Sprott Inc (SII) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Sprott Inc.'s 2024 First Quarter Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, May 8, 2024.

早安，女士們先生們，感謝你們的支持。歡迎參加 Sprott Inc. 2024 年第一季業績電話會議。[操作員說明] 謹此提醒，本次會議將於今天（2024 年 5 月 8 日）進行錄製。

On behalf of the speakers that follow, listeners are cautioned that today's presentation and the responses to questions may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Canadian provincial securities law. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.

我謹代表隨後的發言者提醒聽眾，今天的演講和對問題的答覆可能包含加拿大省證券法安全港條款含義內的前瞻性陳述。前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性，不應過度依賴此類陳述。

Certain material factors or assumptions are implied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. For additional information about factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements, please consult the MD&A for the quarter and Sprott's other filings with the Canadian and U.S. security regulators.

前瞻性陳述中隱含了某些重大因素或假設，實際結果可能與此類陳述中明示或暗示的結果有重大差異。有關可能導致實際結果與預期存在重大差異的因素以及做出前瞻性陳述時所採用的重大因素或假設的更多信息，請查閱本季度的MD&A 以及Sprott 向加拿大和美國安全監管機構提交的其他文件。

I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Whitney George. Please go ahead, Mr. George.

我現在將會議交給惠特尼·喬治先生。請繼續，喬治先生。

[Technical Difficulty] CEO of Sprott Asset Management. Our 2024 first quarter results were released this morning and are available on our website, where you can also find the financial statements and MD&A.

【技術難度】Sprott資產管理公司CEO。我們的 2024 年第一季業績已於今天上午發布，可在我們的網站上查看，您也可以在其中找到財務報表和 MD&A。

I'll start on Slide 4. Our AUM, once again, reached record highs during the quarter, driven by stronger gold and silver prices late in the period, offset somewhat by what we view as short-term weakness in uranium and related equities.

我將從幻燈片 4 開始。在本季後期黃金和白銀價格走強的推動下，我們的資產管理規模在本季再次創下歷史新高，但我們認為鈾和相關股票的短期疲軟在一定程度上抵消了影響。

Gold and silver gained 8% and 5%, respectively, on a rally that began in mid-February and has accelerated through March and April. Our AUM as of March 31, 2024, was up $0.6 billion from the fourth quarter of 2023. Subsequent to the quarter end, AUM increased by $1.8 billion to $31.2 billion as of May 6, 2024.

黃金和白銀從 2 月中旬開始上漲，並在 3 月和 4 月加速上漲，分別上漲 8% 和 5%。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，我們的資產管理規模比 2023 年第四季增加了 6 億美元。截至 2024 年 5 月 6 日，季末後，資產管理規模增加 18 億美元，達到 312 億美元。

We reported $284 million in net redemptions during the quarter as our precious metals trust traded at wider discounts to net asset value. This was our first quarter of net redemptions in 4 years, and I'm happy to report the trend has reversed early in the second quarter. We further expanded our critical materials offerings during the first quarter with the launch of the Sprott Copper Miners ETF, and the Sprott Junior Uranium Miners UCITS ETF in Europe.

我們報告本季淨贖回額為 2.84 億美元，因為我們的貴金屬信託交易價格較資產淨值有更大折扣。這是我們四年來的第一個淨贖回季度，我很高興地報告這一趨勢在第二季度初已經逆轉。我們在第一季進一步擴大了我們的關鍵材料產品，在歐洲推出了 Sprott Copper Miners ETF 和 Sprott Junior Uranium Miners UCITS ETF。

We are encouraged by the improved performance of our actively managed precious metals equity strategies, which has performed well in Q1 and year-to-date. With that, I'll pass it over to Kevin for a look at our financial results. Kevin?

