Verisk Analytics Inc (VRSK) 2020 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Verisk First Quarter 2020 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, Stacey Brodbar. Ms. Brodbar, please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加 Verisk 2020 年第一季財報電話會議。本次通話正在錄音。（操作員指示）接下來，我將把電話交給 Verisk 的投資人關係主管 Stacey Brodbar，請她致開幕詞並作介紹。布羅德巴女士，請繼續。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today for a discussion of our First Quarter 2020 Financial Results. Today's call will be led by Scott Stephenson, Verisk's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, who will provide a brief overview of our business. Mark Anquillare, Chief Operating Officer, will then provide an update on our Insurance segment. Lastly, Lee Shavel, Chief Financial Officer, will highlight some key points about our financial performance.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。感謝您今天蒞臨本次會議，與我們共同探討2020年第一季財務表現。今天的電話會議將由 Verisk 董事長、總裁兼執行長 Scott Stephenson 主持，他將簡要概述我們的業務。首席營運長馬克·安奎拉雷隨後將介紹我們保險業務的最新情況。最後，財務長李沙維爾將重點介紹我們財務表現的一些關鍵點。

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.

本次電話會議中提到的收益報告以及相關的 10-Q 表格可以在我們網站 verisk.com 的投資者關係部分找到。獲利報告也已附在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的 8-K 表格中。本次通話的錄音將在我們的網站上保留 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，正如今天發布的收益報告中更詳細闡述的那樣，我要提醒大家，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。實際表現可能與我們今天所作的評論有重大差異。有關可能影響未來業績的因素的資訊已包含在我們最近向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中。

Now I'll turn the call over to Scott.

現在我把電話交給史考特。

Thanks, Stacey, and good morning, everyone. I'm very glad to be together today. We are in the midst of a challenge that is impacting each one of us. The outbreak of the coronavirus is, above all, a health crisis, and we hope that you and your families are doing what is necessary to stay safe. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been directly affected by the virus and to the health care community and essential personnel, working heroically to help us all overcome it.

謝謝Stacey，大家早安。今天能和大家聚在一起，我非常高興。我們正面臨著一場影響到我們每個人的挑戰。新冠病毒疫情首先是一場健康危機，我們希望您和您的家人正在採取一切必要措施來確保自身安全。我們向那些直接受到病毒影響的人們，以及為幫助我們所有人戰勝病毒而英勇工作的醫護人員和一線工作人員致以最深切的慰問和祈禱。

Today, I'm pleased to discuss how Verisk has responded to the COVID-19 event and give you a view of our plans and priorities for the company. I have really been looking forward to this meeting. Along with Mark and Lee, we will describe for you 3 things: first, our actions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, with a focus on protecting our employees and serving our customers; second, an update on our current operations and the role we are playing to help our customers and communities navigate COVID-19; and third, our long-term priorities and plans for Verisk.

今天，我很高興與大家探討 Verisk 如何應對 COVID-19 事件，並向大家介紹我們公司的計畫和優先事項。我一直非常期待這次會議。我們將與 Mark 和 Lee 一起，向您介紹三件事：首先，我們為應對 COVID-19 疫情所採取的行動，重點是保護我們的員工和為我們的客戶提供服務；其次，我們當前運營的最新情況以及我們在幫助客戶和社區應對 COVID-19 方面所發揮的作用；第三，我們 Verisk 的長期優先事項和計劃。

Given our presence in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore, the COVID-19 event began for us in January. Our global crisis management team immediately began pandemic planning under our business continuity policy. Under the strong leadership of our Asia Pacific team, we followed government guidance and moved into a remote work mode with zero interruption in delivery for our customers. When local guidance modified, we moved to a hybrid mode, with teams making use of our facilities on an every-other-day basis in order to keep density down. Again, movement into this work mode was seamless.

鑑於我們在北京、上海和新加坡均設有分支機構，COVID-19 疫情對我們來說是從 1 月開始的。根據我們的業務連續性政策，我們的全球危機管理團隊立即啟動了疫情應對計畫。在亞太團隊的強大領導下，我們遵循政府指導，轉為遠距辦公模式，確保為客戶提供的服務零中斷。當地指引發生變化時，我們轉為混合模式，各團隊隔天使用我們的設施，以降低人員密度。再次強調，進入這種工作模式的過程非常順利。

When a second wave of infection appeared in Singapore, we successfully returned to the remote mode. All of this experience was invaluable, as January turned to February to March, and it became clear that the coronavirus was not a regional, but a global event.

當新加坡出現第二波疫情時，我們成功地恢復了遠距辦公模式。所有這些經驗都非常寶貴，因為從一月到二月再到三月，很明顯，冠狀病毒不是區域性的，而是全球性的事件。

Combining our experience in Asia Pacific with our long-standing plans for ensuring business continuity, we engaged in large-scale pressure testing of our remote work capabilities in North America, Europe and India, and we did this weeks in advance of any government restrictions on movement. I was pleased, but not surprised, at the results. We moved our roughly 9,000 colleagues into a full remote mode with no interruption of operations or service to our customers. We remain in that mode today.

結合我們在亞太地區的經驗以及我們長期以來為確保業務連續性而製定的計劃，我們在北美、歐洲和印度進行了大規模的遠距辦公能力壓力測試，並且我們在政府實施任何出行限制措施之前幾週就完成了這項工作。我對結果感到滿意，但並不令人驚訝。我們讓大約 9000 名同事完全遠端辦公，沒有中斷業務運作或為客戶提供的服務。我們今天仍然保持這種模式。

Our primary goal was, and continues to be, the safety of our colleagues. Because of the essentially digital nature of what we do and our strong movement toward enabling technologies, such as cloud computing, we knew that we could protect the well-being of our team without sacrificing service to our customers. An interesting fact about Verisk is that only about 100 people or roughly 1% of the team have a specific and regular need to enter our facilities. Despite the increased need to communicate digitally with one another and customers, our computing and network capacity have consistently and comfortably exceeded what we require.

我們始終並將繼續把同事的安全放在首位。由於我們所做的事情本質上是數位化的，並且我們大力推進雲端運算等賦能技術，我們知道我們可以在不犧牲對客戶的服務的情況下保護我們團隊的福祉。關於 Verisk，一個有趣的現像是，只有大約 100 人（約佔團隊的 1%）有特定且定期進入我們設施的需求。儘管我們越來越需要透過數位化方式與彼此和客戶溝通，但我們的運算和網路能力一直輕鬆超過我們的需求。

To highlight the relative ease of the transition, one of the more custom responses to the COVID event has involved our software developers and data scientists. In the office, they are accustomed to having 2, sometimes 3, large monitors running simultaneously at their workstations. Lacking these at home, we arranged to have the equipment sent to their residences to help these valuable colleagues remain productive.

為了凸顯過渡的相對容易性，針對 COVID 事件，我們採取的更具針對性的應對措施之一，就是讓我們的軟體開發人員和資料科學家參與其中。在辦公室裡，他們習慣在工作站同時運作 2 台，有時甚至是 3 台大顯示器。由於家中缺乏這些設備，我們安排將設備送到他們家中，以幫助這些寶貴的同事保持工作效率。

While we look forward to all being together again in our offices, our business continuity planning and the nature of our operations, enable us to continue to serve our customers and drive our innovation agenda forward in a work-from-home mode, while also flexibly following the lead of government officials about when it is safe to return.

雖然我們期待著大家能再次在辦公室團聚，但我們的業務連續性計劃和運營性質使我們能夠繼續以居家辦公模式為客戶提供服務並推進我們的創新議程，同時靈活地遵循政府官員關於何時安全返回辦公室的指示。

We have also significantly increased communication, with daily updates to our global workforce, which we call the daily dose. We have held frequent worldwide town halls and have provided the team access to our COVID-19 resource center, which updates teammates with our leading research on the pandemic as well as helpful personal advice on staying healthy and productive. Finally, we began by holding daily meetings of our global executive team and have modified that rhythm, as the stability of our operations has been clear. We are now holding regular update calls with our executive team as well as with our Board of Directors.

我們也大幅加強了溝通，每天都會向全球員工發布最新訊息，我們稱之為「每日劑量」。我們經常舉辦全球範圍內的全員大會，並為團隊提供訪問我們 COVID-19 資源中心的權限，該中心會向團隊成員更新我們關於疫情的領先研究成果，以及有關保持健康和高效工作的實用個人建議。最後，我們開始每天召開全球執行團隊會議，隨著營運穩定性的顯著提高，我們調整了會議節奏。我們現在定期與執行團隊和董事會舉行情況匯報電話會議。

That's the journey we have been on up to this moment. So where do we stand? First, our teams remain highly active and productive. Sales calls are up versus prior years. E-mail traffic is greater than it was prior to remote work. The use of collaborative digital platforms has increased substantially. And from a pulse survey of just a week ago, employee engagement is actually up at this moment, relative to our customary high levels. And our customers continue to engage with our analytics and insights as visits to our portals across our 3 segments have increased as well.

這就是我們一路走來的歷程。那我們現在的處境如何？首先，我們的團隊依然保持著高度活躍和高效的狀態。銷售電話數量較往年增加。電子郵件流量比遠距辦公之前大得多。協作式數位平台的使用量大幅增加。根據一週前的員工滿意度調查，目前員工敬業度實際上已經高於我們通常的高水準。隨著我們三大業務板塊入口網站的訪問量不斷增加，我們的客戶也持續關注我們的分析和洞察。

Second, we've been active in bringing new value to our customers in the COVID-19 moment. In the insurance space, we have provided an innovative platform to claims departments, allowing them to settle claims in direct collaboration with insured without requiring physical presence. We made this platform free of charge as a form of support and look for it to become another subscription offering with high acceptance across the industry over time. Our pandemic model, a part of the AIR suite has drawn intense interest, and slices of the output from the model have been made available to customers, again, at no cost.

其次，在新冠疫情期間，我們積極為客戶創造新的價值。在保險領域，我們為理賠部門提供了一個創新的平台，使他們能夠與被保險人直接合作解決理賠問題，而無需親身到場。我們免費提供此平台以示支持，並希望隨著時間的推移，它能發展成為另一種訂閱服務，並在業界獲得廣泛認可。我們的疫情模型是 AIR 套件的一部分，引起了人們的極大興趣，該模型的部分輸出結果已免費提供給客戶。

In financial services, we have created a COVID-19 dashboard for our banking customers to help them see precisely the real-time changes in spending, across industry categories, thereby helping them anticipate movement in the creditworthiness of their commercial customers. And in the Energy vertical, through a hurry-up 6-week effort, our customers can now examine the vulnerability of their supply chains in light of a geographic analysis of where the virus has had its greatest impacts. I'm very proud of the work of all my teammates.

