this afternoon, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter.

非常感謝，約翰，我只想感謝大家今天下午抽出寶貴的時間加入我們，我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect. Good day.

女士們，先生們，感謝你們參加今天的會議。這確實結束了程序。您現在可以斷開連接。再會。