Victory Capital Holdings Inc (VCTR) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Victory Capital first-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Following the company's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Matthew Dennis, Chief of Staff and Director of Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Mr. Dennis.

早安，歡迎參加勝利資本 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）在公司準備好的發言之後，將有一個問答環節。現在我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. 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.

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，我們可能會做出一些前瞻性的陳述。Victory Capital 的實際結果可能與這些聲明有重大差異。請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，其中列出了可能導致實際結果與今天電話會議上表達的結果有重大差異的一些風險因素。Victory Capital 不承擔任何更新前瞻性聲明的責任和義務。

Our press release, which was issued after the market closed yesterday, disclose both GAAP and non-GAAP financial results. We believe the non-GAAP measures enhance the understanding of our business and our performance. 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.

我們的新聞稿是在昨天股市收盤後發布的，披露了 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務結果。我們相信非公認會計準則衡量指標能夠增強我們對業務和績效的了解。這些非 GAAP 指標與最具可比性的 GAAP 指標之間的對帳表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，這兩個表格均可在我們網站 ir.vcm.com 的投資者關係部分找到。

It is 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 (David Brown)。戴維？

Thanks, Matt. Good morning, and welcome to Victory Capital's first-quarter 2025 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 with an overview of our first quarter results, then I'll provide an update regarding the closing and integration of the Amundi transaction. 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 answer your questions.

謝謝，馬特。早安，歡迎參加勝利資本 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一起出席的還有我們的總裁、財務和行政官 Michael Policarpo；以及我們的參謀長兼投資者關係總監 Matt Dennis。今天我將首先概述我們的第一季業績，然後提供有關 Amundi 交易的結束和整合的最新情況。之後，我會將電話轉給麥克，讓他更詳細地審查財務結果。在我們準備好發言之後，麥克、馬特和我將回答大家的問題。

The quarterly business overview begins on slide 5. We ended March with $171 billion of total client assets. That was down slightly from the start of the year. and average AUM was approximately 1% lower versus the fourth quarter. Gross sales improved for a third consecutive quarter and increased 41% from the last quarter, reaching $9.3 billion and with the highest level of quarterly gross sales in three years. Long-term net flows also improved for the second quarter in a row. Our net flows were negatively impacted by two large redemptions that totaled $2.7 billion, which were onetime in nature.

季度業務概覽從第 5 張投影片開始。截至三月底，我們的客戶總資產為 1,710 億美元。與年初相比，這一數字略有下降。平均 AUM 與第四季度相比下降了約 1%。總銷售額連續第三個季度改善，較上一季成長 41%，達到 93 億美元，創三年來季度總銷售額最高水準。長期淨流量也連續第二季改善。我們的淨流量受到兩次大規模贖回的負面影響，總額達 27 億美元，且均為一次性贖回。

Without this, our net flows would have flipped to positive this quarter. We view the underlying activity around flows as extremely healthy and believe these two redemptions should not distort the continuous progress we are making around our organic growth profile. A good example of this progress is we continue to generate strong sales of our ETFs. We highlighted the history of our ETF platform on our last call. And by the end of the first quarter, our total ETF AUM increased to more than $13 billion. This was a 28% increase during the quarter and was up 67% versus the same time last year.

如果沒有這個，我們的淨流量本季就會轉為正值。我們認為資金流動的潛在活動極其健康，並相信這兩次贖回不會扭曲我們在有機成長方面取得的持續進展。這一進步的一個很好的例子就是我們繼續保持 ETF 的強勁銷售。我們在上次電話會議上強調了我們的 ETF 平台的歷史。截至第一季末，我們的 ETF 總資產管理規模已增至 130 多億美元。本季成長了 28%，比去年同期成長了 67%。

Looking ahead, we see the momentum continuing with our current product lineup. We also have several ETF launches planned for 2025 and are continuing to invest in resources dedicated to accelerating momentum on this platform. Stepping back and looking at results on a year-over-year basis, we achieved wider margins along with higher revenue and earnings on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis.

展望未來，我們預計我們現有的產品陣容將繼續保持這一勢頭。我們也計劃在 2025 年推出幾隻 ETF，並將繼續投入資源，致力於加速該平台的發展勢頭。回顧去年同期的業績，我們實現了更高的利潤率，同時根據 GAAP 和非 GAAP 計算的收入和收益也更高。

Adjusted earnings per diluted share with tax benefit was $1.36 per share, which was the second highest quarterly EPS in company history and a record high for any first quarter period. Adjusted EBITDA was $116 million and adjusted EBITDA margin remained very strong at 53%. We continue to strategically invest in all distribution channels. With our enhanced scale as a result of the Amundi acquisition, we are increasing investments in areas to enhance our organic growth.

調整後每股攤薄收益（含稅收優惠）為 1.36 美元，這是該公司歷史上第二高的季度每股收益，也是第一季的最高紀錄。調整後的 EBITDA 為 1.16 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率仍維持強勁，達到 53%。我們持續對所有分銷管道進行策略性投資。由於收購 Amundi，我們的規模得以擴大，我們正在增加對各個領域的投資，以增強我們的有機成長。

In addition to more salespeople in the field selling, we are significantly increasing our investment in data, technology, marketing and intermediary partnerships. Our balance sheet continued to strengthen during the quarter, and our leverage ratio improved significantly following the transactions closing on April 1, given that we brought on a sizable amount of earnings with no additional debt. This greatly increases our financial flexibility and enables us to act on additional strategic growth opportunities, which we believe is the best use of shareholder capital.

除了在現場銷售中增加更多的銷售人員外，我們還大幅增加了對數據、技術、行銷和中介合作夥伴關係的投資。我們的資產負債表在本季繼續增強，由於我們在沒有額外債務的情況下獲得了大量收益，因此我們的槓桿率在 4 月 1 日交易結束後顯著改善。這大大提高了我們的財務靈活性，使我們能夠抓住更多的策略成長機會，我們認為這是對股東資本的最佳利用。

Ongoing diligence activities are progressing quickly, and we are very encouraged by some of our discussions. During the quarter, we accumulated cash, increased our quarterly dividend again and have the entire $200 million share repurchase plan still available for our use, which we will execute on in an opportunistic way.

正在進行的盡職調查活動進展迅速，一些討論令我們感到非常鼓舞。在本季度，我們累積了現金，再次增加了季度股息，並且仍有 2 億美元的股票回購計劃可供我們使用，我們將適時執行。

On slide 7, we highlight the results of our acquisition and strategic partnership with Amundi. Upon closing, we are much more scaled, diversified and better positioned organization for the long term. With assets of just over $286 billion as of April 1, our fixed income AUM doubled as a percentage of our total assets from 14% to 28%. We have also further diversified our investment vehicles with $26.5 billion of assets under management and usage. We plan to launch several vintage Victory strategies in this vehicle wrapper that are designed to be distributed to investors outside of the US.

在第 7 張投影片上，我們重點介紹了與 Amundi 的收購和策略合作的成果。交易完成後，我們的規模將更加龐大，業務更加多元化，我們的長期定位也將更加明確。截至 4 月 1 日，我們的固定收益資產管理規模 (AUM) 略高於 2,860 億美元，佔總資產的比例翻了一番，從 14% 增至 28%。我們也進一步實現了投資工具的多元化，管理和使用的資產總額達到 265 億美元。我們計劃在這種載體包裝中推出幾種老式勝利策略，旨在分發給美國以外的投資者。

The proportion of retail assets under management in our channel mix rose, and we also now have $44 billion of assets under management sourced from clients outside of the US, representing 15% of assets under management compared with less than 5% previously.

