Reliance Global Group, Inc.

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Reliance Global Group Third Quarter 2022 Business Update Conference Call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After management's prepared remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call over to David Waldman, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining the Reliance Global Group's Third Quarter 2022 Conference Call. On the call with us today is Ezra Baiman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Global Group, and William Leibovich, Chief Financial Officer of Reliance. Earlier this morning, the company announced its operating results for the quarter ended September 30th, 2022. The press release is posted on the company's website, www.relianceglobalgroup.com. In addition, the company filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on November 14th, 2022, which can also be accessed on the company's website as well as the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. If you have any questions after the call or would like any additional information about the company, please contact Crescendo Communications at 212-671-1021. Before Mr. Baiman reviews the company's operating results for the third quarter of 2022, we'd like to remind everyone that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this conference call, including statements regarding our future results of operations and financial positions, strategy, and plans, and our expectations for future operations are forward-looking statements. The words anticipate, estimate, expect, project, plan, seek, intend, believe, may, might, will, should, could, likely, continue, design, and the negative of such terms, in other words, in terms of similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the company's current expectations and projections about future events and trends that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, strategy, short-term and long-term business operations and objectives, and financial needs. These forward-looking statements are subject to several risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as described in the company's Form 10-K, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on March 31, 2022. Because of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the forward-looking events and circumstances discussed in this conference call may not occur. and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. In addition, neither the company nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. The company disclaims any duty to update any of these forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements attributable to the company are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements as well as those made in this conference call. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made by the company in the context of these risks and uncertainties. With that, I'll now turn the call over to Ezra Baiman. Please go ahead, Ezra.

Thank you, David. Good afternoon, and thanks to everyone for joining us today. I'm very pleased to report in the third quarter of 2022, we achieved a 61% year-over-year increase in revenue compared to the 2021 third quarter. This marks another quarter of strong year-over-year revenue growth, driven in part by our successful acquisition, including Bama and Associates, which has been relaunched as RelyExchange. Since its launch, RelyExchange has our business-to-business insurtech platform and agency partner network, has rapidly become one of the premier agency partner networks in the country. We believe that there is no other offering in the insurance industry that can match the speed or versatility of the platform, and that we have built is a best-in-class, highly scalable platform capable of driving significant shareholder value into the foreseeable future. The beauty of the Reliance Exchange is that it provides agency partners with a simple solution that immediately makes their business more efficient. ReliExchange simplifies an agent's back office burden and reduces their costs by streamlining their operations and eliminating paperwork, thus providing the agent with more time to focus on their clients. The platform allows agents to generate and compare quotes faster than ever before, helping to ensure that they are identifying the best policies and value for their customers. ReliExchange is also an appealing option for entrepreneurs who previously worked at captive carrier agents or within large and often bureaucratic agencies. Using the RELI Exchange platform, these agents can now realize the full benefits of owning their own business. In periods of economic uncertainty, property and casualty insurance have withstood this test of time, even in inflationary environments. We continue to explore opportunities to add new streams of revenue for our agency partners, which we believe will make the RELI Exchange an even more compelling value proposition and in doing so, further accelerate the growth of the platform. One such opportunity was a referral partnership that we entered into during the third quarter with NRS Funding, a provider of merchant cash advance services to independent retailers nationwide. Through this partnership, agents on VLI Exchange are now able to offer their existing and prospective clients merchant cash advance services, providing the agents with a new revenue stream and increasing the profitability of their existing businesses. We believe this type of referral partnership is a win-win for both our agents and, most importantly, our customers. In addition, we have several more similar type opportunities in the pipeline, which we believe we'll be able to roll out to RelyExchange agency partners shortly. We continue to receive excellent feedback from our RelyExchange partners that are already experiencing the positive effects the platform is having on their business. The platform has scaled up more quickly than we had anticipated as independent agents continue to join the network, which now has more than 120 agency partners, an increase from the 65 agency partners that were on the platform just a few short months ago. As we have previously stated, our goal is to build ReliExchange into the largest agency network partner in the U.S., and we believe that the rapid growth of the network to date demonstrates that we are heading in the right direction. In addition, We believe that the scalability of the business model, combined with the low cost of entry for agency partners, will drive significant shareholder value in the future. On one final note, in September, the Board of Directors authorized a share repurchase program under which the company may repurchase up to 3 million shares of its outstanding common stock, which we expect will help drive value for shareholders by reducing the outstanding shares. We believe the company is in a stronger position than at any time in our history We do not believe this is reflected in the share price given the current market conditions. While we're not at liberty to comment on the specific amounts or timing of the future share repurchases, we do plan to use this program opportunistically. It's also important to note that I have personally purchased over $400,000 of stock in the open market, which is in addition to the millions which I previously invested in the company. For those of you that share our frustration with the stock price, Hopefully, this instills further confidence that we are willing to put our money where our mouth is. We cannot be more encouraged by the outlook for the business and look forward to providing further details on Reliance Exchange and other significant initiatives underway. I would now like to turn the call over to William Lebovic, Chief Financial Officer of Reliance Global Group, who will review the financial results of the three-month period ending September 30, 2022. William?

