Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Verisk Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Results Conference Call. This call is being recorded. (Operator Instructions) For opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to Verisk's Head of Investor Relations, Ms. Stacey Brodbar. Ms. Brodbar, you may go ahead. .

大家好，歡迎參加Verisk 2021財年第三季財報電話會議。本次電話會議正在錄音。 （操作說明）現在，我將把電話交給Verisk投資者關係主管Stacey Brodbar女士，請她致開幕詞並進行介紹。 Brodbar女士，請開始吧。

Thank you, Julia, and good day, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today for a discussion of our third quarter 2021 financial results. Today's call will be led by Scott Stephenson, Verisk's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will provide an overview of our business. Lee Shavel, Chief Financial Officer and Group President, will follow with the financial review. Mark Anquillare, Chief Operating Officer and Group President, will join the team for the Q&A session.

謝謝朱莉婭，大家好。感謝各位今天參加我們2021年第三季財務業績討論會。本次電話會議將由Verisk董事長、總裁兼執行長史考特·史蒂芬森主持，他將概述公司業務。財務長兼集團總裁李·沙維爾將隨後進行財務回顧。營運長兼集團總裁馬克·安奎拉雷將加入問答環節。

The earnings release referenced on this call as well as the associated 10-Q can be found in the Investors section of our website, verisk.com. The earnings release has also been attached to an 8-K that we have furnished to the SEC. A replay of this call will be available for 30 days on our website and by dial-in.

本次電話會議中提及的獲利報告以及相關的10-Q表格可在我們網站verisk.com的「投資者關係」欄位中找到。該盈利報告也已附在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）的8-K表格中。本次電話會議的錄音回放將在我們網站上保留30天，也可透過電話撥入收聽。

Finally, as set forth in more detail in today's earnings release, I will remind everyone that today's call may include forward-looking statements about Verisk's future performance, including, but not limited to, the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Actual performance could differ materially from what is suggested by our comments today. Information about the factors that could affect future performance is contained in our recent SEC filings.

最後，正如今天發布的財報中更詳細闡述的那樣，我要提醒各位，今天的電話會議可能包含有關Verisk未來業績的前瞻性陳述，包括但不限於COVID-19疫情的潛在影響。實際業績可能與我們今天所作的陳述有重大差異。有關可能影響未來業績的因素的信息，請參閱我們近期提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）的文件。

Now I will turn the call over to Scott.

現在我將把通話交給史考特。

Thanks, Stacey. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our third quarter 2021 earnings conference call. I'm pleased to share that Verisk delivered a solid third quarter result, building on our deep domain expertise, innovative offerings and strong relationships with our customers. Specifically, Verisk delivered organic constant currency revenue growth of 5.1% and organic constant currency adjusted EBITDA growth of 2.1% for the third quarter.

謝謝，Stacey。大家好，感謝各位參加我們2021年第三季財報電話會議。我很高興地告訴大家，Verisk第三季業績穩健，這得益於我們深厚的行業專長、創新產品以及與客戶建立的牢固關係。具體而言，Verisk第三季以固定匯率計算的有機收入成長了5.1%，以固定匯率計算的有機調整後EBITDA成長了2.1%。

What I find encouraging is looking at the results on a 2-year basis to adjust for the lumpiness related to the pandemic. In this view, Verisk delivered 2-year cumulative organic constant currency revenue growth of 8.7% and organic constant currency adjusted EBITDA growth of 16.8%, demonstrating strong core operating leverage and a sequential improvement in the second quarter.

令我感到鼓舞的是，如果以兩年為週期來審視業績，以消除疫情帶來的波動影響。從這個角度來看，Verisk 兩年累計有機固定匯率營收成長 8.7%，經有機固定匯率調整後的 EBITDA 成長 16.8%，顯示其核心營運槓桿作用強勁，且第二季業績環比有所改善。

Lee will provide more details in his comprehensive financial review. Across insurance, we are seeing strong demand for our products as our customers are striving to become more digital and more automated and are turning to Verisk's solutions to help them. Engagement with our customers remains at very high levels. As we continue our virtual work and our sales force and customer service teams are doing an excellent job staying connected. In fact, we recently hosted our Signature underwriting conference called Verisk Velocity, again, in a virtual format.

Lee將在他的全面財務報告中提供更多細節。在整個保險業，我們看到市場對我們產品的需求強勁，因為我們的客戶正努力實現數位化和自動化轉型，並尋求Verisk解決方案的協助。我們與客戶的互動仍然非常活躍。隨著我們繼續進行線上辦公，我們的銷售團隊和客戶服務團隊在保持聯繫方面做得非常出色。事實上，我們最近再次以線上形式舉辦了名為Verisk Velocity的旗艦承保會議。

This year's event was another success with over 600 attendees participating across 27 different thematic sessions. This year's focus was accelerating the digital transformation and developing new ways to increase efficiency and improve underwriting outcomes to better serve their customers.

今年的活動再次圓滿成功，超過600名與會者參加了27個不同的主題研討會。今年的重點是加速數位轉型，並開發提高效率和改善核保結果的新方法，從而更好地服務客戶。

Strong customer engagement within insurance is translating into strong sales, with growing ACVs, longer contract terms and very robust sales pipelines. To that end, we've been very successful penetrating the new InsureTech companies as they can take advantage of the full suite of Verisk's solutions across underwriting and claims. Additionally, with our more traditional P&C customer base, we are also having success leveraging our scale and our comprehensive insurance solution offering. These are 2 of our competitive advantages. By bundling our solutions together, we're driving increased adoption of new solutions across many different customer segments, and these bundles are proving to be quite sticky.

保險業客戶的高度參與正轉化為強勁的銷售業績，體現在不斷增長的年度合約價值 (ACV)、更長的合約期限和非常穩健的銷售管道。為此，我們成功地打入了新興保險科技公司市場，因為他們可以充分利用 Verisk 在承保和理賠方面的全套解決方案。此外，對於我們較傳統的財產險客戶群，我們也成功地利用了自身的規模優勢和全面的保險解決方案。這是我們的兩大競爭優勢。透過將我們的解決方案捆綁在一起，我們正在推動不同客戶群對新解決方案的採用，而這些捆綁方案已被證明具有很強的客戶黏性。

One area of growth we are particularly excited about is our international expansion within insurance, which is predominantly in the U.K. today, but we see a long runway as we expand our analytic capabilities within the U.K. and extend our global footprint into new developed markets. Within our Sequel business in the U.K., we are building out a truly integrated and digital ecosystem across carriers, syndicates, brokers and managing general agents throughout the specialty market. And we are bringing in new customers and expanding our suite of products across existing ones.

我們尤其關注保險業務的國際擴張，目前主要集中在英國。但隨著我們不斷提昇在英國的分析能力，並將全球業務拓展至新興已開發市場，我們看到了巨大的發展潛力。在英國的Sequel業務部門，我們正在建立一個真正一體化的數位生態系統，涵蓋保險公司、辛迪加、經紀人和總代理等各個環節，涵蓋整個專業保險市場。同時，我們也不斷拓展新客戶，並為現有客戶豐富產品線。

Most recently, we made a tuck-in acquisition of Ignite software Systems, a SaaS platform that includes policy administration, rating engine and digital engagement for brokers, managing general agents and insureds. This acquisition expands Sequel's capabilities and enable Sequel to add a modular API-driven SaaS platform to the Sequel suite of products. Within our core underwriting, we are using the time-tested playbook that has worked in the U.S. for years using proprietary data assets to help better price and understand risk and extending to the U.K. with our data in Richmond Hub. Data Insight Hub is enabling the digitization of the personal and commercial lines insurance in the U.K. deploying a data forward strategy to prefill key data elements and provide predictive analytics that help customers with risk assessment and pricing.

最近，我們收購了 Ignite Software Systems，這是一個 SaaS 平台，包含保單管理、費率引擎以及面向經紀人、總代理人和投保人的數位互動功能。此次收購擴展了 Sequel 的功能，使 Sequel 能夠在其產品套件中添加一個模組化的 API 驅動的 SaaS 平台。在核心核保業務方面，我們沿用了在美國行之有效的成熟模式，利用專有數據資產來更好地定價和了解風險，並將這一模式擴展到英國，利用我們在 Richmond Hub 的數據。 Data Insight Hub 正在推動英國個人和商業保險的數位轉型，部署資料前瞻策略來預先填入關鍵資料元素，並提供預測分析，從而幫助客戶進行風險評估和定價。

Our recent investment in HUG HUB extends these capacities upstream to support the ecosystem at point of sale and distribution. Our international travel business has experienced significant declines due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, but we believe we are well positioned to take advantage of the rebound with cross-border capital returns. On the claims front, and consistent with our focus on the insurance business and international expansion, we recently announced the acquisition of Actineo, a market leader for personal injury claims digitalization and medical assessment in Germany. Actineo will be integrated into our broader Verisk Claims Europe business and should provide a strong platform to grow our footprint across Continental Europe and establish Verisk as the Pan-European leader in the personal injury and medical nonpractice sectors.

我們近期對HUG HUB的投資拓展了上游業務能力，旨在為銷售點和分銷環節的生態系統提供支援。受疫情相關的旅遊限制影響，我們的國際旅遊業務遭受了顯著下滑，但我們相信，憑藉跨境資本回報，我們已做好充分準備，把握市場反彈的良機。在理賠方面，秉持我們對保險業務和國際擴張的專注，我們近期宣布收購Actineo，該公司是德國人身傷害理賠數位化和醫療評估領域的市場領導者。 Actineo將整合到我們更廣泛的Verisk Claims Europe業務中，並將為我們在歐洲大陸拓展業務版圖、鞏固Verisk在人身傷害和非執業醫療領域的泛歐領先地位提供強大的平台。

We are encouraged by the opportunity to create incremental value by helping deploy Actineo technology and services across Europe and leveraging customer relationships. We also plan to introduce other claims solutions to these key European markets.

我們很高興有機會透過幫助 Actineo 在歐洲部署技術和服務並利用客戶關係來創造增量價值。我們也計劃向這些重要的歐洲市場推出其他理賠解決方案。

And lastly, we are excited about the growth opportunity within international markets for our extreme event business. In June, we released an on-time update to our Japan Typhoon and earthquake models. These updates reflect the latest science and learnings from recent catastrophes in Japan. Our extreme of that business has very strong share in the key Japanese market with both primary insurers and reinsurers as customers. Both of whom rely on our models for the quality of the science and the local knowledge that we incorporate through our partnerships with local insurers.

