明晟 (MSCI) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the MSCI First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. As a reminder, this call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) I'd now like to turn the call over to Jeremy Ulan, Head of Investor Relations and Treasurer. You may begin.

女士們先生們，美好的一天，歡迎來到 MSCI 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。提醒一下，此通話正在錄音中。 （操作員說明）我現在想把電話轉給投資者關係主管兼財務主管 Jeremy Ulan。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator. Good day, and welcome to the MSCI First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Earlier this morning, we issued a press release announcing our results for the first quarter 2023. This press release, along with an earnings presentation we will reference on this call as well as a brief quarterly update are available on our website, msci.com, under the Investor Relations tab.

謝謝你，運營商。美好的一天，歡迎來到 MSCI 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。今天上午早些時候，我們發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了我們 2023 年第一季度的業績。本新聞稿連同我們將在本次電話會議上參考的收益介紹以及簡短的季度更新可在我們的網站 msci.com 上獲取，在“投資者關係”選項卡下。

Let me remind you that this call contains forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made and are governed by the language on the second slide of today's presentation. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, please see the risk factors and forward-looking statements disclaimer in our most recent Form 10-K and in our other SEC filings.

讓我提醒您，本次電話會議包含前瞻性陳述。請注意不要過分依賴前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅在發表之日發表，並受今天演示文稿第二張幻燈片中的語言約束。有關其他風險和不確定性的討論，請參閱我們最新的 10-K 表格和我們其他提交給 SEC 的文件中的風險因素和前瞻性聲明免責聲明。

During today's call, in addition to results presented on the basis of U.S. GAAP, we also refer to non-GAAP measures, including, but not limited to, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA expenses, adjusted EPS and free cash flow. We believe our non-GAAP measures facilitate meaningful period-to-period comparisons and provide insight into our core operating performance. You'll find a reconciliation to the equivalent GAAP measures in the earnings materials and an explanation of why we deem this information to be meaningful as well as how management uses these measures in the appendix of the earnings presentation.

在今天的電話會議中，除了根據美國公認會計原則提出的結果外，我們還參考了非公認會計原則指標，包括但不限於調整後的 EBITDA、調整後的 EBITDA 費用、調整後的每股收益和自由現金流。我們相信我們的非 GAAP 措施有助於進行有意義的期間比較，並提供對我們核心運營績效的洞察力。您會在收益材料中找到與等效 GAAP 衡量標準的對賬，並在收益報告的附錄中找到我們認為此信息有意義的原因以及管理層如何使用這些衡量標準的解釋。

We will also discuss run rate, which estimates at a particular point in time the annualized value of the recurring revenues under our client agreements for the next 12 months, subject to a variety of adjustments and exclusions that we detail in our SEC filings. As a result of those adjustments and exclusions, the actual amount of recurring revenues we will realize over the following 12 months will differ from run rate. We, therefore, caution you not to place undue reliance on run rate to estimate or forecast recurring revenues. We will also discuss organic growth figures, which exclude the impact of changes in foreign currency and the impact of any acquisitions or divestitures.

我們還將討論運行率，它根據我們的客戶協議在未來 12 個月內估計在特定時間點的經常性收入的年化價值，但會受到我們在美國證券交易委員會備案文件中詳述的各種調整和排除的影響。由於這些調整和排除，我們將在接下來的 12 個月內實現的經常性收入的實際金額將與運行率不同。因此，我們提醒您不要過分依賴運行率來估計或預測經常性收入。我們還將討論有機增長數據，其中不包括外匯變動的影響以及任何收購或資產剝離的影響。

On the call today are Henry Fernandez, our Chairman and CEO; Baer Pettit, our President and COO; and Andy Wiechmann, our Chief Financial Officer. Finally, I would like to point out that members of the media may be on the call this morning in a listen-only mode.

今天接聽電話的是我們的董事長兼首席執行官 Henry Fernandez；我們的總裁兼首席運營官 Baer Pettit；和我們的首席財務官 Andy Wiechmann。最後，我想指出，媒體成員今天上午可能會以只聽的方式接聽電話。

With that, let me now turn the call over to Henry Fernandez. Henry?

有了這個，現在讓我把電話轉給亨利·費爾南德斯。亨利？

Thank you, Jeremy. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. MSCI delivered solid first quarter results in a challenging external environment, confirming the underlying strength of our franchise and our proactive financial management.

謝謝你，傑里米。歡迎大家，感謝您今天加入我們。 MSCI 在充滿挑戰的外部環境中取得了穩健的第一季度業績，證實了我們特許經營權的潛在實力和我們積極的財務管理。

We have not been immune to the market turmoil, but our resilience continues to stand out as seen in the headline numbers from the quarter, which include adjusted EPS growth of over 5%, organic subscription run rate growth of 12% and a retention rate of over 95%. On a segment level, we posted our 37th consecutive quarter of double-digit run rate growth in index recurring subscriptions.

我們未能倖免於市場動盪，但從本季度的標題數字中可以看出，我們的韌性繼續突出，其中包括調整後每股收益增長超過 5%、有機訂閱率增長 12% 和保留率超過 95%。在細分市場層面，我們連續第 37 個季度在指數定期訂閱中實現兩位數的運行率增長。

We also maintain our momentum in equity portfolio analytics, achieving run rate growth of over 10%. Meanwhile, climate continued to drive a wide range of growth opportunities, including with many emerging client segments, such as banks, wealth managers and insurance companies. MSCI delivered 68% climate run rate growth across our product lines and a climate retention rate of over 96%.

我們還保持了股票投資組合分析的勢頭，實現了超過 10% 的運行率增長。與此同時，氣候繼續推動廣泛的增長機會，包括許多新興客戶群，如銀行、財富管理公司和保險公司。 MSCI 在我們的產品線中實現了 68% 的氣候運行率增長和超過 96% 的氣候保持率。

The difficult environment has certainly affected buying behavior of our clients. In some areas, client budgets have tightened and sales cycles have lengthened, especially for larger purchases. ESG sales have also been affected by regulatory uncertainty in Europe and by a slowdown among wealth managers and retail investors in the United States, although institutional investor demand remains healthy and steady.

艱難的環境無疑影響了我們客戶的購買行為。在某些地區，客戶預算收緊，銷售週期延長，尤其是大宗採購。 ESG 銷售也受到歐洲監管不確定性以及美國財富管理機構和散戶投資者放緩的影響，儘管機構投資者的需求仍然健康穩定。

As we have noted in recent quarters, our AUM-linked revenue tends to be an early mover in market cycles, while our subscription revenue tends to see a lagging effect. Still, our client engagement levels remains very healthy, and we continue to find a steady demand for our products and services.

正如我們在最近幾個季度所指出的那樣，我們與 AUM 相關的收入往往是市場週期的先行者，而我們的訂閱收入往往會產生滯後效應。儘管如此，我們的客戶參與度仍然非常健康，我們繼續發現對我們的產品和服務的穩定需求。

Even in tough environment, MSCI's unique competitive advantages endure. Clients need our data, models, analytics and research to navigate a rapidly changing investment landscape. With that in mind, we continue prioritizing core investments in areas we believe we can fuel growth while maintaining very rigorous overall expense discipline.

即使在艱難的環境中，MSCI 獨特的競爭優勢依然存在。客戶需要我們的數據、模型、分析和研究來駕馭瞬息萬變的投資環境。考慮到這一點，我們繼續優先考慮我們認為可以推動增長的領域的核心投資，同時保持非常嚴格的整體支出紀律。

We also recognize the (inaudible) of turmoil can spur opportunistic M&A at more attractive valuations than we have seen in prior years, especially as this market cycle persists. We're actively exploring potential bolt-on acquisitions that could accelerate our strategy.

我們還認識到（聽不清）動盪會刺激機會主義併購，估值比往年更具吸引力，尤其是在這個市場週期持續存在的情況下。我們正在積極探索可以加速我們戰略的潛在補強收購。

Looking ahead, a key driver of that strategy will be the network effects produced by our One MSCI ecosystem. Our content and IP across product lines are already highly interoperable throughout the investment process. For example, clients can use MSCI tools to design an index-based portfolio, implement ESG or climate overlays on that portfolio and then run analytics on it.

展望未來，該戰略的一個關鍵驅動因素將是我們的 One MSCI 生態系統產生的網絡效應。我們跨產品線的內容和 IP 在整個投資過程中已經具有高度的互操作性。例如，客戶可以使用 MSCI 工具設計基於指數的投資組合，對該投資組合實施 ESG 或氣候覆蓋，然後對其進行分析。

All companies at times face short-term wins, yet we continue to see powerful secular tailwinds for MSCI. This is true across product lines, asset classes and client segments. In a bull market, a rising tide can lift all boats. In a bear market, companies like MSCI differentiate themselves. MSCI remains confident that we can use this opportunity, this market cycle to strengthen our client relationships and/or increase our competitive advantages. With that, let me turn the call over to Baer.

所有公司有時都面臨短期勝利，但我們繼續看到 MSCI 強大的長期順風。跨產品線、資產類別和客戶群都是如此。在牛市中，漲潮可以托起所有船隻。在熊市中，像 MSCI 這樣的公司會脫穎而出。 MSCI 仍然相信我們可以利用這個機會，這個市場週期來加強我們的客戶關係和/或增加我們的競爭優勢。有了這個，讓我把電話轉給貝爾。

Thank you, Henry, and greetings, everyone. My comments today will focus on our business results this quarter, what we're seeing and hearing from clients and how we are continuing to deliver on our dual commitment to our shareholders, namely the execution of our long-term growth agenda to capture more of our addressable markets while maintaining the profitability of the company.

謝謝你，亨利，問候大家。我今天的評論將重點關注我們本季度的業務成果、我們從客戶那裡看到和聽到的內容以及我們如何繼續履行我們對股東的雙重承諾，即執行我們的長期增長議程以獲取更多我們的目標市場，同時保持公司的盈利能力。

We finished March with $1.84 billion of recurring subscription run rate with an organic growth rate of 12% after closing more than $56 million of new recurring subscription sales during the quarter. It has been a slower environment for closing new sales as you can see from the year-over-year comparisons in our operating metrics, as we continue to see tighter client budgets and longer sales cycles.

在本季度完成超過 5600 萬美元的新經常性訂閱銷售額後，我們以 12% 的有機增長率結束了 3 月的經常性訂閱運行率。從我們運營指標的同比比較中可以看出，隨著我們繼續看到更緊的客戶預算和更長的銷售週期，關閉新銷售的環境一直較慢。

While we cannot control the macro environment, we maintain our conviction in the mission-critical nature of MSCI's data models, research and tools. Our sales pipeline and depth of client engagement across products and regions remain steady, and we have some promising larger deals that the teams are working hard to close in the second quarter.

雖然我們無法控制宏觀環境，但我們堅信 MSCI 數據模型、研究和工具的關鍵任務性質。我們的銷售渠道和跨產品和地區的客戶參與深度保持穩定，我們有一些有前途的大型交易，團隊正在努力在第二季度完成這些交易。

Retention rates across the firm are holding up well in the tough environment with both index and ESG and climate reporting over 96% retention and 94% and 92% retention in Analytics and Private Assets, respectively. This is a reflection of the investments we've been making not only in our products but also in our client servicing capabilities.

整個公司的保留率在艱難的環境中保持良好，指數和 ESG 以及氣候報告的保留率分別超過 96%，分析和私人資產的保留率分別超過 94% 和 92%。這反映了我們不僅在我們的產品上而且在我們的客戶服務能力上所做的投資。

I'll now review a few additional highlights across product lines. In index, we drove 12% organic recurring subscription run rate growth with broad-based strength in both our most well established and emerging client segments and product lines. For example, in market cap-weighted index modules, our subscription run rate is now almost $600 million, and it grew 11% during the quarter. Investors are still turning to our market cap indexes to understand their global investment opportunity set across sectors, styles, sizes and geographies to implement rules-based strategies. They are also using our indexes to implement customized strategies and to express an investment thesis.

