Virtu Financial Inc (VIRT) 2026 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to the Virtu Financial third quarter 2026 earnings call. (Operator Instructions)

各位好。感謝各位加入，歡迎參加 Virtu Financial 2026 年第三季財報電話會議。（接線員指示）

I will now hand the conference over to Matthew Sandberg, Head of IR. Matthew, please go ahead.

現在我將把會議交給投資人關係主管 Matthew Sandberg。Matthew，請開始。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Our third-quarter 2026 results were released this morning and are available on our website. With us today on this call, we have Aaron Simons, our Chief Executive Officer; Cindy Lee, our Chief Financial Officer; and Joe Molluso, our Co-President and Co-Chief Operating Officer. We will begin with brief prepared remarks and then take your questions.

謝謝。各位早安。感謝各位加入。我們 2026 年第三季的業績已於今天早上發布，並可在我們的網站上查閱。今天與會的有：我們的執行長 Aaron Simons；財務長 Cindy Lee；以及共同總裁兼共同營運長 Joe Molluso。我們將先進行簡短的事先準備發言，接著回答各位提問。

First, a few reminders. Today's call may include forward-looking statements, which represent Virtu's current belief regarding future events and are, therefore, subject to risks, assumptions and uncertainties, which may be outside the company's control. Please note that our actual results and financial conditions may differ materially from what is indicated in these forward-looking statements. It is important to note that any forward-looking statements made on this call are based on information presently available to the company, and we do not undertake to update or revise any forward-looking statements as new information becomes available. We refer you to disclaimers in our press release and encourage you to review the description of risk factors contained in our annual report, Form 10-K and other public filings.

首先，提醒幾點。今天的電話會議可能包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述代表 Virtu 目前對未來事件的看法，因此會受到風險、假設與不確定性的影響，其中部分可能超出公司控制範圍。請注意，我們的實際結果與財務狀況可能與這些前瞻性陳述所示內容有重大差異。同時也請注意，本次電話會議中的任何前瞻性陳述均以公司目前可得資訊為基礎；即使有新資訊出現，我們亦不承諾更新或修訂任何前瞻性陳述。我們請各位參閱新聞稿中的免責聲明，並建議各位檢視我們年報（Form 10-K）及其他公開申報文件中所載的風險因素說明。

During today's call, in addition to GAAP measures, we may refer to certain non-GAAP measures, including adjusted net trading income, adjusted net income, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin. These non-GAAP measures should be considered as supplemental to and not as superior to financial measures as reported in accordance with GAAP. We direct listeners to consult the Investor portion of our website, where you'll find additional supplemental information referred to on this call as well as a reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to the equivalent GAAP term in the earnings materials with an explanation of why we deem this information to be meaningful as well as how management uses these measures.

在今天的電話會議中，除 GAAP 指標外，我們也可能提及若干非 GAAP 指標，包括調整後淨交易收入、調整後淨利、調整後 EBITDA 以及調整後 EBITDA 利潤率。這些非 GAAP 指標應視為依 GAAP 報導之財務指標的補充，而非更優或可取代之指標。我們也請聽眾至我們網站的投資人專區查閱本次電話會議所提及的其他補充資訊，以及在財報資料中非 GAAP 指標與對應 GAAP 項目的調節表，並了解我們認為該資訊具意義的原因，以及管理階層如何使用這些指標。

With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Aaron.

接下來，我想把電話交給 Aaron。

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Volume and volatility this quarter were somewhat lower than the first half of the year, although they remained elevated relative to historical averages. Despite the moderation in the operating environment, our diversified set of trading strategies allowed us to perform at a high level. We are continuing our plans to grow capital in all forms. At the beginning of the quarter, we raised $500 million in the form of new debt, helping to bring our overall trading capital base to $3.4 billion.

