Victory Capital Holdings Inc (VCTR) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Victory Capital third-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions)

早安，歡迎參加 Victory Capital 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）

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

現在我將把電話交給馬修·丹尼斯先生。幕僚長兼投資者關係總監。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.

謝謝。在將電話交給大衛布朗之前，我想提醒各位，在今天的電話會議中，我們可能會發表一些前瞻性聲明。Victory Capital的實際表現可能與這些陳述有重大差異。請查閱我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件，其中列出了一些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風險因素。

Victory Capital assumes no duty and does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements. 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.

Victory Capital不承擔任何更新前瞻性聲明的義務。我們在昨天市場收盤後發布的新聞稿披露了GAAP和非GAAP財務表現。我們認為非GAAP指標有助於更了解我們的業務和績效。

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 slide s accompanying this call, both of which are available on the Investor Relations section of our website at ir.vcm.com.

這些非GAAP指標與最可比較的GAAP指標之間的調節表包含在我們的獲利新聞稿和本次電話會議隨附的幻燈片中，這兩份文件均可在我們網站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交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 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'll start today with an overview of the quarter, after which I will expand on our distribution opportunity outside of the US, update you on Victory shares our fast-growing ETF business, then I will provide some perspective on the depth of the M&A opportunities that we have before us. After that, I will turn the call over to Mike to review the financial results in greater detail.

謝謝你，馬特。早安，歡迎參加 Victory Capital 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有我們的總裁、財務長兼行政官邁克爾·波利卡波，以及我們的幕僚長兼投資者關係總監馬特·丹尼斯。今天我將首先概述本季度的情況，之後我會詳細介紹我們在美國以外的分銷機會，向大家匯報我們快速增長的 ETF 業務 Victory Shares 的最新進展，然後我會從深度角度分析我們面前的併購機會。之後，我會把電話交給麥克，讓他更詳細地分析財務表現。

Following our prepared remarks, Mike, Matt and I will be available to answer your questions. The quarterly business overview begins on slide 5. We had an excellent third quarter. We achieved record high gross flows, and our net flows continue to improve and finished just under flat for the quarter. We ended the quarter with total assets of $313 billion.

在我們發言結束後，麥克、馬特和我將回答大家的問題。季度業務概覽從第 5 頁開始。我們第三季表現出色。我們實現了創紀錄的總流量，淨流量持續改善，本季淨流量基本上持平。本季末，我們的總資產為3,130億美元。

Long-term gross flows rose 10% quarter-over-quarter to $17 billion, reflecting our expanded US distribution team that is continuing to coalesce and gain traction. And we also had strong sales outside of the US at an annualized rate of $68 billion or 23% of long-term AUM. We are in the best position we have ever been into execute on consistent long-term organic growth.

長期總流量較上季成長 10% 至 170 億美元，反映出我們不斷成長的美國分銷團隊正在持續凝聚並取得進展。我們在美國以外的銷售額也十分強勁，年化銷售額達 680 億美元，佔長期資產管理規模的 23%。我們目前處於有史以來最佳的位置，可以執行持續的長期內生成長。

Adjusted EBITDA set a new all-time quarterly high at $191 million, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA margin of 52.7%. Adjusted earnings per diluted share rose to a record $1.63, up 4% from the second quarter and 20% higher than the quarter immediately preceding the Amundi transaction. We've already exceeded our low double-digit accretion guidance for this transaction, achieving these results even before capturing the complete benefit of our targeted net expense synergies.

經調整的 EBITDA 創下季度歷史新高，達到 1.91 億美元，經調整的 EBITDA 利潤率為 52.7%。調整後的每股攤薄收益增至創紀錄的 1.63 美元，比第二季增長 4%，比 Amundi 交易前的一個季度增長 20%。我們已經超過了先前對此次交易兩位數低成長預期，甚至在尚未完全實現預期的淨支出綜效之前就取得了這些成果。

During the third quarter, we repurchased 1.8 million shares. At quarter end, we still have $355 million of capacity on our existing repurchase authorization. We will remain opportunistic and flexible with future repurchases, factoring in the current facts and circumstances.

第三季度，我們回購了 180 萬股股票。截至季末，我們現有的回購授權額度仍有 3.55 億美元。我們將保持機會主義和靈活的態度，根據當前的事實和情況，在未來的回購中採取靈活策略。

Turning to our integration process of Pioneer Investments. We are slightly ahead of plan on the timing of achieving our net expense synergy goals. At the end of the third quarter, we achieved approximately $86 million of net expense synergies on a run rate basis. There is a clear line of sight for the remaining $24 million of net expense synergies to reach the previously disclosed total of $110 million.

接下來談談我們對 Pioneer Investments 的整合過程。我們在實現淨費用綜效目標方面，進度略微超前於計畫。第三季末，我們以年率計算實現了約 8,600 萬美元的淨費用綜效。剩餘的 2,400 萬美元淨支出綜效預計將達到先前揭露的 1.1 億美元總額。

Our US distribution teams have been integrated and cross-trained with the territories being reconfigured to optimize coverage. As with all our previous acquisitions, the investment team remained uninterrupted, and there has been little to no impact on the client experience during the integration process.

我們的美國分銷團隊已經整合並接受了交叉培訓，各區域也進行了重新配置，以優化覆蓋範圍。與我們之前的所有收購一樣，投資團隊的工作沒有受到任何影響，整合過程中對客戶體驗幾乎沒有任何影響。

Turning to slide 6. As we look at the distribution opportunity outside of the US, we are very encouraged by our position as essentially Amundi's US manufacturing arm for traditional active asset management products. We currently have $52 billion of AUM from clients outside the US from 60 countries where net flows remain positive.

翻到第6張投影片。當我們展望美國以外的分銷機會時，我們非常鼓舞人心，因為我們基本上是 Amundi 在美國的傳統主動資產管理產品的製造部門。我們目前擁有來自美國以外 60 個國家的客戶 520 億美元的資產管理規模，這些國家的淨流入仍為正。

The Pioneer Investment's US sales infrastructure that was present before we closed the transaction remains intact and is operating well and coordinating with Amundi's distribution teams in their local geographies throughout the world.

在我們完成交易之前，Pioneer Investment 在美國的銷售基礎設施仍然完好無損，運作良好，並與 Amundi 在全球各地的本地分銷團隊進行協調。

We are investing in this area to increase capacity for more sales outside of the US, which will include legacy Victory products going forward. We currently manage 19 usage and are working on several new ones that we will be launching in the next quarter or so. These new UCITS will be a mix of Pioneer investment and legacy Victory franchise strategies.

我們正在投資該領域，以提高產能，從而在美國以外地區實現更多銷售，其中也包括未來的 Victory 傳統產品。我們目前管理 19 個用戶，並且正在開發幾個新的用戶群體，我們將在下一個季度左右推出這些用戶群體。這些新的UCITS基金將融合先鋒集團的投資策略和勝利集團的傳統特許經營策略。

Priorities for the launch of new products outside of the US were established through a bottom-up approach with Amundi's distribution teams advising on which products have the greatest demand.

在美國以外地區推出新產品的優先事項是透過由下而上的方法確定的，Amundi 的分銷團隊會就哪些產品的需求量最大提出建議。

Another immediate opportunity identified relates to the current demand from their clients in Asia for US exchange listed ETF products. The investment performance of our existing UCITS is excellent. The average performance ranking is in the top quartile for all periods and year-to-date average ranking is in the 11 percentile per Morningstar rankings.

另一個顯而易見的機會是，他們亞洲的客戶目前對美國交易所上市的 ETF 產品有需求。我們現有UCITS基金的投資表現非常出色。根據晨星排名，所有時期的平均績效排名均處於前四分之一，年初至今的平均排名處於第 11 百分位。

What makes this partnership unique is its structural design compared to historical and typical industry cross-border distribution agreements. When Amundi contributed its US business to Victory, it was their in-house US investment manufacturing arm, which they sought to expand to better satisfy demand from their clients across the globe.