我現在將回顧跨產品線的一些額外亮點。在指數方面，我們推動了 12% 的有機經常性訂閱運行率增長，並在我們最成熟和新興的客戶細分市場和產品線中發揮了廣泛的實力。例如，在市值加權指數模塊中，我們的訂閱運行率現在接近 6 億美元，本季度增長了 11%。投資者仍在轉向我們的市值指數，以了解他們跨行業、風格、規模和地域的全球投資機會，以實施基於規則的策略。他們還使用我們的指數來實施定制策略並表達投資主題。

Our custom and specialized index modules are now $108 million of our subscription run rate and grew 13% during the quarter. Our index subscription run rate with asset managers expanded by over 10% this quarter including from areas where we have existing strength such as our core market cap index modules. Our subscription run rate with wealth managers has expanded by 23% year-over-year, supported by the licensing of our custom indexes for model portfolios and direct indexing use cases.

我們的定制和專業索引模塊現在佔訂閱運行率的 1.08 億美元，本季度增長了 13%。本季度，我們與資產管理公司的指數認購率增長了 10% 以上，其中包括我們擁有現有實力的領域，例如我們的核心市值指數模塊。在我們為模型投資組合和直接索引用例定制索引許可的支持下，我們與財富管理機構的訂閱率同比增長了 23%。

In Analytics, we drove 6% subscription run rate growth, excluding FX. New recurring subscription sales were almost $14 million during the quarter, roughly level with our performance in the same period last year. The current environment emphasizes the mission-critical nature of our analytics capabilities for institutional investors, and we're able to close several new strategic sales for both our equity risk models and enterprise risk and performance tools.

在分析方面，我們推動了 6% 的訂閱運行率增長，不包括外匯。本季度新的經常性訂閱銷售額接近 1400 萬美元，與我們去年同期的業績大致持平。當前環境強調了我們對機構投資者的分析能力的關鍵任務性質，我們能夠為我們的股票風險模型和企業風險和績效工具完成幾筆新的戰略銷售。

Specifically, in equity portfolio management, we closed nearly $6 million of new recurring sales driven by equity risk model sales to hedge funds who use our models and tools to actively position their portfolios to benefit from volatility and market dislocation while also managing downside risk. During the recent period of market instability, our clients relied heavily on our analytics, models, research and tools, significantly increasing their usage on our platforms, helping them to better understand potential risks and associated exposures within their portfolios.

具體來說，在股票投資組合管理方面，我們關閉了近 600 萬美元的新經常性銷售，這些銷售是由股票風險模型銷售給對沖基金的，這些對沖基金使用我們的模型和工具來積極定位其投資組合，以從波動和市場錯位中獲益，同時管理下行風險。在最近的市場不穩定時期，我們的客戶嚴重依賴我們的分析、模型、研究和工具，顯著增加了他們在我們平台上的使用率，幫助他們更好地了解其投資組合中的潛在風險和相關風險。

Stress testing, factor performance, liquidity risk and counterparty risk all remain in the spotlight as clients try to assess and manage their counterparty and market-risk exposure according to potential swings in market sentiment. Across all product lines, our ESG and climate run rate is now $453 million, which grew 20% year-over-year. Our firm-wide climate run rate is now $84 million, which grew 68% and continues to be one of the most attractive growth engines for us. We continue to launch new tools for our clients to better equip them to understand and manage climate risks and opportunities in the context of their investment portfolios.

壓力測試、因子表現、流動性風險和交易對手風險仍然是人們關注的焦點，因為客戶試圖根據市場情緒的潛在波動來評估和管理他們的交易對手和市場風險敞口。在所有產品線中，我們的 ESG 和氣候運行率現在為 4.53 億美元，同比增長 20%。我們全公司的氣候運行率現在為 8400 萬美元，增長了 68%，並且繼續成為對我們最具吸引力的增長引擎之一。我們繼續為客戶推出新工具，讓他們更好地了解和管理投資組合中的氣候風險和機遇。

In the past quarter, we have introduced biodiversity screens and insights as well as multi-horizon climate probability of default. Additionally, to keep pace with the growing number of public and private assets our clients are invested in, we expanded both our asset location database and the coverage universe of our implied temperature rise network which helps financial institutions incorporation set and meet climate targets. We believe our continued investments will help clients effectively navigate the evolving regulatory requirements impacting them, which will be a long-term catalyst for growth.

在上個季度，我們引入了生物多樣性篩选和見解以及多層面氣候違約概率。此外，為了跟上我們客戶投資的公共和私人資產數量不斷增加的步伐，我們擴大了資產位置數據庫和隱含溫升網絡的覆蓋範圍，這有助於金融機構設立並實現氣候目標。我們相信，我們的持續投資將幫助客戶有效應對影響他們的不斷變化的監管要求，這將成為增長的長期催化劑。

However, in the short term, some clients are slowing down buying decisions in order to better understand new proposed or potential regulations. As we have previously stated, we are preserving investment capacity to secure new growth. Our intention is to preserve as much investment as possible in key areas aligned with client demand and where we believe we can deliver attractive returns, such as climate, ESG, client design indexes, fixed income and the ongoing modernization of the client experience.

然而，在短期內，一些客戶正在放慢購買決定的速度，以便更好地了解新提議的或潛在的法規。正如我們之前所說，我們正在保留投資能力以確保新的增長。我們的目的是在符合客戶需求的關鍵領域保留盡可能多的投資，我們相信我們可以在這些領域提供有吸引力的回報，例如氣候、ESG、客戶設計指數、固定收益和客戶體驗的持續現代化。

In parallel, we are equally focused on creating greater efficiencies across the company to allow us to fund these important investments. As I stated at the outset, we will continue to deliver on our dual commitment to shareholders, which means executing on our long-term growth agenda while maintaining the profitability of the company. With that, I'll turn the call over to Andy. Andy?

與此同時，我們同樣專注於提高整個公司的效率，使我們能夠為這些重要投資提供資金。正如我在一開始所說，我們將繼續履行對股東的雙重承諾，這意味著執行我們的長期增長議程，同時保持公司的盈利能力。有了這個，我會把電話轉給安迪。安迪？

Thanks, Baer, and hi, everyone. The financial results in the quarter showcase the attractiveness of our financial model and the effectiveness of our actions. Subscription revenue, which is 75% of total revenue, remained steady with 13% organic growth while we continue to feel the pressure from year-over-year declines in AUM-related revenue with ABF revenue down 8%.

謝謝，貝爾，大家好。本季度的財務業績展示了我們財務模式的吸引力和我們行動的有效性。佔總收入 75% 的訂閱收入保持穩定，有機增長為 13%，而我們繼續感受到 AUM 相關收入同比下降的壓力，ABF 收入下降了 8%。

While the first quarter tends to be seasonally lower for new sales. Our results in the quarter were softer than last year, reflecting several factors. Relative to a year ago, we saw some lengthening of sales cycles and fewer larger ticket deals. These dynamics were particularly pronounced in the Americas and within our ESG and climate segment. In ESG and climate, the impact of macro pressures and constrained client budgets had a more pronounced impact where the details of pending or recently released regulations have not been fully clarified or interpreted and where there is likely a higher level of more discretionary purchases in certain use cases.

而第一季度的新銷售往往季節性較低。我們本季度的業績比去年疲軟，反映了幾個因素。與一年前相比，我們看到銷售週期有所延長，大宗交易有所減少。這些動態在美洲以及我們的 ESG 和氣候領域尤為明顯。在 ESG 和氣候方面，宏觀壓力和客戶預算受限的影響更為顯著，因為未決或最近發布的法規的細節尚未得到充分澄清或解釋，並且在某些用途中可能有更高水平的自主購買個案。

Additionally, in some areas of the firm, we saw a modest decline in retention, most notably coming from smaller hedge funds, broker dealers and real estate brokers and developers. Although importantly, firm-wide retention rates remain fairly strong overall and in line with historical averages. While the longer-term demand and pipeline remain steady, we expect some of these cyclical ESG dynamics to persist in the short term. But overall, we continue to operate from a position of strength with strong momentum and healthy client engagement across our subscription base.

此外，在公司的某些領域，我們看到保留率適度下降，最明顯的是來自較小的對沖基金、經紀交易商以及房地產經紀人和開發商。儘管很重要，但整個公司的保留率總體上仍然相當強勁，並且與歷史平均水平一致。雖然長期需求和管道保持穩定，但我們預計其中一些週期性 ESG 動態將在短期內持續存在。但總的來說，我們繼續在我們的訂閱基礎上以強勁的勢頭和健康的客戶參與度處於強勢地位。

In index, subscription run rate growth was 12% in the quarter. Client demand for active and passive index strategies remained healthy. We again saw notable strength within our market cap modules as clients continue to integrate indexes more heavily into their investment processes, and we continue to benefit from a growing trading ecosystem.

在指數方面，本季度訂閱運行率增長率為 12%。客戶對主動和被動指數策略的需求保持健康。隨著客戶繼續將指數更多地整合到他們的投資流程中，我們再次在我們的市值模塊中看到了顯著的優勢，並且我們繼續受益於不斷發展的交易生態系統。

Since the end of December, AUM balances and MSCI-linked ETFs have rebounded by over $82 billion, including over $7 billion of cash inflows, which helped asset-based fees improved by 6% since year-end. We saw strong flows into both developed markets outside the U.S. and emerging market funds, both areas where ETFs based on MSCI indexes had strong market share capture.

自 12 月底以來，AUM 餘額和 MSCI 掛鉤的 ETF 已反彈超過 820 億美元，其中包括超過 70 億美元的現金流入，這幫助基於資產的費用自年底以來提高了 6%。我們看到大量資金流入美國以外的發達市場和新興市場基金，在這兩個領域，基於 MSCI 指數的 ETF 都佔據了強勁的市場份額。

Recently, one of our clients completed the largest ETF launch in history based on AUM, which is linked to MSCI's Climate Action indexes. Traded volumes of listed futures and options linked to MSCI indexes remained slightly elevated but saw some normalization relative to the high market volatility environment last year. Within those cyclical dynamics, we continue to see the secular build of volumes resulting from the growing liquidity and trading ecosystem around financial products linked to our indexes, and the growing volumes of listed futures and options have helped drive growth in the broader index derivatives franchise.

最近，我們的一位客戶完成了歷史上最大的基於 AUM 的 ETF 發行，該資產與 MSCI 的氣候行動指數掛鉤。與 MSCI 指數掛鉤的上市期貨和期權的交易量仍略有上升，但相對於去年的高市場波動環境有所恢復。在這些週期性動態中，我們繼續看到交易量的長期增長，這是由於與我們的指數掛鉤的金融產品的流動性和交易生態系統不斷增長，而上市期貨和期權交易量的增長幫助推動了更廣泛的指數衍生品業務的增長。

We continue to see healthy client appetite for structured products and OTC derivatives linked to MSCI indexes as well as strong demand from trading firms and hedge funds for our index data. These areas help to support both recurring and onetime sales volumes. In Analytics, subscription run rate growth was 6%, excluding FX. We continue to see strong demand from the buy side for our equity risk models and our broader equity portfolio management tools.

