And I think that helps us position very well. On the HWC side, these same economic issues can cause our clients to have a more intense need for sound advice and risk management solutions, whether it’s pension de-risking or coping with healthcare inflation. So our clients look for help in navigating these issues, and that creates opportunities that drives demand for our services around benefits, pensions, and workforce management.
Brian Meredith: Got you. Thank you. And then my second question, there’s been some chatter, I think this quarter about some of the major brokers getting back in the wholesale insurance brokerage business. I’m just curious what your thoughts are with respect to, is that an opportunity maybe for you all to get back into?
Andrew Krasner: We don’t speculate about potential transactions, and I would consider wholesale a transaction, not an extension of what we’re doing.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question or comment comes from the line of Joshua Shanker from Bank of America. Mr. Shanker, your line is now open.
Joshua Shanker: Yes. Thank you very much. I was wondering if you can give any color, I mean, you’re a bunch of different businesses on the broking side. How are things looking in the middle market here in the United States? How are things looking in your, I guess, I would call them international businesses in some of your places where you’re dominant in Francophone countries and whatnot? Can you give us a little color on the geographical differences in performance? I know you say it’s broad-based, but I mean, not everything’s moving at the exact same gearing, I assume.
Carl Hess: Yes. There are some differences in our results around the world, right? I would first point out, we don’t have a dominant business anywhere, but we have strong businesses in many places. Growth has been, I think, quite good in both international and Europe, and we are seeing our U.S. business perform very well in the revamp we’ve done over the last months to reorganize the business across industry lines. Andrew did talk a little bit in the beginning of the call about relative performance in the geographies, but we do see that our specially-led approach has really led to very good results in a number of countries within Europe, strong results in Latin America, and as I said, the North America revamp we’ve made is working well.
Joshua Shanker: And just a quick modeling question, should we assume in 2024 that the book of business sales have basically run their course?
Carl Hess: Yep, I think that’s a fairly safe assumption at this point in time. We do expect it to look like the historical average. I did mention in my prepared remarks that we did expect a bit in Q4. Some of that timing, as always, can be uncertain and it can slip, but it should not make a material difference to 2024.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question or comment is a follow-up from Mr. Shlomo Rosenbaum from Stiefel. Mr. Rosenbaum, your line is now open.
Shlomo Rosenbaum: Thank you. I had a couple just kind of housekeeping questions, probably for Andrew. First, just in the move up in interest rates in September, is there kind of any update that we should think about in terms of pension income expectation for 2024? And then also, the non-operating income line seemed to have spiked up a little to $66 million in the quarter. I don’t know if that’s from the gain of sale, they got just out of the net got just out of the net income, but is there something material in that line item that spiked it positively in the quarter?
Andrew Krasner: Yes. So first on the pension side, as we’ve mentioned before, the increase in interest rates and decline in capital market return did create a significant headwind to some of the pension income dynamics. We continue to expect pension income of about $112 million in 2023, and for 2024, we’ll update our expectations there in our fourth quarter call after the annual remeasurement process. However, based on current market conditions, we don’t expect the pension headwinds to subside. And on your question related to the other income line item, the big component that you’re seeing there is a gain on the sale of our Saville Assessment business.
Operator: Thank you. I’m showing no additional questions in the queue at this time, I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Carl Hess for any closing remarks.
Carl Hess: Thank you all, again, for joining us today. We do appreciate the continued support of all of our stakeholders. I especially want to reiterate my thanks to all of WTW’s colleagues around the globe for their continued hard work and dedication. The results of which are evident in this third quarter performance. I am proud of their results, and I look forward to working together to keep the momentum going as we finish the year strong. Have a great day.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for participating in today’s conference. This concludes the program. You may now disconnect. Everyone have a wonderful day.
