Victory Capital Holdings Inc (VCTR) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Victory Capital third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加勝利資本 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作員說明）

I will now turn the call over to Mr. Matthew Dennis, Chief of Staff and Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. Dennis.

我現在將把電話轉給辦公室主任兼投資者關係總監馬修·丹尼斯先生。請繼續，丹尼斯先生。

Thank you. Before I turn the call over to David Brown, I would like to remind you that during today's conference call, we may make a number of forward-looking statements. Victory Capital's actual results may differ materially from these statements. Furthermore, please note that the ultimate completion of a transaction with Amundi remains subject to certain closing conditions as well as regulatory approvals.

謝謝。在我將電話轉給大衛布朗之前，我想提醒您，在今天的電話會議中，我們可能會發表一些前瞻性聲明。勝利資本的實際結果可能與這些陳述有重大差異。此外，請注意，與 Amundi 交易的最終完成仍需滿足某些成交條件以及監管部門的批准。

Please refer to our SEC filings for a list of some of the risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed on today's call. Victory Capital assumes no duty and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Our press release that was issued after the market closed yesterday, disclosed both GAAP and non-GAAP financial results. We believe the non-GAAP measures enhance the understanding of our business and our performance.

請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件，以了解可能導致實際結果與今天電話會議中表達的結果有重大差異的一些風險因素清單。勝利資本不承擔更新任何前瞻性陳述的責任和義務。我們在昨天收盤後發布的新聞稿披露了 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務業績。我們相信非公認會計原則衡量標準可以增強對我們業務和績效的了解。

Reconciliations between these non-GAAP measures and the most comparable GAAP measures are included in tables that can be found in our earnings press release and in the slides accompanying this call, both of which are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at ir.vcm.com.

這些非GAAP 衡量標準與最具可比性的GAAP 衡量標準之間的對帳包含在我們的收益新聞稿和本次電話會議附帶的幻燈片中的表格中，這兩個表格都可以在我們網站的投資者關係部分獲取，網址為ir. vcm.com。

It's now my pleasure to turn the call over to David Brown, Chairman and CEO. David?

現在我很高興將電話轉給董事長兼執行長大衛布朗。大衛？

Thanks, Matt. Good morning, and welcome to Victory Capital's third quarter 2024 earnings call. I'm joined today by Michael Policarpo, our President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer; as well as Matt Dennis, our Chief of Staff and Director of Investor Relations. I will start today by providing an overview of the quarter. After that, I will turn the call over to Mike to review the financial results in greater detail. Following our prepared remarks, Mike, Matt and I will be available to take your questions.

謝謝，馬特。早安，歡迎參加勝利資本 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。今天我們的總裁、財務和行政官 Michael Policarpo 也加入了我的行列。以及我們的幕僚長兼投資者關係總監 Matt Dennis。我將從今天開始概述本季。之後，我會將電話轉給麥克，以更詳細地審查財務業績。在我們準備好的發言之後，麥克、馬特和我將可以回答你們的問題。

Quarterly business overview begins on slide 5. Continuing with the momentum we had in the first half of the year, our business performed very well during the third quarter. We ended the quarter with total client assets of more than $181 billion, which is the second highest quarter end level in our history. This helped propel revenue and earnings in the period, resulting in new quarterly records for earnings per share, adjusted EBITDA and margin, which expanded to 53.7% in the quarter.

季度業務概覽從幻燈片 5 開始。延續上半年的勢頭，第三季我們的業務表現非常好。本季末，我們的客戶總資產超過 1,810 億美元，這是我們歷史上第二高的季度末水準。這有助於推動該期間的收入和盈利，導致每股收益、調整後 EBITDA 和利潤率創下新的季度記錄，本季擴大至 53.7%。

In addition to strong business performance, we made excellent progress toward closing the strategic and multifaceted transaction with Amundi. We signed a definitive agreement in July and immediately began working toward closing, which is anticipated to occur in the first quarter of 2025. We filed a proxy in early September for a special meeting of stockholders where our shareholders were asked to approve several proposals related to the transaction. All the proposals were supported by a majority of our shareholders and passed. We greatly appreciate the support as we continue to execute on our growth strategy for the long-term.

除了強勁的業務表現外，我們在完成與東方匯理的策略性多方面交易方面也取得了巨大進展。我們於 7 月簽署了一份最終協議，並立即開始努力完成交易，預計將於 2025 年第一季完成。我們在 9 月初提交了股東特別會議的委託書，要求我們的股東批准與交易相關的多項提案。所有議案均得到大多數股東的支持並獲得通過。我們非常感謝您在我們繼續執行長期成長策略時所提供的支持。

The Amundi US business, which will become our 12th investment franchise upon close, is having a very strong year as well. Based on publicly available data, their mutual fund business has achieved approximately $2 billion of positive net long-term flows in 2024 as of the end of the third quarter. Keep in mind, this does not include their US institutional business nor does it include their international institutional and retail businesses. Another point of distinction for them is their investment performance, which remains very strong year-to-date. Their growth in AUM is tracking ahead of what we originally projected due to both better-than-expected organic growth and market action.

東方匯理美國業務在交易完成後將成為我們的第 12 個投資特許經營權，今年也表現強勁。根據公開數據，截至第三季末，他們的共同基金業務在 2024 年已實現約 20 億美元的正淨長期流量。請記住，這不包括他們的美國機構業務，也不包括他們的國際機構和零售業務。他們的另一個與眾不同之處是他們的投資業績，今年迄今仍然非常強勁。由於好於預期的有機成長和市場行動，他們的 AUM 成長超出了我們最初的預期。

On slide 6, I would like to take a step back to highlight some key milestones and strategic transactions in our history since our management buyout in July of 2013. Victory Capital has positively evolved from these transactions with enhanced scale and greater diversification of both investment capabilities and distribution channels.

在投影片 6 中，我想回顧自 2013 年 7 月管理層收購以來我們歷史上的一些關鍵里程碑和策略交易。勝利資本在這些交易中取得了積極的發展，規模擴大了，投資能力和分銷管道也更加多元化。

Every acquisition we made included several significant strategic elements with the goal of making our company better. When it comes to successful acquisitions in the investment management industry, we have a distinct corporate capability that we feel is advanced and coupled with our proven track record to execute, sets us up well for the consolidation that we believe is just starting in the industry.

我們進行的每一次收購都包含幾個重要的策略要素，目標是讓我們的公司變得更好。當談到投資管理行業的成功收購時，我們擁有獨特的企業能力，我們認為這種能力是先進的，再加上我們良好的執行記錄，為我們認為該行業剛剛開始的整合奠定了良好的基礎。

For investment professionals who are passionate about what they do and want to own their outcome, our ownership culture provides a platform where they can succeed over the long-term. Our platform is the ideal permanent home where we create an optimal environment for investment professionals to deliver investment excellence to our clients. While our company has evolved over the years, our core principles and the long-term strategy for profitable growth have remained unchanged.

對於對自己的工作充滿熱情並希望擁有自己成果的投資專業人士來說，我們的所有權文化提供了一個讓他們長期成功的平台。我們的平台是理想的永久家園，我們為投資專業人士創造最佳環境，為客戶提供卓越的投資。儘管我們公司多年來不斷發展，但我們的核心原則和獲利成長的長期策略始終保持不變。

The necessity for industry consolidation is even more apparent now than when we originally developed our strategy and operating platform, combining boutique style-focused investment management with a centralized scaled and effective operating and distribution platform. Our 15 year exclusive distribution agreement with Amundi will make us an even more attractive acquirer of choice for high quality investment firms seeking all that we have to offer plus strong distribution both domestically as well as outside of the US.

