Westwood Holdings Group Inc (WHG) 2023 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Westwood Holdings Group First Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand conference over to your speaker today, Jill Meyer, SVP, Director of Fiduciary Services, Legal and Comp. You may begin.

美好的一天，謝謝你的支持。歡迎來到 Westwood Holdings Group 2023 年第一季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。現在，我想將今天的會議交給您的發言人 Jill Meyer，高級副總裁兼信託服務、法律和 Comp 總監。你可以開始了。

Thank you, and welcome to our first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. The following discussion will include forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause actual results to be materially different from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning the factors that could cause such a difference is included in our press release issued earlier today as well as in our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, that will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

謝謝，歡迎參加我們 2023 年第一季度的收益電話會議。以下討論將包括受已知和未知風險、不確定性和其他因素影響的前瞻性陳述，這些因素可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述所預期的結果存在重大差異。有關可能導致這種差異的因素的更多信息包含在我們今天早些時候發布的新聞稿以及我們將提交給美國證券交易委員會的截至 2023 年 3 月 31 日的季度的 10-Q 表格中。

We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. In addition, in accordance with SEC rules concerning non-GAAP financial measures, the reconciliation of our economic earnings and economic earnings per share to the most comparable GAAP measures is included at the end of our press release issued earlier today. On the call today, we have Brian Casey, our Chief Executive Officer; and Terry Forbes, our Chief Financial Officer. I will now turn the call over to Brian Casey.

我們沒有義務公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述，無論是由於新信息、未來事件或其他原因。請注意不要過分依賴前瞻性陳述。此外，根據美國證券交易委員會關於非 GAAP 財務措施的規定，我們的經濟收益和每股經濟收益與最可比的 GAAP 措施的對賬包含在我們今天早些時候發布的新聞稿的末尾。在今天的電話會議上，我們有我們的首席執行官 Brian Casey；和我們的首席財務官 Terry Forbes。我現在將把電話轉給 Brian Casey。

Good afternoon, and thanks for listening to our quarterly earnings call. April 1 marked Westwood's 40th anniversary, which we celebrated with our founder, Susan Byrne, many of our employees and long-term clients. Westwood was founded 4 decades ago with a bedrock of disciplined investing principles designed to generate alpha without taking excessive risk. This approach has consistently allowed our clients to withstand the vagaries of market cycles as we help them achieve their long-term financial goals.

下午好，感謝您收聽我們的季度財報電話會議。 4 月 1 日是 Westwood 成立 40 週年，我們與創始人 Susan Byrne、我們的許多員工和長期客戶一起慶祝了這一天。 Westwood 成立於 4 年前，以嚴格的投資原則為基石，旨在在不承擔過度風險的情況下產生 alpha。在我們幫助客戶實現長期財務目標的同時，這種方法始終使我們的客戶能夠經受住市場週期的反复無常。

Our principles have withstood the test of time and have proven their value year after year. We're very proud to have enabled clients to navigate some of the most challenging markets in history and we stand ready to help them confront and overcome market obstacles in these uncertain times. We completed the acquisition of Salient Partners last November, and this is the very first full quarter for our combined business including Salient's energy infrastructure, tactical absolute return, real estate and private investment capabilities.

我們的原則經受住了時間的考驗，並年復一年地證明了它們的價值。我們非常自豪能夠幫助客戶駕馭歷史上一些最具挑戰性的市場，我們隨時準備幫助他們在這些不確定的時期面對和克服市場障礙。去年 11 月，我們完成了對 Salient Partners 的收購，這是我們合併後的業務的第一個完整季度，包括 Salient 的能源基礎設施、戰術絕對回報、房地產和私人投資能力。

Salient also brought great people and synergistic distribution to Westwood. Included in our first quarter results were expenses of $280,000, representing the remaining Salient transaction costs. As part of the Salient transaction, we acquired a 47% ownership stake in Broadmark Asset Management. Those taxable absolute return strategies were key to the acquisition.