謝謝。各位早安。本季的成交量與波動度較上半年略低，但相較於歷史平均仍維持在較高水準。儘管營運環境有所降溫，我們多元化的交易策略組合仍使我們能維持高水準表現。我們將持續推進在各種形式上擴大資本的計畫。在本季初，我們以新增負債的方式籌資 5 億美元，協助將整體交易資本基礎提升至 34 億美元。

On the human capital side, hiring is continuing according to plan and turnover remains low. Our focus is on adding to our trading, research and development teams while maintaining a high bar for quality and preserving our open collaborative culture. Lastly, we are continuing to invest in our physical infrastructure in order to stay at the forefront of technological competition. We have provided additional perspective on the quarter in our detailed financial supplement, and we'll be answering your questions shortly.

在人力資本方面，招募依計畫持續進行，離職率仍維持在低檔。我們的重點是擴充交易、研究與開發團隊，同時維持高品質門檻，並保有開放且協作的文化。最後，我們也持續投資於實體基礎設施，以保持在技術競爭的前沿。我們已在詳細的財務補充資料中提供本季的更多觀點，稍後也將回答各位的問題。

First, Cindy Lee, our Chief Financial Officer, will review the financial results for this quarter.

首先，由我們的財務長 Cindy Lee 回顧本季的財務結果。

Thanks, Aaron. Good morning, everyone. For the third quarter of 2026, we generated adjusted net trading income or ANT of $11 million per day or a total of $704 million. Market Making recorded ANT of $9 million per day, while Execution Services reported ANT of $2 million per day.

謝謝，Aaron。各位早安。2026 年第三季，我們的調整後淨交易收入（Adjusted Net Trading Income，或 ANT）為每日 1,100 萬美元，合計 7.04 億美元。造市業務的 ANT 為每日 900 萬美元，而執行服務業務的 ANT 為每日 200 萬美元。

As Aaron mentioned earlier, despite a notable decrease in market activity quarter-over-quarter, volumes and volatilities remain above historical averages and both of our operating segments continue to execute and capitalize on their respective opportunities. Our profitability this quarter was strong. We generated $438 million per day in adjusted EBITDA, representing a 62% margin. Adjusted EPS was $1.77. Over the last 12 months, we have reported ANT per day of $11.3 million per day, adjusted EBITDA of $1.8 billion and adjusted EPS of $7.69.

如 Aaron 先前提到，儘管市場活動較上一季明顯下降，成交量與波動度仍高於歷史平均，而我們兩個營運部門也持續執行並把握各自的機會。本季獲利表現強勁。我們的調整後 EBITDA 為 4.38 億美元，利潤率為 62%。調整後每股盈餘（Adjusted EPS）為 1.77 美元。過去 12 個月，我們的每日 ANT 為 1,130 萬美元，調整後 EBITDA 為 18 億美元，調整後 EPS 為 7.69 美元。

All of these numbers represent all-time highs for Virtu from a trailing 12 month perspective. On slide 5 of our supplemental materials, we provided a summary of our operating expenses. Our third quarter 2026 cash compensation ratio was at 23%, which is consistent with our expectations. Through September 30, our year-to-date cash compensation ratio is 23% and our total compensation ratio is 28%. Again, these are levels that we have stated would be appropriate in the near term.

從過去 12 個月（TTM）的角度來看，以上數字皆創下 Virtu 的歷史新高。在補充資料第 5 頁，我們提供了營運費用的摘要。我們 2026 年第三季的現金薪酬比率為 23%，符合我們的預期。截至 9 月 30 日，今年迄今的現金薪酬比率為 23%，總薪酬比率為 28%。再次強調，這些水準與我們先前表示在短期內適當的水準一致。

Turning to capital. After raising $500 million through new debt in July, our invested capital stands at $3.4 billion as of September 30. Our trailing debt-to-EBITDA ratio is 1.4 times. So we remain modestly leveraged. We will continue to grow our capital base organically and deploy capital where we see the greatest opportunities, all while maintaining our quarterly dividend at $0.24 per share. We will now take your questions.