我們對主動管理的貴金屬股票策略的業績改善感到鼓舞，該策略在第一季和今年迄今表現良好。這樣，我會將其轉交給凱文，讓他查看我們的財務表現。凱文？

Thanks, Whitney, and good morning, everyone. Before I get into our current period results, I just wanted to provide you with a brief note on some changes to our quarterly reporting you may have noticed with our filing of the MD&A and financial statements this morning. Now that we completed the multiyear exit of noncore businesses that required several nonrecurring items to be booked and we no longer have any other material accounting noise and disclosures to contend with in the near future, we no longer require a place in our financial statement notes to park those multiple other items anymore. So we use this opportunity to clear out the other category in note 7 of our financial statements and repointed as many accounts as possible to their own lines on the financial statements. You can refer to footnote 2 of the summary financial information on Table 9 of the MD&A filed earlier this morning for more details in that respect.

謝謝惠特尼，大家早安。在介紹本期業績之前，我只想向您簡要介紹一下我們的季度報告的一些變化，您可能已經在我們今天早上提交的 MD&A 和財務報表中註意到了。既然我們完成了非核心業務的多年退出，需要登記多個非經常性項目，並且我們在不久的將來不再需要應對任何其他重大會計噪音和披露，我們不再需要在財務報表附註中佔據一席之地不再停放其他多個物品。因此，我們利用這個機會清除了財務報表附註 7 中的其他類別，並將盡可能多的科目重新指向財務報表中自己的行。您可以參閱今天早上提交的 MD&A 表 9 中財務資訊摘要的註腳 2，以了解這方面的更多詳細資訊。

That said, I'll start our results update on Slide 5, which provides a summary of our historical AUM. AUM finished the quarter at $29.4 billion, up 2% from $28.7 billion as at December 31, 2023. On a 3 months ended basis, we benefited from market value appreciation in our precious metals trusts and managed equities funds. As Whitney noted, subsequent to the quarter end on May 6, our AUM increased to over $31 billion.

也就是說，我將在投影片 5 上開始我們的結果更新，其中提供了我們歷史 AUM 的摘要。本季資產管理規模達 294 億美元，較截至 2023 年 12 月 31 日的 287 億美元成長 2%。截至三個月期末，我們受惠於貴金屬信託和管理股票基金的市場價值升值。正如 Whitney 指出的，5 月 6 日季度結束後，我們的 AUM 增加到超過 310 億美元。

Slide 6 provides a brief look at our 3-month earnings. Adjusted base EBITDA was $19.8 million in the quarter, up 14% from $17.3 million earned over the same 3-month period last year. Our earnings benefited from higher management fees on strong market value appreciation across our exchange-listed products, partially offset by lower commission income due to the sale of our former Canadian broker-dealer during the second quarter of last year.

幻燈片 6 簡要介紹了我們 3 個月的收入。本季調整後基本 EBITDA 為 1,980 萬美元，比去年同期 1,730 萬美元成長 14%。我們的收益受益於我們交易所上市產品的市場價值強勁升值帶來的更高的管理費，但由於去年第二季度出售我們的前加拿大經紀自營商而導致的佣金收入下降，部分抵消了我們的收益。

Finally, Slide 7 provides a few capital management highlights. And as you can see here, our cash and liquidity profile remains strong and our use of leverage modest. For more information on our revenues, expenses, EBITDA and balance sheet, you can refer to the supplemental information section of this presentation as well as our quarterly MD&A and financial statements filed earlier this morning. With that said, I'll pass things over to John. John?

最後，幻燈片 7 提供了一些資本管理亮點。正如您在這裡所看到的，我們的現金和流動性狀況仍然強勁，而且我們對槓桿的使用也很適中。有關我們的收入、費用、EBITDA 和資產負債表的更多信息，您可以參閱本簡報的補充資訊部分以及我們今天早上提交的季度 MD&A 和財務報表。話雖如此，我會把事情交給約翰。約翰？

Thanks, Kevin, and good morning, everybody. I'll just start off by giving you guys a little bit of color in terms of what we're experiencing in the market. It was definitely an unusual quarter with gold finally hitting an all-time high in U.S. dollar. It's obviously been at all-time highs in just about every currency in the world with the exception of the U.S. dollar. And I think we're very pleased that we finally hit that new milestone in the quarter.