我們繼續看到客戶對與 MSCI 指數掛鉤的結構性產品和場外衍生品的良好需求，以及交易公司和對沖基金對我們指數數據的強勁需求。這些領域有助於支持經常性和一次性銷售量。在 Analytics 中，訂閱運行率增長率為 6%，不包括外匯。我們繼續看到買方對我們的股票風險模型和更廣泛的股票投資組合管理工具的強勁需求。

Despite some of the previously mentioned pressures, the mission-critical nature of our analytics tools in these environments continues to provide a path of steady growth. In our ESG and climate segment, we saw overall organic subscription run rate growth of 30% with growth in EMEA at 34%, while growth in the Americas slowed to 24%. Coinciding with the slowdown in new ESG fund launches in the region and some slowdown in client buying decisions related to the previously mentioned factors.

儘管存在前面提到的一些壓力，但我們分析工具在這些環境中的關鍵任務性質繼續提供穩定增長的途徑。在我們的 ESG 和氣候部分，我們看到整體有機訂閱運行率增長 30%，其中 EMEA 增長 34%，而美洲增長放緩至 24%。恰逢該地區新 ESG 基金發行放緩，以及與上述因素相關的客戶購買決策有所放緩。

In climate, we continue to see good momentum and very engaging discussions across client segments, although some of the factors impacting ESG sales did, to a smaller degree, also impact climate sales. Our climate subscription run rate growth across all products was 68%, which was roughly the same as the Climate ABF growth rate.

在氣候方面，我們繼續看到良好的勢頭和客戶群之間非常有吸引力的討論，儘管影響 ESG 銷售的一些因素確實在較小程度上影響了氣候銷售。我們所有產品的氣候訂閱運行率增長率為 68%，與氣候 ABF 增長率大致相同。

In real assets, we continued to deliver double-digit organic subscription run rate growth of 10%. We see strong engagement from our clients as they look for insights into the highly dynamic market, including around climate and income risk, although we did see some pickup in cancels from smaller clients in the quarter.

在實物資產方面，我們繼續實現兩位數的有機訂閱運行率增長 10%。我們看到客戶的強烈參與，因為他們正在尋找對高度動態市場的洞察，包括圍繞氣候和收入風險，儘管我們確實看到本季度小客戶取消訂單的情況有所回升。

I'll now go over the puts and takes of our 5% growth in adjusted EPS in the first quarter. While asset-based fees were lower than last year, growth in subscription revenues was a significant driver of the $0.16 adjusted EPS expansion year-on-year. The lower share count drove $0.07 of the year-over-year increase, benefiting from the significant level of opportunistic share repurchases we executed last year.

我現在將回顧第一季度調整後每股收益增長 5% 的情況。雖然基於資產的費用低於去年，但訂閱收入的增長是調整後每股收益同比增長 0.16 美元的重要推動力。較低的股票數量推動了 0.07 美元的同比增長，這得益於我們去年執行的大量機會性股票回購。

I would note that our Q1 adjusted EBITDA expenses of $247 million included about $22 million of seasonally higher compensation and benefits-related expenses that we had anticipated and indicated to you previously, although we did have some comp-related accruals and noncomp items that were slightly more favorable than expected. We remain well capitalized and ended March with a cash balance of nearly $1.1 billion.

我要指出的是，我們第一季度調整後的 EBITDA 支出為 2.47 億美元，其中包括我們之前預期並向您表明的約 2200 萬美元的季節性較高的薪酬和福利相關支出，儘管我們確實有一些與薪酬相關的應計項目和非薪酬項目略有增加比預期更有利。我們的資本充足，截至 3 月止現金餘額接近 11 億美元。

On client collections, we continue to see slightly longer payment cycles consistent with our prior comments due in part, we believe, to the opportunity cost of a high-rate environment. There were no share repurchases during the quarter, although we continue to be poised for and actively focused on attractive repurchase and potentially compelling bolt-on M&A opportunities. We continue to believe this environment could result in some repricing and/or unlocking of previously unavailable acquisition opportunities.

在客戶收款方面，我們繼續看到略長的付款週期與我們之前的評論一致，我們認為部分原因是高利率環境的機會成本。本季度沒有股票回購，儘管我們繼續準備並積極關注有吸引力的回購和潛在的引人注目的補強併購機會。我們仍然認為，這種環境可能會導致一些重新定價和/或釋放以前無法獲得的收購機會。

Lastly, I would like to turn to our 2023 guidance. Our guidance ranges across all categories remain unchanged. It is important to note that we have based our guidance on the assumption that ETF AUM balances declined slightly from current levels in the second quarter and gradually rebound in the second half of the year. While the environment may result in some caution from clients in the next quarter or 2, we have the financial model and the proactive management levers to drive investment in the very compelling long-term growth opportunities while delivering very attractive financial performance. We remain encouraged by the strong client engagement across numerous growth opportunities, and we continue to be closely aligned with the long-term trends transforming the investment industry. We look forward to keeping you all posted on our progress. And with that, operator, please open the line for questions.

最後，我想談談我們的 2023 年指南。我們對所有類別的指導範圍保持不變。需要注意的是，我們的指導基於以下假設：ETF AUM 餘額從第二季度的當前水平略有下降，並在下半年逐漸反彈。雖然環境可能會導致客戶在下一季度或第二季度持謹慎態度，但我們擁有財務模型和積極主動的管理槓桿來推動對非常引人注目的長期增長機會的投資，同時提供非常有吸引力的財務業績。我們仍然對眾多增長機會中的強大客戶參與感到鼓舞，我們將繼續與改變投資行業的長期趨勢保持一致。我們期待讓大家了解我們的進展。那麼，接線員，請打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Manav Patnaik with Barclays.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Manav Patnaik。

I just wanted to just talk about the ESG slowdown specifically, I mean, is the comments around the regulatory delay, is that just people waiting. I just want to understand why that would impact whether they needed the data that you guys have or not. And then just hoping you could just break out the strong growth rates in ESG, like how much of that is new sales versus cross-selling or upselling and pricing, just to help understand which part of that dynamic is being impacted the most.

我只想具體談談 ESG 放緩，我的意思是，關於監管延遲的評論，只是人們在等待。我只想了解為什麼這會影響他們是否需要你們擁有的數據。然後只是希望你能打破 ESG 的強勁增長率，比如新銷售與交叉銷售或追加銷售和定價有多少，只是為了幫助了解動態的哪一部分受到的影響最大。

Manav, thank you for the question. First of all, let me just level set a little bit. As Andy indicated, ESG and climate, the -- we had a 30% run rate growth in the segment per se with 34% in EMEA, over 20-plus percent in the Americas. And we had a 21% run rate growth firm-wide in ESG and climate despite the lower AUM-linked revenues that we have had given the decline in equity values around the world. So in any environment, these are not too shabby numbers to begin with, they're definitely lower than the recent past, but not bad at all. So we're very pleased about that.

馬納夫，謝謝你的提問。首先，讓我稍微設置一下水平。正如 Andy 所指出的，ESG 和氣候——我們在該細分市場本身的運行率增長了 30%，其中 EMEA 增長了 34%，美洲增長超過 20%。儘管由於全球股票價值下降導致與 AUM 相關的收入減少，但我們在 ESG 和氣候方面的全公司增長率為 21%。因此，在任何環境下，這些都不是太糟糕的數字，它們肯定低於最近的過去，但一點也不差。所以我們對此感到非常高興。

The second point that I will make before I go directly to your answer, Manav, is that we're very excited about a number of new products that we're launching in ESG and climate. First of all, we are continuing our ESG rating coverage expansion into more equities and more fixed income and other private assets that will bode well for additional sales. We're very excited about the uptake on the total portfolio, carbon footprinting service that we're offering, which includes public and private assets and includes corporate bonds, for example, for banks.

在我直接回答你的問題之前，我要說的第二點是，Manav，我們對我們在 ESG 和氣候領域推出的許多新產品感到非常興奮。首先，我們繼續將 ESG 評級覆蓋範圍擴大到更多股票、更多固定收益和其他預示著額外銷售的私人資產。我們對我們提供的整體投資組合、碳足跡服務的接受度感到非常興奮，其中包括公共和私人資產，還包括公司債券，例如銀行債券。

We have launched a European bank regulatory product in which -- for climate risk. So that's important. We're launching a biodiversity set of data and products with a partnership with the firm. On climate risk, we're very excited about the Climate Lab Enterprise. In addition to the climate probability of default, we believe that climate risk will be a major driver of risk analytics in the future and the like. So now, there is a lot that we can say about that.

我們推出了歐洲銀行監管產品，其中 - 針對氣候風險。所以這很重要。我們正在與該公司合作推出一套生物多樣性數據和產品。在氣候風險方面，我們對氣候實驗室企業感到非常興奮。除了違約的氣候概率外，我們認為氣候風險將成為未來風險分析等的主要驅動力。所以現在，我們可以說很多。

So now in direct answer to your question on the slowdown, there are 2 components -- there are 2 major regions where our ESG and climate sales are happening is clearly the Americas and EMEA. And the Americas, especially in the U.S., we have seen a meaningful slowdown in sales due to some of the geopolitical issues and political involved discussions that are going on about ESG. And the institutions that we deal with, they're all continuing to subscribe to the product line and they are continuing to integrate ESG and climate into their portfolios. They're trying to stay low key so that they don't get in the crossfire of the political system. And what we have seen is definitely a slowdown in retail demand, wealth managers, mutual fund launches and the like because a lot of the asset managers, again, are trying to assess the whole political landscape and being cautious not to get caught in the middle of that.

所以現在直接回答你關於經濟放緩的問題，有兩個組成部分——我們的 ESG 和氣候銷售發生在兩個主要地區，顯然是美洲和歐洲、中東和非洲。在美洲，尤其是在美國，由於一些地緣政治問題和正在進行的有關 ESG 的政治討論，我們看到銷售明顯放緩。與我們打交道的機構，他們都在繼續訂閱產品線，並繼續將 ESG 和氣候整合到他們的投資組合中。他們試圖保持低調，以免捲入政治體系的交火中。我們看到的肯定是零售需求、財富管理公司、共同基金推出等方面的放緩，因為許多資產管理公司再次試圖評估整個政治格局，並謹慎行事，以免夾在中間那個。

We believe that, that's going to persist maybe for a year or more, given the elections coming up. But at some point, it's going to have to revive because ESG and climate are an integral part of the investment universe. In EMEA, our sales have held up pretty steady from prior quarters, no meaningful reduction in sales. But obviously, in EMEA, the regulators have come up with a new system as to what is an ESG fund and what is not.

我們相信，考慮到即將舉行的選舉，這種情況可能會持續一年或更長時間。但在某個時候，它將不得不復蘇，因為 ESG 和氣候是投資領域不可或缺的一部分。在 EMEA，我們的銷售額與前幾個季度相比相當穩定，銷售額沒有明顯下降。但顯然，在歐洲、中東和非洲地區，監管機構已經提出了一個新系統來確定什麼是 ESG 基金，什麼不是。

So similarly to what I was saying in the Americas, the institutional demand remains pretty steady and very robust. The retail demand is going through a little bit of an adjustment as to what is an article 9 fund, what is an article 8 fund. So our clients are sort of -- sorting out how their product lines up to a lot of that. And we believe that once they finish that process, they're going to start launching ESG and climate funds because the fundamental demand in EMEA continues to be very strong.

與我在美洲所說的類似，機構需求仍然非常穩定且非常強勁。關於什麼是第 9 條基金，什麼是第 8 條基金，零售需求正在經歷一些調整。所以我們的客戶有點 - 整理他們的產品線如何適應很多。我們相信，一旦他們完成這一過程，他們將開始啟動 ESG 和氣候基金，因為 EMEA 的基本需求仍然非常強勁。

So in a nutshell, we continue very excited about this segment. The growth has slowed down a little bit in addition to because of the cautionary budget that exists in the world plus these other things, the political situation in the U.S. and the regulatory situation in EMEA. But the fundamental demand is there. This is a product that is here to stay especially the -- in all aspects, actually, the integration and the impact investing and all of that. And it's just a question of when we begin to see a return to higher growth rates.