接著談資本。在 7 月透過新增負債籌資 5 億美元後，截至 9 月 30 日，我們的投入資本為 34 億美元。我們的過去 12 個月負債對 EBITDA 比率為 1.4 倍。因此，我們仍維持適度槓桿。我們將持續以有機方式擴大資本基礎，並在維持每季每股 0.24 美元股利的同時，將資本部署於我們認為機會最大的領域。現在我們開始回答各位的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Patrick Moley, Piper Sandler.

（接線員指示）Patrick Moley，Piper Sandler。

So maybe start on Market Making. You did about $9 million a day, down only about 4% sequentially, and it came in a quarter where US equity volumes were down mid-teens, realized vol was down more than 20%. So you clearly outperformed the backdrop. Could you maybe just help us understand what drove that? Any color there would be great.

那我先從造市業務開始問。你們每日大約 900 萬美元，只比前一季下降約 4%，而這一季美國股票成交量下滑約十幾個百分點，已實現波動度下滑超過 20%。所以你們顯然跑贏了整體環境。能否請你們協助我們理解是什麼因素驅動的？如果能提供一些說明就太好了。

Patrick, thanks. Sure. So as you noted, US equity volumes were down, but that's not the only place where we're trading, obviously. So there was definitely some heightened activity other places like there's been a lot of the offshore equity perpetuals that have come online. There have been some interesting events in the crypto space. Obviously, there are episodic things going on with AI and chip stocks in multiple countries around the world, not just US equities.

Patrick，謝謝。當然。如你所指出，美國股票成交量確實下滑，但顯然那並不是我們唯一交易的市場。因此，其他市場確實出現較高的活動度，例如有不少離岸股票永續合約陸續上線。加密貨幣領域也發生了一些值得關注的事件。此外，全球多個國家在 AI 與晶片股方面也出現一些階段性事件，不僅限於美國股票。

So I think it's, again, just another kind of piece of evidence that we're really diversifying the firm and trying to grow trading, not just concentrated in US equities and especially not just concentrated in wholesaling of US equities. And so I think you can expect that going forward that it's not going to be as correlated with those metrics as it used to be.

所以我認為這再次只是另一項證據，顯示我們確實正在讓公司業務多元化，並且試圖擴大交易業務，而不只是集中在美國股票，尤其不只是集中在美國股票的零售訂單批發（wholesaling）。因此我認為你可以預期，往後它與那些指標的相關性不會像過去那麼高。

Sure. Great color. And then just as a follow-up, I also wanted to ask about Execution Services. There's been some media reports that you could be exploring a sale of that business. I understand that you might be limited in what you can say, but maybe just at a high level, do you feel like the market gives you credit for VES inside of Virtu? And maybe just how do you think about the strategic fit between that and the Market Making business going forward?

了解。這些補充說明很有幫助。接著作為追問，我也想問一下執行服務（Execution Services）。有一些媒體報導指出你們可能在探索出售該業務。我理解你們在可透露內容上可能有限，但從較高層次來看，你覺得市場是否會在 Virtu 內部給予 VES 應有的估值認可？以及你如何看待該業務與做市（Market Making）業務在未來的策略契合度？

Well, I'll answer the question in the abstract, Patrick, this is Joe, because we don't -- when that -- in response to the new story, we said we don't comment on rumors. And your question, do we get credit for VES inside of Virtu, the public market may not give us credit for Virtu inside of Virtu. So -- but I'll tell you that Virtu Execution Services is a strategic business for us. It's done exceptionally well. You can see the growth in net trading income on a quarterly basis. This is a business that has 1,400 blue-chip clients, truly a global business. And we don't break it out. But if you went back and looked at ITG's margins prior to us buying them, we have more than doubled those margins.