Thanks, Ezra, and good afternoon. The company reported revenues of $4.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, as compared to $2.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase of $1.6 million, or 61%, was primarily due to organic growth and the additional insurance agencies we acquired in 2022. Total commission expense for the quarter ended September 30, 2022, was $863,000, compared to $661,000 for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. The increase of $202,000, or 31%, is driven by organic growth and the additional insurance agencies acquired in 2022. Calories and wages expense total $2.1 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022, compared to $1.2 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase is largely due to the company's growth, both organic and through acquisitions in 2022. General and administrative expenses totaled $1.3 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 compared to $755,000 for the year-ago quarter. The increase is the result of increased operations and acquisitions the company made in 2022. Marketing and advertising expense totaled $726,000 for the three months ended September 30, 2022 compared to $65,000 for the three months ended June 30, 2021. The increase is primarily the result of companies' efforts to increase brand awareness and establish itself as a thought leader in the insurance industry compared to the prior year. Additionally, marketing costs went up for Medigap's direct-to-consumer model, which was deployed through various social media platforms. The company reported $7.6 million of other income for the three months ended September 30, 2022, compared to $120,000 other expense for the three months ended September 30, 2021. The increase of $7.8 million is primarily attributable to a $7.9 million recognition and change in fair value of warrant liabilities. Net income for the three months ended September 30, 2022, totaled $6.1 million, or 35 cents per share, compared to a loss of $595,000, or 5 cents per share. This concludes our prepared remarks. We're happy to answer any questions. Kelly, can you please assist us with that?

Certainly. The floor is now open for questions. If you have any questions or comments, please press star one on your phone at this time. We ask that while posing your question, you please pick up your handset if listening on a speakerphone to provide optimum sound quality. Please hold just a moment while we poll for questions. Your first question is coming from Edward Riley with EF Hutton. Please pose your question. Your line is live.

Hey, guys. Thanks for taking my question. I noticed the cash position is dwindling down a bit. Could you maybe talk about the past profitability in terms of timing, maybe how much cash runway you have left and any alternatives you're taking to maybe show up some cash?

Yeah, so the truth is, as time moves on, a lot of the energy expenses we had were, and I think we could elaborate on that, were non-cash and non-recurring. So much of what we had during the year was not, we really don't have that much of a burn right now. Some of the corporate expenses laid down, but the agencies themselves are profitable. And basically we have, we, you know, keep an eye on cash and we're okay. What we need right now, we're fine. And with whatever we're in, we're in okay shape with that. And of course, as you know, I've stepped up to the plate with the company in the past, but now as time goes on, actually the cash is getting, it's stabilizing more because a lot of the one-time expenses I'm no longer recurring.

Okay, gotcha. And it looks like Reliance Exchange is performing really well. Any other performance that is notable from any of your subsidiaries in the quarter that you'd like to highlight?

I believe, maybe if, Joel, you want to answer that?

Of course. So, I'll point out one of our subsidiaries. They've been doing really well this year. Significant growth year over year. So, yeah, they're not the only ones. You know, some of the other ones.

I think across the board, there was something like a 10% organic growth to that. I think I've seen that on there. But then we do have organic growth, and some of them are really flying, which is a big operation. I encourage them to do it. They're really doing well.

Okay, great. Thanks. Okay.

Your next question is coming from Elon Friedman with FKC Capital. Please pose your question. Your line is live.

Thanks for taking the question, and congratulations on the quarter. The growth of Relay Exchange has been impressive in a short amount of time. What's your plan to continue the growth and where do you see it going in the next 12 to 18 months?

Okay. I'm glad you asked that because that's a major focus and that's things we have discussions about all the time. What we've done until now, even doubling the agent size, is really only the last few months because some of the technology had to be put into place to get it ready. But we're really shooting for God willing, by the end of Q4 of 2023, a little more than a year from now, to have 1,000 agents. And that extrapolates to significant revenue if things go as planned. So that's what we're shooting for. We're really gearing up. Grant is on the phone. He could, I think, fill us in as well as far as the efforts and improvement. Grant, if you'd like to give some color to that.

Absolutely. So agent count in the field is a primary focus on the numbers that we're working with. We are currently working with our sales directors in the process of onboarding agency partners underneath the enhanced platform that we were able to create in partnership with Reliance Global Group. It really gives these agents like hands down the best opportunity to succeed in the independent space. They have a full InsurTech platform. They operate underneath their own logo, own branding. So it's really an attractive option for them. Hitting 1,000 agents by December 31st is our target. I do believe that we will hit that target and potentially exceed that target. So what I look at is that's the starting point. So when I talk about the onboarding of these agents, I don't want to forget about making sure each of these agents are highly productive. So we have a very specific onboarding process in which they are working with our trainers and sales directors in order to become productive as quickly as possible. This helps with retention, being able to keep our agency partners on the platform and thriving as they continue to have success after success after success. And just by the nature of how our platform works, it allows our agency partners to have a competitive offering with just about every client they meet with. So that isn't the norm in our industry because the norm is single carrier agreements and you're running a lot of quotes to have very few opportunities to close. So just with what we have created on our platform, And the experience that our agency partners are having today in the field is they're competitive way more often. Again, that results in higher retention, keeping our agents in a better presence in the insurance industry as the best option for agents to join who wants a business, who wants an independent insurance agency.

Thank you, Grant.

There are no further questions in queue at this time. I would now like to turn the floor back over to management for any closing remarks.

Thanks, Kelly. We are excited about the growth we have experienced on the Reliance Exchange platform in such a short time and encouraged by the solid growth in revenue that we continue to achieve. We believe that the traction we are observing with independent agents and agency partners across the U.S. will further accelerate as we continue to add additional new revenue opportunities to the platform. I would like to thank everyone for participating in our third quarter 2022 conference call. We are filled with enthusiasm as we forge ahead, and we look forward to updating you on our progress next quarter. Thank you.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This does conclude today's conference call. You may disconnect your phone lines at this time and have a wonderful day. Thank you for your participation.