我們通路組合中管理的零售資產的比例上升了，現在我們管理的 440 億美元資產來自美國以外的客戶，佔管理資產的 15%，而之前這一比例還不到 5%。

Last month, we increased our net expense synergy projections to a total of $110 million and had $50 million of that goal achieved as of closing. We expect another $50 million by April 1, 2026, and much of that coming before the end of 2025. The Amundi US business we acquired has continued to perform exceptionally well, generating positive net long-term flows of $1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2025, which, as a reminder, is not included in our numbers given we did not close the transaction until April 1.

上個月，我們將淨費用綜效預測提高到總計 1.1 億美元，截至交易結束時，我們已經實現了其中的 5,000 萬美元。我們預計到 2026 年 4 月 1 日將再籌集 5,000 萬美元，其中大部分將在 2025 年底前到位。我們收購的 Amundi 美國業務繼續表現優異，在 2025 年第一季產生了 17 億美元的長期淨流量，需要提醒的是，由於我們直到 4 月 1 日才完成交易，因此這筆資金未計入我們的數據中。

The investment team, now branded Pioneer Investments generated excellent investment performance on behalf of clients for the first quarter of 2025. As of March 31, more than 74% of their mutual fund assets under management at either a 4- or 5-star Morningstar Rating.

該投資團隊現名為先鋒投資 (Pioneer Investments)，在 2025 年第一季為客戶創造了出色的投資績效。截至 3 月 31 日，其管理的共同基金資產中超過 74% 獲得了晨星 4 星或 5 星評級。

Turning to slide 8. Our US distribution organization is positioned well for consistent organic growth as we move forward. We have substantially augmented our institutional and intermediary sales forces with additional sales professionals allowing us to provide enhanced coverage across the US market.

翻到幻燈片 8。隨著我們不斷前進，我們的美國分銷組織已做好充分準備，能夠持續實現有機成長。我們大幅擴充了機構和中介銷售隊伍，增加了銷售專業人員，從而增強了我們在美國市場的覆蓋範圍。

In addition, we have added marketing and other sales-related resources to further support growth. When it comes to data, we are now able to benefit more broadly from data investments we are making. These investments will now be used by a larger sales force, enhancing the results we are seeking to achieve. We are also leveraging existing intermediary platform relationships with our broader product set. For example, Amundi US had partner status relationships with certain intermediary platforms and we are now a benefactor of those, which will give us the opportunity to add vintage Victory products on these platforms.

此外，我們還增加了行銷和其他銷售相關資源以進一步支持成長。說到數據，我們現在能夠從正在進行的數據投資中獲得更廣泛的利益。這些投資現在將被更大的銷售團隊使用，從而提高我們所尋求實現的成果。我們也利用現有的中介平台關係來拓展我們的更廣泛的產品組合。例如，Amundi US 與某些中介平台建立了合作夥伴關係，我們現在是這些平台的受益者，這將使我們有機會在這些平台上添加經典的 Victory 產品。

Outside of the US, we now have clients in more than 60 countries and our strategies are currently available for sale via Amundi's vast global distribution network. This includes sizable distribution partners within Europe and JVs in Asia and India. During the closing process, together with Amundi's distribution team, we identified several initial vintage Victory products to launch in the UCITS format and other vehicle wrappers for sale via Amundi's Global Distribution sales force outside of the US. We are expeditiously working through the regulatory and registration process to get these products launched.

除美國以外，我們現在在 60 多個國家擁有客戶，我們的策略目前可透過 Amundi 龐大的全球分銷網絡進行銷售。其中包括歐洲境內的大型經銷合作夥伴以及亞洲和印度的合資企業。在結束過程中，我們與 Amundi 的分銷團隊一起，確定了幾款初始復古 Victory 產品，將以 UCITS 格式推出，並採用其他車輛包裝，透過 Amundi 在美國以外的全球分銷銷售團隊進行銷售。我們正在迅速完成監管和註冊流程，以推出這些產品。

In addition, we are utilizing our VictoryShares ETF platform to develop ETFs for the Pioneer Investment franchise. As many of you are aware, Pioneer has never had any of their strategies available in an ETF vehicle. Overall, we have never been so well positioned for organic growth and look forward to reporting on our progress.

此外，我們正在利用 VictoryShares ETF 平台為先鋒投資特許經營權開發 ETF。許多人都知道，先鋒公司從未在 ETF 工具中提供任何策略。總體而言，我們從未如此擅長實現有機成長，並期待報告我們的進展。

Moving to slide 10. Our investment performance remained strong with 67% of our assets under management in mutual funds and ETFs, earning 4- or 5-star overall ratings by Morningstar for the period ending on March 31. This is broadly diversified, encompassing numerous distinct products. Over the key three- and five-year periods, 64% and 65% and of our total assets under management outperformed their respective benchmarks.

移至投影片 10。我們的投資表現依然強勁，67% 的管理資產投資於共同基金和 ETF，截至 3 月 31 日，獲得了晨星的 4 星或 5 星總體評級。其範圍廣泛，涵蓋眾多不同的產品。在關鍵的三年和五年期間，我們管理的總資產的 64% 和 65% 的表現超過了各自的基準。

We were also recognized during the first quarter with eight 2025 US LSEG Lipper Fund Award based on risk-adjusted returns. These awards represented several categories and performance over various time periods and are a testament to our investment professionals and what we strive to deliver for clients every day.

我們還在第一季根據風險調整後的回報獲得了 8 項 2025 年美國 LSEG Lipper 基金獎。這些獎項代表了不同類別和不同時期的表現，證明了我們的投資專業人士以及我們每天努力為客戶提供的服務。

With that, I will turn the call over to Mike to go through the quarterly results in greater detail. Mike?

說完這些，我將把電話轉給麥克，讓他更詳細地介紹季度業績。麥克風？

Thanks, Dave, and good morning, everyone. The financial results review begins on slide 12.

謝謝，戴夫，大家早安。財務結果回顧從第 12 張投影片開始。

Revenue for the first quarter came in at $219.6 million, which was down approximately 5% from the fourth quarter as a result of slightly lower average AUM, fewer days in the quarter as well as product, vehicle and channel mix shift. Year-over-year, revenue, earnings, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin were all higher in this year's first quarter versus last year.

第一季的營收為 2.196 億美元，較第四季下降約 5%，原因是平均 AUM 略有下降、本季天數減少以及產品、車輛和通路組合發生變化。與去年同期相比，今年第一季的營收、收益、調整後 EBITDA 和調整後 EBITDA 利潤率均有所提高。

Adjusted net income with tax benefit per diluted share of $1.36 achieved in the quarter was our second highest of all time. We ended March with $176 million in cash, which was up $49 million from year-end. At quarter end, our net leverage ratio was unchanged at 1.7 times. During the first quarter, we returned $39 million to shareholders. Additionally, the Board authorized a cash dividend increase to $0.49 per share payable on June 25 to shareholders of record at the close of business on June 10.

本季調整後每股淨收入（含稅收優惠）為 1.36 美元，創歷史第二高。截至 3 月底，我們的現金餘額為 1.76 億美元，比去年年底增加了 4,900 萬美元。截至季末，我們的淨槓桿率保持不變，為 1.7 倍。第一季度，我們向股東返還了 3,900 萬美元。此外，董事會批准將現金股利提高至每股 0.49 美元，並於 6 月 25 日支付給 6 月 10 日營業結束時登記在冊的股東。

We would like to note here that going forward, we will continue to review our dividend every quarter with our Board, but anticipate moving back to an annual increase cycle with our first quarter results. As expected, during April, sufficient consents were received from Pioneer clients, resulting in a post-closing adjustment whereby we will issue an additional 5.4 million shares to Amundi. This will bring their total diluted equity interest up to 26.1% with a 4.9% voting interest. Owing to the transaction, our diluted share count will increase to approximately 88.3 million shares.

