AllianceBernstein Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
February 7, 2024

There are 11 speakers on the call.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Alliance Bernstein 4th Quarter 2023 Earnings Review. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. After the remarks, there will be a question and answer session, and I will give you instructions on how to ask questions at that time. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded and will be available for replay on our website shortly after the conclusion of this call. I would now like to turn the conference over to the host for this call, Head of Investor Relations for AllianceBernstein, Mr.

Operator

Mark Griffin.

Speaker 1

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our Q4 2023 earnings review. This conference call is being With us today to discuss the company's results for the quarter are Seth Bernstein, our President and CEO Matt Bass, Head of Private Alternatives and Bill Siems, Interim CFO. Onur Erzon, Head of Global Client Group and Private Wealth will join us for questions after our prepared remarks. Some of the information we'll present today is forward looking and subject to certain SEC rules and regulations regarding disclosure.

Speaker 1

So I'd like to point out safe harbor language on Slide 2 of our presentation. You can also find our safe harbor language in the MD and A of our 10 ks, which we will file on Friday, February 9. Under Regulation FD, management may only address questions of material nature from the investment community in a public forum. So please ask all such questions during this call. Now I'll turn it over to Seth.

Speaker 2

Good morning and thank you for joining us today. Financial Markets enjoyed a Strong rally to end 2023 as investors anticipated a shift in Fed policy to lower interest rates in 2024. In 2023, AB was among the beneficiaries of the early wave of fixed income reallocations with 2 of 3 channels growing organically. We drove continued market share gains in U. S.

Speaker 2

Retail led by municipal SMA and taxable fixed income. We also saw strong cross border fixed income flows. We made good progress in our key strategic initiatives, launching 10 active ETFs, now 12 in total at $1,500,000,000 in assets under management ceding approval for our wholly owned China Fund Management Company license and growing our relationship with Equitable in support of our private markets platform, which Matt Bass will touch on further. Looking ahead, U. S.

Speaker 2

Money Market Funds entered the year at a record $6,000,000,000,000 in AUM, some of which we expect will migrate to higher return opportunities as the rate cycle turns over later this year. Now let's get into the specifics, starting with a firm wide overview on Slide 4. 4th quarter gross sales were $28,300,000,000 down $2,600,000,000 from the year ago period. Firm wide active net outflows were $2,800,000,000 Full year gross sales of $101,500,000,000 compared to 115.6 $1,000,000,000 last year. Adjusting for 2 large custom target date sales in 2022 totaling $16,000,000,000 Firm wide sales rose slightly year over year.

Speaker 2

Full year active net outflows were $5,200,000,000 snapping a streak of 4 straight years of firm wide active organic growth. Year end asset under management of $725,000,000,000 increased by 12% year over year and 8% from the end of the third quarter, while 4th quarter average assets under management were up 8% from the prior year and full year average AUM was down 1%. Slide 5 shows our quarterly flow trend by channel. Firm wide, 4th quarter net outflows were $1,800,000,000 Strong retail gross sales of $21,000,000,000 increased 47% year over year and 24% sequentially, driven by both fixed income and equities. Net inflows were $1,300,000,000 as we continued to gain share in fixed income, up 14% annualized organically.

Speaker 2

Our institutional channel had gross sales of $3,000,000,000 down versus prior periods with last year's Q4 including $6,400,000,000 from custom target date Sales. Net outflows were $2,500,000,000 In Private Wealth, gross sales were healthy at $4,300,000,000 driven by taxable fixed income and munis. Net outflows were $600,000,000 from some seasonal impact from year end tax related planning. Turning to annual net flow trends on Slide 6. In a challenging year for active managers, Gross sales of $101,000,000,000 led to firm wide net outflows of $7,000,000,000 or 1.1 percent attrition.

Speaker 2

Still, our average organic growth rate over the last 5 years was positive 2%. Retail sales of $71,000,000,000 grew by 8% year over year. Net inflows of $3,700,000,000 were driven by strength in taxable fixed income and munis. Institutional sales of $11,800,000,000 declined from $32,000,000,000 last year as we compared against last year's $1,000,000,000 in custom target date fundings. 2023 net outflows were 11,800,000,000 Private Wealth had strong gross sales of $18,600,000,000 with net inflows of $1,100,000,000 the 3rd straight year of organic growth.

Speaker 2

Investment performance is shown on Slide 7. Starting with fixed income, both government bonds and credit risk assets finished 2023 on a high note as bond yields fell sharply with most central banks ending their hiking cycle. The 4th quarter rally brought full year developed market treasury returns to 6.7% as measured by Bloomberg Global Treasury Index on a hedge basis. Most credit risk sectors posted strong relative returns to government bonds with developed markets high yield up 13.8% and emerging markets local currency bonds up 12.7%. AB's fixed income performance remains strong with 75% of assets outperforming over the 1 year period, 73% over the 3 year and 77% over the 5 year.

Speaker 2

In 2023, we experienced $5,200,000,000 of net inflows into our American Income Fund, as clients looking to put cash to work strong gains in the 4th quarter with the S and P 500 up 12%. Market breadth improved with previously lagging segments of the market rebounding Small caps outperformed large caps and value outperformed growth. Large cap index returns in 2023 were concentrated within the Magnificent Seven stocks seen as leading beneficiaries of the AI revolution. Representing more than a quarter of the index, these stocks disproportionately drove cap weighted S and P 500's total return of 26% versus 14% for the equal weighted version. When combined with stock selection, our performance continued to lag the mega cap tilted benchmarks with 26% of equity assets outperforming over the 1 year period, 45% over the 3 year and 42% outperforming over the 5 year period.