與以往典型的產業跨境分銷協議相比，這種合作關係的獨特之處在於其結構設計。當 Amundi 將其美國業務併入 Victory 時，指的是其在美國的內部投資製造部門，他們希望擴大該部門的規模，以更好地滿足其全球客戶的需求。

Victory Capital now serves as Amundi's US manufacturing platform. which includes the legacy Pioneer Investments product set, but also includes the legacy Victory product set. Most of the other cross-border distribution deals are not set up this way. Essentially, we took over an efficient and highly productive US investment manufacturing arm that was deeply ingrained in the Amundi distribution system, and we are now adding legacy Victory products to it.

Victory Capital 現在是 Amundi 的美國製造業平台，其中包括原 Pioneer Investments 的產品系列，也包括原 Victory 的產品系列。其他大多數跨境分銷協議都不是以這種方式設立的。從本質上講，我們接管了一個高效且高產的美國投資製造部門，該部門深深融入了 Amundi 的分銷系統，現在我們正在將 Victory 的傳統產品添加到其中。

Think of a freight train moving forward on the tracks, and we are just adding the Victory freight cars to an already fast-moving and fully operational train. This is why we are so excited about the opportunity over the long term. The economic alignment is there for the organization as well in addition to Amundi's 26.1% economic ownership. There is a sharing of the fees by both organizations at the point of sale.

想像一列貨運列車在鐵軌上向前行駛，我們只是將勝利號貨車添加到一列已經高速行駛且完全運行的列車上。這就是為什麼我們對這個長期機會感到如此興奮的原因。除了 Amundi 持有 26.1% 的經濟股份外，該組織在經濟上也與各方保持一致。雙方機構在銷售點平分費用。

Amundi earns fees if they sell Victory products and Victory earns fees for being the investment manager. In a lot of cases, the Amundi point-of-sale fee exceeds the stand-alone fee if they were selling in Amundi manufactured product, given the active nature of our product set, and that is all before factoring in the 26.1% economic ownership.

Amundi 透過銷售 Victory 產品賺取佣金，而 Victory 則透過擔任投資經理賺取佣金。在許多情況下，考慮到我們產品組合的活躍性，Amundi 的銷售點費用超過了他們銷售 Amundi 生產的產品的獨立費用，而這還不包括 26.1% 的經濟所有權。

As far as the opportunity set goes, we are very excited about the entire Asia region where there is a high demand for US dollar-denominated products. The Middle East is another market that has caught our attention. Amundi has a great distribution network in both regions. In Europe, Amundi enjoys a dominant position in many distribution channels and geographies that are very difficult to penetrate.

就市場機會而言，我們對整個亞洲地區感到非常興奮，因為該地區對美元計價產品的需求很高。中東是另一個引起我們關注的市場。Amundi在這兩個地區都擁有強大的分銷網絡。在歐洲，Amundi 在許多很難打入的分銷管道和地區都佔據主導地位。

I also want to make a point here with some of the recent news reported from Monday around their UniCredit distribution relationship that this is not a material part of our business and we don't expect this to impact the momentum outside of the US.

我還想就週一報道的有關他們與 UniCredit 分銷關係的一些新聞指出一點，這並不是我們業務的重要組成部分，我們預計這不會影響美國以外地區的增長勢頭。

Through Amundi's international networks, joint ventures and third-party distributors, they have one of the industry's most effective and deep global distribution engines. The combination of our expanded US product set, Amundi's existing infrastructure, aligned incentives at the point of sale and Amundi's global competitive positioning creates a transformational opportunity for Victory. We look forward to reporting on our progress in these markets as sales begin to ramp up in 2026.

透過 Amundi 的國際網絡、合資企業和第三方分銷商，他們擁有業內最有效、最深入的全球分銷引擎之一。我們擴大的美國產品組合、Amundi現有的基礎設施、銷售點的協調激勵以及Amundi的全球競爭地位，共同為Victory創造了變革性的機會。我們期待在 2026 年銷售額開始成長時，向大家報告我們在這些市場的進展。

Slide 7 showcases Victory shares, our rapidly expanding ETF platform. The beginning of 2023, we saw a market opportunity and evaluated our ETF product mix and positioning. We began investing more in marketing and distribution resources, specifically dedicated to growing sales of our ETFs. Since then, we have launched several new active and rules-based ETFs and rationalize others to optimize our offerings.

第 7 張投影片展示了 Victory 股票，我們快速擴張的 ETF 平台。2023年初，我們看到了市場機遇，並評估了我們的ETF產品組合和市場定位。我們開始增加對行銷和分銷資源的投入，專門用於提高我們 ETF 的銷售額。從那時起，我們推出了幾隻新的主動型和規則型 ETF，並對其他 ETF 進行了調整，以優化我們的產品。

We also began hiring dedicated ETF sales professionals and entered into several strategic distribution partnerships. The result has been an acceleration of growth with year-to-date positive net flows of $5.4 billion, which represents a 53% organic growth rate through the first nine months of this year.

我們也開始招募專門的 ETF 銷售專業人員，並建立了幾個策略性分銷合作夥伴關係。結果是成長加速，今年迄今的淨流入為 54 億美元，這意味著今年前九個月的有機成長率達到了 53%。

On an annualized basis, this is tracking at a greater than 70% organic rate of growth. We currently have a suite of 26 ETFs, spanning from active to rules based with an average fee rate of 35 basis points. We entered this business 10 years ago when we acquired CEMP Temp which had less than $200 million of ETF AUM. Since that time, we have grown this part of our business at a 29% compound annual growth rate with AUM currently approaching $18 billion.

按年計算，其有機成長率超過 70%。我們目前擁有 26 檔 ETF，涵蓋主動型和規則型，平均費率為 35 個基點。10 年前，我們收購了 CEMP Temp，當時該公司的 ETF 資產管理規模不到 2 億美元，並因此進入了這個行業。自那時以來，我們這部分業務的複合年增長率達到了 29%，目前資產管理規模已接近 180 億美元。

Moreover, our operating platform enhances the benefits of scale and reduces the cost of manufacturing ETFs, which results in margins that meet our firm requirements. Our expectation is that this strong sales momentum will continue to accelerate in the US and that it will be compounded by the non-US sales of our ETF products that I just covered.

此外，我們的營運平台增強了規模效益，降低了 ETF 的生產成本，從而實現了符合我們公司要求的利潤率。我們預計，這種強勁的銷售勢頭將在美國繼續加速，並將因我剛才提到的我們 ETF 產品在美國以外的銷售而得到加強。

Turning to slide 9. Our investment performance remains excellent. Nearly half of our mutual fund and ETF AUM ranks in the top quartile based on Morningstar's three year rankings. Nearly two-third of our mutual fund and ETF AUM, which is rated by Morningstar, earned a 4 or 5 star overall rating. This encompasses a diversified set of 56 different products. Majority of our AUM continues to outpace respective benchmarks over all measurement periods.

翻到第9張投影片。我們的投資績效依然優異。根據晨星三年排名，我們近一半的共同基金和 ETF 資產管理規模排名前四分之一。我們近三分之二的共同基金和 ETF 資產管理規模（由晨星評級）獲得了 4 星或 5 星的整體評級。這涵蓋了種類繁多的 56 種不同產品。在所有衡量週期內，我們大部分資產管理規模均持續超越各自的基準。

On slide 10, we highlight our capital allocation strategy. Our deployment of capital is primarily targeted at both organic and inorganic growth opportunities. As a growth company, reinvesting in the business and pursuing strategic acquisitions represents our most compelling use of shareholder capital.

第 10 張投影片重點介紹了我們的資本配置策略。我們的資金部署主要針對內生式和外延式成長機會。作為一家成長型公司，對業務進行再投資和進行策略性收購是我們對股東資本最有效的利用方式。

Given our growing earnings and cash flow, we can also return capital to shareholders. This flywheel effect has resulted in returns to shareholders of more than $1 billion since we went public, which is particularly noteworthy when you consider that the company received just $156 million in net proceeds from the initial public offering.