我們想在此指出，展望未來，我們將繼續與董事會每季審查我們的股息，但預計第一季業績將恢復年度成長週期。正如預期的那樣，4 月份，我們收到了來自先鋒客戶的足夠同意，因此進行了收盤後調整，我們將向 Amundi 額外發行 540 萬股股票。這將使他們的總稀釋股權權益達到 26.1%，投票權達到 4.9%。由於此交易，我們的稀釋股份數量將增加至約 8,830 萬股。

Turning to slide 13. Total client assets declined by less than 3% during the quarter, driven primarily by market action. Our AUM continues to be diversified from both a distribution channel perspective, as well as by investor type within each channel and by asset class and investment vehicle. As mentioned on a prior call and beginning next quarter, we will add a new category to this chart to illustrate the non-US client portion of our total AUM.

翻到第 13 張投影片。本季客戶總資產下降不到 3%，主要受市場行為影響。我們的 AUM 繼續從分銷管道角度、每個管道內的投資者類型以及資產類別和投資工具的角度實現多樣化。正如上次電話會議中提到的那樣，從下個季度開始，我們將在此圖表中添加一個新類別，以說明我們總 AUM 中的非美國客戶部分。

As a result of the Amundi transaction, we began the second quarter with $44 billion of AUM from clients outside of the US. Having a significant portion of AUM from investors outside the US provides another dimension of diversification for our business.

由於 Amundi 交易，我們在第二季開始時來自美國以外客戶的資產管理規模為 440 億美元。擁有來自美國以外投資者的很大一部分資產管理規模為我們的業務多元化提供了另一個維度。

On slide 14, we cover long-term asset flows. 2025 is off to a strong start. Gross flows were higher during the quarter, increasing by 41% over the prior quarter and 33% from Q1 2024. RS Global and Victory Income Investors have seen strong activity given their strong investment performance and asset classes they invest in.

在第 14 張投影片中，我們介紹了長期資產流動。 2025 年開局強勁。本季總流量較高，較上一季成長 41%，較 2024 年第一季成長 33%。RS Global 和 Victory Income Investors 憑藉其強勁的投資績效和所投資的資產類別，表現出色。

We are continuing to see great investor interest in our ETFs, which are active and rules based and carry an active-type investment advisory fee for such products and also have strong margins. Through mid-March, we were net flow positive for the quarter. We had two large redemptions totaling approximately $2.7 billion that more than offset the positive net flows up to that point.

我們持續看到投資者對我們的 ETF 產生濃厚興趣，這些 ETF 是主動型、基於規則的，對此類產品收取主動型投資諮詢費，並且利潤率很高。截至三月中旬，本季我們的淨流量為正。我們進行了兩次大規模贖回，總額約 27 億美元，足以抵銷當時的正淨流量。

Despite these onetime items, our underlying positive flow momentum is strong, and these redemptions should not take away from that point. We are encouraged by the trajectory we are on, particularly given our newly enlarged sales force and the added resources we are dedicating to distribution efforts while also adding the Pioneer franchise products to our offerings.

儘管存在這些一次性項目，但我們潛在的積極流動勢頭仍然強勁，這些贖回不應該從這一點上影響我們。我們對自己的發展軌跡感到鼓舞，特別是考慮到我們新擴大的銷售團隊和我們為分銷工作投入的額外資源，同時也將先鋒特許經營產品添加到我們的產品中。

Our one but not yet funded pipeline remains sizable indeed from a product, franchise and channel perspective. Finally, Pioneer Investments products generated positive long-term net flows of $1.7 billion during the first quarter, and that momentum has continued.

從產品、特許經營和通路的角度來看，我們的一個但尚未獲得資金的管道確實仍然相當可觀。最後，先鋒投資產品在第一季產生了 17 億美元的長期淨流量，而這種勢頭一直持續著。

Slide 15 shows the sequential revenue over the past four quarters. Our average fee rate was 51.2 basis points in the period. This is within our expected range but the decrease from prior quarter primarily attributed to product, vehicle and channel mix shift. Additionally, lower average AUM from negative market action in the first quarter and two fewer days in the quarter also impacted total revenue. Keep in mind, as an organization, our focus is on margins, while our fee rate will fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter.

投影片 15 顯示了過去四個季度的連續收入。本期間我們的平均費率為 51.2 個基點。這在我們的預期範圍內，但與上一季相比的下降主要歸因於產品、車輛和通路組合的變化。此外，第一季市場波動導致平均 AUM 較低以及本季營業天數減少兩天也影響了總收入。請記住，作為一個組織，我們的重點是利潤率，而我們的費率會逐季度波動。

On slide 16, we detail our expenses for the quarter. Total GAAP expenses were $138.6 million in the first quarter. The uptick in GAAP expenses is due to higher acquisition, restructuring and integration costs from the Amundi transaction. which were offset by lower distribution and other AUM-based expenses, which calibrated with lower average AUM for the quarter. On a cash basis, our compensation expense was 24.3%, which is in line with our guidance and is inclusive of seasonally higher payroll tax and employee benefits that reset at the start of each year.

在第 16 張投影片上，我們詳細說明了本季的支出。第一季 GAAP 總支出為 1.386 億美元。GAAP 費用的上升是由於 Amundi 交易導致的收購、重組和整合成本增加。但較低的分銷費和其他基於 AUM 的支出抵消了這一影響，這與本季較低的平均 AUM 一致。以現金計算，我們的薪資費用為 24.3%，符合我們的指導方針，其中包括季節性較高的薪資稅和每年年初重置的員工福利。

On slide 17, we highlight our non-GAAP metrics. We reported $1.36 adjusted net income with tax benefit per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin were $116.4 million and 53%, respectively. These results include the impact of accelerated payroll tax and benefits that are typical for the first quarter. And I would highlight our EBITDA margin expanded 90 basis points from the first quarter of 2024.

在第 17 張投影片上，我們重點介紹了非 GAAP 指標。我們報告稱，每股攤薄調整後淨收入（含稅收優惠）為 1.36 美元。調整後的 EBITDA 和調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率分別為 1.164 億美元和 53%。這些結果包括第一季典型的加速工資稅和福利的影響。我想強調的是，我們的 EBITDA 利潤率較 2024 年第一季擴大了 90 個基點。

Over the next several quarters, we expect to see our adjusted EBITDA margins decline slightly from its current level as we continue with our integration work and achieve our full net expense synergy target of $110 million. Once fully integrated, we anticipate no change in our long-term guidance of 49% margins.

在接下來的幾個季度中，隨著我們繼續進行整合工作並實現 1.1 億美元的全部淨費用協同目標，我們預計調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將從當前水準略有下降。一旦完全整合，我們預計 49% 的長期利潤率指引不會改變。

Finally, turning to slide 18. We generated $81 million in cash from operations during the quarter, and our net leverage ratio remained steady at 1.7 times. We have positioned the balance sheet well as we enter Q2. We ended the period with $176 million of cash and post the Amundi transaction on April 1, our leverage ratio is in the low 1s.