謝謝，凱文，大家早安。首先，我將向大家介紹我們在市場上的經驗。這絕對是一個不尋常的季度，以美元計價的黃金終於創下歷史新高。顯然，除美元外，世界上幾乎所有貨幣的匯率都處於歷史高點。我認為我們非常高興我們終於在本季達到了新的里程碑。

Even though we've had record prices for gold, we've not seen uniform interest in gold over the last several quarters. It's been a very bifurcated market with Western institutional investors largely being uninterested in gold, even though it's hitting all-time highs, while Eastern investors and Central Banks around the world have been buying ever larger amounts of gold. We see continued buying by the Chinese Central Bank as a key theme here as they continue to shift their foreign reserves away from U.S. treasuries to hard assets like gold.

儘管黃金價格創下歷史新高，但過去幾季我們並沒有看到人們對黃金的一致興趣。這是一個非常分裂的市場，西方機構投資者基本上對黃金不感興趣，儘管黃金創下了歷史新高，而東方投資者和世界各地的中央銀行卻一直在購買越來越多的黃金。我們認為中國央行的持續購買是一個關鍵主題，因為他們繼續將外匯存底從美國公債轉向黃金等硬資產。

We also see the return of Chinese retail investors who are returning back to a culturally popular form of wealth and storing wealth and gold in response to very soft real estate and stock markets. We generally see very strong interest in commodities, particularly those related to energy transition and electrification. And in the quarter, I think it's fair to say that we've never had the level of institutional engagement ever in the history of Sprott. It's been really remarkable and has kept our team very busy.

我們也看到中國散戶投資者的回歸，他們正在回歸文化上流行的財富形式，並儲存財富和黃金，以應對非常疲軟的房地產和股市。我們普遍看到人們對大宗商品非常濃厚的興趣，特別是那些與能源轉型和電氣化相關的商品。在本季度，我認為可以公平地說，我們從未達到 Sprott 歷史上的機構參與程度。這真的非常了不起，讓我們的團隊非常忙碌。

We believe we're in the early stages of a new commodity super cycle, which will largely be driven by growing electricity demand and mineral intensive energy technologies. And given our growing product suite targeted to these themes, we believe we are very well positioned to capitalize on this long-term secular theme. We did experience some modest redemptions, as Whitney mentioned, in the quarter as discounts to NAVs widen in the precious metal side of our business. But since the end of the quarter, conditions have improved markedly with net outflows of over $200 million quarter-to-date.

我們相信，我們正處於新商品超級週期的早期階段，這將在很大程度上受到不斷增長的電力需求和礦產密集型能源技術的推動。鑑於我們針對這些主題的產品套件不斷增長，我們相信我們完全有能力利用這個長期的世俗主題。正如惠特尼所提到的，本季度我們確實經歷了一些適度的贖回，因為我們業務的貴金屬方面的資產淨值折扣擴大了。但自本季末以來，情況明顯改善，本季迄今淨流出超過 2 億美元。

Inflows have returned to our gold and uranium trust. And I'll just talk a little bit about uranium. It's been a very interesting year so far after uranium hit $106 a pound in January, which was the highest since 2007. We did experience a very healthy pause correcting back to $84 a pound, and we've since risen to about $84 pounds today. That clearly allowed some investors to take advantage of the pullback and accumulate new positions. Sprott has been trading back to a premium to its NAV, which allows us to raise new units through our at-the-market offering. And year-to-date, we've raised approximately $180 million, and that compares to $268 million for the entirety of 2023.

資金流入已回到我們的黃金和鈾信託基金。我只想談談鈾。自 1 月鈾價觸及 2007 年以來的最高點每磅 106 美元以來，今年是非常有趣的一年。我們確實經歷了一次非常健康的暫停，回調至每磅 84 美元，此後我們今天已升至約 84 美元磅。這顯然讓一些投資者能夠利用回檔的機會累積新的部位。Sprott 的交易價格一直高於其資產淨值，這使我們能夠透過市場發行來籌集新單位。今年迄今為止，我們已籌集了約 1.8 億美元，而 2023 年全年籌集了 2.68 億美元。

So I think the momentum is clearly shifting and in sentiment has improved. I think one of the things that's helping sentiment in the sector is clearly geopolitical risks and the recent passing of the ban on the importation of Russian enriched uranium highlights the strategic importance of nuclear energy and secure sources of uranium nuclear fuel. And this has not gone unnoticed amongst institutional investors.