與我們最初制定策略和營運平台時相比，現在產業整合的必要性更加明顯，將專注於精品風格的投資管理與集中、規模化、高效的營運和分銷平台相結合。我們與 Amundi 簽訂的 15 年獨家經銷協議將使我們成為尋求我們所提供的一切以及美國國內外強大經銷的優質投資公司更具吸引力的收購者選擇。

With nearly $300 billion of assets under management and a stronger balance sheet post closing, we'll be exceptionally well positioned to make additional strategic accretive acquisitions. As I mentioned during our last call in August, I firmly believe we are entering into a period of acceleration when it comes to industry consolidation. We purposefully and specifically designed and built our platform to thrive in this environment. Today, I am more optimistic about our prospects to continue to execute on our proven strategy and continue to move our organization forward in a very positive way.

憑藉近 3000 億美元的管理資產和交易結束後更強勁的資產負債表，我們將處於非常有利的地位，可以進行更多的策略性增值收購。正如我在八月的最後一次電話會議中提到的，我堅信我們正在進入產業整合的加速時期。我們有目的地、專門設計和建構了我們的平台，以便在這種環境中蓬勃發展。今天，我對我們的前景更加樂觀，繼續執行我們行之有效的策略，並繼續以非常積極的方式推動我們的組織向前發展。

On slide 7, you can see that we have achieved significant operating leverage due to our increasing scale over the years. This has compounded our earnings growth and free cash flow while also being a meaningful driver of value creation for shareholders.

在投影片 7 上，您可以看到，由於多年來我們的規模不斷擴大，我們已經實現了顯著的營運槓桿。這促進了我們的獲利成長和自由現金流，同時也是為股東創造價值的有意義的驅動力。

Since we became a public company in 2018, we've grown annualized adjusted EBITDA by $320 million and expanded our adjusted EBITDA margin by more than 1,500 basis points. You can also see from this graphic that our platform is resilient with margins remaining consistently strong in different market environments. A good example of this was during the COVID pandemic, the market struggled and it turned out to be one of the more volatile market periods historically speaking. Even with that as a backdrop, we did not experience margin degradation like many in the industry did.

自 2018 年成為上市公司以來，我們的年化調整後 EBITDA 成長了 3.2 億美元，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率擴大了 1,500 多個基點。您也可以從這張圖中看到，我們的平台具有彈性，在不同的市場環境中利潤率始終保持強勁。一個很好的例子是在新冠病毒大流行期間，市場陷入困境，事實證明這是歷史上波動性較大的市場時期之一。即使以此為背景，我們也沒有像業界許多人那樣經歷利潤下降。

Turning to slide 8. An important metric to many current and prospective shareholders is adjusted earnings per share. You can see that we have more than tripled our adjusted earnings per share with tax benefit over the past 6 years. This is more than a 20% compound annual growth rate over that period. The growth has been a significant driver of total shareholder returns. This, plus our free cash flow, provides the capital to fuel our growth strategy while also increasing capital returns to shareholders.

轉到投影片 8。對於許多現有和潛在股東來說，一個重要指標是調整後每股盈餘。您可以看到，在過去 6 年裡，我們的調整後每股收益（含稅收優惠）增加了兩倍以上。同期複合年增長率超過 20%。這種成長是股東總回報的重要推手。這加上我們的自由現金流，為我們的成長策略提供了資本，同時也增加了股東的資本回報。

On slide 9, we have updated our capital allocation details, which remain skewed towards strategic inorganic growth initiatives designed to grow earnings and cash flow and ultimately, shareholder value. We ended the quarter with $188 million of cash on the balance sheet, which is up $69 million from the end of June. Due to our proxy process, we were again prohibited from repurchasing shares during the quarter. Now that the proxy process is over, we will evaluate our ability to resume open market share repurchase activity and perform the appropriate analysis around this activity.

在投影片 9 上，我們更新了資本配置細節，這些細節仍然偏向於旨在增加收益和現金流量以及最終股東價值的策略性無機成長計畫。本季結束時，我們的資產負債表上有 1.88 億美元的現金，比 6 月底增加了 6,900 萬美元。由於我們的代理程序，我們在本季再次被禁止回購股票。現在代理程序已經結束，我們將評估我們恢復公開市場股票回購活動的能力，並圍繞該活動進行適當的分析。

Moving to slide 11. Our investment performance remains strong with 67% of our AUM in mutual funds and ETFs, earning overall four or five star ratings. This is broadly diversified, encompassing 43 different products. Over the key three and five year periods, 60% and 73% of our total AUM outperformed their respective benchmarks. 14 of the 16 fixed income funds managed by Victory Income Investors Investment Franchise are rated either four or five stars overall by Morningstar, which represents 93% of their total AUM. We are very pleased to see this franchise have positive net flows for the year-to-date period and expect continued organic growth given the outlook for interest rates and investors allocating the fixed income asset classes.

轉到投影片 11。我們的投資表現依然強勁，67% 的資產管理規模投資於共同基金和 ETF，整體獲得四星或五星評級。本產品種類廣泛，涵蓋 43 種不同的產品。在關鍵的三年和五年期間，我們總資產管理規模的 60% 和 73% 跑贏了各自的基準。 Victory Income Investors Investment Franchise 管理的 16 檔固定收益基金中，有 14 檔被晨星評為四星級或五星級，佔其總資產管理規模的 93%。我們很高興看到該特許經營權今年迄今擁有正的淨流量，並鑑於利率前景和投資者分配固定收益資產類別，預計將持續有機增長。

With that, I will turn the call over to Mike to go through the quarter's financial results in greater detail. Mike?

接下來，我將把電話轉給麥克，讓他更詳細地了解本季的財務表現。麥克風？

Thanks, Dave, and good morning, everyone. The financial results review begins on slide 13. Average assets under management for the quarter rose 3% from the second quarter to $172 billion. Revenue also rose 3% to $225.6 million, up from $219.6 million in the second quarter. Revenue realization was 52.1 basis points in the quarter.

謝謝戴夫，大家早安。財務績效審查從幻燈片 13 開始。本季平均管理資產較第二季成長 3%，達到 1,720 億美元。營收也成長了 3%，達到 2.256 億美元，高於第二季的 2.196 億美元。本季營收實現為 52.1 個基點。

For the year-to-date period, average assets under management were up 10% compared with the same period in 2023. Third quarter GAAP operating income rose 9% from the second quarter and reached a record $120.4 million. This is up more than 50% from the same quarter in 2023, and GAAP operating margin widened to 53.3%.

今年迄今，平均管理資產較 2023 年同期成長 10%。第三季 GAAP 營業收入較第二季成長 9%，達到創紀錄的 1.204 億美元。這比 2023 年同季成長了 50% 以上，公認會計準則營業利潤率擴大至 53.3%。

Earnings per share reached a record high on both a GAAP basis at $1.24 per diluted share as well as on an adjusted basis at $1.35 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA was $121.3 million in the third quarter, which was 4% higher than in the second quarter, and adjusted EBITDA margin widened to 53.7%.

