LPL Financial Holdings Inc (LPLA) 2023 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining the Fourth Quarter 2023 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 and Head of Business Operations, Matt Audette. Dan and Matt will offer introductory remarks, and then the call will be open for questions.

下午好，感謝您參加 LPL Financial Holdings Inc. 2023 年第四季收益電話會議。今天加入電話會議的是我們的總裁兼執行長 Dan Arnold；財務長兼業務營運主管 Matt Audette。丹和馬特將進行介紹性發言，然後電話會議將開放提問。

The company would appreciate if analysts will limit themselves to one question and one follow-up each. The company has posted its earnings press release and supplementary information Investor Relations section of the company's website investor.lpl.com.

如果分析師能將自己限制在一個問題和一個後續行動上，公司將不勝感激。該公司已在公司網站 Investor.lpl.com 的投資者關係部分發布了收益新聞稿和補充資訊。

Today's call will include forward-looking statements, including statements about LPL Financial's future financial and operating results, outlook, business strategies and plans, as well as other opportunities and potential risks that management foresees.

今天的電話會議將包括前瞻性陳述，包括有關 LPL Financial 未來財務和營運業績、前景、業務策略和計劃以及管理層預見的其他機會和潛在風險的陳述。

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.

此類前瞻性陳述反映了管理層目前的估計或信念，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結果或事件發生時間有重大差異。

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.

有關此類風險和不確定性的更多信息，該公司請聽眾參閱收益新聞稿中前瞻性陳述標題下所載的披露信息，以及該公司最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中包含的風險因素和其他揭露資訊委員會。

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，該公司還將討論某些非公認會計準則財務措施。有關此類非 GAAP 財務指標與可比較 GAAP 數據的調整表，請參閱該公司的收益報告，該報告可在 Investor.lpl.com 上找到。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Mr. Arnold.

現在，我將把電話轉給阿諾德先生。

Thank you, Amy, and thanks, everyone, for joining our call today. Over the past quarter and throughout 2023, our advisors continue to provide their clients with personalized financial guidance on the journey to help them achieve their life goals and dreams. As we enter the new year, we thank our advisors for their continued commitment and dedication, while we remain focused on our mission of taking care of them so they can take care of their clients.

謝謝艾米，也謝謝大家今天加入我們的電話會議。在過去的一個季度和整個 2023 年，我們的顧問將繼續為客戶提供個人化的財務指導，幫助他們實現人生目標和夢想。在我們進入新的一年之際，我們感謝我們的顧問的持續承諾和奉獻，同時我們仍然專注於照顧他們的使命，以便他們可以照顧他們的客戶。

During the fourth quarter, we continued to see the appeal of our model growth due to the combination of our robust and feature-rich platform, the stability and scale of our industry-leading model and our capacity and commitment to invest back into the platform. As a result, we continue to make solid progress in helping advisors and enterprises solve challenges and capitalize on opportunities better than anyone else, and thereby serve as the most appealing player in the industry.

在第四季度，由於我們強大且功能豐富的平台、行業領先模型的穩定性和規模以及我們對該平台進行投資的能力和承諾，我們繼續看到了模型增長的吸引力。因此，我們在幫助顧問和企業解決挑戰和利用機會方面持續取得紮實進展，比其他任何人都更好，從而成為行業中最具吸引力的參與者。

With respect to our performance, we delivered another quarter of solid results while also continuing 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，我們又取得了一個季度的穩健業績，同時在戰略計劃的執行方面也繼續取得進展。我將從我們第四季度的業務業績開始回顧這兩個領域。

In the quarter, total assets increased to $1.4 trillion, as continued solid organic growth was complemented by higher equity markets. Regarding organic growth, fourth quarter organic net new assets were $25 billion, representing 8% annualized growth. This contributed to organic net new assets for the year of $100 billion, representing approximately 9%.

本季度，總資產增至 1.4 兆美元，持續穩健的有機成長得到股市上漲的補充。就有機成長而言，第四季有機淨新資產為 250 億美元，年化成長率為 8%。這為當年的有機淨新資產貢獻了 1,000 億美元，約佔 9%。

In the fourth quarter, recruited assets were $17 billion bringing our total for the full year to $80 billion. Prior to large enterprises, recruited assets for the full year were $67 billion, an increase of nearly 50% year-over-year and a new annual record. This outcome was driven by the ongoing enhancements to our model as well as our expanded addressable markets.

第四季度，募集資產為 170 億美元，使全年資產總額達到 800 億美元。此前大型企業全年吸收資產670億美元，較去年成長近50%，創年度新紀錄。這一結果是由我們模型的持續改進以及我們擴大的潛在市場所推動的。

Looking at same-store sales, our advisors remain focused on taking care of the clients and delivering a differentiated experience. As a result, our advisors are both winning new clients and expanding wallet share with existing clients, a combination that drove solid same-store sales in Q4.

就同​​店銷售而言，我們的顧問仍然專注於照顧客戶並提供差異化的體驗。因此，我們的顧問既贏得了新客戶，又擴大了現有客戶的錢包份額，這一組合推動了第四季度同店銷售的強勁增長。

At the same time, we continue to enhance the advisor experience through the delivery of new capabilities and technology and the evolution of our service and operations functions. As a result, asset retention for the full year was approximately 99%. Our fourth quarter business results led to solid financial outcomes with adjusted EPS of $3.51, which brought our full-year total to $15.72, an increase of 36% year-over-year.

同時，我們繼續透過提供新的​​功能和技術以及我們的服務和營運功能的發展來增強顧問的體驗。因此，全年資產保留率約為99%。我們第四季的業務表現帶來了穩健的財務成果，調整後每股收益為 3.51 美元，使我們的全年總收益達到 15.72 美元，年增 36%。

Let's now turn to the progress we made on our strategic plan. Now as a reminder, our long-term vision is to become the leader across the advisor-centered marketplace. To do that, our strategy is to invest back into the platform to provide unprecedented flexibility in how advisors can affiliate with us and to deliver capabilities and services to help maximize advisors' success throughout the life cycle of their businesses.

現在讓我們談談我們的策略計劃所取得的進展。現在提醒一下，我們的長期願景是成為以顧問為中心的市場的領導者。為此，我們的策略是重新投資該平台，為顧問如何與我們合作提供前所未有的靈活性，並提供能力和服務，幫助顧問在整個業務生命週期中最大限度地取得成功。

Doing this well gives us a sustainable path to industry leadership across the advisor experience, organic growth and market share.

做好這件事為我們在顧問經驗、有機成長和市場份額方面提供了一條可持續的行業領先之路。

Now to execute on our strategy, we organize our work into two strategic categories: Horizontal expansion, where we look to expand the ways that advisors and enterprises can affiliate with us, such that we compete for all 300,000 advisors in the marketplace; and vertical integration where we focus on delivering capabilities, technology and services that help our advisors differentiate and win in the marketplace and be great operators of the business.

現在，為了執行我們的策略，我們將工作分為兩個策略類別： 橫向擴張，我們希望擴大顧問和企業與我們合作的方式，以便我們競爭市場上所有 30 萬名顧問；垂直整合，我們專注於提供能力、技術和服務，幫助我們的顧問在市場中脫穎而出並獲勝，並成為優秀的業務運營商。

Now with that as context, let's start with our efforts around horizontal expansion. Over the fourth quarter, we saw strong recruiting in our traditional independent market, adding approximately $14 billion in assets. As a result of the ongoing appeal of our model and the evolution of our go-to-market approach, we maintained our industry-leading win rates while also expanding the breadth and depth of our pipeline.

現在以此為背景，讓我們從橫向擴展的努力開始。第四季度，我們在傳統獨立市場中看到了強勁的招聘，增加了約 140 億美元的資產。由於我們的模型的持續吸引力和進入市場方法的演變，我們保持了行業領先的勝率，同時也擴大了我們管道的廣度和深度。

With respect to our new affiliation models, Strategic Wealth, Employee and our enhanced RIA offering, we delivered our strongest year-to-date, recruiting roughly $15 billion in assets, nearly double the total of the prior year. As we look ahead, we expect that the increasing awareness of these models in the marketplace and our ongoing enhancements to their capabilities will help drive sustained increase in their growth.

就我們新的隸屬關係模式、戰略財富、員工和增強的 RIA 產品而言，我們實現了今年迄今為止最強勁的表現，招募了約 150 億美元的資產，幾乎是去年總額的兩倍。展望未來，我們預計這些型號在市場上的知名度不斷提高，以及我們對其功能的不斷增強，將有助於推動它們的持續成長。

Next, the traditional bank and credit union space continues to be a consistent contributor to organic growth, as we added approximately $1 billion of recruited assets in Q4. In addition, large enterprises remained a meaningful source of recruiting in 2023 with the addition of Bank of the West and Commerce Bank. For 2024, we continue to prepare to onboard the retail wealth management business of Prudential Financial.

接下來，傳統銀行和信用合作社領域仍然是有機成長的持續貢獻者，我們在第四季度增加了約 10 億美元的招募資產。此外，隨著西方銀行和商業銀行的加入，大型企業仍是 2023 年重要的招募來源。 2024年，我們繼續準備加入保德信金融集團的零售財富管理業務。

Now, as a part of that process, our team has been on the road, meeting with Prudential advisors to provide them a preliminary orientation to our platform, and the early feedback has been positive. Looking ahead, we are confident that the appeal of our value proposition for enterprises, matched with our track record of successful execution, positions us well to help solve the needs of a broad spectrum of institutions.

現在，作為這個過程的一部分，我們的團隊已經在路上與保德信顧問會面，為他們提供對我們平台的初步定位，並且早期反饋是積極的。展望未來，我們相信，我們的價值主張對企業的吸引力，加上我們成功執行的記錄，使我們能夠很好地幫助解決廣泛機構的需求。

Now within our vertical integration efforts, we are focused on investing back into the model in order to deliver a comprehensive platform of capabilities, services and technology that help our advisers differentiate and win in the marketplace and run thriving businesses.

現在，在我們的垂直整​​合工作中，我們專注於重新投資該模型，以提供一個包含功能、服務和技術的綜合平台，幫助我們的顧問在市場中脫穎而出並獲勝，並經營蓬勃發展的業務。

As part of this effort, over the past quarter, we continued to make progress on our aspiration of delivering an industry-leading services. This work includes continuing to make our service model more flexible and efficient through a multichannel approach. The purposes of which is to offer a broad spectrum of service options, including human-centric support, digital capabilities and artificial intelligence, such that we can provide advisors the information they need in the channel that works best for them.