因此，簡而言之，我們繼續對這一細分市場感到非常興奮。除了世界上存在的謹慎預算加上這些其他因素、美國的政治局勢和 EMEA 的監管情況之外，增長已經放緩了一點。但基本需求是存在的。這是一種產品，尤其是——在所有方面，實際上，整合和影響投資等等。這只是我們何時開始看到恢復更高增長率的問題。

And Manav, just very quickly on the composition of new recurring sales to your question, the strong majority of new recurring sales continue to come from the new clients and new services or upselling our existing clients. I'd say, the breakdown between those is roughly even. So roughly even contribution from new clients and new services. I would highlight price is contributing a slightly higher percentage than what we've seen in the past to new sales?

Manav，很快就新的經常性銷售的構成回答你的問題，絕大多數新的經常性銷售繼續來自新客戶和新服務或我們現有客戶的追加銷售。我會說，這些之間的細分大致是均勻的。因此，新客戶和新服務的貢獻大致相同。我要強調的是，價格對新銷售的貢獻率比我們過去看到的略高？

Okay. That's very helpful. Just on the M&A, I think you guys mentioned it a few times in terms of the valuations coming down and exploring bolt-ons. I was hoping you could just elaborate a bit more on that. It sounds like it would be a series of small to midsize tuck-ins and in the obvious areas of ESG and data and so forth? Or just hoping that you could give a little bit more color there.

好的。這很有幫助。就併購而言，我想你們在估值下降和探索補強方面提到過幾次。我希望你能詳細說明一下。聽起來這將是一系列中小規模的投資，在 ESG 和數據等明顯領域？或者只是希望你能給那裡多一點顏色。

So as we said, Manav, these are all smaller bolt-on acquisitions. There is nothing sizable or transformational that we can see on the horizon that obviously can change at any point, but we don't see that happening. So we have been -- as you have seen, as we've been relatively muted in our acquisition past in the last few years because we're very disciplined buyers. Even if an asset is very strategic, it has to have financial underpinning stores. It has to make sense financially. We saw a lot of our competitors bidding up assets to levels that we would not want to participate in, in the past. So we're waiting to see if this environment brings down those valuations that make a lot more sense and obviously only in the strategic areas that we're interested in. So that's why we wanted to emphasize that and especially in the context of the lack of repurchases because we don't have a huge amount of cash, and we have wanted to preserve cash for these opportunities when and if they come.

正如我們所說，Manav，這些都是較小的補強收購。我們在地平線上看不到任何明顯可以隨時改變的規模或變革性的東西，但我們沒有看到這種情況發生。所以我們一直 - 正如你所看到的，因為我們在過去幾年的收購中相對沉默，因為我們是非常有紀律的買家。即使一項資產非常具有戰略意義，它也必須有財務支撐商店。它必須在財務上有意義。過去，我們看到很多競爭對手將資產競價到我們不想參與的水平。所以我們正在等待，看看這種環境是否會降低那些更有意義的估值，而且顯然只在我們感興趣的戰略領域。所以這就是為什麼我們想強調這一點，尤其是在缺乏的背景下回購的原因是我們沒有大量現金，我們希望在這些機會到來時為這些機會保留現金。

The next question comes from Toni Kaplan with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Toni Kaplan。

Just wanted to follow up on ESG questions. I guess I definitely understand what you just mentioned on political environment and retail, et cetera. I guess do you see ESG getting worse before it gets better? Or is -- should we just expect sort of a maybe modest environment for the next year?

只是想跟進 ESG 問題。我想我肯定理解你剛才提到的關於政治環境和零售等方面的內容。我想您是否認為 ESG 在變得更好之前會變得更糟？或者是——我們是否應該期待明年的環境可能會適度？

Thank you for that, Toni. First of all, let me just reiterate that our ESG franchise is very diversified -- ESG and climate franchise is very diversified across regions, across types of customers that -- what we call client segments, whether it's an institution -- an institutional investor manager managing institution of money versus a manager managing individual or wealth money across banks and across, as I said, regions of the world, and use cases. So this is very varied and the like.

謝謝你，托尼。首先，讓我重申一下，我們的 ESG 專營權非常多元化——ESG 和氣候專營權在不同地區、不同類型的客戶中非常多元化——我們稱之為客戶群，無論是機構——機構投資者經理管理貨幣機構與經理跨銀行管理個人或財富資金，正如我所說，跨世界地區和用例。所以這是非常多樣的等等。

So what I want to make sure we all recognize is that the U.S. marketplace is a clearly important one. But within the U.S. marketplace, you've got to break it down into what is going on with the -- with managers who are managing retail money versus people who are managing institutional money versus the banks who have a different driver versus the hedge funds and all of that. So therefore, it's a lot of different areas that we need to look at.

所以我想確保我們都認識到美國市場顯然是一個重要的市場。但在美國市場，你必須將其分解為正在發生的事情——管理零售資金的經理、管理機構資金的人、擁有不同驅動力的銀行和對沖基金，以及所有的。因此，我們需要研究很多不同的領域。

My sense -- our sense at MSCI is that the area of the market that it is asset managers managing mutual fund money or ETF money or wealth money is going to stay subdued and for a couple of reasons. One, the client segment, half of them are blue and half of them are red and some of them are going to have different views as to what this product line should be. Secondly, a lot of asset managers are trying to stay below the radar screen of a lot of these political wins. They don't want to be attacked, so they don't want to be making a lot of fanfare about new products, they're launches -- launching, et cetera.

我的感覺——我們在 MSCI 的感覺是，資產管理公司管理共同基金資金或 ETF 資金或財富資金的市場領域將保持低迷，原因有幾個。第一，客戶群，其中一半是藍色的，一半是紅色的，其中一些人會對這條產品線應該有不同的看法。其次，許多資產管理公司正試圖對這些政治勝利置之不理。他們不想受到攻擊，所以他們不想大張旗鼓地宣傳新產品，他們正在發布——發布等等。

So in the U.S., it's going to stay a little bit subdued on that segment of the market, but it will not be on the institutional market, and it will not be on climate for banks, for example, climate risk for banks and others. In EMEA, I think this process of reclassifying funds and reordering things, it's going to -- still may take a few months, a few quarters, and then the demand will pick up again in the context, obviously, of a total operating environment. And when we're beginning to see a lot of traction in Asia in all client segments and that is virgin territory for us.

因此，在美國，這部分市場將保持低迷，但不會出現在機構市場上，也不會出現在銀行的氣候問題上，例如，銀行和其他領域的氣候風險。在歐洲、中東和非洲，我認為這個重新分類資金和重新排序的過程，它仍然可能需要幾個月、幾個季度，然後需求將在整個運營環境的背景下再次回升。當我們開始看到亞洲在所有客戶群中都有很大的吸引力時，這對我們來說是處女地。

Great. Very helpful. I wanted to also ask just in this sort of current environment, how you're thinking about investment in ESG products. So I know long term view as the trends are positive but I guess in maybe near term, do you shift your investment towards other areas? Or have you been shifting your investment towards other areas just in light of what's been going on?

偉大的。很有幫助。我還想問一下，在當前這種環境下，您如何考慮對 ESG 產品的投資。所以我知道從長遠來看，趨勢是積極的，但我想也許在短期內，你會把投資轉向其他領域嗎？或者您是否只是根據正在發生的事情將投資轉移到其他領域？

Toni, Baer here. So look, maybe just using a slightly different tone, I can't control myself. Look, ESG and climate still grew 30% in this quarter, right? That's a very attractive growth rate, and for sure, if we can sustain that sort of growth rate on the run rate we have, that remains a very significant opportunity and adding the -- that amount in dollars in run rate every quarter, for sure, will continue to require a lot of investment. .

托尼，貝爾在這裡。所以你看，也許只是使用稍微不同的語氣，我無法控制自己。看，ESG 和氣候在本季度仍然增長了 30%，對嗎？這是一個非常有吸引力的增長率，而且可以肯定的是，如果我們能夠在現有的運行率上維持這種增長率，那仍然是一個非常重要的機會，並且肯定會增加 - 每個季度以美元計算的運行率，將繼續需要大量投資。 .

And as Henry has pointed out, we have continuous demand across a variety of client segments, geographies, et cetera. So there certainly isn't anything between this quarter and the last which changes our view that this is a structurally important opportunity, right? So we have to balance it with the environment. And Henry alluded to certain strains, if you want to call it that. But certainly, from our perspective, this is a growth opportunity. It is structurally so and we have a lot of client demand for continued data and improvements in the product line.

正如 Henry 指出的那樣，我們對各種客戶群、地域等都有持續的需求。因此，本季度和上一季度之間肯定沒有任何改變我們認為這是一個結構性重要機會的觀點，對吧？所以我們必須平衡它與環境。亨利提到了某些菌株，如果你想這樣稱呼的話。但可以肯定的是，從我們的角度來看，這是一個增長機會。它在結構上是這樣的，我們有很多客戶需要持續的數據和產品線的改進。

Let me just add something else here, and that is ESG and climate is one category that we use. Within that category, you also have to look at the ESG component, which obviously has climate -- a part of that is climate. So you have to look at the climate tools themselves on a stand-alone basis, and we've been able to -- we began to create more disclosures about that for all of you.

讓我在這裡補充一點，那就是 ESG 和氣候是我們使用的一個類別。在該類別中，您還必須查看 ESG 組件，它顯然具有氣候——其中一部分是氣候。所以你必須在獨立的基礎上查看氣候工具本身，我們已經能夠 - 我們開始為你們所有人創建更多關於它的披露。

So on the climate side, the run rate grew 68% to about $84 million, $85 million in run rate. We believe that in the next few years and probably the next 5 to 10 years, climate is going to be the biggest opportunity that all of us are going to be faced with the whole world needs to figure out -- the whole world of the capital markets, the investment industry and the finance and insurance industry will need to deal with climate risk in their portfolio, decarbonization of their portfolios and the like. So we continue to make a steady investment in that area because we want to be one of the undisputed leaders on climate and the consequent growth that we can see in value creation.

因此，在氣候方面，運行率增長了 68%，達到約 8400 萬美元，運行率為 8500 萬美元。我們相信，在未來幾年，可能是未來 5 到 10 年，氣候將成為我們所有人將面臨的最大機遇，全世界都需要弄清楚——首都的整個世界市場、投資行業以及金融和保險行業將需要應對其投資組合中的氣候風險、投資組合的脫碳等問題。因此，我們繼續在該領域進行穩定的投資，因為我們希望成為氣候方面無可爭議的領導者之一，以及我們可以在價值創造中看到的隨之而來的增長。

The next question comes from Alex Kramm with UBS.

下一個問題來自瑞銀的 Alex Kramm。

Just wanted to talk about the sales environment in particular, what happened in the first quarter. Clearly, the second half of March got very volatile with some of the bank issues. So knowing salespeople, I know sometimes those sales can happen right at the end of the quarter. So just wondering if that was a big headwind at the time, if you actually think some of the 1Q opportunities got pushed into the second quarter or if somewhat you just saw at the end of the first quarter, actually, is just a look at what may be to come and things actually get worse from here near term on the sales side.

只是想特別談談銷售環境，第一季度發生了什麼。顯然，由於一些銀行問題，3 月下半月變得非常不穩定。所以了解銷售人員，我知道有時這些銷售可能會在季度末發生。所以只是想知道這在當時是否是一個很大的逆風，如果你真的認為一些第一季度的機會被推到了第二季度，或者你只是在第一季度末看到了一些，實際上，只是看看什麼可能即將到來，並且從近期來看，銷售方面的情況實際上會變得更糟。

Definitely, Alex, you're absolutely right. The -- a lot of stress in the system happens in the last 2 weeks of a quarter in terms of clients and making budgetary decisions, and we're trying to close on sales. And the banking scare and the banking crisis took place around that time. There probably was some smaller impact in delaying some sales at that time, but it wasn't anything that we spend a lot of time on. So that tells you that within sort of that as pretty serious to the closing of the sales in the quarter.