鑑於我們不斷增長的利潤和現金流，我們也可以向股東返還資本。自公司上市以來，這種飛輪效應已為股東帶來了超過 10 億美元的回報，考慮到該公司在首次公開募股中僅獲得 1.56 億美元的淨收益，這一點尤其值得注意。

This demonstrates our ability to create substantial shareholder value through disciplined capital allocation, coupled with consistently excellent execution. Our presentation deck includes a chart showing our industry-leading earnings growth on slide 21 and which highlights our quarterly fully diluted EPS growing from $0.40 to $1.63 for a compound annual growth rate of 21% since our initial public offering in 2018.

這證明了我們有能力透過嚴格的資本配置和一致的出色執行，為股東創造巨大的價值。我們的簡報第 21 頁包含一張圖表，展示了我們行業領先的盈利增長，並重點介紹了自 2018 年首次公開募股以來，我們的季度完全稀釋每股收益從 0.40 美元增長到 1.63 美元，複合年增長率為 21%。

When we discussed our acquisition strategy, we are often asked about industry fragmentation and our ability to continue executing on our strategy, given we have grown so quickly as we are a much larger company now.

當我們討論收購策略時，經常有人問到行業分散化以及鑑於我們公司規模擴大了很多，發展如此迅速，我們是否還能繼續執行我們的策略。

On slide 11, we highlight the opportunity set that we see before us. It is important to note that our core strategy has not changed since the management buyout in 2013. We built a unique platform that is ideally suited to thrive given the secular trends challenging the industry. It is also especially conducive to creating value and growing earnings from acquisitions.

在第 11 張投影片中，我們將重點放在眼前的機會集。值得注意的是，自 2013 年管理層收購以來，我們的核心策略並沒有改變。我們打造了一個獨特的平台，非常適合應對挑戰產業的長期趨勢而蓬勃發展。它也特別有利於透過收購創造價值和增加收益。

Considering that every deal starts with a strategic foundation to it, our company has become much better positioned over the years from a competitive perspective. Each of the acquisitions listed on the left-hand side of the slide was highly strategic. We diversified our investment in product capabilities, enhanced expanded and globalized our distribution capabilities, gained firm-wide size and scale and add a leadership talent with each of these transactions.

考慮到每筆交易都始於策略基礎，從競爭角度來看，我們公司這些年來已經取得了更大的優勢。幻燈片左側列出的每項收購都具有高度戰略意義。我們透過這些交易實現了產品能力的投資多元化，增強了分銷能力，擴大了分銷範圍，實現了全球化，提升了公司整體規模，並增加了領導人才。

The financial benefits were a positive outcome, allowing us to generate growing cash flow, increase earnings and perpetuate our strategy for creating shareholder value. Our runway is very long. We intend to increase further in size and scale, not for growth's sake alone, but to enhance our competitive position in our distribution channels by investment and adding complementary investment capabilities to optimally position us at the point of sale with our diverse set of clients.

財務上的收益是正面的成果，使我們能夠產生不斷增長的現金流，增加收益，並延續我們為股東創造價值的策略。我們的跑道很長。我們計劃進一步擴大規模，不僅是為了成長，更是為了透過投資和增加互補的投資能力，增強我們在分銷管道中的競爭地位，從而在銷售點為我們多元化的客戶群提供最佳的定位。

As the industry remains very fragmented, the reason for joining forces with a larger partner have only intensified over the years, increasing complexity, regulatory burdens, technology requirements and access to distribution are all becoming more difficult for asset managers that are not mega sized.

由於行業仍然非常分散，與更大的合作夥伴攜手合作的原因近年來愈發強烈，日益增長的複雜性、監管負擔、技術要求和分銷渠道對於規模不大的資產管理公司來說都變得越來越困難。

Even with the large acquisition universe, we will always remain selective, disciplined and strategic. As you can see from the graphic on this slide , the opportunity set is vast. According to Simfund data, there are currently more than 450 asset managers in the US with more than $10 billion of assets under management.

即使收購範圍很廣，我們也會隨時保持選擇性、自律性和策略性。從這張投影片上的圖表可以看出，機會非常多。根據 Simfund 的數據，目前美國有超過 450 家資產管理公司，管理的資產超過 100 億美元。

Our focus areas increased in size that we have grown over the years, and we are focused on evaluating firms with between $50 billion and $200 billion of assets under management, where there are more than 110 prospective targets, managing $11.1 trillion.

隨著我們這些年來的發展壯大，我們的關注領域也隨之擴大，我們專注於評估管理資產規模在 500 億美元至 2000 億美元之間的公司，目前有超過 110 個潛在目標，管理資產規模達 11.1 兆美元。

In the event we execute on a transaction on the smaller side, it would necessitate being something highly strategic in the areas of investment capabilities or distribution access. We are also routinely asked about our views on adding alternative investments to our product range. While we do not aspire to become a full-on alternatives manager, we do want to have a curated alternatives product set as we are projecting that some of our clients will increase allocations to alternative investments.

如果我們執行一筆規模較小的交易，那麼這筆交易必須在投資能力或分銷管道方面具有高度策略性。我們也常被問到對在產品系列中增加另類投資的看法。雖然我們並不渴望成為一家全面的另類投資管理公司，但我們確實希望擁有一套精心挑選的另類投資產品組合，因為我們預計我們的一些客戶將增加對另類投資的配置。

Over the years, we have actively evaluated opportunities to acquire, partner or organically add alternatives. We have been disciplined and avoided rushing into this space. However, we do remain attracted to the principles associated with alternative investments around diversification for clients' portfolios.

多年來，我們積極評估了收購、合作或透過自身發展增加替代產品的機會。我們一直保持謹慎，避免貿然進入這個領域。然而，我們仍然對另類投資中關於客戶投資組合多元化的原則很感興趣。

We've never tried to offer every product in every asset class and instead centered around where we have expertise. For alternatives, we will center around specific investment themes, such as income, for example. Our strategy here is consistent with our broader approach of selective expansion, and we will continue to maintain focus on our core strengths as a firm.

我們從未試圖提供每個資產類別的所有產品，而是專注於我們擅長的領域。對於另類投資，我們將圍繞特定的投資主題展開，例如收益型投資。我們在此採取的策略與我們選擇性擴張的整體方針是一致的，我們將繼續專注於公司的核心優勢。

With that, I will turn the call over to Mike, who will go through the financial results in more detail. Mike?

接下來，我將把電話交給麥克，他將更詳細地介紹財務表現。麥克風？

Thanks, Dave, and good morning, everyone. The financial results review begins on slide 13. Revenue increased 3% from the second quarter to $361.2 million. Average assets for the quarter rose 7% quarter-over-quarter, and our fee rate was 47.2 basis points. GAAP results include approximately $21 million of transaction-related compensation, restructuring and integration costs, which was down from $54 million in the prior quarter.

謝謝你，戴夫，大家早安。財務績效回顧從第 13 頁開始。營收較第二季成長3%，達3.612億美元。本季平均資產較上季成長 7%，我們的費率為 47.2 個基點。GAAP 結果包括約 2,100 萬美元的交易相關補償、重組和整合成本，低於上一季的 5,400 萬美元。

As a result, GAAP operating income was $138 million, a 47% increase from the second quarter. On an adjusted basis, we delivered adjusted EBITDA of $190.5 million, which yields an adjusted EBITDA margin of 52.7%. Adjusted net income with tax benefit grew to $141.3 million or $1.63 per diluted share, up 6% and 4%, respectively, from the prior quarter.

因此，以美國通用會計準則計算的營業收入為 1.38 億美元，比第二季成長了 47%。經過調整後，我們實現了調整後的 EBITDA 1.905 億美元，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為 52.7%。經調整後的淨利潤（含稅收優惠）增長至 1.413 億美元，即每股攤薄收益 1.63 美元，分別比上一季增長 6% 和 4%。

Our weighted average shares rose in the period due to having a full quarter of the shares issued to Amundi from the acquisition outstanding. If you recall, we delivered the share consideration to Amundi in multiple tranches during the second quarter.