在金融服務領域，我們為銀行客戶創建了 COVID-19 資訊中心，以幫助他們準確了解各行業類別支出的即時變化，從而幫助他們預測其商業客戶的信用狀況變化。在能源領域，透過 6 週的加緊努力，我們的客戶現在可以根據病毒影響最大的地區進行地理分析，來檢查其供應鏈的脆弱性。我為所有隊友的工作感到非常自豪。

Third, we've analyzed all our solutions and services to assess the impact of COVID-19 on our revenue streams. We have not identified any material impact of COVID-19 on approximately 85% of our revenues at this point, as much of these revenues are subscription in nature and subject to long-term contracts. We have also identified that COVID-19 is impacting about 5% of our people who have seen their work curtailed, to some degree, in the following categories: our survey teams, which diligence the engineering features of commercial buildings for the purpose of supporting commercial property underwriting, have not been able to enter most commercial buildings during the lockdown, and even with repurposing their time, remain at the moment less than fully utilized.

第三，我們分析了我們所有的解決方案和服務，以評估 COVID-19 對我們收入來源的影響。目前我們尚未發現 COVID-19 對我們約 85% 的收入產生任何實質影響，因為這些收入大多屬於訂閱性質，並且受長期合約約束。我們還發現，COVID-19 對我們約 5% 的員工產生了一定程度的影響，他們的工作在以下幾個方面受到了影響：我們的調查團隊負責對商業建築的工程特徵進行盡職調查，以支持商業地產承保，在封鎖期間他們無法進入大多數商業建築，即使他們重新安排了時間，目前也沒有得到充分利用。

Our consulting teams across the company, and especially in the Energy vertical, have seen some reductions to their current and projected billable activities for the immediate term. And our team focused on supporting auto claims adjusting, in the U.K. have seen claims volumes drop as fewer miles are driven in the lockdown period. Across these few places in the company where the macro environment has reduced the workloads, we are working to reallocate these resources to other growing areas of the business. When necessary, we are using a combination of 4-day work weeks, moderate trimming of team size and a small amount of furloughing to keep the work and team in balance.

公司各諮詢團隊，尤其是能源領域的諮詢團隊，在短期內都出現了當前和預計可計費活動減少的情況。在英國，我們專注於汽車理賠調整的團隊發現，隨著封鎖期間行駛里程減少，理賠量也隨之下降。在公司內部，由於宏觀環境的影響，部分部門的工作量減少，我們正在努力將這些資源重新分配到公司其他成長的領域。必要時，我們會採取每週工作 4 天、適度縮減團隊規模以及少量員工休假等措施，以維持工作和團隊的平衡。

And finally, we continue to make good sales progress as we have adjusted quickly to engaging digitally with our customers. The rate of sales closure has slowed modestly, though pipelines remained strong, implying that we could experience some timing effects, measured in weeks to months for new sales.

最後，由於我們迅速調整了與客戶的數位互動方式，我們的銷售業績持續取得良好進展。儘管銷售成交速度略有放緩，但銷售管道仍然強勁，這意味著我們可能會遇到一些時間效應，新銷售可能需要幾週到幾個月的時間才能完成。

Despite the distractions of COVID-19, I want to note our ongoing focus and progress with the integration of several recent acquisitions, including: Genscape; FAST; BuildFax; and the 3E acquisition of SAP's Content as a Service business. We are very pleased, the integration -- we are pleased with the integration momentum, synergy realization and early business results we have achieved at these entities, consistent with our expectations and supporting solid returns on the capital we've invested.

儘管受到 COVID-19 疫情的影響，但我仍想指出，我們持續專注於整合最近收購的幾家公司，並取得了進展，其中包括：Genscape；FAST；BuildFax；以及 3E 收購 SAP 的內容即服務業務。我們非常高興，整合進展順利——我們對這些實體取得的整合勢頭、協同效應實現和早期業務成果感到非常滿意，這與我們的預期一致，並為我們投入的資本提供了穩健的回報。

For the balance of today's call, we will focus on our long-term priorities and plans for Verisk. Mark and Lee will take you through our view in detail, but let me paint the general picture for you. Our priorities for investing in our business and our people are unchanged, evidenced by our reiteration of our CapEx budget for the year. We are continuing to drive our innovation agenda and invest in our business, while also advancing on our move to the cloud.

在今天電話會議的剩餘時間裡，我們將重點討論 Verisk 的長期優先事項和計劃。Mark 和 Lee 將詳細地向您介紹我們的觀點，但讓我先為您描繪一下大致情況。我們對業務和員工的投資重點並沒有改變，這一點從我們重申本年度資本支出預算中可見一斑。我們將繼續推進創新議程並投資於我們的業務，同時也在推進向雲端遷移的進程。

With respect to performance, we expect to realize the benefit of 4 key features of our resilient business model: first, continued growth in data sets and demand for analytics from our clients that remains unchanged in the long-term and continues to drive our performance; second, a high proportion and broad diversification of subscription revenues that provide exceptional stability to our revenue; third, operations that provide significant flexibility in managing our expenses; and fourth, strong free cash flow generation and access to capital, which enable us to continue to invest in our business and return capital to our shareholders.

在業績方面，我們期望從我們穩健的商業模式的四個關鍵特徵中獲益：首先，數據集和客戶對分析的需求持續增長，且長期保持不變，並將繼續推動我們的業績；其次，訂閱收入佔比高且分佈廣泛，為我們的收入提供了卓越的穩定性；第三，運營模式為我們管理支出提供了極大的靈活性；

On that topic, I'm pleased to report that our Board of Directors has approved a $0.27 per share dividend for the second quarter to be paid in June. Our business model has proven its resiliency in the past delivering stable performance through the financial crisis and the last oil price shock. We realize that no 2 events are the same, but we have confidence that we can deliver growth again through COVID-19. And while there may be some short-term headwinds to growth, we believe our performance will reflect our long-term goal of growing EBITDA faster than revenue.

關於這一點，我很高興地報告，我們的董事會已批准第二季每股派息 0.27 美元，將於 6 月支付。我們的商業模式已經證明了其韌性，在金融危機和上次油價衝擊中都保持了穩定的表現。我們意識到沒有兩件完全相同的事情，但我們有信心克服 COVID-19 疫情帶來的挑戰，再次實現成長。儘管短期內成長可能會面臨一些不利因素，但我們相信，我們的業績將反映出我們實現長期目標的願景，即 EBITDA 的成長速度將超過營收的成長速度。

Finally, on a personal note, I sympathize with the small businesses that are unable to operate during these challenging times, and every one of our customers in this situation can expect the full support of our company. I also feel extremely fortunate to be a part of Verisk's business model.

最後，就我個人而言，我非常同情那些在當前充滿挑戰的時期無法正常運作的小型企業，我們公司將全力支持每位處於這種情況的客戶。我也感到非常榮幸能夠成為 Verisk 商業模式的一部分。

Now I will turn the call over to Mark to walk you through developments in our Insurance vertical.

現在我將把電話交給馬克，讓他為大家介紹我們保險業務的最新進展。

Thank you, Scott. I'm pleased to share with you that we had another strong quarter in insurance, with all businesses contributing to growth. Despite some reduced volumes in March due to the pandemic, organic constant currency revenue growth was 5.9%. After normalizing for the continued impact of the injunction on our roof measurement solution, organic constant currency growth was 6.9%, fueled by market-leading innovation and enhanced customer engagement.

謝謝你，斯科特。我很高興地告訴大家，我們的保險業務又迎來了一個強勁的季度，所有業務都為成長做出了貢獻。儘管受疫情影響，3 月銷量有所下降，但以固定匯率計算的有機收入成長率為 5.9%。在剔除禁令對我們屋頂測量解決方案的持續影響後，有機固定匯率成長率為 6.9%，這得益於市場領先的創新和增強的客戶互動。

Across our insurance businesses, our retention rates remain very high, and we have seen increased customer engagement during these unique times. Our customers have effectively transitioned to working from home and are more available in opening the calls and product demos. Since March 15, we've seen customer call reports grow significantly from 2019 levels and realized a surge in participants at our virtual industry events focused on business interruption coverage, fraud during the pandemic, virtual claims handling and virtual property underwriting.

在我們的保險業務中，客戶留存率仍然非常高，而且在這些特殊時期，我們看到客戶參與度有所提高。我們的客戶已經有效地過渡到居家辦公，並且更願意接聽電話和進行產品演示。自 3 月 15 日以來，我們看到客戶來電報告數量較 2019 年同期顯著增長，並且我們舉辦的以業務中斷保險、疫情期間的欺詐、虛擬理賠處理和虛擬財產承保為主題的虛擬行業活動的參與者數量也激增。

The effectiveness with our team is essential in maintaining great service to our customers. Our knowledge-based solutions allow us to service customers remotely and with continuity. Our cloud-first approach has fostered a technical infrastructure that is available, scalable and resilient, allowing for uninterrupted service to customers as well as employees.

團隊的高效運作對我們為客戶提供優質服務至關重要。我們基於知識的解決方案使我們能夠遠端、不間斷地為客戶提供服務。我們採用雲端優先策略，建構了可用、可擴展且具彈性的技術基礎設施，從而能夠為客戶和員工提供不間斷的服務。

As an example of our preparedness, we had a major customer perform a review of Verisk infrastructure to assure -- ensure that all -- ongoing technical support for their operations during these unique times. The feedback was extremely positive, with the customer sharing that Verisk was well prepared ahead of their own internal infrastructure and followed several best practices that they plan to replicate.

為了證明我們的準備工作，我們安排了一位重要客戶對 Verisk 基礎設施進行審查，以確保在這些特殊時期為其營運提供持續的技術支援。回饋非常積極，客戶表示 Verisk 為自己的內部基礎設施做好了充分準備，並遵循了他們計劃複製的幾項最佳實踐。

Let me share an industry perspective and its impact on our business. Insurance coverage remains essential through this pandemic and insurance renewals continue. I doubt any participants joining this call have thought about canceling their homeowners or automobile insurance policies. However, driving is down significantly.

讓我從行業角度分享它對我們業務的影響。在疫情期間，保險保障仍然至關重要，保險續保工作也仍在持續。我懷疑參加這次電話會議的人中是否有人考慮過取消他們的房屋保險或汽車保險。然而，駕車出行量已大幅下降。

Our telematics data exchange indicates that driving mileage is down almost 50% year-over-year in the U.S. since the pandemic breakout, leading to reduced auto claims. But we've seen a rebound in mileage in recent weeks, leading us to believe a bottom occurred in late March and early April. Some insurers have committed to premium refunds, which have contributed to a reduction in shopping for lower premiums by policyholders.

我們的遠端資訊處理資料交換表明，自疫情爆發以來，美國的駕駛里程年減了近 50%，導致汽車索賠減少。但最近幾週我們看到里程數有所反彈，這讓我們相信里程數在 3 月下旬和 4 月初觸底。一些保險公司承諾退還保費，這有助於減少投保人為了降低保費而四處比價的行為。

Other areas of weakness in the industry includes a significant drop in travel insurance and more modest declines in commercial insurance. Over the immediate term, total exposure values in commercial insurance may be reduced. Our insurance business benefits from subscriptions and long-term contracts, with the small portions of revenue transaction. Although modest, we expect to see some adverse impacts from the pandemic in certain of our transactional revenues.