最後，我們對極端事件業務在國際市場的成長機會感到振奮。 6月，我們按時發布了日本颱風和地震模型的更新版本。這些更新反映了最新的科學成果以及從日本近期災害中學到的經驗。我們的極端事件業務在日本這個關鍵市場佔據了非常大的份額，我們的客戶包括一級保險公司和再保險公司。他們都信賴我們模型的科學性和在地化知識，而這些知識是透過我們與當地保險公司的合作來實現的。

Within the Energy segment, we're seeing a strong uptake of our new and innovative solutions including our energy transition and chemicals research as well as our innovative lens platform. We are realizing double-digit growth in ACV for contracts that include lens as our customers recognize the value of this innovative solution. Importantly, lens is being adopted by customers across industries, including upstream oil and gas, financial services and power and renewables. Moreover, with roughly 10% of our customer base on lens today, we see a long runway for growth as we expand it's use cases to include additional commodities and geographies over the next few years.

在能源領域，我們看到包括能源轉型和化學品研究以及創新透鏡平台在內的新解決方案得到了廣泛應用。隨著客戶對這項創新解決方案價值的認可，包含透鏡平台的合約年度合約價值（ACV）實現了兩位數的成長。值得一提的是，透鏡平台已被各行各業的客戶採用，包括上游油氣、金融服務以及電力和再生能源產業。此外，目前約有10%的客戶在使用透鏡平台，隨著未來幾年我們將應用場景擴展到更多商品和地區，我們預計未來幾年該平台將擁有巨大的成長潛力。

You've heard me say before that at Verisk, we are moving ever closer to our customers and that we are on an exciting and successful journey to deliver best-in-class customer experiences. Our collaborations with management leaders, along with a customer-first mindset, helped power this journey. Customer experience is not just the responsibility of our dedicated customer service teams, but it runs throughout the entire organization.

我之前說過，在Verisk，我們正不斷拉近與客戶的距離，並踏上一段激動人心且卓有成效的旅程，致力於提供一流的客戶體驗。我們與管理階層的緊密合作，以及始終秉持的客戶至上理念，共同推動了這項進程。客戶體驗不僅是我們專業的客戶服務團隊的責任，而是貫穿整個組織的各個層面。

In the third quarter, colleagues from every part of Verisk participated in Verisk's Discover CX Summit. It was a moment in time when we came together to listen, learn and collaborate on how we can be better partners for our customers. Leaders across every area of the company is sampled to focus on learning CX best practices, and we have emerged with a robust pipeline of ideas that I believe will lead to innovative solutions and outcomes that benefit our customers and Verisk.

第三季度，Verisk 各部門的同事都參加了 Verisk 的 Discover CX Summit（客戶體驗探索高峰會）。這是一個難得的機會，讓我們齊聚一堂，聆聽、學習並協作，探討如何更好地服務客戶。公司各個領域的領導者都參與了此次峰會，並專注於學習客戶體驗的最佳實踐。最終，我們累積了豐富的經驗，並形成了一系列切實可行的想法。我相信，這些想法將催生出創新性的解決方案和成果，從而惠及我們的客戶和 Verisk。

On the personnel front, I'm pleased to publicly welcome Sunita Holzer, as our new Chief Human Resources Officer; and Dianne Greene as our new Head of Inclusion, Diversity & Belonging. Sunita brings with her 3 decades of enterprise-level human resources leadership across several industries, including technology and insurance. Dianne brings a business-centric mindset to ID&B from her decade-long experience as a business leader in the payroll and HR solutions industry. At a time when attracting and retaining diverse talent is top of mind for every business, I am really excited about partnering with Sunita and Dianne to develop a comprehensive and differentiated human capital strategy for Verisk and foster our diverse, inclusive and equitable culture.

在人事方面，我很高興地宣布蘇妮塔·霍爾澤 (Sunita Holzer) 出任首席人力資源官，黛安·格林 (Dianne Greene) 出任包容、多元化與歸屬感主管。蘇妮塔擁有三十餘年跨產業企業級人力資源領導經驗，涵蓋科技和保險等多個領域。黛安在薪資和人力資源解決方案行業擁有十年豐富的商業領導經驗，為包容、多元化與歸屬感主管帶來了以業務為中心的思維模式。在當今企業將吸引和留住多元化人才視為重中之重的時代，我非常期待與蘇妮塔和黛安攜手合作，為 Verisk 制定全面且獨具特色的人力資本戰略，並促進我們多元、包容和公平的企業文化。

Finally, we are committed to enhancing shareholder value and as part of that commitment to allocating capital to the highest growth and highest return opportunities. Accordingly, Verisk has been undertaking a bottoms-up review of our businesses and portfolio composition. Our review is ongoing with a focus on the most value-creative path for sustainable growth and success and doing what's in the best interest of our shareholders and all of Verisk's stakeholders. As we've said previously, we believe that portfolio changes are probable in the next 2 to 3 quarters, subject to market conditions.

最後，我們致力於提升股東價值，並為此將資本配置到成長潛力最大、回報最高的投資機會。為此，Verisk一直在自下而上地審查我們的業務和投資組合組成。我們的審查仍在進行中，重點在於尋找最有價值的永續成長和成功路徑，並始終以股東和所有利害關係人的最佳利益為出發點。正如我們之前所說，我們認為未來2到3個季度內，投資組合可能會進行調整，具體調整將視市場情況而定。

With that, I will turn the call over to Lee to cover our financial results.

接下來，我將把電話交給李，讓他來介紹我們的財務表現。

Thanks, Scott. First, I would like to bring to everyone's attention that we've posted a quarterly earnings presentation that's available on our website. Moving to the financial results for the quarter. On a consolidated and GAAP basis, revenue grew 8% to $759 million. Net income attributable to Verisk increased 8.6% to $202 million while diluted GAAP earnings per share attributable to Verisk increased 10.7% to $1.24.

謝謝，斯科特。首先，我想提醒大家，我們已在網站上發布了季度財報。接下來是本季的財務業績。以合併及GAAP準則計算，營收成長8%至7.59億美元。歸屬於Verisk的淨利成長8.6%至2.02億美元，歸屬於Verisk的稀釋後GAAP每股收益成長10.7%至1.24美元。

Moving to our organic constant currency results. Adjusted for nonoperating items, as defined in the non-GAAP financial measures section of our press release, we are very pleased with our operating results, led by continued and consistent growth in our subscription revenues.

接下來是我們的有機成長績效（以固定匯率計算）。在調整非經營性項目（定義見新聞稿中的非GAAP財務指標部分）後，我們對經營業績非常滿意，這主要得益於訂閱收入的持續穩定成長。

In the third quarter, organic constant currency revenue grew 5.1%, driven by continued strength in our insurance segment and modest growth in energy and specialized markets. This was offset in part by weakness in the Financial Services segment as we experienced the final quarter of impact from the contract restructurings as well as continued COVID-related impacts. Our non-COVID-sensitive revenues, as we defined at the beginning of the pandemic, increased 5.6% in the third quarter, which was consistent with results reported in the second quarter 2021 despite tougher year-over-year comparisons, as our non-COVID-sensitive revenues included 7.8% in the third quarter of 2020.

第三季度，有機固定匯率營收成長5.1%，主要得益於保險業務的持續強勁成長以及能源和專業市場的溫和成長。金融服務業務的疲軟部分抵消了上述成長，因為我們受到了合約重組的最後一個季度的影響，以及新冠疫情持續帶來的影響。根據疫情初期的定義，我們的非新冠敏感收入在第三季度增長了5.6%，與2021年第二季度的業績基本一致，儘管同比基數較高（2020年第三季度非新冠敏感收入增長了7.8%）。

The stable growth in our non-COVID-sensitive revenues, representing approximately 85% of our total revenues reflects the durability and resilience of our primarily subscription model and the mission-critical nature of our solutions. Our COVID-sensitive revenues which represent 15% of our consolidated revenues increased 1.6% as compared to declines of 10% in the third quarter last year. Growth was primarily the result of improvements in consulting in our Energy segment and a return to pre-pandemic growth rates in many of our products and services within insurance, particularly within the U.S.

不受新冠疫情影響的營收穩定成長，約佔總營收的85%，這反映了我們以訂閱模式為主的業務模式的持久性和韌性，以及我們解決方案的關鍵性。受新冠疫情影響的營收佔合併收入的15%，與去年第三季下降10%相比，成長了1.6%。成長主要得益於能源業務諮詢業務的改善，以及保險業務（尤其是美國市場）眾多產品和服務恢復到疫情前的成長水準。

We did experience continued COVID-related weakness in our Financial Services segment as COVID forbearance programs are negatively impacting bankruptcy volumes.

我們的金融服務部門確實持續受到新冠疫情的影響，因為新冠疫情相關的寬限計畫對破產數量產生了負面影響。

To be specific, our COVID-sensitive revenues increased 8% and 12% within the Insurance and Energy segments, respectively, but registered declines of 28% within financial services. It's also important to note that, that 28% decline also included the impact of the contract restructuring that we have described previously and which ended in the third quarter. Given that Financial Services is the segment with the largest percentage of COVID-sensitive transactional revenues, this had a disproportionate impact on the overall result.

具體而言，受新冠疫情影響的收入在保險和能源板塊分別增長了8%和12%，但在金融服務板塊則下降了28%。值得注意的是，這28%的降幅也包含了我們先前提到的合約重組的影響，該重組已於第三季結束。鑑於金融服務類股是受新冠疫情影響的交易收入佔比最高的類股，因此其對整體表現的影響尤其顯著。

Organic constant currency adjusted EBITDA growth was 2.1% in the third quarter. Organic constant currency adjusted EBITDA growth was impacted by tough comparisons as we took aggressive cost actions in the third quarter of 2020 in response to the pandemic across all our segments. Total adjusted EBITDA margin, which includes both organic and inorganic revenue and adjusted EBITDA, was 49.9% in the quarter, down 221 basis points on a year-over-year basis, but still well above our pre-pandemic margin level of 47.4% recorded in the third quarter of 2019.

第三季有機成長（以固定匯率調整後）為2.1%。由於我們在2020年第三季度為應對疫情在所有業務板塊採取了積極的成本控制措施，有機增長受到去年同期高基數的影響。本季調整後總EBITDA利潤率（包括有機和非有機收入及調整後EBITDA）為49.9%，較去年同期下降221個基點，但仍遠高於2019年第三季疫情前的47.4%的利潤率水準。

Much of the decline is associated with the normalization of our costs as we anniversary the COVID benefits from last year, including reduced headcount and lower incentive compensation. This level of margin also includes approximately 100 basis points of headwind from our ongoing technological transformation, including our cloud transition costs, which we absorbed into our cost structure.