當然，亞歷克斯，你是完全正確的。在客戶和製定預算決策方面，系統中的很多壓力發生在一個季度的最後兩週，我們正試圖結束銷售。銀行恐慌和銀行危機就發生在那個時候。當時推遲一些銷售可能會產生一些較小的影響，但我們並沒有花很多時間在這上面。所以這告訴你，在某種程度上，對於本季度的銷售結束來說，這是非常嚴重的。

And the banking crisis per se, it doesn't have a huge direct effect on us because it has been concentrated in some of the smaller banks, obviously, with the exception of Credit Suisse, which was already in difficulties. The bigger banks, which are our clients are extremely well capitalized, they're extremely regulated, so we're not as concerned about them. But I think the overall banking crisis does add to the stress in the overall financial system. It adds to uncertainty. It will add to cautiousness and a little bit of risk aversion. So that's likely to add one more variable to the environment that we have depicted here.

而銀行業危機本身並沒有對我們產生巨大的直接影響，因為它已經集中在一些較小的銀行中，顯然，瑞士信貸除外，它已經陷入困境。我們的客戶是較大的銀行，資本金非常充足，受到嚴格監管，因此我們並不那麼擔心。但我認為整體銀行業危機確實增加了整個金融體系的壓力。它增加了不確定性。它會增加謹慎和一點風險規避。因此，這可能會為我們在此描述的環境增加一個變量。

We remain pretty -- with respect to our pipeline and sales, it remains pretty solid. It remains pretty healthy with a caveat that the larger deals have slowed down what we call the big-ticket items have slowed down. Secondly, the sales cycles are longer and maybe there's a little bit of pickup in cancellations. But we're not looking into the near future and thinking that we have a big problem coming our way.

我們仍然很漂亮 - 關於我們的管道和銷售，它仍然非常穩固。它仍然非常健康，但需要注意的是，較大的交易已經放慢了我們所說的大件物品放慢的速度。其次，銷售週期更長，取消訂單的情況可能有所回升。但我們並沒有展望不久的將來，也不會認為我們遇到了一個大問題。

Okay. Great. And then secondarily, you made some comments about still very focused on profitability and growing profitability. I think over the last few months, I've heard you speak a little bit more when it comes to profitability in terms of EPS, earnings per share, and not as much on margins or EBITDA margin. So just curious, when it comes to EBITDA margin, which a lot of us care about, are you still very committed when you talk about profitability on growing core margins? Or are you thinking more holistically? Or what's your latest thinking about profitability?

好的。偉大的。其次，您發表了一些關於仍然非常關注盈利能力和不斷增長的盈利能力的評論。我想在過去的幾個月裡，我聽到你在談到每股收益、每股收益方面的盈利能力時多說了一點，而不是利潤率或 EBITDA 利潤率。所以很好奇，當談到我們很多人關心的 EBITDA 利潤率時，當你談論核心利潤率增長帶來的盈利能力時，你是否仍然非常堅定？或者你更全面地思考？或者您對盈利能力的最新想法是什麼？

That's a great question because, as you know, I'm a large shareholder in MSCI. So when I look at myself as a shareholder, at the end, what I care is about the long-term growth of the adjusted EPS. And that's what's going to -- if we have very healthy growth of adjusted EPS over years and years, with healthy top line and healthy sort of EBITDA margins and the like, the market will reward us with good multiples and good valuation.

這是一個很好的問題，因為如你所知，我是 MSCI 的大股東。所以當我作為股東看待自己時，最終，我關心的是調整後每股收益的長期增長。這就是將要發生的事情——如果我們多年來調整後每股收益的增長非常健康，收入和 EBITDA 利潤率也很健康等等，市場將以良好的市盈率和良好的估值回報我們。

So we're beginning to focus a lot more on that, but it's not at the exclusion of clearly top line growth. It's not at the exclusion of our EBITDA and our EBITDA margin. It's just a little bit of a mixing of the variables. The problem in the past for us has been that we were so focused and so obsessed with EBITDA and EBITDA margin that at times [when elected] the EPS growth is not a big company, so I thought I was wrong because our shareholders that's what they eat. They eat EPS growth. That's what they value the company on the basis of that. Obviously, there are a lot of other things that make up that, but that's a little bit of the -- it's not an exclusion. It's just a pivoting of emphasis.

因此，我們開始更加關注這一點，但這並不排除明顯的頂線增長。這並不排除我們的 EBITDA 和我們的 EBITDA 利潤率。這只是一些變量的混合。過去對我們來說，問題是我們過於專注和痴迷於 EBITDA 和 EBITDA 利潤率，以至於有時 [當選時] EPS 增長不是一家大公司，所以我認為我錯了，因為我們的股東就是他們吃。他們吃掉每股收益的增長。這就是他們在此基礎上對公司的估值。顯然，還有很多其他因素構成了這一點，但這只是其中的一部分——這並不排除。這只是重點的轉移。

The next question comes from Ashish Sabadra with RBC Capital Markets.

下一個問題來自 RBC Capital Markets 的 Ashish Sabadra。

Baer, in your prepared remarks, I believe you mentioned there are some promising larger deals that the teams are currently working on to close in the second quarter. I was wondering if you could just provide some more color on those deals, which are the uncertain end markets. Is it focused more on index analytics or ESG? Any color on those fronts?

Baer，在你準備好的發言中，我相信你提到了一些有前途的大型交易，團隊目前正在努力在第二季度完成這些交易。我想知道你是否可以為這些交易提供更多顏色，這些交易是不確定的終端市場。它更側重於指數分析還是 ESG？那些前面有顏色嗎？

Sure. No, look, I think it's the normal mix, Ashish. I don't think that there's any particular color to it. There's some important stuff we have, for sure, in Analytics. We have some large ESG deals and index. So the point was more to make a broader observation and picking up from Henry's observations that we haven't seen a decline in our pipeline. We've got -- we had a few things referencing the larger deals that had a slightly longer sales cycle than we thought, and again, referencing also Alex's question. So it was more of a general observation just to say we've got some -- we've got a healthy pipeline going into the next quarter. And we're very focused on trying to close.

當然。不，看，我認為這是正常的組合，Ashish。我不認為它有任何特定的顏色。在 Analytics 中，我們肯定有一些重要的東西。我們有一些大型 ESG 交易和指數。因此，重點更多的是進行更廣泛的觀察，並從亨利的觀察中發現我們沒有看到我們的管道下降。我們已經 - 我們有一些事情參考了銷售週期比我們想像的稍長的大型交易，並且再次參考了亞歷克斯的問題。所以這更像是一個普遍的觀察，只是說我們有一些 - 我們有一個健康的管道進入下一個季度。我們非常專注於關閉。

That's very helpful color. And maybe just a quick follow-up. As we think about the sales slowdown on the subscription growth, obviously, subscription growth has been really robust 12% despite the macro challenges, but how should we think about some of these sales slowdown headwind on subscription growth. But on the other side, we also have ABF improving as the AUM fund flows improve. So any puts and takes on the top line as we think about going forward?

這是非常有用的顏色。也許只是快速跟進。當我們考慮訂閱增長帶來的銷售放緩時，很明顯，儘管面臨宏觀挑戰，但訂閱增長確實強勁，達到了 12%，但我們應該如何看待其中一些銷售放緩對訂閱增長的不利影響。但另一方面，隨著 AUM 資金流量的改善，我們也看到 ABF 有所改善。那麼，在我們考慮前進的過程中，任何看跌期權和看跌期權都處於最重要的位置嗎？

Yes. Ashish -- and Henry alluded to this in his prepared remarks. We have this nice balance in our top line, where the ABF revenue tends to lead a cycle and the subscription revenue tends to be impacted on a lagging basis. I don't want to overemphasize that we might be seeing some lagging impacts on the subscription base right now, but there probably are some impacting it, although it's important to underscore that our retention rates remain quite healthy, in line with historical averages here, particularly in index and analytics, and ESG is even 96% plus. And it is quite a diverse book of business.

是的。 Ashish——Henry 在他準備好的發言稿中提到了這一點。我們的收入達到了很好的平衡，ABF 收入往往會引領一個週期，而訂閱收入往往會受到滯後的影響。我不想過分強調我們現在可能會看到對訂閱基礎的一些滯後影響，但可能會有一些影響，儘管重要的是要強調我們的保留率仍然相當健康，與這裡的歷史平均水平一致，特別是在指數和分析方面，ESG 甚至超過 96%。這是一本相當多元化的商業書籍。

And the 2 biggest pieces of it, index and analytics, are actually remaining quite strong here. And the outlook is okay on those fronts. And so in the short term, there could continue to be some impacts on operating metrics, which impacts the subscription growth. But I'd say, overall, we've got quite a resilient franchise. And to your point about asset-based fees, to the extent the market starts to recover and has a sustained recovery, that just adds to some of the momentum we have in the business and the resilience we have in the business. I would underscore, as I mentioned in the guidance comments that we have a cautious outlook in the short term. So our guidance is based on the assumption that ETF AUMs declined in the second quarter and then rebound gradually in the back half of the year. But any upside there is obviously beneficial to us and creates capacity for us to invest more.

其中最大的兩個部分，索引和分析，實際上在這裡仍然非常強勁。這些方面的前景還不錯。因此，在短期內，運營指標可能會繼續受到一些影響，從而影響訂閱增長。但我想說，總的來說，我們擁有相當有彈性的特許經營權。至於你關於基於資產的費用的觀點，在市場開始復蘇並持續復甦的情況下，這只會增加我們在業務中的一些勢頭和我們在業務中的彈性。正如我在指導意見中提到的，我要強調的是，我們對短期前景持謹慎態度。因此，我們的指引是基於 ETF AUM 在第二季度下降然後在下半年逐漸反彈的假設。但任何上升空間顯然對我們有利，並為我們創造更多投資的能力。

The next question comes from Alexander Hess with JPMorgan.

下一個問題來自摩根大通的亞歷山大赫斯。

I just want to touch again on the retention rate briefly, 95.2%. I believe that was up somewhat from 4Q. Can you comment maybe how much of that sequential quarter-on-quarter improvement was driven by any sort of improvements or changes in the client environment? Or was that just seasonal factors there?

我只想再次簡單地談談保留率，95.2%。我相信這比第四季度有所上升。您能否評論一下連續的季度環比改進有多少是由客戶環境中的任何改進或變化驅動的？還是那隻是季節性因素？

Yes. I would say the seasonal aspects do play a meaningful role. Given that we have the largest portion of renewals taking place in the fourth quarter, retention rates tend to drop a bit there. So I wouldn't read too much into the sequential dynamics. As I just mentioned, we are encouraged that the overall retentions are in line -- overall retention rate is in line with historical averages. And so, we've just seen some pullback from the high levels we saw a year ago. But overall, they're in a pretty good position. And as Baer mentioned, really where we are seeing the pickup in cancels is in ESG and climate and real assets.

是的。我想說季節性方面確實發揮了重要作用。鑑於我們在第四季度進行的續訂佔最大比例，因此留存率往往會略有下降。所以我不會過多地了解順序動態。正如我剛才提到的，我們感到鼓舞的是整體保留率符合歷史平均水平。因此，我們剛剛看到從一年前的高位回落。但總的來說，他們處於一個非常好的位置。正如 Baer 所提到的，我們真正看到取消的回升是在 ESG、氣候和實物資產方面。

And from a client standpoint, it's really showing up with smaller clients and within areas like broker-dealers and banks, hedge funds, real estate agents and developers. So it's kind of around the edges and some of the structural stuff and client events that we would typically see in these types of environments.

