Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. (NYSE:MMC) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Ryan Tunis: Hey, good morning. First question, just looking at the margins in this quarter, fiduciary investment income was a pretty big contributor, it looked like, to the margin expansion, and the comp ratio actually looked relatively flat with 4Q 2021. I guess that just surprised me a bit, given there was so much hiring a year ago with not much revenue attached to it. So yes, how should we be thinking about, I guess the operating leverage or the lack thereof that on that cooperation in the fourth quarter?

John Doyle: Yes, thanks Ryan for the question. As I said last year start 15th consecutive year of margin expansion, and we expect 2023 to be our 16th consecutive year. I was pleased with the margin improvement, particularly in light of the investments that we’ve made in talent. So, it’s a modest improvement, slight improvement in the comp and then ratio. But again, margin is an outcome for us. We’re focused on growing earnings growing the free cash of the business and we’re going to invest where we think it makes sense, where we think it can make us stronger as a business and accelerate client impact. But at the same time, what’s not going to change here is our focus on continuous improvement and our commitment to excellent financial performance.

Ryan Tunis: Got it. And then I guess just a follow up, John, obviously early days in the new seat, but just curious what you’ve been focusing on or where you’re spending your time?

John Doyle: Sure. My voice has been in our strategy for nearly seven years now. As I said in my prepared remarks, we’re in the right businesses. We’ve got market leading brands. We’re well positioned, just outstanding talent. It’s a real privilege to get to work with the folks that I get to work with every day. And as I said, our focus on continuous improvement and our commitment to excellent financial performance are not going to change here. Having said that, I see some real opportunities at the intersections of our businesses. Client needs are dynamic as we talked about, and those needs don’t fit neatly into the boxes on our org chart. We’re a big company. We need to be organized in certain ways, but those needs don’t necessarily fit again against not all of them anyway, don’t fit neatly into how we’re organized.

And so we’re going to be more deliberate about how we collaborate. We’ve got a unique collection of capabilities. We’re going to go to market together where we think it makes sense and where it makes sense is where we can accelerate client impact and enable our client success. And our colleagues are passionate about client success and the work that they do on behalf of clients. So they’re excited about the possibilities. I’m excited about the possibilities. We’re also going to work more closely together to drive some efficiencies across our business. So I see a lot of opportunity. Again, I think we’re in terrific businesses and a terrific team here and I’m excited about the days ahead. Thank you, Ryan. Andrew that was the last question, we’ll wrap it up now.

Operator: I would now like to turn the call back over to John Doyle, President and CEO of Marsh McLennan for any closing remarks.

John Doyle: Thanks, Andrew. And thank you all for joining us on the call this morning. In closing, I want to thank our over 85,000 colleagues for their hard work and dedication in a challenging year. And I also want to thank our clients for their continued confidence in Marsh McLennan. Thank you all very much and I look forward to speaking with you next quarter.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for participating and you may now disconnect.

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