利潤率下降的主要原因是成本正常化，因為我們正逐步恢復去年因新冠疫情帶來的各項優惠政策的正常水平，包括裁員和降低激勵性薪酬。此外，此利潤率水準還包含了約100個基點的持續技術轉型帶來的不利影響，例如雲端遷移成本，這些成本已計入成本結構中。

On that note, let's turn to our segment results on an organic constant currency basis. In the third quarter, Insurance segment revenues increased 7.4%, demonstrating strong resilience in recovery. We saw healthy growth in our industry standard insurance programs, repair cost estimating solutions, claims analytics solutions, catastrophe modeling, life insurance solutions and international insurance software solutions.

接下來，我們來看看以固定匯率計算的各業務板塊業績。第三季度，保險業務類股營收成長7.4%，展現強勁的復甦韌性。我們的行業標準保險項目、維修成本估算解決方案、理賠分析解決方案、災害建模、人壽保險解決方案和國際保險軟體解決方案均實現了穩健成長。

We also experienced solid growth in transactional revenues, including 8% growth in our COVID impacted revenues as we compared against flattish results last year. We also experienced a modest benefit to growth from storm-related revenue resulting from Hurricane Ida. Adjusted EBITDA grew 4.8% in the third quarter while margins declined 200 basis points to 55.9%, reflecting a return to a normalized rate of headcount growth compared to the prior year and higher year-over-year short-term incentive compensation expense.

我們的交易收入也實現了穩健成長，其中受新冠疫情影響的營收成長了8%，而去年同期業績基本持平。此外，颶風艾達帶來的風暴相關收入也略微促進了成長。第三季調整後EBITDA成長4.8%，但利潤率下降200個基點至55.9%，反映出員工人數成長率已恢復正常水平，以及短期激勵性薪資支出較去年同期增加。

Nevertheless, this quarter's margin is still 300 basis points above our pre-pandemic levels recorded in 2019 and continues to reflect accelerated investment in our breakout areas like life insurance and telematics as well as our technology modernization, including our cloud transition.

儘管如此，本季的利潤率仍比 2019 年疫情前的水平高出 300 個基點，並繼續反映出我們在人壽保險和遠端資訊處理等突破性領域的加速投資，以及我們的技術現代化，包括我們的雲端轉型。

Energy and Specialized Markets revenue increased 2.5% in the third quarter due to recovery in our consulting and project-based revenues across energy and power. Strong growth in environmental health and safety solutions and in our breakout solutions, including energy transition and chemicals. We continue to benefit from strong adoption of our Lens platform as customers are seeing the value of our integrated cloud-based data analytical environment, and we are very pleased with their contributions to our annualized contract value progression over the course of the last 2 quarters.

由於能源和電力領域的諮詢和專案收入復甦，能源和專業市場業務第三季營收成長2.5%。環境健康與安全解決方案以及包括能源轉型和化學工業在內的創新解決方案均實現了強勁成長。客戶對我們基於雲端的整合資料分析環境的認可度不斷提高，持續受益於Lens平台的廣泛應用。我們對客戶在過去兩個季度為年度合約價值成長所做的貢獻感到非常滿意。

Adjusted EBITDA declined 2.6% in the third quarter while margins contracted 300 basis points, reflecting tough comparisons from last year when we enacted headcount reductions, furloughs and compensation adjustments in reaction to the challenging operating environment in 2020. This was still well above the 33.3% margin we reported in the third quarter of 2019 before the pandemic. We remind you that some of the costs taken in the third quarter were reversed in the fourth quarter of 2020, making for easier comparisons in fourth quarter '21.

經過調整後的EBITDA在第三季下降了2.6%，利潤率下降了300個基點，這反映出與去年同期相比的業績較為艱難。去年同期，為了因應2020年充滿挑戰的經營環境，我們採取了裁員、員工休假和薪資調整等措施。儘管如此，這項利潤率仍遠高於疫情爆發前2019年第三季的33.3%。需要說明的是，第三季提列的部分成本已在2020年第四季衝回，因此2021年第四季的業績比較較為容易。

Within our Energy segment, we are working to combine the proprietary data assets, skill sets, infrastructure, expertise and deep capabilities of our Wood Mackenzie Genscape and PowerAdvocate businesses. Specifically, we are taking the best of breed from each business and combining it with a common data architecture as the backbone. This modern and flexible data architecture will enable more efficient and effective sharing of data, thus accelerating the innovation process for new solutions in key areas like supply chain, cost management, power and renewables, chemicals, hydrogen, carbon and metals and mining.

在能源板塊，我們正致力於整合伍德麥肯茲Genscape和PowerAdvocate兩大業務部門的專有數據資產、技能、基礎設施、專業知識和深厚實力。具體而言，我們將兩家業務部門的優勢結合，並以通用資料架構為核心。這種現代化且靈活的資料架構將實現更有效率的資料共享，從而加速供應鏈、成本管理、電力和再生能源、化學、氫能、碳排放、金屬和採礦等關鍵領域的創新解決方案。

This will also empower stronger cross-sell of solutions across the various customer bases, particularly in the global power and renewable sector as we help our global customers navigate this broader energy transition.

這將增強我們在各個客戶群中交叉銷售解決方案的能力，尤其是在全球電力和再生能源領域，因為我們將幫助我們的全球客戶應對這一更廣泛的能源轉型。

Financial services revenue declined 13.5% in the quarter, reflecting the final quarter of impact from the contract transitions that we undertook in 2020 as well as a lower level of bankruptcy revenue because of government support and forbearance program.

本季金融服務收入下降了 13.5%，反映了 2020 年我們進行的合約過渡在最後一個季度的影響，以及由於政府支持和寬限計劃導致破產收入下降。

Spend in form analytics demonstrated strong growth as spending and advertising levels continue to improve as the economy emerges from COVID. Adjusted EBITDA declined 42% in the quarter, reflecting the negative impact of lower sales and a larger impact of corporate expense allocations on the segment's smaller base. Total adjusted EBITDA margins were 19%, still down from the prior year, but an improvement from the first half of 2021 as a result of expense discipline and lower bad debt expense.

隨著經濟從新冠疫情中復甦，支出和廣告水準持續改善，表單分析領域的支出也呈現強勁成長。本季調整後 EBITDA 下降 42%，反映出銷售額下降的負面影響，以及企業費用分攤對該業務部門較小基數的更大影響。調整後 EBITDA 總利潤率為 19%，仍低於上年同期水平，但由於費用控制和壞帳支出減少，較 2021 年上半年有所改善。

Our reported effective tax rate was 20.8% compared to 22.6% in the prior year quarter, in line with our expectations. Looking ahead, we expect our tax rate to approximate 18% to 20% for the fourth quarter of 2021. The adjusted net income increased 7.4% to $234 million and diluted adjusted EPS increased 9% to $1.44 for the third quarter of 2021. These increases reflect organic growth in the business, contributions from acquisitions, a lower tax rate and a lower average share count. Net cash provided by operating activities was $285 million for the quarter, up 38% from the prior year period. The prior year period's cash flow was negatively impacted by the timing of certain federal income tax payments and certain employer payroll taxes because of the CARES Act. Year-to-date, net cash provided by operating activities was $967 million, reflecting growth of 18% versus the prior year period. Capital expenditures were $61.4 million for the quarter, down 5% versus last year, reflecting cost savings on third-party hardware and software as we move to the cloud.

本季實際稅率為20.8%，與去年同期的22.6%相符，符合預期。展望未來，我們預計2021年第四季稅率將在18%至20%之間。 2021年第三季調整後淨利成長7.4%至2.34億美元，稀釋後調整每股盈餘成長9%至1.44美元。這些成長反映了業務的內生成長、收購帶來的貢獻、較低的稅率以及平均流通股數量的減少。本季經營活動產生的現金流量淨額為2.85億美元，較上年同期成長38%。上年同期的現金流量受到《新冠病毒援助、救濟和經濟安全法案》（CARES Act）的影響，部分聯邦所得稅和雇主工資稅的繳納時間有所延遲，對現金流造成了不利影響。年初至今，經營活動產生的現金流量淨額為9.67億美元，較上年同期成長18%。本季資本支出為 6,140 萬美元，比去年同期下降 5%，反映出隨著我們向雲端遷移，第三方硬體和軟體的成本節省。

We continue to believe that CapEx for 2021 should be in the range of $250 million to $280 million, reflecting our continued investment in our innovation agenda. Our technological transformation as well as the carryover of certain expenditures that were delayed in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Related to Capex, we expect fixed asset depreciation and amortization should be within the range of $200 million to $215 million and intangible amortization to be approximately $175 million. Both depreciation and amortization elements are subject to FX variability, the timing of purchases and the completion of projects and future M&A activity.

我們仍認為2021年的資本支出應在2.5億美元至2.8億美元之間，這反映了我們對創新議程的持續投入、技術轉型以及因疫情在2020年延期的部分支出。關於資本支出，我們預期固定資產折舊和攤銷應在2億美元至2.15億美元之間，無形資產攤銷約1.75億美元。折舊和攤銷項目均受匯率波動、採購時間、專案完成情況以及未來併購活動的影響。

During the third quarter, we returned $197 million in capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends as our strong cash flow allows us to invest behind our highest growth and highest return capital initiatives, but also return capital to shareholders consistently.

第三季度，我們透過股票回購和分紅向股東返還了 1.97 億美元的資本，因為我們強勁的現金流使我們能夠投資於成長最快、回報最高的資本計劃，同時也能夠持續地向股東返還資本。

In summary, we are not sitting still at Verisk as demonstrated by our third quarter performance and Scott's earlier comments regarding our portfolio review. Looking ahead, we have confidence in our ability to manage the cost structure to protect profitability. We continue to believe that we have tough cost comparisons relative to the COVID impact in quarters last year, we should retain much of the margin expansion we experienced in 2020, delivering margins ahead of our 2019 pre-pandemic level of 47%.

總而言之，正如我們第三季的業績以及Scott先前關於我們投資組合評估的評論所表明的那樣，Verisk並沒有停滯不前。展望未來，我們有信心透過控製成本結構來保障獲利能力。我們仍認為，與去年受新冠疫情影響的季度相比，今年的成本比較較為艱難，我們應該能夠維持2020年的大部分利潤率成長，並實現高於2019年疫情前47%的利潤率水準。

Further, we believe that the COVID impacts continue to abate and global economies further open up, we can return to our long-term growth model of 7% organic constant currency revenue growth with core operating leverage allowing EBITDA to grow faster than revenue.

