Colliers International Group Inc.

Welcome to the Collier's International Fourth Quarter Investor Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. Legal counsel requires us to advise that the discussion scheduled to take place today may contain forward-looking statements that involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results may be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements contemplated in the forward-looking statements. Additional information concerning factors that could cause Actual results to materially differ from those in the forward-looking statements is contained in the Company's Annual Information Form as filed with the Canadian Securities Administrators and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 40-F as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded today, February 11, 2021. And at this time, for opening remarks and introductions, I would like to turn the call over to the global chairman and chief executive officer, Mr. Jay Hennick. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, and thanks for joining us for our fourth quarter and year-end conference call. As the operator mentioned, I'm Jay Hennick, chairman and chief executive officer, and with me today is John Fredrickson, chief operating officer, Christian Mayer, chief financial officer. As always, this call is being webcast and is available in our investor relations section of our website. A slide deck is also available there to accompany today's call. Earlier today, Colliers reported better than anticipated financial results for the fourth quarter and for the full year, despite the ongoing impact of the global pandemic. The strong finish is a testament to our unique enterprising culture but also to the bold steps we've taken over the past four years to transform Colliers into a more balanced and resilient professional services and investment management company. Currently, the majority of our revenues and more than 60% of our EBITDA comes from high-quality recurring services like investment management, property and project management, engineering, and mortgage servicing. All of these continue to grow rapidly and over time will represent an even greater proportion of our revenue in EBITDA. The balance of our business, less than 40%, comes from transactional services, leasing, and capital markets. While volumes in these areas were down somewhat, they delivered much better than anticipated. Let's all remember transaction services are essential services. They're not going away and they may be delayed from time to time like in a pandemic for example, but they will be back and they'll be back strongly when things return to normal. Collier's has another tremendous advantage and that's diversification. Our revenues are not only diversified by service and asset class, they are also diversified by geography. Having a global platform with multiple revenue streams generated around the world brings significant balance, stability, and more importantly, opportunity to colliers. We can actually grow everywhere. With all of these characteristics and advantages, not to mention our proven track record of more than 25 years, strong balance sheet, and significant inside ownership, we are confident we will emerge from this pandemic stronger than ever. Before I turn things over to Christian and John for comment, I'd like to say a word about the Colliers brand, the acquisitions we completed this year, our continued growth and investment management, and our view of the balance of this year and beyond. First, the brand. As you know, we have worked very hard to build the Colliers brand into what it is today, an undisputed global leader in professional services and investment management. Our brand is respected everywhere we do business and is supported by our unique enterprising culture and our proven track record. Earlier this month, Collier's new visual identity, which was designed for today's evolving global digital era. For us, this move was a natural evolution of the iconic Collier's brand and reaffirms our commitment to accelerating our success as we continue to lead our company and our industry into the future. Please take a look at our website or your favorite social media platform and share our excitement in owning the blue. Second, acquisitions. While others were in a holding pattern during the pandemic, Collier's capitalized by completing four acquisitions, including two larger ones. As in the past, we took advantage of market dislocation to move forward to complete important strategic steps that would accelerate our long-term success. In total, we invested $240 million in acquisitions this year, up from 109 last. In June, we partnered with an exceptional leadership team led by David Juran to enter the mortgage banking business in a major way. Our new business, rebranded as Collier's Mortgage, provides real estate lending and finance solutions, especially in the areas of multifamily, healthcare, and seniors housing, as one of a select few who can issue debt on behalf of U.S. government agencies.

Among other things, this allows us to leverage our brokerage channel and offer real estate loans to our clients while strengthening our global platform even further.