該行業的其他疲軟領域包括旅遊保險的大幅下降和商業保險的較為溫和的下降。短期來看，商業保險的總風險敞口可能會降低。我們的保險業務受益於訂閱和長期合同，而交易收入佔比很小。雖然影響不大，但我們預期疫情會對我們的某些交易收入產生一些不利影響。

As I highlighted in my opening, customer engagement has been very strong. Let me share a few examples. We continue to see great success and market share gains in extreme event modeling as customers are moving towards AIR's suite of solutions. To support our customers, we've made our pandemic forecasting tool available for free to the insurance industry as well as the general public, to assist in planning and refinancing.

正如我在開篇所強調的，客戶參與度非常高。我舉幾個例子。隨著客戶轉向 AIR 的全套解決方案，我們在極端事件建模領域持續取得巨大成功並佔據了更大的市場份額。為了支持我們的客戶，我們已將疫情預測工具免費提供給保險業和公眾，以幫助他們進行規劃和再融資。

As Scott mentioned in his opening, we made our virtual claims adjudication and virtual inspection platforms available for free to customers to stay in business and to facilitate the timely payment of insurance claims. Over 30,000 adjusters and inspectors now have access to the platform. Since rolling out the program in mid-March, more than 1,100 customers with many more users have enrolled. We have received very positive feedback from insurers, thanking us for our contribution to the industry.

正如 Scott 在開場白中提到的那樣，我們免費向客戶開放了虛擬理賠裁決和虛擬檢驗平台，以維持業務運作並促進保險理賠的及時支付。目前已有超過 30,000 名理賠員和檢查員可以使用該平台。自 3 月中旬推出此計畫以來，已有超過 1,100 位客戶和更多用戶註冊。我們收到了保險公司非常正面的回饋，感謝我們對保險業的貢獻。

And last, but certainly not least, we've received strong interest in our life insurance analytics solutions. The FAST technology and strong leadership team, in combination with Verisk advanced analytics and reputation in the insurance industry, has created significant opportunities. We have signed noteworthy contracts with Amica, Lincoln Heritage, Pacific Life, M Financial and partnered with SCOR on our life analytics platform. I'm pleased with the strong early results as evidenced with synergies and strategic benefits.

最後，但同樣重要的是，我們的人壽保險分析解決方案也受到了廣泛關注。FAST 技術和強大的領導團隊，再加上 Verisk 的先進分析能力和在保險業的聲譽，創造了巨大的機會。我們已與 Amica、Lincoln Heritage、Pacific Life、M Financial 簽署了重要合同，並與 SCOR 合作開發了我們的生活分析平台。我對早期所取得的強勁成果感到滿意，綜效和策略優勢都證明了這一點。

In a period of heightened security, data analytics are more important than ever, and further, with substantially increased remote operations, the connectivity we provide our clients is critically valuable to our industry, supporting in turn the value of Verisk's business. With that, let me turn it over to Lee to cover our financial results.

在安全情勢日益嚴峻的時期，數據分析比以往任何時候都更加重要；此外，隨著遠端營運的大幅增加，我們為客戶提供的連接對我們的行業至關重要，進而提升了 Verisk 的業務價值。接下來，我將把發言權交給李，讓他來介紹我們的財務表現。

Thank you, Mark. First, I would like to bring to everyone's attention that we've posted a quarterly earnings presentation that is available on our website.

謝謝你，馬克。首先，我想提醒大家，我們已經在網站上發布了季度財報。

Moving to the financial results for the quarter. On a consolidated and GAAP basis, revenue grew 10% to $690 million, while net income increased 28% to $172 million. Diluted GAAP earnings per share increased 28% to $1.04 for the first quarter of 2020. The year-over-year increase in GAAP net income and EPS is primarily the result of organic growth in the business, gains from dispositions and a decrease in acquisition-related costs. These increases were offset in part by the previously communicated timing shift of a $10 million expense related to annual long-term equity incentive grants that was recognized in the first quarter of 2020 as compared to the second quarter in the prior year.

接下來來看看本季的財務業績。以合併及GAAP準則計算，營收成長10%至6.9億美元，淨利成長28%至1.72億美元。2020 年第一季稀釋後 GAAP 每股收益成長 28% 至 1.04 美元。GAAP淨收入和每股盈餘年增率主要是由於業務的內生成長、資產處置收益以及收購相關成本的下降。這些成長部分被先前公佈的與年度長期股權激勵授予相關的 1000 萬美元支出的時間調整所抵消，該支出在 2020 年第一季度確認，而上一年則在第二季度確認。

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 believe our operating performance remains solid. On an organic constant currency basis, Verisk delivered revenue growth of 5% for the first quarter of 2020. All 3 segments delivered growth, with insurance posting the strongest growth rates. We did experience a decline in certain of our transactional revenues during the last 2 weeks of March related to COVID-19, though the impact on the first quarter results overall was modest.

接下來，我們將採用非經營項目調整後的有機固定匯率業績，具體定義請參閱我們新聞稿中的非GAAP財務指標部分。我們認為公司經營績效依然穩健。以有機成長（固定匯率）計算，Verisk 2020 年第一季的營收成長了 5%。三個細分市場均實現成長，其中保險業成長率​​最高。3 月最後兩週，由於 COVID-19 的影響，我們的部分交易收入有所下降，但對第一季整體業績的影響並不大。

Organic constant currency adjusted EBITDA growth was 7.4%, reflecting operating leverage despite a headwind from the timing shift of annual LTI grants. Normalizing for the $4 million revenue impact of the injunction, revenue grew 5.8% and adjusted EBITDA increased 9% on an organic constant currency basis. Total adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter was 46.1%, down 59 basis points from the prior year.

經固定匯率調整後的有機 EBITDA 成長率為 7.4%，反映了經營槓桿效應，儘管年度 LTI 獎勵的時間調整帶來了不利影響。剔除禁令造成的 400 萬美元收入影響後，以有機固定匯率計算，營收成長 5.8%，調整後 EBITDA 成長 9%。本季調整後 EBITDA 利潤率為 46.1%，較上年同期下降 59 個基點。

Normalizing for the impact of the timing shift of annual LTI grants, however, total adjusted EBITDA margin would have expanded to 47.5%, demonstrating solid adjusted EBITDA margin expansion, inclusive of continued investment in our breakout opportunities. This total adjusted EBITDA margin includes both organic and inorganic revenues and adjusted EBITDA.

然而，考慮到年度 LTI 撥款時間調整的影響，調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率將擴大至 47.5%，這表明調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率實現了穩健增長，其中包括對我們突破性機會的持續投資。此調整後 EBITDA 總利潤率包括有機收入和非有機收入以及調整後 EBITDA。

On that note, let's turn to our segment results on an organic constant currency basis. As you see in the press release, Insurance reported 5.9% revenue growth, while adjusted EBITDA increased 8% for the quarter. We saw healthy growth in our industry standard insurance programs, catastrophe modeling solutions, claims analytics and repair cost estimating solutions, offset by the impact of the injunction on roof measurement solutions. Normalizing for the impact of the injunction, insurance would have achieved 6.9% organic constant currency revenue growth and 9.9% organic constant currency adjusted EBITDA growth, demonstrating margin expansion while also investing for future growth.

說到這裡，讓我們來看看以固定匯率計算的各業務板塊業績。如新聞稿所述，保險業務營收成長5.9%，調整後EBITDA成長8%。我們的行業標準保險計劃、災害建模解決方案、理賠分析和維修成本估算解決方案均實現了健康增長，但屋頂測量解決方案受到禁令的影響，抵消了這些增長。剔除禁令的影響，保險業的有機固定匯率收入成長將達到 6.9%，有機固定匯率調整後的 EBITDA 成長將達到 9.9%，這表明利潤率有所提高，同時也為未來的成長進行了投資。

Energy and Specialized Markets delivered revenue growth of 2.6% and adjusted EBITDA growth of 1.8% for the quarter. Driven by increases in core research and the breakout areas, like the energy transition practice and chemicals, we also saw increases in our environmental health and safety service revenues and weather analytics revenues. These increases were partially offset by declines in core consulting related to lower capital expenditures across the energy sector as well as the completion of implementation projects in market and cost intelligence solutions, resulting from an exceptionally strong 2019 that reduced related transactional revenue.

本季能源和專業市場業務收入成長2.6%，調整後EBITDA成長1.8%。受核心研究和新興領域（如能源轉型實踐和化學品）成長的推動，我們的環境健康與安全服務收入和天氣分析收入也隨之成長。這些成長部分被核心諮詢業務的下降所抵消，這主要是由於能源產業的資本支出減少，以及市場和成本情報解決方案實施專案的完成，而這又是由於 2019 年異常強勁的業績導致相關交易收入減少。

Financial Services grew 3% and adjusted EBITDA increased 15.9% in the quarter, driven by growth in management information and regulatory reporting as well as fraud and credit risk, and offset in part by declines in portfolio management and spend-informed analytics revenues.

本季度金融服務成長了 3%，調整後 EBITDA 成長了 15.9%，這主要得益於管理資訊和監管報告以及詐欺和信用風險方面的成長，但部分被投資組合管理和支出資訊分析收入的下降所抵消。

Our reported effective tax rate was 20.8% for the quarter compared to 21% in the prior year quarter. We continue to believe that our tax rate for 2020 will be between 19% and 21%, though likely at the higher end of the range. There will likely be some quarterly variability related to the impact of employee stock option exercises, which depends in part on the Verisk stock price and employee personal decisions. In addition, we are closely monitoring potential tax legislation in the U.K., which could impact our future tax rates.

本季我們報告的實際稅率為 20.8%，而去年同期為 21%。我們仍然認為，2020 年的稅率將在 19% 到 21% 之間，但很可能接近該範圍的上限。員工股票選擇權行使的影響可能會出現一些季度波動，這部分取決於 Verisk 的股價和員工的個人決定。此外，我們正在密切關注英國潛在的稅收立法，這可能會影響我們未來的稅率。

Adjusted net income was $194 million and diluted adjusted EPS was $1.17 for the first quarter of 2020, up 13.6% from the prior year. This increase reflects organic growth in the business, contributions from acquisitions and lower average share count. Net cash provided by operating activities was $363 million for the quarter, down 1% from the prior period. Capital expenditures were $53 million for the quarter, up 17% from the prior year period.

2020 年第一季調整後淨收入為 1.94 億美元，稀釋後調整每股收益為 1.17 美元，比去年同期成長 13.6%。這一增長反映了業務的自然增長、收購帶來的貢獻以及平均流通股數量的下降。本季經營活動產生的淨現金流為 3.63 億美元，比上一季下降 1%。本季資本支出為 5,300 萬美元，比上年同期成長 17%。

CapEx represented 7.7% of total revenues in the quarter. We continue to believe that CapEx will be in the range of $250 million to $270 million for 2020 as investing in our business and our people continues to be our highest priority. That said, certain expenditures related to real estate projects could be further delayed because of COVID-19 stay-at-home restrictions, but it is too early to quantify the impact, if any.