此外，我們相信，隨著 COVID 疫情的影響持續減弱，全球經濟進一步開放，我們可以恢復到長期增長模式，即以 7% 的有機固定匯率收入增長，核心運營槓桿使 EBITDA 的增長速度超過收入增長速度。

We hope this provides some useful context for you, and we look forward to addressing your questions. We continue to appreciate all the support and interest in Verisk. Given the large number of analysts we have covering us, we ask that you limit yourself to one question and one follow-up. With that, I'll ask the operator to open the line for questions.

希望以上資訊對您有所幫助，我們期待解答您的疑問。我們衷心感謝您對 Verisk 的支持與關注。鑑於我們有大量分析師負責報道，請您盡量只提一個問題，並可提出一個後續問題。接下來，我會請接線生開放提問環節。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Manav Patnaik.

（操作員說明）你的第一個問題來自馬納夫·帕特奈克的路線。

Just the portfolio review, I think this is the first time you've put it in writing in the press release it first. So I was just hoping if you could give us a little context. Is this you look at all the noninsurance businesses? Or just any color there would be appreciated?

關於投資組合評估，我想這是你們第一次在新聞稿中正式提及。所以我想請你們提供一些背景資訊。你們是只專注在非保險業務上嗎？還是說只要是相關狀況都可以？

Our focus is on the non TMC parts of our business. That said, we're always asking questions about the utility of capital we have invested everywhere. But the depth of our analysis is non TMC. You'll remember that at the beginning of the year, we asked Lee to take responsibility for those businesses. And his review has been everything from operational to organizational to the strategic questions that are in the portfolio review.

我們關注的重點是非TMC業務部分。也就是說，我們始終在思考我們已在各方面投資的資本的效用。但我們分析的深度主要集中在非TMC業務。您可能還記得，年初我們請Lee負責這些業務。他的審查涵蓋了從營運到組織，再到投資組合審查中的策略問題等方方面面。

Got it. I appreciate that. And then just on the international expansion, obviously, it's something you guys have been trying to go after for a while. Is it still fair to say that the opportunities are more of these staffing deals that you have to build upon? Or are there any decent size assets out there?

明白了，謝謝。關於國際擴張，顯然，這是你們一直以來都在努力的方向。現在看來，你們的機會是否仍主要集中在人員配置交易上，需要在此基礎上進行拓展？還是說，你們已經有一些規模較大的資產可以投入市場了？

Well, we're going to -- where we're always starting from is strategy. So what is it that is logical relative to what we're doing that will be meaningful for our customers. And of course, we'll filter that through questions like the size of assets that we might add. You've seen our record recently. We've been focused on mostly tuck-in. I don't want to constrain with kind of artificially constrained kind of what size range we might be in. But what we're driven by is the logic of 1 plus 1 becoming 3.

嗯，我們始終從策略出發。也就是說，相對於我們正在做的事情而言，什麼是合乎邏輯的，又對我們的客戶有意義？當然，我們會透過諸如我們可能新增資產規模之類的問題來篩選這些策略。您也看到了我們最近的業績。我們主要專注於補充現有資產。我不想人為地限制我們可能達到的規模範圍。但我們遵循的邏輯是1加1等於3。

Your next question comes from the line of Greg Peters.

你的下一個問題來自格雷格彼得斯的名言。

I was looking over your Xactware report because the insurance industry is really struggling with inflationary pressures. I guess it's -- there's a frequency issue, but also a severity issue. And I'm curious if you could provide some more color about how your services are helping the industry during this time. I know the auto market -- the auto insurance market is probably in a period of the most distressed it's been in, in the last 10 or 15 years. And they're having -- they're struggling to get their rate increases approved with regulators. So some color on how your services are helping them would be helpful.

我一直在看您的 Xactware 報告，因為保險業確實面臨巨大的通膨壓力。我想，這既有通膨頻繁發生的問題，也有通膨嚴重程度的問題。我很想知道您的服務是如何幫助保險業度過這段時期的。我知道汽車保險市場目前正處於近 10 到 15 年來最艱難的時期。他們正努力爭取監管機構批准他們的保費上漲。因此，如果您能詳細介紹一下您的服務是如何幫助他們的，那就太好了。

Well, maybe a couple of comments here. And Mark leads our insurance vertical, so please dive in, Mark. But first of all, I think -- I hope folks are familiar with the range of things that we do on behalf of insurers. So it's everything from how to select risk to how to price risk. And then when loss occurs, how to think about the value of the loss and whether the claims amount of loss is accurate. So we're really across the entire insurance value chain. And 1 of the things that helps us to be so relevant for our customers is the speed with which we ingest data signals, which tell us what's going on in the market, and then translate them into a forward view and provide that to our customers.

好的，這裡我想補充幾點。 Mark負責我們的保險業務，所以請Mark暢所欲言。首先，我想大家應該都了解我們代表保險公司所做的工作範圍。從風險選擇到風險定價，再到損失發生時如何評估損失價值以及理賠金額是否準確，我們幾乎涵蓋了整個保險價值鏈。我們之所以能夠如此貼近客戶，其中一個關鍵因素就是我們能夠快速取得市場數據訊號，並將其轉化為前瞻性分析，最終呈現給客戶。

So 1 of the things we do is to move as rapidly as the environment is moving. So you referenced Xactware. So just to pick that 1 in particular. So we have a very dynamic way of assessing the underlying factor costs associated with repairing a structure. And the speed with which we update the data helps our customers stay ahead of where the likely next claim is going to be with respect to cost.

因此，我們採取的措施之一就是與環境變化保持同步。您提到了 Xactware，那麼我就專門談談它。我們採用一種非常動態的方式來評估與結構維修相關的潛在成本因素。我們快速更新數據，幫助客戶提前預估下一次索賠的成本。

So the depth of the data and the speed of the data both help us to give really reliable signals to our customers. And yes, I mean, the insurance companies are looking to respond to a marketplace that has been moving around a fair amount. But that's really kind of always the case. There are unique conditions associated with the pandemic. But it's -- that's just kind of a particular inside of the general case. So it's speed, it's automation, it's depth of data. Those are all the things that allow us to add a lot of value for our customers.

因此，數據的深度和速度都有助於我們為客戶提供真正可靠的訊號。沒錯，保險公司都在努力應對波動較大的市場。但這種情況其實一直存在。疫情帶來了一些特殊情況，但這只是普遍情況中的一個特殊層面。所以，速度、自動化和資料深度，所有這些因素都使我們能夠為客戶創造巨大價值。

I guess my follow-up question, again, something I hear a lot of your customers talking about would be just the pressure around recruiting new employees and employee retention. And Lee, I heard your comments about the margin expectations going forward relative to what you did pre-pandemic. But I'm curious if -- well, I was hoping maybe you could spend a minute and talk to us about what you're doing from an employee retention standpoint, what you're doing from a recruiting standpoint and how this might -- how rising compensation costs might affect your margins?

我想繼續問一個問題，這也是我經常聽到你們客戶談論的，那就是招募新員工和留住現有員工的壓力。李，我聽到了你關於未來利潤率預期與疫情前相比的看法。但我很好奇——或許你能抽出一點時間，跟我們談談你們在員工留任和招聘方面採取的措施，以及不斷上漲的薪酬成本可能會如何影響你們的利潤率？

So we add a lot of people to our organization on a consistent basis. So we have very well-established pathways for recruiting talent into the company that can be from industry, that can be at the entry level. A lot of our focus is on hiring technical talent. Something that we've been doing for years now actually is to go right to the head end of the data analytics and data science educational pipelines and basically sort of build our own programs, where we bring people in as really as their first encounter with industry and then lead them through a series of development activities and deploy them into the business.

因此，我們持續不斷地為公司擴充人員。我們擁有非常完善的人才招募管道，可以從業界招募應屆畢業生。我們尤其註重招募技術人才。多年來，我們一直致力於深入數據分析和數據科學教育體系的源頭，並構建我們自己的項目，從他們初次接觸行業時就將他們招入麾下，引導他們完成一系列發展活動，最終將他們輸送到業務部門。

We have found doing things like that to actually be more cost constructive than simply going out and sort of hand-to-hand combat with other tech companies. We do hire people from name brand technology companies, but we have found that our own efforts to cultivate our own team have been highly reported, and that's not just data science, that is cloud architecture, that is software development. That applies everywhere basically.

我們發現，與其直接與其他科技公司正面交鋒，不如採取類似的策略，實際上更具成本效益。我們確實會從知名科技公司招募人才，但我們發現，我們自主培養團隊的努力也獲得了廣泛關注，這不僅體現在數據科學領域，也體現在雲端架構和軟體開發等各個方面。基本上，這適用於所有領域。

And we like, I think most companies have experienced a degree of the need to be extra alerts to retain talent coming out of the disrupted or moving through the disruptive moment that we've been in. But actually, our experience has been pretty good. On trend relative to where we've been prior to the pandemic, it's not that different for us. So yes, we're paying attention. Yes, it's important. We have a diverse set of talent sources. And I would mention here that we operate not only in the United States, but also in other economies around the world, including we have a very large footprint in India, which gives us additional options for staffing our team.

我認為，大多數公司都經歷過類似的動盪時期，需要格外警覺才能留住人才。但實際上，我們的情況相當不錯。與疫情前相比，我們的發展趨勢並沒有太大變化。所以，是的，我們一直在關注人才市場。是的，這很重要。我們擁有多元化的人才來源。我想在此提及的是，我們的業務不僅遍及美國，還遍及全球其他經濟體，包括在印度擁有龐大的業務規模，這為我們組建團隊提供了更多選擇。

And Greg, 1 thing I would add to Scott's comments is, of course, I appreciate you raising that. I think a lot of businesses are struggling on that front from a reputing retention standpoint. That's 1 dimension of it. I think we would recognize that there probably are some -- we're anticipating some higher costs as most companies are, but we're also experiencing some savings as we adapt to this new environment.

格雷格，除了斯科特的評論之外，我還要補充一點：當然，我很感謝你提出這個問題。我認為很多企業在客戶留存方面都面臨挑戰。這是其中一個面向。我們意識到，和大多數公司一樣，我們預計成本會上升，但隨著我們適應新的環境，我們也節省了一些成本。

We are working through our real estate portfolio, finding efficiencies as we are adopting more remote work. I think our belief is that the level of travel expense is going to be lower than it was previously. And so while we are experiencing some of those pandemic induced inflationary pressures from a recruiting standpoint that I think all companies are. We also are generating probably more net benefits from that.