根據公認會計準則計算，稀釋後每股收益為 1.24 美元，調整後每股收益為稀釋後每股 1.35 美元，均創歷史新高。第三季調整後 EBITDA 為 1.213 億美元，比第二季成長 4%，調整後 EBITDA 利潤率擴大至 53.7%。

Turning to the balance sheet. We accumulated $69 million in cash during the quarter, bringing the cash balance to $188 million at the end of the quarter. As mentioned, we are prohibited from repurchasing shares during the quarter, which contributed to the cash buildup. Our net leverage ratio improved to 1.7 times, and we returned $32 million to shareholders in the form of quarterly cash dividends and a small amount of share repurchase activity associated with net settlements of employee equity awards.

轉向資產負債表。本季我們累積了 6,900 萬美元現金，季末現金餘額達到 1.88 億美元。如前所述，我們在本季被禁止回購股票，這導致了現金的累積。我們的淨槓桿率提高到1.7倍，並以季度現金股利和與員工股權獎勵淨結算相關的少量股票回購活動的形式向股東返還3,200萬美元。

Our Board authorized a 7% dividend increase, bringing the quarterly dividend to $0.44 per share for the final quarter of this year. The dividend will be paid on December 23, to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 9.

我們的董事會批准將股息增加 7%，使今年最後一個季度的季度股息達到每股 0.44 美元。股息將於 12 月 23 日支付給 12 月 9 日營業結束時在冊的股東。

Turning to slide 14. You can see that total client assets rose more than 4% or by $7.3 billion from $173.8 billion at the end of June to $181.1 billion at the end of September. Our AUM continues to be diversified from both a channel perspective as well as by client in the various channels and by asset class and investment vehicle.

轉到投影片 14。您可以看到，客戶總資產從 6 月底的 1,738 億美元增加到 9 月底的 1,811 億美元，增幅超過 4%，即 73 億美元。從通路角度以及各通路的客戶、資產類別和投資工具來看，我們的資產管理規模持續多元化。

On slide 15, we cover long-term asset flows. Several of our investment franchises and our ETF platform, VictoryShares continue to generate positive long-term net flows in the quarter. Victory Income Investors posted its third consecutive quarter of positive net flows and has made a significant contribution to net flows for the year-to-date period. We are encouraged by the outlook for this franchise given very strong investment performance and the current selling environment for fixed income products.

在投影片 15 中，我們討論了長期資產流動。我們的幾個投資特許經營權和我們的 ETF 平台 VictoryShares 在本季持續產生正的長期淨流量。Victory Income Investors 連續第三個季度實現正淨流量，並對今年迄今的淨流量做出了重大貢獻。鑑於非常強勁的投資業績和當前固定收益產品的銷售環境，我們對該特許經營的前景感到鼓舞。

For the year-to-date period, RS Global, Sophus, Integrity, VictoryShares and NEC have also achieved positive net long-term flows. Net flows in July and August were pressured by portfolio rebalancing activity, some with existing clients who remain clients post the rebalancing activity.

今年迄今，RS Global、Sophus、Integrity、VictoryShares 和 NEC 也實現了正的淨長期流量。7 月和 8 月的淨流量受到投資組合再平衡活動的壓力，其中一些現有客戶在再平衡活動後仍然是客戶。

We saw an improvement in net flows for the month of September. Lastly, our one but not yet funded pipeline is larger than it has been in over three years and is well diversified from a franchise and channel perspective. We expect most of these mandates to be funded in the fourth quarter of this year with some funding in the first part of next year.

我們看到 9 月的淨流量有所改善。最後，我們尚未獲得資助的管道比三年多以來的管道規模還要大，並且從特許經營和管道的角度來看，其多元化程度很高。我們預計大部分任務將在今年第四季獲得資金，部分資金將在明年上半年獲得。

Slide 16 shows steady increase in sequential revenue for the past several quarters. Our average fee rate was 52.1 basis points in the third quarter, which is down 0.5 basis point from the second quarter due to product, asset class and channel mix shift, but within our expected range. As a reminder, we are focused on the profit margin of our products first than the fee rate, given our unique operating platform.

投影片 16 顯示過去幾季的連續收入穩定成長。第三季我們的平均費用率為 52.1 個基點，由於產品、資產類別和通路組合的變化，較第二季下降 0.5 個基點，但在我們的預期範圍內。提醒一下，鑑於我們獨特的營運平台，我們首先關注產品的利潤率而不是費率。

Slide 17 highlights expenses recorded during the quarter. Total expenses declined by 5% to $118.1 million compared with $123.8 million in the second quarter. A portion of the decline is attributable to the reversal of non-cash earnout related compensation accruals taken in prior periods that led to reported compensation expenses declining by 22%. You can see from the graph on this slide that our cash compensation was relatively steady as a percentage of revenue.

投影片 17 重點介紹了本季記錄的支出。總費用較第二季的 1.238 億美元下降 5%，至 1.181 億美元。下降的部分原因是前期非現金收益相關應計薪酬的逆轉，導致報告的薪酬支出下降了 22%。您可以從這張投影片的圖表中看到，我們的現金薪酬佔收入的百分比相對穩定。

On slide 18, we highlight our non-GAAP metrics. Our reported $1.35 adjusted net income with tax benefit per diluted share is the highest level in our history and is up 3% from the prior record of $1.31 per diluted share reported for the second quarter. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin were also company records at $121.3 million and 53.7%, respectively. Despite exceeding the 49% margin goal we have guided to, we are not changing our long-term guidance.

在幻燈片 18 上，我們重點介紹了我們的非 GAAP 指標。我們公佈的每股攤薄後每股收益為1.35 美元（含稅收優惠）的調整後淨利潤是我們歷史上的最高水平，比之前第二季度公佈的每股攤薄後每股1.31 美元的記錄增長了3%。調整後 EBITDA 和調整後 EBITDA 利潤率也分別創下公司記錄，分別為 1.213 億美元和 53.7%。儘管超過了我們指導的 49% 的利潤率目標，但我們不會改變我們的長期指導。

Finally, turning to slide 19, we generated $99.8 million in cash from operations during the quarter, and for the third consecutive quarter, our leverage ratio improved to 1.7 times, down from 1.9 times at the end of June. This is down from 2.1 times at the beginning of the year.

最後，轉向幻燈片 19，我們在本季度從營運中產生了 9,980 萬美元的現金，連續第三個季度，我們的槓桿率改善至 1.7 倍，低於 6 月底的 1.9 倍。這比年初的 2.1 倍有所下降。

Our $100 million credit facility was extended in the first half of this year and remains undrawn. I want to reiterate our $100 million of expense synergies we expect to realize from the Amundi transaction. The synergies will be fully realized within two years of close, with the majority of them being realized in the first year. Lastly, when it comes to revenue synergies from the exclusive distribution agreement with Amundi, we will give guidance in the future as we move towards closing.

我們的 1 億美元信貸額度已於今年上半年延長，目前尚未提取。我想重申我們預計透過 Amundi 交易實現 1 億美元的費用綜效。協同效應將在交易結束後兩年內充分實現，其中大部分在第一年實現。最後，當談到與 Amundi 的獨家經銷協議帶來的收入協同效應時，我們將在未來接近完成時提供指導。

That concludes our prepared remarks. I will now turn it back over to the operator for questions.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。我現在將其轉回給接線員詢問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Ben Budish, Barclays.

