Moelis & Co (MC) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon and welcome to the Moelis & Company earnings conference call for the second quarter of 2025. To begin, I'll turn the call over to Mr. Matt Tsukroff. Please go ahead, sir.

下午好，歡迎參加 Moelis & Company 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。首先，我將把電話轉給馬特·楚克羅夫先生。先生，請繼續。

Good afternoon and thank you for joining us from Moelis & Company's second quarter 2025 financial results conference call. On the phone today are Ken Moelis, Chairman and CEO; Navid Mahmoodzadegan, Co-Founder and Co-President, and Chris Callesano, Chief Financial Officer.

下午好，感謝您參加 Moelis & Company 2025 年第二季財務業績電話會議。今天接聽電話的有董事長兼執行長 Ken Moelis、聯合創始人兼聯合總裁 Navid Mahmoodzadegan 和財務長 Chris Callesano。

Before we begin, I would like to note that the remarks made on this call may contain certain forward-looking statements which are subject to various risks and uncertainties, including those identified from time to time in the risk factor section of Moelis & Company's filings with the SEC. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated.

在我們開始之前，我想指出，本次電話會議中的言論可能包含某些前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受各種風險和不確定性的影響，包括 Moelis & Company 向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中不時在風險因素部分中確定的風險和不確定性。實際結果可能與目前預期的結果有重大差異。

The firm undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Our comments today include references to certain adjusted financial measures. We believe these measures, when presented together with comparable GAAP measures, are useful to investors to compare our results across several periods and to better understand. And our operating results. The reconciliation of these adjusted financial measures with the relevant GAAP financial information and other information required by Reg G is provided in the firm's earnings release, which can be found on our Investor Relations website at investors.moelis.com.

該公司不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。我們今天的評論提到了某些調整後的財務指標。我們相信，這些指標與可比較的 GAAP 指標一起呈現，有助於投資者比較我們不同時期的表現並更好地理解。以及我們的經營業績。這些調整後的財務指標與相關 GAAP 財務資訊以及 Reg G 要求的其他資訊的對帳表已在公司的收益報告中提供，您可以在我們的投資者關係網站 investors.moelis.com 上找到該報告。

I'll now turn the call over to Chris to discuss our results.

我現在將電話轉給克里斯討論我們的結果。

Thanks, Matt, and good afternoon everyone. On today's call, I will go through our financial results. Ken will comment further on the business, and Navid will provide a few remarks before we open the call for Q&A.

謝謝，馬特，大家下午好。在今天的電話會議上，我將介紹我們的財務表現。肯 (Ken) 將對業務進行進一步評論，而納維德 (Navid) 將在我們開始問答環節之前發表一些評論。

We reported $365 million of revenues in the second quarter, an increase of 38% versus the prior year period, and our highest second quarter revenues on record. Our first half revenues of $672 million were up 39% from the prior year period. The year-over-year increase in revenues in the second quarter and first half of the year is primarily attributable to growth in M&A and capital markets.

我們報告第二季的營收為 3.65 億美元，比去年同期成長 38%，創下有史以來最高的第二季營收。我們上半年的營收為 6.72 億美元，比去年同期成長 39%。第二季和上半年營收年增主要歸功於併購和資本市場的成長。

Moving to expenses, our second quarter compensation expense ratio was accrued at 69%, consistent with last quarter. Our second quarter non-compensation expense ratio was 14.4%. We continue to anticipate the full year growth of non-compensation expense to be approximately 15% compared with the prior year.

談到費用，我們第二季的薪資費用率為 69%，與上一季一致。我們第二季的非薪資費用率為14.4%。我們繼續預計全年非薪酬支出將比上年增長約 15%。

Moving to taxes, our corporate tax rate was accrued at 29.5%, consistent with the underlying tax rate in Q1 prior to the discrete tax benefit related to the vesting of equity awards regarding capital allocation. The Board declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, consistent with the prior period. And lastly, we continue to maintain a strong balance sheet with cash and liquid investments of $475 million and no debt.

談到稅收，我們的公司稅率為 29.5%，與第一季與資本配置相關的股權獎勵歸屬相關的單獨稅收優惠之前的基本稅率一致。董事會宣布季度常規股息為每股 0.65 美元，與上期一致。最後，我們繼續保持強勁的資產負債表，現金和流動投資達 4.75 億美元，且沒有債務。

I will now turn the call over to Ken.

現在我將把電話轉給肯。

Thanks, Chris. Good afternoon, everyone. Our revenues in the second quarter and first half of the year reflect the investments we've made over the last few years. Our globally integrated platform and our team's relentless focus on executing for our clients. We entered the second half of the year in a significantly improved transaction environment since we last spoke in April, which was right in the heart of the Post-liberation Day market chaos.

謝謝，克里斯。大家下午好。我們第二季和上半年的收入反映了我們過去幾年所做的投資。我們的全球一體化平台和團隊堅持不懈地致力於為客戶提供服務。自從我們四月上次談話以來，我們進入了下半年，交易環境有了顯著改善，當時正值解放日後市場混亂的中心。

In retrospect, Liberation Day did cost a temporary disruption activity. However, our new business origination remained healthy, and our pipeline currently sits near record levels. Both our strategic and sponsored clients are moving forward with transactions driven by technology disruption and the need for sponsors to recycle capital.