Patrick，我先用較抽象的方式回答，這裡是 Joe，因為我們不——當那篇新聞出來時，我們的回應是我們不評論傳聞。至於你問的「公開市場是否會為 Virtu 內部的 VES 給予估值認可」，公開市場可能連 Virtu 本身在 Virtu 內部都未必給我們足夠的認可。不過我可以告訴你，Virtu Execution Services 對我們而言是一項具策略性的業務。它的表現非常出色。你可以看到按季度計算的淨交易收入成長。這是一項擁有 1,400 家藍籌客戶的業務，真正的全球性業務。而我們並未將其單獨拆分揭露。但如果你回頭看我們收購 ITG 之前 ITG 的利潤率，我們已經把那些利潤率提高到原來的兩倍以上。

And so we think it's operated in a best-in-class way among its peers. Clients will tell you that the technology is differentiating, the technology that underlies the products that are spread across these 1,400 clients. So we like the business. There's a lot of questions we've gotten around this in terms of capital and incremental capital deployment. And I saw your math when the new story came out. And look, what I'd say in the past, we've articulated a near-term capital goal of around $4 billion plus, we called it. And that's not a forever goal. It's a near-term goal.

因此我們認為，與同業相比，它的營運方式屬於同級最佳（best-in-class）。客戶會告訴你，技術具有差異化優勢；支撐產品的底層技術，覆蓋並服務於這 1,400 家客戶。所以我們喜歡這項業務。我們也收到很多關於資本與增量資本配置的問題。而且我也看到那篇新聞出來時你做的計算。你看，過去我們闡述過一個近期資本目標，大約是 40 億美元以上，我們是這麼稱呼的。那不是永久性的目標。那是一個近期目標。

But as Aaron mentioned, when you look at where we are today, we're well on our way to achieving that goal. We've accumulated, I think, $900 million-ish of trading capital this year, around half of it organically, half of it from supplementing our debt stack. So I think we feel very good about how we've grown the capital base and deployed it. And to get to our long-term goal -- medium-term goal, we don't need to do anything in terms of asset sales, right? And all that being said, we're always focused on shareholder value, as you know, Patrick. So that would be sort of how we answer that question.

但如 Aaron 提到的，從我們今天的位置來看，我們正穩步朝達成該目標前進。今年我們累積了大約 9 億美元左右的交易資本，其中約一半來自內生增長，另一半來自補強我們的債務結構（debt stack）。所以我認為我們對資本基礎的擴大以及資本的部署方式感到非常滿意。而要達成我們的長期目標——中期目標，我們不需要做任何資產出售之類的事情，對吧？話雖如此，如你所知 Patrick，我們始終聚焦於股東價值。所以我們大致會這樣回答這個問題。

Eli Abboud, Bank of America.

美國銀行（Bank of America）的 Eli Abboud。

When you IPO-ed in 2013, you said at the time that you only had one money-losing day in the past four years. We're often asked by investors whether Virtu's appetite for risk has changed since the CEO change. So to that end, when you look at the past year, how many money losing days has there been?

你們在 2013 年 IPO 時曾表示，在此前四年裡你們只有一天是虧損日（money-losing day）。投資人經常問我們，自從 CEO 更替後，Virtu 的風險偏好是否有所改變。因此就此而言，回顧過去一年，虧損日一共有多少天？

I'll take that question. So we don't break out in granularity like especially the level of exact number of days of any certain level of P&L. But I will say that if you look at when we IPO-ed, the statistical distribution of our P&L was such that a losing day represents an operational error rather than any result of the trading strategies themselves. But since we've grown a lot since then, the business has changed a lot, beginning with our acquisition of KCG, I would say that materially, the distribution of that P&L changed quite a lot.