由於收購中向 Amundi 發行的股份有四分之一已發行在外，因此我們在此期間的加權平均股份有所增加。如果你還記得的話，我們在第二季分多批向 Amundi 支付了股份對價。

Our capital allocation strategy remains active and disciplined. We opportunistically repurchased 1.8 million shares during the quarter as we took advantage of market conditions to return capital to shareholders. The Board also declared the regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.49 that will be payable on December 23 to shareholders of record on December 10.

我們的資本配置策略依然積極且嚴謹。本季度，我們抓住市場機遇，回購了 180 萬股股票，以向股東返還資本。董事會也宣布派發每股 0.49 美元的季度現金股息，將於 12 月 23 日支付給 12 月 10 日登記在冊的股東。

Combined with our regular quarterly dividend, we returned a total of $163 million to shareholders in the quarter, which was an all-time high. Our balance sheet remains strong with $116 million of cash and a net leverage ratio of 1.1 times, providing us with financial flexibility to continue pursuing our inorganic growth objectives.

加上我們常規的季度股息，本季我們共向股東返還了 1.63 億美元，創歷史新高。我們的資產負債表依然穩健，擁有 1.16 億美元的現金和 1.1 倍的淨槓桿率，這為我們繼續追求非內生成長目標提供了財務靈活性。

On slide 14, you can see the diversification in our $313.4 billion in total client assets. In addition to diversification in the US across channels, client types and asset classes, our mix of business continues to benefit from meaningful diversification into non-US geographies. As of quarter end, 17% of our AUM was from investors outside the United States.

在第 14 張投影片中，您可以看到我們 3,134 億美元客戶總資產的多元化情況。除了在美國實現管道、客戶類型和資產類別的多元化之外，我們的業務組合也繼續受益於向美國以外地區的有效多元化。截至季末，我們管理資產的 17% 來自美國以外的投資者。

Our long-term asset flows continue to improve on all metrics, as you can see on slide 15. We've now achieved our fourth consecutive quarter of improving net long-term flows with net outflows of $244 million. Annualized, this is just 33 basis points of our AUM. Gross sales of $17 billion represent a 10% increase from Q2, displaying the growing traction of our expanded distribution platform.

正如您在第 15 頁幻燈片中看到的那樣，我們的長期資產流動在所有指標上持續改善。我們已連續第四個季度實現長期淨流入改善，淨流出額為 2.44 億美元。按年計算，這僅占我們資產管理規模的 33 個基點。總銷售額達 170 億美元，比第二季成長 10%，顯示我們擴大的分銷平台越來越受歡迎。

Particularly encouraging is the breadth of positive contributors during the quarter. Multiple investment franchises generated positive net long-term flows, including Victory income investors, Pioneer Investments, RS Global, Trivalent and our VictoryShares ETF platform.

尤其令人鼓舞的是，本季的積極貢獻者範圍非常廣泛。多個投資項目產生了正的長期淨流入，包括 Victory Income Investors、Pioneer Investments、RS Global、Trivalent 和我們的 VictoryShares ETF 平台。

This diversification across franchises demonstrates the strength of our platform and successful distribution across all channels. Our revenue performance on slide 16 reflects the enhanced scale of our platform and higher average AUM in the quarter. We expect the fee rate to remain in the 46 to 47 basis points range moving forward, reflecting the current mix of our business.

這種跨特許經營的多元化發展體現了我們平台的實力以及在所有管道的成功分銷。第 16 頁的收入表現反映了我們平台規模的擴大和本季平均資產管理規模的提高。我們預計未來費率將保持在 46 至 47 個基點的範圍內，這反映了我們目前的業務組合。

On slide 17, you can see our expense details for the quarter. Overall, expenses declined from the second quarter. Recall that we incurred several onetime expenses associated with the Amundi transaction in the previous quarter.

在第 17 頁，您可以查看我們本季的費用明細。整體而言，支出較第二季下降。請記住，我們在上一季因 Amundi 交易而產生了一些一次性費用。

Compensation expense on a cash basis was 22.8% of revenue. To date, we have achieved $86 million of net expense synergies on a run rate basis and should have $100 million of net expenses removed by the end of the first quarter of 2026, the first full year of ownership. After which, the final $10 million in net expense reduction will be realized over the course of the next 12 months.

以現金計算的薪資支出佔收入的 22.8%。迄今為止，我們已按運行率實現了 8,600 萬美元的淨支出協同效應，到 2026 年第一季末（即收購後的第一個完整年度），應該可以減少 1 億美元的淨支出。之後，剩餘的 1000 萬美元淨支出削減將在未來 12 個月內實現。

Turning to slide 18, we cover our non-GAAP metrics. Our adjusted metrics highlight the underlying strength of our business platform. Adjusted net income with tax benefit increased 6% quarter-over-quarter to a record $141.3 million. Earnings per share grew 4% to $1.63, also a new record high. It is worth highlighting the power of our unique and successful inorganic growth strategy to deliver significant earnings growth.

接下來請看第 18 張投影片，我們將介紹我們的非 GAAP 指標。我們調整後的指標突顯了我們業務平台的內在實力。調整後的淨收入（含稅收優惠）較上季成長 6%，達到創紀錄的 1.413 億美元。每股收益成長 4% 至 1.63 美元，也創下歷史新高。值得強調的是，我們獨特且成功的非內生成長策略能夠帶來顯著的獲利成長。

Adjusted EBITDA has grown 57% when comparing Q3 2025 to Q3 2024. Similarly, adjusted net income with tax benefit grew 59% over the same period. These metrics demonstrate our ability to generate strong cash flow and maintain strong, consistent margins even while we are integrating a new business.

與 2024 年第三季相比，2025 年第三季調整後 EBITDA 成長了 57%。同樣，同期經調整後的淨收入（含稅收優惠）增加了 59%。這些指標表明，即使在整合新業務的同時，我們也能產生強勁的現金流並維持強勁、穩定的利潤率。

Wrapping up on slide 19, the balance sheet continues to strengthen and provides us with enhanced financial flexibility. We successfully refinanced our term loans during the quarter. We combined them into a single loan, lowered our interest rate by 35 basis points and extended the maturity out seven years to 2032. Our net leverage ratio is at our lowest level since our initial public offering.

在第 19 張投影片中總結，資產負債表持續增強，為我們提供了更強的財務彈性。本季我們成功地對定期貸款進行了再融資。我們將這些貸款合併為一筆貸款，將利率降低了 35 個基點，並將到期日延長了 7 年至 2032 年。我們的淨槓桿率已降至上市以來的最低水準。

This deleveraging, combined with our strong cash generation, positions us with significant financial flexibility to execute on inorganic growth opportunities. Our capital allocation strategy remained active during the quarter. We opportunistically repurchased 1.8 million shares as we see tremendous value in our stock at current prices.

去槓桿化，加上我們強勁的現金流，使我們擁有了相當大的財務靈活性，可以抓住非內生成長機會。本季我們的資本配置策略依然有效。我們抓住機會回購了 180 萬股股票，因為我們認為以目前的價格來看，我們的股票具有巨大的價值。

Combined with our regular quarterly dividend, we have now returned over $272 million to shareholders year-to-date. And during the quarter, we surpassed a total of $1 billion returned to shareholders since becoming a public company in 2018, which is a gratifying milestone.

加上我們定期發放的季度股息，今年迄今，我們已向股東返還了超過 2.72 億美元。本季度，自 2018 年上市以來，我們向股東返還的總額超過了 10 億美元，這是一個令人欣慰的里程碑。

We ended September with $160 million in cash on the balance sheet and our $100 million revolver remains undrawn. When we refinanced our term loan, we also extended the maturity on our revolver by five years to 2030.

截至9月底，我們的資產負債表上有1.6億美元現金，1億美元的循環信貸額度仍未動用。當我們對定期貸款進行再融資時，我們也把循環貸款的到期日延長了五年至 2030 年。

Looking ahead, we expect to continue to return capital via buybacks and dividends while simultaneously pursuing growth initiatives and investing in the business. Our ability to generate robust cash flow puts us in the enviable position to effectively balance investments, pursue strategic and transformational inorganic opportunities and deliver ever-increasing shareholder returns without compromising our financial strength.