最後，翻到第 18 張投影片。本季度，我們從營運活動中產生了 8,100 萬美元的現金，我們的淨槓桿率保持穩定在 1.7 倍。進入第二季度，我們已經做好了資產負債表的定位。本期間結束時，我們的現金為 1.76 億美元，在 4 月 1 日完成 Amundi 交易後，我們的槓桿率處於 1% 以下。

Interest expense declined for the second consecutive quarter as our interest rate declined to 4.9% inclusive of the benefit from the interest rate hedge we crystallized in the fourth quarter of 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, our interest rate was above 6% so we have seen our quarterly interest expense decline by more than $3 million in the past year. Our $100 million credit facility remains undrawn.

由於我們的利率下降至 4.9%（其中包括我們在 2023 年第四季實現的利率對沖收益），利息支出連續第二季下降。2024 年第一季度，我們的利率超過 6%，因此過去一年我們的季度利息支出下降了 300 多萬美元。我們的 1 億美元信貸額度仍未提取。

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

我們的準備好的演講到此結束。現在我將把時間交給接線員來回答問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員指示）

Ken Worthington, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的肯‧沃辛頓。

Hi. Good morning, guys. This is Michael Cho in for Ken. Thanks for taking my questions. I just wanted to start on kind of the top line here. You called out the development of a number of UCITS and to distribute Victory's strategy outside the US and you also talked about maybe considering Pioneer EPS going forward as well. And so I was hoping you can maybe touch on maybe the pace of these prospective rollouts and maybe the prioritization, if any, of the product lineup that you see out there. And if there's any strategy that you think might have more considerable adoption than maybe some of the others. Thanks.

你好。大家早安。這是 Michael Cho 代替 Ken 做的。感謝您回答我的問題。我只是想從這裡的最上面那句話開始。您呼籲開發一些 UCITS 並在美國以外推廣 Victory 的策略，您也談到也許會考慮將 Pioneer EPS 也推向市場。因此，我希望您能夠談談這些未來產品推出的速度，以及您所看到的產品陣容的優先順序（如果有的話）。您是否認為某種策略可能比其他策略更能被廣泛採用。謝謝。

Hey, Michael. Good morning, how are you? It's Mike. Thanks for the question. Yes, I think as we said in the prepared remarks, we have been working with the distribution force at Amundi from a global perspective to identify products that are vintage victory that we think will have success outside the US. And we've spent time with them, formulating kind of a plan with respect to the product development. There'll be a handful of UCITS that we will work with them to create and they're kind of in that registration phase right now and would expect that they'll be launched towards the back half of 2025.

嘿，麥可。早安，你好嗎？我是麥克。謝謝你的提問。是的，我認為正如我們在準備好的演講中所說的那樣，我們一直在從全球視角與 Amundi 的分銷團隊合作，以確定我們認為將在美國以外取得成功的經典產品。我們花了一些時間與他們一起制定有關產品開發的計劃。我們將與他們合作創建一些 UCITS，目前它們正處於註冊階段，預計將於 2025 年下半年推出。

And as we think about the opportunity from which products, really, if you look at the product set that Victory has and some of the opportunities that weren't fulfilled, if you will, by the existing Pioneer product set, there's some small and mid-cap products from a US domestic perspective that we think will play very well there.

當我們思考產品帶來的機會時，實際上，如果您看一下 Victory 擁有的產品系列以及現有 Pioneer 產品系列尚未實現的一些機遇，從美國國內角度來看，我們認為一些中小型產品將在那裡發揮很好的作用。

In addition, we've got some complementary fixed income offerings that, again, we think will play very nicely in the UCITS offerings for Amundi. And then there's also some pretty strong performers that we have in the global equity space that, again, we think will play very nicely in the UCITS offerings outside the US. And so what we've done over the last several months is really work on education of the Victory story, education of some of those products and franchises that manage those existing offerings here in the US and working to develop that rollout plan from a regulatory perspective to create those UCITS.

此外，我們也提供一些補充固定收益產品，我們認為這些產品將在 Amundi 的 UCITS 產品中發揮非常好的作用。此外，我們在全球股票領域也擁有一些表現相當強勁的股票，我們認為它們將在美國以外的 UCITS 產品中發揮非常好的作用。因此，過去幾個月我們所做的實際上是對勝利故事的宣傳，對管理美國現有產品的一些產品和特許經營權的宣傳，並努力從監管角度製定推出計劃以創建這些 UCITS。

In addition, all of our products, all the vintage Victory products are available institutionally outside the US. And again, we're working on education of the Amundi global distribution sales force. Those products are available today. There's no structure needed for a large institutional client to access those. And we've had a number of conversations really across both the existing active products that we have and some of the ETF offerings.

此外，我們所有的產品，所有經典的 Victory 產品都可以在美國以外的機構購買。我們正在培訓 Amundi 全球分銷銷售人員。這些產品現已上市。大型機構客戶無需任何結構即可存取這些內容。我們就現有的活躍產品和一些 ETF 產品進行了多次討論。

And so we'll see momentum there as well as we move forward through 2025 and are excited about the opportunity set from the feedback that we've heard to date. So again, we're just getting going on that. But again, as we think about it, we see a tremendous opportunity in the back half of 2025 as those structured products or co-mingled vehicles are created and as we see momentum on the institutional side of the business.

因此，我們將看到 2025 年的發展勢頭，並對迄今為止聽到的回饋所帶來的機會感到興奮。所以，我們才剛開始做這件事。但是，當我們再次思考時，我們會發現 2025 年下半年將出現巨大的機遇，因為這些結構化產品或混合工具將被創造出來，而且我們看到機構業務方面的發展勢頭。

Great. Thanks, Mike. Appreciate all that color. If I could just follow up on the -- just on the margin and expense side. I mean, Victory's margin trajectory has been solid for some time now. And you noticed some initial margin headwind from Pioneer, but you also increased synergy targets and you just printed 63% margins.

偉大的。謝謝，麥克。欣賞所有的色彩。如果我可以跟進一下——只是關於利潤和費用方面。我的意思是，勝利的利潤軌跡現在已經穩定了一段時間。您注意到先鋒公司最初的利潤率面臨一些阻力，但您也提高了協同目標，並且剛剛實現了 63% 的利潤率。

And so I recognize you made a little bit of a comment during the prepared remarks on near-term margins. But just curious how you might flesh out a little bit more color in terms of how that trajectory might evolve near term relative to Victory's 49% long-term margin target. Thanks.

因此，我知道您在關於近期利潤率的準備好的評論中發表了一些評論。但我只是好奇，您如何能夠更詳細地闡述這一軌跡相對於 Victory 49% 的長期利潤率目標在短期內將如何演變。謝謝。

That's a good question, and thanks for recognizing the prepared remarks on that. I think you're right. We did publish 53% margins here in the first quarter. We have not changed our long-term margin guidance of 49%. I think we have continued to say that we want to have the flexibility to make investments in the business.

這是個好問題，感謝您對我的準備好的評論的認可。我認為你是對的。我們確實公佈了第一季 53% 的利潤率。我們沒有改變49%的長期利潤率指導。我想我們一直在說，我們希望能夠靈活地對業務進行投資。

The M&A transaction that we did with Amundi US really provides a significant opportunity to make some of those investments. And so the net expense synergies of $110 million that we referenced and confirmed really includes some additional investments that we want to make. Dave highlighted a number of areas in distribution that we're making investments, and we think those will pay off longer term.