因此，我認為勢頭正在明顯轉變，情緒也有所改善。我認為，提振該行業情緒的因素之一顯然是地緣政治風險，最近通過的俄羅斯濃縮鈾進口禁令凸顯了核能和鈾核燃料來源安全的戰略重要性。機構投資人並沒有忽視這一點。

Let's go to the next slide. Our AUM of $22.7 billion as of May 6, as you can see from the bar chart, growth has been very consistent over the past few years. We're very pleased and proud of the growth of this segment, which stood at under $7 billion in early 2020. This is a highly scalable platform across multiple metals. Many of our corporate shareholders start off the relationship with us by investing in one or more of our physical trust. And in many cases, it involves to much larger relationship by owning Sprott Inc. shares.

讓我們看下一張投影片。截至 5 月 6 日，我們的資產管理規模為 227 億美元，從長條圖可以看出，過去幾年的成長非常穩定。我們對該細分市場的成長感到非常高興和自豪，2020 年初該細分市場的銷售額不足 70 億美元。這是一個跨多種金屬的高度可擴展的平台。我們的許多公司股東透過投資我們的一項或多項實體信託來開始與我們建立關係。在許多情況下，它涉及透過擁有 Sprott Inc. 股份來建立更大的關係。

Next slide. Just in terms -- I'm going to shift to the ETFs. These are the open-ended ETFs that focus primarily on mining equities. Sales in the quarter softened from Q4, largely to the pullback I mentioned in the uranium market. Since the end of the quarter, again, we've seen very strong rebound in net flows of about plus $88 million. Yesterday we had over $20 million more come in. We launched the Sprott Copper Miners ETF. The ticker is COPP on NASDAQ, which has quickly risen to about $25 million in AUM, again, highlighting the growing interest in key commodities like uranium and copper that will -- that are growing in prominence in terms of the energy transition and electrification. We also launched a UCITS version of the very popular Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF in Europe and the United Kingdom, which is starting to grow very nicely.

下一張投影片。簡單來說，我將轉向 ETF。這些是開放式 ETF，主要關注礦業股票。本季的銷售較第四季有所疲軟，主要是由於我提到的鈾市場的回調。自本季末以來，我們再次看到淨流量強勁反彈，約為 8,800 萬美元以上。昨天我們又收到了超過 2000 萬美元的資金。我們推出了 Sprott 銅礦 ETF。納斯達克股票代碼為COPP，其資產管理規模已迅速升至約2500 萬美元，再次凸顯出人們對鈾和銅等關鍵商品日益增長的興趣，而這些商品在能源轉型和電氣化方面的重要性日益凸顯。我們還推出了在歐洲和英國非常受歡迎的 Sprott Junior Uranium Miners ETF 的 UCITS 版本，該 ETF 開始快速成長。

All right. And on the last slide, just wrapping up on AUM and the ETF suite, we're just under $3 billion today. Overall growth has been excellent, given our AUM was a modest $400 million just 2 years ago. We're very pleased with our current range, and we'll look for selective opportunities to capitalize on emerging themes where we can provide high value-add strategies. And with that, I'll pass it back to Whitney.

好的。在最後一張投影片中，剛結束了 AUM 和 ETF 套件，我們今天的規模略低於 30 億美元。鑑於兩年前我們的 AUM 僅為 4 億美元，整體成長非常出色。我們對目前的產品系列非常滿意，我們將尋找有選擇的機會來利用新興主題，在這些主題中我們可以提供高附加價值策略。我會把它傳回給惠特尼。

Thanks, John. I wanted to go to Slide 12, managed equities. As I mentioned at the start of the call, our actively managed precious metals equity strategies have delivered improved performance this year. Our flagship fund, the Sprott Gold Equities fund currently sits atop its peer group having returned 7.3% during the first quarter and 11.2% on a year-to-date basis. We reported $70 million in outflows from the segment during the first quarter due largely to the closing of some legacy European sub-advised accounts.