展望未來，我們預計將繼續透過股票回購和分紅來回報資本，同時推進成長計畫並對業務進行投資。我們強大的現金流生成能力使我們處於令人羨慕的地位，能夠有效地平衡投資，尋求策略性和變革性的非有機增長機會，並在不損害我們財務實力的前提下，為股東帶來不斷增長的回報。

With that, I will turn the call back to the operator for questions.

這樣，我就把電話轉回給接線生，以便他們回答問題。

(Operator instructions) Craig Siegenthaler, Bank of America.

（操作員說明）Craig Siegenthaler，美國銀行。

Dave, Mike, hope everyone’s is doing well, and congrats on the 21% annual EPS growth since the IPO.

Dave、Mike，希望大家一切都好，恭喜公司自IPO以來達到了21%的年均EPS成長。

Thank you.

謝謝。

So we wanted to start with an open-end question on M&A. And I heard some of your commentary on the different size ranges of targets and how the larger focus today is in the $50 billion to $200 billion AUM range. But can you refresh us on your views on pursuing more cheap consolidation transactions that are highly earnings accretive versus strategic and organic growth synergistic deals? It sounds like maybe you might be leaning towards larger deals to that.

所以我們想先從一個關於併購的開放式問題開始。我聽到了您對不同規模目標的一些評論，以及目前更大的關注點是資產管理規模在 500 億美元到 2000 億美元之間的目標。您能否重新闡述您對追求更多低成本、高獲利成長的併購交易與追求具有策略性和內生性協同效應的交易的看法？聽起來你可能更傾向於進行大額交易。

Well, let me start off and say that, as an organization, we aspire to be a $1 trillion firm. That is our internal goal from a size perspective. And we think eventually, that you will need to be that size to effectively be able to compete over the long term. So our goal is to be a $1 trillion under management. We're $313 billion today at the end of the quarter.

首先我想說的是，作為一個組織，我們渴望成為一家市值 1 兆美元的公司。從規模角度來看，這是我們的內部目標。我們認為，從長遠來看，你最終需要達到那樣的規模才能有效地參與競爭。所以我們的目標是管理1兆美元的資產。截至本季末，我們的市值達到3,130億美元。

And to get there, we'll do a number of different things. The first will be everything we'll do will be strategic. So we are not interested in just doing financial transactions where you're buying businesses, consolidating and there's no strategic element to it. So everything starts for us, does it make our company better? Does it satisfy one of the strategic elements that we're trying to satisfy?

為了實現這個目標，我們將採取多種不同的措施。首先，我們所做的一切都將是戰略性的。所以我們不感興趣的只是進行收購企業、合併等金融交易，而沒有策略因素。所以對我們來說，一切都始於一個問題：這樣做能讓我們的公司變得更好嗎？它是否滿足了我們試圖滿足的某個策略要素？

And so a lot of that will come with the size and scale transactions. So we will move up. If you think about that triangle, we'll be at the top of that triangle. And we could do something larger than the $200 billion focus area. Anything on the smaller side would be highly strategic. It could be a product perspective. It could be a distribution or something else.

因此，許多問題將隨著交易規模的擴大而出現。所以我們會向上移動。如果你想像一下那個三角形，我們就位於三角形的頂端。我們還可以做一些比2000億美元的重點領域更大的事情。規模較小的舉措都具有很高的策略意義。這可能是從產品角度來看的。這可能是分佈情況，也可能是其他情況。

But for us, it starts off with strategy. And then what comes from it because of our platform are really the ability to create shareholder value through earnings growth, through margin expansion and through organic growth. And I think we can satisfy all of those things with our acquisition strategy.

但對我們來說，一切都始於策略。然後，由於我們的平台，我們能夠透過獲利成長、利潤率擴張和內生成長來創造股東價值。我認為我們的收購策略可以滿足所有這些要求。

And lastly, I'd say is we really believe that the industry is going to go through an even more intense consolidation phase as we look forward. All of the reasons firms want to partner to get larger to deal with issues such as technology, regulatory access for distribution. Those things are intensifying. So we're going to go through a phase where there's going to be lots of consolidation. And we think we have an unbelievable platform to be a really good partner to those firms. And I think we have a great track record and history of executing on them.

最後，我認為我們真的相信，展望未來，該行業將經歷更加激烈的整合階段。企業希望透過合作擴大規模來應對技術、監管准入和分銷等問題的所有原因。這些事情正在加劇。所以我們將經歷一個整合期。我們認為我們擁有一個絕佳的平台，可以成為這些公司非常優秀的合作夥伴。我認為我們在執行這些目標方面有著良好的記錄和歷史。

Our follow-up question is on the Pioneer acquisition. You're running ahead of even the more recently revised synergy target. So we're curious what is driving that? Is it conservatism? Is it use of AI and other technologies that have improved operating efficiencies? Did you find more redundancies in certain functions? And I heard your commentary that it's not from the investment team. So just curious on that.

我們的後續問題是關於 Pioneer 的收購。你們甚至已經超越了最近修訂的綜效目標。所以，我們很好奇是什麼原因導致了這種情況？這是保守主義嗎？是人工智慧和其他技術的應用提高了營運效率嗎？你是否在某些功能中發現了更多冗餘？我聽取了你的評論，認為這並非來自投資團隊。我只是對此感到好奇。

Craig, it's Mike. Yes, I think as we approach every acquisition and evaluate the opportunity to consolidate operations and administrative functions onto our platform. As you said, it does not impact the investment teams. And so that's our number one goal. I don't impact the investment teams, their process, leave them alone, let them have all the tools that they need to manage money and continue down the path that they're on from a strong investment performance perspective, and we've accomplished that with the Pioneer Investment integration.

克雷格，我是麥克。是的，我認為我們在進行每一次收購時，都會評估將營運和管理職能整合到我們平台上的機會。正如你所說，這不會對投資團隊造成影響。所以，這是我們的首要目標。我不會幹預投資團隊及其流程，讓他們自由運作，讓他們擁有管理資金所需的所有工具，並繼續沿著他們目前所走的道路前進，從強勁的投資業績角度來看，我們已經透過 Pioneer Investment 的整合實現了這一點。

Of course, as we look at planning, we go through the exercise and spend time, figuring out where the opportunities lie. We probably tend to be conservative as we go through that because there's always unknowns as you're going through an integration.

當然，在進行規劃時，我們會仔細研究並花時間，找出機會所在。我們在進行整合時可能會比較保守，因為整合過程中總是會有未知因素。

But as we've gone through the Pioneer integration, I think we found opportunities around technology, we found opportunities in kind of investment operational areas to provide technology to alleviate some additional costs that we anticipated. So I think it's really just the opportunity set to go through an integration. We've got highly skilled people that have done this for a number of years, and we're able to find opportunities as we go through the process.

但是，在完成 Pioneer 的整合之後，我認為我們在技術方面發現了機會，我們在投資營運領域發現了機會，可以提供技術來減輕我們預期的一些額外成本。所以我認為這真的只是一個進行整合的機會。我們擁有經驗豐富的專業人才，他們從事這項工作多年，我們能夠在過程中發現各種機會。

So I think, again, conservatism and then execution has allowed us to kind of achieve quicker and then higher than we had originally anticipated from a net expense synergy. But we are making investments. I just want to reiterate that, that these expense synergies are net of investments that we're making in areas of the business.

所以我認為，保守的策略加上高效率的執行力，使我們能夠比最初預期的更快、更高地實現淨支出協同效應。但我們正在進行投資。我只想重申一下，這些費用綜效已經扣除了我們在業務領域的投資。

Dave's comments on the non-US distribution in the prepared remarks, I think, is an area we're making investments because we see a tremendous opportunity there, product development, data, technology, distribution partnerships. So as we think about all of that bundled together, I think we've just been in a position where we've been able to accelerate some of the recognition and be a little bit higher than we anticipated as well.