從客戶的角度來看，它確實出現在較小的客戶以及經紀自營商和銀行、對沖基金、房地產經紀人和開發商等領域。所以它有點像我們通常會在這些類型的環境中看到的邊緣和一些結構性的東西和客戶端事件。

And maybe as a follow-up, you briefly mentioned real assets. Just wanted to maybe get an update on anything that's gone on there with the Burgiss group with RCA. We're a couple of years out now from some pretty large spend on those areas. It would just be nice to get an update on traction in the market and anything else you can maybe provide us with on those businesses.

也許作為後續行動，您簡要提到了實物資產。只是想了解 Burgiss 小組與 RCA 的最新進展。我們在這些領域的一些相當大的支出現在已經過去幾年了。很高興獲得有關市場牽引力的最新信息以及您可以為我們提供的有關這些業務的任何其他信息。

Sure, I'll make a few comments. So first of all, if we look at the overwhelming run rate is in real estate, just clearly been a very challenging environment across the globe. In view of that, we were pretty pleased actually to have an 8% run rate growth or 10% ex FX. So for example, transaction volumes in the U.S., which is clearly critical for us in that part of the market have been down 70%. And some of our other important markets from like the U.K. have been hit very hard but we've had actually really decent retention rate there.

當然，我會發表一些評論。因此，首先，如果我們看一下房地產的壓倒性運行率，顯然全球範圍內都是一個非常具有挑戰性的環境。鑑於此，我們實際上很高興有 8% 的運行率增長或 10% ex FX。因此，例如，美國的交易量下降了 70%，這對我們在這部分市場顯然至關重要。我們在英國等其他一些重要市場受到的打擊非常嚴重，但我們在那裡的保留率實際上非常不錯。

So I think allowing for the very challenging environment, we're pretty happy with the results. And we'll have to see -- there's certainly sometimes a little bit of a lag from, let's say, the REIT's repricing to other private markets. We could still be in a choppy environment for real estate for some time. But in view of that, I think the resilience of our franchise is pretty strong and people need our data and analytics precisely to understand the performance and risk in these changing markets. So that's that. And I think on Burgiss, we don't really have anything to add from the last quarter. So I think that those are my summary comments, right.

所以我認為考慮到非常具有挑戰性的環境，我們對結果非常滿意。而且我們必須看到——比方說，房地產投資信託基金對其他私人市場的重新定價，有時肯定會有一點滯後。我們可能仍會在一段時間內處於房地產動蕩的環境中。但有鑑於此，我認為我們特許經營權的彈性非常強，人們需要我們的數據和分析來準確了解這些不斷變化的市場中的表現和風險。就是這樣。而且我認為關於 Burgiss，上個季度我們真的沒有什麼可以補充的。所以我認為這些是我的總結意見，對吧。

The next question comes from Owen Lau with Oppenheimer.

下一個問題來自 Owen Lau 和 Oppenheimer。

So broadly speaking, how does the reopening of China and the comeback of some Chinese stocks impact AUM and the flow of MSCI-linked index in the Asia Pacific region? And then, maybe could you also please talk about or give us an update on the opportunity in the Asia Pacific region and how MSCI would approach these opportunities?

那麼從廣義上講，中國的重新開放和部分中概股的捲土重來對亞太地區的AUM和MSCI關聯指數的流動有何影響？然後，也許您也可以談談或向我們介紹一下亞太地區的機會以及 MSCI 將如何利用這些機會？

Thank you, Owen. The -- clearly, the opening of China from [loan protractive] COVID lockdown is positive for our business in all of Asia, not only in China, but all of Asia because, as you know, China has a meaningful economic and additive impact in the balance of the countries in Asia. So that's been very positive.

謝謝你，歐文。很明顯，中國從 [loan protractive] COVID 封鎖中開放對我們在整個亞洲的業務都是積極的，不僅在中國，而且在整個亞洲，因為如你所知，中國對經濟和附加影響具有重要意義亞洲國家的平衡。所以這是非常積極的。

Despite the fact that the lockdown, we don't even see clients in Mainland China. I mean it was really, really draconic as you all know. We have been managing to grow our MSCI China. We've been able to grow the business in Mainland China on a run rate growth basis, about 9%, 10% in this quarter compared to last year. So that's a positive.

儘管封鎖，我們甚至看不到中國大陸的客戶。我的意思是，正如你們所知，它真的非常非常龍。我們一直在設法發展我們的 MSCI 中國。我們已經能夠在運行率增長的基礎上發展中國大陸的業務，本季度與去年相比增長了 9% 和 10%。所以這是積極的。

Now we have to -- so China itself, Mainland China is a very small, almost nonmaterial run rate for us. The assets that are linked to -- directly to MSCI China indices are not significant. Obviously, the big effect is the part of the emerging market index that is made up of China, and the recovery there is going to bode well for the overall emerging market index and the assets associated with that emerging market index, so that's going to be a positive for us.

現在我們必須 - 所以中國本身，中國大陸對我們來說是一個非常小的，幾乎是非物質的運行率。直接與 MSCI 中國指數掛鉤的資產並不重要。顯然，最大的影響是新興市場指數中由中國組成的部分，那裡的複蘇將對整個新興市場指數和與該新興市場指數相關的資產來說是個好兆頭，所以這將是對我們來說是積極的。

So that's a little bit of the breakdown of the various components. So we're very optimistic that the recovery in China, the asset, the equity values increasing in China and the opening up of the country will have overall positive effects for our business. But as I said, it's not a huge base, except with the -- except for the part of MSCI China that is in the emerging market index.

這就是各種組件的一些細分。因此，我們非常樂觀地認為，中國的複蘇、中國資產、股票價值的增加以及國家的開放將對我們的業務產生總體積極影響。但正如我所說，這不是一個巨大的基數，除了 - 除了新興市場指數中的 MSCI 中國部分。

And just to put a finer point on the ETF flows. We did see pretty healthy flows into international markets, both developed markets outside the U.S., but to Henry's point, also into EM exposure. And those are 2 areas where we had nice market share capture. On the EM flows, we actually captured about 60% of new flows into emerging market ETF. And clearly, China is a big component of that.

只是為了更好地說明 ETF 流量。我們確實看到相當健康的資金流入國際市場，包括美國以外的發達市場，但在亨利看來，也流入新興市場。這些是我們獲得不錯市場份額的 2 個領域。在新興市場流量方面，我們實際上捕獲了大約 60% 的流入新興市場 ETF 的新流量。顯然，中國是其中的重要組成部分。

Got it. That's very helpful. And then can I go back to the guidance for a little bit. And I think Andy, you mentioned that you assume that ETF would decline slightly in the second quarter and then rebound in the second half. But I remember previously, you mentioned that the market would decline in the first half of this year. I'm just wondering is there any change in assumptions here? And then, I think broadly speaking, what does it take for MSCI to kind of like dial up or dial down the free cash flow guidance for this year if, let's say, the market stay at current level.

知道了。這很有幫助。然後我可以回到指導上一點嗎？而且我認為安迪，你提到你假設 ETF 在第二季度會略有下降，然後在下半年反彈。但是我記得之前你提到今年上半年市場會下跌。我只是想知道這裡的假設有什麼變化嗎？然後，我認為從廣義上講，如果市場保持在當前水平，那麼 MSCI 需要採取什麼措施才能調高或調低今年的自由現金流量指導。

Sure. I would say, overall, we continue to have a cautious outlook in the near term, which you can see by the ETF AUM assumption that's underlying our guidance. Just to reiterate what you alluded to, we're assuming the markets decline from the current levels during the second quarter here and then rebound gradually in the second half of the year.

當然。我想說的是，總體而言，我們在短期內繼續保持謹慎的前景，您可以從作為我們指導基礎的 ETF AUM 假設中看出這一點。重申一下您提到的內容，我們假設市場在第二季度從當前水平下降，然後在下半年逐漸反彈。

Just to your question about what it would take for us to dial up or dial down, I would say it's a constant calibration. It's something we are actively focused on. Although the markets performed better during the first quarter than the assumption we had outlined in our original guidance at the beginning of the year, we still continue to have a cautious outlook in the near term. And so, we are being cautious on expenses and the pace of hiring where we're being a little bit more measured. And we continue to be disciplined on the noncomp expense front to ensure we're able to invest in those critical growth areas and attractive long-term opportunities.

對於您關於我們撥號或撥號需要什麼的問題，我會說這是一個持續的校準。這是我們積極關注的事情。儘管第一季度市場表現好於我們在年初的原始指引中概述的假設，但我們仍對近期前景持謹慎態度。因此，我們對開支和招聘步伐持謹慎態度，我們正在更加謹慎。我們繼續在非補償費用方面受到紀律處分，以確保我們能夠投資於那些關鍵的增長領域和有吸引力的長期機會。

We do have, I would say, further levers on the downside if we need to, and we can further slow or even stop head count growth, and we can further tighten noncomp on the downside. But importantly, to your question, if we do see a sustained improvement in the markets, we're ready to accelerate investment and spend. And so, it would be really a calibration and a determination that we see that sustained momentum in the markets and confidence that we are recovering here. And if we see that, then I think you could see us dial up the pace of spend.

我想說，如果需要的話，我們確實有更多的下行槓桿，我們可以進一步減緩甚至停止員工人數的增長，我們可以進一步收緊下行的非補償。但重要的是，對於你的問題，如果我們確實看到市場持續改善，我們準備好加速投資和支出。因此，這真的是一種校準和決心，我們看到市場持續的勢頭和我們正在這裡復甦的信心。如果我們看到了這一點，那麼我想你可以看到我們加快了支出步伐。

And I don't want to comment specifically on what that would mean for free cash flow. There's a lot of puts and takes there, but I'd say all the guidance is a reflection of the outlook that we have, and we've currently got a cautious outlook.

我不想具體評論這對自由現金流意味著什麼。那裡有很多看跌期權，但我想說所有的指導都反映了我們的前景，我們目前的前景是謹慎的。

The next question comes from George Tong with Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的 George Tong。

I wanted to drill down further into the selling environment. You talked about being tighter client budgets, longer sales cycles. Outside of ESG, can you elaborate on where in the business you're seeing the most impact from that and how client sentiment has trended exiting the quarter?

我想進一步深入了解銷售環境。你談到了更緊的客戶預算、更長的銷售週期。在 ESG 之外，您能否詳細說明您在業務中的哪些方面受到的影響最大，以及客戶情緒在本季度結束時的趨勢如何？

Yes, sure. So listen, the way it manifests itself, and I'm just underscoring points that we've made because I'm trying to stick to what we're seeing here, which is fewer large ticket deals, lengthening of sales cycles and elevated cancels, particularly among smaller clients and particularly in just ESG and real estate. Those impacts are most pronounced in those 2 segments where I think there are some segment-specific factors. Henry outlined some of the factors impacting ESG, and Baer talked about some of the factors impacting real estate.

是的，當然。所以聽著，它表現出來的方式，我只是強調我們已經提出的觀點，因為我試圖堅持我們在這裡看到的，即大宗交易減少、銷售週期延長和取消率增加，尤其是在較小的客戶中，尤其是在 ESG 和房地產領域。這些影響在我認為有一些特定於細分市場的因素的這兩個細分市場中最為明顯。 Henry 概述了一些影響 ESG 的因素，Baer 談到了一些影響房地產的因素。

I do want to underscore that index and analytics see some of those dynamics to a small degree but are generally holding up okay. And there continue to be a number of large and key areas, not only in index and analytics but also in ESG and real estate, where we continue to see strong momentum. And many of those are the core aspects of those parts of the business.