本·布迪什，巴克萊銀行。

Hi, good morning and thanks for taking the question. Maybe just starting on fixed income flows. You highlighted Victory Income Investors has been positive every quarter this year so far. So can you maybe talk about what's perhaps not going as well that's driving sort of the net outflows in that franchise? And how do you think that may fare going into next year?

你好，早上好，感謝您提出問題。也許剛開始固定收益流動。您強調勝利收入投資者今年迄今為止每季都表現積極。那麼，您能否談談是什麼可能導致該特許經營權出現淨流出？您認為明年的情況如何？

It's Dave. Thanks for the question. We're really happy with the fixed income flows and what we're seeing. We've had a few one-off things occur that has impacted the flows. But when we look forward and we look at the macro environment for fixed income, we look at the investment performance of Victory Income Investors, which is our fixed income franchise. And I think we referenced it in the prepared remarks, excellent investment performance, really good distribution access and really consistent.

是戴夫。謝謝你的提問。我們對固定收益流和我們所看到的情況感到非常滿意。我們發生了一些影響流量的一次性事件。但當我們展望未來並審視固定收益的宏觀環境時，我們會專注於勝利收益投資者（Victory Income Investors）的投資表現，這是我們的固定收益專營權。我認為我們在準備好的發言中提到了這一點：出色的投資業績，非常好的分銷管道，而且非常一致。

In addition, we also have mutual fund offerings, institutional separate accounts and then also ETFs. So we're pretty bullish on the franchise. We're pretty bullish on the opportunity for us to participate in what's happening in fixed income. So really no concern and a pretty positive outlook when we look forward.

此外，我們也提供共同基金產品、機構獨立帳戶以及 ETF。所以我們非常看好該特許經營權。我們非常看好我們有機會參與固定收益領域的發展。所以當我們展望未來時，真的沒有什麼擔憂，而且前景非常積極。

Got it. Maybe another kind of like a higher-level strategic question. David, in your prepared remarks, you talked about the industry sort of still being in early stages of consolidation. I was wondering if you could unpack that a little bit, it seems like there has been some consolidation over the past several years. How do you think industry-wide that looks over, say, like the next 5 five? And then specific for Victory, you're not paying cash or debt for this -- for the Amundi acquisition. How do you think about your readiness to do another acquisition in 2025 from an operational perspective?

知道了。也許是另一種更高層次的策略問題。大衛，在您準備好的發言中，您談到該行業仍處於整合的早期階段。我想知道你是否可以稍微解釋一下，過去幾年似乎已經進行了一些整合。您認為整個產業的情況如何，例如接下來的五五？然後具體到 Victory 來說，你不需要為此支付現金或債務——為了收購 Amundi。從營運角度來看，您如何看待 2025 年進行另一次收購的準備？

So from an environmental perspective for the industry, I'm extremely constructive. We've had an election, which I think will give people certainty on the future. I think also the challenges in the industry, which is driving the need for consolidation are only accelerating. And I think a rate environment where people have some more transparency and potentially lower rates. You put all of that together, I really believe that we are entering into a phase that is going to have more consolidation than the industry has ever seen. I've been pretty consistent on that. There have been some transactions, but I think there are going to be a lot more as we look forward.

因此，從產業的環境角度來看，我非常有建設性。我們已經舉行了選舉，我認為這將使人們對未來充滿確定性。我認為該行業面臨的挑戰也正在加速整合，這推動了整合的需求。我認為人們擁有更高透明度和潛在更低利率的利率環境。把所有這些放在一起，我真的相信我們正在進入一個比行業以往任何時候都更加整合的階段。我對此一直非常一致。已經發生了一些交易，但我認為未來還會有更多交易。

As far as specific to Victory, I think we are superiorly positioned to take advantage of the consolidation. We have a really, really good track record of executing on these kinds of acquisitions that I think will be very common going forward.

就勝利而言，我認為我們處於優勢地位，可以利用整合的優勢。我們在執行此類收購方面擁有非常非常好的記錄，我認為這種收購在未來將非常普遍。

We have a great offering as we laid out in our prepared remarks for investment professionals, and we have great distribution access, and we'll have scale. And we're ready. From a balance sheet perspective, post close, we're going to be in a much better position than we are today, and we're in a really good position today.

正如我們在為投資專業人士準備的發言中所闡述的那樣，我們擁有出色的產品，我們擁有良好的分銷管道，並且我們將擁有規模。我們準備好了。從資產負債表的角度來看，收盤後，我們的處境將比今天好得多，而且我們今天的處境非常好。

And then operationally, we'll be ready as well. We have a really unique platform that is really conducive to acquisitions and onboarding acquisitions. And Amundi is just the latest one. We have a long track record of doing this, and we have a great team. So I couldn't be more encouraged about the future from an acquisition standpoint. And we've been able to really create shareholder value. We've been able to create value for our clients and additional offerings. We've been able to create operating leverage. So I and our team are just unbelievably excited about the opportunity and how we're positioned looking forward.

然後在操作上，我們也會做好準備。我們擁有一個非常獨特的平台，非常有利於收購和入職收購。Amundi 只是最新的一個。我們在這方面擁有悠久的記錄，並且擁有一支出色的團隊。因此，從收購的角度來看，我對未來感到無比鼓舞。我們已經能夠真正創造股東價值。我們已經能夠為客戶和其他產品創造價值。我們已經能夠創造營運槓桿。因此，我和我們的團隊對這個機會以及我們的未來定位感到難以置信的興奮。

All right, I appreciate the thoughts and thanks for taking my question.

好吧，我很欣賞你的想法，也謝謝你提出我的問題。

Etienne Ricard, BMO Capital Markets

艾蒂安·里卡德 (Etienne Ricard)，BMO 資本市場

Thank you and good morning. On the topic of the distribution partnership, Dave, you've raised in the past that Amundi has a significant presence in emerging economies via some of its joint ventures. So how are you and Amundi thinking about distributing Victory's products in these economies relative to Amundi's presence in developed markets?

謝謝你，早安。關於分銷合作夥伴關係的話題，戴夫，您過去曾提到東方匯理透過其一些合資企業在新興經濟體中擁有重要的影響力。那麼，相對於 Amundi 在已開發市場的業務，您和 Amundi 如何考慮在這些經濟體分銷 Victory 的產品？

So the distribution agreement doesn't distinguish between different geographies. As you've stated, Amundi has a pretty large distribution offering in Europe. I believe close to 75% of their assets are in Europe and the other 20% is in Asia and surrounding areas. We will plan to go at all of the countries and areas really the same way. We're working with their teams today on structuring, on what products make sense for which regions. And then from there, we'll just work with them to get our products into the different structures, if it's a JV or if it's not a JV.

因此，分銷協議不區分不同地區。正如您所說，東方匯理在歐洲擁有相當大的分銷產品。我相信他們近75%的資產在歐洲，另外20%在亞洲及週邊地區。我們計劃在所有國家和地區都走同樣的路。今天我們正在與他們的團隊合作建構結構，確定哪些產品對哪些地區有意義。然後從那裡開始，我們將與他們合作，將我們的產品納入不同的結構，無論它是合資企業還是非合資企業。

So there's really no distinguishing actions that we're taking to do something different in one region versus another. I think what's most important is they have really, really good distribution access and their infrastructure is set up in all of these areas and especially in these emerging areas. I believe the emerging areas are going to take some time as those countries allow US investment into the country. So I think it's going to take a little bit of time. But long-term, I think we're going to do really well in Europe and then in the other emerging areas that they have joint ventures in China and in India.