回想起來，解放日確實造成了暫時的混亂活動。然而，我們的新業務發起仍然保持健康，我們的管道目前接近創紀錄的水平。我們的策略客戶和贊助客戶都在推動由技術顛覆和贊助商回收資本的需求所推動的交易。

The investments we've made in capital markets have continued to pay off as well as our team achieved record revenues in the first half of the year. The team enters the second half of the year with strong momentum as investor risk appetite grows and capital is generally available.

我們在資本市場的投資持續獲得回報，我們的團隊在上半年實現了創紀錄的收入。隨著投資者風險偏好增強和資金普遍到位，團隊進入下半年勢頭強勁。

During the second quarter, three of the leading private capital advisory bankers joined our firm, underscoring our ambition to build the premier platform in secondary and primary capital solutions for sponsors. We continue to believe there is a significant opportunity for us to grow this franchise, and we plan to aggressively scale into a market leader.

第二季度，三家領先的私人資本諮詢銀行家加入了我們公司，彰顯了我們為發起人打造一流的二級和一級資本解決方案平台的雄心。我們始終相信，我們有很大機會發展這項特許經營權，並且我們計劃積極擴大規模，成為市場領導者。

Finally, our capital structure advisory team continues to work on a steady amount of liability management engagements across a range of industries, and our investments in our creditor side franchise are beginning to show results. In addition to our hiring in PCA, we welcomed one technology focused and one business services MD, both based in Europe during the second quarter. In summary, we entered the back half of the year with momentum across the business, and I'm confident in our team's ability to execute for our clients.

最後，我們的資本結構諮詢團隊繼續在各行各業開展穩定的負債管理業務，我們對債權人特許經營權的投資也開始顯現成果。除了在 PCA 部門招募外，我們還在第二季度迎來了一位專注於技術的 MD 和一位商業服務 MD，兩人均駐紮在歐洲。總而言之，我們進入下半年時整個業務都呈現良好勢頭，我對我們團隊為客戶執行任務的能力充滿信心。

Before I pass it to Navid, I'd like to make a few remarks about our upcoming CEO transition. With the firm in such a strong position financially, strategically, and culturally, the Board and I determined that this was the right time to elevate our next generation of leadership.

在將其交給 Navid 之前，我想就我們即將進行的執行長過渡發表一些評論。由於公司在財務、策略和文化上都處於如此強大的地位，董事會和我決定現在是提升下一代領導層的最佳時機。

Navi founded the firm with me 18 years ago and has been a key driver of our most impactful growth initiative and was one of the best strategic advisors I've ever worked with, making him well positioned to lead us through the next phase of growth as CEO.

18 年前，Navi 和我一起創立了這家公司，他一直是我們最具影響力的成長計畫的關鍵推動者，也是我合作過的最好的策略顧問之一，這使他完全有能力以執行長的身份帶領我們進入下一個成長階段。

In my role as Executive Chairman, I'll spend even more time with clients in boardrooms around the world advising on critical strategic decisions while also remaining involved in the firm's long-term strategy. And although I am excited to spend more time with our clients, I'll certainly miss my time with you on these quarterly earnings calls. I know you've been hearing my voice for a long time. I know you'll be in good hands with Navid when he gets the mic at our quarter three earnings call.

身為執行主席，我將花更多時間在世界各地的董事會會議室與客戶一起就關鍵策略決策提供建議，同時繼續參與公司的長期策略。儘管我很高興能花更多時間與我們的客戶在一起，但我肯定會懷念與你們一起參加季度收益電話會議的時光。我知道你很久以來就聽到我的聲音。我知道，當 Navid 在我們第三季的收益電話會議上發言時，你會得到很好的照顧。

So with that, I'll pass it to Navid for a few more remarks.

因此，我將把它交給 Navid 來發表更多評論。

Thanks so much, Ken. I'm honored to step into the role of CEO at a firm that I've had the privilege of building and helping to build from the very beginning. As CEO, I will continue to focus on the principles that have been key to our success over the past 18 years. Intense focus on clients, investing in our firm's talent, fostering innovation through the adoption of new ideas and technologies, and of course driving returns for our shareholders.

非常感謝，肯。我很榮幸能夠擔任這家公司的首席執行官，我有幸從一開始就參與創建並幫助其發展。作為首席執行官，我將繼續專注於過去 18 年來我們成功的關鍵原則。高度關注客戶，投資我們公司的人才，透過採用新想法和新技術來促進創新，當然也為我們的股東帶來回報。

We head into the next phase of growth with the highest quality talent and most extensive capabilities for clients in our history. I'm extremely excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to working with more with all of you in my new role.

我們將以史上最優秀的人才和最廣泛的能力為客戶提供服務，邁入下一階段的成長。我對未來的機會感到非常興奮，並期待在新的職位上與大家進行更多的合作。

Operator, I think you can now open it up for questions.

接線員，我想您現在可以開始提問了。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Devin Ryan, Citizens JMP.

德文·瑞安（Devin Ryan），公民 JMP。

Thanks. Hi Ken, hi Chris and hi Navid. First off, welcome and congratulations on the new role and to you as well, Ken. Always, enjoy the calls but looking forward to Navid being on as well.

謝謝。嗨，肯，嗨，克里斯，嗨，納維德。首先，歡迎並祝賀你擔任新職務，肯。總是享受通話，但也期待 Navid 的加入。

Thank you.

謝謝。

I guess maybe just first place I want to start is on sponsors re-engaging and heard some of the prepared remarks, I just love to get a little more flavor around, like the progression of re-engagement and just maybe even from a sector perspective, are you seeing it across kind of all sectors, obviously areas like technology are still dealing with higher fire rounds so are there certain sectors that maybe aren't coming back as fast just love to get a little bit of a flavor for kind of the level of re-engagement and then what that looks like in different industries as well. Thanks.