Salient 還為 Westwood 帶來了優秀的人才和協同分銷。我們第一季度的業績中包括 280,000 美元的費用，代表剩餘的顯著交易成本。作為 Salient 交易的一部分，我們收購了 Broadmark Asset Management 47% 的股權。這些應稅絕對回報策略是收購的關鍵。

We really like Broadmark's track record, solid client base and growth potential. We're pleased to report that during the quarter, we purchased a majority interest in Broadmark and now own nearly 80%. We're excited to partner with management to grow the business together over the next several years. U.S. equities rallied early in the quarter, but the market soon ran into difficulties, choppy corporate earnings, mixed economic data and a banking crisis slowed market momentum.

我們非常喜歡 Broadmark 的業績記錄、穩固的客戶群和增長潛力。我們很高興地報告，在本季度，我們購買了 Broadmark 的多數股權，現在擁有近 80% 的股份。我們很高興能與管理層合作，在未來幾年共同發展業務。美國股市在本季度初上漲，但市場很快陷入困境，企業盈利起伏不定、經濟數據喜憂參半以及銀行業危機減緩了市場勢頭。

Sticky inflation and a tight labor market kept the Fed on the path of additional interest rate increases, but despite all this turmoil, domestic equity markets ended the quarter in positive territory. Against the backdrop of market volatility and uncertainty, 80% of our U.S. value strategies outperformed their respective benchmarks and added to their solid long-term track records.

粘性通脹和吃緊的勞動力市場使美聯儲繼續加息，但儘管出現了所有這些動盪，國內股市在本季度結束時仍處於上漲區域。在市場波動和不確定性的背景下，我們 80% 的美國價值策略的表現優於各自的基準，並增加了它們穩固的長期業績記錄。

For trailing 1-, 5- and 10-year periods, those U.S. value strategies with track records extending into those periods, all came out ahead. Among our Morningstar peers, 60% of our U.S. value funds are top quartile for 1 year and one of our newest mutual funds, Westwood Quality AllCap landed in the ninth percentile for 1 year, while Quality SmallCap ranked eighth percentile.

對於過去的 1 年、5 年和 10 年期，那些在這些時期內有業績記錄的美國價值策略都領先。在我們的晨星同行中，我們 60% 的美國價值基金在一年內排名前四分之一，而我們最新的共同基金之一 Westwood Quality AllCap 在一年內排名第九，而 Quality SmallCap 排名第八。

Within the multi-asset team, our strategy spot through equity market volatility, fluctuating fixed income rates and large gaps in credit spreads. Multi-assets defensive posture led to underperformance relative to blended benchmarks, but our track record remains solid over the long term. For products with 3-year records, 3 of our 4 mutual funds, including our largest strategy, income opportunity, ranked in the top 20% in the Morningstar peer categories and are rated 4 or 5 stars.

在多資產團隊中，我們的策略通過股市波動、波動的固定收益利率和信用利差的巨大缺口來發現。多資產防禦態勢導致相對於混合基準表現不佳，但我們的業績記錄長期保持穩健。對於有 3 年記錄的產品，我們 4 隻共同基金中的 3 只，包括我們最大的策略收入機會，在晨星同行類別中排名前 20%，並被評為 4 星或 5 星。

In addition, our high income fund, both 6 percentile Morningstar peer performance for trailing 3 years and was just named as one of 2023's best U.S. taxable bond mutual funds by Investor's Business Daily. Our multi-asset teams investment approach applies top-down and bottom-up analytical tools with a focus on downside protection and its strategic and tactical allocation decisions have produced solid long-term results. Given the potential for dispersion of returns around asset classes, our suite of multi-asset products is well positioned to thrive in the current market environment and deliver attractive risk-adjusted absolute returns.