本季資本支出佔總收入的7.7%。我們仍然相信，2020 年的資本支出將在 2.5 億美元至 2.7 億美元之間，因為投資我們的業務和員工仍然是我們的首要任務。也就是說，由於 COVID-19 居家隔離限制，與房地產項目相關的某些支出可能會進一步推遲，但現在量化其影響（如果有的話）還為時過早。

Free cash flow was $310 million for the quarter, a decrease of 3.5% from the prior year period, primarily due to an increase in interest payments and the timing of certain customer collections and operating expense payments. In light of the current environment, we are monitoring our cash flow closely. And in that regard, year-to-date through the end of April, we have seen year-over-year growth in both cash receipts and cash flow after operational expenditures, including CapEx.

本季自由現金流為 3.1 億美元，比上年同期下降 3.5%，主要原因是利息支出增加以及某些客戶收款和營運費用支付的時間安排。鑑於當前形勢，我們正在密切關注現金流狀況。就此而言，截至 4 月底，我們看到現金收入和扣除營運支出（包括資本支出）後的現金流量均實現了同比增長。

During the quarter, we returned $218 million in capital to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends. And the Verisk Board of Directors has approved a cash dividend of $0.27 per share, payable on June 30, 2020.

本季度，我們透過股票回購和分紅向股東返還了 2.18 億美元的資本。Verisk 董事會已批准派發每股 0.27 美元的現金股息，將於 2020 年 6 月 30 日支付。

Moving from the results of the quarter to our broader exposure to COVID-19, I wanted to address a few key elements related to our financial performance. With regard to revenues, as Scott described, we have completed a careful review of our solutions and services to evaluate their potential exposure to COVID-19 impacts. Through that exercise, we have identified specific products and services, largely transactional in nature, that are being impacted by COVID-19.

從季度業績轉向我們更廣泛的 COVID-19 風險敞口，我想談談與我們的財務表現相關的幾個關鍵要素。關於收入方面，正如 Scott 所描述的那樣，我們已經對我們的解決方案和服務進行了仔細審查，以評估它們可能受到 COVID-19 影響的情況。透過這項練習，我們已經確定了一些具體產品和服務，這些產品和服務大多是交易性質的，正受到 COVID-19 的影響。

Collectively, these solutions represent approximately 15% of our consolidated revenues. And at the segment level, the 15% consists of approximately 8% in Insurance, 4% in Energy and Specialized Markets and 3% in Financial Services. On the 15%, we have identified specific solutions and services that are being impacted to various degrees by primary causal factors, including lower auto and travel insurance activity, the inability to enter commercial buildings to perform engineering analysis, decreased capital expenditures in the energy sector and reduced levels of advertising by financial institutions and marketers.

這些解決方案合計約占我們合併收入的 15%。從細分市場來看，這 15% 的份額中，約有 8% 屬於保險業，4% 屬於能源和專業市場，3% 屬於金融服務業。在這 15% 的領域中，我們已經確定了一些具體的解決方案和服務，這些方案和服務在不同程度上受到主要原因的影響，包括汽車和旅遊保險業務量下降、無法進入商業建築進行工程分析、能源行業的資本支出減少以及金融機構和營銷人員的廣告投入減少。

A portion of the revenue attributable to these solutions could be negatively impacted by COVID-19. The impact on many of these solutions is expected to be modest, with the deepest impacts felt in the categories of travel insurance analytics, auto underwriting and claims analytics, consulting services to the energy industry and spend-informed analytics solutions in financial services.

新冠肺炎疫情可能會對部分由這些解決方案帶來的收入產生負面影響。預計這些解決方案中許多受到的影響不大，影響最大的領域包括旅遊保險分析、汽車承保和理賠分析、能源產業的諮詢服務以及金融服務領域的支出資訊分析解決方案。

Although, we experienced a decline in revenue attributable to these specific solutions in the last 2 weeks of March 2020, the impact on the first quarter was modest. We do not anticipate lasting impacts of a material nature to our long-term growth profile. And as the global outbreak of COVID-19 is still rapidly evolving, we will continue to monitor its impact on our business.

儘管在 2020 年 3 月的最後兩週，由於這些特定解決方案，我們的收入有所下降，但對第一季的影響並不大。我們預計不會對我們的長期成長前景產生實質的持久影響。由於新冠肺炎疫情在全球迅速發展，我們將繼續關注其對我們業務的影響。

It's important to understand that the aggregate 15% is not what we expect the impact on our revenues to be, but rather, it is the portion of revenue that we believe could be affected by the causal factors, generated by COVID-19. Two observations. This should not be surprising as it is primarily a subset of our total transactional revenues, which represent about 20% of our total revenues.

需要注意的是，這 15% 的總和並不是我們預期對收入的影響，而是我們認為可能受到 COVID-19 疫情相關因素影響的收入部分。兩點觀察。這不足為奇，因為它主要只是我們總交易收入的一部分，約占我們總收入的 20%。

Of the transactional revenues included in the identified 15%, it should be noted that they are diverse in the nature of their exposure and generally are expected to show strong resilience and recovery. In addition, it reinforces the stability of our subscription revenues that make up the bulk of the 85% of revenues, for which we were unable to identify an exposure at this time. Of course, depending upon the duration of COVID-19, we may see new contract signing or renewal delays, but we view these as primarily timing issues.

值得注意的是，在已確定的 15% 的交易收入中，其風險敞口性質各不相同，並且通常預計會表現出較強的韌性和恢復能力。此外，這也鞏固了我們訂閱收入的穩定性，訂閱收入佔總收入的 85%，目前我們尚無法確定這部分收入有風險敞口。當然，根據 COVID-19 疫情持續時間的長短，我們可能會看到新合約的簽署或續約出現延遲，但我們認為這主要是時間安排方面的問題。

With regard to Energy and Specialized Markets, while it's natural to draw comparisons to Wood Mackenzie's experience during significant oil price declines in 2016, it is important to understand both that: one, Wood Mackenzie has reduced its exposure to the more oil price-sensitive upstream oil companies through the growth of its energy transition practice, chemicals and other subsegments and its limited revenue contribution from the Lower 48 U.S. operators; secondly, Wood Mackenzie represents a smaller percentage of our Energy and Specialized Markets segment, primarily as the result of our acquisition of PowerAdvocate, which primarily serves the utility subsegment, and our environmental health and safety business, which has limited commodity exposure.

關於能源和專業市場，雖然很自然地將其與伍德麥肯茲在 2016 年油價大幅下跌期間的經驗進行比較，但重要的是要理解以下兩點：第一，伍德麥肯茲通過發展其能源轉型業務、化工和其他子業務，以及其來自美國本土 48州營運商的收入貢獻有限，降低了其對油價更為敏感的上游石油公司的風險敞口；第二，伍德麥肯茲在我們能源和專業市場部門中所佔的比例較小，這主要是由於我們收購了主要服務於公用事業子業務的 PowerAdvocate，以及我們的環境健康與安全業務（該業務對大宗商品的風險敞口有限）。

The collective causal factors from COVID-19 represent pressure on achieving our 7% long-term growth objectives in 2020, but we don't believe they represent any structural changes in our fundamental growth drivers or operating leverage that would limit our ability to return to delivering on the long-term growth expectations for the business.

COVID-19 帶來的各種因素對我們 2020 年實現 7% 的長期成長目標構成了壓力，但我們認為這些因素不會對我們的基本成長驅動因素或營運槓桿造成任何結構性變化，從而限制我們恢復實現業務長期成長預期的能力。

Moving to expenses. I want to emphasize our ability to manage the cost structure. First, our short-term incentive compensation is directly tied to revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth and will automatically reduce our expenses at lower growth rates. Second, we have already slowed our rate of headcount growth and will continue to manage headcount growth carefully through the COVID-19 event. With compensation representing approximately 70% of our cost base and headcount growth representing a meaningful component of expense growth, this discipline provides significant flexibility.

轉到費用部分。我想強調我們控製成本結構的能力。首先，我們的短期激勵薪酬與收入和調整後 EBITDA 成長直接掛鉤，並且在成長率較低時會自動降低我們的支出。第二，我們已經放緩了員工人數成長速度，並將繼續在 COVID-19 疫情期間謹慎管理員工人數成長。薪資約占我們成本基礎的 70%，而員工人數成長又佔支出成長的重要部分，因此這種管理方式提供了極大的彈性。

Finally, we are reducing noncompensation expenses, including travel and entertainment, event and other nonessential expenses. What we are not cutting is investment in the business. We will continue our target of $250 million to $270 million for capital expenditure in 2020, and we will continue to invest in our breakout solutions, as they are fundamental to our growth and value-creation opportunity.

最後，我們將削減非薪資支出，包括差旅費、招待費、活動費和其他非必要支出。我們沒有削減的是對企業的投資。我們將繼續維持 2020 年 2.5 億至 2.7 億美元的資本支出目標，並將繼續投資於我們的突破性解決方案，因為它們對我們的成長和價值創造機會至關重要。

We also remain pleased, as Scott has described, with our integration progress on recent acquisitions, where our focus on realizing synergies and generating attractive returns remains undiminished. Factoring all of the above on revenues and expenses, we recognize the challenges this environment presents, but we believe the stability of our subscription revenues, our core operating leverage and expense actions we are taking, will continue to support our revenue and EBITDA growth in 2020.

正如史考特所描述的那樣，我們對近期收購的整合進展感到滿意，我們實現協同效應和創造可觀回報的重點依然沒有減弱。考慮到以上所有因素對收入和支出的影響，我們認識到當前環境帶來的挑戰，但我們相信，訂閱收入的穩定性、核心營運槓桿以及我們正在採取的費用控制措施，將繼續支持我們在 2020 年的收入和 EBITDA 成長。

While the impact of COVID-19 on first quarter results was modest, the second quarter will bear a larger impact from the causal factors reflecting the more significant duration and effect of COVID-19 for the period. As and when the causal factors diminish, we expect the impact to abate.

雖然 COVID-19 對第一季業績的影響不大，但第二季將受到更大的影響，因為 COVID-19 的持續時間和影響程度在第二季將更加顯著。隨著致因因素的減少，我們預期影響也會減弱。

From a capital and liquidity perspective, we continue to anticipate solid operating cash flow and capital generation from our business. We maintain access to our committed revolving credit line, with approximately $595 million in currently available capacity as well as access to the investment-grade debt markets. And we have staggered maturities with no debt maturing until May 2021. We expect to continue to manage our leverage within our typical 2 to 3x range.