Speaker 2

Our research process remains robust and our views are fundamentally driven. Over time, we believe the sources of market returns will broaden relative to the recent period concentrated returns encompassing a more fundamentally driven environment. Relative to peers, we continue outperformed the Morningstar peer group over the longer term with 62% 68% of our equity assets outperforming over the 3 5 year periods respectively. Now I'll review our client channels, beginning with retail on Slide 8. Gross sales for the Q4 and the full year increased versus prior periods.

Speaker 2

The full year redemption rate normalized to 28% versus a historically low 24% last year. We generated net inflows of $1,300,000,000 in the quarter and $3,700,000,000 for the year with strength in cross border fixed income and U. S. Retail outpacing equity outflows. U.

Speaker 2

S. Retail grew organically for the 5th consecutive year with $9,000,000,000 of net inflows, up 11% in 2023 and up 9% on average over the last 5 years. Our U. S. LargeCap Growth product $1,400,000,000 of net inflows driven by U.

Speaker 2

S. Demand and we posted our 11th straight year of municipals growth with net flows up 5,000,000,000 growing 19% organically. In taxable fixed income, we grew by 9% organically with 5 point in American Income as well as Money Markets. As shown on the bottom right, we ranked in the top 2% of U. S.

Speaker 2

Retail Flows income flows with the number one rankings in muni income, global high yield and American income. We launched 10 active ETFs in 2023 with a total of 12 now at $1,500,000,000 in assets under management. Turning to Institutional on Slide 9. 4th quarter gross sales were $3,000,000,000 with net outflows of $2,500,000,000 Full year gross sales were $11,800,000,000 coincidentally, net outflows were $11,800,000,000 driven by equities and multi asset. Our pipeline was $12,000,000,000 at quarter end down $500,000,000 sequentially.

Speaker 2

4th quarter fundings were $1,500,000,000 led by AB Carbell's residential mortgage and renewable energy strategies and lowballhighyield. In the quarter, we added over $1,000,000,000 in active equity mandates led by $600,000,000 in Global Core and $325,000,000 in U. S. Mid value. Equitable's initial $10,000,000,000 private market program is now 90 percent deployed and we were pleased in December to announce the launch of the PCI NAV Lending Strategy supported by a $500,000,000 commitment from Equitable.

Speaker 2

Moving to Private Wealth on Slide 10. 4th quarter gross sales of $4,300,000,000 rose 6% year over year and 7% sequentially. And 2023 gross sales of $18,600,000,000 were up 6% year over year. We posted strong sales in money market funds, municipals and proprietary passive equity tax harvesting strategy, which grew to $3,600,000,000 posting strong annualized organic growth of 41%. 4th quarter net outflows of $600,000,000 reflected some seasonal impact from year end tax related planning, while full Year net inflows of $1,100,000,000 represented our 3rd straight year of organic growth.

Speaker 2

We've experienced strong productivity growth in our financial advisors, Averaging 8% annually since 2018 and we continue to invest in FAA headcount of 5% at year end versus the prior year. Alternative capital raises were $1,900,000,000 led by our secondary's partnership with LSV, Real Estate Equity and our Private Credit business. I'll finish our business overview with the sell side on Slide 11. 4th quarter Bernstein Research revenues of $100,000,000 were flat year over year and increased 7% sequentially. We saw a modest improvement in the U.

Speaker 2

S, though key global markets remained subdued. Full year revenues of $386,000,000 declined by 7% as institutional trading activity remained constrained. We launched diversified new sector coverage and hosted 2 client centric conferences, Healthcare Services Disruptors and U. S. Quant.

Speaker 2

We had 12 top ranked analysts in Institutional Investors All American Research Team survey and ranked in the top 10 in generalist sales and trading. Our joint venture with Societe Generale is on track to close in the first half of twenty twenty four. We anticipate closing further financial details closer to that time. I'll conclude by reviewing the status of our strategic initiatives on Slide 12. Performance in fixed income was strong for all periods, while equities continued to lag based on stock selection versus concentrated large cap benchmarks.

Speaker 2

2 of our 3 channels grew organically, retail and private wealth. Fixed income net flows grew by 5% with robust growth in U. S. Retail where our muni SMA platform reached $23,000,000,000 in AUM, up 36% versus the prior year. We were also pleased to be awarded a license for our wholly owned China Fund Management Company.

Speaker 2

4th quarter adjusted operating income was up 6% year over year. Operating margin of 29.2% was down 80 basis points and earnings and unitholder distributions of $0.77 per unit were up 10%. Full year 2023 operating income declined by 1%, margins of 28.2% declined by 70 basis points And earnings per unit of $2.69 declined 9% year over year. Lastly, we're pleased that Jackie Marks has joined our team and will be appointed Chief Financial Officer on March 1. We thank our Interim Chief Financial Officer, Bill Seamers, for his dedication and service to AB, and I wish him all the best in his retirement.

Speaker 2

Now I'll turn the call over to Matt Bass, Head of Private Alternatives to discuss our middle market lending business. Matt? Thanks, Seth,

Speaker 3

and good morning, everyone. I'm excited to discuss with you today AB's Private Markets Business with a focus on our corporate direct lending business, AB Private Credit Investors. Turning to Slide 14. Over the last decade, we've built a scaled private markets platform. Now approximately $61,000,000,000 in AUM, we're up about 9% year over year.

