BGC Partners, Inc.

Welcome to the BGC Partners Second Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants will be in a listen-only mode. After the speaker presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Jason Kreisikas, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you, and please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone. Today we issue BGC second quarter 2021 financial results press release and presentation. You can find these at ir.bgcpartners.com. Please note you can find additional details on our quarterly results in today's press release and investor presentation. Unless otherwise stated, the results provided on today's call compare only the second quarter of 2021 with the year earlier period. We will be referring to our results on this call only on an adjusted earnings basis unless otherwise stated. We may also refer to adjusted EBITDA as well as liquidity, which we define as cash and cash equivalents plus marketable securities that have not been financed, reverse repurchase agreements and securities owned, less securities loaned, and repurchase agreements. We define total capital as redeemable partnership interest, total stockholders' equity, and non-controlling interest in subsidiaries. Please see today's press release for results under GAAP. Please also see the relevant sections in the back of today's press release for the complete and updated definitions of any non-GAAP terms, reconciliations of these items to corresponding GAAP results, and how, when, and why management uses such terms. Additional information with respect to our GAAP and non-GAAP results mentioned on today's call is available on our website at ir.bgcpartners.com and in our investor presentation. We refer to the company's technology-driven businesses as Fenix. Fenix offerings include Fenix Markets, Fenix Growth Platforms, Fenix Integrated, and market data software and solutions and post-trade services. Businesses are categorized as FinEx integrated if they utilize sufficient levels of technology such that amounts of their transaction can be or are executed without broker intervention and have expected pre-tax adjusted earnings margins of at least 25%. I also remind you that the information regarding our business on today's call that are not historical or forward-looking statements, these include statements on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on results, financial position, liquidity, and outlook. Any forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. And except as required by law, BGC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Any outlook and targets discussed on this call assume no material acquisitions, extraordinary transactions, or meaningful changes to the company's stock price. For discussion of additional risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see BGC's SEC filings, including but not limited to the risk factors and special note on forward-looking information set forth in these filings and any update to these disclosures. contained in subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q, or Form 8-K. With that, I'm now happy to turn the call over to Howard Lutnick, Chairman of the Board and CEO of BGC Partners.

Thank you, Jason. Good morning, and thank you for joining us for our second quarter 2021 conference call. Joining me for today's call are BGC's Chief Financial Officer, Steve Biscay, and our Chief Operating Officer, Sean Windyatt. Our profitability improved across all adjusted metrics during the quarter, primarily driven by Fenix, which had net revenue growth of 23.5%. This industry-leading growth reflected strong improvements in rates, FX, and our Fenix platform. We executed a number of our objectives in the second quarter, including entering into an agreement to sell our insurance brokerage business for $500 million in cash. In anticipation of closing this transaction in October, we purchased or redeemed 21.2 million shares and units during the second quarter, while also repurchasing an additional 10 million shares so far in the third quarter. Additionally, I'm happy to report that yesterday BGC's Board of Directors increased our share and unit repurchase authorization to $400 million. Fenix revenue growth was underpinned by strong performance across both Fenix markets and growth platforms, which improved 21 and over 48% respectively as compared to last year. Fenix represented over 21% of BGC's total financial services revenue, its highest ever contribution. We expect Fenix to continue to outpace our overall business and peer electronic trading platforms. With the accelerating conversion of our $1.4 billion voice hybrid business and continued tech innovation, we expect to further expand across the fintech marketplace. With that, I'd like to turn the call over to Steve.