Verisk Analytics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRSK) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Lee Shavel : And when I think about balance sheet efficiency, Alex, I think the most striking thing is that with these dispositions, we have released a lot of capital that was not generating as high a return as in our core insurance businesses. And so I think you will see that in the return on invested capital, particularly as we utilize the proceeds to repurchase shares. That’s probably the most significant balance sheet efficiency in my mind.

Operator: Our next question comes from Greg Peters with Raymond James.

Gregory Peters : Lee, in your comments, you acknowledged all the changes that the company has gone through over the last year. Now that you’re laser-focused on the insurance piece, can you talk about how you’re tracking customer satisfaction? Specifically, is there something like a comprehensive customer survey that you’re using, where you can collect unfiltered feedback rather than just looking at retention numbers and feedback you get at conferences?

Lee Shavel : Yes. Great. Thank you very much. And you really touched on something that we — I think we have a good system. We undertake a survey and an NPS scoring twice a year. In 2022, that is in the mid-40s, which is consistent with where we’ve been before the pandemic and through the pandemic. And I think we saw an increase in that during the pandemic as a function of kind of a general lift from working from home, from our clients, some of the features that we offered through client experience that were well received but still a very solid number. So we undertake that, but we also have customer experience unit that is always looking to gauge the feedback that we receive from our clients on product experience. So at that level, we’re trying to provide a number of means for them to communicate anonymously their level of satisfaction.

I would also say anecdotally, we have intensified our efforts to engage at a senior level, particularly at C-suite with how we are providing value and solving problems for them. The feedback of knowing of — their feedback to our renewed focus on just the insurance industry has been very positive. The outreach from some clients, where we haven’t had a strong relationship, has been very positive, and we’ve actually seen a higher level of engagement from them as a result. So we’re looking at that across at different layers. And so far, I think the response has been positive, and we’ll continue to build on that.

Operator: Our next question comes from Andrew Jeffrey with Truist Securities.

Andrew Jeffrey : I appreciate all the sort of succinct summation of the changes you made in your business. And the guidance, I agree, that’s really helpful. We also appreciate all the callouts of the business drivers. Now that you’re a pure-play, can you — are there some areas where you think Verisk has particular ability to focus and accelerate growth? I’m thinking about life or extreme event modeling as we think more about climate change. I just wonder if there’s more of a laser focus on areas we think Verisk has the ability to really leverage assets and potentially accelerate top line.

Lee Shavel : Yes. Andrew, thank you very much for the question. And I will — I’ll do my best to address it here. But I think we’re really excited about drilling into that at Investor Day. So forgive me for another advertisement for Investor Day, but I really think that it will be a great opportunity for you to hear not only what I have to say strategically, but also hear it directly from the business and the investments that we’re making. So I’m going to try to limit it to three. The first is, as you referenced, in new areas for us like life insurance and in marketing that are current needs for those businesses that we have the opportunity to penetrate the existing insurance industry or segments of the insurance industry that we have not served before are already delivering significant growth that enhances our overall growth rate.