In the absence of a pending M&A or something that sits right in front of us, we have done and executed on buybacks. So it really is a balance of looking at and across kind of all those components. You did mention we looked at in 2023, we did increase our buybacks. We were very opportunistic with respect to that. In our prepared remarks, we did mention that our board approved a $100 million buyback program in December. So we are ready and do have kind of all the tools to think about, both buybacks, M&A, as well as kind of dividends. So we’re really trying to be balanced and looking at all of that. But it does really come with a perspective of facts and circumstances with what sits in front of us. And we feel like we’ve done a pretty good job of balancing all that to really drive that shareholder return and we’ll continue to do that going forward.
David Brown: Yes. And you might just add to that, first and foremost always is, is making sure that our balance sheet is set up to support our strategic initiatives around acquisitions. And so ensuring that we have that, is first and foremost. And I think that’s the best vehicle for shareholder return over the long term. But that being said, we are absolutely committed to returning capital to shareholders through dividends and also through buybacks. Our history shows that we’ve done a really good job balancing that out. And so, the acquisition environment impacts it, but we have the benefit of having a great business that throws off a lot of free cash flow and we have the benefit of having a lot of choices and being able to really to balance all of that and to do all of it.
And so, that’s the reward for having built a sizable business that has a lot of free cash flow is that, we can buy back a lot of shares, we can pay dividends and we can also do strategic acquisitions.
Matthew Howlett: Yes, and you have a great track record of buyback. I’m sure you look at your multiple versus peer group and see the value in buying back shares, but certainly the track record speaks to itself and congrats on both the dividend and the upsizing of the share repurchase program. The second question, the follow-up is just on, you always have the four platforms, RS, WestEnd, they always seem to be sort of the outperformers the last two quarters. Is there any secret sauce in the net outflow positive outcomes of those platforms versus the other subsidiaries or it’s just going to ebb and flow or just there — are they just always going to be sort of the outperformers to lead?
David Brown: I think there’s a number of factors that goes into it quarter to quarter. It’s very hard to look at the flow situation quarter-to-quarter. As I said earlier WestEnd has a really good product set, very competitive investment performance, and some industry tailwinds and good distribution. So we anticipate WestEnd will continue. RS Global is an area where we have a long-term track record. It is starting to gain momentum on the institutional side and it’s a very competitive product. And there’s a number of other franchises that will also ebb and flow, but I think you’ll see more organic growth as the environment changes. The biggest headwind for us is the macro environment where investors are sitting in cash and not allocating to risk type investments.
That will change. We don’t know when it will change. I think we’re getting a lot closer to that change. And when that change happens, I think we will be in a position to capture those assets as we’ve built the distribution channels over a number of years and we have really good investment performance and very competitive products.
Matthew Howlett: Great. Thanks, Dave.
Operator: That concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back over to David Brown for closing remarks.
David Brown: Thank you. Later this month, On February 21st, we will be attending the Bank of America Securities 2024 Financial Services Conference in Miami. And on March 6, we’ll be attending the RBC Capital Markets Global Financial Institutions Conference in New York. We look forward to seeing some of you at those events. Have a wonderful day and thanks for your interest in Victory Capital.
Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation and you may now disconnect.