作為這項努力的一部分，在過去的一個季度，我們在提供行業領先服務的願望方面繼續取得進展。這項工作包括透過多通路方法繼續使我們的服務模式更加靈活和有效率。其目的是提供廣泛的服務選項，包括以人為本的支援、數位功能和人工智慧，以便我們可以透過最適合顧問的管道向他們提供所需的資訊。

In that spirit, over the last year, we have continued to expand our digital capabilities, including our digital hubs, which provides advisors always-on support in a centralized and intuitive format. Our investments in this area enabled us to expand from 2 digital hubs to 11 over the last year, with the newest being our Tax Hub, which helps advisors process tax business in a streamlined and highly efficient way.

本著這種精神，在過去的一年裡，我們不斷擴展我們的數位能力，包括我們的數位中心，它以集中和直觀的方式為顧問提供始終在線的支援。去年，我們在這一領域的投資使我們能夠從 2 個數位中心擴展到 11 個，其中最新的是我們的稅務中心，它可以幫助顧問以簡化且高效的方式處理稅務業務。

While we are still in the early innings of the adoption of this capability set, the percentage of advisors interactions that go through digital channels has roughly doubled over the last year, from 10% to 20%. And as we continue to refine these capabilities, we believe that digital solutions can ultimately serve as much as 50% of our service interactions.

雖然我們仍處於採用此功能集的早期階段，但透過數位管道進行的顧問互動比例在去年大約翻了一番，從 10% 增加到 20%。隨著我們不斷完善這些功能，我們相信數位解決方案最終可以服務我們多達 50% 的服務互動。

Now as an additional part of our vertical integration strategy, we continue to expand and enhance our services portfolio and are encouraged by the evolving appeal of our value proposition and the seasoning of our capabilities. And as a result of solid demand, the number of advisors utilizing our portfolio of 14 available services continues to increase, and we ended the year with nearly 3,900 active users, up 27% from a year ago.

現在，作為我們垂直整合策略的附加部分，我們繼續擴大和增強我們的服務組合，並受到我們價值主張不斷變化的吸引力和我們能力的成熟的鼓舞。由於需求強勁，使用我們 14 項可用服務組合的顧問數量持續增加，年底我們擁有近 3,900 名活躍用戶，比去年同期增長 27%。

Looking ahead, we remain focused on addressing the needs of a broader set of advisors and are innovating on new services that will directionally double the size of our services portfolio over the next 2 years. And one of the latest innovations in our services portfolio was inspired by our broader efforts to tackle the advisor transition process, which has historically been an industry-wide pain point, given the friction and complexity of changing firms.

展望未來，我們仍然專注於滿足更廣泛顧問的需求，並正在創新新服務，這些服務將在未來兩年內將我們的服務組合規模定向擴大一倍。我們服務組合的最新創新之一是受到我們為解決顧問過渡流程所做的更廣泛努力的啟發，考慮到更換公司的摩擦和複雜性，這在歷史上一直是整個行業的痛點。

That said, rather than seeing the transition process as a headwind, we view it as an important strategic opportunity, as the easier we can make it for advisors to change firms, the more it will drive up advisor movement in the industry, where we are well positioned to benefit as the market leader in recruiting.

也就是說，我們並沒有將過渡過程視為逆風，而是將其視為一個重要的策略機遇，因為我們越能讓顧問更換公司，就越能推動我們所在行業的顧問運動作為招聘市場的領導者，我們處於有利地位。

To help solve for that opportunity, we have developed several new transition capabilities and solutions, including live testing environment for advisors to familiarize themselves with our platform before transitioning, fully automated stages of the onboarding process and the suite of transition services that includes short-term admin, branding and bookkeeping support, which helps simplify the transition and onboarding journey, ultimately accelerate advisors readiness and growth.

為了幫助抓住這個機會，我們開發了幾種新的過渡功能和解決方案，包括讓顧問在過渡之前熟悉我們平台的即時測試環境、入職流程的全自動階段以及包括短期的過渡服務套件。管理、品牌和簿記支持，有助於簡化過渡和入職旅程，最終加速顧問的準備和成長。

Early feedback on these transition services has been positive, and they are proving to be a catalyst for additional subscriptions, as 40% of advisors who use these solutions end up subscribing to one or more of our other ongoing services.

對這些過渡服務的早期回饋是正面的，事實證明它們是額外訂閱的催化劑，因為使用這些解決方案的顧問中有 40% 最終訂閱了我們的一項或多項其他正在進行的服務。

And as we move forward, we will continue to challenge ourselves to solve for advisors' needs at every stage of their practice in order to help them build the perfect business for themselves and ultimately maximize their success.

隨著我們的前進，我們將繼續挑戰自己，解決顧問在實踐的每個階段的需求，以幫助他們為自己建立完美的業務，並最終最大程度地取得成功。

In summary, in the fourth quarter and throughout the year, we continued to invest in the value proposition for advisors and their [clients] while driving growth and increasing our market leadership. As we look ahead, we remain focused on executing on our strategy to help our advisors further differentiate and win in the marketplace and as a result, drive long-term shareholder value. With that, I'll turn the call over to Matt.

總之，在第四季和全年，我們繼續投資於顧問及其[客戶]的價值主張，同時推動成長並增強我們的市場領導地位。展望未來，我們仍然專注於執行我們的策略，以幫助我們的顧問進一步在市場中脫穎而出並獲勝，從而推動長期股東價值。這樣，我會將電話轉給馬特。

All right. Thank you, Dan, and I'm glad to speak with everyone on today's call. Before I review our fourth quarter results, I would like to highlight our progress during 2023.

好的。謝謝丹，我很高興在今天的電話會議上與大家交談。在回顧我們第四季的業績之前，我想先強調一下我們在 2023 年取得的進展。

Against an evolving market backdrop, we maintained our focus on supporting our advisors and their clients while executing on our strategic priorities. We continued to grow assets organically in both our traditional and new markets, successfully onboarded new enterprise clients and continue to make progress with our Liquidity & Succession solution.

在不斷變化的市場背景下，我們繼續專注於支援我們的顧問及其客戶，同時執行我們的策略重點。我們繼續在傳統市場和新市場有機成長資產，成功吸引新的企業客戶，並繼續透過我們的流動性和繼任解決方案取得進展。

So as we enter 2024, we remain excited about the opportunities we have to serve and support our more than 22,000 advisors, while continuing to invest in our industry-leading value proposition and drive organic growth.

因此，當我們進入 2024 年時，我們仍然對為超過 22,000 名顧問提供服務和支持的機會感到興奮，同時繼續投資於我們行業領先的價值主張並推動有機增長。

Now let's turn to our fourth quarter business results. Total advisory and brokerage assets were $1.4 trillion, up 9% from Q3, as continued organic growth was complemented by higher equity markets. Total organic net new assets were $25 billion or approximately an 8% annualized growth rate.

現在讓我們來看看第四季的業績。諮詢和經紀資產總額為 1.4 兆美元，較第三季增加 9%，持續的有機成長得到了股市上漲的補充。有機淨新資產總額為 250 億美元，年化成長率約 8%。

Our Q4 recruited assets were $17 billion, which brought our total for the year to $80 billion. Looking ahead to Q1, our momentum continues, and we are on pace to deliver another strong quarter of recruiting.

我們在第四季招募的資產為 170 億美元，這使我們全年的資產總額達到 800 億美元。展望第一季度，我們的勢頭仍在繼續，我們正在努力實現另一個強勁的季度招募。

As for our Q4 financial results, the combination of organic growth and expense discipline led to adjusted EPS of $3.51. Gross profit was $1.7 billion, down $3 million sequentially. Our payout rate was 87.6%, up 30 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 86.5% as the production bonus resets at the beginning of each year.

至於我們第四季的財務業績，有機成長和費用紀律的結合導致調整後每股收益為 3.51 美元。毛利為 17 億美元，比上一季減少 300 萬美元。由於生產獎金的季節性增加，我們的支付率為 87.6%，比第三季上升 30 個基點。展望第一季度，隨著每年年初生產獎金的重置，我們預計我們的支付率將下降至約 86.5%。

With respect to client cash revenue, it was $374 million, down $4 million from Q3, as average client cash balances declined slightly during the quarter. Client cash balances ended the quarter at $48 billion, up $1 billion sequentially, marking the first quarterly increase since the second quarter of 2022.

客戶現金收入為 3.74 億美元，比第三季減少 400 萬美元，因為本季平均客戶現金餘額略有下降。本季末客戶現金餘額為 480 億美元，比上一季增加 10 億美元，這是自 2022 年第二季以來的首次季度增長。

Within our ICA portfolio, the mix of fixed rate balances ended the quarter at roughly 60%, within our target range of 50% to 75%. As a reminder, during Q4, there were roughly $2.5 billion of fixed rate contracts that matured. We placed $2 billion of these maturing balances into new 5-year contracts, yielding approximately 415 basis points, which is roughly 85 basis points higher than their prior yield. Looking more closely at our ICA yield, it was 317 basis points in Q4, down 1 basis point from Q3. As for Q1, based on where client cash balances and interest rates are today, as well as the yields on our new fixed rate contracts, we expect our ICA yield to increase by approximately 5 basis points.

在我們的 ICA 投資組合中，固定利率餘額組合在本季度結束時約為 60%，在我們 50% 至 75% 的目標範圍內。提醒一下，第四季度，大約有 25 億美元的固定利率合約到期。我們將這些到期餘額中的 20 億美元投入新的 5 年期合約，收益率約為 415 個基點，比之前的收益率高出約 85 個基點。更仔細地觀察我們的 ICA 收益率，第四季為 317 個基點，比第三季下降 1 個基點。至於第一季，根據今天的客戶現金餘額和利率，以及我們新的固定利率合約的收益率，我們預計 ICA 收益率將增加約 5 個基點。

As for service and fee revenue, it was $131 million in Q4, down $5 million from Q3. This decline was primarily driven by lower conference revenue, following our largest advisor conference of the year in Q3, as well as seasonally lower higher IRA fees. Looking ahead to Q1, we expect service and fee revenue to decrease by approximately $5 million sequentially on lower conference.

至於服務和費用收入，第四季為 1.31 億美元，比第三季減少 500 萬美元。這一下降主要是由於第三季度我們舉辦的年度最大的顧問會議之後會議收入的下降，以及 IRA 費用的季節性下降。展望第一季度，我們預計下游會議的服務和費用收入將季減約 500 萬美元。

Moving on to Q4 transaction revenue. It was $54 million, up $4 million sequentially due to increased trading volume. As we look ahead to Q1, based on what we have seen to date, we would expect transaction revenue to increase by a couple of million sequentially.