我來回答這個問題。我們不會以那麼細的粒度去拆分揭露，尤其是不會提供某一特定損益水準下的精確天數。不過我會說，當我們 IPO 時，我們的損益（P&L）統計分布是那樣的：出現虧損日更多代表作業錯誤，而不是交易策略本身的結果。但自那之後我們成長很多，業務也改變很大，從收購 KCG 開始，我會說損益分布在實質上發生了相當大的變化。

The retail wholesaling business, the ETF block trading businesses, those are just kind of different animals than the sort of very traditional on-screen market making that we were doing back in those days, which was a long time ago at this point. So definitely, the width of the distribution of our P&L has increased meaningfully from our IPO days.

零售訂單批發業務、ETF 大宗（block）交易業務，這些與我們當年做的那種非常傳統的螢幕撮合式做市（on-screen market making）相比，是不同的「動物」（本質不同的業務）。而那已經是很久以前的事了。因此，我們損益分布的寬度（波動範圍）相較 IPO 時期確實顯著增加。

But fortunately, we've also increased the mean of the distribution quite a bit such that bouncing off of zero is still quite rare, although not zero. And so I think since I took over, I don't think the distribution has really changed meaningfully, like we are open to more trading opportunities than we perhaps were. But qualitatively, there's a bigger difference between our IPO in 2014 and even 2018, '19 than there is between 1.5 years ago and today.

但幸運的是，我們也把該分布的均值提高了不少，因此損益回落到零附近的情況仍然相當少見，雖然不是零。所以我認為自從我接任以來，這個分布並沒有出現有意義的改變；我們確實比以前更願意把握更多交易機會。但從質的角度看，2014 年 IPO 時與 2018、2019 年之間的差異，遠大於 1.5 年前到今天之間的差異。

Got it. That's very helpful. And then has there been any change in how long you were warehousing risk? I think in the past, you've described your average holding period as a few seconds. Is that something that has changed?

明白了。這非常有幫助。另外，你們在承擔（倉儲）風險的時間長度方面有任何改變嗎？我記得過去你們曾把平均持有期間描述為幾秒鐘。這點有改變嗎？

I haven't described it in that way. I don't know exactly where that statement came from. There's not like a one number that I could even point to, to be honest. There's very different segments of trading that have very different holding times. But I would say that the set of holding times of our various trading strategies has not changed meaningfully in the last year.

我沒有用那種方式描述過。我也不確定那個說法是從哪裡來的。老實說，並不存在一個我可以指向的單一數字。不同的交易分部有非常不同的持有時間。但我會說，在過去一年裡，我們各種交易策略的持有時間集合並沒有出現有意義的變化。

Ken Worthington, JPMorgan.

摩根大通（JPMorgan）的 Ken Worthington。

You raised $500 million of debt at the end of July. Did the capital raise make it to the trading desks near instantly? Or did it migrate at a more measured pace over the quarter? And how would you judge the returns on the incremental capital relative to the market conditions versus the entire book of trading capital?

你們在 7 月底新增了 5 億美元的債務融資。這次增資（資本募集）是否幾乎立刻就進到交易台（trading desks）？還是說在該季度內以較為循序、審慎的速度逐步移轉？另外，你會如何評估這部分增量資本的報酬，相對於當時的市場環境，以及相對於整體交易資本組合（entire book of trading capital）的表現？

What I would say to you, Ken, is we -- this is Joe, we don't measure kind of incremental returns because cash is fungible, capital is fungible, and it's spread across our various businesses and our various legal entities in our various jurisdictions. So what I will tell you is we maintain buffers -- internal buffers, as you would expect from a trading standpoint, a usage standpoint, a regulatory standpoint in those legal entities and trading desks.

Ken，我會這樣說——我是 Joe——我們不會去衡量所謂的增量報酬，因為現金是可互換的（fungible）、資本也是可互換的，而且它分散在我們不同的業務、不同的法人實體，以及不同司法管轄區之中。所以我能告訴你的是，我們會在那些法人實體與交易台維持緩衝——內部緩衝——這也是你從交易、使用量以及監管角度所預期我們會做的。

And prior to that capital raise, we were seeing opportunity where we were using some of the buffer in a business-as-usual way and also from time to time, using some of our contingent liquidity in terms of revolvers, et cetera. And that has largely come to an end. So we always want to operate with belt and suspenders, trading capital, belt and suspenders, excess trading capital and the environment at the time allowed us to, I'd say, deploy most of it right away. But when we say deploy, we mean deploy with adequate buffer.