Speaker 3

Our focus is on credit oriented strategies, a core competency that aligns with the firm's long standing liquid credit business. Notably, with the acquisition of AB CarVal, which closed in 2022, AB now ranks in the top 20 private debt managers according to Private Debt Investor. Highlighted at last May's Equitable Investor Day, our goal is to grow private markets AUM to $90,000,000,000 to $100,000,000,000 by 2027, supported by Equitable's $20,000,000,000 permanent capital commitment. At this level of AUM, private markets will represent more than 20% of our asset management revenues. We're well along on our path with private markets generating approximately 14% of asset management revenue in 2023, up from approximately 9% the prior year.

Speaker 3

Today, we're focusing on AB Private Credit Investors or ABPCI, Our middle market private lending and sponsor fund finance business, which manages more than $17,000,000,000 in AUM. Turning to Slide 15, ABPCI is a scaled platform and team with a strong reputation. Team focuses on lending to businesses in the core middle market With further focus on sectors that exhibit our targeted investment characteristics, we have a strong track record of performance, which has been delivered to a diverse array of clients through a number of different perpetual vehicles. We're excited to highlight the differentiating aspects of this platform and our plan to execute on a focused organic growth strategy. On the next slide, we introduce the team.

Speaker 3

We got to know Brent Humphries and ABPCI's other founding team members in 2013 when we were looking to expand into direct lending. We'd love to have Brent join us today, but he's in Europe this week meeting with clients. Following the lift out of the team that led a comparable investment strategy at Barclays From 2008 to 2013, ABPCI was established in 2014 with the founding team of 5 and initial capital provided by Equitable. The team has grown to more than 75 professionals facilitated by continued investment and strong retention. Notably, the team is based in Austin, Texas, although it has origination capabilities across the U.

Speaker 3

S. ABPCI currently manages more than $17,000,000,000 in capital, as I mentioned, has invested nearly $25,000,000,000 since inception, spanning nearly 600 transactions and aided by our broad sponsor relationships. Turning to Slide 17. The following factors differentiate ABPCI's investment strategy. ABPCI focuses on directly originated and privately negotiated senior secured loans, specifically loans to borrowers in the core U.

Speaker 3

S. Middle market that are backed by leading financial sponsors. We invest in sectors that exhibit our target investment characteristics, such as recurring revenue or sectors with defensive characteristics. This has led to AVPCI principally investing in sectors such as software and technology, digital infrastructure and services, Healthcare and Related IT and Business Services. Lastly, we're highly selective on the transactions we execute, evident in our 4% historical close rate.

Speaker 3

Additional statistics at the bottom of this slide further dimension our market positioning and the profile of our borrowers. Slide 18 highlights ABPCI's consistent long term performance track record underpinned by our proven asset selection strategy. As previously mentioned, AB TCI's target investment characteristics have led our team to invest principally in select sectors, which ultimately has contributed to the strong performance we have generated for our clients. We realized consistent low double digit returns for all three of our levered core institutional vehicles, including the predecessor fund the team managed dating back to 2,008. Turning to Slide 19, let's talk about how we deliver investment solutions our clients along with some of our newer product innovations.

Speaker 3

Within our direct lending strategy, ADPCI manages perpetual vehicles, including 4 commingled accounts and 3 customized accounts with large institutional clients. The various funds generally employ the same asset selection strategy And therefore, ABPCI typically has launched new funds to provide solutions to new client subsets. For example, we launched our 1st direct lending fund in 2015, which provided a solution for taxable and super tax exempt clients. In 2018, we launched the 2nd direct lending fund to accommodate tax exempt clients. Thereafter, in 2020, ABPCI launched a 3rd private fund, an unlevered solution, principally to accommodate select non U.

Speaker 3

S. Clients on a tax efficient basis. Looking ahead for this year, we anticipate launching a 4th private fund and will accommodate a wider range of non U. S. Clients.

Speaker 3

Furthermore, We plan to launch a public non traded BDC in 2024, providing a solution to retail clients globally. This BDC will complement our existing private BDC, which we have historically distributed exclusively through the Bernstein Private Wealth Channel. Lastly, we plan to launch an insurance dedicated fund in 2024 with an emphasis on tax efficiency. Importantly, direct lending solutions are perpetual, which provides clients with ongoing exposure to the asset class and a number of other benefits. The perpetual nature of the funds also allow the platform to scale more easily without the launch of consecutive or traditional vintage style funds.

Speaker 3

On the Private Equity Solutions side, ABPCI co manages a series of closed end funds focused on private equity fund investments and minority equity co investments in partnership with Abbot Capital. Here we have annual vintages dating back to 2019. And in early December, we announced the launch of a new NAV lending strategy supported by an initial $500,000,000 commitment from Equitable. Slide 20 shows the robust organic growth that we have realized over the past 9 years. We've grown the platform from just $500,000,000 at the time of the initial team lift out to over $17,000,000,000 today or CAGR of nearly 50% over the last decade.

Speaker 3

We believe this growth reflects AB PCI's ability to generate strong performance in our core investment strategy delivered to an expanding client base perpetual funds through 80s global distribution. We're excited to make meaningful progress towards our 20 27 targets through expanding our existing solutions, accessing new client segments and extending into adjacencies. Let's discuss each of these on Slide 21. Plan to continue to scale our core strategy through a combination of factors. 1st, growing existing vehicles and solutions, In particular, our perpetual funds, thereby providing additional capital for our core investment strategy.

Speaker 3

2nd, launching new vehicles and solutions such as our expected new launches for 2024 to further penetrate existing client channels and access new ones across institutional, Private Wealth and Retail and Insurance. The final part of our growth strategy is to extend into adjacencies as exemplified by our recently announced into NAV lending. We will continue to work with clients, including Equitable, to assess future adjacencies that leverage our core capabilities. To summarize, we're excited about the breadth and strength of AD Private Credit Investors. We have a strong team with proven performance a well structured platform with evergreen vehicles serving a wide array of clients, allowing us to drive consistent growth.