接下來是第四季的交易收入。由於交易量增加，該金額為 5,400 萬美元，比上一季增加 400 萬美元。展望第一季度，根據我們迄今為止所看到的情況，我們預計交易收入將連續增加數百萬。

Now let's turn to expenses starting with core G&A. It was $364 million in Q4, bringing our full-year core G&A to $1.369 billion. This was within our outlook range and for the full year, represents approximately 15% growth. As a reminder, this included an opportunistic 5% of incremental spend, focused on accelerating our capabilities, as we took advantage of the favorable macro environment.

現在讓我們從核心 G&A 開始討論費用。第四季為 3.64 億美元，使我們的全年核心 G&A 達到 13.69 億美元。這在我們的預期範圍內，全年增長約 15%。提醒一下，這包括 5% 的增量支出，重點是在我們利用有利的宏觀環境時提高我們的能力。

Now, as we look ahead to 2024, we plan to return to more normalized levels of spend, concentrating on investments that enable organic growth and drive operating leverage in our business. In addition, our ongoing investments to scale our business are driving greater efficiencies.

現在，展望 2024 年，我們計劃恢復更正常的支出水平，專注於能夠實現有機成長並提高業務營運槓桿的投資。此外，我們為擴大業務而進行的持續投資正在提高效率。

Pulling this together, we expect our 2024 core G&A growth rate to be roughly half the rate we saw in 2023. More specifically, we intend to grow 2024 core G&A in a range of 6.25% to 8.75%. As for Q1, we expect core G&A to be in the range of $360 million to $370 million.

綜合考慮，我們預計 2024 年核心 G&A 成長率將約為 2023 年成長率的一半。更具體地說，我們打算將 2024 年核心 G&A 成長率提高到 6.25% 至 8.75%。至於第一季度，我們預計核心管理費用將在 3.6 億至 3.7 億美元之間。

Note that this core G&A spend is prior to expenses associated with Prudential. As we move closer to onboarding them towards the end of this year, we'll provide an update on 2024 core G&A. I would just emphasize that we expect only a small amount of spend in 2024, as the majority of these costs will be incurred in 2025.

請注意，此核心一般及行政費用不包括與保德信相關的費用。隨著我們距離今年年底的入職時間越來越近，我們將提供 2024 年核心一般管理費用的最新資訊。我想強調的是，我們預計 2024 年只會有少量支出，因為大部分成本將在 2025 年產生。

Moving on to Q4 promotional expense. It was $138 million, down $2 million sequentially, as lower conference spend was partially offset by higher Prudential-related onboarding and integration costs. Looking ahead to Q1, we expect promotional expense to be roughly flat, as we have one of our largest adviser conferences during the quarter, which will be offset by seasonal declines in marketing spend.

接下來是第四季的促銷費用。該數字為 1.38 億美元，比上一季減少 200 萬美元，因為會議支出的減少被保誠相關入職和整合成本的增加部分抵消。展望第一季度，我們預計促銷費用將大致持平，因為我們在本季度舉行了最大的顧問會議之一，這將被行銷支出的季節性下降所抵消。

As for regulatory expense, it was $9 million in Q4. Looking forward, given the increased size and scale of our business, we would expect regulatory expense to be roughly $10 million per quarter.

至於監管費用，第四季為 900 萬美元。展望未來，鑑於我們業務規模和規模的擴大，我們預計每季的監管費用約為 1000 萬美元。

Looking at share-based compensation expense. It was $16 million in Q4, flat compared to Q3. As we look ahead, we anticipate this expense will increase by approximately $6 million sequentially, as Q1 tends to be our highest quarter of the year, given the timing of our annual stock awards.

看看基於股份的補償費用。第四季為 1600 萬美元，與第三季持平。展望未來，考慮到我們年度股票獎勵的時間，我們預計這筆費用將比上一季增加約 600 萬美元，因為第一季往往是我們今年最高的季度。

Regarding capital management, our balance sheet remained strong in Q4 with corporate cash of $184 million. I would note that during the quarter, we completed our first investment-grade debt offer, issuing $750 million of senior notes. With that, our leverage ratio increased to 1.6x and is within our target leverage range of 1.5 to 2.5x.

在資本管理方面，我們的資產負債表在第四季度保持強勁，企業現金為 1.84 億美元。我要指出的是，在本季度，我們完成了首次投資等級債務發行，發行了 7.5 億美元的優先票據。這樣，我們的槓桿率增加至 1.6 倍，處於我們 1.5 至 2.5 倍的目標槓桿範圍內。

Turning to how we deploy that capital, 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.

談到我們如何部署資本，我們的框架仍然專注於根據我們產生的回報來分配資本，首先投資於有機成長，在適當的情況下進行併購，並將多餘的資本返還給股東。

In Q4, we deployed capital across our entire framework, as we continue to invest to drive and support organic growth, allocated capital to M&A within our Liquidity & Succession solution and return capital to our shareholders, repurchasing $225 million of shares. As we look ahead to Q1, we plan to repurchase $200 million of our shares, keeping us on track to execute our $2 billion authorization over 2 years.

第四季度，我們在整個框架中部署了資本，繼續投資以推動和支持有機成長，在我們的流動性和繼任解決方案中將資本分配給併購，並向股東返還資本，回購了2.25 億美元的股票。展望第一季度，我們計劃回購 2 億美元的股票，以便我們能夠在 2 年內執行 20 億美元的授權。

Turning now to interest expense, it was $54 million in Q4, up $6 million sequentially. Looking ahead to Q1, given current debt balances and interest rates, we expect interest expense to increase by approximately $7 million from Q4.

現在轉向利息支出，第四季為 5,400 萬美元，比上一季增加 600 萬美元。展望第一季度，考慮到當前債務餘額和利率，我們預計利息支出將比第四季度增加約 700 萬美元。

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 advisors, grow our business and create long-term shareholder value. With that, operator, please open the call for questions.

最後，我們又一個季度實現了強勁的業務和財務業績。展望未來，我們仍然對繼續投資為顧問服務、發展業務和創造長期股東價值的機會感到興奮。那麼，接線員，請打開提問電話。

(Operator Instructions). And our first question comes from Steven Chubak with Wolfe Research.

（操作員說明）。我們的第一個問題來自沃爾夫研究中心的史蒂文·丘巴克。

Maybe just to start off with a question on core G&A and organic growth. The double-digit organic growth you've achieved these past 3 years, it's really been bolstered, at least in part, by significant investments in the platform, and core G&A has also grown at a double-digit clip as well.

也許只是從一個關於核心管理費用和有機成長的問題開始。過去 3 年實現的兩位數有機成長，確實至少在一定程度上得益於對平台的大量投資，核心 G&A 也以兩位數的速度成長。

So the updated core G&A guide for '24 certainly surprised positively. It does imply a significant moderation, as you noted, Matt, in expense growth. But should we expect a slower G&A growth to drive a commensurate slowdown in organic? Or do you feel the NNA momentum can be sustained even with the moderation in G&A spend?

因此，24 年更新後的核心 G&A 指南無疑令人驚訝。正如您所指出的，馬特，這確實意味著費用成長將顯著放緩。但我們是否應該預期總費用成長放緩會導致有機成長相應放緩？或者您認為即使 G&A 支出有所放緩，NNA 的勢頭仍能持續？

Yes, Steven, I'll give you some color here, but the answer is going to be the latter. I think the investments are moderated and our confidence and conviction around continuing to drive organic growth is just the same.

是的，史蒂文，我會給你一些顏色，但答案將是後者。我認為投資有所放緩，我們對繼續推動有機成長的信心和信念是一樣的。

Now, the details below that, just building a little bit on what I shared in the prepared remarks, the cost strategy or investment strategy remains driving -- investments prioritizing to drive organic growth, as well as driving productivity and efficiency, and I think what's probably most relevant in this conversation is also adapting as the environment evolves.

現在，以下的細節只是在我在準備好的發言中分享的內容的基礎上進行了一些闡述，成本策略或投資策略仍然是驅動因素——投資優先考慮推動有機增長，以及提高生產力和效率，我認為什麼是也許與此對話中最相關的是隨著環境的演變而適應。

So if you look at, to your point, on 2023 and growing 15%, you kind of break that into -- that 15% into 3 equal categories of about 5% each. The first was really about serving and supporting the core business growth.

因此，如果你看看 2023 年成長 15%，你就會把這 15% 分成 3 個相等的類別，每個類別約 5%。第一個實際上是關於服務和支援核心業務成長。

The second was about continuing to make investments to really improve our value prop through and establish ourselves in the new models and addressable market to scale our services, things of that nature. And that third category, that third 5% was really just being opportunistic about the market really accelerating investments. And I think when you look at the guidance for 2024, our plans for 2024, it's really pulling back in that third category.

第二個是繼續進行投資，透過新模式和潛在市場來真正提高我們的價值支撐，並建立我們自己的地位，以擴展我們的服務和此類性質的事物。第三類，也就是第三個 5%，其實只是對市場真正加速投資的投機行為。我認為，當你查看 2024 年的指導意見和我們 2024 年的計劃時，你會發現第三類確實有所倒退。

So we're continuing to make the investment growth. We're continuing to make the investments to improve our value proposition and capabilities. In just those two things, and this may get really to the core of your question, that would typically lead to core G&A growth in the 8% to 10% range.

因此，我們將繼續實現投資成長。我們將繼續進行投資，以提高我們的價值主張和能力。就這兩件事而言，這可能真正觸及您問題的核心，這通常會導致核心 G&A 成長 8% 至 10%。

But then you put on top of that, the investments we're making for productivity and efficiency, which do create capacity to invest each and every year, are getting even better. And it's that final point that brings us down to the 6.25% to 8.75%. So hopefully, the color helped there, but I think the headline point is our conviction on continuing to deliver organic growth in this high single digits remains.

但除此之外，我們為生產力和效率所做的投資確實每年都創造了投資能力，而且正在變得更好。正是最後一點使我們的比例降至 6.25% 至 8.75%。因此，希望顏色能對此有所幫助，但我認為重點是我們堅信繼續以高個位數實現有機成長。

That's great to hear. And for my follow-up, Matt, I was hoping you could just provide an update on January trends. I know it's a seasonally weaker month, typically, for both M&A and cash. And just with cash trends also stabilizing over the last 6 months, just speak to your confidence level that some of these sorting headwinds, which have gotten a lot of their play, are largely in the rear view.