謝謝，約翰。我想去投影片 12，管理股票。正如我在電話會議開始時提到的，我們積極管理的貴金屬股票策略今年的表現有所改善。我們的旗艦基金 Sprott Gold Equities 基金目前在同類基金中名列前茅，第一季回報率為 7.3%，今年迄今回報率為 11.2%。我們報告第一季該部門的資金流出為 7000 萬美元，這主要是由於關閉了一些傳統的歐洲次級顧問帳戶。

On Slide 13, turning to private strategies. Combined lending and streaming strategies, AUM was $2.6 billion as of March 31, 2024. The team is continuing to monitor and harvest investments in our second private Lending Fund and is actively assessing new investments and opportunities for Lending Fund III. We also continue to advance our activity managed physical commodity strategy, which we launched in November of 2023.

在投影片 13 上，轉向私人策略。截至 2024 年 3 月 31 日，綜合貸款與串流媒體策略，資產管理規模為 26 億美元。團隊正在繼續監控和收穫我們第二個私人借貸基金的投資，並積極評估借貸基金 III 的新投資和機會。我們也持續推動我們於 2023 年 11 月推出的活動管理實體商品策略。

Slide 14. To sum up, we've delivered strong performance through the early months of 2024, and I believe our core investment teams are poised to continue delivering attractive returns for our clients and investors. Precious metals are sitting near record highs and have -- but as of recently have -- until recently have garnered very little attention from investors and the media. Central banks, as John mentioned, continued to diversify their foreign reserves into gold, offsetting Western investor lack of participation.

幻燈片 14。總而言之，我們在 2024 年前幾個月取得了強勁的業績，我相信我們的核心投資團隊將繼續為我們的客戶和投資者帶來有吸引力的回報。貴金屬目前正處於歷史高點附近，直到最近才受到投資者和媒體的關注。正如約翰所提到的，各國央行繼續將外匯存底多元化，轉向黃金，抵消了西方投資者參與不足的影響。

During the first quarter, Western physical gold ETFs experienced 3.4 million ounces of withdrawals. Meanwhile, gold appears to be flowing from West to East, as John mentioned, as Asian investors pick up their pace of gold investment. In China, retail investors are left with few attractive investment alternatives. Real estate is overbuilt and over-levered, stock markets are on shaky ground due to economic weakness and crypto investments are illegal. In short, there is no other alternative.

第一季度，西方實體黃金ETF出現了340萬盎司的提款。同時，正如約翰所提到的，隨著亞洲投資者加快黃金投資步伐，黃金似乎正在從西方流向東方。在中國，散戶幾乎沒有什麼有吸引力的投資選擇。房地產過度建設和過度槓桿化，股市因經濟疲軟而搖搖欲墜，加密貨幣投資是非法的。簡而言之，沒有其他選擇。

With the case for gold becoming more difficult to ignore, we expect institutions and individuals in the Western world will soon bring their gold allocations back to historic norms, adding more fuel to the current rally. We also find it notable that over the past 27 years, the gold price and the S&P 500 have delivered nearly identical returns. This is a fact that I think is not well known.

隨著黃金的情況變得越來越難以忽視，我們預計西方世界的機構和個人將很快將其黃金配置恢復到歷史正常水平，為當前的漲勢增添更多動力。我們還發現值得注意的是，在過去 27 年裡，金價和標準普爾 500 指數的回報率幾乎相同。我認為這是一個不為人所知的事實。

We have continued to expand our Critical Materials product suite with the launch of 3 Copper Miners ETF in 2024. Critical Materials investments now account for 27% of our total AUM. Interest in these metals is surging as it becomes clear that electricity demand in developed markets is poised to rise for the first time in decades. The drivers of this shift include population growth, increasing global standards of living [Technical Difficulty] this year. In the first 4 months of 2024, we track more than 800 interactions with global institutions, family offices and high net worth investors. We've also made significant progress in the broker-dealer channel, securing placements for Exchange Listed Products on several of the largest warehouse platforms.