我想也許我首先想談的是贊助商的重新參與，我聽了一些準備好的評論，我只是想了解更多的情況，比如重新參與的進展，甚至從行業的角度來看，你是否看到了它在所有行業中的情況，顯然像技術這樣的領域仍然在應對更高的攻擊，所以是否有某些行業可能沒有恢復得那麼快，只是想了解一下如何重新參與的情況。謝謝。

Okay. So first let's start with the macro, which was, I think last time we did our phone call we were in the middle of a pretty significant market downturn. And it wasn't just the market. You had real concerns about tariffs and how they would affect industry, sometimes it's just valuation, markets and interest rates, but that also had operational issues involved with what was going to happen.

好的。首先讓我們從宏觀角度開始，我想上次我們打電話的時候，我們正處於相當嚴重的市場低迷時期。這不僅是市場的問題。您確實擔心關稅及其對行業的影響，有時只是估值、市場和利率，但這也涉及將要發生的事情的營運問題。

We probably reached our highest point of backlog on March 31, and then April 2 happened, and what I'd say happened is deals that were in pipeline and in progress kept going, but I think from about April 2, to five or six weeks later, middle of May, there were a lot of people sitting on their hands. Transactions were getting done, but not a lot of things got started.

我們可能在 3 月 31 日達到了積壓的最高點，然後是 4 月 2 日，我想說的是，正在籌備和進行中的交易一直在繼續，但我認為從 4 月 2 日左右到五六週後，也就是 5 月中旬，很多人都在等待。交易正在完成，但很多事情還沒開始。

Then it started back gradually, but I'd say it's really accelerated in the past five or six weeks. I think we've seen a better market every week starting four or five weeks ago, and I would say we're kind of back as of now very close to the level of enthusiasm that was prior to April 2, March 31. Now it's building back, you did have a few weeks there, so the pipeline is not at all-time highs, but it feels like the energy is there.

然後它開始逐漸恢復，但我想說，在過去的五到六週裡，它確實加速了。我認為從四到五週前開始，我們每週都會看到市場好轉，我想說，我們現在的熱情已經回到了非常接近 4 月 2 日、3 月 31 日之前的水平。現在它正在恢復，你在那裡確實呆了幾個星期，所以管道還沒有達到歷史最高水平，但感覺能量就在那裡。

On the sectors, I think it's pretty much across the board. I mean, there may be one or two, again, I don't see every transaction in every industry across the board. So I'm talking about our subset, but I'd say we're pretty strong across sectors.

就各個領域而言，我認為情況幾乎是全面的。我的意思是，可能會有一兩筆交易，再說一次，我沒有看到每個行業的所有交易。所以我談論的是我們的子集，但我想說我們在各個領域都非常強大。

Yeah. Devin, I think there's still some sectors that are, right in the sweet spot of some of the trade uncertainty, maybe some of the parts of consumer, parts of industrial manufacturing, but as Ken said, I think the strength we're seeing is, more broad than narrow.

是的。德文，我認為仍有一些行業正處於貿易不確定性的最佳狀態，也許是一些消費品行業、一些工業製造業，但正如肯所說，我認為我們看到的優勢是廣泛的，而不是狹窄的。

Yeah, okay, that's good to hear. And then just for my follow up, want to hit on the private capital advisory business and opportunity. I know you guys have made some senior editions there and you highlighted that in the script. Just love to get a sense of how big of an addressable market you think that specific business is.

是的，好的，很高興聽到這個消息。然後，為了我的後續行動，我想談談私募資本諮詢業務和機會。我知道你們在那裡製作了一些高級版本，並且在劇本中強調了這一點。只是想了解一下您認為特定業務的潛在市場有多大。

I know it's important for just the firm level, but just how you think about the addressable market. How big of a business could this be for Moelis? It's pretty big at some of your peers, but is this a couple $100 million dollar revenue opportunity and that just how many more resources do you need to put there to get this business to where you think the potential is, do you have now what you need, or should we expect to see a lot more additions kind of follow after some of these senior hires? Thanks.

我知道這對公司層面來說很重要，但重要的是你如何看待可尋址市場。這對 Moelis 來說能是多大的生意？對於您的一些同行來說，這已經是相當大的了，但是這是一個幾億美元的收入機會嗎？您還需要投入多少資源才能讓這項業務達到您認為的潛力？您現在擁有所需的資源了嗎？或者在招募了一些高階員工之後，我們是否應該期待看到更多的人員補充？謝謝。

Well, I agree with you. We see it as a in a leadership position, it's a couple of $100 million or more -- more than a couple of $100 million we think in the leadership positions. We think we've hired the leadership, that we feel very comfortable will get us to that position. We have more to hire throughout the system and we're going to be aggressive on it. We have gone aggressively and we didn't hire just one of the top players in the industry. We hired three.

嗯，我同意你的看法。我們認為它處於領導地位，價值幾億美元甚至更多——我們認為處於領導地位的價值不止幾億美元。我們認為我們已經聘請了領導層，我們感到非常有信心他們會帶領我們達到這個位置。我們整個系統都需要招募更多員工，而且我們會積極招募。我們採取了積極的行動，並且不只是聘請了業內頂尖人才。我們僱用了三個人。

We think this is could be very strong. By the way, it's a couple of $100 million to the top of the market right now or more than, as I said, it might be more than that. I think it is more than that. And I think we're in the early stages of it being a growth market. So we're pretty bullish on it. We think of it as a -- you can think of it as a third or fourth leg on the firm in terms of the where we think the size of that market could be.

