Earnings Labs

Westwood Holdings Group, Inc. (WHG)

Q1 2014 Earnings Call· Thu, Apr 17, 2014

$17.24

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Thank you, all, for holding, and welcome to the Westwood Holdings Group First Quarter 2014 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the call over to your host for today's conference, Sylvia Fry, Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer. Ms. Fry, your line is now open.

Sylvia Fry

Analyst

Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to our 2014 First Quarter Earnings Conference Call. I would like to start by reading our forward-looking statements disclaimer. The following discussion will include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements 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 statement. Additional information concerning the factors that could cause such a difference is included in our press release, which will be issued later today, as well as in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, 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 earning and economic earnings per share to the most comparable GAAP measures will be included at the end of our press release, which will be issued later today. On the call today, we will have Brian Casey, our Chief Executive Officer; and Mark Wallace, our Chief Financial Officer. I would like to now turn the call over to Brian Casey, our CEO.

Brian Casey

Analyst

Thanks, Sylvia, and good afternoon, everyone. We've had a little bit of difficulty getting our earnings out today and we apologize for that. They should be out momentarily and we'll let you know just as soon as they come out. We had a great quarter. And more importantly, we celebrated on April 1st our 31st year in business as Westwood management. At the conclusion of this quarter, we'll complete our 12th year as a public company, Westwood Holdings Group. When Westwood Holdings Group became a public company in 2002, we were essentially a niche investment management firm focused on U.S. value equity investing, along with a small but growing trust company. Today, Westwood offers a diverse range of institutional investment strategies, an array of investment platforms including our Westwood Funds Family, our Ireland-domiciled UCITS fund and a much larger trust business. We serve a rapidly growing non-U.S. client base that now represents more than 10% of our assets under management. Westwood International Advisors, known as WIA, more than doubled its assets under management in its first full year of operation. We attracted new clients in Europe and Australia, and explored opportunities in select non-U.S. markets. Last year, we grew our core U.S. institutional business and generated a 50% organic growth rate in assets in the Westwood Funds family of mutual funds. We'd like to take a moment to thank our clients, stockholders and employees, many of whom have been with us from the beginning, for their continued support. We appreciate your confidence in Westwood, our disciplined approach to investing and our growth potential. We will continue our work in 2014 to deliver value to all our stakeholders through focused growth. Our domestic strategies began on a decidedly positive note, with each strategy registering a gain for the first quarter. Relative…

Mark Wallace

Analyst

Thanks, Brian, and good afternoon, everyone. Today, we reported solid financial results for the first quarter of 2014. Revenues were up 29% to $25.9 million from the same period in 2013. Diluted earnings per share for the quarter at $0.75 was 97% higher than last year, and economic EPS was up 54% to $1.17. Firm-wide assets under management increased to over $19 billion. Net inflows were concentrated in our emerging markets, MLP and short duration high-yield strategies, while LargeCap experienced outflows due to rebalancing from existing clients. Institutional assets under management at quarter end were $12.1 billion, representing 63% of total AUM. Private wealth now stands at $4 billion or 21%, and mutual fund at $3 billion or 16% of total AUM. Westwood International strategies now comprise almost 14% of our total assets under management, with clients diversified across multiple countries. Our balance sheet continues to be in great shape, allowing us to continue to invest in our business. Cash and investments at quarter end were $63 million, up $9 million from the first quarter of last year and we continue to be debt-free. Today, our Board of Directors approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.44 per share, payable on July 1 to stockholders of record on June 13. This represents an annualized dividend yield of 3% at yesterday's closing price. We encourage you to review the presentation posted on our website, which reflects first quarter highlights and longer-term trends. Over the past 5 years, we have achieved a compound annual growth rate exceeding 21% in AUM, net inflows of over $1 billion, a strong rate of internal growth and earnings per share on both a GAAP and economic basis, and consistent growth and dividend for our shareholders. Last, I want to again express our appreciation for your support at our annual shareholder meeting today and your continued interest in Westwood. I'll now turn the call over back to Brian.

Brian Casey

Analyst

Thanks, Mark. If anybody has any questions, we'll be happy to try to answer them.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] And pardon me, speakers, I'm not showing any questions in the queue.

Brian Casey

Analyst

Okay. Very good. Well, we apologize, again, for the delay in getting the earnings out. I didn't realize they were still backed up. But if you haven't had a lot of time to take a look, the earnings were terrific and our business is doing really well. So if you have any questions after you've had a chance to digest the first quarter 10-Q, please give me a call. You can always visit our Westwood Group website for more information in our filings. Thanks for your time, I appreciate it.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today's conference. This does conclude the program and you may all disconnect.