我們與 Amundi US 進行的併購交易確實為進行此類投資提供了重要的機會。因此，我們提到並確認的 1.1 億美元的淨費用綜效實際上包括了我們想要進行的一些額外投資。戴夫強調了我們在分銷領域正在進行投資的多個領域，我們認為這些投資將帶來長期回報。

But as we think about the margin profile going forward, the expense synergies will take a year to two years to recognize all $110 million. We mentioned we had about $50 million as of closing. We'll have another $30 million over the next six months. Expect $100 million in total in the first 12 months of ownership and then the remaining $10 million to get to $110 million over the two years post close. So if you look logically at some of that math as we phase some of that in, there's going to be some integration work in some different areas over the next several quarters.

但當我們考慮未來的利潤狀況時，費用綜效將需要一到兩年的時間才能達到全部 1.1 億美元。我們提到，截至收盤時我們已擁有約 5,000 萬美元。未來六個月我們將再獲得 3000 萬美元。預計在擁有所有權後的前 12 個月內總收入為 1 億美元，然後在收購完成後的兩年內剩餘 1,000 萬美元達到 1.1 億美元。因此，如果您從邏輯上看待我們逐步實施的一些數學問題，您會發現在接下來的幾個季度中，一些不同的領域將會進行一些整合工作。

That will see a small decline and a material decline in our margins as we work through some of those integration efforts. Again, I think we're still bullish on the 49% long term. As you mentioned, we've produced well above that over the last several quarters. But any decline in the short term until we complete the integration will be immaterial to the margins going forward.

當我們進行一些整合工作時，我們的利潤率將會出現小幅下降或大幅下降。我再次認為，我們仍然看好 49% 的長期成長。正如您所說，過去幾季我們的產量遠高於這一水平。但在我們完成整合之前，短期內的任何下滑都不會對未來的利潤率產生影響。

Great. Thank you so much.

偉大的。太感謝了。

Alexander Blostein, Goldman Sachs.

高盛的亞歷山大·布洛斯坦。

Hi. Good morning, guys. Maybe just building on that last question around expense trajectory. You mentioned increased pace of investments. I was hoping you can just provide us with sort of an expense growth algorithm from here with Amundi now in the fold. In the past, I think Victory had a quite a variable expense model. So curious kind of to what extent does integrated money changes that? Kind of what's the mix between fixed and variable expense base from here? And at what pace the fixed fees is likely to grow over time as you kind of phase out some of the synergies?

你好。大家早安。也許只是圍繞費用軌跡的最後一個問題。您提到了投資步伐的加快。我希望您能為我們提供目前 Amundi 加入後的一種費用成長演算法。過去，我認為 Victory 的費用模型變化很大。那麼好奇的是，整合的貨幣在多大程度上改變了這一點？那麼，固定費用和變動費用基礎之間的組合是怎麼樣的呢？隨著一些協同效應的逐步取消，固定費用可能會以什麼樣的速度成長？

Alex, it's Mike. Good question. I think with respect to Victory's operating model, there will be no change. So as we think about the integration of the Pioneer Investments franchise in the Amundi US business, it fits very well into the existing operating model.

亞歷克斯，我是麥克。好問題。我認為勝利的營運模式不會有任何改變。因此，當我們考慮將先鋒投資特許經營權整合到 Amundi 美國業務中時，它非常適合現有的營運模式。

The Pioneer Investments team will be on a revenue share. We maintain a single operating platform. We maintain a centralized distribution sales force selling all of the product that Victory has. So there really is no change in the operating model for Victory post the completion of the integration.

Pioneer Investments 團隊將參與收益分成。我們維護單一營運平台。我們擁有一支集中分銷銷售隊伍，負責銷售 Victory 的所有產品。因此，整合完成後，Victory 的營運模式其實並沒有改變。

And so as you think about the model, we've been pretty clear that greater than two-thirds of our expenses are variable. We expect that to continue as we move forward. There's no disruption in that as we think about how we're operating the business. We've got a highly scaled middle and back office that is a variable cost. We've got distribution and other AUM expenses, again, that are tied to the AUM and revenue of the business.

因此，當您考慮該模型時，我們已經非常清楚，超過三分之二的支出是可變的。我們期望這種情況能夠隨著我們前進而持續下去。當我們思考如何經營業務時，這不會造成任何干擾。我們擁有規模龐大的中後台部門，其成本是可變的。我們有分銷和其他 AUM 費用，這些費用與業務的 AUM 和收入相關。

And then the compensation, the cash compensation will continue to be variable as a component of revenue as it has in the past. So we really see no difference in the expense makeup going forward. The scale will obviously increase as the business and the AUM and the revenue have increased, but there really is no significant change from a modeling perspective with greater than two-thirds of the expense being variable and then the other items being fixed components around some of the G&A.

然後，薪酬，現金薪酬將像過去一樣繼續作為收入的一部分而變動。因此，我們確實看不到未來費用組成有什麼差別。隨著業務、AUM 和收入的增加，規模顯然會增加，但從建模角度來看，實際上並沒有顯著的變化，因為超過三分之二的費用是可變的，而其他項目是圍繞部分 G&A 的固定組成部分。

Okay. Great. And then, Dave, you mentioned the balance sheet capacity has obviously improved significantly with the deal. Your leverage level is quite low and it sounds like the deal pipeline remains quite active. Maybe just give us a bit of a mark-to-market in state of affairs and kind of how your acquisition pipelines have evolved over the last six to nine months since the time you announced the Amundi and also the composition of what's more sort of probable, either in terms of asset classes or size of the transaction.

好的。偉大的。然後，戴夫，您提到資產負債表容量隨著這筆交易顯然有了顯著改善。您的槓桿水平相當低，聽起來交易管道仍然相當活躍。也許您可以為我們介紹一下目前的市價情況，以及自您宣布 Amundi 以來，過去六到九個月您的收購管道是如何發展的，以及更有可能的資產類別或交易規模的組成。

Sure. Good morning, Alex. Let me start off with capacity to do a transaction. With the close, what we've done is we brought earnings on and we have not brought on additional debt. So our leverage level has reduced quite significantly. We have a lot of cash on our balance sheet, as you can see at the end of the quarter.

當然。早安，亞歷克斯。讓我先從交易能力說起。截至目前，我們所做的就是帶來收益，並且沒有帶來額外的債務。因此我們的槓桿水平已大幅降低。正如您在本季結束時所看到的，我們的資產負債表上有很多現金。

And we are in as good a position as we've ever been to really execute on a sizable transaction, and that's by design. Our discussions have been very productive. We are really excited about the opportunities we're seeing. And we are leaning towards larger scaled opportunities to continue to keep our business competitive and be ahead of the curve.

我們目前處於非常有利的位置，可以真正執行一筆規模可觀的交易，而這正是我們設計的目的。我們的討論非常有成效。我們對所看到的機會感到非常興奮。我們傾向於尋找更大規模的機會，以繼續保持我們的業務競爭力並保持領先地位。

I would not be surprised for a 2025 event for us from another acquisition perspective, at least announcing. That's what we're planning for. Our balance sheet is ready for it. Obviously, you can't plan the timing of a transaction. But based on discussions and our capabilities to execute, I would anticipate that something in the short or medium term as opposed to a longer-term perspective, assuming markets are calm and the environment is conducive, which we are encouraged by what we're seeing lately.

從另一個收購角度來看，我不會對 2025 年的事件感到驚訝，至少是宣布這一消息。這就是我們的計劃。我們的資產負債表已經準備好了。顯然，你無法規劃交易的時間。但根據討論和我們的執行能力，我預期短期或中期而非長期來看會出現一些變化，假設市場平靜且環境有利，我們對最近看到的情況感到鼓舞。

As far as asset classes and what type of acquisitions, we always start off with, does the acquisition make our company better? Does it fit culturally? Does it include investment excellence? So we always lead with those attributes and our future acquisitions will be no different. I think as Mike talked about in the last question that he answered about keeping the integrity of our model around the expense infrastructure, around one integrated company, that's really important to us. We think that's part of what has made our acquisition successful in the past, and we anticipate keeping that model intact.

