PJT Partners Inc.

Good day and welcome to the PJT Partners fourth quarter 2023 earnings call. Today's conference is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Sharon Pearson, head of investor relations. Please go ahead, ma'am.

Thank you very much, Todd. Good morning and welcome to the PJT Partners full year and fourth quarter 2023 earnings conference call. I'm Sharon Pearson, head of investor relations at PJT Partners. And joining me today is Paul Taubman, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Helen Metz, our Chief Financial Officer. Before I turn the call over to Paul, I want to point out that during the course of this conference call, we may make a number of forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, and there are important factors that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe that these factors are described in the risk factors section contained in PJT Partners 2022 Form 10-K. It's available on our website at pjtpartners.com. I want to remind you that the company assumes no duty to update any forward-looking statements and that the presentation we make today contains non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe are meaningful in evaluating the company's performance. For detailed disclosures on these non-GAAP metrics and their GAAP reconciliations, you should refer to the financial data contained within the press release we issued this morning, also available on our website. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Paul.

Thank you, Sharon, and thank you all for joining us this morning. Today we reported financial results for quarter end and full year 2023. Revenues were the highest in our firm's history at $1.15 billion, up 12% year-over-year. For the full year, adjusted pre-tax income was $183 million, and adjusted EPS was $3.27 per share. In a very challenging operating environment, we deliver differentiated results, as strong absolute performance in restructuring coupled with strong relative performance and strategic advisory were the drivers of our record revenues. This was also a record year for senior recruiting, as we added 19 partners and managing directors principally in strategic advisory. Many of these hires bring key industry expertise and relationships, which will significantly augment the depth and breadth of our industry footprint. Total strategic advisory partner and MD hit count increased 20% this year, while firm-wide hit count grew 12%. This considerable hiring has weighed on our operating margins, but we are confident that, in time, our shareholders will be rewarded for this investment. During the year, we repurchased almost 2.2 million share equivalents. Even with these significant share repurchases, we ended the year with more than $435 million of cash on hand and the strongest balance sheet in our firm's history. Given the strength of our balance sheet and our continued emphasis on mitigating dilution resulting from our continuing investment in the franchise, our board has authorized a new $500 million share Repurchase Program, which supersedes the current repurchase authorization. After Helen takes you through our financial results, I will review our business performance, recruiting initiatives, and outlook in greater detail. Helen?