因此，我們在一個地區和另一個地區採取的行動確實沒有什麼不同。我認為最重要的是他們擁有非常非常好的分銷管道，並且他們的基礎設施建立在所有這些領域，特別是在這些新興領域。我相信新興領域將需要一些時間，因為這些國家允許美國投資進入該國。所以我認為這需要一點時間。但從長遠來看，我認為我們將在歐洲做得非常好，然後在其他新興領域，他們在中國和印度設有合資企業。

Okay. Interesting. Switching topics, Victory shares, a couple of your free cash flow ETFs have had really strong inflows. What has worked well in terms of distribution for these products? And how do you plan to replicate it with future product launches?

好的。有趣的。轉換話題，Victory 股票，你們的一些自由現金流 ETF 已經有非常強勁的資金流入。哪些因素在這些產品的分銷上發揮了良好的作用？您計劃如何在未來的產品發布中複製它？

So we're really in the early stages, and I think you're referring to our VFLO, which is V-F-L-O ETF, and then our SFLO, which is S-F-L-O ETF. These are newer ETFs that have gained traction based on our distribution and based on the performance and the style of the investment style of the ETF. But I think we're -- like I said, we're in early stages. And I think one thing that's unique about our business is, we have a distribution force, our intermediary sales force, all of our salespeople sell ETFs.

所以我們確實處於早期階段，我認為您指的是我們的 VFLO，即 V-F-L-O ETF，然後是我們的 SFLO，即 S-F-L-O ETF。這些是較新的 ETF，根據我們的分佈以及 ETF 投資風格的表現和風格而受到關注。但我認為我們——就像我說的，我們正處於早期階段。我認為我們業務的獨特之處在於，我們擁有一支分銷隊伍，我們的中間銷售隊伍，我們所有的銷售人員都銷售 ETF。

And so they're really sitting down with advisors and -- financial advisors and RIAs, and really trying to understand what the issues, that the advisors face and really trying to come up with solutions and part of those solutions are these kinds of products. And so I think by doing that, it allows us to penetrate these advisors pretty quickly.

因此，他們確實與顧問以及財務顧問和 RIA 坐下來，真正嘗試了解顧問面臨的問題，並真正嘗試提出解決方案，而這些解決方案的一部分就是此類產品。所以我認為透過這樣做，我們可以很快地滲透到這些顧問中。

And I think you can see it with some of the results of those products. We have plans to launch more, and we have also launched a number of new ETFs that are really just getting started. It's an exciting part of our platform. It's a part that's growing. It's a part that's growing at an accelerated pace. And as we look forward, I believe that we're going to see that be a bigger part of our business. And it's an area that we have -- we date back to 2015 from an acquisition. So we've been in the ETF business for over eight years now.

我想你可以從這些產品的一些結果中看到這一點。我們計劃推出更多，而且我們還推出了一些新的 ETF，這些實際上才剛剛開始。這是我們平台中令人興奮的部分。這是正在成長的一部分。這是一個正在加速成長的部分。展望未來，我相信我們將看到這成為我們業務的更大組成部分。這是我們擁有的一個領域——我們可以追溯到 2015 年的收購。我們從事 ETF 業務已經八年多了。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Alex Blostein, Goldman Sachs.

亞歷克斯·布洛斯坦，高盛。

Hi, good morning. Thank you for the question. I was hoping you guys could expand on the institutional pipeline commentary you made that it's, I think you said one of the strongest in several years. Maybe just a little color on the composition by the type of strategy, the type of channel and the fee rate associated would be helpful. And then I guess when you zoom out a little more broadly, do you think closing and getting these mandates in the door will be sort of enough to finally get Victory as a whole into positive organic growth in '25?

嗨，早安。謝謝你的提問。我希望你們能夠擴展你們對機構管道的評論，我認為你們說這是幾年來最強烈的評論之一。也許只需對策略類型、通路類型和相關費用率的組成進行一些說明就會有所幫助。然後我想，當你把目光放得更廣泛時，你認為關閉並獲得這些授權就足以最終讓勝利作為一個整體在 25 年實現積極的有機增長嗎？

So on the institutional pipeline, it really spans across a number of different franchises. It's not just one, it's probably three or four. And a lot of the pipeline -- and we have a large one but not yet funded book. I'm referring to our pipeline, which isn't one yet. But our one but not yet funded is pretty wide and deep as well. But on our pipeline, it's a number of different franchises, it isn't one specific institutional type of client. They are larger mandates. The fee rates are in line with what we typically charge on the institutional side.

因此，在機構管道上，它確實跨越了許多不同的特許經營權。不只一個，大概有三、四個。還有很多正在醞釀中——我們有一本大書，但尚未獲得資助。我指的是我們的管道，目前還沒有。但我們尚未資助的一項計畫也相當廣泛且深入。但在我們的管道中，有許多不同的特許經營權，而不是特定的機構類型的客戶。它們是更大的任務。費率與我們通常向機構收取的費用一致。

I think as you know, we are concerned with the fee rate, but we're very focused on the margin. And that's how we look at our business and we look at the platform and all of the opportunities adhere to our margin requirements. So it isn't going to erode our margins and it isn't going to erode our fee rate either. As far as looking forward, very hard to predict quarter-by-quarter flows. But I think with the activity that we see, coupled with the Amundi distribution agreement outside the US, coupled with the Amundi US business closing in the first quarter and enlarging our intermediary sales force, our institutional sales force, I think it puts us in an unbelievable position to grow our business organically.

我想如您所知，我們關心的是費率，但我們非常關注利潤。這就是我們看待我們的業務、我們的平台以及所有機會都遵守我們的保證金要求的方式。因此，它不會侵蝕我們的利潤，也不會侵蝕我們的費率。就未來而言，很難預測逐季度的流量。但我認為，根據我們看到的活動，再加上東方匯理銀行在美國以外的分銷協議，加上東方匯理銀行美國業務在第一季度關閉，以及擴大我們的中間銷售隊伍、我們的機構銷售隊伍，我認為這讓我們處於一個有機發展我們業務的令人難以置信的地位。

It puts us in the best position we've ever been as an organization because we'll have more salespeople, more distribution access here in the US than we've ever had. And then outside of the US, we are opening up a totally new world, a new channel for us that we have not had on the size and scale that we'll have after we close.

它使我們作為一個組織處於有史以來最好的位置，因為我們將在美國擁有比以往更多的銷售人員和更多的分銷管道。然後在美國之外，我們正在為我們開闢一個全新的世界、一個新的管道，這是我們關閉後所沒有的規模和規模。

And that is one of the best parts about the Amundi transaction is the growth of the size and scale of our intermediary sales force in the US and then what's going to happen outside the US. So I think it will put us in a great position. I don't like to predict flows because I don't know what's going to happen with the market and the industry, but it puts us in a great position to be successful.

Amundi 交易最好的部分之一是我們在美國的中間銷售隊伍的規模和規模的增長，以及美國以外地區將發生的事情。所以我認為這將使我們處於有利的地位。我不喜歡預測流量，因為我不知道市場和行業會發生什麼，但這使我們處於成功的有利位置。

Got it. Okay. Makes sense. And the second question, I was hoping you guys could just update on where Amundi's revenues and expenses stand currently. Obviously, the markets have been very constructive and their flows have been pretty good. So an update on what that looks like today would be helpful.