而在那次增資之前，我們看到一些機會：我們以日常營運的方式動用了一部分緩衝資本，並且也不時動用我們的一些或有流動性，例如循環信貸額度（revolvers）等等。而這種情況基本上已經告一段落。因此我們一向希望以「雙重保險」的方式來運作——交易資本要有雙重保險、超額交易資本也要有雙重保險——而當時的環境使我們得以，我會說，幾乎立刻就把大部分資本部署出去。但當我們說「部署」時，我們的意思是：在具備足夠緩衝的前提下進行部署。

So I think the environment has slowed down a little bit, as was noted at the beginning of the call, and that usually causes us to use less capital, all things equal. But all things are never equal. I think Aaron mentioned some of the highlights of kind of new products and these new products have various levels of efficiency around settlement and margin. So that drives capital usage as well.

所以我認為環境確實放緩了一點，正如電話會議一開始所提到的，而在其他條件相同的情況下，這通常會使我們使用較少的資本。但其他條件從來不會完全相同。我想 Aaron 提到了一些新產品的亮點，而這些新產品在結算與保證金方面的效率程度各不相同。因此這也會推動資本使用量的變化。

I would say, net-net, we were able to deploy the capital. We have adequate buffers, and we're going to continue to organically grow the capital base. And then as we continue to reset the bar at higher levels of net trading income and higher levels of profitability, we'll always look to opportunistically supplement the -- our debt capitalization as well.

我會說，總體而言（net-net），我們能夠部署這些資本。我們有足夠的緩衝，而且我們將持續以內生成長的方式擴大資本基礎。此外，隨著我們持續把淨交易收入與獲利能力的門檻重設到更高水準，我們也會一如既往地在適當時機，機會性地補充我們的——債務資本結構。

Great. And for the follow-up, how would you characterize the investment that the industry is making in new technologies like AI and other? Is it sort of business as usual? Or do you see this as sort of a -- being in the midst of a technology arms race? And if so, does Virtu have to change the level of investing that it's making from current levels?

很好。那追問一下，你會如何描述整個產業在 AI 等新技術上的投資？這算是照常進行（business as usual）嗎？還是你認為這有點像——正處於一場科技軍備競賽之中？如果是這樣，Virtu 是否必須相較目前水準改變其投資力度？

I mean I guess it's tough to answer. I mean, again, trading is a pretty diversified business. And so there are different types of trading with different technological requirements. I mean, on the one hand, we've been in a technological arms race since the founding in 2008. I think it's just much more visible now and the dollar amounts are higher because of the AI spend that people are doing, and there's a bit of a price difference just because of supply chain constraints and other things.

我的意思是，我想這個問題不太好回答。再說一次，交易是一個相當多元的業務。因此不同類型的交易，對技術的要求也不同。一方面，我們自 2008 年成立以來就一直處在技術軍備競賽之中。我認為現在只是更顯眼了，而且因為大家在 AI 上的支出，金額更大；另外也因供應鏈限制等因素，價格上也有些差異。

So we are continuing to spend a significant fraction of dollars on technology, but it's not really new or representing some great acceleration. We are incrementally investing more as we are growing into our sort of like physical capital base and compute and power and storage and everything else. So I mean, yes, it is an uptick, which we've highlighted before that we were going to do. So I don't think it's anything surprising. But I think we feel very comfortable where we're at and don't feel a need to do anything beyond what we've sort of telegraphed.