我們認為這可能非常強勁。順便說一句，目前市場的最高價格是幾億美元，或者更多，正如我所說，可能不只這些。我認為不只這些。我認為我們正處於成長市場的早期階段。所以我們對此非常看好。我們認為它是——就我們認為的市場規模而言，你可以把它看作是公司的第三或第四個支柱。

And it's also -- I should say and it's also in addition to just the direct revenue opportunity that Ken outlined. It's having that capability in secondaries continuation vehicles it's just very strategic for dialogues with private equity firms and ability to provide holistic solutions for those firms. It not only creates a revenue opportunity but it also helps our M&A business and so it's just a capability, it's just critical for us to scale and be very strong at, which we're well on the way to doing, we think.

而且，我應該說，這也是肯所概述的直接收入機會之外的。擁有二級延續工具的能力對於與私募股權公司的對話以及為這些公司提供整體解決方案的能力非常具有戰略意義。它不僅創造了收入機會，而且還有助於我們的併購業務，所以這只是一種能力，對於我們擴大規模和保持強大實力至關重要，我們認為，我們正在順利地做到這一點。

Yeah, I appreciate that. Yeah, it seems very complimentary, but thanks for taking my questions.

是的，我很感激。是的，這聽起來很恭維，但還是感謝您回答我的問題。

Ken Worthington, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的肯‧沃辛頓。

Hi, good afternoon. Navid, thank you for your comments on your priorities. Ken mentioned that, you're here to kind of usher in the next phase of growth for Moelis. What is this next phase of growth look like? What would you see your focus really being? Where are you paying attention, most thoughtfully to, and what areas do you feel like you want to amplify as you think about this next phase of growth?

嗨，下午好。納維德，感謝您對您的優先事項的評論。Ken 提到，您來這裡是為了引領 Moelis 進入下一個成長階段。下一階段的成長是什麼樣的？您真正關注的重點是什麼？當您考慮下一階段的成長時，您最關注的是哪些方面？您覺得哪些領域需要加強？

Sure. Well, look, I think the first comment is, the strategy that we've been playing for the last couple of years very much is, the strategy that we've all been developing together that I expect to continue to carry on. So what are the elements of that? First, let's make sure that our investments are made in the highest tams, the biggest tams, where we have the most opportunity to really drive revenue growth. That's why we did things like invest heavily in technology group, oil and gas, and now PCA and before that capital markets. So we're going to continue to look for those big opportunities.

當然。嗯，看，我認為第一個評論是，我們過去幾年一直在實施的戰略是我們一直在共同製定的戰略，我希望繼續堅持下去。那麼，其要素是什麼？首先，讓我們確保我們的投資是在最高的、最大的市場中進行的，在那裡我們有最多的機會真正推動收入成長。這就是我們大力投資科技集團、石油和天然氣以及現在的 PCA 和之前的資本市場的原因。因此我們將繼續尋找這些重大機會。

Second, we want to make sure that we're attracting when we do lateral hiring, what I call difference makers, elite players, who really move the needle with clients who bring franchises that we think are really creative to our firm and to our global network and, making sure we're doing that and executing that at the really highest levels is going to be critical to our success.

其次，我們要確保在橫向招募時能夠吸引到那些我稱之為「差異製造者」的精英球員，他們能夠真正推動客戶的發展，為我們的公司和全球網絡帶來我們認為真正有創意的特許經營權，並確保我們做到這一點並在最高水平上執行，對我們的成功至關重要。

And then third, which is a really important pillar that helped build this firm, is, making sure that we continue to have the best culture, one where everyone's collaborating and kind of bringing the best of themselves to our clients. And then making sure that this internal talent development engine that we're really proud of where 40% of our MDs are internally promoted MDs, including some of our highest producers, that engine continues to operate at a very high level.

第三，也是幫助建立這家公司的一個非常重要的支柱，就是確保我們繼續擁有最好的文化，每個人都互相合作，為我們的客戶帶來最好的自己。然後確保我們引以為傲的這個內部人才發展引擎繼續以非常高的水平運行，其中 40% 的 MD 都是內部晉升的 MD，包括一些我們最優秀的製作人。

Thank you. And I think you and Ken both talked about the economy being in possibly the next leg of a strong period of growth. Do you increase the pace of investment, increase the pace of new hiring from what you have seen more recently, or is it really about kind of leveraging the elevated piece of investments that you've really been focused on over the last two years and sort of letting things kind of play out, like which sort of scenario is more likely for you to pursue over the next one to two years.

謝謝。我認為您和肯都談到了經濟可能正處於下一輪強勁增長期。從您最近看到的情況來看，您是否會加快投資步伐，加快新招聘步伐，或者是否真的要利用過去兩年來一直關注的增加的投資，然後讓事情自然發展，比如在未來一到兩年內您更有可能追求哪種情景。

Probably --

大概--

-- slow down.

- 減速。

I think overall it might feel about the same pace. We're going to accelerate into things like PCA, so you're going to see us be very aggressive in the private capital advisory group. But I -- Navid, I'll say this, Navid was the major force behind the tech group higher and that's been nothing but extremely successful. I'll just leave it at that.