Speaker 3

We have an organic growth plan that we are executing that contributes to our private markets target of $90,000,000,000 to $100,000,000,000 in AUM by 2027, All supported by Equitable's permanent capital commitments, AB's Private Wealth Business and AB's broad global institutional and retail footprint. Now, I'll turn it over to Bill to walk through the financials. Bill?

Speaker 4

Thanks. Let's start with the GAAP income statement on Slide 23. 4th quarter GAAP net revenues of $1,100,000,000 increased 10% from the prior year period. Operating income of $238,000,000 increased 17% And operating margin of 20.6 percent increased by 60 basis points. GAAP PPU of $0.71 in the quarter increased by 20% year over year.

Speaker 4

For the full year, GAAP net revenues of $4,200,000,000 increased 3%. Operating income of $818,000,000 increased by 3,000,000 And operating margin of 19.1% decreased by 2 40 basis points. Full year GAAP EPU of $2.34 decreased by 13% year over year. I'll focus my remarks from here on our adjusted results, which remove the effect certain items that are not considered part of our core operating business. We base our distribution to unitholders on our adjusted results, which we provide in addition to and not as a substitute for our GAAP results.

Speaker 4

Our standard GAAP reporting and a reconciliation of GAAP to adjusted turn in our presentation appendix, press release and 10 ks. Our adjusted financial highlights are shown on Slide 24, which I'll touch on as we talk through the P and L on Slide 25. On Slide 25, beginning with revenues. Net revenues of $871,000,000 increased 9% versus the prior year period. For the full year, net revenues of $3,400,000,000 increased by 1% versus 2022.

Speaker 4

4th quarter base fees increased by 3% versus the prior year period as 8% higher average AUM was offset by a lower fee rate. The 4th quarter fee rate of 39.6 basis points decreased 4% year over year, driven by mix, reflecting organic growth into lower fee rate fixed income products and a full quarter impact from last December's large low fee custom target date inflow. The full year fee rate of 39.9 basis points was flat year over year. 4th quarter performance fees of $51,000,000 increased $33,000,000 from the prior year period and full year performance fees of $126,000,000 were up $35,000,000 from the prior year, both driven by higher fees at Private Credit Services and AB CarVal. 4th quarter revenues for Bernstein Research services of $100,000,000 were flat with the prior year period.

Speaker 4

Full year revenues of $386,000,000 declined 7%, reflecting declines in customer trading activity across all regions as a result of market conditions. 4th quarter dividend and revenues increased by 4% versus the prior year due to higher dividends and interest earned on broker dealer investments. At the same time, 4th quarter broker dealer interest expense associated with our Private Wealth brokerage accounts decreased by 22% due to lower interest paid on customer balances. For the full year, dividend and interest revenues increased 103% versus last year due to higher dividends and interest earned on broker dealer investments, while broker dealer interest expense increased 62% due to higher interest paid on customer balances. Moving to adjusted expenses.

Speaker 4

All in, our total 4th quarter operating expenses of $617,000,000 were up 10% year over year. Full year operating expenses of $2,400,000,000 rose by 2% versus the prior year, well below inflation levels. 4th quarter total compensation and benefits expense was up 12% versus the prior year period, driven by a 9% increase in revenues and slightly higher compensation ratio of 47.7 percent of adjusted net revenues as compared to 46.4% in the prior year period. Our 4th quarter compensation ratio of 47.7 percent came in below our expectations, reflecting the 4th quarter market rally and continued discipline in our compensation process. For the full year, compensation and benefits increased by 2%, driven by a 9% increase in base compensation, offset by a 13% decrease in commissions.

Speaker 4

For the full year 2023 compensation ratio was 49.0%, 60 basis points above the prior year as wage inflation outpaced a 1% increase in revenues. We entered 2024 with AUM levels 7% above the 2023 average, driven by 2023's market rally. Given market conditions, we plan to accrue at a 49.0 percent compensation ratio in the Q1 of 2024, below last year's Q1 level of 49.5 percent and may adjust further throughout the year. Promotion and servicing costs increased by 18% from the prior year period, driven by higher T and E and firm meetings. For the full year, promotion and servicing costs increased 2% or 1% excluding AV CarVal, for which we had 4 quarters in 20 23 versus 2 quarters in 2022, as higher T and E and firm meetings were partially offset by lower trade execution and clearance.

Speaker 4

G and A expenses were up 2% in the 4th quarter versus the prior year period, below inflation levels. For the full year, G and A increased by 1% and was down 1% excluding CarVal. Higher office and related expenses and professional fees were offset by lower portfolio services expenses and a favorable FX impact. Looking forward to 2024, We are targeting promotion and servicing and G and A growth up low single digits below inflation levels. We remain committed to managing expenses given a continued volatile macroeconomic environment.

Speaker 4

4th quarter adjusted operating income of $254,000,000 increased by 6 versus the prior year period, while full year 2023 operating income of $951,000,000 decreased by 1%. 4th quarter adjusted operating margin of 29.2 percent decreased 80 basis points year on year, while full year 2023 operating margin of 28.2 percent decreased 70 basis points from 2022. Below the adjusted operating income line, 4th quarter interest expense increased by $4,000,000 from the prior year period and for the full year. Interest expense increased by $36,000,000 reflecting higher interest rates and higher average As outlined in the appendix of our presentation, 4th quarter earnings exclude certain items which are not part of our core business operations. In the Q4, adjusted operating earnings were $16,000,000 above GAAP operating earnings due to acquisition related expenses and interest expense.