聽到這個消息我很高興。對於我的後續行動，馬特，我希望您能提供一月份趨勢的最新資訊。我知道對於併購和現金來說，這通常是季節性疲軟的月份。就在過去 6 個月現金趨勢也趨於穩定的情況下，只要談談您的信心水平，其中一些已經發揮了很大作用的排序逆風基本上已經成為過去。

Yes. I think I'll start on cash. I mean the headline is we really saw a cash start to stabilize back in July. So really, if you look at the second half of the year, even by the month, we ended the year at a pretty similar level of where we ended July. So I think what we're seeing in January is really a continuation of that stability.

是的。我想我會從現金開始。我的意思是，標題是我們確實看到現金在 7 月開始穩定。所以說真的，如果你看看今年下半年，即使是按月來看，我們年底的水平與 7 月結束時的水平非常相似。所以我認為我們在一月看到的確實是這種穩定性的延續。

So just a reminder, the seasonal factor that does hit in January is advisory fees, typically hit primarily in the first month of the quarter. So we -- so those do reduce cash balances. It's around $1.2 billion. Outside of that though, we've continued to see stability, so the amount of cash balance moving from customer activity was actually a slight increase in January.

因此，提醒一下，一月份確實受到影響的季節性因素是諮詢費，通常主要在該季度的第一個月受到影響。所以我們——所以這些確實減少了現金餘額。大約是12億美元。但除此之外，我們繼續看到穩定，因此 1 月從客戶活動中轉移的現金餘額實際上略有增加。

So you put that together, and cash balances overall for the month are down $1.2 billion, but it's primarily driven by those fees, and the activity is actually a slight increase. So I think headline is continuing to see stability on the cash sweep side.

所以你把這些加在一起，本月現金餘額總體減少了 12 億美元，但這主要是由這些費用驅動的，而且活動實際上略有增加。因此，我認為頭條新聞是現金掃蕩方面繼續保持穩定。

On the organic growth side, and maybe just -- I'll give a little bit of context and perspective on the overall quarter as well as the month of January, to your point on your first question, when you look at the last 3, 4 years of really driving and delivering that high single-digit organic growth, given the nature of Q1, the first quarter is usually a little bit lower.

在有機成長方面，也許只是——當您查看最後三個問題時，我將提供一些關於整個季度以及一月份的背景和觀點，以回答您第一個問題的觀點，四年來真正推動並實現了高單位數有機成長，考慮到第一季的性質，第一季通常會略低一些。

So in those years, it was typically in the 6% to 7% zone. So if we look at what we're seeing for Q1 '24, is really delivering something in a similar place, that's 6% to 7%.

所以在那些年裡，它通常處於 6% 到 7% 的區域。因此，如果我們看看 24 年第一季的情況，確實在類似的地方交付了一些東西，即 6% 到 7%。

The only thing I would highlight and the reason for this color is we would expect January to actually be a little bit lower than normal, in the 1% to 2% zone, and then February and March actually to be higher than typical, really at those high single digits, really coming together at a 6% to 7% for the quarter.

我要強調的唯一一件事以及這種顏色的原因是，我們預計1 月實際上會比正常情況稍低一些，在1% 到2% 區域，然後2 月和3 月實際上會高於典型情況，真的在這些高個位數的數字加在一起，本季的成長率實際上為 6% 到 7%。

And really, the reason for that is that the seasonal factors that we just talked about on the cash sweep side, meaning advisory fees hitting in the first month of the quarter as well as you have on the NNA front that normal slowdown in the first half of January because of the [tender] closing in the second half of December as well as advisors taking time off, you have those normal factors that come through in January.

事實上，原因是我們剛剛在現金掃蕩方面談到的季節性因素，這意味著諮詢費用在本季度第一個月達到，以及 NNA 方面上半年的正常放緩由於[招標] 在12 月下半月結束以及顧問休假，您將在一月份經歷這些正常因素。

Two things I would highlight, though, for this January. First is recruiting. Our recruiting continues to be strong. You may recall, Q1 of last year, we set a new record in recruiting prior to large enterprises at around $13 billion. We're on track to exceed that in the first quarter this year. So continued strength there. Just the timing is a little shifted more towards February and March, so you got a little bit of weakness in January.

不過，今年一月我要強調兩件事。首先是招募。我們的招募依然強勁。大家可能還記得，去年第一季度，我們在大型企業之前的招募創下了新紀錄，約 130 億美元。我們預計在今年第一季超越這個數字。所以那裡的力量持續存在。只是時間稍微偏向二月和三月，所以一月有點疲軟。

And then on the attrition side, a little bit of the opposite, and that attrition is going to be a little bit heavier in January versus February and March as we had two practices that were acquired to part during the month. And that's normal. It happens from time to time. We just happen to have two in a single month in January. Outside of that, our retention remains consistently high with the levels we've seen.

然後在人員流失方面，情況正好相反，一月份的人員流失比二月和三月要嚴重一些，因為我們在這個月中有兩次練習要分開。這很正常。這種情況時有發生。我們只是在一月份的一個月裡碰巧有兩個。除此之外，我們的保留率一直保持在我們所看到的較高水準。

So lots of color there, but I would headline it in, we're looking at Q1 and continuing in that 6% to 7% zone. And you're just going to have a little bit of a different shape to the quarter with January in that 1% to 2% zone.

那裡有很多色彩，但我想把它作為標題，我們正在關注第一季並繼續在 6% 到 7% 的區域。與一月份在 1% 到 2% 區域的季度相比，情況會略有不同。

Lots to unpack there, but thanks so much for the detail, Matt.

那裡有很多東西需要解開，但非常感謝你提供的細節，馬特。

And our next question comes from Alexander Blostein with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的亞歷山大·布洛斯坦。

Good afternoon, everyone. Thanks for the question as well. Dan, I was hoping we could talk a little bit about the large enterprise channel for you guys. It's been an area of significant success over the last couple of years.

大家下午好。也謝謝你的提問。丹，我希望我們能為你們談談大型企業通路。在過去的幾年裡，這是一個取得了巨大成功的領域。

So maybe talk a little bit about deal activity expectations for 2024. And in particular, curious about the level of engagement you guys are seeing from insurance company clients on the back of the Pru deal.

因此，也許可以談談對 2024 年交易活動的預期。特別是對你們在 Pru 交易後看到的保險公司客戶的參與程度感到好奇。

Yes. Thanks, Alex. So look, with respect to our large enterprise channel, we opened this market up back in 2020 with a novel outsourcing solution. And initially, we targeted larger banks and have seen some success up to this point, capturing about $85 billion of assets to our platform. If you look at the total market for banks and outsourcing of wealth management -- for wealth management, it's roughly in and around $1 trillion.

是的。謝謝，亞歷克斯。因此，就我們的大型企業通路而言，我們在 2020 年透過新穎的外包解決方案開啟了這個市場。最初，我們瞄準了較大的銀行，到目前為止已經取得了一些成功，為我們的平台捕獲了約 850 億美元的資產。如果你看看銀行和財富管理外包的總市場——對於財富管理來說，它大約在 1 兆美元左右。

We believe our experience, reputation and capability set, it's a compelling solution that helps continue to strengthen that pipeline and offer up an interesting durable growth opportunity as we move forward.

我們相信，我們的經驗、聲譽和能力是一個引人注目的解決方案，有助於繼續加強該管道，並在我們前進的過程中提供有趣的持久成長機會。

That said, at the same time, we took our solution that was targeted to banks, and we made some additional investments and capabilities and personalized options, which enabled us to extend the appeal of that model to, as you said, the insurance companies or product manufacturers that operate wealth management solutions. And now that market represents an additional $1.5 trillion of opportunity.

也就是說，同時，我們採用了針對銀行的解決方案，並且我們進行了一些額外的投資和功能以及個人化選項，這使我們能夠將該模型的吸引力擴展到保險公司或營運財富管理解決方案的產品製造商。現在，這個市場代表著額外 1.5 兆美元的機會。

And with the Prudential announcement, it was a catalyst for additional inquiries, exploring the question, so why aren't they outsourcing? and we continue to progress in these discussions and explore others. They're still in the early stages, but we do believe this part of the pipeline will continue to evolve as well.

隨著保誠集團的宣布，它成為了更多調查的催化劑，並探索了這個問題，那麼他們為什麼不外包呢？我們將繼續在這些討論中取得進展並探索其他問題。它們仍處於早期階段，但我們相信這部分管道也將繼續發展。

So if I summarize it, as we move forward, we believe our market leadership capability set and a real deep IP for this enterprise channel creates a really unique growth opportunity for us. We're excited about it.

因此，如果我總結一下，隨著我們的前進，我們相信我們的市場領導能力和該企業管道的真正深厚的智慧財產權為我們創造了真正獨特的成長機會。我們對此感到興奮。

Great. And a quick follow-up for you, Matt. So nice to see you guys moving forward with reinvestments of the [6 ICA] maturities, the $2 billion that you mentioned. How is demand holding up in the ICA channel for additional fixed maturities as we kind of think about the $6.5 billion tranche that's coming out this year?

偉大的。馬特，我想對您進行快速跟進。很高興看到你們推進 [6 ICA] 期限的再投資，也就是你們提到的 20 億美元。考慮到今年即將發行的 65 億美元，ICA 管道對額外固定期限債券的需求保持得如何？

And is there a way to sort of accelerate some of that reinvestment? I know you provided a schedule, kind of how that shakes out over the course of the year. But any opportunity to move a little faster in case rates to start moving lower to lock in wider spreads?

有沒有辦法加速部分再投資？我知道你提供了一個時間表，大概是一年中的具體情況。但如果利率開始走低以鎖定更大的利差，是否有機會加快步伐？

Yes, Alex, I think on the demand, the demand is strong. Like if you look at the $2 billion that we did place into new contracts towards the end of the quarter, we're able to place them in 5-year contracts. So that's kind of the longest duration that the market typically offers, which is where we prefer to be right now. And we're able to place them at a 30 basis point spread above, where the curve is.

是的，亞歷克斯，我認為就需求而言，需求很強烈。就像你看看我們在本季末為新合約投入的 20 億美元一樣，我們能夠將它們簽訂為 5 年期合約。因此，這是市場通常提供的最長持續時間，也是我們目前希望達到的水平。我們可以將它們放置在曲線上方 30 個基點的價差處。

And I think we've talked about, for a long time in this marketplace, there really were no spreads to the curve. And sometimes, they're even discounts. So I think that's probably the most empirical data that the demand is out there, is strong. And you see similar demand on the floating rate side as well.