從資本和流動性角度來看，我們繼續預期公司業務將帶來穩健的營運現金流量和資本產生。我們仍可使用已承諾的循環信貸額度，目前可用額度約為 5.95 億美元，並且還可以進入投資等級債務市場。而我們的債務到期日是錯開的，2021 年 5 月之前沒有任何債務到期。我們預計將繼續把槓桿率控制在通常的 2 到 3 倍範圍內。

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. 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。我們衷心感謝大家對 Verisk 的支持與關注。鑑於有大量分析師關注我們，我們要求您只提一個問題。這樣，我就可以請接線生開通提問專線了。

(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Toni Kaplan from Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的東尼卡普蘭。

Glad you guys are safe and well. I wanted to ask about the Energy business. I know in the past, I guess, when the price of oil gets below a certain level and now it's in the 20s, I guess, how much of an impact should we be expecting on the business? I know you mentioned you have less exposure to upstream now versus in 2015, '16. I think it was about 80% then. If you could give us the updated percent upstream now. But just, I guess, how can -- like where can you see the impacts from this lower oil price? Can customers change their contracts during the subscription term or need to wait for renewal? Just any sort of color on the Energy business would be helpful.

很高興你們平安健康。我想諮詢一下能源產業的情況。我知道過去油價低於某個水平時，現在油價在 20 多美元，我想，我們應該預期這對企業會有多大的影響？我知道你提到過，與 2015 年、2016 年相比，你現在對上游業務的接觸較少。我記得當時大概是80%。如果您能現在提供一下上游更新後的百分比資料就太好了。但是，我想問的是，如何才能——例如，在哪裡可以看到油價下跌的影響？用戶可以在訂閱期間內更改合約嗎？還是必須等到續訂時才能更改？任何與能源產業相關的資訊都會有所幫助。

Yes. Toni, thanks for the question and thanks for your well wishes, and the same to you and to everybody who's with us on this call today. I hope everybody is safe and well. So first of all, to your factual question, the percentage of WoodMac business that was upstream was roughly in the neighborhood of the number you just cited, and now it's below 50%.

是的。東尼，謝謝你的提問和祝福，也祝福你和今天所有參加電話會議的人一切順利。希望大家都平安健康。首先，回答你的事實性問題，WoodMac 上游業務的百分比大致在你剛才提到的數字附近，而現在已低於 50%。

The other thing that I would say is that, as Lee mentioned, we have really diversified the revenues associated with the Energy vertical. We do much more now with utilities, which are proving to be relatively stable and definitely, relatively more stable than oil and gas companies are at the moment. The whole wing of our business, which is aimed at helping with the transition to the renewables, is in very good shape. One part of the world that benefits from a low petroleum price is the petrochemicals business, and that is also a material part of what we do. So as you started, our business is actually different than it was the last time we went through an oil price shock.

我想補充一點，正如 Lee 所提到的，我們已經真正實現了能源垂直領域相關收入的多元化。我們現在與公用事業公司進行了更多合作，事實證明，公用事業公司相對穩定，而且肯定比目前的石油和天然氣公司更穩定。我們公司旨在幫助向再生能源轉型這一業務部門目前運作良好。石油價格低迷，石油化工業從中受益匪淺，而石油化工業也是我們業務的重要組成部分。正如你開頭所說，我們現在的業務實際上與上次經歷油價衝擊時有所不同。

Your next question comes from the line of Alex Kramm from UBS.

你的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的 Alex Kramm。

You mentioned the very modest impact in the last 2 weeks of March. Can you be a little bit more specific what you've seen so far in April? I think, Mark mentioned something about the lower auto claims, which is pretty obvious, but I think they may have bottomed, as you said. But any other things you can highlight, maybe a little bit more specifically, how big the impact was in April so far?

您提到了三月最後兩週影響非常有限。您能否更具體地談談您在四月至今都看到了什麼？我想，馬克提到了汽車索賠減少的情況，這很明顯，但我認為正如你所說，索賠數量可能已經觸底了。但您能否重點介紹一下，更具體地說，4 月至今的影響有多大？

So let me characterize generally, and then, Lee, let come to you. So everything that we've said in our call today is a product of having examined very carefully what happened in April. So all of the statements that we've made here about our view of 2020 and what it is that we've done by way of preparation -- April is fully in mind when we've made every one of those statements. Lee, anything you want to add to that?

那麼，讓我先概括一下，然後，李，輪到你了。所以，我們今天在電話會議上所說的一切都是我們仔細研究了四月發生的事情之後得出的結論。因此，我們在這裡就我們對 2020 年的看法以及我們所做的準備工作所做的所有聲明——我們在發表每一項聲明時，都完全考慮到了四月份的情況。李，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Yes. Alex, thanks for the question. It certainly is something that we're watching carefully. And I think a couple of comments. One, I think it's important to understand that, in the 15% of the impacted products, there's a lot of diversity in that. And so you have different products that are having different effects across that, and that provides some stability within that.

是的。Alex，謝謝你的提問。這當然是我們密切關注的事情。我覺得還有幾點要補充。首先，我認為重要的是要明白，在受影響的 15% 的產品中，存在著很大的多樣性。因此，不同的產品會產生不同的效果，這在一定程度上確保了產品的穩定性。

The second is that, while we're looking at April, we also have to take into account kind of the temporal dynamic of the duration of COVID-19 and its impact over time. And so we want to be -- certainly, our expectation is that, that impact is going to moderate over some period of time. So with all that being said, on the 15% that we identified, we did see the expected decline, a partial decline in those revenues on a year-over-year basis in April and with fairly good degree of predictability. But in the non-COVID-19 revenues we saw are more typical growth rates.

第二點是，雖然我們關注的是四月份的情況，但我們也必須考慮到 COVID-19 的持續時間和其隨時間推移的影響這種時間動態。因此，我們希望——當然，我們預期——這種影響會在一段時間內逐漸減弱。綜上所述，在我們確定的 15% 的份額中，我們確實看到了預期的下降，4 月份這些收入同比出現了部分下降，而且具有相當好的可預測性。但在非新冠疫情期間，我們看到的收入成長率更為典型。

And overall, as we indicated, we still saw growth in revenues across the business as a whole, factoring those 2 elements in. So beyond that, we're not in a position to predict, given the complexity, given the impact of the duration. But I think, within April, with that full impact, we saw that partial decline, but overall, we still maintained growth in the revenue so far.

總的來說，正如我們所指出的，考慮到這兩個因素，我們仍然看到整個業務的收入實現了成長。因此，除此之外，鑑於情況的複雜性以及持續時間的影響，我們無法做出預測。但我認為，到了四月份，隨著全面影響的到來，我們看到了部分下滑，但總體而言，到目前為止，我們的收入仍然保持成長。

Your next question comes from the line of Hamzah Mazari from Jefferies.

你的下一個問題來自傑富瑞集團的哈姆札·馬扎里。

I hope you guys are safe and healthy as well. My question is on the international side of the insurance segment. It feels like you've been doing some M&A there and essentially been utilizing software platforms to target customers. Could you maybe talk a little bit more about that strategy? And how much of your business today is purely software? And any margin implications with regard to that?

希望你們也都平安健康。我的問題涉及保險領域的國際層面。感覺你們一直在進行一些併購活動，基本上一直在利用軟體平台來鎖定客戶。能否再詳細談談這個策略？如今，貴公司有多少業務完全是軟體相關的？那會對利潤率產生什麼影響嗎？

Mark, would you take that question, please?

馬克，請你回答這個問題好嗎？

Yes. Thank you very much. So what we've been able to do in the United States is, over time, aggregate a huge amount of data to build out some unique and proprietary analytic objects, analytics solutions. Inside of our international strategy, obviously, we have this ambition, as we always do, to aggregate some unique data. But to do that, we had to kind of look towards solutions that can help us aggregate the data.

是的。非常感謝。因此，我們在美國所取得的成就是，隨著時間的推移，我們匯總了大量數據，建構了一些獨特且專有的分析對象和分析解決方案。很顯然，在我們的國際戰略中，我們一如既往地有這樣的雄心壯志，那就是收集一些獨特的數據。但要做到這一點，我們必須尋找能夠幫助我們匯總數據的解決方案。

So in some cases, we have some, I'll call it, natural catastrophe or hazard-type information that we can use and pull across that we've done and kind of replicated from what we've been successful at in the United States. At the same time, we found the best way to aggregate some information is really from a software angle. So with a goal towards -- driving towards an analytic outcome and providing solutions that are analytic at the foundation, we have done 2 things. We've started to aggregate data where we can, and we've also kind of taken a software approach to things that help us, for the most part, aggregate that same data.

因此，在某些情況下，我們有一些，我稱之為自然災害或危險類型的信息，我們可以利用並借鑒我們在美國取得成功的經驗，並將其複製過來。同時，我們發現匯總某些資訊的最佳方法實際上是從軟體的角度出發。因此，為了實現分析結果並提供以分析為基礎的解決方案，我們做了兩件事。我們已經開始盡可能地匯總數據，我們也採取了一種軟體方法來幫助我們匯總這些數據。

I think what we have found, to be honest, is inside the U.K., there is more of a thirst for a solution set, that is an ecosystem interconnected across a lot of solutions. I think that drives automation. That drives digital engagement. So our focus has been to try to take some software componentry kind of create this ecosystem to help customers and, along the way, aggregate some data, and with that data, build out an analytic outcome. It's kind of where you start, and that's how we've gotten it to the markets.

坦白說，我認為我們發現，在英國，人們更渴望的是一套解決方案，一個由許多解決方案相互關聯的生態系統。我認為這推動了自動化進程。這能促進數位互動。因此，我們的重點是嘗試利用一些軟體元件來創建一個生態系統，以幫助客戶，並在過程中匯總一些數據，並利用這些數據來建立分析結果。這算是起步階段，我們也正是透過這種方式將產品推向市場。

And I think we've been very happy with the success and progress we've made, particularly, in the U.K. As you referenced, we have a little bit more of a beachhead there. We have, certainly, some more assets. And those assets have been working very closely together to integrate things that are related to data, underwriting workflow and cat modeling or what I'll call for both reinsurers and insurers. So thanks for the question, and I think your observation was accurate. Hopefully, that gave a little color.

我認為我們對所取得的成功和進展感到非常滿意，尤其是在英國。正如您所提到的，我們在那裡已經站穩了腳跟。當然，我們還有一些其他資產。這些資產一直緊密合作，整合與數據、核保工作流程和巨災建模相關的內容，或是我稱之為再保險公司和保險公司都需要整合的內容。感謝你的提問，我認為你的觀察很準確。希望這能增添一些色彩。

Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Steinerman from JPMorgan.

你的下一個問題來自摩根大通的安德魯·斯坦納曼。

Scott, in your prepared remarks, you indicated Verisk is confident that we'll continue to deliver revenue growth during this COVID period. And then your next sentence highlighted that the company is targeting EBITDA growth faster than revenue. And I wondered -- my question is I wondered if we're supposed to link those 2 comments together, or specifically, is the company targeting EBITDA growth faster than revenue growth during this COVID period, and if that dynamic is on a reported basis or just an organic EBITDA basis?