我認為，戴夫在準備好的演講稿中對美國以外地區的分銷情況的評論，正是我們正在投資的領域，因為我們看到了那裡的巨大機遇，包括產品開發、數據、技術、分銷合作夥伴關係。所以，當我們把所有這些因素綜合起來考慮時，我認為我們已經處於一個有利的位置，能夠加快一些認可度的提升，並且比我們預期的還要高一些。

Yes. And I'd like to add to that. I think the other perspective is we are in the investment management business, but we're also in the acquisition business. And I think unlike many other investment managers, who are in the investment management business that have decided to do acquisitions because they need to grow, we are in the investment management business. But we've also developed a skill over a long period of time on doing acquisitions.

是的。我想補充一點。我認為另一種觀點是，我們從事投資管理業務，但我們也從事收購業務。我認為，與其他許多為了發展而選擇收購的投資管理公司不同，我們本身就是一家投資管理公司。但經過長時間的積累，我們也培養了一項收購技能。

And so part of the success we've had in synergies, the ability to invest while we do acquisitions on our platform and the ability to exceed some of the goals we put out there maybe from a numbers perspective and from a timing perspective, really comes down to as we have a second part of our business, which is doing acquisitions.

因此，我們在協同效應方面取得的部分成功，以及在平台上進行收購的同時進行投資的能力，還有從數字和時間角度來看超越我們設定的一些目標的能力，實際上都歸功於我們業務的第二部分——收購。

Michael Cho, JPMorgan.

Michael Cho，摩根大通。

I just want to start on the non-US business, you walked through some commentary verified positive net sales in third quarter since close. Wondering if you could give some color on the magnitude of the flows and maybe the strategy that help drive those inflows.

我只想先談談非美國業務，您已經評論證實，自第三季結束以來，淨銷售額為正。想請您詳細介紹一下資金流入的規模，以及推動這些資金流入的策略。

And Dave, you talked through a -- talked about sales ramp in this segment into '26. And so maybe some more color on your expectations on the magnitude of uplift for Victory in the segment?

戴夫，你談到了——談到了該細分市場在 2026 年的銷售成長。那麼，您能否再詳細談談您對Victory在該細分市場提升幅度的預期？

Sure. Thank you for the question. So a lot of the sales because of the infrastructure that has been set up has come through really the Pioneer franchise. The Pioneer franchise is well distributed within the Amundi distribution network. So since acquisition -- since we've closed the acquisition, most of the sales have come through the Pioneer side.

當然。謝謝你的提問。因此，由於基礎設施的建立，許多銷售額都來自 Pioneer 特許經營店。Pioneer品牌在Amundi分銷網絡中分佈廣泛。所以自從收購完成以來——自從我們完成收購以來，大部分銷售額都來自 Pioneer 這邊。

That will change going into '26. We'll still have strong sales within the Pioneer side. And we did note on our prepared remarks how good the investment performance is within the UCITS platform.

到了2026年，情況將會改變。Pioneer 方面，我們的銷售額依然會很強勁。我們在事先準備好的發言稿中也提到了UCITS平台的投資表現非常出色。

But what will happen in '26 is as we launch kind of the legacy Victory products into the platform through UCITS, through the US listed ETFs, you'll start to see flows into the legacy Victory products. We've also invested in the infrastructure around selling RFPs and marketing and servicing for the non-US side.

但 2026 年將會出現的情況是，隨著我們透過 UCITS 和美國上市的 ETF 將傳統的 Victory 產品引入平台，您將開始看到資金流入傳統的 Victory 產品。我們也投資了與銷售 RFP 以及針對非美國市場的行銷和服務相關的基礎設施。

As far as sizing, we don't really disclose what the size of the flows are. But I think we did put in our prepared remarks that we do think it's a transformational opportunity, which would lead you to believe that over '26 and forward, we think it's going to be an important sizable part of our growth. It's white space for legacy Victory. We have some distribution outside the US pre the close, but nothing to the scale and nothing to the depth that we have with Amundi.

至於規模方面，我們不會透露流量的具體規模。但我認為我們在準備好的演講稿中確實表達了我們認為這是一個變革性的機會，這會讓你們相信，從 2026 年及以後，我們認為這將是我們成長的重要組成部分。這是留給勝利的空白區域。我們在美國以外也有一些收盤前的分銷管道，但規模和深度都無法與 Amundi 相提並論。

Great. And if I could just ask a follow-up on the acquisition opportunity set discussion. I mean on the slide and your comments, I mean, it's a pretty wide set of opportunity out there, and I guess that's not -- hasn't changed in years, and it's an attractive segment and strategy.

偉大的。我能否就收購機會討論進行後續詢問？我的意思是，根據幻燈片和你的評論，我認為現在有很多機會，而且多年來情況也沒有改變，這是一個很有吸引力的細分市場和策略。

But you have a $100 billion integration going on with Pioneer at the moment. I don't want to rule out mega deals. But are there segments that maybe you're more focused on near term when you look at that triangle chart? And as it relates to -- you called out income, and I don't know if you meant it, called out in a specific way, but are there classes or themes that you think would maybe fit better with Victory's current platform?

但目前你們正與 Pioneer 進行一項價值 1000 億美元的整合。我不想排除達成巨額交易的可能性。但是，當你觀察這個三角形圖表時，有沒有一些你可能更關注的短期細分市場？至於你提到的收入問題——我不知道你是否特別指收入，但你認為有哪些課程或主題可能更適合 Victory 目前的平台？

On the first part, as far as in the middle of the integration, we're well through the integration and you can kind of see that the way the numbers, the net expense synergies have progressed and what our projection is. And so we're really doing well with the integration. And we're getting close to being at a point where we'll be wrapped up. And so we are fully kind of open for business from an acquisition side.

在第一部分，也就是整合的中期階段，我們已經順利完成了整合，從數字、淨支出綜效的進展以及我們的預測可以看出這一點。因此，我們在整合方面做得非常出色。我們即將完成這項工作。因此，從收購方面來說，我們完全持開放態度。

I would not rule out a mega size deal. We have the $50 million to $200 million as the focused area, but that doesn't preclude us from going above $200 million, and that doesn't include us from going below $50 million either. And I'd say as far as areas of focus, as I said, we really do start off with the strategic side. We're interested in high-performing products. We're interested in products that have demand today and that we think we'll have demand in the future. We know we have to offer a larger set of products for our distribution partners.

我不排除達成超大宗交易的可能性。我們的重點目標市場是 5,000 萬美元到 2 億美元，但這並不排除我們目標市場超過 2 億美元，也不排除我們目標市場低於 5,000 萬美元。至於重點領域，正如我所說，我們確實是從策略方面入手的。我們對高性能產品很感興趣。我們感興趣的是那些目前有需求並且我們認為未來也會有需求的產品。我們知道，我們必須為分銷合作夥伴提供更豐富的產品選擇。

And so we'll be focused on all of those things. From an alternative perspective or private markets perspective, the themes that we're interested in income is an example, but not the only one. There are other areas that we think fit nicely with us. And they really do span across different asset classes. And I'd say, I don't want to focus on one of them. But income is an important one. I think income is something that has lasted over time. We have income products today. They're selling well. We know how to sell them.

因此，我們將專注於所有這些方面。從另一個角度或私人市場角度來看，我們感興趣的主題是收入，這只是一個例子，但不是唯一的例子。還有其他一些領域我們也覺得很適合我們。而且它們確實涵蓋了不同的資產類別。我想說，我不想把重點放在他們中的任何一個身上。但收入是重要因素。我認為收入是長期存在的。我們現在有收益型產品。它們賣得很好。我們知道如何賣出去。

There's lots of demand for them. And so income is one of the themes. But for us, around the private markets and alternatives, we don't want to be all things to all people. We want to do certain things really well, and we want to matter for those certain things, and that's how we'll approach the private market/alternative side.

它們的需求量很大。因此，收入是其中一個主題。但對我們而言，在私人市場和另類投資方面，我們不想滿足所有人的所有需求。我們想把某些事情做好，並且想在這些事情上發揮重要作用，這就是我們進入私募市場/另類投資領域的方式。

Alex Blostein, Goldman Sachs.