Speaker 4

Non GAAP EPU was $0.06 above GAAP EPU, primarily reflecting acquisition related expenses. The 4th quarter effective tax rate for ABLP was an approximate 1% tax credit, reflecting a one time tax benefit of $22,500,000 from the release valuation allowance on a capital loss tax asset. For the full year, the effective tax rate for ABLP was 3.6%. This compares to 4.9% in 2022, lower principally due to the aforementioned valuation allowance release. Our guidance for ABLP's effective tax rate in 2024 is a range of 7% to 7.5%, reflecting our expanding business in non U.

Speaker 4

S. Markets, some of which are experiencing higher tax rates. We also expect the Bernstein Research JV transaction to trigger a one time tax gain in 2024. Post 2024, a normalized effective tax rate would be a range of 6% to 6.5%. For the full year 2023, the Nashville relocation generated $23,000,000 of savings or $0.08 per unit, with compensation related savings more than offsetting increased occupancy costs.

Speaker 4

This compares with $19,000,000 of savings in 2022. We expect the Nashville relocation will be accretive for the full year $75,000,000 in 2025, following the lease expiration at 1345 Sixth Avenue in December 2024. With that, we are pleased to answer your questions. Operator?

Operator

Thank And we will take our first question from Alex Blostein with Goldman Sachs. Your line is open.

Speaker 5

Hey, Seth. Hey, everybody. Good morning. Thanks for the question. I appreciate the extra discussion around private lending, definitely really helpful and an important driver for the firm.

Speaker 5

So I guess on that note, You highlighted a number of new initiatives in private markets for 2024. And based on the public data, It looks like the retail dynamics are still quite strong off to a pretty good start in January. So just maybe zooming out, what are your guys' expectations for organic base fee growth for 2024 since it feels like there's some positive dynamics in the fee rate that are also unfolding in the business?

Speaker 4

Hi, Alex, this is Phil. For 2024, we expect the fee rate It'll continue to be mix dependent. In 2023, as you know, we experienced organic growth in lower fee products such as money markets, muni SMAs, Well, seeing outflows and higher fee active equities. So I mean, we're going to continue to be dependent on the markets on interest rate movements during the year and investor risk and return appetite. I mean, on the positive side here, it's also Institutional, as we've mentioned, is supported by a high private wealth exposure with the pipeline fee rate at around 3 times the channel average.

Speaker 4

So there's no specific guidance at this point.

Speaker 5

I guess maybe just ask another way, maybe keeping the fee rate aside if we don't want to go to the like organic basic growth discussion. But in terms of the flows and the organic base organic growth in the business between Good momentum in retail and obviously a lot of these new initiatives that you're about to roll out in private markets. I was just curious if you could us a range of kind of what your expectations for the flows are organic growth for the year?

Speaker 6

Hi, Alex. This is Onur. Thanks for the question. Yes, we remain confident about our sales growth in 2024. We have good momentum starting the year on the sales front.

Speaker 6

And this is wide based in multiple businesses as a continuation of the last few years, right. We delivered Positive 5 consecutive years of organic growth in U. S. Retail. We delivered 3 years of organic growth in Private Wealth.

Speaker 6

As you know, the Asia ex Japan taxable fixed income had a very strong momentum as well. So a number of our Strong engines are humming, so we feel very good about the sales prospects. As you mentioned on Private Alts, we have a strong pipeline. As also Bill mentioned, and we are adding More solutions to that to participate in high growth opportunities, whether it's retail, whether it's the insurance segment, which is a strategic priority for us, and we are seeing traction there. Obviously, there will be some continued pressure on the institutional side.

Speaker 6

It is concentrated in a narrow set of equity strategies. We had some recent performance challenges and it's very hard to predict Those outflows, given it tends to be individual mandates and lumpy. So strong confidence in sales, Hopefully contributing to positive flows with the uncertainty of the institutional side in a narrow set of equity strategies.

Speaker 5

Got you. That's great. Yes, that's what I was looking for. For my follow-up, one of the products you mentioned in private credit was around, I think, non traded BDC that you're likely to launch this year that will be more broadly disseminated. I guess when you look at that part of the market, it's gotten really crowded the last 12 to 18 months, there are some established players, there are some traditional firms that are entered the market with new products.

Speaker 5

What gives you confidence, I guess, that this is the right time to go after that opportunity? And what makes you feel like you guess you'll be successful in that product? And is there anything differentiated with respect to that non traded BDC that doesn't already exist out there? Like what would be the pitch? Thanks.

Speaker 4

Sure.

Speaker 7

So look, I think stepping back, 1st of all, hopefully based on the commentary on AB TCI, we're able to kind of articulate the competitive advantage and edge in the market if it's historical track record, kind of the consistency of the team, our focus, our sector led focus, our focus on the core middle market, etcetera. So We believe we have a right to win from certainly from an investment perspective. And now look as it relates to the BDC as a vehicle, the market, Yes, there have been a lot of launches and a lot of capital raise, but the backdrop there as well is a very large growing Market for private credit, which has gone from, call it, 15 years ago, a niche asset class into a market that rivals the size of the BSL market. And And there are continued tailwinds for growth there from a supply perspective and also from a demand perspective as retail interest and allocations increase over time. So we think the long term supply demand dynamic is solid.

Speaker 7

But and we have a right to win from a capability perspective. This will be our 2nd BDC. We have a private BDC, as I mentioned, in our private wealth channel. So have experience with the wrapper and really distributing this sort of product to individual investors and their needs.