我們正在調整房地產投資組合，並在推行更多遠距辦公的同時提高效率。我們認為，未來的差旅費用將會低於以往水準。因此，儘管我們和其他所有公司一樣，在招聘方面都面臨著疫情帶來的通膨壓力，但我們也可能從中獲得了更多淨收益。

And then finally, I would say on the retention standpoint, there are -- 1 thing that we often have to take into account is what is the cost of attrition. You have to bring somebody else in, you have to bring them up the curve. Sometimes that creates opportunities. But often, we find that a -- that you can realize some attractive efficiencies by retaining the talent upfront as opposed to allowing that talent to a trip. So all of those are factors as we think about that cost out.

最後，從人才保留的角度來看，我們經常需要考慮的一點是人員流失的成本。你需要引進其他人，需要培養他們。有時這會創造機會。但我們通常發現，與其讓人才流失，不如提早留住他們，這樣可以提高效率。所以，在考慮成本時，所有這些都是需要考慮的因素。

Your next question comes from the line of Alex Kramm.

你的下一個問題來自 Alex Kramm 的詩句。

Just coming back quickly to the, I guess, portfolio review is what you call it. It sounds -- you've been talking about this a little bit more or less, I think, 3 quarters now. And now you're putting a time line out there of 2 to 3 quarters where we should be expecting something or something is probable. But I guess the time line is a little bit out of context without really knowing what's on the docket. So can you maybe help us a little bit how you think about those 2 to 3 quarters? Maybe what's on -- what we could expect and how the time lines related to that? I guess what I'm saying is, are there some little things that you can identify that may be coming very soon? Or what are the big things that you're considering that maybe take a little bit longer, and that's why you were talking about this 2 to 3 quarter time line here?

回到您剛才提到的投資組合評估，我想應該是這麼稱呼的。您似乎已經就此談了差不多三個季度了。現在您又提出了一個兩到三個季度的時間表，說我們應該期待一些事情發生，或者說一些事情很有可能發生。但我覺得，在不了解具體計畫的情況下，這個時間表有點脫離實際。所以，您能否稍微解釋一下您對這兩到三個季度的看法？例如，我們可以期待些什麼，以及這些計劃和時間表之間的關係？我的意思是，您能否指出一些可能很快就會發生的小項目？或者，您正在考慮哪些需要更長時間才能完成的大項目，所以您才提到了這兩到三個季度的時間表？

Well, I would just say in the most general sense, Alex, that it's a comprehensive review that we're doing, as I mentioned upfront, our focus is everything which is outside of the P&C segment. I don't think it would be productive to call out specific parts of our portfolio. I just don't think it's constructive inside of the process that we're on here right now. But we are looking deeply and broadly essentially at everything. And we're certainly aware of where we stand in the process of consideration. But I just don't think it's constructive to sort of name individual piece parts at this moment.

嗯，Alex，我只想概括地說，正如我之前提到的，我們正在進行一項全面的審查，重點是財產險以外的所有業務。我認為現在指出我們投資組合中的具體部分並沒有什麼意義。我認為在我們目前的審查過程中，這樣做並無建設性。但我們正在深入、全面地審視所有面向。我們當然清楚自己在審查過程中所處的位置。但我認為，在這個時候點名批評具體的業務部分並沒有什麼建設性意義。

I figure that's right. And then maybe just shifting gears to the Energy business for a second here. I think in your prepared remarks, you mentioned, I think, Lens with specific numbers. You also talked about the energy transition as an area of upside again. Maybe can you just put some -- more numbers around that in terms of how big that business is today, what the growth rates are you experiencing? And where are you having the most success actually selling some of these new products into the marketplace as everybody is clearly thinking about energy transition to be safe?

我想你說得對。接下來，我們不妨稍微聊聊能源業務。我記得你在準備的發言稿中提到了Lens，也給了一些具體數據。你也再次提到能源轉型是一個很有發展潛力的領域。能否再提供一些數據，例如目前能源業務的規模，成長率是多少？鑑於大家都在積極考慮能源轉型，你們在哪些方面成功地將這些新產品推向市場？

Yes. So thank you, Alex. Let me try to give you some context. And I think the most important thing that -- the most important element that I would draw your attention to because I think it represents where we are seeing the most significant impact from our investment in Lens. And I want to differentiate it from the fact that within energy transition and within chemicals, those are businesses that we had invested in 12, 18 months or so ago and have already been generating double-digit growth there becoming a more significant component of that.

是的。謝謝你，Alex。讓我試著給你解釋一下背景。我認為最重要的一點——也是我想提請你注意的最重要的一點，因為它代表了我們從對Lens的投資中獲得的最顯著影響。我想把它和能源轉型以及化學領域區分開來，我們在能源轉型和化學領域投資的那些業務，大約在12到18個月前就已經實現了兩位數的增長，並且正在成為其中越來越重要的組成部分。

But what we are experiencing more recently, which isn't reflected in the revenue numbers yet is the -- our ability to increase the pricing for Lens delivered products. The Lens platform has enabled us to -- has enabled us to demonstrate to clients improved ability to access and interact with the data sets with the analytics. And as I've described before, we have been able to translate that into double-digit price increases for those products where Lens is now a component of what we do.

但我們最近經歷的，雖然尚未反映在營收數據中，是——我們有能力提高基於Lens平台交付的產品的價格。 Lens平台使我們能夠向客戶展示，他們能夠更有效地存取和互動資料集，並利用分析功能進行分析。正如我之前所述，我們已經能夠將這種能力轉化為兩位數的價格成長，這些產品現在都整合了Lens平台。

That is contributing directly to the reference that I made to the increase in our subscription growth annualized contract values where we have seen mid-single digits and more recently high single-digit increases in the overall level of that. As those of you that follow other companies with kind of an ACV dynamic, that immediately hits ACV, but it will be realized over time. The other point that I would emphasize that we mentioned is that we currently are only approximately 10% penetrated into our customer base. And so as we further penetrate that customer base, and add more products onto the Lens platform over time, it has a multiplicative effect on the revenue opportunity.

這直接促成了我之前提到的訂閱成長，即年度合約價值的成長。我們已經看到整體水準實現了中等個位數的成長，最近更是達到了較高的個位數成長。正如關注其他採用類似年度合約價值 (ACV) 策略的公司的朋友所知，這種增長會立即影響到 ACV，但其影響會隨著時間的推移而顯現。我想強調的另一點是，我們目前僅滲透了約 10% 的客戶群。因此，隨著我們進一步滲透客戶群，並隨著時間的推移在 Lens 平台上添加更多產品，這將對收入機會產生倍增效應。

And so that's where I would specifically draw your attention in terms of representing the growth opportunity. And for me, certainly, the return opportunity on the investment that we've made in Lens that encourages further investment and acceleration of many of those products. All of that is supported by the ongoing growth. Certainly, anyone I expect on this call has seen the level of focus in the energy transition from all of the press around COP26 is driving nearly incessant demand for our expertise and our perspectives on the energy transition.

因此，我想特別提請各位注意，這體現了成長機會。對我而言，我們對Lens的投資所帶來的回報機會無疑會激勵我們進一步投資並加速眾多產品的研發。所有這些都得益於持續成長。我相信，在座各位都已註意到，圍繞COP26的大量媒體通報對能源轉型的高度關注，也使得各方對我們在能源轉型方面的專業知識和見解的需求幾乎持續不斷。

And then finally, as we pointed out, the consulting element of the business is also experiencing that cyclical uplift of strength in the sector. So hopefully, that gives you some context around what we are experiencing and how we expect that will continue to translate into an improved growth performance as we look ahead.

最後，正如我們之前提到的，諮詢業務也正經歷著產業週期性成長帶來的強勁勢頭。希望以上內容能幫助您了解我們目前的情況，以及我們預期這些因素將如何轉化為未來績效的持續提升。

Your next question comes from the line of Ashish Sabadra.

你的下一個問題出自 Ashish Sabadra 的詩句。

I just wanted to follow up on the margin front. The margins in this quarter were pretty robust. When you look at it on a sequential basis, there was that discussion around compensation cost. But I was just wondering, how should we think about the margins going forward as some of the T&E comes back and as you ramp up your investment, is there enough that you can bring in through cost savings that can continue to maintain these margin levels?

我只是想就利潤率方面再補充一點。本季的利潤率相當穩健。從環比來看，之前討論過薪酬成本的問題。但我想知道，隨著部分差旅費用的恢復以及投資的增加，我們應該如何看待未來的利潤率？能否透過成本節約來維持目前的利潤率水準？

Yes. Thanks, Ashish. One of the challenges is that there are a lot of elements that factor into margin. And I appreciate you raising kind of the shorter-term dimension, there were in the third quarter some impacts on margin. Part of that, which we described were some an exceptionally difficult comparison to the third quarter, particularly in energy and specialized markets because of some of the furlough compensation reductions that we took in that period that normalized in this period. And some of that will be -- you will see a corresponding kind of rebound in the fourth quarter when we reverse those based upon the performance of the business.

是的，謝謝Ashish。其中一個挑戰是，影響利潤率的因素很多。我很欣賞你提出的短期因素，第三季利潤率確實受到了一些影響。正如我們之前提到的，部分原因是由於第三季度與能源和專業市場相比存在異常大的同比差異，因為我們在第三季度採取了一些員工休假補償削減措施，而這些措施在本季度已經恢復正常。部分影響將在第四季度得到緩解——屆時我們將根據業務表現扭轉這些影響，利潤率也將相應反彈。

So that's an element that is more acute in the third quarter. In addition, we had some higher level of legal expenses in the third quarter across some of our businesses that, again, was an acute short-term effect. There will be -- so all of that is kind of to say that in the third quarter, there was probably a higher level of expense than we would normally expect impacting margins that they were still above where we were pre pandemic. But going forward, I don't think we expect that same acute impact.

所以，這是第三季更突出的一個因素。此外，我們部分業務在第三季的法律費用也較高，這同樣是短期內較為明顯的衝擊。總而言之，第三季的支出水準可能高於預期，這影響了利潤率，但利潤率仍然高於疫情前的水準。展望未來，我認為我們預計不會再出現同樣的短期衝擊。

There will be ongoing normalization potentially on travel, potentially on compensation as things normalize. But I think that we will still be able to hold on to some meaningful portion of that structural benefit that we've had through the pandemic. Hopefully, that helps you dissect a little bit of the short -- some of the short-term elements that impacted us a little heavily in the third quarter and our expectations ahead.

隨著一切恢復正常，旅行和薪酬方面可能會逐步恢復正常。但我認為，我們仍然能夠保留疫情期間累積的相當一部分結構性優勢。希望這能幫助您分析第三季對我們造成一定影響的短期因素，以及我們對未來的預期。

That's great color, Lee. And maybe if I can ask a quick Follow-up question. Would it be possible to quantify the benefit from storm-related revenue? I understand it was very small. And should we see a similar benefit going into the next quarter as well?