此外，我們的高收入基金過去 3 年的表現均優於晨星同行 6 個百分點，剛剛被《投資者商業日報》評為 2023 年美國最佳應稅債券共同基金之一。我們的多資產團隊投資方法採用自上而下和自下而上的分析工具，重點關注下行保護，其戰略和戰術分配決策產生了可靠的長期結果。鑑於資產類別的回報可能分散，我們的多資產產品套件已做好充分準備，可以在當前市場環境中蓬勃發展，並提供有吸引力的風險調整後絕對回報。

Our new Salient MLP and energy infrastructure, global real estate and select income strategies added to their solid performance records, but were not immune to this quarter's volatility. Our midstream energy portfolios had to endure more than a 15% swing from peak to trough for crude oil prices during the quarter and a 50% drop in natural gas prices.

我們新的 Salient MLP 和能源基礎設施、全球房地產和精選收入策略增加了他們穩健的業績記錄，但也未能倖免於本季度的波動。我們的中游能源投資組合不得不承受本季度原油價格從高峰到低谷超過 15% 的波動以及天然氣價格下跌 50%。

Yields and returns remain attractive across the asset class and provide a competitive alternative, particularly as supplies normalize and higher prices likely follow. We were pleased with the performance of Global Real Estate and select income. After declining in 2022, REIT common stocks and REIT preferreds rebounded early but gave back most of their positive performance by quarter end.

整個資產類別的收益率和回報率仍然具有吸引力，並提供了具有競爭力的替代方案，尤其是在供應正常化且價格可能隨之上漲的情況下。我們對全球房地產和精選收入的表現感到滿意。在 2022 年下跌之後，REIT 普通股和 REIT 優先股早早反彈，但在季度末回吐了大部分積極表現。

Our Select Income products seeks attractive income with cumulative preferred characteristics, higher absolute yields relative to the 10-year U.S. treasury and historically low correlation to interest rates. We believe that these strategies can provide investors with alternative sources of income, real assets with inflation protection, low correlations to traditional asset classes and the ability to mitigate market volatility.

我們的精選收益產品尋求具有吸引力的收益，具有累積偏好特徵、相對於 10 年期美國國債更高的絕對收益率以及歷史上與利率的低相關性。我們認為，這些策略可以為投資者提供替代收入來源、具有通脹保護的實物資產、與傳統資產類別的低相關性以及緩解市場波動的能力。

Our wealth management strategy has delivered mixed performance. Our newer high alpha product rebounded strongly, but our older, more defensive select equity strategies did not keep pace with the market driven higher mainly by the S&P 500 top 10 stocks. Widespread expectations for a volatile 2023 underscore the need to implement good risk management and our wealth strategies are positioned to preserve capital with strong downside capture and a flight to safety characteristics.

我們的財富管理策略取得了喜憂參半的業績。我們較新的高 alpha 產品強勁反彈，但我們較舊的、更具防禦性的精選股票策略未能跟上主要由標準普爾 500 指數前 10 大股票推動的市場走高。對 2023 年動蕩的普遍預期凸顯了實施良好風險管理的必要性，我們的財富戰略定位於通過強大的下行捕獲和逃避安全特徵來保護資本。

Shifting to distribution. Institutional flows were relatively flat with a net outflow of $18 million. The outflow was largely the result of a client rebalancing in large cap. As we assess the outlook for client retention, the relative lack of terminations, coupled with strong product performance indicates that we're well positioned to capture flows in a better environment for equities. Our performance in SmallCap and SMidCap gets us into consultant searches and our pipeline continues to build, including defined contribution plan wins, thanks to consultant approvals and the introduction a few years ago of well-priced collective funds designed specifically to accommodate DC plans. SmallCap and SMidCap both enjoyed positive flows this past quarter.