Scott，你在事先準備好的演講稿中表示，Verisk 有信心在新冠疫情期間繼續實現收入成長。然後你的下一句話強調了該公司的目標是實現 EBITDA 成長速度快於營收成長速度。我想知道——我的問題是，我們是否應該將這兩條評論聯繫起來，或者更具體地說，該公司在新冠疫情期間的目標是 EBITDA 增長速度快於收入增長速度，以及這種動態是基於報告數據還是僅基於有機 EBITDA 數據？

Yes. So thank you, Andrew. Good to hear your voice. So first of all, you are correct that those 2 statements are intended to stand together. They are part of a full thought in terms of our bottom line performance. And we have been addressing ourselves in this call to COVID-19 effects, which more or less also correlates with statements about 2020. But the ambition in terms of the long term also remains the same, and that is that our -- that we would have very healthy rates of organic revenue growth, and we would have rates of organic EBITDA growth that exceed rates of organic revenue growth. So we're stating, once again, what our long-term plan is. So my comments were specific to 2020. The general point remains for our business over the long term. And then lastly, to your question, we are talking about both organic and reported.

是的。所以，謝謝你，安德魯。很高興聽到你的聲音。首先，你說得對，這兩句話確實是應該放在一起說的。它們是我們最終業績考量中整體考量的一部分。我們一直在就 COVID-19 的影響進行自我反思，這或多或少也與 2020 年的一些說法相吻合。但從長遠來看，我們的目標仍然不變，那就是——我們將實現非常健康的有機收入成長率，並且我們的有機 EBITDA 成長率將超過有機收入成長率。因此，我們再次重申我們的長期計劃。所以我的評論僅針對2020年。從長遠來看，這一點對我們的業務仍然適用。最後，回答你的問題，我們討論的是自然增長和報告增長。

Your next question comes from the line of Andrew Nicholas from William Blair.

你的下一個問題來自安德魯·尼古拉斯（Andrew Nicholas）的威廉·布萊爾（William Blair）的詩句。

In hearing from some of the insurtech players over the past couple of months, it certainly seems like they've seen increased demand in the new environment. I'm just wondering if your conversations with those partners have evolved at all, of late, and whether your view of the Group's long-term trajectory has changed as a consequence of recent activity.

過去幾個月裡，我從一些保險科技公司那裡了解到，在新環境下，他們確實看到了需求的成長。我只是想知道，最近您與這些合作夥伴的對話是否有所進展，以及您對集團長期發展軌蹟的看法是否因最近的活動而改變了。

Mark, would you please take that question?

馬克，請你回答這個問題好嗎？

Absolutely. So once again, I think we differentiate the 2 types of insurtechs. There's an insurtech, and that definition really relates to those that want to be insurers or managing general agents. So it's about distribution. And I think what we've seen there is those continue to prosper. At the same time, many of those early start-ups who have decided to actually be underwriters, or actually carry risk, sometimes those, I'll call it, loss ratios have been a little higher. The combined ratio, it has not been as profitable.

絕對地。所以，我認為我們再次區分了兩種類型的保險科技公司。保險科技公司（insurtech）的定義其實是指那些想要成為保險公司或總代理人的公司。所以關鍵在於分配。我認為我們已經看到，這些企業繼續蓬勃發展。同時，許多早期新創公司決定真正成為承保人，或者說真正承擔風險，有時，我稱之為損失率的那些公司，損失率可能會稍微高一些。綜合比率來看，它的獲利能力並不理想。

So we think they will continue, but we have seen some pressure because all of a sudden becomes a focus on liquidity and maybe a turning to profitability a little bit sooner. So we are watching our insurtech customers, and we are trying to help them out with everything we can. And I think it's a little bit of a mixed answer, dependent upon where they are on their own life cycle, as they evolve to a more profitable kind of entity.

所以我們認為他們會繼續這樣做，但我們看到了一些壓力，因為突然之間，流動性問題變得特別重要，而且他們可能希望更快地實現盈利。所以我們正在關注我們的保險科技客戶，並盡我們所能幫助他們。我認為這個問題的答案有點複雜，取決於它們自身生命週期的階段，以及它們如何演變成更有利可圖的實體。

The other type of insurtech is really the service provider. And in some cases, those service providers are partners with us. Sometimes they compete in part with us. And again, I think it really relates to what they are doing. There's a definite need in the industry to help bridge the gap between the insurer and the policyholder because I can't be necessarily face-to-face. I can't be at the home. I can't be at the property.

另一種保險科技公司其實是服務提供者。在某些情況下，這些服務提供者是我們的合作夥伴。有時他們會與我們有部分競爭關係。而且，我認為這確實與他們正在做的事情有關。保險業確實需要有人來彌補保險公司和投保人之間的差距，因為我不一定能與他們面對面交流。我不能待在家裡。我無法到場。

So like we referenced in some of the work that we're doing with our virtual property adjudication process and our underwriting platforms, those have been in widespread use and needs. So I think those players have reacted and certainly done well during this pandemic.

正如我們在虛擬財產裁決流程和承保平台的一些工作中提到的那樣，這些平台已經得到了廣泛的應用和需求。所以我認為這些球員已經做出了回應，並且在疫情期間表現出色。

In other cases, I think, probably there's a little bit of hesitancy around what can I actually implement during these times, what do I want to buy? And then, like any insurtech, the smaller ones, it becomes a little bit of a liquidity issue as to how much cash I have and what state I am along the dilution towards profitability. So kind of a mixed message there. And obviously, we've grown nicely through a lot of those insurtech insurers or MGAs, and we're trying to support them during these difficult times.

在其他情況下，我認為，人們可能會有些猶豫，不知道在這種時候我究竟能做些什麼，我想買些什麼？然後，像所有保險科技公司一樣，規模較小的公司也會面臨一些流動性問題，例如我有多少現金，以及我在實現盈利的道路上處於什麼階段。所以這傳遞出來的訊息有點矛盾。顯然，我們透過與許多保險科技公司或管理總代理 (MGA) 的合作取得了良好的發展，我們正在努力在這些困難時期為他們提供支援。

Your next question comes from the line of Jeff Meuler from Baird.

你的下一個問題來自 Baird 公司的 Jeff Meuler。

I just -- underpinning -- trying to better understand what underpins the response to Andrew's question about the expected organic margin expansion this year and trying to understand the trend that you go into COVID with. The margin expansion in Q1 looked quite good, especially in the Insurance segment, but really across the business. Can you just give us a bit more detail on what drove that and -- so we can understand the baseline you go into COVID with?

我只是想——從根本上——更好地理解安德魯關於今年預期有機利潤率擴張的問題的回應背後的原因，並試圖理解你們在新冠疫情爆發前所採取的趨勢。第一季的利潤率擴張看起來相當不錯，尤其是在保險業務領域，但實際上整個業務都是如此。您能否更詳細地說明是什麼原因導致了這種情況，以便我們了解您在感染新冠病毒之前的基本情況？

Sure. So let me start, and Lee, perhaps you'd like to add some detail. But fundamentally, Jeff -- and Jeff, good to hear your voice, and hope you're doing well.

當然。那麼，就讓我先開始吧，李，或許你想補充一些細節。但歸根結底，傑夫——傑夫，很高興聽到你的聲音，希望你一切都好。

Likewise.

同樣地。

Thank you. So a very substantial fraction of our cost structure is the cost of our people, our team. It runs at about 70% of our total. As Lee mentioned, 1 dimension of our compensation stack is our incentive compensation. And those of you who have observed what we have in the proxy, we have set the -- sort of the baseline expectation for performance in that at the level of our long-term targets for organic revenue and EBITDA growth.

謝謝。因此，我們成本結構中很大一部分是員工成本，也就是我們的團隊成本。它約占我們總運行量的 70%。正如 Lee 所提到的，我們薪酬制度的一個面向是激勵性薪酬。各位已經注意到我們在代理聲明中的內容，我們已經設定了業績的基準預期，即達到我們對有機收入和 EBITDA 增長的長期目標水平。

In other words, I would say that we have set the bar at a pretty high level. And to the extent that this moment, for the reasons that we talked about, put some pressure, I would say, particularly on the top line at this moment, one of the natural adjustments which occurs inside of our compensation is that the amount of annual incentive that will get paid out, logically, would come down somewhat, and that's automatic. That's just in the design of what we do.

換句話說，我認為我們已經把標準定得相當高了。鑑於我們剛才討論的原因，目前的情況可能會帶來一些壓力，我認為，尤其是在目前這種情況下，對公司最高業績的影響更大，因此，我們薪酬體系中自然而然發生的調整之一就是，年度獎金的發放金額，從邏輯上講，會有所下降，這是自動發生的。這只是我們工作方式的設計的一部分。

The other thing that matters greatly here is our total headcount, and there's 2 ideas that are paired one with the other. So one is, as Lee mentioned, our rate of investment in innovation for the future is unabated. Our expectations are that we will spend as much writing and capitalizing software in 2020 as we originally intended, and Lee spoke to that. But the other part of it is what is happening with respect to the rate of headcount growth.

另一個非常重要的因素是我們的總人數，而這其中有兩個想法是相互關聯的。正如李所提到的，我們對未來創新的投資力道絲毫沒有減弱。我們預計 2020 年我們在軟體開發和資本化方面的投入將與我們最初的計劃一樣多，Lee 也談到了這一點。但另一方面，員工人數成長率的情況又如何呢？

And let me put that alongside of the comment that I made earlier. They're very -- it is an extremely small fraction of our team, where, in this moment, their ability to get their work done is limited. I mentioned roughly 5%. And even in those cases, we've -- I would describe what we've done as a very modest amount of sort of trimming and realigning. So these are relatively small effects. The larger effect is that, as you've seen our company do over time, entering into 2020, we were also planning on a pretty substantial increase in headcount in order to provide even more acceleration of our developments into the future.

讓我把這一點和我之前的評論放在一起說。他們人數很少——只是我們團隊中極小的一部分，而且目前他們的工作能力也受到限制。我提到了大約5%。即使在這種情況下，我們也只是做了一些非常適度的修剪和調整。所以這些影響相對較小。更大的影響是，正如你們所看到的，隨著時間的推移，進入 2020 年，我們也計劃大幅增加員工人數，以便進一步加速我們未來的發展。

And as we got the sense that the COVID-19 effect was going to be global, not just regional, we basically moved very aggressively to -- not to let people go, but simply to slow down in this moment the rate of hiring. And it actually has a material effect on the rate at which our expenses move. And so essentially, we have already done, what I think of as, the most substantially important thing that we need to do in order to be in position to see our rate of EBITDA growth exceed our rate of revenue growth. Lee, anything you'd like to add to that?