我們於 2024 年推出 3 Copper Miners ETF，繼續擴展我們的關鍵材料產品套件。關鍵材料投資目前占我們資產管理總額的 27%。隨著已開發市場的電力需求將出現數十年來的首次增長，人們對這些金屬的興趣正在飆升。這項轉變的驅動因素包括人口成長、今年全球生活水準的提升[技術難度]。2024 年前 4 個月，我們追蹤了與全球機構、家族辦公室和高淨值投資者的 800 多次互動。我們在經紀交易商通路方面也取得了重大進展，確保了交易所上市產品在幾個最大的倉庫平台上的安置。

At the same time, our marketing team continues to produce a high volume of top-quality thought leadership materials. We appreciate the continued support of our clients and our shareholders and we feel confident their trust will be rewarded in the quarters and years ahead.

同時，我們的行銷團隊繼續製作大量優質的思想領導材料。我們感謝客戶和股東的持續支持，我們相信他們的信任將在未來幾季和幾年內得到回報。

That concludes our remarks for today's call. I'll now turn it over to the operator for some Q&A. Operator?

我們今天的電話會議發言到此結束。我現在將其轉交給接線員進行一些問答。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Rasib Bhanji, TD Cowen.

（操作員指令）Rasib Bhanji，TD Cowen。

I just wanted to circle back on the broker deal channel. Could you explain the dynamics of secure replacement on the wire house platforms because your products are already exchange traded. So wasn't those advisers on the wire houses not be free to put client assets into Sprott ETF and Exchange Listed Products already?

我只是想回到經紀人交易頻道。您能否說明Wire House平台上安全更換的動態，因為您的產品已經在交易所交易。那麼，那些電線公司的顧問不是已經不能自由地將客戶資產投入 Sprott ETF 和交易所上市產品了嗎？

Yes. Yes. So in the U.S., in particular, there is a process to get your Exchange Listed Products approved for sale for wide distribution. So there are teams of ETF research analysts that evaluate ETFs. With more ETFs than publicly listed stocks right now, I think it's appropriate for these wire houses to properly vet ETFs. And it is a process. It is not just because your free trading doesn't mean you instantly gain access to that distribution network.

是的。是的。因此，特別是在美國，有一個流程可以讓您的交易所上市產品獲得批准銷售以進行廣泛分銷。因此，有 ETF 研究分析師團隊對 ETF 進行評估。目前 ETF 的數量比公開上市的股票還多，我認為這些電線公司適當審查 ETF 是合適的。這是一個過程。這不僅僅是因為您的免費交易並不意味著您可以立即訪問該分銷網絡。

There are parameters that you have to achieve with respect to size, liquidity, fees, bid-ask spread and it does take time to work through those processes. Most recently, our uranium mining ETF, which, even though it's been in existence since the end of 2019, has just been approved at large wire houses like Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch and UBS. So it is a process. It's not a free ride just to have access to these networks. And so we do have a team that works diligently to secure those placements because obviously, when a theme is in favor, you want to have maximum coverage and access to distribution.

您必須在規模、流動性、費用、買賣差價方面達到一些參數，而完成這些流程確實需要時間。最近，我們的鈾礦 ETF 儘管自 2019 年底就已存在，但剛剛獲得摩根士丹利、美林和瑞銀等大型電線公司的批准。所以這是一個過程。僅僅訪問這些網路並不是免費的。因此，我們確實有一個團隊努力確保這些展示位置，因為顯然，當某個主題受到青睞時，您希望獲得最大的覆蓋範圍和發行管道。

My second question would be, I guess, just on the overall business, given the amount of AUM growth you've been seeing, is your current infrastructure and headcount, are there enough to sustain a higher AUM growth? Or would you need to, I guess, invest more and hire more people? Or maybe ask differently, how much operating leverage could we expect to see from higher AUM levels?