李，這顏色真棒。我可以再問一個後續問題嗎？能否量化一下風暴帶來的營收成長？我聽說成長幅度很小。我們預計下一季也會有類似的成長嗎？

Thank you, Ashish. It isn't material enough where we feel that it's necessary to call that out. I think that when it becomes a market impact or a material impact we do it, but we don't think it rises to that level at this point.

謝謝你，阿什什。這件事目前還不夠嚴重，我們覺得沒有必要特別說明。我認為，只有當它對市場或實質產生影響時，我們才會採取行動，但目前我們認為它還沒有達到那種程度。

That's very helpful. And congrats on good results.

這很有幫助。恭喜你取得好成績。

Your next question comes from the line of Hamzah Mazari.

你的下一個問題來自 Hamzah Mazari 的詩句。

This is Mario Cortellacci filling in for Hamzah. I know you've touched on this in the past and maybe you just mentioned again on the call around your ability to help insurers through automating various tests and whether that be underwriting in the claims process. But maybe you could just talk about how much of an opportunity that may be still going forward? And then can you also just touch on your new product growth and your vitality index and how that looks within insurance today?

我是馬裡奧·科特拉奇，代替哈姆札發言。我知道您之前談過這一點，或許在電話會議上您也再次提到過，貴公司能夠透過自動化各種測試來幫助保險公司，包括理賠流程中的核保環節。您能否談談這方面未來還有多少發展機會？另外，您能否也談談貴公司的新產品成長以及活力指數，以及它們在當今保險業中的地位？

Thanks for the question. This is Mark. So let me just describe it. I think I've always highlighted that the world of insurance is really focused on 3 things right now. Data and Analytics, I think we've kind of gone that way for a while. Clearly, the other 2 things are kind of intersecting, but it's this digital engagement as well as this push towards automation, which we kind of refer to as this interconnected ecosystem.

謝謝你的提問。我是馬克。讓我簡單解釋一下。我一直強調，保險業目前主要關註三件事。數據和分析，我認為我們已經在這方面投入了一段時間。顯然，另外兩件事也相互交織，但關鍵在於數位互動以及自動化進程，我們稱之為互聯互通的生態系統。

What insurers are trying to do, and you probably experience if you want to go online, you get an auto growth, you can get very quick and efficient amount of growth in a very automated way because all the information about you is available. It's all publicly available. You would clearly provide for yes the privacy. And what we're trying to do is make that experience available to not just personal auto, homeowners, small commercial, and you have the ability to now get a quote very efficiently, go very effectively using what I refer to as both data and analytics to make it cheaper, more efficient and more accurate. And it's all interconnected in a way the digital experience that small business owner or you, as a homeowner, have the ability to get that quote live. And that's where the push is both on the InsureTech side as well as the traditional insurers.

保險公司正在努力實現的目標，您可能也體驗過，如果您想在線獲取汽車保險信息，就能以非常自動化的方式快速高效地獲得收益，因為您的所有信息都是公開的。當然，隱私問題也需要保障。而我們正在努力實現的是，讓這種體驗不僅適用於個人汽車保險，也適用於房屋所有者和小型商業保險。現在，您可以利用我所說的數據和分析，有效、準確地取得報價，從而降低成本。所有這些都以某種方式相互關聯，小型企業主或您這樣的房屋所有者都可以透過數位體驗即時獲取報價。這正是保險科技公司和傳統保險公司共同努力的方向。

And I'm proud to say that we were kind of at the forefront of helping people do that. And I think there's a lot of runway there because it's both reducing the cost for insurers as well as creating a better experience for those policyholders. So we'll look forward to that continuing in the coming couple of years.

我很自豪地說，我們在這方面一直走在前列，幫助人們實現這一目標。我認為這方面還有很大的發展空間，因為它既能降低保險公司的成本，也能為投保人創造更好的體驗。因此，我們期待在未來幾年繼續保持這種勢頭。

I think the next question was a little bit about the vitality impact, I think that we feel like the solutions we have are as robust and as numerous as we've ever had. There's a lot going on at Verisk. I'm excited about it. That's both on the claims side. I think that's on the underwriting side. And I know that we always talk about verticals. I think there's opportunities to take with some of the things that we do today and focus them on insurance, but also see if there's a way to horizontally get into other verticals. And I think that's an exciting dimension as well. As an example, a lot of things we do with climate and climate change. Corporates need to know as we think about ESG and resiliency. Those are the type of things that get us excited, but we're still on the -- certainly early days. So thanks for the question.

我認為下一個問題有點涉及活力方面的影響。我們感覺我們現有的解決方案比以往任何時候都更加強大和豐富。 Verisk 目前有很多事情正在發生，我對此感到非常興奮。這體現在理賠方面，也體現在承保方面。我知道我們一直在談論垂直領域。我認為我們可以利用目前的一些工作，專注於保險領域，同時也要探索能否橫向擴展到其他垂直領域。我認為這也是一個令人興奮的方向。例如，我們在氣候和氣候變遷方面做了很多工作。企業在考慮 ESG 和韌性時需要了解這些。這些都是讓我們感到興奮的事情，但我們仍然處於起步階段。所以，謝謝你的提問。

Absolutely. And then just on my follow-up, could you just talk about how the competitive dynamic within the financial services segment has changed, if at all, you had the credit bureaus, the fintech and payments all getting more aggressive on M&A and doing more internal investment around data sets. Just wondering have you seen any real shift there? And how is that being considered while you're doing your business review of that segment?

當然。接下來我想問的是，您能否談談金融服務領域的競爭格局發生了哪些變化？例如，信用機構、金融科技公司和支付公司都在併購方面更加積極，並在數據方面增加內部投資。您是否觀察到這方面出現了任何實質的變化？您在對該領域進行業務評估時，又是如何考慮這些因素的？

Yes. Mario, thank you. We do look at that competitive dynamic. And I would start by saying that our financial services business is at the core, a benchmarking service for the large credit card issuing banks. And that's a very unique position where the large banks trust us to provide their data so that they can understand their performance against others. There is no 1 that collects as broad or provides us comprehensive benchmarking service in that context. And so to a degree, that is a less competitive space for us.

是的，馬裡奧，謝謝。我們確實會關注這種競爭動態。首先我想說的是，我們的金融服務業務的核心是為大型信用卡發卡銀行提供基準測試服務。這是一個非常獨特的優勢，大型銀行信任我們，將他們的數據交給我們，讓他們了解自己與其他銀行的績效對比。在這個領域，沒有其他公司能夠像我們一樣收集如此廣泛的數據，並提供如此全面的基準測試服務。因此，在某種程度上，這方面的競爭對我們來說相對較小。

We're -- we do see more competition is around some of the consulting aspects of the business outside of that benchmarking. And in some of our businesses, such as in fraud detection, naturally, there are a lot of small companies and businesses that are offering similar defection, fraud avoidance types of solutions. And so that becomes a consideration. So yes, overall, we look at the level of competition. We look at some of the other scaled players in the industry, what they're doing in the space and then evaluate our competitive strengths in merits to factor into our assessment of our ability to both create value and optimize value for those businesses.

我們確實看到，在基準測試以外的諮詢業務方面，競爭更加激烈。在某些業務領域，例如詐欺偵測，自然有許多小型公司和企業提供類似的客戶流失和詐欺防範解決方案。因此，這成為我們需要考慮的因素。所以，總的來說，我們會關注競爭程度。我們會研究業內其他規模較大的企業，了解他們在該領域的舉措，然後評估自身的競爭優勢，並將這些優勢納入我們為這些企業創造和優化價值的能力評估之中。

Your next question is from the line of Kevin McVeigh.

你的下一個問題出自凱文·麥克維之口。

Great. Thanks so much and thanks for all the information. Could you give us a sense in terms of where you are in the cloud transition, I guess, overall across the enterprise? And then maybe a little bit of detail in terms of insurance versus financial services versus energy?

太好了。非常感謝您提供的所有資訊。能否大致介紹一下貴公司在雲端轉型方面所處的階段？我想，我指的是整個企業的整體情況。另外，能否詳細談談保險、金融服務和能源這三個產業的具體情況？

Yes. So there are multiple elements to our migration. So first of all, every new application is being authored in the cloud at this point. So -- and we offer a lot of new applications. So we're 100%. With respect to that, which is current and new. With respect to legacy, we're substantially along the way, but it kind of implicit in some things that we said earlier, not completely done. So we are at the point of essentially turning off our operation of the mainframe that we used to make use of. We are close to the moment when we will shut down our power data centers, but not quite there yet. And a large by count, the larger fraction of all of our applications have migrated, our legacy applications have migrated into the cloud.

是的。我們的遷移包含多個面向。首先，目前所有新應用程式都是在雲端開發的。我們提供大量新應用，因此，就現有和新增應用而言，我們已經實現了100%的遷移。至於傳統應用，我們也取得了相當大的進展，但正如我們之前提到的，尚未完全完成。我們目前正處於逐步關閉之前使用的大型主機的階段。我們即將關閉資料中心，但尚未完全實現。而且，從數量上看，我們大部分的應用程式已經遷移到雲端，其中大部分是傳統應用。

So we're still in process. We're making lots of good progress. And as Lee was referencing before, we've already seen the cash flow benefits associated with this transition. And there is more to come because we will shut down data centers that aren't yet shut down. And then the corresponding point on all of that is because computing in the cloud is so productive. One of the things that's happening is we're doing more development in the cloud. So we've got lots of new things that we're doing that will consume cycles in the cloud in the future that we just literally didn't use to do.

所以我們還在進行中，並且取得了許多良好的進展。正如Lee先前所提到的，我們已經看到了這次轉型帶來的現金流收益。而且，隨著我們關閉一些尚未關閉的資料中心，收益還會繼續成長。所有這些都與雲端運算的高效性密切相關。目前，我們正在雲端進行更多的開發工作。因此，我們正在進行許多新的項目，這些項目未來將佔用雲端的資源，而這些項目我們以前根本不會做。

So there's kind of a put and a take volume growth in this really productive environment. The legacy stuff gets shut off. The net effect of it is, it is beneficial to cash flow and does interact with both the CapEx and the OpEx lines.

因此，在這種高效的環境下，交易量呈現雙向成長。一些傳統項目被關閉。其最終結果是，這有利於現金流，並且與資本支出和營運支出有關。

It's very helpful. And then just wanted to clarify when you folks talked about the 7% to 9% returning to that, Lee, is that as the portfolio is currently constructed? Or would, I guess, point being if you were to monetize certain parts of the business, there would be upside to that number? Or is that assuming any type of strategic outcome in that 7% to 9%?