Alex Blostein，高盛集團。

Dave, just building on that last thread, thinking about the private markets and the alt opportunity, in what form do you guys see yourself partnering with somebody in the alt space? We've seen various structures out there, so just curious to think about how, whether it's explicit M&A or potentially equity stake in you guys by some of the old managers or some form of like investment outsourcing agreements that could be coming up in the next several quarters?

Dave，接著上次的話題，考慮到私募市場和另類投資的機會，你們認為自己會以什麼形式與另類投資領域的其他人合作？我們已經看到各種各樣的組織架構，所以很好奇，未來幾季可能會出現哪些情況，是明確的併購，還是一些老管理人員可能持有你們的股權，或者類似投資外包協議之類的？

Kind of how do you see that volume because clearly, that's -- it's a big part of the market, and it's important part of the sort of toolkit for the wealth advisers that you guys don't penetrate fully?

您如何看待這個交易量？因為很明顯，這佔據了市場很大一部分，而且是財富顧問工具包中非常重要的一部分，而你們尚未完全滲透到這個領域。

Alex, thanks for the question. I would start off saying that we probably are not interested in investment outsourcing. I think that's challenging. I think all of the other scenarios you laid out around ownership investment, acquisition are within our universe. And I think we're exploring all of them.

Alex，謝謝你的提問。首先我想說的是，我們可能對投資外包沒興趣。我認為這很有挑戰性。我認為你提出的所有其他關於所有權投資、收購的設想都在我們的考慮範圍內。我認為我們正在探索所有這些可能性。

In our prepared remarks, we have talked about how we have not done a transaction. But over the years, we have been very involved in discussions, analyzing and so we feel really good about our understanding of the space. We feel really good about what we think our clients are desiring and what they will desire down the road. When alts and private markets opens up, especially on the RIA side, on the intermediary side on the retirement side, I think we have a really good understanding. And I'd say from different versions of M&A is how we will approach it.

在我們的發言稿中，我們已經談到我們沒有進行任何交易。但多年來，我們一直積極參與討論和分析，因此我們對自己的專業知識感到非常滿意。我們對客戶現在的需求以及他們未來的需求都感到非常有信心。當另類投資和私募市場開放時，尤其是在註冊投資顧問（RIA）、中介機構和退休規劃領域，我認為我們會有非常好的了解。我認為，我們將從不同版本的併購入手來進行探討。

All right. And just to clean up modeling. Fee rate, so I remember there was a bit of a down size. I think performance fee benefit last quarter. So you kind of saw that step down a bit this quarter. How are you thinking about sort of the go forward on the fee rate relative to the kind of mid- to high 40s where you guys have been and ultimately, given the mix shift in the business, anything notable you would think about over the next sort of 12 months as the fee rate evolves?

好的。只是為了清理模型。收費標準，所以我記得當時規模有縮減。我認為上個季度的業績提成收益不錯。所以，你大概可以看到這季有下滑。您如何看待未來收費標準的發展方向，目前您們的收費標準在 40% 到 50% 之間。考慮到業務結構的轉變，在未來 12 個月內，隨著收費標準的演變，您認為有什麼值得注意的事項嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Alex. It's Mike. Yes, I think we I've kind of said our fee rate should be in the 46 to 47 basis points range long term. We don't anticipate any significant fee pressures. Clearly, the mix of business will impact that. But as we look out for the next 12 months, we feel pretty confident of the 46 to 47 basis points from an ongoing perspective from a fee rate.

是的。謝謝你，亞歷克斯。是麥克。是的，我認為我們已經說過，從長遠來看，我們的費率應該在 46 到 47 個基點之間。我們預計不會面臨任何重大的費用壓力。顯然，業務組合會對此產生影響。但展望未來 12 個月，從持續發展的角度來看，我們對 46 至 47 個基點的費率相當有信心。

Ben Budish, Barclays.

本·布迪什，巴克萊銀行。

Maybe just following up on that last question from Alex. I think you mentioned the performance fees, which we saw in your Q were quite outsized in Q2. I'm just curious, when we look at the maybe quarterly run rate over the last few years, it's kind of been like the low single digit amount. Is there anything different about the Pioneer assets that you acquired where performance fees might be higher on a run rate basis or should be structurally higher? Anything like that to call out? And I guess what a lot of investors are trying to figure out.

或許只是想接著Alex的最後一個問題問一下。我想你提到了演出費，我們在你的問題中看到，第二季的演出費相當高。我只是好奇，如果我們看一下過去幾年的季度成長率，我們會發現它一直徘徊在個位數低點。您收購的 Pioneer 資產是否有任何特殊之處，導致其業績報酬按年率計算可能更高，或者結構上應該更高？還有什麼需要指出的嗎？我想這也是很多投資人都在努力弄清楚的問題。

Yes. I think the fee rates, again, the 46 to 47 kind of includes how we think about any kind of annualized or annual performance-related fees. The Pioneer funds do have a couple of mutual funds that have fulcrum fees, much like the legacy USA mutual fund business that we acquired. There's a couple of fulcrum fees there that are classified as performance fees. But nothing that I would say is unique or specific.

是的。我認為，費率方面，46 到 47 也包含了我們對任何形式的年度化或年度績效相關費用的考慮。Pioneer 基金確實有幾隻共同基金收取支點費用，這與我們收購的傳統 USA 共同基金業務非常相似。其中一些關鍵費用被歸類為績效費。但我說的這些都不是獨特或具體的。

I think as you mentioned, they've been in the 1 to 2 basis points range on an annualized basis for us, and that's probably the same level going forward. It will vary based on business mix again. If we see opportunities to risk share pricing with institutional clients, there could be a component of those fees that are more based on performance.

我認為正如您所提到的，他們的年化利率一直維持在 1 到 2 個基點之間，而且未來可能也會保持相同的水平。這將再次根據業務組合而有所不同。如果我們發現有機會與機構客戶進行風險股票定價，那麼這些費用中可能會有一部分是基於業績的。

But I think as we look at the business, it's a pretty small amount overall. And again, the way we've built the business, while we are very -- when we look at fee rate, we're very focused on the margin. And so as you think about the way we've structured the expense base of the business with being greater than two-third variable, we expect to kind of continue to hold our margins with respect to all the fee rates that we have.

但我認為，從整體業務來看，這只是一個很小的數字。再說一遍，我們建立業務的方式是，雖然我們非常——當我們考慮收​​費標準時，我們非常注重利潤率。因此，考慮到我們業務支出結構中超過三分之二是可變支出，我們預計能夠繼續維持我們所有收費標準的利潤率。

Dave mentioned in the prepared remarks, our ETF business, those are, on average, 35 basis points, so a little bit below our fee rate. But again, the margins on that business are strong and contribute to our overall margin base. So that's how we think about it. The performance fees are pretty immaterial from a business perspective. But we focus really on the bottom line, the margin components.

戴夫在準備好的演講稿中提到，我們的 ETF 業務平均收費為 35 個基點，比我們的收費率略低。但同樣，該業務的利潤率很高，對我們的整體利潤率基礎做出了貢獻。我們就是這麼想的。從商業角度來看，演出費幾乎無關緊要。但我們真正關注的是最終結果，也就是利潤率組成。

Okay. Understood. Maybe just another follow-up too on the M&A and alt discussion. When we listen to a lot of the large cap alt managers, we kind of hear this theme of GP consolidation of more LPs wanted to do more with less. In the credit space, we kind of hear that you need to have really massive sourcing capabilities in order to be effective. Just curious your response to that early. How do you think about what makes sense given the magnitude of what you might be able to acquire in that space?

好的。明白了。或許還可以就併購和另類投資的討論再做一次後續跟進。當我們聽取許多大型另類投資基金經理人的意見時，我們似乎都能聽到這樣一個主題：普通合夥人（GP）合併，更多有限合夥人（LP）希望用更少的資金做更多的事情。在信貸領域，我們常聽到這樣的說法：要想取得成效，你需要擁有非常強大的資源調配能力。只是好奇你對此有何早期回應。考慮到你可能在該領域獲得的巨大資源，你如何思考什麼是合理的？

Yes. I think for us, we always have been focused on areas where we can win and compete. I think a lot of the large cap alt managers are focused on very large areas, and we're not looking to really compete exactly with them in a lot of those different areas. I also think there is a new kind of area in the market that they're trying to penetrate.