知道了。好的。有道理。第二個問題，希望你們能更新一下東方匯理目前的收入和支出狀況。顯然，市場非常有建設性，資金流動也相當不錯。因此，了解今天的情況會很有幫助。

Yeah. Thanks, Alex. It's Mike. Yes, the total AUM for Amundi US is not publicly disclosed. But I think in Dave's comments, he shared that we believe we'll be approaching $300 billion in AUM, post close. Obviously, the market and organic growth has provided tailwinds for the Amundi US business as well as Victory's business. And I think the guidance we've provided in the past is that the fee rates at the Amundi US business are probably in the high-40s. So slightly lower than the fee rates at Victory.

是的。謝謝，亞歷克斯。是麥克。是的，東方匯理美國公司的總資產管理規模並未公開揭露。但我認為在戴夫的評論中，他表示我們相信交易結束後我們的資產管理規模將接近 3000 億美元。顯然，市場和有機成長為東方匯理美國業務以及勝利的業務提供了動力。我認為我們過去提供的指導是東方匯理美國業務的費率可能在 40 左右。因此略低於勝利的費率。

And then we've also guided to the long-term 49% margins, which we feel very confident with achieving post the extraction of the $100 million of expense synergies. So a lot of tailwind in both businesses. As Dave mentioned in his prepared remarks, the public data on the Amundi US mutual fund businesses organic growth for the year-to-date period, and they've had very strong performance as well.

然後我們也制定了 49% 的長期利潤率，我們對在提取 1 億美元的費用協同效應後實現這一目標非常有信心。因此，這兩項業務都有很多順風車。正如戴夫在準備好的發言中提到的，公開數據顯示，匯豐銀行美國共同基金業務今年迄今實現了有機增長，並且表現也非常強勁。

Yeah. I got you. Great.

是的。我接到你了。偉大的。

And I would add to that, just one other comment is, when we evaluated the business, when we were doing our diligence to where it is today, it has outperformed our expectations to the positive on a number of different areas from an organic growth perspective, from an investment performance perspective. So we're really, really happy and we're really impressed with the team, and we're really impressed with the results and excited to have them part of our organization.

我想補充一點，另一條評論是，當我們評估業務時，當我們盡職盡責地達到今天的水平時，從有機增長的角度來看，它在許多不同領域的積極表現超出了我們的預期，從投資績效的角度來看。所以我們真的非常非常高興，我們對團隊印象深刻，我們對結果印象深刻，並且很高興他們成為我們組織的一部分。

Alright. Thank you.

好吧。謝謝。

Brennan Hawken, UBS.

布倫南霍肯，瑞銀集團。

Follow-up on that last point. You spoke -- in speaking to Amundi outperforming your expectation. Is it possible to give us maybe an update on -- does that mean that accretion you would expect from the deal would be greater? And maybe could you give a little color or perspective on order of magnitude that we should expect?

跟進最後一點。你在與 Amundi 交談時的表現超出了你的預期。是否可以向我們提供最新情況—這是否意味著您期望從該交易中獲得的收益會更大？也許你能就我們應該期望的數量級給出一些顏色或觀點嗎？

Thanks, Brennan. It's Mike. Yes, I think we'd still kind of stick with the guidance that we provided, which was low double-digit accretion post the first full year of ownership. We've kind of confirmed the guidance with respect to the expense synergies. And then we've provided that we'll provide some more clarity on revenue synergies as we get closer to the transaction. But we're really focused on kind of the execution phase, getting to closing.

謝謝，布倫南。是麥克。是的，我認為我們仍然會堅持我們提供的指導，在擁有所有權的第一個完整年份後，該指導是低兩位數的增長。我們已經確認了有關費用協同效應的指導。然後我們表示，隨著交易的臨近，我們將更明確地說明收入協同效應。但我們真正關注的是執行階段，即結束。

And as Dave mentioned, kind of making sure that the business is ready to operate day one, which we're fully confident that we'll be able to execute based on the playbook that we have. And as Dave mentioned, they've outperformed both in an investment performance flow and AUM perspective, which will provide some tailwinds. But I think at this point, with the close coming in Q1, I don't think we're ready to lock in anything different than the guidance we've provided in the past.

正如戴夫所提到的，確保業務第一天就做好營運準備，我們完全有信心能夠根據我們現有的劇本來執行。正如戴夫所提到的，他們在投資績效流和資產管理規模方面都表現出色，這將提供一些推動力。但我認為，在這一點上，隨著第一季即將結束，我認為我們還沒有準備好鎖定任何與我們過去提供的指導不同的內容。

Okay. I'll just let my imagination run away with it. You also spoke to the opportunity to consolidate. I'm not asking you to tip your hand here, but like are there any particular parts of the market or from either a capability perspective or geographic or whatnot that you find interesting or you think are particularly compelling or maybe mispriced?

好的。我就讓我的想像力隨它而去。您也談到了整合的機會。我並不是要求您在這裡伸出援手，而是說市場上是否有任何特定部分，或者從能力角度或地理角度或其他方面來看，您覺得有趣或您認為特別引人注目或可能定價錯誤？

We don't approach acquisitions that way. We start off with dozen acquisitions to make our company better. And there are a lot of ways to answer that question through an acquisition. Amundi gave us size and scale, gave us additional investment capabilities, gave us distribution access and it's going to make our company better. And so we'll approach the future acquisitions like that. We're not looking for a specific asset class. We're not looking for a specific type of company. We're looking to make our company better. We're looking to make sure that there's a cultural match. We're looking for investment excellence over long periods of time. That's how we'll approach it.

我們不會以這種方式進行收購。我們首先進行了十幾次收購，以使我們的公司變得更好。透過收購有很多方法可以回答這個問題。Amundi 為我們提供了規模和規模，為我們提供了額外的投資能力，為我們提供了分銷管道，這將使我們的公司變得更好。因此，我們將這樣對待未來的收購。我們並不是在尋找特定的資產類別。我們並不是在尋找特定類型的公司。我們希望讓我們的公司變得更好。我們希望確保文化匹配。我們正在尋找長期的卓越投資。這就是我們將如何處理它。

I do think size and scale is going to matter in the future as you think about the industry maturing. So I think anything that we will do, we will definitely have -- be looking through a lens of wanting to get larger and wanting to continue to get -- to have our size and scale grow, because I think that's going to be really important to be competitive longer-term. But outside of that, I don't think that there is anything unique or specific. There are, of course, areas in the market that are growing faster than other areas. We're well aware of that. We want to be in areas of growth, but that isn't going exactly to be the driving factor of exactly what we're going to do.

我確實認為，當你考慮這個行業的成熟時，規模和規模在未來將會很重要。因此，我認為我們要做的任何事情，我們肯定都會從想要變得更大並想要繼續變得更大的角度來看待，以擴大我們的規模和規模，因為我認為這將非常重要才能保持長期競爭力。但除此之外，我不認為有什麼獨特或具體的東西。當然，市場上有些領域的成長速度快於其他領域。我們很清楚這一點。我們希望進入成長領域，但這並不是我們要做的事情的驅動因素。

Got it. Thanks for taking my questions.

