MSCI Inc.

Thank you, Gigi. Good day and welcome to the MSCI first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. Earlier this morning, we issued a press release announcing our results for the first quarter 2025. This press release, along with an earnings presentation and brief quarterly update, are available on our website, msci.com, under the investor relations tab. Let me remind you that this call contains forward-looking statements. which are governed by the language on the second slide of today's presentation. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as the date on which they are made are based on current expectations and current economic conditions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, please see the risk factors and forward-looking statements disclaimer in our most recent Form 10-K and in our other SEC filings. During today's call, in addition to results presented on the basis of U.S. GAAP, we also refer to non-GAAP measures. You'll find a reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures to the equivalent GAAP measures in the appendix of the earnings presentation. We will also discuss operating metrics, such as run rate and retention rate, Important information regarding our use of operating metrics, such as run rate and retention rate, are available in the earnings presentation. On the call today are Henry Fernandez, our chairman and CEO, Bear Pettit, our president and COO, and Andy Wishman, our chief financial officer. Lastly, we wanted to remind our analysts to ask one question at a time during the Q&A portion of our call. We do encourage you to ask more questions by adding yourselves back to the queue. With that, let me now turn the call over to Henry Fernandez. Henry?

Thank you, Jeremy. Good day, everyone, and thank you for joining us. Sorry for this scratchy voice. I suffer from a scissor allergies at this time of the year. In the first quarter, MSCI delivered strong financial metrics, including organic revenue growth of 10%, adjusted EBITDA growth of 11%, and adjusted earnings per share growth of almost 14%. We also repurchased $275 million worth of MSCI shares during Q1 and through April 21st. As always, the share repurchases affirm our belief in the current and future value of our stock and our commitment to a robust capital allocation policy. Our first quarter operating metrics show durable retention and asset-based fee revenue growth, although new recurring subscription sales were down from Q1 of 2024. More specifically, MSCI deliver a retention rate of over 95%. Organic subscription run rate growth of 8% and asset base fee growth revenue growth of 18%. This reflected strong growth in both ETF and non-ETF AUM linked to MSCI indices, including the highest Q1 cash flows into ETF products linked to MSCI indices since 2021. Among our client segments, we had a strong quarter with hedge funds, asset owners, banks and broker dealers, and wealth managers. At the product level, we achieved retention rates of over 96% in index and over 95% in analytics. We also dropped recurring net new sales growth of over 60% for each of these product lines. MSCI is providing a growing mix of solutions for portfolio customization and personalization. We have built solid momentum in custom indices, which will be further supported by our integration of FoxBerry F9 platform. Meanwhile, net new recurring subscription sales in private capital solutions grew by 24%. We continue building new solutions to help clients diversify into private assets. Yesterday, we announced a very exciting partnership with Moody's to develop independent credit risk assessments for private credit by combining Moody's credit risk modeling solutions with MSCI's private credit investment data we will drive greater clarity and confidence in this asset class, especially at a period of credit stress in the world. MSCI has the capabilities and the business model to weather periods of global turmoil. Periods of market disruptions have always been when MSCI's clients need us the most. These are the moments when MSCI standards and solutions take on much greater importance for clients across segments. Not just our benchmark indices and risk analytics, but also the full range of our integrated, interconnected tools and content. 88% of our subscription run rates come from clients who use multiple MSCI product lines. We provide mission-critical data, models, and technology that clients need in all environments and all phases of the business cycle, but especially in periods of high uncertainty, low clarity, and relative volatility in markets. This enables MSCI's all-weather franchise, robust cash flows, and Fortress balance sheet, And all of that makes us confident in our ability to deliver consistent financial results amid the current market turmoil. And with that, let me turn over the call over to Bert Pettit.

Thank you, Henry, and greetings, everyone.