我認為整體來說感覺速度大概是相同的。我們將加速進入 PCA 等領域，因此你會看到我們在私人資本諮詢小組中非常積極。但我──納維德，我要說的是，納維德是科技集團背後的主要力量，而且非常成功。我就不多說了。

The energy group we hired down in Houston has been a spectacular success. We've industrials. So I think you'll see it about the same level. It'll be very aggressive in certain areas like as we go to finish out our private capital group. And you'll continue to see the same pace, I think, of managing directors in white spaces around the organization. But it'll probably -- it might feel pretty aggressive just because of what we're going to do in PCA.

我們在休士頓僱用的能源團隊取得了巨大的成功。我們有工業。所以我認為你會看到大致相同的水平。在某些領域，我們會非常積極，例如我們要完成我們的私人資本集團。我認為，你將繼續看到董事總經理以同樣的速度在組織的各個空白處工作。但它可能會——它可能感覺相當激進，因為我們將在 PCA 中做的事情。

Yeah, I think the only thing I would add to that is, look, we're not growing for the sake of just growing and adding headcount. We want to make sure we're hiring the best people in the world to help us build these franchises, and sometimes that's not market specific. It can happen in a Dow market where those people become available like with technology and it can happen in an upmarket. And I think what we've done is make sure we have the financial resources, clean balance sheet, to make sure we can do it under all environments, right?

是的，我想我唯一要補充的是，看，我們的成長並不只是為了成長和增加員工人數。我們希望確保僱用世界上最優秀的人才來幫助我們建立這些特許經營權，有時這並不針對特定的市場。這種情況可能發生在道瓊斯市場，在那裡這些人會像技術一樣變得可用，這種情況也可能發生在高端市場。我認為我們所做的就是確保我們擁有財務資源、乾淨的資產負債表，以確保我們能夠在所有環境下做到這一點，對嗎？

And so I think we want to lean into growth, as I said, big tams, great people, and sometimes that'll happen in up markets and sometimes it'll happen when the markets don't feel great, and that's why we keep the flexibility to do that.

因此，我認為我們希望依靠成長，正如我所說的那樣，大公司，優秀的人才，有時這會在市場上漲時發生，有時會在市場感覺不太好時發生，這就是我們保持靈活性的原因。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

James Yaro, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的詹姆斯·亞羅。

Thanks for taking the questions. I guess it's a question for both of you, but there's a lot of focus, I'd say on the market -- in the market around this -- I don't know what you want to call it, a big bang of M&A and IPO activity that could occur post Labor Day. What do you make of that of the post-Labor Day outlook, and do you really think things could come back that quickly in a big way?

感謝您回答這些問題。我想這是你們倆都應該問的問題，但我想說，市場對這市場的關注度很高——我不知道你們想怎麼稱呼它，勞動節後可能會出現的併購和 IPO 活動大爆炸。您如何看待勞動節後的前景？您真的認為情況能夠如此迅速地大幅回升嗎？

These are definitely coming back. I mean it was interesting. The early part of June -- remember, a lot of deals -- there were no deals really started between April 2 and a certain day. There was, a lot of people sitting on their hands. So when you look at your new business activity -- and I apologize for the fire engine going right by the window. But so then you saw, those were the deals that would have started in April, that would have registered in our do business activity sometime in late May early June.

這些肯定會回來的。我的意思是這很有趣。六月初——記住，很多交易——4 月 2 日至某一天之間實際上沒有開始任何交易。很多人都無所事事。因此，當您審視自己的新業務活動時——我為消防車從窗邊駛過而道歉。但你會看到，這些交易本應在四月開始，並應在五月底六月初的某個時候在我們的商業活動中登記。

But what we're seeing is every week within June just gets stronger and stronger and stronger as you get further and further away from Liberation Day. So look, the S&P 500 is getting close to 6,400. I mean that's not just a rebound from Liberation Day. That is a significant uptick. We haven't seen rates come down yet. I don't -- we're not -- I'm not predicting a big bang.

但我們看到，隨著距離解放日越來越遠，六月的每一周，這種感覺變得越來越強烈。所以看，標普 500 指數已接近 6,400 點。我的意思是，這不僅僅是解放日的反彈。這是一個顯著的上升。我們尚未看到利率下降。我沒有——我們沒有——我沒有預測大爆炸。

But I am predicting that if there's not an external event from here on in, the market is improving almost daily, and the activity level and the amount of transactions people want to do is definitely improving, and you can see it almost daily. So again, I don't see a big bang, but I see a really steadily improving market.

但我預測，如果從現在開始沒有外部事件，市場幾乎每天都在改善，人們想要進行的活動水平和交易量肯定在改善，你幾乎每天都能看到它。所以，我再說一遍，我沒有看到大爆炸，但我看到一個真正穩定改善的市場。

Ken, I will say that one of the reasons I know you're an excellent banker, is that even though there was that loud fire truck there, you're still able to fill in those comments. So we appreciate that and obviously we'll miss you on the call.

肯，我想說，我知道你是一位優秀銀行家的原因之一是，儘管那裡有一輛響亮的消防車，你仍然能夠填寫這些評論。所以我們對此表示感謝，顯然我們會在電話中想念您。

I just -- it wasn't an ambulance coming for me. That was the only thing that would have disturbed the whole.

