Evercore Inc. (NYSE:EVR) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

James Yaro: Hey, John and Celeste. Thanks for taking my questions. I just wanted to ask quickly on the debt financing markets, which do seem to have reopened to some extent so far in January, and I guess, in February. Maybe if you could just speak to whether some of the financing pressures holding up M&A deals have subsided and that’s what we’re seeing, and how this could impact the speed of an M&A recovery. And then conversely, could this have a more negative impact in terms of reducing the restructuring opportunity?

John Weinberg: Well, first, I’ll start with the latter part of your question, which is — I could easily see — and this doesn’t often happen, I could easily see the merger market really picking up and restructuring continuing at a very high pace just because I think that in terms of restructuring this is really a broad type of application for restructuring. It’s not industry specific, it’s really company specific. And we’re seeing a lot of opportunities, both in terms of distress financings, companies that really need advice with respect to their capital structures. There’s a real broad diversity of activity going on in our restructuring group. So, I could see that moving forward even if the merger markets recovering. In terms of the credit markets, there’s no question that the opening of the credit markets and the strength of the credit markets has really helped investment grade corporates and big companies really look at the market.

But really, the recovery is not really that they don’t have access to being able to do deals, it’s really that they are really watching the market to see when the market will be receptive to doing big deals. And then I could see that recovering. And so, I think that there’s no question that the credit markets make it easier. But I think that it’s really going to be management teams and boards getting the confidence to actually move forward with sizable situations to drive their strategy. I think there is a real pent-up demand from corporates and sponsors to do deals. And so, I think the minute they think that there’s going to be broad acceptance to deals, you’re going to see it start. And as I’ve said, I think it’s going to build.

James Yaro: That’s really clear. Thank you.

Operator: Thank you. Our next question will come from Matt Moon with KBW. Your line is open.

Matthew Moon: Hi. Good morning. Just wanted to touch on the non-M&A advisory contribution. More recently you’ve spoken to this coming in closer to kind of a third of the total revenue pie over the past few years. But I’m curious, I guess, as to how this has trended in relation to this number over the past year, kind of considering the push-and-pull dynamics of lower underwriting fees, but what I would imagine is a larger contribution from the private capital advisory and restructuring side. So, wondering that shift within this bucket: one, if the 2022 figure came about the similar proportion to what you’ve disclosed over that three-year period; and two, how should we be kind of thinking about this outlook on these non-M&A advisory revenues in 2023, particularly with what we’re seeing on the M&A — pure M&A advisory specifically?

John Weinberg: Sure. Thank you. Well, generally, I think we’re still in the one-third area as to where these businesses are actually coming out in terms of our total revenue. I think it’s generally in the same place. These are very, very strong businesses that are, I think, well positioned. And I think that the prospects for these businesses is very good and we’re actually investing in them. Whether it’s in restructuring, we promoted another senior managing director who is going to be very productive. They’re very busy right now. They’re taking on many new assignments and they’ve got a lot to do. And so, I think that we feel good about that business. Private capital advisory, we’re investing in there too. I mean, we really think we have best-in-class businesses there and we’re trying to pour it on.