我想我們已經討論過，在這個市場上很長一段時間，曲線上確實沒有利差。有時，它們甚至還有折扣。所以我認為這可能是最實證的數據，顯示需求是強勁的。您在浮動利率方面也看到了類似的需求。

On The second part of your question, the opportunities to accelerate really aren't there. It's kind of the nature of a fixed rate contract, right, for the same reason on both sides of the equation, from a bank liquidity standpoint, where they get it on their side. It's not a very common thing. So I wouldn't expect any opportunities to accelerate it.

關於你問題的第二部分，確實不存在加速的機會。這就是固定利率合約的本質，對吧，出於同樣的原因，從銀行流動性的角度來看，等式兩邊都是一樣的，他們都站在自己這邊。這不是一件很常見的事。所以我不希望有任何機會來加速它。

But as you noted, we have -- when you look at the year, we've got $6.5 billion coming up. And if you look at the marketplace right now, we'd be able to place them in even higher rates. And if that 5-year point is available, we'll be excited to do it there as well. So market is good, but acceleration opportunity is probably not there.

但正如您所指出的，當您回顧這一年時，我們將獲得 65 億美元的收入。如果你現在看看市場，我們就能給它們更高的價格。如果 5 年積分可用，我們也會很高興在那裡做到這一點。所以市場很好，但加速機會可能不存在。

One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from Kyle Voigt with KBW.

請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。我們的下一個問題來自 KBW 的 Kyle Voigt。

Maybe just a question on the Prudential expenses. First, I just wanted to confirm that the $125 million of the integration and onboarding expenses in the promotional line are onetime and still expected to entirely roll off by the start of 2025.

也許只是關於保德信開支的問題。首先，我只是想確認一下，促銷產品線中 1.25 億美元的整合和入職費用是一次性的，預計仍將在 2025 年初完全削減。

And then can you just help frame the size of the incremental G&A growth we should think about in '25, either on a percentage basis year-on-year or framing relative to the size of the Pru expenses in promo that will be rolling off in '24?

然後，您能否幫助我們確定 25 年我們應該考慮的增量 G&A 增長的規模，無論是同比百分比還是相對於促銷中的 Pru 費用規模（將在'24？

Yes. Sure, Kyle. I mean I think on the $125 million, yes, they are definitely onetime and specific to bringing Prudential onboard. I think the majority of them will be in 2024. So if you look at what we spent so far in '23, it's in the $25 million, $26 million range. Of that remaining $100 million, that will primarily be in '24. But just depending on the timing of when they come onboard, some of that could flow over into 2025.

是的。當然，凱爾。我的意思是，我認為 1.25 億美元，是的，它們絕對是一次性的，專門用於吸引保誠集團加入。我認為其中大多數將在 2024 年進行。因此，如果你看看我們在 23 年迄今為止的支出，你會發現它在 2500 萬美元至 2600 萬美元之間。剩下的 1 億美元中，主要是在 2024 年。但僅取決於他們加入的時間，其中一些可能會延續到 2025 年。

Now the total amount wouldn't change. It's just a -- it would still be $125 million. It could -- some of it could just go into 2025, but the majority would be in 2024.

現在總金額不會改變。只是——仍然是 1.25 億美元。有可能——其中一些可能會持續到 2025 年，但大多數會在 2024 年。

On the core G&A front, I think the headline I would give you and kind of emphasized in the prepared remarks that the amount we expect in 2024 is relatively small, and it's all about the timing of when they come onboard.

在核心 G&A 方面，我想我會給你們一個標題，並在準備好的評論中強調，我們預計 2024 年的金額相對較小，而這一切都與他們加入的時間有關。

I think to your question of how to dimension it, I think I'd just go back to the estimated EBITDA when it's fully ramped, which is around $60 million. And maybe just look at overall margins in our business around 50%, that should give you a sense of the overall expenses. That would go along with it. So I think if you did something like that, you'd be directionally correct. I'd just emphasize that it's -- from a cost standpoint, it's likely to be primarily in 2025, just given the timing of when they're going to come onboard. It's towards the end of ['24].

我認為，對於你關於如何確定其規模的問題，我想我會回到全面啟動時的估計 EBITDA，約為 6000 萬美元。也許只要看看我們業務的整體利潤率約為 50%，您就可以對整體支出有所了解。那會隨之而來。所以我認為如果你做了類似的事情，你的方向就是正確的。我只是強調，從成本的角度來看，考慮到他們加入的時間，很可能主要是在 2025 年。快到 ['24] 年底​​了。

Understood. And then just on the follow-up, if you just ask on the M&A environment, we're seeing a macro backdrop now that I expect to be more favorable for M&A in the sector. Markets are at all-time highs. We're starting to see some clarity on interest rates, at least relative to the past year or 2.

明白了。就後續而言，如果你只問併購環境，我們現在看到的宏觀背景是，我預計該行業的併購將更加有利。市場處於歷史高點。我們開始看到利率的一些明確性，至少相對於過去一兩年是如此。

So just wondering if you could speak to the opportunities you're seeing in the market, whether bid-ask spread between sellers and buyers maybe narrowing? And the number of -- or types of deals that you're seeing come across your desk now versus maybe this time last year.

因此，我想知道您是否可以談談您在市場上看到的機會，賣家和買家之間的買賣價差是否可能縮小？與去年這個時候相比，您現在看到的交易數量或類型。

Let me take a stab at that one. It's Dan. And hopefully, I'll get all your questions inside of there. So I think, as you know, M&A remains a core part of our strategy as a complement to our organic growth opportunities. And to your question, we focus on three primary categories of opportunities: One is -- first, to grow in our market. So potential acquisitions might include both broker-dealers and RIAs.

讓我來嘗試一下。是丹.希望我能在那裡解答您所有的問題。因此，我認為，正如您所知，併購仍然是我們策略的核心部分，作為我們有機成長機會的補充。對於你的問題，我們專注於三個主要類別的機會：一是——首先，在我們的市場中成長。因此，潛在的收購可能包括經紀自營商和 RIA。

Examples of that are our (inaudible), [Acquisition 101, Reed acquisition] and then [Fram Capital], which we're closing earlier this year. So those are good examples of how we might look across the marketplace for those opportunities. And look, as the industry continues to consolidate, we would expect to be a participant in that consolidation.

這方面的例子是我們的（聽不清楚）[收購 101，收購 Reed]，然後是[Fram Capital]，我們將於今年稍早關閉。這些都是我們如何在市場上尋找這些機會的好例子。看，隨著產業繼續整合，我們希望成為整合的參與者。

The second type of transactions that we will look at is to add capabilities, and these are capabilities where we would ultimately evaluate, allocate -- and should we allocate capital to build, buy or partner. And to the extent this accelerates our desire to create that vertically integrated, feature-rich platform, then this is where we would look to an opportunity like that, as capability transactions would include AdvisoryWorld and Blaze.

我們將關注的第二種類型的交易是增加能力，這些能力是我們最終評估、分配的能力——以及我們是否應該分配資本來建立、購買或合作。在某種程度上，這加速了我們創建垂直整合、功能豐富的平台的願望，那麼這就是我們尋找這樣的機會的地方，因為能力交易將包括 AdvisoryWorld 和 Blaze。

And to remind you, Blaze a trading platform that we're turning in to what we think will be a really industry-leading trading and rebalancing tool that we're making available to our entire client base in -- early in the Spring. So excited about that type of transaction and what we can do with it.

提醒您的是，我們正在將 Blaze 交易平台轉變為我們認為真正行業領先的交易和再平衡工具，我們將在春季初期向我們的整個客戶群提供該工具。對這種類型的交易以及我們可以用它做什麼感到非常興奮。

The third type of category or example of a transaction would be deploying capital against this newest capability of liquidity [in succession]. Certainly gives us -- put our capital work in a way that both meets our disciplined return thresholds and then helps both internal and external advisors solve a really important question around this succession needs and requirements that we've talked a lot about over the next 10 years.

交易的第三種類型或範例將是針對這種最新的流動性能力[連續]部署資本。當然，我們的資本工作既滿足嚴格的回報門檻，又幫助內部和外部顧問解決圍繞繼任需求和要求的一個非常重要的問題，我們在接下來的 10 年裡已經多次討論過這個問題。年。

And again, I think in doing that, it positions us well to not only do that for internal advisors, but also to potentially create that solution for those that aren't part of our enterprise today.

再說一遍，我認為這樣做不僅使我們能夠為內部顧問做到這一點，而且還可以為那些不屬於我們企業的人員創建解決方案。

So if you just summarize all of that, we consider M&A opportunities a core part of our strategy. But we will remain disciplined to make sure that the framework with which we assess them as they benefit strategically, financially, culturally and operationally. And we'll do it with good discipline around each of these. I hope that helps.

因此，如果您總結所有這些，我們認為併購機會是我們策略的核心部分。但我們將繼續遵守紀律，以確保我們評估它們的框架能夠使它們在策略、財務、文化和營運方面受益。我們將在每一個方面都嚴格遵守紀律。我希望這有幫助。

One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from Devin Ryan with JMP Securities.

請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。我們的下一個問題來自 JMP 證券的 Devin Ryan。

Okay. Great. A question for Dan. I was interested by the comments you made about some of the new service innovations and really to encourage advisors to move -- and, I guess, move to LPL. And I guess I took that more as LPL looking to win more advisors in motion. But if I look at industry churn, it's been pretty anchored at 5% to 6% in recent history.

好的。偉大的。問丹一個問題。我對您對一些新服務創新的評論很感興趣，並真正鼓勵顧問們轉移——我想，轉移到 LPL。我想我更認為LPL希望贏得更多的顧問。但如果我看看產業流失率，在最近的歷史中它一直穩定在 5% 到 6%。

So I'm just curious, based on what you just talked about, whether it's some of the innovations in the services portfolio or just that you're seeing more broadly occurring in the industry that could really change that 5% to 6% rate, and it would seem like it would be a pretty big deal, if you can? So just love to get a sense of kind of what those innovations actually mean. And then can that rate move for either LPL reasons or industry reasons?