我只是——來接我的並不是一輛救護車。那是唯一會擾亂整體的事。

Exactly. Undisturbed, unperturbed. Okay, great. Just one last follow up here. So look, you're investing a lot into the private capital advisory and that's growing fast right now. Maybe could you just help us think through the guardrails around the build out as we head towards the environment that's potentially, more characterized by regular way M&A and IPO, which I could imagine could at least slow the growth rate in secondaries.

確切地。心靜則安，心靜則靜。好的，太好了。這裡僅剩最後一次跟進。所以你看，你在私人資本諮詢方面投入了大量資金，而且現在增長很快。也許您能幫助我們思考一下在我們走向更可能以常規方式併購和 IPO 為特徵的環境時圍繞建設的護欄，我可以想像這至少可以減緩二級市場的增長率。

I think the guardrails is we were very excited and we've now gotten to spend on the ground time with the three most senior leadership team. And we like them. We think they're real business builders. And remember, we're not sitting with 200 people in the space yet. We have a desire to get there and if the market is as good as we think there is -- we have a desire to have a large team and be a dominant player, but I think they're -- we'll all be watching that.

我認為，我們非常興奮，現在我們已經與三位最資深的領導團隊一起在實地度過了一段時間。我們喜歡它們。我們認為他們是真正的商業建設者。請記住，我們還沒有與 200 人坐在一起。我們希望達到這個目標，如果市場像我們想像的那麼好——我們希望擁有一支龐大的團隊並成為主導者，但我認為他們——我們都會關注這一點。

I think it's a product that will find a way to be relevant and as Navid said, and I think you have to show up when talking about the assets that are in private equity and in sponsored ownership, you have to be able to offer a series of different alternatives and that in many of the spots that will be an alternative that will be relevant.

我認為這是一種能夠找到相關方法的產品，正如 Navid 所說，我認為在談論私募股權和贊助所有權的資產時，你必須能夠提供一系列不同的替代方案，在許多方面，這將是一個相關的替代方案。

It may not be the one picked, but it's important that you be able to execute it in order to outline to people what their options are and effectively position it. So I think we will follow their lead. And right now we're not overcapitalized or over people in that space at all, so I'm not worried about it getting slower. I'm worried about us getting up to speed is my main worry right now that we hire the people and the team to execute. And again, I'm an optimist on this. I think that product will be large. And it will be bigger over the years. Yes.

它可能不是被選中的那個，但重要的是你能夠執行它，以便向人們概述他們的選擇並有效地定位它。所以我認為我們會效法他們的做法。目前，我們在該領域的資本和人力都不存在過剩問題，因此我並不擔心其發展速度會變慢。我擔心我們能否跟上進度，目前我主要擔心的是，我們能否僱用人員和團隊來執行。再次強調，我對此持樂觀態度。我認為該產品將會很大。而隨著時間的推移，它的規模還會越來越大。是的。

Great. All right, well thanks so much, Ken. It's been great working with you and thank you so much for the insights and Navid, looking forward to work with you.

偉大的。好的，非常感謝，肯。與您合作非常愉快，非常感謝您的見解，Navid，期待與您合作。

Same here.

同樣在這裡。

Brendan O'Brien, Wolf Research.

布倫丹‧奧布萊恩，沃爾夫研究公司。

Good afternoon and thanks for taking my question. Just to start, you mentioned, the strength in capital markets and advisory driving, the growth year-to-date. I just want to drill down a bit on restructuring activity and just give you a sense as to how that has trended since April 2 and what your expectations are for that part of the business from here.

下午好，感謝您回答我的問題。首先，您提到，資本市場和顧問業的強勁成長推動了今年迄今的成長。我只是想深入了解重組活動，讓您了解自 4 月 2 日以來的趨勢，以及您對這部分業務的期望。

It's -- for this year it's trended flattish to slightly down. My guess is, it continues to trend slightly down. And I think part of it, by the way, is you're seeing the other side of that and the benefits in our capital markets and our M&A. So what happens in a really good market when the S&P 500, gets to 6,300, 6,400. And private capital has just a tidal wave of liquidity coming into private credit, is that the marginal company that would go through a liability management or restructuring gets purchased in an M&A deal or refinanced.

今年的趨勢是持平或略有下降。我的猜測是，它將繼續略微下降。順便說一句，我認為部分原因是你看到了它的另一面以及我們的資本市場和併購帶來的好處。那麼，當標準普爾 500 指數達到 6,300 或 6,400 時，在一個真正好的市場中會發生什麼？私人資本正迎來一股流動性浪潮，湧入私人信貸領域，即那些需要進行負債管理或重組的邊際公司在併購交易中被收購或獲得再融資。

So I think we've always tried to put our capital markets kind of together with our restructuring business in the numbers. Because I do think, it's sort of a choice and I always say this, almost every CEO, everybody, every CFO I know would rather do a financing than a restructuring. And so given the opportunity and the availability of capital, I think some of it, that marginal amount that in a bad market would be reported as a restructuring or reliability management revenues now moving into capital markets or even M&A.

所以我認為我們一直試圖將我們的資本市場與我們的重組業務結合。因為我確實認為，這是一種選擇，我總是這麼說，我認識的幾乎每個 CEO、每個人、每個 CFO 都寧願進行融資而不是重組。因此，考慮到機會和資本的可用性，我認為其中一部分，在市場不景氣時會被報告為重組或可靠性管理收入的邊際金額，現在會進入資本市場甚至併購。

Helpful color and then I guess for my follow up, I just wanted to touch on the comp ratio. You've had a really strong first half and it sounds like momentum should build from here. However, as you mentioned, you've been aggressively and will continue to aggressively lean into recruiting as you build out the PCA business and your deferred comp amortization is up over 40% year-on-year in 1Q.