轉向分銷。機構資金流動相對平穩，淨流出 1800 萬美元。資金流出主要是客戶重新平衡大盤股的結果。在我們評估客戶保留前景時，相對較少的終止，加上強勁的產品性能，表明我們處於有利地位，可以在更好的股票環境中捕捉流量。我們在 SmallCap 和 SMidCap 的表現讓我們進入顧問搜索，我們的渠道繼續建立，包括定額供款計劃獲勝，這要歸功於顧問的批准和幾年前專門為適應 DC 計劃而設計的價格合理的集體基金的引入。 SmallCap 和 SMidCap 在上個季度都獲得了正流量。

In 2023, we'll continue to leverage our technology investments and relationships to increase direct sales opportunities and expand outsourced CIO relationships. In addition to growing our core U.S. value franchise and our multi-asset suite, we're eager to broaden our footprint with our new Salient energy and real asset capabilities as well as Broadmark's tactical strategies. Intermediary channel gross inflows of $178 million were fully offset, resulting in net outflows of $171 million.

2023 年，我們將繼續利用我們的技術投資和關係來增加直接銷售機會並擴大外包 CIO 關係。除了發展我們的核心美國價值特許經營權和我們的多資產套件外，我們還渴望通過我們新的突出能源和實物資產能力以及 Broadmark 的戰術戰略來擴大我們的足跡。中介渠道總流入 1.78 億美元被完全抵消，導致淨流出 1.71 億美元。

Industry-wide flows and risk assets across most investment categories were down, and our funds experienced similar trends. In fact, redemptions in the top 10 funds across the industry were all equity-focused funds while 18 of the top 20 best-selling funds were fixed income funds. Looking forward, we installed processes to position our distribution professionals to take advantage of rebounds in investor interest and to generate positive asset flows.

大多數投資類別的全行業流量和風險資產都下降了，我們的基金也經歷了類似的趨勢。事實上，全行業贖回前10名的基金都是股票型基金，而前20名最暢銷基金中有18只是固定收益基金。展望未來，我們安裝了流程來定位我們的分銷專業人員，以利用投資者興趣的反彈並產生積極的資產流動。

We strongly believe that the new broader lineup affected by the Salient transaction will be a meaningful addition to our distribution efforts. Our intermediary team is becoming fully integrated and is cross-training on Westwood, Salient and Broadmark strategies, while sharing each other's sales successes and best practices. We are actively working to raise awareness of our broader product set within established channels, and this typically takes some time. We have seeded and are incubating several products to extend our energy and infrastructure expertise.

我們堅信，受 Salient 交易影響的新的更廣泛的陣容將對我們的分銷工作做出有意義的補充。我們的中介團隊正在變得完全整合，並在 Westwood、Salient 和 Broadmark 策略方面進行交叉培訓，同時分享彼此的銷售成功經驗和最佳實踐。我們正積極努力在既定渠道內提高人們對我們更廣泛產品集的認識，這通常需要一些時間。我們已經播種並正在孵化多種產品，以擴展我們的能源和基礎設施專業知識。

The strategy is focused on energy infrastructure income, global lift in infrastructure and sustainable energy. The markets are highly uncertain, but our engagement with financial advisers and consultants is high and accelerating. Our intermediary distribution team completed over 660 unique meetings and most importantly, executed about half a dozen national adviser calls, representing interactions with literally thousands of financial advisers.

該戰略的重點是能源基礎設施收入、全球基礎設施建設和可持續能源。市場高度不確定，但我們與財務顧問和諮詢師的接觸很高，而且還在加速。我們的中介分銷團隊完成了 660 多次獨特的會議，最重要的是，執行了大約六個國家顧問電話，代表了與數千名財務顧問的互動。

Our significant investments in technology ensure that our distribution effort is focused and efficient, while maximizing impact with financial advisers and helping investors build better portfolios to achieve their financial goals. We are laying groundwork to capitalize on sales opportunities across our suite of products when the current risk adverse environment eases.

我們在技術方面的重大投資確保我們的分銷工作專注且高效，同時最大限度地提高財務顧問的影響力並幫助投資者建立更好的投資組合以實現其財務目標。噹噹前的風險不利環境緩解時，我們正在為利用我們產品套件的銷售機會奠定基礎。

Our wealth management business started the year slowly posting negative overall flows but client retention was strong here, too. Westwood Trust faced headwinds as high net worth investors delayed decisions, pending clear signals regarding the health of the economy. Many clients and prospective clients are entrepreneurs who intend to sell their firms and the combination of higher interest rates and a challenging financing environment has slowed down many transactions.