隨著我們意識到 COVID-19 的影響將是全球性的，而不僅僅是區域性的，我們基本上採取了非常積極的措施——不是要裁員，而是要放慢目前的招募速度。它確實對我們的支出變化速度產生了實質的影響。因此，從本質上講，我們已經完成了我認為最重要的事情，這樣我們才能使 EBITDA 成長率超過收入成長率。李，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

Very little, Scott, because I think you described the mechanics in terms of the steps that we're taking in this environment and how that's affecting our ability to manage EBITDA. And maybe just to kind of give some context, as I have in the past, around the components and their impact.

史考特，沒什麼大不了的，因為我認為你已經從我們目前所採取的步驟以及這些步驟如何影響我們管理 EBITDA 的能力的角度描述了其中的機制。或許我還要像以前一樣，提供一些背景信息，介紹一下各個組成部分及其影響。

So in this quarter, Jeff, as I think you identified, and I kind of presume in your analysis, you're eliminating that impact of the LTI shift. But within that, we're seeing before the impact of M&A and even before the impact of the Geomni-Vexcel transaction, solid EBITDA margin expansion within each of the 3 verticals individually. And so that's generating a strong base of margin expansion. The Geomni impact, the reduction of expenses from that transaction is very helpful.

所以，傑夫，我認為你已經指出了這一點，而且我也推測你在分析中也提到了這一點，你正在消除 LTI 轉變的影響。但即便不考慮併購的影響，甚至在 Geomni-Vexcel 交易的影響之前，我們也看到這三個垂直領域各自的 EBITDA 利潤率都實現了穩健成長。因此，這為利潤率擴張奠定了堅實的基礎。Geomni 帶來的影響，以及由此帶來的交易費用降低，都非常有幫助。

And then we have the impact of LTI, that LTI shift in M&A. But within the business, we do have that ongoing core operating leverage. And everything that Scott is describing our ability to continue to manage and deliver that core operating leverage, which serves to achieve and support both at organic and all-in margin objective that Andrew asked about originally.

然後我們也要考慮長期激勵措施 (LTI) 的影響，即長期激勵措施在併購中的轉變。但在業務層面，我們確實擁有持續的核心營運槓桿。Scott 所描述的一切，都體現了我們繼續管理和實現核心營運槓桿的能力，這有助於實現和支持 Andrew 最初提出的有機和綜合利潤率目標。

Your next question comes from the line of Manav Patnaik from Barclays.

你的下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的馬納夫·帕特奈克。

Scott, maybe just to follow-up on your comments you just made on plans to accelerate in 2020. I was just wondering if maybe it's early, but in terms of conversations with your clients, this thesis that maybe everyone realizes they need to be -- accelerate their digital plans and so forth. So in the context of opportunity, once the dust settles, how do you think about whether that's lens or insurance and telematics or whatever like, where could things really pick up after this because of what's happened?

Scott，或許我想就你剛才提到的 2020 年加速發展計畫做個補充說明。我只是在想，也許現在說這個還為時過早，但就與客戶的對話而言，這個論點或許每個人都意識到他們需要加快數位化計畫等等。所以，從機會的角度來看，一旦塵埃落定，你會如何看待鏡頭、保險、遠端資訊處理或其他方面，鑑於所發生的事情，哪些領域可能會真正迎來發展機會？

Yes. Thank you, Manav. Nice to hear your voice, and I hope you're doing well. Yes. You've really put your finger on one of the most fundamental things about the context in which Verisk does its business. And that is, fundamentally, as our customers become what I refer to as the better digital version of themselves, that's good for us. That means that they are more able to consume the data and the analytics that we put out. They're more -- and they are able to actually realize and acknowledge the value that they get, not that there's any lack of acknowledgment today.

是的。謝謝你，馬納夫。很高興聽到你的聲音，希望你一切都好。是的。你確實一針見血地指出了 Verisk 開展業務的背景中最根本的問題之一。從根本上講，當我們的客戶成為我所說的更優秀的數位化版本時，這對我們來說是一件好事。這意味著他們更能理解並利用我們發布的數據和分析結果。他們更加——而且他們能夠真正認識並承認自己所獲得的價值，並不是說如今缺乏這種認可。

But as their own processes become more data-aware and data-sensitive and fast, the precision that our analytics bring and the speed with which we do what we do just becomes that much more active inside of their own environment. And I believe that one of the most fundamental consequences of the COVID-19 moment is that it's going to accelerate companies becoming the better digital version of themselves.

但隨著他們自身的流程變得更加重視數據、更加重視數據、速度更快，我們分析帶來的精確性以及我們做事的速度，在他們自身的環境中只會變得更加活躍。我認為，新冠疫情帶來的最根本後果之一是，它將加速企業朝向更優秀的數位轉型。

Now there's still a long distance to go. I mean for all the discussion that is out there in terms of digital business, digital migration, et cetera, I would say that many companies are still at relatively early stages. But I do believe that there's going to be an acceleration effect based upon what's going on here.

現在還有很長的路要走。我的意思是，儘管現在有很多關於數位業務、數位遷移等方面的討論，但我認為許多公司仍處於相對早期的階段。但我相信，根據目前的情況來看，將會出現加速效應。

What does that mean, specifically? I think what that means, specifically, is that customers will, across a variety of different attachment points, find even more interest in what it is we do. So analytic objects that we put out will be more consumable. And therefore, when our customers write their own business cases for making use of the next thing from Verisk that they haven't made use of yet, one of the factors that will be at work there is when they think about their own returns. They will be able to generate returns faster because they will actually get to implementation of what we do more quickly.

具體來說，這意味著什麼？我認為具體來說，這意味著客戶會通過各種不同的切入點，對我們所做的工作產生更大的興趣。這樣一來，我們發布的分析對象將更容易被理解和接受。因此，當我們的客戶為使用 Verisk 的下一個他們尚未使用過的產品而編寫自己的商業案例時，其中一個起作用的因素就是他們考慮自己的回報。他們將能夠更快地產生回報，因為他們能夠更快地將我們所做的事情付諸實踐。

Same relates to, if they want to attach to an API that we put out there in order to access some of our content. The more that they do business that way, the more they will be able to go from the concept to the actual use of our solutions more quickly. And I would not localize these effects to any one part of our business. All 3 of the verticals, virtually everything that we do, will respond to this trend.

同樣的情況也適用於他們想要連接到我們發布的 API 以存取我們的一些內容。他們越是以這種方式開展業務，就越能更快地將我們解決方案的概念轉化為實際應用。我不認為這些影響僅限於我們業務的某個特定部分。我們所有三個垂直領域，幾乎我們所做的一切，都將順應這個趨勢。

Your next question comes from the line of Bill Warmington from Wells Fargo.

你的下一個問題來自富國銀行的比爾沃明頓。

So a question for you on WoodMac. Maybe you could talk a little bit about whether there's seasonality of renewals for GEM. And maybe you could give us some sense for what you're seeing on renewals, an early read.

我有一個關於 WoodMac 的問題想問你。或許您可以談談GEM續訂是否有季節性因素。或許您可以給我們一些關於續約情況的初步信息，讓我們先睹為快。

Bill, good to hear your voice. Hope you're doing well. There is a degree of seasonality. And most of the -- or, in many cases, the heaviest season for renewals is Q4 and Q1. So obviously, we just had our Q1. And the team is in the marketplace. I mean one of the wonderful things about what we do, not only there, but actually across the whole company, is the degree of intimacy we have with our customers.

比爾，很高興聽到你的聲音。希望你一切都好。存在一定的季節性。而且，續訂最繁忙的時期（或者說，在許多情況下是續訂最繁忙的時期）是第四季和第一季。很顯然，我們剛剛結束了第一季。團隊正在積極尋找合適的市場。我的意思是，我們所做的事情最棒的地方之一，不僅在那裡，實際上在整個公司都是如此，就是我們與客戶之間非常親密的關係。

So a sales call is not only a sales call. A sales call is a relationship moment. It is -- and particularly, at this time, the exchange with our customers is obviously at a very fundamental level. We're very interested in how they're doing. We're very interested in what can we do to be of support to them. And I believe that our customers really get that about Verisk right now. They really get that.

所以，銷售電話不只是銷售電話。銷售拜訪是建立關係的重要時刻。的確如此——尤其是在此時此刻，我們與客戶的溝通顯然處於非常根本的層面。我們非常關心他們的近況。我們非常想知道我們能為他們做些什麼。我相信我們的客戶現在確實了解 Verisk 的這一點。他們真的明白這一點。

And I believe that, that, in addition to the acceleration of business becoming more digital, I believe both of those will be resonant for long periods of time into the future, that customers will remember this moment and they will remember what Verisk did. We recited several things where, not only did we develop things in a very hurry-up fashion in order to respond to their interest, but we also, in some cases, made things available for them for free. And I believe that all of that is going to be remembered.

而且我相信，除了商業數位化進程的加速之外，我認為這兩件事都將在未來很長一段時間內產生深遠的影響，客戶會記住這一刻，也會記住 Verisk 所做的一切。我們列舉了一些例子，其中不僅包括我們為了回應他們的興趣而迅速開發的產品，而且在某些情況下，我們還免費向他們提供產品。我相信這一切都會被人們記得。

And we'll be -- we'll hopefully be -- get more foundation inside of the relationships we have with our customers. That's true at WoodMac also. One of the things about WoodMac being out in the marketplace at this moment seeking renewals is that we are equipped in a way that we weren't in the past. Certainly, it's very different than when the oil price shock of '15 and '16 occurred because we now have the Lens platform, which is a very nice platform to analytic environment that customers -- the value of it is obvious to customers. And so it's an amplification of the value that they've always gotten out of our content.

我們希望能夠——或者說我們希望能夠——在我們與客戶的關係中建立更牢固的基礎。伍德麥肯錫公司的情況也是如此。WoodMac 目前正在市場上尋求續約，其中一個原因是，我們現在擁有了過去所不具備的資源和能力。當然，這與 2015 年和 2016 年石油價格衝擊發生時的情況截然不同，因為我們現在有了 Lens 平台，這是一個非常好的分析環境平台，其價值對客戶來說顯而易見。因此，這進一步提升了他們一直以來從我們的內容中獲得的價值。

And so there's a -- we're able to lean into the discussion -- even while we're listening very carefully to where the customers are. We're able to lean into the discussion with respect to affirming the value of what we bring and affirming the increase in the value of what we bring relative to, say, the past renewal, if it was 3 years ago or 2 years ago or whenever it happened to be. And so there's a -- I would describe it as kind of a quiet confidence when our team goes out into the market. Now they know that they've got the goods, and they're determined to represent that value even at the same time that we're trying to be very sensitive to where the customers are.

因此，即使我們非常仔細地傾聽客戶的意見，我們也能積極參與討論。我們可以深入探討，肯定我們所帶來價值，並肯定我們所帶來價值相對於上次續約（例如 3 年前、2 年前或其他任何時間）的成長。所以，當我們的團隊進入市場時，我會把它描述為一種沉穩的自信。現在他們知道自己擁有優質產品，並且決心展現這種價值，同時我們也努力非常關注客戶所在的地方。

Your next question comes from the line of Jeff Silber from BMO Capital.