知道了。感謝您回答我的問題。

Michael Cyprys, Morgan Stanley.

麥可‧賽普里斯，摩根士丹利。

Great. Thanks so much for the question. Maybe just continuing on that M&A topic there. (technical difficulty) over the years, I guess, where is their scope to make Victory better today? Where do you want to have greater scale? What is the appetite to extend into some of those growthier areas like private markets? And maybe you could give us a sense of the types of deals that are coming across your desk that you guys are evaluating?

偉大的。非常感謝您的提問。也許只是繼續討論併購話題。 （技術難度）這些年來，我想，他們今天讓勝利變得更好的範圍在哪裡？您想在哪些方面擁有更大的規模？擴展到私人市場等一些成長較快的領域的意願是什麼？也許您可以讓我們了解一下您辦公桌上正在評估的交易類型？

Thanks, Mike. First, we -- like I said before, we want to get larger. I think there is going to be a need for firms to have size and scale. And post the Amundi close at $300 billion, we will be sized and scaled today. But five years forward, that probably isn't going to be big enough to be competitive the way that we want to be competitive. So size and scale will matter. It will matter on the US intermediary distribution. It will matter as you think about the product set that you have -- that you're able to offer to that distribution channel.

謝謝，麥克。首先，就像我之前說過的，我們想要變得更大。我認為公司需要有規模。在 Amundi 收盤價達到 3000 億美元後，我們今天將進行規模調整。但五年後，這個規模可能還不夠大，無法像我們希望的那樣具有競爭力。因此，尺寸和規模很重要。這對美國的中間分銷很重要。當您考慮您擁有的產品集（您能夠向該分銷管道提供）時，這一點很重要。

And the investments you're going to have to make with your partners around marketing, training, collateral, data, technology and just having people out selling. So you have to be larger to accomplish all of those things. So that matters to us. We're going to want to have a larger product set than we have today to be able to partner with our potential clients and our existing clients.

您必須與合作夥伴在行銷、培訓、抵押品、數據、技術以及人員銷售方面進行投資。所以你必須變得更大才能完成所有這些事情。所以這對我們很重要。我們希望擁有比現在更大的產品集，以便能夠與我們的潛在客戶和現有客戶合作。

So going deeper on traditional asset management, yes, private markets in certain areas, we'll want to expand there. We'll do that creatively. We have been working very hard behind the scenes strategically on how we want to do that. Some firms have gone out and done acquisitions. Some have partnered. We've observed the results of all of those and have a strategy for that.

因此，更深入地研究傳統資產管理，是的，在某些領域的私人市場，我們希望在那裡擴張。我們將創造性地做到這一點。我們一直在幕後非常努力地策略性地研究我們想要如何做到這一點。一些公司已經走出去進行收購。有些已經合作了。我們觀察了所有這些結果並為此制定了策略。

And so we want to expand our product set around just getting closer with our clients, and we'll do that through acquisition and product launches. And then lastly, we're going to still stick with our operating model and our business model. And I think it's unique. What we won't do is pivot away from who we are and what's made us successful, but we'll accomplish all of those things with the same model and the same mindset that we've done in the past.

因此，我們希望圍繞與客戶建立更緊密的關係來擴展我們的產品系列，我們將透過收購和產品發布來實現這一目標。最後，我們仍將堅持我們的營運模式和商業模式。我認為它是獨一無二的。我們不會做的是放棄我們是誰以及讓我們成功的因素，但我們會以與過去相同的模式和相同的心態來完成所有這些事情。

Great. And then just as a follow-up question, as you're moving toward close here with the Amundi transaction. Maybe you could speak to any sort of lessons learned over the years from the prior transactions that you've done? What sort of -- how does that inform your sort of go-forward here in terms of key (technical difficulty) and key actions to avoid perhaps that others do -- that you do a bit differently? And then perhaps related to that, you mentioned private markets as an area maybe of interest looking at others that have done acquisitions and partnerships. Just curious what lessons you take away from approaches that others have gone (technical difficulty) with those private market approaches.

偉大的。作為一個後續問題，Amundi 交易即將結束。也許您可以談談多年來從您之前進行的交易中吸取的任何經驗教訓？什麼樣的——這如何告訴你在關鍵（技術難度）和關鍵行動方面的進展，以避免其他人所做的——你採取了一些不同的做法？然後也許與此相關的是，您提到私募市場可能是一個值得關注的領域，看看其他進行收購和合作的人。只是好奇你從其他人採用的私人市場方法（技術難度）中學到了哪些教訓。

So the lessons -- I'd say lessons learned on our previous acquisitions. We are conservative and patient, we are -- we do our diligence, we do our work, and we are patient and deliberate in putting these businesses onto our platform, and we're also open-minded. And I think that comes through in our approach, and I think it comes through in all of our work, and ultimately, the execution. And those are things that we've refined over 11 years of being an independent company and all of the acquisitions we've done.

所以教訓——我想說的是我們之前收購的教訓。我們是保守的、有耐心的，我們勤奮工作，我們有耐心、深思熟慮地將這些企業放到我們的平台上，我們也持開放的態度。我認為這體現在我們的方法中，我認為它體現在我們所有的工作以及最終的執行中。這些是我們作為一家獨立公司 11 年來不斷完善的東西以及我們所做的所有收購。

We have the same team working on the acquisitions for the most part that we had a decade ago. And that's pretty important to have really experienced people working on the integration and the execution, and that's a key element of our model. And all of the lessons we've learned, we're applying to this transaction. And when we complete this transaction, we'll apply the lessons we've learned on this one to the next one.

我們的大部分收購工作與十年前的團隊相同。讓真正有經驗的人員從事整合和執行工作非常重要，這是我們模型的關鍵要素。我們學到的所有經驗教訓都將應用於這筆交易。當我們完成這筆交易時，我們將這筆交易中學到的經驗教訓應用到下一筆交易中。

As far as private markets, I mentioned that we've observed partnerships. We've observed some of the acquisitions. And I'm happy that we've had the ability to observe the success or lack of success in certain areas. I think each company is unique. And so how a private markets type product acquisition or partnership would work with our company will be unique to our company. And so it's hard to look at another company not having all the information and it not being our exact company to come up with lessons. But I would tell you that we're very happy with where we are with it and the ability to observe, the ability to build other parts of our business to make potentially an acquisition, a partnership, a product launch more successful.

至於私人市場，我提到我們已經觀察到了合作關係。我們觀察了一些收購。我很高興我們有能力觀察某些領域的成功或失敗。我認為每個公司都是獨一無二的。因此，私募市場類型的產品收購或合作夥伴關係如何與我們公司合作對我們公司來說將是獨一無二的。因此，很難想像另一家公司不具備所有資訊，而且它也不是我們的公司，無法提供經驗教訓。但我想告訴你，我們對我們所處的位置以及觀察能力、建立我們業務其他部分的能力感到非常滿意，以使潛在的收購、合作夥伴關係、產品發布更加成功。

The private market investing is important. It's an area of growth. It's an area that a lot of people are talking about. And I think that we'll -- when we look in the future, we'll participate in that part of the market in a way that's very similar to what we've done with our traditional business. And like I said, I think our ability to observe and go back and look at things strategically will benefit us in the future.