所以我很好奇，根據你剛才談到的內容，無論是服務組合中的一些創新，還是你看到的行業中更廣泛的創新，都可能真正改變 5% 到 6% 的比率，如果可以的話，這似乎是一件大事？所以只是想了解這些創新的真正意義。那麼這個比率會因為 LPL 原因還是產業原因而改變嗎？

Yes, good question. So I think if we just sort of start with the first question around churn or that movement in the marketplace, and we continue to see advisor movement remain flat. Think about that in the range of 5%, 5.5% over the other part of the last couple of years, which is -- you know is below historical norms.

是的，好問題。因此，我認為，如果我們從有關客戶流失或市場變動的第一個問題開始，我們將繼續看到顧問的變動保持穩定。想想過去幾年其他時間的 5% 到 5.5% 的範圍，你知道，這低於歷史標準。

Now there has been some mix shift in that turnover and where it's coming from. In fact, in the last year, you've seen movement in the traditional independent market move up, where there's been a slowdown, as an example, from the wires.

現在，營業額及其來源發生了一些混合變化。事實上，在去年，您已經看到傳統獨立市場的走勢上升，例如，從電線方面來看，該市場的走勢有所放緩。

That said, notwithstanding all of that, I think we, first and foremost, look at our overall win rate, what is moving across all of our different affiliation models as a way to continue to understand their absolute appeal well as their hopefully growing appeal as we invest more into the platform or the model.

也就是說，儘管如此，我認為我們首先要關注我們的整體勝率，以及我們所有不同的聯盟模式的變化，以此作為繼續了解他們的絕對吸引力以及他們希望不斷增長的吸引力的一種方式。我們對平台或模型投入更多。

And as we said earlier, despite this lower movement in advisors, if you look at the relative market share we're picking up in our win rates, you've seen those increase over the past 3 years with that investment back into the model.

正如我們之前所說，儘管顧問的流動性較低，但如果你看看我們在勝率方面所獲得的相對市場份額，你會發現在過去3 年中，隨著對模型的投資重新投入，這些份額有所增加。

And I think look, for the newer models, not only do we have higher opportunities to enhance the capability set there as they're on a -- just a fresher journey, if you will, in terms of our investment capabilities there, also their seasoning, the growing awareness and credibility they have in the marketplace can also be a catalyst for higher win rates there. So it's not just even the investment. It's that it's growing seasoning around our right to win, if you will, with those new models.

我認為，對於較新的模型，我們不僅有更好的機會來增強那裡的能力，因為它們正處於一個新的旅程，如果你願意的話，就我們在那裡的投資能力而言，還有他們的能力隨著經驗的積累，他們在市場上日益增長的知名度和信譽也可能成為提高贏率的催化劑。所以這不僅僅是投資。如果你願意的話，那就是我們用這些新模型贏得勝利的權利正在不斷增強。

And then finally, to your point, I think one of the things that we look at is if we can't completely control the movement of advisors in the marketplace, what could we do to contribute to it in this notion of concept, making it easier to help an advisor move from one practice to another, given that being what we believe is one of the big hurdles for advisers moving.

最後，就你的觀點而言，我認為我們要考慮的一件事是，如果我們不能完全控制顧問在市場上的流動，我們可以做些什麼來在這個概念中做出貢獻，使其成為現實鑑於我們認為這是顧問遷移的一大障礙，因此更容易幫助顧問從一種做法轉向另一種做法。

Boy, if you could solve that or begin to break that down and imagine that in different ways and thus create a much different rubric, if you will, for the change management effort sort of associated to moving the A to B that, that could be a real catalyst to increase that movement in the industry.

男孩，如果你能解決這個問題，或者開始分解它，並以不同的方式想像它，從而創建一個完全不同的標題，如果你願意的話，對於與將A 移動到B 相關的變更管理工作，這可能是是增加該行業運動的真正催化劑。

And so that's the question I think we're trying to explore and that I alluded to in my remarks, and we're using our services portfolio and some of the ways that which we've learned how to add value to advisors and helping them operate, fund their practices and realize that we tweak them a bit and offered them while someone is going through a conversion, that actually could be a catalyst to making it easier to go through that change in management.

這就是我認為我們正在努力探索的問題，我在發言中提到了這一點，我們正在使用我們的服務組合以及我們學到的一些方法來為顧問增加價值並幫助他們運營，資助他們的做法，並意識到我們對他們進行了一些調整，並在某人正在經歷轉換時提供他們，這實際上可能成為一種催化劑，使管理方面的變革變得更容易。

And thus, it's successful at doing that more structurally. But then you could see the knock-on effect, if you will, of potentially accelerating the movement and with our ability to recruit and our positioning of our models in the marketplace, certainly, that's a strategic opportunity for us. So that's how we pulled that together. I hope that color added some little...

因此，它在結構上更成功地做到了這一點。但如果你願意的話，你可以看到連鎖反應，可能會加速這一運動，而且憑藉我們的招募能力和我們模型在市場中的定位，這對我們來說當然是一個戰略機會。這就是我們如何將其整合在一起的。我希望這個顏色能增添一些...

Yes. Thanks, Dan. That's great color. And I guess my follow-up is just it's interrelated to that. So your terrific momentum in recruited assets in 2023 and really the new affiliation models are clearly resonating in the market. And I believe you said $15 billion from those new channels in 2023, so that would seem to imply -- I mean the legacy channels would be around $50 billion to get to the $67 billion total, if I'm correct there.

是的。謝謝，丹。那顏色真棒。我想我的後續行動只是與此相關。因此，你們在 2023 年招募資產方面的強勁勢頭以及新的聯盟模式顯然在市場上引起了共鳴。我相信你說 2023 年這些新管道將產生 150 億美元，這似乎意味著——我的意思是，如果我的說法正確的話，傳統管道將需要大約 500 億美元才能達到 670 億美元的總額。

So on the new affiliation channels, the contribution continues to scale, and those mature. Should that look like something similar to, call it, the $50 billion from the legacy channels? Or -- I'm just trying to size because they're growing so quickly, kind of what they look like at maybe maturity or something that's more mature like?

因此，在新的聯盟管道上，貢獻不斷擴大，並且成熟。這是否應該類似於傳統通路的 500 億美元？或者——我只是想確定它們的大小，因為它們生長得如此之快，它們看起來像成熟的或更成熟的樣子？

Or maybe it's well above 50, but just want to get some thoughts on kind of where we're coming from to where we're going just because there has been such a tremendous growth there, especially when you split it out separately.

或者可能遠高於 50，但只是想了解我們從哪裡到我們要去的地方，因為那裡已經有瞭如此巨大的增長，特別是當你將其分開時。

Yes. It's a great question. And I think as we think about those longer terms and what is that possibility, I think we start with the size of each of those markets. And that we've broken down in the employee base market is the largest one of all in that $11 trillion to $12 trillion range, our RIA in the second. And then the sort of Swiss model that we have is a subset, if you will, typically those coming out of an employee-based model.

是的。這是一個很好的問題。我認為，當我們考慮這些長期目標以及這種可能性是什麼時，我認為我們首先要考慮每個市場的規模。我們在員工基礎市場中細分的市場是 11 兆至 12 兆美元範圍內最大的市場，我們的 RIA 排名第二。然後，如果你願意的話，我們擁有的那種瑞士模式是一個子集，通常是來自基於員工的模式的子集。

And so, if you think about the opportunities that associated with those, I think you would start with that broader market, and then you begin to then drill down on what's our right to win, what's our ability to win, what are the capabilities necessary to continue to grow our win rates inside those markets.

因此，如果你考慮與這些相關的機會，我認為你會從更廣闊的市場開始，然後你開始深入研究我們獲勝的權利是什麼，我們獲勝的能力是什麼，必要的能力是什麼繼續提高我們在這些市場中的獲勝率。

And then if you do that, it's reason to believe, given the size of those markets relative to the traditional independent, that even if we achieve half of the win rate or the success rate we do in our traditional independent channel that those begin to make sizable contributions that, as you were estimating, look more like the contribution on the independent side.

然後，如果您這樣做，我們有理由相信，考慮到這些市場相對於傳統獨立管道的規模，即使我們在傳統獨立管道中獲得了一半的勝率或成功率，這些管道也開始取得成功。正如您所估計的那樣，相當大的貢獻看起來更像是獨立方面的貢獻。

So what I'm not suggesting is we'll get there, what I am suggesting is that's an opportunity that is worthy of continuing to work into, invest into and challenge ourselves to achieve the type of win rates we have on the independent side in these large markets. I hope that helps.

因此，我並不是建議我們會實現這一目標，我建議的是，這是一個值得繼續努力、投資和挑戰自己的機會，以實現我們在獨立方面所擁有的勝率。這些大市場。我希望這有幫助。

One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from Dan Fannon with Jefferies.

請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。我們的下一個問題來自傑弗里斯的丹·範農。

This quarter saw the biggest kind of quarter-over-quarter increase in sales-based commissions, looks to be somewhat driven by annuities. So curious about your outlook for that. And in the context of what the DOL has proposed, how you think that might change behavior or not, going forward?

本季基於銷售的佣金季增幅最大，似乎在某種程度上是由年金推動的。很好奇你對此的看法。在美國勞工部提出的建議的背景下，您認為這是否會改變未來的行為？

Yes. Let me take that one. Thanks for the question. We have seen some momentum, frankly, since rates have gone up, but you've seen the interesting growth in the utilization and probably predictable growth in the utilization of fixed annuities. And then when the equity markets move and have volatility in them, and variable annuities can also be interesting opportunity to deploy capital.

是的。讓我拿走那個。謝謝你的提問。坦白說，自從利率上升以來，我們已經看到了一些勢頭，但您也看到了利用率的有趣增長，以及固定年金利用率的可預測增長。然後，當股市波動並出現波動時，可變年金也可能成為配置資本的有趣機會。

And so I think it's been a nice tailwind for annuities for the better part of the year -- last year plus. And you're exactly right, fourth quarter just reinforced that. I think as we go forward, the question around the DOL is a good one relative to brokerage and advisory.

因此，我認為，在今年的大部分時間裡（去年以及去年），這對年金來說是一個很好的推動力。你說得完全正確，第四季強化了這一點。我認為，隨著我們的前進，圍繞勞工部的問題相對於經紀和諮詢來說是一個很好的問題。

And I think as we think about that, we go back to our playbook we used in '15 and '16 time frame, where -- as from a principal standpoint, we believe that maintaining choice for advisors' clients is in their best interest and our interest in making sure that we do the things necessary to preserve the choice for advisors between brokerage and advisory and our ability to ensure that we can help them adequately do that as the rules change relative to Reg BI.