就資產類別和收購類型而言，我們總是從收購開始，看看這項收購是否會讓我們的公司變得更好？它符合文化嗎？它是否包括卓越的投資？因此，我們始終以這些屬性為先導，我們未來的收購也不會例外。我認為，正如麥克在回答的最後一個問題中談到的，保持圍繞費用基礎設施、圍繞綜合公司的模型的完整性，這對我們來說非常重要。我們認為這是我們過去收購成功的部分原因，我們希望保持這種模式的完整性。

Okay, great. Thank you.

好的，太好了。謝謝。

Randy Binner, B. Riley.

蘭迪·賓納、B.萊利。

Good morning. Thank you. I have a couple that I think kind of get to how the platform with Amundi performs from a kind of growth and flows perspective if markets remain volatile. And so the first one is fixed income and solutions. I think those flows in the first quarter were kind of like kind of flat and then up for solutions. And I can generally expect those categories to do better in volatile markets. So is that the right way to think of it? And can you provide any kind of glimpse or update on how those types of strategies performed in this kind of pretty significant V-shaped market we've had so far since the early April?

早安.謝謝。我有幾個想法，如果市場持續波動，我想從成長和流動的角度來了解 Amundi 平台的表現。第一個是固定收益和解決方案。我認為第一季的資金流動有點平穩，然後隨著解決方案的實施而上升。我通常預計這些類別在動盪的市場中會表現得更好。那麼這是正確的思考方式嗎？您能否提供一些概述或更新，說明自 4 月初以來，這些類型的策略在我們經歷的這種相當重要的 V 型市場中的表現如何？

So it's Dave. I'd first say, our platform now going forward from a fixed income perspective, given Pioneer's capabilities around fixed income, has expanded. So we now have our Victory Income Investors, fixed income platform, and we have the Pioneer Investments fixed income platform. Both have excellent performance and it really widens and deepens our fixed income capabilities. So in the environment we're in today, I think we are really well positioned to grow our business there.

原來是戴夫啊。首先我想說，鑑於先鋒在固定收益方面的能力，從固定收益的角度來看，我們的平台現在已經擴展。所以我們現在有了勝利收入投資人固定收益平台，還有先鋒投資固定收益平台。兩者都表現優異，確實拓寬、深化了我們的固定收益能力。因此，在我們今天所處的環境中，我認為我們完全有能力發展我們的業務。

And if you looked at the first quarter for Pioneer, they had positive net flows and a good amount of those were in the fixed income portion of their business. And so we're excited about that given we have a wider and deeper offering.

如果你看先鋒公司第一季的數據，你會發現他們的淨流量為正，其中很大一部分來自其業務的固定收益部分。因此，我們對此感到非常興奮，因為我們可以提供更廣泛、更深入的產品。

The Victory Income Investors has ETFs which sell really well in this environment. And so we continue to have that. And we will look at launching fixed income ETFs for Pioneer as well. So I would imagine that when you think about the fixed income platform for all of Victory, we're very well positioned and better positioned today than we were before the close.

Victory Income Investors 的 ETF 在這種環境下銷售非常好。因此我們繼續這樣做。我們也將考慮為先鋒公司推出固定收益 ETF。因此，我可以想像，當您考慮整個勝利的固定收益平台時，我們今天的定位非常良好，而且比收盤前更好。

As far as solutions, a lot of the growth there you're seeing is through the ETF platform, the VictoryShares ETF platform. We have quite a few different offerings there. Our free cash flow series with a few ETFs have grown very nicely. We also have some other ETFs that are -- have been developed by our solutions team that continues to be in demand. And so when we look at that and we look at that going forward, again, those are really nice solutions for volatile markets.

就解決方案而言，您看到的許多成長都是透過 ETF 平台，也就是 VictoryShares ETF 平台實現的。我們在那裡提供了很多不同的產品。我們的自由現金流系列以及一些 ETF 成長非常好。我們還有一些其他的 ETF，是由我們的解決方案團隊開發的，並且持續受到需求。因此，當我們審視這一點並展望未來時，我們會發現，這些都是針對動盪市場的非常好的解決方案。

And then as markets maybe calm down moving forward, we also have other products off of the solutions platform, off of our equities platform, which we think are really well positioned to satisfy investors' needs. And I think in our prepared remarks, I think there is a tone around an excitement to have a platform to potentially grow organically. We saw some really nice growth in the first quarter, both through Victory and also through Pioneer, and we think that will continue going forward with just a really deep product set, but also an enlarged sales force.

然後，隨著市場逐漸平靜下來，我們也推出了解決方案平台、股票平台以外的其他產品，我們認為這些產品能夠很好地滿足投資者的需求。我認為，在我們準備好的發言中，我們都對擁有一個可能實現有機成長的平台感到興奮。我們在第一季看到了一些非常好的成長，無論是透過勝利公司還是先鋒公司，我們認為這種成長勢頭將持續下去，不僅擁有非常深厚的產品線，而且銷售團隊也擴大了。

Okay. That's great. But just is there any glimpse you can give us on kind of how the stability of those 2 areas with the volatility in April, like did flows hold up better there? Were they more stable than a lot of your equity strategies, equity mutual funds?

好的。那太棒了。但是，您能否向我們介紹一下這兩個地區的穩定性與 4 月的波動情況，例如那裡的流量是否保持得更好？它們是否比你們許多的股票策略、股票共同基金更穩定？

I wouldn't say more stable or less stable. I think they've performed as expected. Nothing out of the ordinary. And as I think we look forward, I think investors have been pretty calm during some of the volatile times, at least on our platform. So there's been really nothing out of the ordinary either way.

我不會說更穩定或更不穩定。我認為他們的表現符合預期。沒什麼異常。展望未來，我認為投資者在一些動盪時期表現得相當冷靜，至少在我們的平台上是如此。所以無論如何，其實並沒有什麼異常。

All right. I'll leave it there. Thanks for the time. I appreciate it.

好的。我就把它留在那裡。謝謝你的時間。我很感激。

Craig Siegenthaler, Bank of America.

克雷格·西根塔勒，美國銀行。

Good morning. This is Ivory on for Craig. On the call, you mentioned two large redemptions of the $2.7 billion that are onetime in nature and the continued expense synergies that you're seeing. Just on thinking about the other side, have you seen any dis-synergy or notable redemptions from the Amundi US acquisition specifically?

早安.這是克雷格 (Craig) 的象牙 (Ivory)。在電話會議中，您提到了兩次 27 億美元的一次性大規模贖回，以及您所看到的持續的費用協同效應。從另一個角度考慮，您是否看到 Amundi US 收購中存在任何不協同效應或顯著的贖回現象？

Good morning, Ivory. Yes, we did denote that there were two. sizable onetime outflows in the first quarter. Those were on the Victory platform we believe very isolated to particular client events. With respect to dis-synergies, no, we've not seen really any dis-synergies. I think as we went through the process and the acquisitions that we do, you have a client consent process. And so all of the clients that have joined as part of Victory have consented, and it's almost a checkpoint for them as you think about it.