是的。我認為對我們來說，我們一直專注於我們能夠取勝和參與競爭的領域。我認為許多大型另類投資基金經理人都專注於非常大的領域，而我們並不打算在許多不同的領域與他們展開直接競爭。我也認為他們正在試圖打入市場上的一個新領域。

And I think traditional managers are there today, which is a lot of the intermediary market, the retirement market, a lot of parts of the RIA market. And I think to win there, there will be different selling strategies that we have used on the traditional side that we'll use on the private side.

我認為如今傳統的基金經理人仍然存在，他們佔據了中介市場、退休市場以及註冊投資顧問 (RIA) 市場的很大一部分。我認為，要在那裡取得成功，我們將採用與傳統銷售策略不同的銷售策略，這些策略也將應用於私人領域。

From an acquisition standpoint, we will approach if we do an acquisition on the alternative side. We'll approach it as we've always approached traditional acquisitions. I think we've been very value conscious. We focus on shareholder value. We focused on acquiring excellent products. And we focus on products that we think we can help grow. And we'll do the same thing there. And I think we have a really good track record. And I think we are an excellent partner for private market investors and also traditional market investors.

從收購的角度來看，如果我們要進行收購，我們會採取另一種方式。我們將按照以往處理傳統收購的方式來處理這件事。我認為我們一直非常注重性價比。我們關注股東價值。我們專注於採購優質產品。我們專注於那些我們認為可以幫助其發展的產品。我們也會在那裡做同樣的事情。我認為我們有著非常好的業績記錄。我認為我們是私募市場投資者和傳統市場投資者的優秀合作夥伴。

Michael Cyprys, Morgan Stanley.

麥可‧西普里斯，摩根士丹利。

Maybe just continuing along the themes on the inorganic topic. I was hoping maybe you could elaborate a bit on the inorganic pipeline, how that composition looks today? How would you sort of characterize that size, quantity types of properties? How that's evolving now versus the or even six months ago? And anything you would mention in terms of how close you might be on any of those?

或許可以繼續探討無機物這個話題。我希望您能詳細介紹一下無機管道，以及它目前的組成情況？你會如何描述這種規模、數量類型的屬性？與六個月前相比，現在的情況有何改變？您在這些問題上有什麼想說的嗎？您離目標有多近？

Our pipeline is full. We're very active in discussions. I don't think that there's anything that we want to talk about today on timing or different types of acquisitions that we would do. But we're having lots of discussions. I think the environment has gotten progressively better over the last couple of quarters from an acquisition standpoint.

我們的生產線已滿。我們積極參與討論。我認為今天我們沒有什麼需要討論的，例如收購的時機或不同類型的收購。但我們正在進行很多討論。我認為從收購的角度來看，過去幾季環境已經逐漸好轉。

I think there's a lot of things happening in the industry. The industry is going through a lot of change very quickly because of technology, because of regulatory changes, because of the ability to access distribution is getting harder by the day. And so we've had a lot of discussions, and we're really active. And as I said earlier, we are well through the Pioneer-Amundi integration. So that sets us up to when the opportunity presents itself, we'll be able to execute on it.

我認為業內正在發生很多事情。由於技術進步、監管變化以及分銷管道日益受限，該行業正在經歷快速的巨大變革。因此，我們進行了很多討論，而且我們非常積極主動。正如我之前所說，Pioneer-Amundi 的整合工作已經順利完成。這樣一來，當機會來臨時，我們就能抓住它。

Great. And then just a follow-up on that. As you think about executing on this M&A pipeline over the next 12, 18 months, maybe you could elaborate on what sort of risks that you see that might result in not much getting done there over the next 12, 18 months? And when you're speaking with prospective targets, what is it that may hold them back from looking to transact?

偉大的。然後，我想就此追問一下。當您考慮未來 12 至 18 個月內執行這項併購計畫時，您能否詳細說明您認為有哪些風險可能會導致未來 12 至 18 個月內該計畫進展緩慢？當你與潛在目標客戶交談時，是什麼因素可能會阻止他們進行交易？

I think the risks become very unique to the acquisition. So I don't think there's a general thing that I'm concerned about. I think the risks are very focused on the exact target the type of transaction, the structure of the transaction. Most of the risks could be mitigated restructuring and especially with the way we approach acquisitions where it's really around partnering and growing forward as opposed to succession-type planning acquisitions. But as we look at it today, we think the environment is really conducive. And like I said, we're coming to the end of our integration with the Pioneer-Amundi. So we're ready to go.

我認為風險會變得非常獨特，僅限於收購環節。所以我覺得沒有什麼特別值得擔憂的事。我認為風險非常集中在具體的交易目標、交易類型和交易結構。大多數風險都可以透過重組來減輕，尤其是我們對待收購的態度，即真正圍繞合作和共同發展，而不是出於繼任計畫的收購。但就目前來看，我們認為環境非常有利。正如我所說，我們與 Pioneer-Amundi 的整合即將結束。我們準備出發了。

Kenneth Lee, RBC Capital Markets.

Kenneth Lee，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

Just following up on the theme of inorganic opportunities, specifically on alternatives. How do you think about the challenge integrating potentially very different cultures or mindsets between traditional and alternative as you look at some of these opportunities? That's huge one of the potential for today.

繼續探討無機成長機會，特別是另類投資機會。在考慮這些機會時，您如何看待將傳統文化和另類文化之間可能存在的巨大差異或思維方式融合起來所面臨的挑戰？這是當今社會的一大潛力。

Thanks for the question. We think about it a lot, and we think about it very carefully. It's probably one of the driving factors why we have decided over the years to just sit back and watch and observe and learn. I think there are different strategies that you can employ to mitigate some of those challenges. You can do that through structuring, you can do that through the types of product sets you talk about.

謝謝你的提問。我們對此考慮了很多，而且非常仔細。這或許是我們多年來選擇袖手旁觀、觀察學習的主要原因之一。我認為你可以採取不同的策略來緩解其中一些挑戰。你可以透過建構結構來實現這一點，你也可以透過你所說的產品組合類型來實現這一點。

But private market and alternative businesses are different than traditional. And I think that's the challenge. And I think it's why we have sat back and kind of studied and learned and been very patient. And so anything that we do going forward in this space, we will address that issue. We recognize it, and we're glad that we have been able to observe what others have done in the space.

但私營市場和另類商業與傳統商業有所不同。我認為這就是挑戰所在。我想這就是為什麼我們一直靜觀其變，認真學習，並且非常有耐心的原因。因此，今後我們在這個領域所做的任何事情，都會考慮到這個問題。我們認識到了這一點，並且很高興能夠觀察到其他人在這個領域所做的工作。

Got you. Very helpful there. And just one follow-up if I may, a little bit more housekeeping. Global non-US equity net inflows pretty positive there. Anything to call out either outsized mandates or things of that (technical difficulty) ?

抓到你了。那方面幫了我很大的忙。如果可以的話，我再補充一點，一些瑣碎的事情。全球非美國股票淨流入相當不錯。任何能夠指出過大指令或類似事情的事情。（技術難題）？

Not specifically in the global asset class, we are seeing a lot of demand for that asset class inside the US and outside the US. We have excellent products with two different franchises there. So we have good performance, and we also have really, really good distribution around this asset class inside and outside the US. So it's just in demand by clients wanting to get access to a global portfolio.

雖然不僅限於全球資產類別，我們看到美國境內外對該資產類別的需求都很大。我們在那裡擁有兩家不同的特許經營店，產品非常出色。因此，我們的業績表現良好，而且我們在美國境內外的這類資產的分佈也非常好。因此，它很受希望獲得全球投資組合的客戶歡迎。

And that is all for the Q&A session for today. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect your lines. Have a pleasant day, everyone.

今天的問答環節就到這裡。今天的電話會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開線路了。祝大家今天過得愉快。