我們的財富管理業務年初緩慢出現整體負流量，但客戶保留率也很高。 Westwood Trust 面臨不利因素，因為高淨值投資者推遲了決策，等待有關經濟健康狀況的明確信號。許多客戶和潛在客戶都是打算出售公司的企業家，而利率上升和融資環境充滿挑戰的結合使許多交易放緩。

Despite these roadblocks, our high net worth pipeline remains healthy with more than 1/3 rated as late-stage opportunities. I'm pleased to report that we've initiated a new relationship with Vista Bank, which recently acquired Charis Bank, our partner at Westwood Private Bank. Vista Bank enjoys a solid reputation as an entrepreneur's bank and serves North, Central and West Texas through its 14 banking locations.

儘管存在這些障礙，我們的高淨值管道仍然健康，超過 1/3 被評為後期機會。我很高興地向大家報告，我們已經與 Vista Bank 建立了新的關係，Vista Bank 最近收購了我們在 Westwood Private Bank 的合作夥伴 Charis Bank。 Vista Bank 作為一家企業家銀行享有盛譽，並通過其 14 個銀行網點為德克薩斯州北部、中部和西部提供服務。

Vista Bank has a 111-year history and we look forward to building a strategic partnership in maintaining our shareholder relationship with them. In the spirit of our innovative culture as we hunt for ways to add value to clients during periods of market distress or dislocation. We have launched a regional bank strategy for our high net worth clients. Our strong fundamental research capabilities enabled us to launch the strategy very quickly given that many strong regional banks suddenly began trading at very sharp discounts to their intrinsic values.

Vista Bank 擁有 111 年的歷史，我們期待與他們建立戰略合作夥伴關係，以維護我們的股東關係。本著我們創新文化的精神，我們尋找在市場困境或混亂時期為客戶增加價值的方法。我們為高淨值客戶推出了區域銀行戰略。鑑於許多強大的地區性銀行突然開始以低於其內在價值的大幅折扣進行交易，我們強大的基本面研究能力使我們能夠非常迅速地推出該策略。

Before the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, our investment strategies were well underway in the banking sector, but as stock prices went through an immediate dramatic correction. Our investment team started purchasing shares of banks we believe will be long-term winners. This new strategy provides clients with concentrated way for our clients to take advantage of this opportunity.

在矽谷銀行倒閉之前，我們的投資策略在銀行業進行得很好，但隨著股價立即發生劇烈調整。我們的投資團隊開始購買我們認為將成為長期贏家的銀行股票。這種新策略為我們的客戶提供了集中的方式來利用這個機會。

In summary, despite last year's difficult market spilling into this year, Westwood remains laser-focused on execution. Solid investment performance, excellent client service and rapidly integrating the Salient acquisition are fundamental to our plan. Our investment teams continue their disciplined investment processes. Our distribution and client service folks are focused on retaining and adding clients and our entire business is hard at work integrating Salient Partners.

總而言之，儘管去年艱難的市場蔓延到今年，但韋斯特伍德仍然非常專注於執行。穩健的投資業績、卓越的客戶服務和快速整合 Salient 收購是我們計劃的基礎。我們的投資團隊繼續他們嚴格的投資流程。我們的分銷和客戶服務人員專注於保留和增加客戶，我們的整個業務都在努力整合 Salient Partners。

It remains to be seen what the markets deliver over the coming year. We expect volatility to continue, and we believe our disciplined processes focused on quality put us in a great position to attract new clients as the economy improves. We're looking forward to our newly expanded suite of products serving us well this year and appreciate your support.