有用的顏色，然後我想對於我的後續行動，我只是想觸及補償比率。你們上半年的表現非常出色，聽起來勢頭將從這裡開始增強。然而，正如您所提到的，隨著您拓展 PCA 業務，您一直積極並將繼續積極地進行招聘，並且您的遞延薪酬攤銷在第一季同比增長了 40% 以上。

While I understand the investment will pay off over time, I just want to get a sense as to how we should think about your ability to flex your comp ratio as the revenue backdrop begins to improve.

雖然我知道投資會隨著時間的推移而獲得回報，但我只是想了解一下，隨著收入背景開始改善，我們應該如何看待您調整薪酬比率的能力。

I think we're going to have the flexibility and it's all top line driven and as I said, the growth that I think we have embedded in the firm through all those investments we made is pretty substantial. We didn't change it. I don't think that a quarter was enough evidence to go trying to change it on a moment by moment basis. I think you get caught sort of jumping around a little too much, so we decided to leave the comp ratio where it is.

我認為我們將擁有靈活性，而且這一切都是由營收驅動的，正如我所說的，我認為我們透過所做的所有這些投資為公司帶來的成長是相當可觀的。我們沒有改變它。我認為四分之一的證據不足以讓我們隨時嘗試改變它。我認為你跳得太多了，所以我們決定保持原來的補償比率。

We are hoping that the year continues to build out the way it is. We've got a lot of time left. We just didn't think the evidence of a quarter was enough to really try to fine tune it right now. We'll do that in the back half of the year.

我們希望新的一年能繼續順利發展。我們還有很多時間。我們只是認為，一個季度的證據不足以真正嘗試現在對其進行微調。我們將在今年下半年完成這項工作。

That's helpful. Thank you for taking my questions and that's, Navid on the new role and Ken, congrats on the new role as well. You'll be missed.

這很有幫助。感謝您回答我的問題，祝賀 Navid 擔任新職務，也祝賀 Ken 擔任新職務。我們會想念你的。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Ryan Kenny, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的瑞安·肯尼。

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. Just a follow up there on the comp ratio, is there a formula we should think about for the rest of the year? I know last year we had a formula and it's unclear whether that still applies for this year. Any update there?

嗨，下午好。感謝您回答我的問題。只是想跟進補償比率，我們是否應該考慮今年剩餘時間的公式？我知道去年我們有一個公式，但不清楚今年是否仍然適用。有任何更新嗎？

No, Joe's left and I'm no longer stuck with Joe's formula. The formula worked last year because we were coming off of a very different environment, and this year there's no formula, I think it's going to be driven by top line. We have these investments. We have a great set of people on the ground, and I think it's going to be a derivative of how much we're able to drive on the top line.

不，喬離開了，我不再受喬的公式束縛。去年這個公式很有效，因為我們的環境截然不同，而今年則沒有公式，我認為它將由營收驅動。我們有這些投資。我們在當地擁有一批優秀的人才，我認為這將決定我們能帶來多少收入。

All right thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Alex Bond, from KBW.

來自 KBW 的 Alex Bond。

Hey, good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for taking my questions. Firstly, I know we've talked, or you've talked today on the call, extensively about the build out on the PCA team, but just curious if there are any other or, what other areas outside of there where you are particularly focused on hiring currently.

嘿，大家下午好。感謝您回答我的問題。首先，我知道我們已經討論過，或者您今天在電話會議上詳細討論了 PCA 團隊的建設，但我只是好奇，除了 PCA 團隊之外，您目前還特別關注哪些其他領域的招聘。

Look, we -- there are other spaces and sectors where I think we could add great talent. I don't know that I want to be super specific, on this call, but I would say we do have an active set of dialogues with candidates, that we think could be great on the platform and I do think, one of the things we want to do is continue to build those pipelines and that's a full year-round effort in making sure we're having the right dialogues with the right people around other spaces.

你看，我認為我們還可以向其他領域和部門引進優秀人才。我不知道我是否想在這次電話會議上說得非常具體，但我想說我們確實與候選人進行了一系列積極的對話，我們認為這在平台上會很棒，我確實認為，我們想要做的事情之一就是繼續建立這些渠道，這是一項全年的努力，以確保我們與其他領域的合適人選進行正確的對話。

There's still -- despite our growth and despite the investments we've made, there's still lots of areas and lots of companies we're not covering and lots of spaces where we have franchises that can be built and so they said we want to focus on the great people and we want to focus on the biggest opportunities and that's where we're constantly having dialogue with people who can potentially join the firm.

儘管我們不斷發展，儘管我們已經進行了大量的投資，但仍然有很多領域和公司我們沒有覆蓋，還有很多領域我們可以建立特許經營權，所以他們說我們希望專注於優秀的人才，我們希望專注於最大的機會，這就是我們不斷與可能加入公司的人才進行對話的地方。

Got it. That makes sense. And then apologies if I missed this earlier, but what was the breakout between advisory revenues and -- or sorry, non M&A revenues versus M&A revenues this quarter? Was it consistent with the, I think two thirds M&A and one thirds M&A split last quarter?

知道了。這很有道理。然後，如果我之前錯過了這一點，請原諒，但本季諮詢收入和非併購收入與併購收入之間的差異是什麼？我認為這與上個季度三分之二的併購和三分之一的併購分割一致嗎？

Pretty worth dead on, very close to that. Yes, might be, a percentage point or higher on M&A, but not much. It's right around there.

