Newmark Group, Inc.

Greetings. Welcome to Newmark Group Incorporated's fourth quarter 2022 financial results. At this time, all participants are in listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero from your telephone keypad. Please note that this conference is being recorded. At this time, I will now turn the conference over to Jason Magruder, Head of Investor Relations. Mr. Magruder, you may now begin.

Thank you, operator. Good morning. Newmark issued its fourth quarter 2022 financial results press release in a presentation summarizing the results this morning. The results provided on today's call compare only the three months ended December 31st, 2022 with the year earlier period, unless otherwise stated. We'll also be referring to results on this call only on a non-GAAP basis, unless otherwise stated. These non-GAAP terms include adjusted earnings and adjusted EBITDA. Please see the sections in today's press release for the complete and or updated definitions of any non-GAAP terms, reconciliations of these items to the corresponding GAAP results, and how, when, and why management uses them. More information with respect to our GAAP and non-GAAP results is available on our website in today's press release, the supplemental Excel table, and the quarterly results presentation. Unless otherwise stated, any figures with respect to cash flow from operations discussed on today's call refer to net cash provided by operating activities, excluding loan origination and sales, and also exclude the impact of the 2021 equity event. Cash from the business is the same cash flow metric, excluding employee loans or producers. The outlook discussed on today's call assumed no additional share repurchases, material acquisitions, or meaningful changes in the company's stock price. Our expectations are subject to change based on various macroeconomic, social, political, or other factors. While our 2025 or other long-term financial operational targets do assume acquisitions, they are also subject to change for these same reasons. None of our long-term targets or goals should be considered formal guidance. I also remind you that information on this call about our business that are not historical facts or forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such statements involve risks and uncertainties. Except as required by law, Newmark undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement. For complete discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause the actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see Newmark Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors set forth in our most recent Form 10-K, 10-Q, or 8-K. which are incorporated by reference. I'm now happy to turn the call over to our host, Barry Goffin, Chief Executive Officer of Newmark Group Inc.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us. With me today are Newmark's Chief Financial Officer, Mike Rispoli, our Chief Revenue Officer, Lou Alvarado, and our Chief Strategy Officer, Jeff Day. For the past decade, Newmark has strived to become the company with the greatest talent in the industry. Our near-term objectives include becoming number one in capital markets in the United States. Yesterday, we took a major step towards this goal by adding the industry's top capital markets team, led by Doug Harmon and Adam Spies, who are based in New York, the largest real estate market in the world. We have an incredible combination of the top strategists and advisors, together with extraordinary local expertise. This has led to over a decade of strong growth and are becoming a top commercial real estate services platform in the US. During the fourth quarter, interest rates rose at the fastest pace in over 30 years. This led to challenging market conditions, but also has created an opportunity for Newmark to solidify its position as the platform of choice for the real estate industry's top professionals. We believe the current market dislocation, coupled with our strong financial position, is creating opportunities for us to hire top talent and acquire companies at attractive valuations. As we have seen with past downturns and subsequent recoveries, capital markets leads the rebound. Once the markets and the Fed are aligned, we expect pent-up demand to drive significantly higher industry volumes. Historically, our investment sales and debt businesses have had a multiplier effect, which drives outsized growth across Newmark. When activity rebounds, we expect our market share, revenues, and earnings to materially outperform the industry. While the macroeconomic environment may be challenging in the short term, we remain excited about our market position and our future. Our professionals are actively assisting clients as they navigate the current environment, restructure their portfolios, and redesign their workplaces. On the investor side, We are advising our clients on equity recapitalization, debt financing, and repurposing underutilized properties, including conversion into multifamily, life science, industrial, and other uses. We also expect the growing demand for hybrid work environments to create opportunities for consulting and our flexible workspace business. As an example, we recently arranged the sale and financing of 25 Water Street, a 1.1 million square foot conversion, to multifamily of an office building in New York City. This transaction represents one of the largest ever conversions in the United States. The long-term fundamentals of commercial real estate remain strong, with closed-end funds alone having approximately $436 billion of global capital waiting to be deployed. More than $2.5 trillion of U.S. commercial and multifamily debt maturing over the next five years. and the continuing secular trend towards outsourcing of real estate services to companies like Numer. With that, I'm happy to turn the call over to Mike.