所以我們仍在技術上投入相當比例的資金，但這其實不算新鮮事，也不代表有什麼大幅加速。隨著我們在實體資本基礎、運算資源、電力、儲存以及其他各方面擴張，我們是在逐步增加投資。所以我的意思是，是的，確實有上升，我們之前也已經強調過我們會這麼做。因此我不認為有任何令人意外之處。但我想我們對目前的狀態感到非常安心，也不覺得需要做任何超出我們先前所釋放訊息（telegraphed）的事情。

Dan Fannon, Jefferies.

Jefferies 的 Dan Fannon。

So I was curious about where you think you are in terms of your hiring goals. You've talked about investing in the business and people. Is that something that has a time period to it? Or is this something we should be thinking about that's going to be ongoing as we go into next year and beyond?

我想了解一下，你們認為在招募目標方面目前進展到哪個階段。你們談到在業務與人才方面投資。這件事有一個時間週期嗎？還是我們應該把它視為會延續到明年及更往後、持續進行的事情？

Well, I guess, I don't know how forward-looking you want to be. Certainly into the next year, I don't think you're going to see any change. We still have quite a few unmet hiring goals, and we're trying hard to fill them. I mean we don't -- this business changes quite quickly. And so we do have sort of near-term and what we would call medium-term goals and medium term for us is probably utmost a year. So I don't think I can predict beyond that. I mean we would love to be in a state where we just keep finding new trading strategies, keep making more money, keep hiring more people, but it's hard to really plan beyond sort of the next year at most.

嗯，我想，我不確定你希望我們多前瞻性地回答。至少到明年，我不認為你會看到任何改變。我們仍有相當多尚未達成的招募目標，而且我們正努力填補這些缺口。我的意思是——這個業務變化相當快。因此我們確實有一些短期目標，以及我們所謂的中期目標；而對我們而言，中期大概最多就是一年。所以我不認為我能預測超過那個範圍。我的意思是，我們當然希望能處於一種狀態：不斷找到新的交易策略、不斷賺更多錢、不斷招募更多人，但要規劃超過最多一年的範圍其實很難。

Understood. And then in the context of expenses, as we think about the -- what you've mentioned in terms of investing in the business plus the people, any change in philosophy about or how we should think about expense growth sequentially as we think about the end of the year, but also again into next year, given what appears to be a more consistent investment period of hiring and other investments.

了解。那在費用的脈絡下，當我們考量——你們提到的對業務的投資加上對人才的投資——在理念上是否有任何改變？或者我們應該如何看待費用的逐季成長，尤其是接近年底，以及同樣地展望明年，鑑於看起來招募與其他投資將進入一段更一致的投資期。

No, Dan. I mean, I think you could see the numbers, right? Expenses have gone up. We don't think they've gone up any more than we expected them to. On the people front, I think just to underline what Aaron said, we've already increased our hiring meaningfully. We're at the end of the -- as we speak here, we're just below 1,100 people.

沒有，Dan。我的意思是，我想你可以看到數字，對吧？費用確實上升了。但我們不認為它們上升幅度超出我們原先的預期。在人員方面，我想再強調 Aaron 說的，我們已經顯著增加招募。就我們現在通話的此刻而言，我們的人數略低於 1,100 人。

And we expect to be over 1,100 in the near term. So hiring has stepped up, and it's been driven in sort of the high-value areas in terms of trading and development. And you could see the comp ratio is sort of, as Cindy mentioned, is where we've guided it to. So I think you can look at the trends and extrapolate pretty accurately.

而我們預期在短期內會超過 1,100 人。所以招募確實已經加速，且主要是由交易與開發等高價值領域所帶動。而且你也可以看到，正如 Cindy 提到的，薪酬比率（comp ratio）大致落在我們所指引的區間。因此我認為你可以觀察這些趨勢，並相當準確地進行外推。

(Operator Instructions) There are no further questions at this time. This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect.

(Operator Instructions) 目前沒有進一步的提問。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位參與。您現在可以掛線。