相當值得，非常接近。是的，併購可能會增加一個百分點或更高，但不會太多。就在那裡附近。

Got it. Okay, great. Thank you for thank you for taking the questions.

知道了。好的，太好了。感謝您回答這些問題。

Jim Mitchell, Seaport Global Securities.

吉姆·米切爾，Seaport Global Securities。

Sorry, I was on mute. Hey, good afternoon. Can I find it hard to believe you're going to miss these conference calls, but, appreciate the sentiment, but, I just want to have -- I had a follow up on PCA.

抱歉，我靜音了。嘿，下午好。我很難相信你會錯過這些電話會議，但是，我很感激你的心情，但是，我只是想——我對 PCA 進行了跟進。

When you think about that business, the nature of the business, as well as Moelis historically strong relationships with sponsors, would you expect the new hires in that business to ramp up more quickly than your typical M&A banker just trying to think through the payback time on the PCA investment.

當您考慮該業務、業務性質以及 Moelis 與贊助商之間歷來牢固的關係時，您是否會期望該業務的新員工比那些只想考慮 PCA 投資回報時間的典型併購銀行家更快地成長。

The answer is yes. And first of all, I think we're now interacting with them for six, seven or eight weeks together, and I think they've been surprised or positively surprised at how strong our dialogue is with their core customer. And so we're very often both of us are finding it like the match has been what we hoped it would be and the answer is yes, because what's happening is there may be a sector banker that was going in to talk about an asset that a client had.

答案是肯定的。首先，我認為我們現在已經與他們互動了六、七或八週，我認為他們對我們與他們核心客戶的對話如此緊密感到驚訝或驚訝。因此，我們雙方經常會發現，配對就像我們所希望的那樣，答案是肯定的，因為正在發生的事情是，可能有一位行業銀行家正在談論客戶擁有的資產。

Next week, and we can walk right in and push the PCA expertise right into the pitch and talk about it as a -- as part of the dialogue, much more rapidly than you would say, okay, let's say you hired a new sector banker they sort of have to go re-establish communication with the client, land a transactions. So I think -- I do think they can be productive quicker because they are being asked to show up in dialogues we're having with sponsors that have been ongoing real time before they hit the ground. They're just being slotted right in and providing new expertise and new options. So yeah, it can be.

下週，我們可以直接介入，將 PCA 專業知識直接推向推介，並將其作為對話的一部分進行討論，比你說的要快得多，好吧，假設你聘請了一位新的行業銀行家，他們必須與客戶重新建立溝通，達成交易。所以我認為——我確實認為他們可以更快地發揮成效，因為他們被要求參加我們與贊助商的對話，而這些對話在他們真正行動之前就已經在即時進行。他們只是被安排進來並提供新的專業知識和新的選擇。是的，可以。

Just to elaborate a little further, the three senior bankers that we've hired really focus on, continuation vehicles and secondaries, and as Ken said, that's a much quicker M&A like kind of time to market. The primary business, which is another part of the PCA business that we'll hope to build over time, as a much longer lead time kind of business, but the businesses we're focused on focused on first, A, I think are the biggest market opportunities for us, and B, to your question, I think are the ability to make an impact more quickly I think is much more realistic.

進一步詳細說明一下，我們聘請的三位高級銀行家真正關注的是延續工具和二級市場，正如肯所說，這是一種更快的併購方式，就像上市時間一樣。主要業務是 PCA 業務的另一部分，我們希望隨著時間的推移將其打造為一種交付週期更長的業務，但我們首先關注的業務是 A，我認為這是我們最大的市場機遇，B，對於您的問題，我認為是能夠更快地產生影響，我認為這更為現實。

Right. Okay, yeah, that's very helpful. And then maybe pivot to balance sheet in cash, I don't want to put the cart before the [horse], but I think cash and liquid investments doubled from a year ago and the highest second quarter I think on record. So if the environment's getting better from here, are you getting any closer to starting to return any of that excess cash to shareholders and how do you think about deploying it if we are getting close?

正確的。好的，是的，這非常有幫助。然後也許轉向現金資產負債表，我不想本末倒置，但我認為現金和流動投資比一年前翻了一番，這是有史以​​來第二季度的最高水平。因此，如果環境從現在開始好轉，您是否會更接近開始將多餘的現金回饋給股東？如果我們接近了，您考慮如何部署這些現金？

Yes, I think we are. We recognize that we are probably have more excess capital than we want or need, and we're in discussions with the Board on that, and it'll be a variety of ways, but I do think stock repurchase will probably play more prominently in that than it has in the past, where we were concerned about shrinking our float. We're not that concerned about that anymore, so. Let's just put it -- we're looking at a variety of ways and we want to get capital back and we realize we probably have more capital than we need.

是的，我想是的。我們認識到，我們可能擁有比我們想要或需要的更多的過剩資本，我們正在與董事會討論這個問題，這將採取多種方式，但我確實認為股票回購可能會比過去發揮更重要的作用，因為我們擔心浮動資本的縮水。所以，我們不再那麼擔心這件事了。這麼說吧——我們正在考慮各種方法，我們希望收回資本，但我們意識到我們可能擁有比所需更多的資本。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

And at this time there are no further questions, that does conclude today's conference. We would like to thank you all for your participation today. You may now disconnect.

目前沒有其他問題，今天的會議到此結束。我們感謝大家今天的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。

Thank you.

謝謝。