我確實想強調，指數和分析在較小程度上看到了其中的一些動態，但總體上還不錯。不僅在指數和分析領域，而且在 ESG 和房地產領域，仍有許多重要領域繼續保持強勁勢頭。其中許多是業務的這些部分的核心方面。

Geographically, the dynamics were most notable in the Americas, but I'd say that was heavily driven by the impact in ESG and climate. But overall, pipeline is steady, as Baer said, and we do expect some of these dynamics to continue in the short term. But I think, we see the indications that the engagement with clients on these big secular trends continues to be quite healthy.

從地理上看，這種動態在美洲最為顯著，但我想說這在很大程度上是由 ESG 和氣候的影響驅動的。但總體而言，正如 Baer 所說，管道是穩定的，我們確實預計其中一些動態將在短期內持續。但我認為，我們看到有跡象表明，與客戶就這些長期大趨勢進行的接觸仍然非常健康。

Got it. That's helpful. And then you talked a little bit about the analytics business holding up relatively well. Organic revenue growth of 6% in the quarter. It is a bit below the long-term target of high single-digit growth. Do you expect the growth there to accelerate over the course of the year? Do you expect it to stay where it is? And what are some of the puts and takes of underlying trends you're seeing in the Analytics business?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後你談到了分析業務相對良好的情況。本季度收入有機增長 6%。它略低於高個位數增長的長期目標。您預計今年那裡的增長會加速嗎？你希望它留在原地嗎？您在分析業務中看到的潛在趨勢有哪些？

Yes. So look, I don't think there's a dramatic change. We had a few large deals that didn't quite make it this quarter. We didn't do quite as well as we would have liked in fixed income this quarter. But actually, we've got a really good pipeline there, and that business is going from strength to strength. So it's a little bit of a mixed bag.

是的。所以看，我不認為有一個戲劇性的變化。本季度我們有幾筆大交易沒有成功。本季度我們在固定收益方面的表現不如預期。但實際上，我們在那裡有一條非常好的管道，而且該業務正在不斷壯大。所以它有點複雜。

So I don't think -- we don't see anything dramatic. We'd like to do a little better than we did this quarter for sure. We've got a decent pipeline, including some of the larger deals that I alluded to in my earlier comments to Owen, I think it was. So I think overall, we're working the pipeline. We'd like to see the growth a bit higher than it is here, but we don't expect anything dramatic from where we are right now.

所以我不認為 - 我們沒有看到任何戲劇性的東西。我們肯定會比本季度做得更好。我們有一個不錯的管道，包括我在之前對歐文的評論中提到的一些更大的交易，我認為是的。所以我認為總的來說，我們正在努力。我們希望看到比現在高一點的增長，但我們不期望我們現在的位置有任何戲劇性的變化。

The next question comes from Faiza Alwy with Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Faiza Alwy。

Yes. So Andy, I wanted to just put a final point on expenses and investments. You mentioned some favorability this quarter. And I know you've maintained your expense guide, but you've talked about being measured also and that there are further downside levers and upside levers. So curious, has anything changed over the last few months as it relates to your investment spending relative to the expenses that you're incurring and how you're viewing that for the rest of the year.

是的。所以安迪，我想最後說說開支和投資。你提到了這個季度的一些好感度。而且我知道你一直保持你的費用指南，但你也談到了衡量，還有進一步的下行槓桿和上行槓桿。很好奇，過去幾個月有什麼變化與你的投資支出相對於你所產生的支出以及你如何看待今年剩餘時間的支出有關。

No, nothing too significantly. As I said, we did a roll forward of the ETF AUM assumptions that underlie our guidance at the beginning of the year to where we are now. Clearly, the markets performed a bit better in the first quarter than we had baked into the original guidance, but we continue to have this cautious outlook and assume that the markets will pull back a little bit here in the short term and then rebound in the back half of the year.

不，沒什麼太重要的。正如我所說，我們將年初作為我們指導基礎的 ETF AUM 假設向前推進到現在的水平。顯然，第一季度市場表現比我們最初的指導要好一些，但我們繼續保持這種謹慎的前景，並假設市場將在短期內略微回落，然後在未來反彈回到半年。

And so, I'd say, the overall view on expenses and pace of spend is generally consistent with where we started the year. I'd say we continue to have that degree of caution here, and we've moderated the pace of headcount growth, although you probably saw we continue to grow, and that's in the key areas, the key growth areas for the firm.

因此，我想說，對支出和支出速度的總體看法與我們年初的情況基本一致。我想說我們在這裡繼續保持這種程度的謹慎，我們已經緩和了員工人數增長的步伐，儘管你可能看到我們繼續增長，這是在關鍵領域，公司的關鍵增長領域。

Let me just add something because we keep -- we have referred a number of times to our outlook in terms of asset values, equity asset values. And I want all of you to understand that there is no magic. We don't have significantly better insights than you have about what could happen to equity values in the foreseeable future.

讓我補充一點，因為我們一直在——我們已經多次提到我們在資產價值、股權資產價值方面的前景。我希望你們所有人都明白，沒有魔法。對於在可預見的未來股票價值會發生什麼，我們沒有比您更好的見解。

The emphasis on this is that we manage our expense base, is that we manage our investment plan. And therefore, when we say we're predicting the following, it's in order to give you a sense of what is our mindset in order to manage our expenses and our investment plan. We want to be in a position that if we get positively surprised that the equity values are higher than we thought they would be, we can rapidly do an upturn playbook and invest more.

重點是我們管理我們的費用基礎，我們管理我們的投資計劃。因此，當我們說我們正在預測以下內容時，這是為了讓您了解我們管理開支和投資計劃的心態。我們希望處於這樣一個位置，即如果我們對股票價值高於我們預期的水平感到非常驚訝，我們可以迅速做出好轉的劇本並進行更多投資。

But what we don't want to be is going into a difficult environment with a bloated expense base and having to radically alter our expenses and our investments and the like. So that's a little bit of the mindset of what we're trying to do here. But there is no -- we don't have any major insights that the market will go down in the second or the third quarter. We just use this as a mechanism to manage our expense base.

但我們不希望進入一個費用基礎膨脹的困難環境，並且不得不從根本上改變我們的費用和投資等。所以這就是我們在這裡嘗試做的事情的一點心態。但是沒有 - 我們沒有任何關於市場將在第二或第三季度下跌的重大見解。我們只是將其用作管理費用基礎的機制。

Understood. And then just a follow-up on the climate side. You mentioned obviously slowing new sales on the ESG and climate segment, then you mentioned the political environment in the U.S. and some regulatory uncertainty in Europe. It sounded to me -- my takeaway is that that's more on the ESG side as opposed to the climate side. But curious if that's the right takeaway and any further color you might have on that.

明白了。然後只是氣候方面的後續行動。你提到了 ESG 和氣候領域的新銷售明顯放緩，然後你提到了美國的政治環境和歐洲的一些監管不確定性。在我看來——我的結論是，這更多是在 ESG 方面，而不是氣候方面。但很好奇這是否是正確的要點以及您可能對此有任何進一步的看法。

Yes. So that's a good question. First of all, you also have to look at the ESG and climate sales in the context of an overall caution environment -- or cautious environment of spending by our clients all over the world because they are -- they don't know the direction of equity values or financial markets. They don't know yet when interest rates are going to start peaking, what the level of potential slowdown or rotation may be et cetera, et cetera, right?

是的。所以這是一個很好的問題。首先，你還必須在整體謹慎環境的背景下審視 ESG 和氣候銷售 - 或者我們的客戶在世界各地的謹慎支出環境，因為他們 - 他們不知道方向股權價值或金融市場。他們還不知道利率何時開始見頂，潛在放緩或輪換的程度可能等等，等等，對吧？

So therefore, any product line will have to take into account that the overall spending of clients is more cautious now than it has been in the last 12 months or so. So secondly, with respect to ESG and climate, yes, a lot of the -- some of the political issues in the U.S. are referred to as ESG. But when you really hear the politicians, sometimes they're referring to social issues in ESG. And sometimes, they're referring to oil and gas or climate risk issues and the likes of that.

因此，任何產品線都必須考慮到客戶的整體支出現在比過去 12 個月左右更加謹慎。其次，關於 ESG 和氣候，是的，美國的很多 - 一些政治問題都被稱為 ESG。但當你真正聽到政客們的聲音時，有時他們指的是 ESG 中的社會問題。有時，他們指的是石油和天然氣或氣候風險問題等。

So the caution about the U.S. market, even though you hear it as ESG alone, it varies. If you go to Florida, a lot of it is about social and the ESG. If you go to Texas, a lot of it is about the environmental part or the climate part of ESG. So we think that the institutional demand will increase on climate in the U.S. and across the board, but the individual retail demand may be a little bit slower.

所以對美國市場的謹慎，即使你聽到的只是 ESG，它也會有所不同。如果你去佛羅里達，很多都是關於社會和 ESG 的。如果你去德克薩斯，很多都是關於 ESG 的環境部分或氣候部分。因此，我們認為機構需求會因美國和整個地區的氣候而增加，但個人零售需求可能會稍微慢一些。

In Europe, climate is -- the climate tools are in demand all over the place because Europe, as we all know, is a leader in trying to figure out how to decarbonize their economies, how to increase renewable efforts. And they're pushing the asset managers to take climate into account. So 68%, 70% growth rate on climate is not bad. It slowed down clearly from a year ago, but we are very, very optimistic about the prospects of climate tools in the world for us.

在歐洲，氣候是 - 各地都需要氣候工具，因為眾所周知，歐洲在試圖弄清楚如何使其經濟脫碳，如何增加可再生能源方面處於領先地位。他們正在推動資產管理者將氣候因素考慮在內。所以68%、70%的增長率對氣候來說還不錯。它比一年前明顯放緩，但我們對我們在世界上使用氣候工具的前景非常、非常樂觀。

The next question is from Craig Huber with Huber Research Partners.

下一個問題來自 Huber Research Partners 的 Craig Huber。

Great. On the climate front, can you just tell us quickly, if you would, what data and what analytical tools do you guys think you have in climate that really sets you guys apart from your peers out there? And obviously, you talk about long term. You think, your client run rate will eventually get larger than the rest of ESG. So what it really makes you stand out from a data standpoint and tools from climate?

偉大的。在氣候方面，您能否快速告訴我們，如果可以的話，你們認為你們在氣候方面擁有哪些數據和分析工具，真正讓你們與同行區分開來？顯然，你談論的是長期。你認為，你的客戶運行率最終會比 ESG 的其他部分更大。那麼，從數據角度和氣候工具來看，它真正讓您脫穎而出的是什麼？

Yes. So I think there's a variety of things. And of course, we'd be very happy to also take this off-line because it's a longer discussion. But fundamentally, it's the breadth and depth. It's what we cover in terms of climate -- companies, excuse me and securities. It's our modeling of climate, including some of our more sophisticated indicators like implied temperature change.

是的。所以我認為有各種各樣的事情。當然，我們也很樂意將其下線，因為這是一個較長的討論。但從根本上說，這是廣度和深度。這就是我們在氣候方面所涵蓋的內容——公司，對不起，還有證券。這是我們的氣候模型，包括我們一些更複雜的指標，如隱含的溫度變化。

And in physical risks, the competitive landscape is such that it's a little checker depending on what part of the market you're in. But those are some of the highlights. But it's obviously -- it's a large question, which we'd be very happy to spend more time with you offline.

在物理風險方面，競爭格局是這樣的，它會根據你所處的市場部分進行一些檢查。但這些都是一些亮點。但這顯然是一個很大的問題，我們很樂意在線下花更多時間與您交流。

Yes. And Craig, if you don't mind, I just want to underscore one point, which I think you know, but it is really an important differentiator for us. That $84 million of climate run rate cuts across all product segments for us. And so the ability to offer solutions across almost every part of the investment process really differentiates us from other providers out there. So clearly, index is a big part of it, which I know you're aware, but our leadership in index is more generally. And our leadership in climate caused us to be a leader there.