我想，我的第二個問題是，就整體業務而言，考慮到您所看到的 AUM 增長量，您目前的基礎設施和員工數量是否足以維持更高的 AUM 成長？或者我想你需要更多投資並僱用更多人嗎？或者換個角度問，我們可以預期從更高的資產管理規模水準中看到多少營運槓桿？

Well, particularly in the Exchange Listed Products, which would include physical trust as well as ETFs, we have an enormous amount of operating leverage and an enormous amount of capacity. We are reasonably small relative to some of the incumbent ETFs like GLD out there in our Physical Gold Trust, for example. So in uranium, the trust is now at about $6 billion.

嗯，特別是在交易所上市產品，其中包括實體信託和ETF，我們擁有巨大的營運槓桿和巨大的容量。例如，相對於一些現有的 ETF（例如我們的實體黃金信託基金中的 GLD），我們的規模相當小。因此，在鈾方面，信託目前約為 60 億美元。

And again, as investor interest increases and the theme of nuclear power becomes more and more widely recognized, we expect to find even larger institutions have an interest in participating. We have been investing in sales and marketing for the last year intentionally to prepare for this. There's not much institutional interest in things like gold or silver, it's more of a retail thing.

同樣，隨著投資者興趣的增加以及核電主題越來越廣泛的認可，我們預計會發現更大的機構有興趣參與。去年我們一直在銷售和行銷方面進行投資，有意為此做好準備。機構對黃金或白銀之類的東西沒有太多興趣，更多的是零售。

But in uranium and critical materials, it's very institutional. And so we created a new institutional team last year, added several executives late in the year and certainly beefed up our marketing team to continue to be able to produce thought leadership content, which is the main way we attract new investors.

但在鈾和關鍵材料方面，這是非常制度化的。因此，我們去年創建了一個新的機構團隊，並在今年稍後增加了幾名高管，當然還加強了我們的行銷團隊，以繼續能夠製作思想領導內容，這是我們吸引新投資者的主要方式。

And I guess just my last question. I think, Kevin, this might be for you on the stock-based compensation line. Given the new, I guess, accounting adjustments, it seems like last Q1 2023 stock-based comp number was increased by $0.5 million. Would that explain the higher stock-based comp that we're seeing in this year? And is this a reasonable run rate as well?

我想這就是我的最後一個問題。我想，凱文，這可能適合你的股票薪酬。我猜想，考慮到新的會計調整，2023 年第一季的股票補償數字似乎增加了 50 萬美元。這是否可以解釋我們今年看到的更高的股票比較？這也是一個合理的運行率嗎？

Sorry, I was following you halfway through your question. So what are you trying to correlate the $0.5 million to?

抱歉，我問了一半才跟著你。那麼您想將這 50 萬美元與什麼聯繫起來呢？

Just the restated numbers for Q1 2023.

只是 2023 年第一季的重述數字。

Got you. Okay, I understand now. Yes, yes. So part of the reclassifications we did when we cleaned out the other category, you are correct, is the DSUs that are paid to the Board. DSUs do fit under IFRS 2 as stock-based comp. So as part of that cleanup exercise, we did repoint that to that line. So that would be one of the reasons for the increase there. So that's correct.

明白你了。好吧，我現在明白了。是的是的。因此，當我們清理其他類別時，我們所做的部分重新分類是支付給董事會的 DSU，你是對的。DSU 確實符合 IFRS 2 作為以股票為基礎的比較。因此，作為清理工作的一部分，我們確實將其重新指向該行。所以這將是那裡增加的原因之一。所以這是正確的。

(Operator Instructions) I'm showing no further questions at this time. I would now like to turn it back to Whitney George for closing remarks.

（操作員說明）我目前沒有提出任何進一步的問題。現在我想請惠特尼·喬治發表結束語。

Thank you, everyone, for participating in this call. We appreciate your interest in Sprott and look forward to speaking to you again after our second quarter results. Have a great day.

感謝大家參與本次電話會議。我們感謝您對 Sprott 的興趣，並期待在我們第二季業績公佈後再次與您交談。祝你有美好的一天。

Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.

感謝您參加今天的會議。這確實結束了該程式。您現在可以斷開連線。