我認為，當我們思考這一點時，我們回到我們在 15 和 16 年時間範圍內使用的劇本，從主要角度來看，我們認為保持顧問客戶的選擇符合他們的最佳利益，並且我們有興趣確保我們採取必要的措施來保留顧問在經紀和諮詢之間的選擇，並且我們有能力確保我們能夠在與Reg BI 相關的規則發生變化時充分幫助他們做到這一點。

And then again, if the DOL rule ultimately goes through and in changes that slightly -- making sure that we're prepared to help them pivot, where they can successfully continue to do that business, where it's in the best interest of the clients. And I think hard to argue with making sure that you provide people choice and then ultimately enable those advisors to serve them or offering a way when they need to for [clients].

話又說回來，如果勞工部的規則最終通過並發生輕微的變化——確保我們準備好幫助他們轉變方向，讓他們能夠成功地繼續開展這項業務，這符合客戶的最大利益。我認為很難爭論確保你為人們提供選擇，然後最終使這些顧問能夠為他們服務或在他們需要時為[客戶]提供一種方式。

That said, I do believe that in many cases, annuities will continue to be used where they're needed, where they make sense as a rollover option or where they make sense in helping someone, as we talked about earlier. With downside protection, it's still participating in the upside for the equity markets, there's good places to use them.

也就是說，我確實相信，在許多情況下，年金將繼續在需要的地方使用，在作為滾動選項有意義的地方，或者在幫助某人有意義的地方，正如我們之前討論的那樣。有了下行保護，它仍然可以參與股市的上行，有很好的用途。

I think that what we will see though is in other areas, you'll probably see a bigger shift to the utilization of advisory. It's just tougher to do brokerage business. There may be some places, small accounts, there may be other scenarios where given the two options, the advisor ultimately utilizes the [advisor] solution, which is still in the best interest of the client, but also just in the spirit of making sure the business can be better and efficient.

我認為我們將在其他領域看到，您可能會看到諮詢利用的更大轉變。只是做經紀業務比較難。可能在某些地方，小帳戶，可能還有其他情況下，給出兩種選擇，顧問最終使用[顧問]解決方案，這仍然符合客戶的最佳利益，但也只是本著確保業務才能更好、更有效率。

So we do believe that's a trend. Hence, the investments in our advisory platforms, vertical integration we have around our advisory offering, again, lines up well with structural [change] as well.

所以我們確實相信這是一種趨勢。因此，對我們諮詢平台的投資，我們圍繞諮詢服務的垂直整合，也與結構性[變革]很好地結合在一起。

So put a capstone on it. We will make sure that we're positioned to enable brokers to continue to be used. I do think that the DOL rule would create some headwind on the percentage of brokerage business that we see. But it won't be a complete change. You'll still see it utilized for [some]. Hope that helped.

所以在上面放一個頂石。我們將確保我們能夠繼續使用經紀商。我確實認為勞工部的規則會為我們所看到的經紀業務的比例帶來一些阻力。但這不會是徹底的改變。您仍然會看到它被用於[某些]。希望有幫助。

Understood. And then just as a follow-up, I think, Dan, you mentioned 99% retention in 2023. And then Matt, you called out January a couple of departures. So just curious if we can get some context around maybe what happens in January and if you think retention might be slightly different, given the environment as we think about 2024 more broadly?

明白了。然後，作為後續行動，我想，丹，你提到 2023 年保留率達到 99%。然後馬特，你提到 1 月有幾次離職。因此，我們只是想知道，考慮到我們更廣泛地考慮 2024 年的環境，我們是否可以了解 1 月會發生什麼情況，以及您是否認為留存率可能略有不同？

Yes. No, our sense of it is look, we got to make sure we execute on our strategy. We've got to invest in our capabilities, and we've got to deliver -- attempt to deliver an extraordinary experience on a daily basis. We have solid trends there, strengthening NPS scores, evolving capability.

是的。不，我們的感覺是，我們必須確保執行我們的策略。我們必須投資我們的能力，我們必須努力每天提供非凡的體驗。我們在那裡有堅實的趨勢，NPS 分數不斷提高，能力不斷發展。

We expect that retention rate in that 98.5% range to 99% range to be a good way to think about or good centering point, if you will, on retention for this year outside of the example of what Matt used, where someone sells the practice to potentially solve for succession solution.

我們預計98.5% 到99% 範圍內的保留率是一個很好的思考方式或良好的中心點（如果你願意的話），除了馬特使用的例子（有人出售這種做法）之外，今年的保留率潛在地解決繼承解決方案。

And look, that was the exact trigger that we launched our liquidity and succession program a year ago, gave us a great opportunity to go solve that really important question that many advisors had. Those two examples, maybe we didn't launch ours in time enough to get a swing at those.

看，這正是我們一年前啟動流動性和繼任計畫的觸發因素，為我們提供了一個很好的機會來解決許多顧問所面臨的真正重要的問題。這兩個例子，也許我們沒有及時推出我們的例子，無法在這些例子上得到體現。

And though we won't win them all, we do believe we've got a really a few innovative and differentiated solution that will position us well, not only help serve our clients who are already on our platform, we'll actually use it as a way to attract new assets to the platform because not only do we have a rich value proposition that we serve and support the daily needs, we also can help them with their succession needs. So that's how we're [seeing it].

儘管我們不會贏得所有這些，但我們確實相信我們已經有了一些創新和差異化的解決方案，這些解決方案將使我們處於有利地位，不僅有助於為已經在我們平台上的客戶提供服務，而且我們將實際使用它作為吸引新資產進入平台的一種方式，因為我們不僅擁有服務和支持日常需求的豐富價值主張，而且還可以幫助他們滿足繼任需求。這就是我們所看到的。

One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of Ben Budish with Barclays.

請稍等一下我們的下一個問題。我們的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Ben Budish。

I think most of mine have already kind of been covered, but maybe just one for Matt on the core G&A growth. Can you just talk a little bit about what gets you to the high or low end of the range. It sounds like the Prudential ramp is going to be not too impactful for this year. So what are the sort of factors that could drive that up or down? And at what point in the year do you start to get a better sense of where that shakes out?

我想我的大部分內容已經被涵蓋了，但也許只是馬特關於核心管理費用成長的一個。您能簡單談談是什麼讓您達到該範圍的高端或低端嗎？聽起來保誠集團今年的增產不會造成太大影響。那麼哪些因素可能會導致這個數字上升或下降呢？一年中的什麼時候你會開始更了解情況的變化？

Yes. I think what typically drives us within the range is the costs associated with supporting the growth that happens during the year. I think if you look at Q4 of 23 of this quarter is a good example, where we came in within our range but at the high end of the range. And that was really about the variable costs associated with growing, whether it's variable compensation associated with that growth or the direct cost to ramp up. So that's typically the driver within that range, those things.

是的。我認為通常推動我們保持在這個範圍內的是與支援年內發生的成長相關的成本。我認為，如果你看看本季 23 季的第四季度，這是一個很好的例子，我們在我們的範圍內，但處於範圍的高端。這實際上是與成長相關的可變成本，無論是與成長相關的可變薪酬還是增加的直接成本。因此，這通常是該範圍內的驅動程序，這些東西。

Our next question. And our next question comes from Michael Cyprys with Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題。我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的邁克爾·賽普里斯 (Michael Cyprys)。

I just wanted to come back to, Dan, some of your comments earlier just around the movement of advisors across the industry that you alluded to. Curious, what's driving that change that? What might change at the industry level?

丹，我只是想回到您之前提到的有關整個行業顧問流動的一些評論。好奇，是什麼推動了這種改變？產業層面可能會發生什麼變化？

I hear you on some of the services portfolio innovations that can help move it in your favor for you guys, but just at the macro backdrop for the broader industry, just curious, what might lead that churn to pick up here versus slowdown even further? And then how do you see the sort of backdrop evolving if interest rates are cut?

我聽到你們談論了一些服務組合創新，這些創新可以幫助你們將其推向對你們有利的方向，但就更廣泛行業的宏觀背景而言，我只是好奇，是什麼可能導致這種流失加劇而不是進一步放緩？那麼如果降息，您如何看待這種背景的演變？

Yes, yes, good questions. Look, I do think you've got a number of different things that might create a slight headwind on movement than at the aggregate had brought it down from I don't know, historically, 7% kind of range for movement. And we would expect things to return and normalize over a period of time. These little headwinds that I referenced, some of it is still a bit of a hangover from COVID and just some of the change in complexity that was created as people work through that, I think, is one.

是的，是的，好問題。聽著，我確實認為有很多不同的因素可能會對運動產生輕微的阻力，而不是總體上使其從我不知道的歷史上7%的運動範圍下降。我們預計事情會在一段時間內恢復並正常化。我提到的這些小逆風，其中一些仍然是新冠疫情的後遺症，我認為，人們在克服這個問題時所產生的複雜性的一些變化就是其中之一。

I think a second one is you just got -- you've had a volatile market with a lot of geopolitical uncertainty that surrounds it. And advisors avoid sometimes making big strategic moves or pivots or adjustments in periods of time where they've really got to be focused on the clients, and they don't want to create more change in the midst of uncertainty. And I think that's been something that we've seen over the last couple of years that have created some uncertainty.

我認為第二個是你剛剛遇到的——市場波動很大，周圍有很多地緣政治不確定性。有時，顧問會避免在他們真正必須專注於客戶的時期做出重大策略舉措或調整或調整，並且他們不想在不確定性中創造更多變化。我認為這是我們在過去幾年中看到的造成一些不確定性的事情。

And I also think you see advisors also pivoting in a new world of post-pandemic, what did they learn from that? What pressure does it put on their practices? The growing complexity of regulations may drive up costs, the whole digitalization of their businesses and their offices, and what does that mean? And how do they think about what is the best partner for them, going forward? What are the types of services that are new to them that can transform their practice?

我還認為您看到顧問們也在大流行後的新世界中轉向，他們從中學到了什麼？這給他們的實踐帶來了什麼樣的壓力？法規日益複雜可能會推高成本、企業和辦公室的整體數位化，這意味著什麼？他們如何看待未來最適合他們的合作夥伴？哪些類型的服務對他們來說是新的，可以改變他們的實踐？

I think just trying to assess what those options and alternatives are in a world that's flipped on the side and now you throw AI on top of that, which in the short run, creates lots of noise and exuberance, unfortunately, it's also a shiny penny that sometimes doesn't always lead to good productive outcomes.