這很有幫助。另外，Lee，你們之前提到的7%到9%的報酬率，我想確認一下，是指目前投資組合的組成嗎？還是說，如果你們將部分業務變現，這個數字會有提升空間？或者說，這7%到9%的報酬率是基於某種策略目標的假設？

I would describe it as our expectations for the business as a whole and doesn't implicitly assume anything in terms of the portfolio restructuring. As we said before, we expect each of our business -- businesses in a normalized environment to be able to achieve 7% organic growth. Obviously, there's been differentiated performance against that, but that's the expectation for the business as currently configured.

我會將其描述為我們對整個業務的預期，並沒有隱含任何關於投資組合重組的假設。正如我們之前所說，我們預期旗下每家業務——在正常環境下——都能實現7%的內生成長。顯然，各業務的實際表現與預期有差異，但這仍是我們對目前業務架構的預期。

Your next question comes from the line of Toni Kaplan.

你的下一個問題出自托尼卡普蘭之口。

Wanted to ask another question to clarify the margin expectation for next year. You mentioned that margin should be higher than 47%. But that seems like it doesn't really bake in any of the efficiencies that you talked about. And so maybe I was thinking about it as since you -- if you look at this year, you don't have the T&E in it this year, and so hopefully, that will normalize next year. So is it fair to think of it as margins in '22 will essentially be '21 levels, minus, say, 100 basis points for T&E. And if 100 basis points isn't right, like feel free to correct me on that.

我還想問一個問題，以澄清您對明年利潤率的預期。您提到利潤率應該高於 47%。但這似乎並沒有真正反映您所說的效率提升。所以，我的想法是，既然您今年的利潤率沒有包含差旅費，那麼希望明年差旅費能夠恢復正常。那麼，是否可以這樣理解：2022 年的利潤率基本上會與 2021 年持平，減去比如說 100 個基點的差旅費？如果 100 個基點的計算有誤，請隨時指正。

So Toni, I appreciate the question. I think it's hard to anticipate what the impact on travel is going to be in 2022. And it will fundamentally be driven by what we think is best from a client interaction of business development dimension for the business. And I think that's inherently unknowable at this stage. If we feel that it's in our best interest as we have new products and want to be in front of clients to develop those ideas to be out there, then that will influence our T&E spend. And then obviously, the environment in terms of safety and regulatory aspects is unknown as well. So I'm very reluctant to make any forecast of what that is going to be because I think it will depend upon the business circumstances and the environment at the time.

東尼，感謝你的提問。我認為很難預測2022年旅遊業會受到怎樣的影響。這主要取決於我們認為從客戶互動和業務拓展的角度來看，什麼對公司最有利。而我認為，在現階段，這一點本身就難以確定。如果我們覺得推出新產品、與客戶面對面交流、推廣這些想法符合自身利益，那麼這將影響我們的差旅支出。當然，安全和監管方面的環境也同樣未知。因此，我非常不願意做出任何預測，因為我認為這將取決於當時的商業環境和市場狀況。

I do think that we have been able to realize savings, some of which are structural and which we think we will be able to retain over time in terms of real estate costs and probably a lower level of travel. But in the short term of looking at year-over-year comparisons, I'm just -- I don't think we're in a position to be able to make an estimate of what T&E as a percent of total revenue is likely to look -- it's going to be.

我認為我們已經實現了成本節約，其中一些是結構性的，我們認為這些節約能夠長期維持下去，例如降低房地產成本和減少差旅支出。但就短期年比而言，我認為我們目前還無法估算差旅費用佔總收入的百分比會是多少。

Yes. Understood. That is the only real delta, though, between this year and next year? Is that the main one?

是的，明白了。不過，今年和明年之間唯一的真正區別就是這個嗎？這是主要區別嗎？

I think the other element, Toni, is our level of head count growth within this. And here again, you have a tension between the retention element and the retention pressures that we are experiencing, our ability to fill those positions. That was clearly an impact in terms of where that influence our compensation expense in 2021, we would like to be able to certainly recover to where we were and to support the growth of these new initiatives. So that dimension, I think, is also difficult to predict and is our most significant expense from at about 70% of our overall operating expenses.

東尼，我認為另一個因素是我們員工人數的成長水準。這裡同樣存在著留住人才和填補空缺之間的矛盾。這顯然對我們2021年的薪酬支出產生了影響。我們希望能夠恢復到先前的水平，並支持這些新措施的發展。因此，我認為這方面也難以預測，而且是我們最大的支出項目，約占我們總營運支出的70%。

So that would be just the other area that I think is an uncertain variable. Naturally, we have more control on that. But in this regard, we do want to continue to be able to grow headcount to support the development of these businesses, but the environment is making that more challenging from an actual hiring and also from a compensation expense standpoint.

所以，這可以說是另一個不確定因素。當然，我們在這方面擁有更大的控制權。但就此而言，我們確實希望能夠繼續增加員工人數以支持這些業務的發展，但當前的環境使得實際招聘和薪酬支出都更具挑戰性。

Got it. And then I just wanted to ask a follow-up on energy transition. I guess, who are your main competitors that you're facing up against there? Is it IHS Markit or are you competing in different product areas? And then, I guess, also separately, is there any cannibalization from energy transition services from those customers that are buying upstream? Or is it completely additive -- Those are just my 2 questions on that.

明白了。接下來我想問關於能源轉型的問題。我想問的是，你們在這個領域的主要競爭對手是誰？是IHS Markit嗎？還是你們在其他產品領域也有競爭？另外，我想問的是，那些購買上游服務的客戶，他們的能源轉型服務會不會蠶食你們的事業？還是說完全是互補的？ ——我就是這兩個問題。

Yes.Thank you, Toni. So on the first question, I think there are a range of other players. At 1 level, I think you have the high-level consultants that are like McKinsey or Boston Consulting that are doing a lot of work in the energy transition space. That is high end. We have consultants that also do that work. So there's competition on that front. There are in kind of thought pieces around what's happening I think with Bloomberg New Energy, they are providing competition. And I think most other large energy data players are certainly looking to take advantage of the demand for analytics and data in the new energy space.

是的，謝謝你，托尼。關於第一個問題，我認為還有其他一些參與者。首先，像麥肯錫或波士頓顧問這樣的高端顧問公司在能源轉型領域做了許多工作。這是高端領域。我們也有其他顧問公司從事這方面的工作。所以這方面存在競爭。關於彭博新能源財經的發展，有一些文章進行了探討，我認為他們也構成了競爭。而且我認為大多數其他大型能源數據公司肯定也在尋求利用新能源領域對分析和數據的需求。

We do think that our competitive advantage in that area is 1 that we have been applying and developing our specific data sets on the upstream space in the -- in our power advocate area in terms of what companies are spending on infrastructure for facilities, new generation capabilities, as well as our familiarity with the real-time data that we acquired from our Genscape, which is part of the rationale for why we think that's additive. So we have, I think, a very valuable data set, and we have a great brand and reputation in the energy sector. So there is other competition, but we feel as though we're very competitively differentiated.

我們認為，我們在該領域的競爭優勢在於：我們一直在應用和開發針對上游領域的特定數據集——尤其是在我們作為電力倡導者所關注的領域，包括企業在設施基礎設施、新建發電能力等方面的支出，以及我們對從Genscape獲取的即時數據的熟悉程度。這正是我們認為自身優勢。因此，我認為我們擁有非常有價值的數據集，並且在能源領域擁有良好的品牌和聲譽。雖然有其他競爭，但我們感覺自身有非常顯著的競爭優勢。

Your next question comes from Nicholas -- Andrew Nicholas, I apologize.

下一個問題來自尼可拉斯——安德魯·尼古拉斯，很抱歉。

The first question I had was for you, Scott. You mentioned in your prepared remarks about some of the success you've had with the international playbook at least as it relates to Sequel and now you've made an acquisition of ACTINEO in Germany, it sounds like. So I'm just wondering if you could maybe spend a little bit more time on that deal how it fits into your existing product line up and maybe what the playbook looks like for that asset in particular?

我的第一個問題是問你的，史考特。你在事先準備好的演講稿中提到，你們在國際市場拓展方面取得了一些成功，至少在Sequel方面是如此。現在看來，你們似乎收購了德國的ACTINEO公司。所以我想請你詳細談談這筆交易，它如何融入你們現有的產品線，以及你們針對這項資產的具體策略規劃是什麼？

Yes. So ACTINEO participates in the claims process, in the German market. The claims process is a very central part of what we do on behalf of all insurers. And 1 of the things that applies when you're the kind of data analytic company that we are is that methodologies can travel across national boundaries, but you still need data at the local level in order to be able to do analysis that is relevant for the local level. And fundamentally, that's what ACTINEO provides. So they are in a particular part of the P&C world in Germany, where they face auto and then sort of the medical issues that arise from automobile access.

是的。 ACTINEO參與德國市場的理賠流程。理賠流程是我們代表所有保險公司開展工作的核心部分。作為一家數據分析公司，我們面臨的一個挑戰是，雖然方法論可以跨越國界，但仍需要本地數據才能進行與本地相關的分析。而這正是ACTINEO的核心業務。他們在德國財產險領域專注於汽車保險以及由此引發的醫療問題。

And that's the part of the marketplace therein. So the growth that it's going to occur relative to ACTINEO will be along a couple of dimensions. One is being potent in Central Europe, we will seek opportunities to push the method out into other national economies. But secondly, we've got a whole set of claims solutions where the methodologies are perfectly applicable to the German market. Now we will have a beachhead in which to go in behind the relationships with the German companies that come along with that canal and now present our other solutions basically.

這就是市場的一部分。因此，相對於ACTINEO，其成長將體現在兩個方面。首先，我們將鞏固在中歐的強大實力，並尋求機會將該方法推廣到其他國家的經濟體。其次，我們擁有一整套理賠解決方案，其方法論完全適用於德國市場。現在，我們將憑藉與德國企業建立的良好關係，進入德國市場，並向他們展示我們的其他解決方案。

And then we'll do what we always do, which is aggregate ideally, contributory data, which is specific and which is even unique inside these customer relationships and then just have the cumulative benefit of a deeper connection with customers, more forms of value because we have more kinds of data. But within general categories like claims, underwriting is another general category.