市場在來年的表現還有待觀察。我們預計波動將繼續，我們相信我們以質量為重點的嚴格流程使我們在經濟好轉時處於吸引新客戶的有利位置。我們期待著我們新擴展的產品套件在今年為我們提供良好的服務，並感謝您的支持。

Thanks, Brian, and good afternoon, everyone. Today, we reported total revenues of $22.7 million for the first quarter of 2023 compared to $20.5 million in the fourth quarter and $17.2 million in the prior year's first quarter. Revenues were higher than the fourth quarter and last year's first quarter, reflecting higher average assets under management, following our 2022 acquisition of Salient Partners asset management business.

謝謝，布萊恩，大家下午好。今天，我們報告 2023 年第一季度的總收入為 2270 萬美元，而第四季度為 2050 萬美元，去年第一季度為 1720 萬美元。收入高於第四季度和去年第一季度，反映出在我們 2022 年收購 Salient Partners 資產管理業務之後，管理的平均資產有所增加。

First quarter net income of $0.7 million or $0.09 per share compared favorably with a net loss of $3.1 million or $0.40 per share in the fourth quarter due to higher revenues and lower expenses, primarily related to our 2022 acquisition of Salient Partners asset management business, including approximately $5.3 million of acquisition-related expenses in the prior year quarter.

第一季度淨收入為 70 萬美元或每股 0.09 美元，相比第四季度的淨虧損 310 萬美元或每股 0.40 美元有利，原因是收入增加和支出減少，這主要與我們 2022 年收購 Salient Partners 資產管理業務有關，包括去年同期約有 530 萬美元的收購相關費用。

Non-GAAP economic earnings were $3.6 million or $0.45 per share in the current quarter versus a loss of $0.7 million or $0.09 per share in the fourth quarter. First quarter net income of $0.7 million or $0.09 per share compared favorably with last year's first quarter net income of $0.1 million or $0.01 per share, primarily on higher revenues, partially offset by higher expenses, primarily employee compensation and benefits expenses following our 2022 acquisition of Salient Partners asset Management business. Economic earnings for the quarter were $3.6 million or $0.45 per share compared with $1.9 million or $0.24 per share in the first quarter of 2022.

本季度非 GAAP 經濟收益為 360 萬美元或每股 0.45 美元，而第四季度虧損 70 萬美元或每股 0.09 美元。第一季度淨收入 70 萬美元或每股 0.09 美元，優於去年第一季度淨收入 10 萬美元或每股 0.01 美元，這主要是由於收入增加，部分被增加的支出所抵消，主要是我們 2022 年收購後的員工薪酬和福利支出Salient Partners 資產管理業務。本季度的經濟收益為 360 萬美元或每股 0.45 美元，而 2022 年第一季度為 190 萬美元或每股 0.24 美元。

Firm-wide assets under management and advisement totaled $16.2 billion at quarter end, consisting of assets under management of $15 billion and assets under advisement of $1.2 billion. Assets under management consisted of institutional assets of $7 billion or 47% of the total, wealth management assets of $3.8 billion or 25% of the total and mutual fund assets of $4.1 billion or 28% of the total.

截至本季度末，全公司管理和諮詢資產總額為 162 億美元，其中管理資產為 150 億美元，諮詢資產為 12 億美元。管理的資產包括機構資產70億美元，佔總資產的47%，財富管理資產38億美元，佔總資產的25%，共同基金資產41億美元，佔總資產的28%。

Over the quarter, we experienced market appreciation of $0.3 billion and net outflows of $145 million. Assets under advisement remained relatively flat at $1.2 billion quarter-over-quarter. Our financial position continues to be very solid with cash and short-term investments at quarter end totaling $32.3 million and a debt-free balance sheet.

在本季度，我們經歷了 3 億美元的市場增值和 1.45 億美元的淨流出。接受諮詢的資產環比持平，為 12 億美元。我們的財務狀況繼續非常穩固，季度末的現金和短期投資總額為 3230 萬美元，資產負債表無債務。

(technical difficulty) pleased to announce that our Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.15 per share payable on July 3, 2023, to stockholders of record on June 2, 2023. That brings our prepared comments to a close. We encourage you to review our investor presentation we have posted on our website, reflecting quarterly highlights as well as a discussion of our business, product development and longer-term trends in revenues and earnings. We thank you for your interest in our company, and we'll open the line to questions.