Speaker 1

Great. Thank you so much.

Operator

We will take our next question from Bill Katz with T. B. Cowen. Your line is open.

Speaker 8

Thank you very much for taking the questions this morning. Appreciate the added discussion and Bill best of luck in your retirement. A bit jealous, I'll say. Couple of questions. Maybe for a big picture down, Matt, for you, I just really appreciate the extra insight.

Speaker 8

One of the building debates for private credit is just sort of the reentry of banks through the leverage lending and the high yield market has a potential impact to volume and or pricing. I was wondering if you could address how you're positioned to potentially compete against a wider set of lenders. And then secondly, I wonder if you could just expand a little bit on the opportunity set into the 3rd party insurance sector in particular.

Speaker 7

Sure, happy to. I guess on the first question and I'll kind of team up with Onur on the second one as well. As it relates to the first question, the growth I mentioned in private credit, rattling the size of the BSL market now, A lot of that has been driven by share shift deals that have historically been executed in the BSL market coming into the private market and that's either driven through ability to execute quicker, more flexibility, certainty of close. Now some of that's secular, some of it's certainly cyclical and we've seen Banks become more offensive and aggressive and we've seen a lot of releases recently about banks moving more closely back into that market. So, again, it's a trend and there'll be some cyclical ups and downs.

Speaker 7

As it relates to our Specifically, we have a focus on the core middle market. There are a lot of ways to define that. But from an average cash flow perspective, median cash flow around $50,000,000 of median EBITDA. And that combined with our sector focus and the continuity of the team gives us, We believe a well entrenched position in that market. We can go up market in certain instances, but we focus on the core.

Speaker 7

As it relates to the insurance side and owner definitely chime in given the focus, A key part of our growth strategy, so this is part of the CarVal thesis that applies to our other businesses as well is Leveraging existing investment capabilities that our teams have from an origination or asset class perspective into lower cost of capital strategy. So think private investment grade credit as an example. So CarVal historically has did in markets such as residential mortgage, consumer finance, transportation, in the context of higher risk, higher return strategies, so the flagship funds. We'll continue to do that, but increasingly working on delivering those investments to insurers on an unlevered basis or the senior part of the capital structure. So the residential mortgage mandate with Equitable is a good example there that Seth previously mentioned, We were able to leverage our existing origination capability in that asset class and deliver those loans on a whole loan basis to equitable and we think that to be interesting to other third party insurers owing to attractive capital treatment, etcetera.

Speaker 7

And there are other asset classes as well that we're actively looking at.

Speaker 6

Yes. Thanks, Matt. The only couple of things I would add. 1, obviously, a recap For Bill, as you know, insurance is a large portion of our assets. Roughly a quarter of our assets AUM is managed on behalf of insurance clients, so it's core to our business.

Speaker 6

And second, as Matt briefly mentioned, We have the ability and the expertise to marry these specialized origination engines with insurance friendly wrappers. So that structuring is very important, whether it's specialty finance, resi mortgages, NAV lending, rated feeders for middle market lending. We have deep expertise in terms of packaging those solutions in a capital and regulatory efficient way for the insurance companies, both in United States as well as globally. And that I think creates a solid foundation for our continued growth in the insurance space.

Speaker 8

Great. Thank you. And just as my follow-up, Seth, for you, I was just sort of wondering, What was your and the Board's decision to bring Ms. Marks in, given where I think maybe the evolution of the AllianceBernstein model might sit? And then within that, given that your margin today is sort of bucket up against your 30% margin you laid out at the Investor Day more recently, How should we be thinking about that in light of just obviously a higher level of assets and Just your incremental cost guidance, is 30 now a bit of a stale outlook ex markets or is there more opportunity here to get to a higher run rate margin?

Speaker 8

Thank you.

Speaker 2

Bill, thanks very much for the question. Good morning, everybody. I'm going to actually Defer to Bill to talk about the margin impact, but let me touch on Jackie and her role. We have been blessed for a number of years by having an incredibly capable and well regarded Controller who has been CFO a couple of times now on an interim basis. And it's precisely to reinforce the Skills and disciplines that Billen has embedded into our team, that I found Jackie is so compelling.

Speaker 2

She has a very deep skill set and experience in the controller's functions generally, but also in global treasury, in tax, as well as her skill sets and strategy. So I think she brought a package of skills or brings a Package of skills together, that are quite complementary to what we have in the firm. And I think she has the leadership skills To move forward without skipping a beat as as Bill moves on to the golf course. So I I would I would simply say that, we're very that she's arrived and her bill will transition after this quarter. And so I think she's well positioned to take the role forward.

Speaker 2

I think with respect to the relationship with Equitable, I think the skill set is quite complementary to what the Equitable team would be looking for. I think She will be an added voice with respect to advocacy for AB and its strategic goals and needs. And I think we're off to a pretty good start. So let me pass it over to Bill to give you a little more color on our expectations on margin.

Speaker 4

Thanks, Seth. Yes, Bill, I mean, we don't give, as you know, specific margin targets, particularly for the next year, but we did give the top side 2027 targets at the Equitable Investor Day. But that said, yes, I mean, we are starting at a better AUM level this year than last year, AUM starting point being almost $80,000,000,000 higher. But with that, I mean, we're going to continue to invest in our business for growth. And then we have to continue to remain competitive and pay our people performance and then manage all our non comp expenses.

Speaker 4

So with that said, From the Investor Day, we mentioned with the BRS JV, we were going to on a run rate going forward annual basis get 2 50 basis points of improvement. That's definitely going to come into fruition this year. To what extent, we don't know. It's according to when the transaction takes place. So we might only get a piece of that.