然後，我們會像往常一樣，理想情況下匯總有助於客戶關係發展的具體數據，這些數據甚至具有獨特性。這樣一來，我們就能累積更多益處，例如與客戶建立更深層的聯繫，創造更多形式的價值，因為我們擁有更多類型的數據。但在理賠等一般類別中，承保是另一個一般類別。

Great. That's helpful. And then for my follow-up, I wanted to switch gears a little bit. You've talked, I think, for some time about the opportunity on the cybersecurity front and the cyber risk front. And it seems, at least from our vantage point, that there's a growing number of providers targeting that space that -- some of which have some positive momentum. So I'm wondering if you could just refresh us on Verisk's positioning in that market, and maybe where you feel the biggest opportunities are for both organic or even inorganic growth there in terms of helping clients underwrite cybersecurity risk specifically?

太好了，這很有幫助。接下來，我想稍微換個話題。您之前已經談過一段時間網路安全和網路風險領域的機會了。至少在我們看來，越來越多的供應商正在瞄準這個領域，其中一些已經取得了不錯的進展。所以我想請您簡單介紹一下Verisk在這個市場的定位，以及您認為在幫助客戶承保網路安全風險方面，最大的成長機會（包括內生成長和外延成長）在哪裡？

Yes. A couple of comments on cyber. One is, it's an important line, but you have to have it in context as well. It actually is not that big a line when you talk about direct written premium. So sort of the emergence of cyber cover is, in many ways, actually still waiting to happen. But we take a very broad -- our positioning is that we have the broadest set of offerings of all with respect to cybersecure asking about us versus other providers because we sort of -- we're sort of soup to nuts in the cyberspace. So we model way upfront so that you can have a high-level portfolio view of the amount of cyber risk you might be holding as an insurer in your portfolio, we actually can diligence individual companies for the cyber risk that they represent and that can be used in the risk selection and underwriting process.

是的。關於網路安全，我有幾點要補充。首先，網路安全是一個重要的概念，但必須結合具體情況來看。實際上，如果只談直接承保保費，它的重要性並不突出。因此，從許多方面來看，網路安全保險的真正興起仍處於醞釀階段。但我們的定位非常廣泛——我們的定位是，在網路安全領域，我們提供的產品和服務範圍最廣。與其他保險公司相比，我們幾乎涵蓋了網路安全領域的方方面面。我們會提前建立模型，以便您能夠從宏觀層面了解您作為保險公司可能面臨的網路風險。我們也可以對各家公司進行盡職調查，評估其網路風險，並將這些資訊用於風險選擇和承保流程。

And then on the back end, we've actually got a completely unique activity, which is through our PCS unit where in the same way that insurers tell us after a natural disaster exactly what they're progressively with time, they tell us what their actual claims experience was denominated. We now have a variety of insurers who are doing that with us in the cyber well. So there isn't any other company that does those 3 things that I just mentioned. So our positioning is tied strongly to breadth. And we're very happy to be in this place and happy with what we're doing against the line that gets a lot of attention, but it's not -- there isn't really that much premium in the cyber line just yet.

在後端，我們實際上有一項完全獨特的業務，即透過我們的PCS部門。就像保險公司在自然災害後會逐步告知我們他們的損失情況一樣，他們也會告訴我們他們實際的理賠經驗。現在，許多保險公司都在與我們合作，共同開發網路保險業務。因此，沒有其他公司能夠同時做到我剛才提到的這三點。所以，我們的市場定位與業務廣度有密切關係。我們非常高興能夠處於目前的市場地位，也對我們在網路保險領域所做的工作感到滿意。雖然網路保險業務備受關注，但目前該領域的保費收入並不高。

Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Steinerman.

你的下一個問題是出自安德魯‧史坦納曼的著作。

It's Andrew. Two questions. 1 is, as your team probably sells 1 or more of your industry-specific data and tech businesses, will Verisk likely become an infoservices provider that's just more focused in terms of number of end markets? Or is it likely that Verisk will expand into a new industry after exiting an end market or end markets? I also have a second question.

我是安德魯。我有兩個問題。第一個問題是，鑑於您的團隊可能會出售一項或多項行業特定的數據和技術業務，Verisk 是否有可能轉型為一家資訊服務提供商，只是在終端市場數量上更加集中？或者，Verisk 是否有可能在退出一個或多個終端市場後，拓展到新的產業？我還有第二個問題。

So it's not -- it is not inside our pattern of thought, Andrew to say. We need to be in end vertical markets that we don't have that thought at all actually. And so it simply would not be in our analysis or pattern to say, well, okay, we may have stepped out of this vertical market or that vertical market, here's some proceeds and let's invest them in the next new vertical market. That is not the way that we think not at all. So I think that's the primary answer to your question, but I will go back to what Mark said before, 1 of the really nice opportunities for our company is a function of the fact that you get to observe so much of the economy through the mechanism of insurance because almost everything is insured, maybe it's not as completely insured as it should be. But more or less, every category of asset is insured.

所以，安德魯，這不在我們的思考模式之內。我們需要進入那些我們根本不會考慮的垂直市場。因此，我們的分析或模式裡根本不會出現這樣的情況：我們可能退出了這個垂直市場或那個垂直市場，現在有一些收益，讓我們把它們投資到下一個新的垂直市場。我們完全不會那樣思考。所以，我認為這是你問題的主要答案。但我還要補充馬克之前提到的，我們公司面臨的一個絕佳機會在於，我們可以透過保險機制觀察經濟的方方面面，因為幾乎所有東西都有保險，也許保險覆蓋範圍並不像應該的那樣全面，但或多或​​少，每類資產都有保險。

So you get to see kind of what's going on economy-wide. And my point here is that we really like solutions where I'll call it the killer app grows up in the insurance vertical. But then if it's extensible to other customer groups, well, great. Particularly, if it doesn't need to be modified very much in order for it to be relevant to that next customer group. So I'm really sending you 2 messages here, and I think they're clear, and I hope we have them distinct, which is we don't need to platform ourselves in other verticals. We are interested in following from the powerful place of the insurance industry and the killer apps inside of the insurance industry, if they have applicability in other places, that's good business. And we'll pursue that all day. But we want it yolked to the power plays where we start.

這樣你就能大致了解整個經濟的走向。我的意思是，我們非常喜歡那些在保險業蓬勃發展的解決方案，我稱之為「殺手級應用」。但如果它還能擴展到其他客戶群，那就更好了。特別是如果它不需要做太多修改就能適用於下一個客戶群。所以我想傳達兩個訊息，我認為它們很清晰，也希望我們能分辨清楚：我們不需要在其他垂直領域建立自己的平台。我們感興趣的是保險業的強大影響力，以及保險業內部的殺手級應用。如果它們也能應用於其他領域，那將是一筆不錯的生意。我們會一直追求這一點。但我們希望它與我們最初的強大影響力緊密相連。

That makes a lot of sense. So here's my second question. Could you also talk about the cyclical rebound ahead for Verisk Energy organic revenue growth just noting that the end market now has some tailwind.

這很有道理。那麼我的第二個問題是，您能否也談談Verisk Energy有機營收成長即將出現的周期性反彈，並指出目前終端市場正面臨一些利好因素？

Sure, Andrew. So thanks for the question. There is certainly a sense of the cyclical trends that we're experiencing on the consulting side that are driving some of the strength and the performance of the revenue growth within that sector. And while that's a positive, it is not as much of a focus for us as the broader what I would describe as secular trend to understanding the data sets for the energy transition and our structural ability to tie those data sets together through the Lens platform, which I was describing earlier in response to Alex's question. And so that, we believe, is the more material secular trend within the business that as opposed to existing within those discrete upstream, midstream, downstream chemical elements now looking at data across that and building an architecture that allows us to meet those growing needs.

當然，安德魯。謝謝你的提問。諮詢業務方面確實存在一些週期性趨勢，這些趨勢推動了該領域收入成長的強勁勢頭。雖然這是個正面因素，但我們關注的重點並非如此，而是更廣泛的長期趨勢，即理解能源轉型所需的資料集，以及我們透過Lens平台將這些資料集整合起來的結構性能力。我之前在回答亞歷克斯的問題時已經提到過這一點。因此，我們認為，這才是業務中更重要的長期趨勢：不再局限於孤立的上游、中游、下游化工環節，而是著眼於整個行業的數據，並建立一個能夠滿足這些不斷增長的需求的架構。

I do think that some of this cyclical short-term uplift is encouraging more adoption of those broader applications that we've described. So there is a bit of a tailwind effect that we're beginning to experience certainly on the subscription side. And then as we realize the revenue from that subscriptions, it should become more apparent in the overall revenue results.

我認為，這種週期性的短期成長確實會促進我們之前提到的那些更廣泛應用的普及。因此，我們確實開始感受到訂閱業務方面的一些利多因素。隨著訂閱收入的逐步實現，這種利多因素應該會在整體營收中更明顯地反映出來。

And Lee, if I could just add to what you were saying there, just very briefly. And maybe this was a little bit implicit in your question, Andrew. Over the course of the last 7 years, there have been 2 remarkable price shocks in the underlying commodity, particularly oil and gas, petroleum, -- There has been a Brexit, and there's been a pandemic.

李，如果我可以補充你剛才說的，就簡單說幾句。安德魯，也許你的問題裡已經隱含了這一點。過去七年裡，基礎大宗商品，特別是石油和天然氣，經歷了兩次顯著的價格衝擊——一次是英國脫歐，另一次是新冠疫情。

Hopefully, the next pandemic is decades away from now. the U.K. can only Brexit once. And the first of the 2 price shocks was totally supply-led. It was basically Saudi Arabia, sort of flexing muscle with Russia. And I think it's interesting to consider the fact that on a go-forward basis, Saudi Aramco now answers to market forces in a way that it didn't 7 years ago, where it was kind of like the Digibank for the Royal family.

希望下一次疫情爆發還有幾十年。英國只能脫歐一次。而且，兩次價格衝擊中的第一次完全是供應過剩導致的。基本上是沙烏地阿拉伯在向俄羅斯炫耀武力。我認為值得注意的是，沙特阿美現在對市場力量的回應方式與7年前截然不同，當時它更像是皇室的「數位銀行」。

So I think the environment is different than it has been over the last 7 years. And we're structurally different in that our exposure to that as a result of the development of our data businesses, the growth of other elements has substantially muted the impact of that. There will still be some impact that we've described, but it is much less acute than it would have been certainly 3 years ago.

所以我認為，現在的環境與過去七年截然不同。而且，由於數據業務的發展以及其他因素的成長，我們的結構也發生了變化，我們受到的影響已大大降低。雖然仍會存在一些我們之前描述的影響，但肯定比三年前要輕微得多。

At this time, I would like to thank everyone for joining today. This will be our last question. This concludes today's conference. You may now disconnect.

在此，我謹感謝各位的參與。這將是我們最後一個問題。今天的會議到此結束。您可以斷開連線了。

Thanks, everybody, for joining.

謝謝大家的參與。

Thank you.

謝謝。