（技術困難）很高興地宣布，我們的董事會批准於 2023 年 7 月 3 日向 2023 年 6 月 2 日登記在冊的股東派發每股 0.15 美元的季度現金股息。我們準備好的評論到此結束。我們鼓勵您查看我們在網站上發布的投資者介紹，其中反映了季度亮點以及對我們的業務、產品開發以及收入和收益的長期趨勢的討論。感謝您對我們公司的關注，我們將打開問題熱線。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from Mac Sykes with Gabelli.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Mac Sykes 和 Gabelli。

I just -- if I were to think about the progression of margins this year, could you maybe talk about it from perhaps if AUM just stays flat for the rest of the year? And then that's one scenario and then maybe perhaps another scenario, organic growth and the markets are a little more favorable. How do you see the margins progressing kind of a better top line environment?

我只是 - 如果我要考慮今年利潤率的進展，你能不能談談，如果 AUM 在今年餘下的時間裡保持平穩？然後這是一種情況，然後也許是另一種情況，有機增長和市場更有利。您如何看待利潤率在更好的頂線環境中的進步？

Yes. So Mac, I would say with AUM staying where it is, I would expect that we would see some margin expansion as we focus on costs especially in the compensation and benefits line item. And organic growth, again, I would expect to see some margin expansion as we're able to take advantage of the scale that our platform offers in addition to what we acquired with Salient, which was, again, expected to leverage off of our existing platform.

是的。所以 Mac，我想說 AUM 保持不變，我希望我們會看到一些利潤率增長，因為我們專注於成本，尤其是在薪酬和福利項目中。有機增長，我希望看到一些利潤率的增長，因為除了我們從 Salient 獲得的東西之外，我們還能夠利用我們平台提供的規模，這再次預計將利用我們現有的平台。

And I would just follow on with that, Mac, and point out that in the first quarter, we had nearly $1 million of nonrecurring items that impacted our earnings, namely the aforementioned $280,000 of deal cost, legal expenses of $421,000, a headcount reduction and force expense of $205,000 and then a small loss on a seed money investment of $91,000.

Mac，我只想繼續說下去，並指出在第一季度，我們有近 100 萬美元的非經常性項目影響了我們的收入，即上述 280,000 美元的交易成本、421,000 美元的法律費用、裁員和205,000 美元的強制費用，然後是 91,000 美元的種子資金投資的小額虧損。

I'd also like to report that we held our Annual Shareholders Meeting today and all items were approved. I would like to thank our loyal long-term shareholders for your support and we'll endeavor to deliver results for you in the year ahead.

我還想報告一下，我們今天召開了年度股東大會，所有項目都獲得了批准。我要感謝我們忠實的長期股東的支持，我們將努力在來年為您取得成果。

And finally, I want to close with a few comments on performance, sales and sales technology. Performance for our U.S. value has been excellent. They've really delivered especially in the growth areas of SmallCap and SMidCap. Not only did both of these products have great quarters, but their trailing 1-year performance is over 1,100 basis points ahead for SmallCap and over 600 basis points ahead for SMidCap.

最後，我想以一些關於績效、銷售和銷售技術的評論作為結束。我們的美國價值表現非常出色。他們確實在 SmallCap 和 SMidCap 的增長領域表現出色。這兩種產品不僅季度表現出色，而且它們過去 1 年的表現比 SmallCap 高出 1,100 多個基點，比 SMidCap 高出 600 個基點以上。

So this sets us up really well for increased search activity in both products, and we do hope to see more flows from the OCIO channel for our SMid product. And with respect to sales, most CIOs and strategists out there are calling for a recession and lower equity market levels from here and buyers of equities have retreated from buying equities in favor of brokered CDs, high-yield cash management, fixed income.