Speaker 4

And then as we've mentioned, the completion of the relocation is going to add another 100 to 150 bps. That will actually trigger first thing next year. Right now, we're in the Hudson Yards and also $13.45 So I mean, once we get up to $13.45 this year, that will trigger. And then, of course, the other remaining stuff is just growth investments and private alts rounding out that number. But the big thing to note also is all these improvements that I'm talking about, I mean, that's potential benefit without market improvements in there right now.

Speaker 4

I mean, so we put some market improvements in there. We would be able to beat those numbers.

Speaker 8

Thank you and best of luck again. Bye bye.

Speaker 4

Thank you very much.

Operator

And we'll take our next question from Craig Siegenthaler with Bank of America. Your line is open.

Speaker 8

Good morning, Seth. Thank you for taking my questions.

Speaker 6

Good to hear you.

Speaker 2

So we're looking at your

Speaker 8

perspective on how you think your fixed income lineup is positioned for money in motion duration extension with future Fed rate cuts and the yield curve steepening. And what I'm getting at is, do you think you're missing or light on any capabilities like core total return that could limit your ability to win some of the money in motion?

Speaker 2

Craig, thanks for the question. Look, I think it's clear that we're At the end and the issue of the right of the raises and rates and the issue now is when does the Fed start easing. We have thought it's later in the year all along and the recent strength we've seen in payrolls and ISM don't change our expectations in that regard. And while we do see the economy slowing, we do think that we're In a soft landing for the first time that I can remember, and so I'm going to rejoice in that. And what we're seeing Quite clearly is that investors are now increasingly comfortable extending duration and moving into credit.

Speaker 2

We're seeing that most definitively offshore in the very strong growth that we've had in Asia and we think that continues and in fact that strength I think reflects Both increased comfort with expanding duration, but and having higher yield switch between AIP and GH American Income and Global High Yield range between 5% 7% today. But I think what's most interesting is that the alternatives available to our local investors are less attractive to them, mainly onshore Chinese equities. I think that's, I think a pretty compelling case for us and we hope to ride that. I think retail in the U. S, I think we're quite well positioned with high net worth individuals who are focused on the Municipal marketplace, the tactics that marketplace, we've been building share as you know for years and we think we have a differentiated Product proposition in how we build these separately managed accounts, which is where we see all the growth there in ETFs That I think will really drive pretty strong demand over the course of this year and hopefully into next.

Speaker 2

We also feel that we benefit from an institutional capability and with insurance Companies that will continue to pay us dividends as they seek better ways of managing Public market investment grade credit, our systematic strategies have proven to have very strong risk return characteristics and we can do so at quite a competitive cost and we're seeing increasing interest there, not just in the U. S, but really outside the U. S. As well. But it's certainly true, Bill, that we don't have an installed base of traditional DB, DC, Ag based core strategies, although we think we have a pretty compelling product proposition that may be better at addressing our client needs,

Speaker 6

Great summary. 2 thirds of our institutional sales in the Q4 was fixed income. So they are definitely Showing strength in institutional and fixed income as well. That's perfect to summarize the strength in retail across U. S.

Speaker 6

And International Markets, I would also highlight that the growing ETF product range we have, where we participate in Core and other taxable and tax exempt fixed income categories, we are very pleased with the build out and the asset capture of our ETF franchise and that should help us increase our penetration in Taxable fixed income including core and core plus categories as well. Again, early days, but the signs are very encouraging combined with our distribution power in U. S. Retail.

Speaker 8

Thanks, Sona or Seth. And I actually have a credit one, so I might take advantage that Matthew Bass is on the line too. But I know you launched a NAV lending strategy last year. And we know the LTVs are quite low in this product from a lender standpoint. But I wanted to see if you think it's a good idea for buyout funds to cross collateralize their portfolio companies in order to get early cash flow events to their LPs?

Speaker 7

Yes, sure. So I think stepping back there are various use of proceeds for NAV loans. And I think considered along with a kind of growing and functioning secondaries market, is it another way to provide liquidity to a growing private equity market, right? So think of it holistically. Nav loans have been around for a while.

Speaker 7

They can be used offensively to enable portfolio companies to make acquisitions when capital is not available or funds outside of its investment period could be used defensively to delever portfolio at a lower cost of capital could be also be used to your point as a liquidity tool for GPs to return capital to LPs. So, we would look at all three types of transactions. Ultimately, it depends on the quality of the sponsor and the underlying, but there are various use cases that may or may not make sense for different sponsors based on

Speaker 3

the particular situation. So very, very, very situation specific, I would say.

Operator

And we will take our next question from Dan Fannon with Jefferies. Your line is open.

Speaker 9

Thanks. Good morning. Wanted to talk about the Private Wealth channel and advisor growth and productivity increased year over year. I was Just curious as you think about 2024, how those metrics should track and maybe any changes or plans to accelerate hiring or

Speaker 6

growth pattern with the financial advisor which we now call wealth advisors and the productivity Along with that, we take it through the cycle mindset to growing our client facing headcount. So we'll continue to stay at that same pace. Obviously, it takes time for the new wealth advisors to become fully productive, but we have high confidence in our long standing and well regarded training programs. As you know, we have a heavy biased towards organic growth by hiring new advisors to the industry, which takes time to grow into our culture, but then delivers very strong outcomes as you have seen on the sales productivity side. In addition to that, we continue to be open minded about financial advisors with Existing clients and books as well as adjacent opportunities in the RIA space, again, we are always looking for the best value for our shareholders and we'll continue to stay on the organic growth path and be open minded about any add ons.