早上好，艾弗里。是的，我們確實指出有兩個。第一季出現大量一次性資金流出。我們認為，這些都是在 Victory 平台上發生的，與特定的客戶事件無關。關於不協同效應，不，我們實際上沒有看到任何不協同效應。我認為，當我們經歷這個過程和我們所做的收購時，你會有一個客戶同意的過程。因此，所有加入 Victory 的客戶都已同意，正如您所想，這對他們來說幾乎是一個檢查點。

So we've not seen any dis-synergies from a revenue or a distribution perspective. Actually, quite the opposite. I think as Dave highlighted, we've made more investments in distribution. We've expanded the platform, and we're having more discussions today across the entire product scope in different regions globally in different partners on the intermediary side and in different vehicles that really have driven an opportunity set that we think is, as Dave mentioned, just now as exciting as we've seen. And I think it's definitely very telling that the Pioneer Investments business was net flow positive.

因此，從收入或分銷的角度來看，我們沒有看到任何不協同效應。事實上，恰恰相反。我認為正如戴夫所強調的，我們在分銷方面進行了更多投資。我們已經擴展了平台，今天我們正在與全球不同地區的中間商不同合作夥伴和不同工具就整個產品範圍進行更多討論，這些討論確實帶來了一系列機會，正如戴夫提到的，我們認為這些機會和我們現在看到的一樣令人興奮。我認為先鋒投資業務的淨流量為正值，這絕對很能說明問題。

as we mentioned in the first quarter. So that obviously with knowledge that the transaction was occurring and they were positive in all of 2024 as well. So we think the combined business going forward has resonated well from a market perspective and a client perspective and are excited about the opportunities that lay ahead.

正如我們在第一季提到的。因此，他們顯然知道交易正在進行，並且對整個 2024 年也持積極態度。因此，我們認為，從市場角度和客戶角度來看，合併後的業務將產生良好的迴響，我們對未來的機會感到興奮。

Great. Thank you. And just as a follow-up, could you give us an update on WestEnd? The macro backdrop has certainly evolved over the last couple of months. So what are you anticipating for net flows in the business going forward?

偉大的。謝謝。另外，作為後續問題，您能否向我們介紹 WestEnd 的最新情況？過去幾個月，宏觀背景確實發生了變化。那麼您對未來業務的淨流量有何預期？

Yeah, good question. So as we mentioned, WestEnd is net flow positive since we've acquired them. They did have some softer performance in 2024. As we look at the first quarter, some of the market dislocation and their positioning has actually allowed their performance to be very strong. And so we're excited as we move forward.

是的，好問題。正如我們所提到的，自從我們收購 WestEnd 以來，它的淨流量一直是正的。他們在 2024 年的表現確實有些疲軟。當我們回顧第一季時，一些市場錯位和他們的定位實際上使他們的表現非常強勁。因此，我們對未來的發展充滿期待。

Obviously, the macro backdrop with respect to clients and they're accessing different asset classes right now is a little bit volatile, but their performance has come back very nicely, and we're excited. We are -- continued to be very bullish on the asset classes that they manage, the type of models that they deliver, the access to distribution. I think we've said a number of times, we're doing business now on more platforms with more advisers. So not to project kind of what we think, but we're excited about the opportunity set with the pickup in performance that we've seen with WestEnd.

顯然，就客戶而言，宏觀背景以及他們現在接觸的不同資產類別有點不穩定，但他們的表現已經恢復得很好，我們感到很興奮。我們繼續非常看好他們管理的資產類別、他們提供的模型類型以及分銷管道。我想我們已經說過很多次了，我們現在在更多的平台上與更多的顧問開展業務。因此，我們不會投射出我們所想的東西，但我們對 WestEnd 演出業績回升帶來的機會感到興奮。

I would add one thing, Mike, on that is we have -- we've launched additional products off of their platform. So we've launched a number of ETFs, and we've seen growth on their ETFs. And so now if you're looking to access WestEnd, you can access it through their model delivery, but you can also access them through a number of ETFs as well.

麥克，我想補充一點，我們已經在他們的平台上推出了更多產品。因此，我們推出了多隻 ETF，並且我們看到了它們的成長。因此，現在如果您想訪問 WestEnd，您可以透過他們的模型交付來訪問，但您也可以透過一些 ETF 來訪問它們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Michael Cyprys, Morgan Stanley.

摩根士丹利的麥可‧賽普里斯 (Michael Cyprys)。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. You mentioned in your prepared remarks that you're making some investments to enhance organic growth. In particular, you mentioned investments in data, technology, marketing. I was hoping maybe you could elaborate on the steps that you're taking there, the quantum of investments that you're making and how you'll be measuring success.

嘿，早安。感謝您回答這個問題。您在準備好的演講中提到，您正在進行一些投資以增強有機成長。具體來說，您提到了對數據、技術和行銷的投資。我希望您能詳細說明您正在採取的步驟、您進行的投資量以及如何衡量成功。

Hi, Michael, it's Dave. It's a great question. I appreciate you asking it. On the intermediary side for the US, we have added a significant number of salespeople. So think of them as external-facing salespeople, people supporting our external-facing salespeople.

你好，邁克爾，我是戴夫。這是一個很好的問題。感謝您提出這個問題。在美國的中介方面，我們增加了大量銷售人員。因此，可以把他們視為面向外部的銷售人員，支持我們面向外部的銷售人員的人。

We've added a sizable number of marketing professionals, of dedicated data professionals. And then we are purchasing more data programs from certain platforms, and we have also increased the number of partnerships, platform partnerships we have from the past. So we have made a pretty significant investment in really intermediary distribution.

我們增加了大量的行銷專業人員和專門的數據專業人員。然後，我們從某些平台購買了更多的數據程序，並且我們還增加了過去的合作夥伴關係、平台合作夥伴關係的數量。因此，我們在中間分銷方面進行了相當大的投資。

All of those numbers are in our net expense synergy numbers. So when you hear the number of $110 million, it's netted into those numbers, all of those investments. We've done -- on a smaller level, we've done the same thing on the US institutional side, where we've added people and client service as well. And then the ultimate judge of our investments are going to be our organic growth profile.

所有這些數字都包含在我們的淨費用協同效應數字中。因此，當您聽到 1.1 億美元這個數字時，它就被計入這些數字中，包括所有這些投資。在較小層面上，我們在美國機構方面也做了同樣的事情，我們增加了人員和客戶服務。我們投資的最終評判標準是我們的有機成長狀況。

We want to be in a position where we grow our business organically. And I think we are in as good a position as we've ever been to do that. And these investments that we're making, ultimately, the goal is to have organic growth, pretty simple from that perspective.

我們希望能夠實現業務的有機成長。我認為我們目前處於一個非常有利的位置來做到這一點。我們所做的這些投資的最終目標是實現有機成長，從這個角度來看非常簡單。

Great. Thanks. And then just a follow-up question. As you've broadened out the platform and have further scaled it, just curious how you're thinking about alternative investment products. How important is that for you as you're thinking about M&A going forward to have that on the platform? I imagine it would be more of an acquisition.

偉大的。謝謝。然後只是一個後續問題。由於您已經拓寬了平台並進一步擴大了規模，我只是好奇您對另類投資產品有何看法。當您考慮透過併購將其納入平台時，這對您來說有多重要？我想這更像是一次收購。

Maybe just talk about the pipeline for alternative investment-related acquisitions, how those sort of conversations are progressing, and how you're thinking about some of the puts and takes there as it does add a bit more complexity. Do you feel that the organization, the platform is at a place to accommodate that sort of a product set at this point?