是的。克雷格，如果你不介意的話，我只想強調一點，我想你知道，但這對我們來說確實是一個重要的差異化因素。這 8400 萬美元的氣候運行率為我們削減了所有產品領域。因此，在投資過程的幾乎每個部分提供解決方案的能力確實使我們有別於其他供應商。很明顯，指數是其中很大一部分，我知道你知道，但我們在指數方面的領導地位更為普遍。我們在氣候方面的領導地位使我們成為了那裡的領導者。

Our ability to provide climate risk insights across analytics where we have the clients' portfolios, we're helping them with risk already really give us a leg up on anyone else trying to do climate risk at a portfolio or an enterprise level. And then in areas like Private Assets, just given our capabilities and unique data we have on that front gives us a real leg up. So the total franchise that we have is a real competitive advantage that I want to make sure people don't lose sight of.

我們有能力在我們擁有客戶投資組合的分析中提供氣候風險見解，我們正在幫助他們應對風險，這確實讓我們比其他任何試圖在投資組合或企業層面進行氣候風險的人更有優勢。然後在私人資產等領域，鑑於我們在這方面的能力和獨特的數據，我們將擁有真正的優勢。因此，我們擁有的全部特許經營權是一個真正的競爭優勢，我想確保人們不會忽視這一點。

My second question, you obviously kept your cost guidance unchanged here. Often, companies when they go into a much tougher -- what they think is a tougher environment, will cut their cost base significantly. I'm curious, given your added cautionary comments right now, you did not though cut cost outlook for the year. Was it -- is the environment basically how you were thinking it was, say, 3 months when you put out your initial guidance because again, you did not trim your cost outlook?

我的第二個問題，你顯然在這裡保持你的成本指導不變。通常，當公司進入一個更艱難的環境——他們認為是一個更艱難的環境時，他們會大幅削減成本基礎。我很好奇，鑑於你現在添加的警告性評論，你並沒有削減今年的成本前景。是不是 - 環境基本上是您認為的，例如，當您發布初步指導意見時 3 個月，因為您沒有削減成本前景？

Okay. I think we are extremely comfortable with our cost base, our expense base, which we divided up into running the business expenses on what we call change the business expenses, which is the more pure investment plan. We have preserved in the last few quarters the vast majority of our investment plan. And we've done that by squeezing around the business expenses in a variety of ways to free up resources.

好的。我認為我們對我們的成本基礎、我們的費用基礎非常滿意，我們將其分為運行業務費用，我們稱之為改變業務費用，這是更純粹的投資計劃。在過去的幾個季度中，我們保留了絕大部分投資計劃。我們通過各種方式壓縮業務開支以釋放資源來做到這一點。

So we're very, very comfortable. We believe we have scaled the expense base of the company to the operating environment, to the cautious operating environment that exists today, even with a lower operating environment that exists today. In the event that it dramatically moves down, we have a lot of levers that we can apply. But if anything, we believe that the probability of us triggering an upturn playbook is probably higher than downturn playbook, but we don't know. I mean obviously, we have to see what happens in the next few quarters. So we are extremely comfortable.

所以我們非常非常舒服。我們相信我們已經將公司的費用基礎擴展到運營環境，到今天存在的謹慎運營環境，即使今天存在較低的運營環境。如果它急劇下降，我們有很多可以應用的槓桿。但如果有的話，我們認為我們觸發好轉劇本的可能性可能高於低迷劇本，但我們不知道。我的意思是很明顯，我們必須看看接下來幾個季度會發生什麼。所以我們非常舒服。

The other thing to remind everyone is that MSCI is a very diversified client base -- a diversified franchise. We tend to not focus on that. It's diversified about client segments from asset owners, to asset managers to -- from wealth managers and banks and insurance companies on our corporates and hedge funds and banks, the regions of the world. We're doing well in EMEA right now, relatively well in EMEA, to the Americas, to the Asia Pacific region. The product lines and public assets, equity and now fixed income and Private Assets and ESG and climate has overlaid to all of what we do. We have a lot of performance tools. We have a lot of risk tools. We have different forms of pricing whether it's subscription, whether it's AUM, whether it's transaction and then volumes like in futures and options, we have a very diversified employee base. 65% of our employees are spread a lot -- (inaudible) big emerging markets of the world, 35% are in developed markets. So whenever there is an issue of labor tightness or increases in expenses and wages in a particular location, we hire in other locations.

另一件要提醒大家的事情是，MSCI 是一個非常多元化的客戶群——多元化的特許經營權。我們往往不關注這一點。從資產所有者到資產管理者，從財富管理者、銀行和保險公司到我們公司、對沖基金和銀行，世界各地區，它的客戶群是多樣化的。我們現在在歐洲、中東和非洲做得很好，在歐洲、中東和非洲、美洲和亞太地區都做得很好。產品線和公共資產、股權以及現在的固定收益和私人資產以及 ESG 和氣候已經覆蓋了我們所做的所有工作。我們有很多性能工具。我們有很多風險工具。我們有不同形式的定價，無論是訂閱、資產管理規模、交易還是交易量，比如期貨和期權，我們擁有非常多元化的員工基礎。我們 65% 的員工分佈廣泛——（聽不清）世界大型新興市場，35% 在發達市場。因此，每當某個地點出現勞動力緊張或費用和工資增加的問題時，我們就會在其他地點招聘。

We have a lot of hedges between dollar versus nondollar and the like. So that's why we are very comfortable with this expense base because of the nature of the franchise that is diversified and the nature of our cautiousness going into the market.

我們在美元與非美元等貨幣之間有很多對沖。因此，這就是為什麼我們對這種費用基礎感到非常滿意，因為特許經營的性質是多元化的，而且我們對進入市場持謹慎態度。

The next question comes from Russell Quelch with Redburn Partners.

下一個問題來自 Redburn Partners 的 Russell Quelch。

I appreciate what you're baking into guidance in terms of asset values. But wondering to what degree the guidance assumes lower retention rates to come on subscription revenues in the rest of the year and particularly in Q4, please.

我很欣賞你在資產價值方面的指導。但想知道該指南在多大程度上假設今年剩餘時間，特別是第四季度訂閱收入的保留率較低，請問。

Yes. I would -- as you know, the subscription base is slow-moving beast. And so even adjustments to the retention rate around the edges or sales don't have a meaningful impact in the current year. So I'd say the bigger impact for this year is really around asset-based fees.

是的。我會 - 如您所知，訂閱基礎是移動緩慢的野獸。因此，即使對邊緣保留率或銷售額進行調整，也不會在當年產生有意義的影響。所以我想說今年更大的影響實際上是圍繞基於資產的費用。

Okay. Cool. And then just following up from that sort of related, what are you assuming you can do on pricing to offset any increase in cancellations or inflation in the cost base, please?

好的。涼爽的。然後只是從那種相關的跟進，你假設你可以在定價上做些什麼來抵消成本基礎中取消或通貨膨脹的任何增加，請問？

Sure. Yes. I would say that price increases continue to be at a higher level than they've been in recent years, and they continue to contribute a larger percentage of new recurring sales. We have been successful with capturing price increases with clients. And we actually, in the first quarter, probably even saw a slightly higher contribution to recurring subscription sales than we even saw last quarter.

當然。是的。我要說的是，價格上漲繼續處於比近年來更高的水平，並且它們繼續貢獻更大比例的新經常性銷售額。我們已經成功地抓住了客戶的價格上漲。實際上，在第一季度，我們甚至可能看到對經常性訂閱銷售的貢獻略高於上一季度。

I would say we'll continue to be measured on this front and ensure that we are delivering value to our clients in connection with price increases. But where we are delivering value, we will continue to extract price and seem to be getting traction with it.

我會說我們將繼續在這方面進行衡量，並確保我們在價格上漲方面為客戶提供價值。但是，在我們提供價值的地方，我們將繼續提取價格，並且似乎越來越受到關注。

The next question comes from Greg Simpson with BNP Paribas.

下一個問題來自法國巴黎銀行的 Greg Simpson。

Can I just ask if you can share some thoughts on the potential implications of AI for MSCI longer term? What are you doing today? What applications are you exploring actively? I know it's a broad question, but just would be interested to hear your thoughts.

我能問一下您是否可以就 AI 對 MSCI 的長期潛在影響分享一些想法嗎？今天你在做什麼？您正在積極探索哪些應用程序？我知道這是一個廣泛的問題，但很想听聽您的想法。

Sure. So look, we're actively -- have quite a few projects going in AI across everything from client service, where we think it has great applications in reading our enormous amounts of methodology books and complex formulas and et cetera and giving clear answers. We're working on it -- with it in ESG and all the data applications that can go there. I mean there's a whole list of it, but we're extremely focused on it. And we'd love to tell you more clearly in a slightly different context, but we're definitely very focused on the use of AI across the business.

當然。所以看，我們正在積極地 - 從客戶服務的各個方面都有相當多的人工智能項目，我們認為它在閱讀我們大量的方法論書籍和復雜的公式等方面有很好的應用，並給出明確的答案。我們正在努力 - 在 ESG 中使用它以及可以去那裡的所有數據應用程序。我的意思是有一個完整的清單，但我們非常專注於它。我們很樂意在稍微不同的背景下更清楚地告訴你，但我們絕對非常關注人工智能在整個企業的使用。

Great. And it seems like fixed income is an asset class that you're seeing a lot more interest from investors in this higher rate environment. I think you got $79 million in run rate. Can you just talk about which parts of MSCI that comes into? And are there opportunities to add more scale here since it's growing past its relatively small part of your total business?

偉大的。固定收益似乎是一種資產類別，在這種高利率環境下，您會看到投資者更加感興趣。我認為你的運行率是 7900 萬美元。你能談談進入 MSCI 的哪些部分嗎？是否有機會在這裡擴大規模，因為它的增長已經超過了您總業務中相對較小的部分？

Yes, yes, for sure. So it's both a very important part in our analytics story, both on a stand-alone basis and as part of multi-asset class risk. And we're really doing a lot of innovation in index. We're clearly starting from a tiny base but we've got some really exciting things going on there related to ESG and climate, relating to liquidity. I'm actually seeing a client this evening for dinner related to some credit and fixed income opportunities. So we think it's an area where people are very excited to see us bringing things forward, and I think it will be important part of our growth story going forward.

是的，是的，當然。因此，無論是在獨立基礎上還是作為多資產類別風險的一部分，它都是我們分析故事中非常重要的一部分。我們確實在索引方面做了很多創新。我們顯然是從一個很小的基地開始的，但我們在那裡發生了一些與 ESG 和氣候以及流動性相關的非常令人興奮的事情。事實上，我今晚要見一個客戶，共進晚餐，涉及一些信貸和固定收入機會。因此，我們認為這是一個人們非常高興看到我們取得進展的領域，我認為這將是我們未來發展故事的重要組成部分。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Henry Fernandez for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回 Henry Fernandez 的閉幕詞。

Thank you for joining us this morning. As you heard us say, our all-weather franchise continued to perform well in this challenging operating environment. These are times when companies differentiate themselves, these are times of opportunity, sometimes more than risk. And that's what we are fully intending to capitalize on, and we'll be more than happy to keep you abreast of all of that in future calls. Thank you very much again, and have a great day.

感謝您今天早上加入我們。正如您聽到我們所說，我們的全天候特許經營權在這個充滿挑戰的經營環境中繼續表現良好。現在是公司脫穎而出的時代，這是機遇的時代，有時甚至比風險更大。這就是我們完全打算利用的，我們非常樂意讓您在未來的電話中了解所有這些。再次非常感謝你，祝你有美好的一天。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may all now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。你們現在可能都斷開連接了。