我認為只是試圖評估這些選擇和替代方案在一個翻轉的世界中是什麼，現在你把人工智能放在上面，這在短期內會產生大量的噪音和繁榮，不幸的是，它也是一個閃亮的便士有時並不總是能帶來良好的生產成果。

And so I think as we get further down the road of assimilating some order to the house being flipped on its side in some cases and helping them really see where they can use technology really wisely to drive productivity with again, either leverage tools or outsource risk management to lower their costs associated with a world that's getting tougher and tougher from a regulatory standpoint, where they really do think about "Hey, how do I drive growth? And what do I need in my value proposition to do that? How do I leverage folks that?" I think those are some of the interesting questions that is they're able to solve those. It enables them to move forward in a little more informed way and thus at a faster pace.

因此，我認為，隨著我們在某些​​情況下將一些秩序吸收到被翻轉的房子中，並幫助他們真正了解他們可以在哪裡真正明智地使用技術來再次提高生產力，無論是利用工具還是外包風險，我們都會進一步走下去從監管的角度來看，這個世界變得越來越艱難，他們確實在思考「嘿，我如何推動成長？我的價值主張需要什麼才能做到這一點？我該如何做？”利用人們的力量嗎？”我認為這些是一些有趣的問題，他們能夠解決這些問題。它使他們能夠以更明智的方式前進，從而更快地前進。

So those are some of the little , I think, skirmishes, if you will, that we're trying -- we're overcoming as we go forward in time that will help return maybe movement back to a more normal [7%].

所以，我認為，如果你願意的話，這些是我們正在嘗試的一些小衝突——隨著時間的推移，我們正在克服這些問題，這將有助於讓運動恢復到更正常的狀態[7%] 。

Great. And just as a follow-up question for Matt on promotional expense, if I adjust for the large enterprise one-timers over the past couple of years, it looks like the underlying promo expense has been in the mid- to high teens. Does that sound about right to you? And arguably, that's in the context of high singles organic growth.

偉大的。正如馬特關於促銷費用的後續問題一樣，如果我對過去幾年的大型企業一次性產品進行調整，那麼看起來潛在的促銷費用一直在中等到十幾歲。這對你來說聽起來合適嗎？可以說，這是在單打有機增長的背景下發生的。

So another question there. If we expect that sort of organic growth to persist in the high singles, should we expect a similar mid- to high teens pace of underlying promotional expense, going forward, excluding the large one-timers?

那麼還有一個問題。如果我們預期這種自然成長將在高單打遊戲中持續存在，那麼我們是否應該預期未來的潛在促銷費用也會以類似的中高青少年速度成長，不包括大型一次性玩家？

Well, I think the -- probably the best way to think about it is just to hone in on the key drivers of the growth. And I'd put it in three categories, which could have different trends. I think the first is organic growth overall. That's typically the biggest driver. And the TA associated with bringing recruiting on board is a driver of that.

嗯，我認為——可能最好的思考方式就是專注於成長的關鍵驅動因素。我將其分為三類，這三類可能有不同的趨勢。我認為首先是整體有機成長。這通常是最大的驅動因素。與招募相關的助教是其中的驅動力。

So the amount of recruiting that we do is really the driver there. TA rates really have not -- have been fairly stable, haven't changed recently. So I think where recruiting goes is where that would go.

因此，我們所做的招募量確實是驅動因素。 TA 費率確實相當穩定，最近沒有變化。所以我認為招募到哪裡，招募就到哪裡。

The second is conference spend. And conference spend more kind of trends with the overall number of advisors that we have at LPL, right? They're really important part of how we engage with them, how they engage with each other. So as the firm scales, you could expect that spend to scale.

二是會議支出。會議花費更多的趨勢與我們在 LPL 的顧問總數有關，對嗎？它們是我們如何與他們互動以及他們如何相互互動的重要組成部分。因此，隨著公司規模的擴大，你可以預期支出也會擴大。

And then lastly, as you highlighted, it's really the onboarding expenses associated with those large enterprises. So that really can be a little bit hard to predict because it depends on the firms that come on board. Prudential is a great example. We've got good insight into spending in '24 and good insight into spending overall to bring that on board. It just depends on what happens on the other side of it.

最後，正如您所強調的，這實際上是與這些大型企業相關的入職費用。因此，這確實有點難以預測，因為這取決於加入的公司。保誠就是一個很好的例子。我們對 24 年的支出有深入的了解，並對整體支出有深入的了解，以實現這一目標。這僅取決於另一邊發生的情況。

So I'd really put it into those three categories. They kind of trend differently, each. It just depends on how those three things play out.

所以我真的把它分成這三類。它們各自的趨勢有所不同。這只取決於這三件事如何發揮作用。

And our next question comes from Michael Cho with JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的 Michael Cho。

I just want to touch on enterprise quickly again. And I have just a quick two-parter here. You talked about a healthy pipeline and sort of an uptick in conversations since the Prudential announcement. But in terms of kind of looking ahead, I mean, does the Prudential onboarding limit your bandwidth at all to do more Prudential-type deals?

我只是想再次快速談談企業。我這裡只有一個簡短的兩個部分。您談到了自保德信宣布以來的健康管道和對話有所增加。但就展望未來而言，我的意思是，保德信的入職是否會限制您進行更多保德信類型交易的頻寬？

And then second, just longer term, looking beyond Prudential, I mean how should we think about framing the potential benefits to LPL's operating scale and leverage as you continue to gain critical mass within the enterprise opportunity set?

其次，從長遠來看，除了保德信之外，我的意思是，當您繼續在企業機會集中獲得臨界質量時，我們應該如何考慮為 LPL 的營運規模和槓桿帶來的潛在收益？

So look, on the first one, I think we see an interesting pipeline on both sides of that enterprise channel, as I said before, banks and on the insurance/manufacturer-related market space. And with that portfolio comes the continued opportunity, right, to continue to explore and learn both how we're doing the existing programs and how that drives innovation to create more appeal.

所以看，在第一個方面，我認為我們在企業通路兩側看到了有趣的管道，正如我之前所說，銀行和保險/製造商相關的市場空間。這個組合帶來了持續的機會，正確的，繼續探索和學習我們如何開展現有專案以及如何推動創新以創造更多吸引力。

And the second is every time you bring one on, how do you create a more automated (inaudible) have a better playbook to be more efficient at doing that, so you can do that better and faster and more economically at a lower cost.

第二個是每次你啟用一個時，你如何創建一個更自動化（聽不清楚）的更好的劇本來更有效地做到這一點，這樣你就可以以更低的成本更好、更快、更經濟地做到這一點。

And so I would tell you we're much better than we were 3 years ago when we brought our first larger enterprises on, and we continue to automate more and more of that kind of changed management of onboarding effort process. And as you rightfully said, to the [access] that you're able to do that, not only are you going to create more interesting economic outcomes by lowering the amount of investment upfront in these opportunities, you also can bring them on at a faster pace.

所以我想告訴你，我們比 3 年前我們引入第一批大型企業時要好得多，並且我們將繼續自動化越來越多的入職工作流程的此類變更管理。正如您正確所說，對於您能夠做到這一點的[訪問]，您不僅可以透過降低這些機會的前期投資額來創造更有趣的經濟成果，還可以以較低的價格實現它們更快的速度。

And so I think we're working our way into being able to be very thoughtful about how we bring these on and in an orderly fashion, assuring that first and foremost, we get the experience right, that you continue to operate your existing platform at the level that you want to. And then if you -- as you, again, get better and better at that, I think we can line those up and bring those in a faster and faster pace.

因此，我認為我們正在努力思考如何以有序的方式實現這些目標，確保首先也是最重要的是，我們獲得正確的體驗，確保您繼續在以下位置運營現有平台：您想要的水平。然後，如果你——正如你再次在這方面做得越來越好，我認為我們可以將它們排列起來，並以越來越快的速度進行。

And that's what we're challenging ourselves to do without being overly precise and exactly how that would look or what that looks like. I think we begin to challenge ourselves with pragmatic opportunities to think how do you shorten that onboarding and change management network. So that's the problem [we're trying to solve]. Matt, you want to...

這就是我們挑戰自己要做的事情，但又不會太精確，確切地說，它會是什麼樣子或看起來是什麼樣子。我認為我們開始透過務實的機會來挑戰自己，思考如何縮短入職和變革管理網絡。這就是問題[我們正在努力解決]。馬特，你想...

Yes. Yes. I think the answer is a resounding yes are there benefits to scale. I think when you look at just starting high level with the overall value proposition of this channel and the things that we're building, you're bringing on clients, where they're -- once they're on their platform, a big part of the attraction is getting access to our capabilities and allowing them to grow that channel faster on our platform. So you get a place where you're increasing your levels of organic growth.

是的。是的。我認為答案是肯定的：擴大規模有好處嗎？我認為，當你從這個管道的整體價值主張和我們正在建立的東西開始高水準時，你就會吸引客戶，他們在哪裡——一旦他們進入他們的平台，一個大的吸引力的一部分在於能夠利用我們的能力並允許他們在我們的平台上更快地發展該管道。這樣你就可以提高有機成長水準。

I think maybe to the core of your question, on the cost side, in each of these instances, now you're typically building out capabilities or technology that's really important to that particular enterprise, but they're usually applicable to others as well, right?

我認為也許你的問題的核心是，在成本方面，在每種情況下，現在你通常正在建立對特定企業非常重要的功能或技術，但它們通常也適用於其他企業，正確的？

So you're not only making sure that you have the ability to serve and support this particular client that you're bringing on, but you're usually enhancing those capabilities for things that the rest of LPL or the rest of this channel would like.

因此，您不僅要確保自己有能力服務和支持您所帶來的特定客戶，而且通常要增強這些能力，以實現 LPL 的其他成員或該管道的其他成員想要的東西。

And I think Pru is a very good example of that, where we're not only bringing on capabilities specific to Prudential, we're building out a platform that can actually open up a much larger channel for us and to recruit more on it. So a headline point there's certainly scaled benefits. And hopefully, those examples are helpful.

我認為保誠就是一個很好的例子，我們不僅提供保誠特有的能力，而且正在建立一個平台，實際上可以為我們開闢更大的管道並在其上招募更多人。因此，頭條新聞肯定會帶來一定程度的好處。希望這些例子能有所幫助。

And this concludes today's question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back to Mr. Dan Arnold for closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我想請丹·阿諾德先生致閉幕詞。

Hey, I just want to thank everyone for taking the time to join us this afternoon, and we look forward to speaking with you again next quarter. Thank you.

嘿，我只是想感謝大家今天下午抽出時間加入我們，我們期待下個季度再次與您交談。謝謝。

And this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。