也許只是談論另類投資相關收購的管道，這類對話的進展情況，以及您如何考慮其中的一些利弊，因為它確實增加了一些複雜性。您是否認為該組織、該平台目前已能夠容納此類產品？

Alternatives are important to us. When we speak with our clients, certain clients at certain levels inquire about it. We have great relationships from an intermediary and institutional perspective. And so over time, we will have those products for our salespeople to deliver to those clients and potentially new clients. Whether we access that through acquisitions or partnerships, we are evaluating.

替代方案對我們來說很重要。當我們與客戶交談時，某些特定層級的客戶會詢問此事。從中介機構和機構的角度來看，我們有著良好的關係。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們的銷售人員將把這些產品交付給這些客戶和潛在的新客戶。我們正在評估是否透過收購或合作來實現這一目標。

I think there's pros and cons with each structure. But as we think about moving forward in our access from a distribution perspective and how deep we are into the various channels, we will absolutely have an alternatives offerings. And we're going to work through different ways of accomplishing that. And I think there have been a number of acquisitions in the industry.

我認為每種結構都有優點和缺點。但是，當我們從分銷的角度考慮如何推進我們的訪問，以及我們在各個管道的深度時，我們絕對會提供替代方案。我們將透過不同的方式來實現這一目標。我認為該行業已經發生了多起收購事件。

There have been a number of partnerships in the industry and we have studied all of them, and we're going to execute in a way that's going to make the most sense for our platform. But when we think about the world going forward and look out, that is a product that we will absolutely be dialoguing and selling to our -- with our clients.

業界已經存在許多合作夥伴關係，我們對它們都進行了研究，並將以對我們的平台最有意義的方式執行。但當我們思考世界的未來並展望未來時，我們會發現這絕對是我們會與客戶對話並向客戶銷售的產品。

Okay. Thank you.

好的。謝謝。

Kenneth Lee, RBC Capital Markets.

加拿大皇家銀行資本市場 (RBC Capital Markets) 的 Kenneth Lee。

Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking the question. You mentioned in the prepared remarks around the common dividend, and it sounds as if it's going to be a slight change in terms of more of an annual review instead of a quarterly review. Wondering if you could just remind us again, you've been increasing the dividend at a pretty good clip more recently. What's driving the change there? And then perhaps could you give us an update, if there is any, in terms of longer-term priorities around capital deployment? Thanks.

嘿，早安。感謝您回答這個問題。您在準備好的評論中提到了有關普通股股息的問題，聽起來這將是一個小小的變化，更多的是年度審查而不是季度審查。想知道您是否可以再次提醒我們，最近您一直在以相當快的速度增加股息。是什麼推動了那裡的改變？那麼，您能否向我們提供有關資本部署的長期優先事項的最新情況（如果有的話）？謝謝。

It's Dave. Let me start with the back end of that question. Our best use of capital, we think, to grow the business is really to think about capital from an acquisition perspective. So we want to make sure that we can execute on our strategic plan of growing through acquisitions, and we want to make sure that our balance sheet accommodates that. So we start there.

是戴夫。讓我先從這個問題的背面開始。我們認為，利用資本來發展業務的最佳方法是從收購的角度來考慮資本。因此，我們希望確保我們能夠執行透過收購實現成長的策略計劃，並且我們希望確保我們的資產負債表能夠適應這一點。所以我們就從這裡開始。

And I think as our business has grown over the years, we have also been able to balance that along with an equity buyback program and also a dividend. And so I would look at dividends and our buyback program as ancillary, but our ability to execute on them in a larger way is really a reward for us growing our business. So we'll continue to have that same viewpoint of capital.

我認為，隨著我們業務多年來的成長，我們也能夠透過股權回購計畫和股利來平衡這一點。因此，我將股息和回購計劃視為輔助措施，但我們能夠更大規模地執行這些計劃，這實際上對我們業務的成長是一種獎勵。因此，我們將繼續持有同樣的資本觀點。

And then from a dividend perspective, we have -- over the last three years, we have gone from an annual -- an anticipated annual increase to more quarterly increases just to be more opportunistic as our business has evolved as we've done acquisitions. I think as we think about going forward, we'll look at it every quarter, but the anticipation is that we will increase once a year.

從股息的角度來看，在過去三年中，我們已經從年度成長（預期年度成長）轉變為季度成長，只是為了隨著我們的業務隨著收購而發展而更加抓住機會。我認為，當我們考慮未來時，我們會每個季度都關注它，但預計每年都會增加一次。

That doesn't stop us from doing it quarterly. It's just really the guide to say that this is how we're going to look at it. But if you really take a step back, we are going to, first and foremost, make sure that we can execute on inorganic growth through our balance sheet, through our cash flow.

但這並不能阻止我們每季進行一次。它實際上只是一份指南，告訴我們我們將如何看待它。但如果你真的退一步來看，我們首先要確保我們能夠透過資產負債表和現金流實現無機成長。

And then secondarily, it will be buybacks and dividends. But with the way our business looks and the cash flow that we anticipate and the margins we have and our earnings potential, we think we can satisfy the dividend and the buyback pretty nicely and balance all that out.

其次，是回購和分紅。但考慮到我們的業務狀況、預期的現金流、現有的利潤率和獲利潛力，我們認為我們可以很好地滿足股息和回購要求，並實現平衡。

Great. Very helpful there. Just one follow-up, if I may. In terms of the Victory ETF net flows in the quarter, very solid. I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about the cadence of newer ETF products that are expected to be launched later on this year.

偉大的。非常有幫助。如果可以的話，我只想問一個後續問題。就本季勝利 ETF 淨流量而言，非常穩健。我想知道您是否可以再多談談預計今年稍後推出的較新的 ETF 產品的節奏。

Sure. We have had really nice growth for the last few quarters on our ETF platform. We have launched a number of products over the last few years, and they have worked. And we have plans and are in the process of launching additional ETFs. We'll also launch ETFs off of the Pioneer platform in the future.

當然。在過去幾個季度，我們的 ETF 平台取得了非常好的成長。過去幾年我們推出了許多產品，並且取得了良好的效果。我們已經制定計劃並正在推出更多 ETF。未來我們也將在先鋒平台上推出 ETF。

And we have a -- we have our entire US intermediary sales force can sell ETFs, but we also have a portion of our sales force that only sells ETFs. And we have a group that also trains on our ETFs. So we're well armed in the field. I think we have a really nice diversified existing ETF product set, and we'll continue to expand that.

我們整個美國中介銷售團隊都可以銷售 ETF，但我們也有一部分銷售團隊只銷售 ETF。我們還有一個團隊負責 ETF 培訓。因此我們在戰場上裝備精良。我認為我們現有的 ETF 產品組合確實非常多樣化，而且我們將繼續擴大這一組合。

And we think it's going to be an area for our business that's going to see accelerated growth. And so we will evaluate where we think the market is going from an ETF perspective and launch products to satisfy that. But I think our existing lineup today is pretty wholesome and has done pretty well, and I don't see that changing going forward.

我們認為這將成為我們業務加速成長的領域。因此，我們將從 ETF 的角度評估市場走向，並推出滿足此需求的產品。但我認為我們現有的陣容非常完整，而且表現相當不錯，我認為這種情況在未來不會改變。

Great. Very helpful. Thanks again.

偉大的。非常有幫助。再次感謝。

I will now turn the call back over to David Brown for closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給大衛布朗，請他作最後發言。

Thank you. We hope to see you next month when we'll be attending the Morgan Stanley US Financials Conference in New York and look forward to keeping you updated on our progress. Again, thank you for joining us this morning.

謝謝。我們希望下個月在紐約參加摩根士丹利美國金融會議時見到您，並期待向您通報我們的進展。再次感謝您今天早上加入我們。

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。