你的下一個問題來自 BMO Capital 的 Jeff Silber。

I wanted to go back to your Insurance vertical. I know it's about 85% subscription, I think that's what you said, and you've got long-term contracts. But I'm just curious, if you think you might be seeing any pressure on any of those clients, whether it's lower returns from their own investment portfolios, higher business interruption insurance claims. And then also, can you talk about the percentage of contracts that come up for renewal each year and roughly what the seasonality there is as well?

我想回到你們的保險業務部門。我知道大約 85% 是訂閱模式，我想你也是這麼說的，而且你們簽的是長期合約。但我很好奇，您是否認為您的客戶可能會面臨任何壓力，例如投資組合收益下降、業務中斷保險索賠增加等等。另外，您能否談談每年續約的百分比，以及大致的季節性變化？

Yes. So I'll start with that, and Mark, and then I'll turn it over to you. Just a couple of your points. I mean, insurers are not unaffected by what is happening at the moment, for sure. And Mark described some of the dynamics, particularly the fact that probably the single most observable in-the-moment effects are related to reduced use of automobiles and, therefore, reduced damage to automobile, lower claims.

是的。那我就先從馬克開始，然後交給你。僅就您提出的幾點而言。我的意思是，保險公司肯定不會不受當前情況的影響。馬克描述了一些動態，特別是這樣一個事實：最容易觀察到的即時影響可能與汽車使用量的減少有關，因此汽車損壞減少，索賠也減少。

And Mark pointed out earlier that a good number of our customers have chosen to reflect this in premium rebates to some of their customers. That doesn't mean that they're necessarily -- or that our customers, the insurers are going to make less money on the line. I mean there are claims experiences. Half of the combined ratio has just gone down quite a bit in the moment. So I think, they're being very realistic in reflecting that in how they deal with their own customers.

馬克之前指出，我們許多客戶都選擇透過向部分客戶提供保費回饋來體現這一點。但這並不代表他們一定會——或者說我們的客戶，也就是保險公司，會因此賺到更少的錢。我的意思是，確實存在理賠的問題。目前綜合比率的一半已經大幅下降。所以我認為，他們在對待自己的客戶時，非常務實地反映了這一點。

But that aside, there will definitely be a discussion about what does business interruption insurance cover and not cover and, specifically, our pandemic effects excluded. Our reading of the policy language is that it's relatively clear that pandemic effects are excluded. That doesn't mean that there will be less than maybe a spirited dialogue in front of judges and juries with folks wanting to claim. Well, yes, but no, the policy really should cover that. And of course, we also have to sort of wait and see where public policymaking comes out on all of this. But the industry will certainly make its case in terms of the -- what is included and what is excluded in the policy language.

但除此之外，肯定會有一場關於營業中斷保險涵蓋哪些內容、不涵蓋哪些內容，特別是疫情影響被排除在外的討論。我們對政策措詞的解讀是，其中比較明確地排除了疫情的影響。但這並不意味著在法官和陪審團面前，那些想要提出索賠的人之間就不會發生激烈的對話。嗯，算是吧，但也不完全是，這份保單確實應該涵蓋這種情況。當然，我們也要拭目以待，看看公共政策最終會如何發展。但該行業肯定會就政策條款中包含和排除的內容提出自己的論點。

Mark also talked about some of the smaller companies. And I would just add to what Mark said earlier that one of the things that we -- there's a hallmark, actually, of how we work with our customers, is we try to be very flexible to meet them where they are. And so we're open, for example, to -- if they're feeling -- and this is not most cases, in fact, this is very few cases. But if they're under a relatively greater level of pressure at the moment, we might offer sort of a little relief in the moment for an extended contract, with better terms in the out years.

馬克也談到了一些規模較小的公司。我只想補充一下馬克之前所說的，我們與客戶合作的一個顯著特點是，我們會盡量靈活地滿足他們的需求。因此，例如，我們對——如果他們感到——持開放態度，而這種情況並不常見，事實上，這種情況非常少見。但如果他們目前面臨相對較大的壓力，我們可能會暫時提供一些緩解措施，例如延長合約期限，並在未來幾年提供更好的條款。

We don't find ourselves needing to do that very much, but we're trying to be flexible in those few cases where that makes sense. A lot of our business is on multi-year subscription. Some of it is 1 year, but actually automatically renewing. And so Lee mentioned multiple times, the extreme stability of our subscription base revenues. And that's where it is basically found, it's either multiyear or it's automatically renewing. And all of it is so basic to what our customers are doing, that it really does fall into the category of must-have. So Mark, anything you want to add to that?

我們並不常需要這樣做，但在少數情況下，如果這樣做有意義，我們會盡量保持彈性。我們很多業務都是多年訂閱制。部分產品有效期為一年，但實際上會自動續訂。因此，李多次提到，我們的訂閱收入非常穩定。基本上就是這樣，要么是多年期的，要么是自動續訂的。所有這些都與我們的客戶正在做的事情息息相關，因此它們確實屬於必備品的範疇。馬克，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

I think you covered it well, Scott. The contracts we have are typically like 3 years in nature. So there's no necessary -- necessarily a concentration, maybe just a little bit more fourth quarter windows are signed but that's over 3 years.

我覺得你解釋得很好，史考特。我們簽訂的合約通常為期三年左右。所以沒有必要——不一定需要集中精力，也許只是在第四季度簽的合約會稍微多一些，但這要持續三年。

Your next question comes from the line of Ashish Sabadra from Deutsche Bank.

你的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Ashish Sabadra。

Just a question on M&A. You've done several tuck-in acquisitions and some divestitures over the last year -- few years. Given your solid balance sheet, how do you think about taking advantage of some of the market dislocation and doing more of these tuck-ins going forward? Any color on that front?

關於併購方面有個問題。在過去一年到幾年裡，你們進行了一些收購和一些資產剝離。鑑於貴公司穩健的資產負債表，您認為如何利用當前的市場動盪，在未來進行更多此類補充收購？那方面有什麼進展嗎？

Yes. So as I mentioned way back at the start of the call, we are talking within our leadership team on an extremely frequent basis. We always do, but even more so in this moment. There are 2 messages that I have for our leaders above all, and I'm almost a broken record on these points as we speak with one another, counsel with one another. One is that we need to be extraordinarily alert to cyber risk in this moment. This is a great moment for bad guys because companies potentially could be distracted as they're dealing with the effects of this moment.

是的。正如我在通話開始時提到的那樣，我們的領導團隊內部經常進行溝通。我們一直都是這樣，但此刻更是如此。我最想對我們的領導人傳達兩點訊息，而且在我們彼此交談、彼此商議時，我幾乎一直在重複這兩點。首先，我們此刻需要對網路風險保持高度警覺。這對壞人來說是個絕佳的機會，因為企業可能會因為忙於應對此事的影響而分心。

We always look very strongly to our defenses at Verisk. And -- but I am just asking for extraordinarily -- extraordinary alertness to that particular dimension of doing work. And by the way, all the monitoring that we do of our network definitely, definitely shows us that we remain secure. But we have to -- we just have to lean into it. That's one of my messages for our leadership team.

在Verisk，我們始終非常重視我們的防禦措施。但我要求的只是對工作的這一特定方面保持格外——格外敏銳的警覺。順便說一句，我們對網路進行的所有監控都明確地表明，我們的網路仍然安全。但我們必須——我們必須接受它。這是我向領導團隊傳達的訊息之一。

And the other one is you work for a company that is very strong, very stable, has a very substantial and solid balance sheet, and that is not true of all companies in the world today. So please keep your radars on maximum frequency and reach in terms of observing companies that are around us that maybe are logical relative to something that we're doing inside of Verisk and that perhaps are, or even more specifically, were making a difference for our customers. Because it is possible that some of them may find themselves in a situation where they need to think about a different way of proceeding into the future. And if it's -- and therefore, if both their strategic logic -- and there are terms which might be available, we should really be leaning into it at this moment.

另一個原因是，你為一家實力雄厚、非常穩定、資產負債表非常穩健的公司工作，但這並不適用於當今世界上的所有公司。因此，請保持高度警惕，密切注意我們周圍的公司，這些公司可能與我們在 Verisk 內部所做的事情有某種邏輯上的聯繫，並且可能正在或更具體地說，曾經為我們的客戶帶來改變。因為他們中的一些人可能會發現自己身處在需要思考未來發展方向的情況。如果情況確實如此——因此，如果他們的戰略邏輯——並且有條件達成一致，那麼我們現在真的應該認真考慮一下。

The message again is you -- to our leadership, this is me to our leaders, you work for a company that is unlike a lot of other companies, and this can be a moment. So all of that said, if a company happens to be, let's say, in private equity hands, the private equity has, in quite a few cases, become the reference bidder inside of our world. So I'm not -- it remains to be seen just how much valuation expectations may modify downward. We'll see.

再次向你們傳達的訊息是——致我們的領導，這是我對領導的致辭，你們為一家與許多其他公司不同的公司工作，這可能是一個關鍵時刻。綜上所述，如果一家公司碰巧被私募股權公司收購，那麼在許多情況下，私募股權公司已經成為我們這個領域內的標竿競標者。所以，我並不確定——估值預期究竟會下調多少，還有待觀察。我們拭目以待。

Operator, next question.

操作員，下一個問題。

(technical difficulty)

（技術難題）

Stacey, maybe we'll give it one more moment to see if the operator comes back online.

史泰西，或許我們可以再等一會兒，看看操作員是否會重新上線。

Operator, next question. Did we lose our operator?

操作員，下一個問題。我們的操作員是不是丟了？

I think we may have. Well, why don't we tie it off there then. Thank you all very much for joining us today. And my apologies, if there are any of you that were looking to ask a question but you didn't get a chance to get the question in due to this technical glitch. We don't have the ability to open and close the lines, that's only the operator. So apologies if you had a question, and you didn't get a chance to ask it. But in any event, as always, we will be following up with many, many of you. And I hope that you will take your additional questions and review them with Lee and Stacey.

我想我們可能已經做到了。那我們就到此為止吧。非常感謝各位今天蒞臨。如果因為這次技術故障導致你們有人沒機會提問，我深感抱歉。我們沒有權限打開和關閉線路，那隻有操作員才能做到。如果您之前有問題但沒有機會提問，我深表歉意。但無論如何，我們將一如既往地與你們中的許多人保持聯繫。我希望你們能把其他問題跟 Lee 和 Stacey 討論一下。

So otherwise, thank you very much for having been with us today. I want to wish you great, great health and strength in this moment to you and your loved ones and your firms. And we really, really appreciate your interest in Verisk, and we have really been looking forward to having this conversation with you. So thanks very much for being with us today. Talk to you soon. Goodbye.

總之，非常感謝各位今天能和我們在一起。此時此刻，我衷心祝福您和您的家人以及您的公司身體健康、充滿力量。我們非常感謝您對 Verisk 的關注，也一直期待與您進行這次對話。非常感謝您今天能和我們在一起。回頭再聊。再見。