私人市場投資很重要。這是一個成長領域。這是很多人都在談論的一個領域。我認為，當我們展望未來時，我們將以與我們傳統業務非常相似的方式參與這部分市場。就像我說的，我認為我們觀察和回顧並策略性地看待事物的能力將使我們在未來受益。

Great. Thanks so much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Kenneth Lee, RBC Capital Markets.

肯尼斯李，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. Just one more on M&A. Broadly speaking, I wonder if you could just talk about how bid/ask spreads are looking like among your discussions? And also wondering relatedly, if you could just frame what the motivation is like from potential sellers in getting a transaction done. Thanks.

嘿，早安。感謝您提出我的問題。再談一談併購。從廣義上講，我想知道您是否可以談談您的討論中的買入/賣出價差如何？並且還想知道相關的，您是否可以框架一下潛在賣家完成交易的動機是什麼。謝謝。

Yeah. I think the bid ask is coming together. I think people are ready to transact. Market is strong. You can look at the future and you can game plan somewhat the next four years from a government administration perspective now. You can look at the Fed and rates and have a pretty strong opinion. I think that's an environment where people want to transact.

是的。我認為出價正在匯集。我認為人們已經準備好進行交易。市場強勁。你現在可以展望未來，並從政府管理的角度對未來四年進行一些規劃。你可以看看美聯儲和利率，並有相當強烈的意見。我認為這是人們想要進行交易的環境。

So like I said earlier, I think that there's going to be a lot of consolidation. I think the motivation is going to be an environment that is conducive to that from rates, from policy and all of the reasons why an organization, depending on the type of organization would transact, they're not -- those issues are not going away, in fact, they're probably becoming more intense. And so you put all that together, and I think it's going to be a time where there's going to be a lot of consolidation. And I go back to -- I think we're really well positioned for it. And I think people are realistic on pricing.

正如我之前所說，我認為將會有很多整合。我認為動機將是一個有利於這一點的環境，從費率、政策以及組織（取決於組織類型）進行交易的所有原因來看，這些問題不會消失，事實上，他們可能變得更加激烈。所以你把所有這些放在一起，我認為這將是一個會進行大量整合的時期。我想我們已經做好了充分的準備。我認為人們對定價是現實的。

Great. Very helpful there. And just one follow-up, if I may. In terms of recent conversations you may have had with institutional investors, I wonder if you could just provide a little bit more color around sentiment activity and perhaps whether you expect the post-election certainty could help drive more allocations or net flows there.

偉大的。那裡非常有幫助。如果可以的話，只有一個後續行動。就您最近與機構投資者進行的對話而言，我想知道您是否可以就情緒活動提供更多信息，也許您預計選舉後的確定性是否有助於推動更多的配置或淨流量。

Yeah. We haven't had the -- given the election was just a couple of days ago, we haven't had too many conversations. But I would imagine that there will be a desire to do more allocations and to kind of do the risk on trade. Although rates, even if they stay where they are today, I do think that the environment will be one of people can understand what the future might be. A lot of the uncertainty is taken out. And I think it's going to be really good for our business and for the investment management industry in general to get rid of some of the uncertainty that was there before the election.

是的。鑑於選舉才幾天前，我們還沒有進行太多對話。但我想人們會希望進行更多的分配並承擔貿易風險。儘管利率，即使它們保持在今天的水平，我確實認為環境將是人們可以理解的未來之一。很多不確定性都被消除了。我認為消除選舉前存在的一些不確定性對我們的業務和整個投資管理行業來說確實有好處。

Great, very helpful there. Thanks again.

太棒了，那裡非常有幫助。再次感謝。

Ken Worthington, JPMorgan.

肯‧沃辛頓，摩根大通。

Hi, good morning guys. Thanks for squeezing me in. This is [Michael Cho] in for Ken. I just wanted to follow-up quickly on the distribution with Amundi here. I realize revenue synergies are coming. But I guess just from an operational perspective, can you just update us where your initial priorities will be focused with respect to Victory products as you get the sales effort off the ground for this partnership?

嗨，大家早安。謝謝你把我擠進去。這是肯的[Michael Cho]。我只是想快速跟進 Amundi 的分發情況。我意識到收入協同效應即將到來。但我想，僅從營運角度來看，您能否向我們介紹一下，當您為此次合作夥伴關係開展銷售工作時，您最初的優先事項將集中在 Victory 產品方面？

Michael, it's Mike. Thanks for the question. I think as Dave said earlier, the infrastructure at Amundi with respect to this global distribution partnership is in place. The Amundi US product is being distributed throughout the Amundi global network. And so our efforts really have been around evaluating which Victory products should be a high priority or a focused product with respect to that global network, doing some work with respect to structuring. There are some commingled vehicles that will be part of the retail distribution. And then also starting to think about education on those products.

邁克爾，是麥克。謝謝你的提問。我認為正如 Dave 之前所說，東方匯理在全球分銷合作夥伴關係方面的基礎設施已經就位。Amundi US 產品正在整個 Amundi 全球網絡中分銷。因此，我們的努力實際上是圍繞著評估哪些勝利產品應該成為該全球網路的高度優先級或重點產品，並在結構方面做一些工作。有一些混合車輛將成為零售分銷的一部分。然後也開始考慮這些產品的教育。

So really, we're lining ourselves up to be focused from an execution perspective post closing, not just with new Victory products, but the current existing Amundi US products that are in the network and then leveraging those relationships, leveraging those contacts to bring forth Victory products from a prioritization perspective. So it really has been around education structuring and product design.

因此，實際上，我們正​​在準備在交易結束後從執行的角度重點關注，不僅是新的Victory 產品，還有網路中現有的Amundi US 產品，然後利用這些關係，利用這些聯繫來創造新的產品。所以它確實圍繞著教育結構和產品設計。

Great. Thanks Mike. And then just a quick follow-up on flows. You gave some monthly commentary for the quarter. I think you said July and August were a little soft, maybe September was a little better. You sounded pretty constructive on 4Q. Any comments on October?

偉大的。謝謝邁克。然後快速跟進流程。您對該季度進行了一些月度評論。我想你說七月和八月有點軟，也許九月好一點。你在 4Q 上聽起來很有建設性。10月份有什麼意見嗎？

Nothing at this point that we'd highlight for October. I'd say it's probably been closer to what we saw in September than the early part of Q3. But we don't necessarily provide monthly flow information. But I think as Dave mentioned earlier, we've got a significant one not funded pipeline that we're excited about here in the fourth quarter. And then we've got some additional opportunities that are lined up for us as we get into the early part of next year.

目前我們沒有什麼要強調的十月的內容。我想說，這可能比第三季初期更接近我們在 9 月看到的情況。但我們不一定提供每月的流量資訊。但我認為正如戴夫之前提到的，我們在第四季度有一個重要的未資助管道，我們對此感到興奮。當我們進入明年初時，我們將有一些額外的機會。

Perfect. Thank you.

完美的。謝謝。

There are no more questions. I will now turn the conference back over to Dave Brown for closing remarks.

沒有更多問題了。現在我將把會議轉回戴夫布朗致閉幕詞。

Thank you for your interest in Victory Capital. We will be attending the Goldman Sachs Global Financials Conference in New York City next month, and we hope to see all of you there. Have a wonderful day, and thank you.

感謝您對勝利資本的關注。我們將於下個月參加在紐約舉行的高盛全球金融會議，希望在那裡見到大家。祝你有美好的一天，謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes today's call. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝大家的加入。您現在可以斷開連線。