因此，這為我們在這兩種產品中增加搜索活動做好了準備，我們確實希望看到來自我們 SMid 產品的 OCIO 渠道的更多流量。在銷售方面，大多數首席信息官和策略師都呼籲經濟衰退和股市水平從這裡開始下降，股票買家已經不再購買股票，轉而購買經紀 CD、高收益現金管理和固定收益。

And most of our products are equity-oriented, so sales have been slower in this equity risk off environment. But our internal work suggests a shallow recession, and our sales team is outlaying the great groundwork for when flows and buyer preferences shift back towards equities. So our prospect and adviser engagement is higher than it's ever been. And our sales technology has improved remarkably with the integration of Salient. Salient literally spent millions implementing a sales force-driven system. And it allows us to see, number one, all our flows from mutual funds to SMA, UMA, private funds, separate accounts, all in one place. It allows us to see focused rep lifts and meeting tags to improve our efficiency and our tracking sales lead generation tools like Dakota, Magnifi and [AMP] and a dashboard for activity by region and by rep in real time every day.

而且我們的大部分產品都是以股權為導向的，因此在這種股權風險規避環境下，銷售速度較慢。但我們的內部工作表明經濟衰退很輕微，我們的銷售團隊正在為流量和買家偏好何時重新轉向股票打下良好的基礎。因此，我們的潛在客戶和顧問參與度比以往任何時候都高。隨著 Salient 的整合，我們的銷售技術有了顯著提高。 Salient 確實花費了數百萬美元實施銷售人員驅動的系統。第一，它讓我們能夠在一個地方看到我們從共同基金到 SMA、UMA、私人基金、獨立賬戶的所有流量。它使我們能夠看到有針對性的代表提升和會議標籤，以提高我們的效率和我們跟踪銷售線索生成工具，如 Dakota、Magnifi 和 [AMP]，以及每天按地區和代表實時顯示活動的儀表板。

So this improved data set has allowed us to be more collaborative in attacking institutional intermediary in a new category, which we call InstaMediary, which is really the large RIAs or asset owners who behave more like institutional allocators than one-off product sales. And we've installed a firm-wide travel calendar now to help our sales and client service teams maximize their meeting opportunities by making more efficient use of our portfolio managers travel time away from the office.

因此，這個改進的數據集使我們能夠更加協作地攻擊一個新類別中的機構中介，我們稱之為 InstaMediary，它實際上是大型 RIA 或資產所有者，他們的行為更像是機構分配者，而不是一次性產品銷售。我們現在已經安裝了一個全公司範圍的旅行日曆，以幫助我們的銷售和客戶服務團隊通過更有效地利用我們的投資組合經理離開辦公室的旅行時間來最大限度地增加他們的會議機會。

And what we have ended up with together now is an opportunity set that's more diversified than it's ever been split between wirehouse, broker-dealer, RIA, clearing firms, TAMP and institutions. And we have the largest sales force in our history. We're excited to see how this unfolds in the years ahead. April has been a better institutional flow month. We're now positive year-to-date on institutional flows. And we've recently uncovered some new search opportunities. So we appreciate your time. I don't know if there's any other questions, operator?

我們現在最終得到的是一個機會集，它比以往任何時候在電訊公司、經紀自營商、RIA、清算公司、TAMP 和機構之間的分配都更加多樣化。我們擁有歷史上最大的銷售隊伍。我們很高興看到這在未來幾年會如何發展。 4 月是一個更好的機構流動月。年初至今，我們對機構流動持樂觀態度。我們最近發現了一些新的搜索機會。所以我們感謝你的時間。不知道接線員還有什麼問題嗎？

No more in the queue for questions.

無需再排隊提問。

Okay. Very good. Well, thank you all for your time. And please call myself or Terry, if you have any further questions or visit westwoodgroup.com. Thank you.

好的。非常好。好吧，謝謝大家的寶貴時間。如果您有任何其他問題或訪問 westwoodgroup.com，請致電我本人或 Terry。謝謝。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連接。