Sprott Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Sprout Inc.'s 2020 Second Quarter Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. Instructions will be provided at that time for you to queue up for questions. If anyone has any difficulties here in the conference, please press star followed by the zero for operator assistance at any time. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today. August 7, 2020. On behalf of the speakers that follow, listeners are cautioned that today's presentation and the responses to questions may contain forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking information and statements involve risk and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements. certain material factors or assumptions are implied in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such information or statements. For additional information about factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in providing forward-looking information or making forward-looking statements, Please consult the MD&A for the quarter and sports other filings, including its most recent annual information form with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators. Forward-looking information is given and forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, and we do not undertake to update or revise our forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, few events, or otherwise, except information As may be required by law. At this time, I would like to turn the call over to your speaker, Peter Groskopf, CEO. Thank you. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. Wow, I can tell we're listed in the U.S. now. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. I hope that you are all staying safe and managing through these times. On the call with me today is Whitney George, Kevin Hibbert, John Ciampaglia, and Glen Williams. Our Q2 results were released this morning and are available on our website where you can also find our financial statements and MDNA. So starting on slide four, the events of this year have been dramatic and will have far-reaching impacts. Global governments have been forced to react to COVID in an unprecedented manner, not just because of the scale of the issues, but also because the global economy is no longer large or robust enough to handle the amount of debt which has been created over the past 50 years. In our view, central banks have painted themselves into a corner leaving no option other than artificially low interest rates, debt monetization and ultimately currency debasement. And this uncertain environment will support the gold thesis for the foreseeable future in our view. In response, gold and silver and their related equities have broken out decisively in 2020, outperforming most other asset classes and certainly every other currency. Specifically, gold has gained more than 33% this year. It recently breached the key 2000 level and is setting new highs relentlessly. Gold producer equities have also performed well, rising more than 50% after recovering nicely from the sell-off in late March. While sentiment indicators suggest that a correction could be expected and healthy, gold is now well supported by long-term fundamentals. Turning now to slide 5 for some look at recent highlights, with rising gold and silver prices and dramatically increased interest in the sector, Sprott has experienced significant growth in our asset base. On a year-to-date basis, as of August 4th, our assets under management have increased by 83% to $17 billion. These gains have been driven by a combination of factors including $1.9 billion in year-to-date sales, $4.2 billion in market value appreciation and the acquisition of the Tocqueville Gold Strategies, We completed a share consolidation in May and began trading on the New York Stock Exchange shortly after. We're pleased with the reception that our listing has received and we'll discuss that in more detail later. Yesterday, we declared a U.S. 23 cents per share dividend that will be payable on September 1, 2020. Can we get the next slide, please? Sorry, I've misplaced my notes here.

I think there's a slight delay on the slides.