Speaker 9

Great. Thank you. And then Seth, just as a follow-up on your active ETF business. I know it's Small, but you've launched a bunch of products here in 2023. How do you think about that landscape over the next several years and and your role within that and kind of obviously some what the growth potential of those products could be?

Speaker 2

Yes. Let me start, Dan, and then I'll pass it over to owner to give more color to it. In our view, ETFs are a better wrapper for many of our clients. And we think that increasingly, And in fact, it's been the case for AB, we are going to introduce new strategies via ETFs To the extent they're feasible from an underlying securities perspective to do so given their better tax treatment for taxable investors as well as Just the day to day perceptions of liquidity and transparency, which we think actually offers real Advantages and comfort to our investing clients. What I would say to you is we continue to plan to The range particularly focused on new strategies and where we see differentiated opportunities that align well with the capabilities that we have.

Speaker 2

So to the extent, for example, we see TaxAware fixed income As a place where we have an edge and it's a very efficient tax vehicle for our clients, we'll launch strategies like that and Taffy, which is Our vehicle has been a successful product in that array. But I think you should expect to see most of our issuance activity through ETFs going forward. Onur, please jump in.

Speaker 6

No, thank you, Seth. Yes, I mean our strategy is very clear. We look at basically areas where we can differentiate ETFs, allow us to complement, supplement our SMAs, which has been very successful in U. S. Retail.

Speaker 6

So we typically see that pairing quite powerful In the fixed income space, for instance, we also take advantage of conversions when it makes sense. Obviously, like any vehicle, ETFs have their limitations, particularly in the retirement plan space. And as a result, we are mindful about that. But in general, particularly in the non qualified space, ETFs remain our dominant Vehicle preference along with SMAs and CITs where we see the future. And then internationally, It's a little bit more nuanced picture for the active ETFs.

Speaker 6

The regulatory framework is now catching up and there might be opening up opportunities where we could potentially leverage our distribution reach to disrupt some markets by offering ETFs, but it's more exploratory at this stage and we don't have any concrete plants. I would say it's an option on the table. Our primary focus remains in the U. S. And you will see us build on the good momentum that you have seen in the last year and a half with the 12 ETFs and growing.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Operator

And we will take our next question from John Dunn with Evercore ISI. Your line is open.

Speaker 10

Thank you. Maybe could you expand a little more on the product demand trends you're seeing in retail and institutional overseas, maybe ex American Income and Global High Yield Funds?

Speaker 6

Sure. Happy to take that. As you know, in addition to Asia ex Japan, we have a strong franchise in Japan. We continue to remain very strong in U. S.

Speaker 6

Equities. We have a very dominant position in Large cap growth that continues to be a strong area for us. So definitely, one to highlight outside Asia ex Japan, Outside the AIP and global high yields, definitely our U. S. Sorry, our EMEA business tends to be skewed towards equities as well because the European buyers like the U.

Speaker 6

S. And Global Equity Products, We continue to see demand in some of the strategies that we offer in the UCIT format, Sometimes more lower volatility kind of strategies that are a little bit more defensive, for instance, would be an example of that. And then definitely with the non traded BDC, we would be targeting the UK and Swiss market along with the Asian markets. So definitely, we see demand towards private credits. And then finally, we have a strong position in LatAm with the pension systems, whether it's COVID forest or with the Chilean pension systems, and that tends to be a pretty strong demand for Equities including emerging markets given their bias towards emerging markets.

Speaker 6

And on the institutional side, we touched on it, but private markets is a great focus area for us. And I see that as a global phenomenon. Again, there might be different, sub patterns when you think about different geographies and different types of clients, insurance versus Cash and plans versus Store and Wealth, but depending on the risk appetite constraints, yield expectations across middle market lending, Real estate lending as well as specialized strategies through CarVal, we see demand.

Speaker 2

And if I could just jump in, I think longer term, China does present a real opportunity for us. As you You may know we did get our license from the Chinese regulator at the end of the year and we're hopeful to launch our first strategy In the near term, China, Asia strategy sentiment is not great obviously in China, but We think there's strong demand ultimately and we plan to launch a number of strategies over the course of the next 2 to 3 years there, which would both reflect equities as well as fixed income.

Speaker 10

Got it. And then there's been recently uptick in private markets firms deciding to join traditionals or other larger All firms. Maybe just what you guys see a lot of activity. What are you seeing? And any change in your appetite for maybe adding teams or even bolt ons?

Speaker 2

Well, let me start and Matt or owner may join in. But My view is we have a pretty full set of capabilities today. In private alts, for example, While we've had a good start with CarVal, there's a lot more work to do there and to get private credit investors up in our commercial real estate business up to their Full scale. That doesn't mean there aren't niche services and capabilities. We would not be interested in.

Speaker 2

We do when we look at them. But I think they would be smaller in size and very specific in terms of the needs, at least at the moment in private alts. Switching over to more traditional, as I think we've also disclosed, we have Acquired a very talented team in Europe, focused on global growth and has an excellent European capability as well. And so we're It's early days there, but we're upbeat as to the potential of that service. The short summary is We have we always are looking for teams.

Speaker 2

We're always looking for ways of refining and updating our product suite, but there's nothing imminent or large at the moment we're looking at.

Speaker 10

Thanks very much.

Operator

And ladies and gentlemen, that is all the time we have for questions today. Mr. Griffin, I will now turn the call back over to you.

Speaker 7

Thank you everyone for participating in

Speaker 1

the call today. Please reach back out to Investor Relations with any questions

Speaker 4

and have a great day.

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Earnings Conference Call
AllianceBernstein Q4 2023
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