This conference is being recorded. Cette conférence est enregistrée. All participants, please stand by. Your conference is now ready to begin. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the TD Bank Group Q4 2022 earnings conference call. I will now like to turn the meeting over to Ms. Brooke Hales. Please go ahead, Ms. Hales. Thank you, operator. Good afternoon and welcome to TD Bank Group's fourth quarter 2022 investor presentation. We will begin today's presentation with remarks from Bharat Masrani, the bank's CEO, after which Kelvin Tran, the bank's CFO, will present our fourth quarter operating results. Ajai Bambawale, Chief Risk Officer, will then offer comments on credit quality, after which we will invite questions from pre-qualified analysts and investors on the phone. Also present today to answer your questions are Michael Rhodes, Group Head, Canadian Personal Banking, Paul Douglas, Group Head, Canadian Business Banking, Raymond Chun, Group Head, Wealth Management and Insurance, Leo Salom, President and CEO, TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, and Riaz Ahmed, Group Head, Wholesale Banking. Please turn to slide two. At this time, I would like to caution our listeners that this presentation contains forward-looking statements, that there are risks that actual results could differ materially from what is discussed, and that certain material factors or assumptions were applied in making these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements contained in this presentation represent the views of management and are presented for the purpose of assisting the bank's shareholders and analysts in understanding the bank's financial position, objectives and priorities and anticipated financial performance. Forward-looking statements may not be appropriate for other purposes. I would also like to remind listeners that the bank uses non-GAAP financial measures, such as adjusted results, to assess each of its businesses and to measure overall bank performance. The bank believes that adjusted results provide readers with a better understanding of how management views the bank's performance. Bharat will be referring to adjusted results in his remarks. Additional information on items of note, the bank's use of non-GAAP and other financial measures, the bank's reported results and factors and assumptions related to forward-looking information are all available in our annual 2022 report to shareholders. With that, let me turn the presentation over to Bharat. Thank you, Brooke, and thank you everyone for joining us today. Q4 was a strong quarter for TD. Earnings increased 5% to $4.1 billion, and EPS rose 4% to $2.18. Revenue grew 12% year-over-year, reflecting increased customer activity and the benefits of our deposit-rich franchise. While we've seen some increase in PCLs this quarter, credit performance remains sound, benefiting from TD's through-the-cycle underwriting practices with key credit metrics remaining well below normalized levels. Our banking businesses have performed well in this environment, enabling us to continue to make strategic investments in our people, in technology, and in new capabilities in our businesses to drive future growth. TD's common equity Tier 1 ratio ended the quarter at 16.2%, reflecting significant organic capital generation, the goodwill hedge for the First Horizon acquisition, and the divestment of a portion of our Schwab shares in August. We continue to expect the bank's CET1 ratio to be comfortably above 11% post-closing of the First Horizon and Cowen transactions. We remain confident in the earnings power of our franchise and today declared a CAD 0.07 dividend increase, bringing our dividend to CAD 0.96 per share. I'm proud of what we have accomplished this quarter and this year, and we are entering 2023 from a position of strength. We continue to innovate to keep pace with market developments and build new capabilities for our customers. Among financial institutions, TD has the largest patent portfolio in Canada and the fifth-largest patent portfolio in the U.S. Enterprise-wide, 150 of the bank's patent applications have been granted this year. This quarter, TD was named the best consumer digital bank in North America for the second consecutive year by Global Finance, reflecting our industry-leading digital capabilities and the strength of our mobile and online offerings. Using AI-powered insights, we are delivering highly personalized experiences to our customers, helping them navigate financial challenges and meet their financial goals. Let me now turn to each of our businesses and review some highlights from Q4. Our Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking segment delivered earnings of CAD 1.7 billion. The personal bank finished the year with momentum, including the highest net customer acquisition since 2014, with record acquisition in new to Canada market. We are committed to helping new Canadians and have introduced customer-centric value propositions, including our newly launched banking package, specifically designed for international students, a first among Canadian financial institutions. We saw industry-leading market share gains in non-term deposits and achieved TD's highest market share ever in this category. In our real estate secured lending business, annual average portfolio loan growth is at its highest level since 2010, and this quarter, retention rates increased by 3.4% year-over-year. We also had record credit card spend and organic loan growth driven by our diverse lineup and compelling acquisition offers. Rewards Canada readers recognize TD with more rewards in 2022 than any other card issuer, with the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card and the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite Card ranking best in the respective categories. The business bank again delivered double-digit loan growth at 15% year-over-year. TD was particularly proud to be named highest in small business banking customer satisfaction among the big five Canadian banks, according to J.D. Power's 2022 Canada Small Business Banking Satisfaction study, reflecting our commitment to legendary customer experiences. Turning to the U.S., our U.S. Retail Bank delivered record earnings of $963 million, with strong revenues despite the implementation of the previously announced enhancements to our overdraft policies, demonstrating the bank's ability to continue to adapt as the market evolves. With the contribution from our investment in Schwab of $237 million, segment earnings were $1.2 billion this quarter. We took market share in our footprint in personal deposits with growth of 5% year-over-year, and business deposits were flat in a highly competitive environment as customers continued to entrust TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, with more of their business. Mortgage loans grew 17% year-over-year, while credit card volumes were up 8% on increased spend from a year ago. Commercial loan volumes increased 5% year-over-year, excluding PPP loan forgiveness, reflecting continued strong growth in middle market and specialty lending. We maintain our leadership in small business banking, ranking number one by total number of approved U.S. Small Business Administration loan units for the sixth consecutive year. We also announced the extension of our agreements with Target and Nordstrom to 2030 and 2026 respectively, enabling the bank to continue to be the exclusive issuer of co-branded and private label consumer credit cards for these leading retailers. Before we leave the U.S. Retail segment, I want to provide an update on our acquisition of First Horizon. We are currently planning to close the transaction in the first half of fiscal 2023, subject to customary closing conditions, including approvals from U.S. and Canadian regulatory authorities. We are excited about the benefits that this acquisition will deliver for all of our stakeholders. As we announced in October, effective this quarter, we established a wealth management and insurance segment. This new reporting alignment reflects the significant and growing contribution that these businesses make to TD's success. This quarter, the segment earned CAD 516 million, demonstrating the power of our diversified business mix as higher insurance volumes and the benefit of higher interest rates offset the challenges presented by market volatility, severe weather events, and trading volume and claims normalization. Our advice businesses achieved record net asset growth this year as clients turn to our growing base of advisors to help them navigate a challenging market environment. TD Asset Management continued to innovate to meet client needs, recently launching the TD Alternative Risk Focused Pool, a new retail multi-strategy solution to offer exposure to liquid alternative investments. The fund is an extension of our highly successful retirement portfolio franchise and provides retail investors with access to tools historically only available to institutional investors. Our number one direct-to-consumer insurance business continued its digital transformation, with over 20% of new sales this quarter completed digitally from end to end. Our insurance business is focused on leveraging its competitive strength and intends to expand its services into an underserved market by launching small business insurance in 2023. Finally, I want to acknowledge our customers across Atlantic Canada that were impacted by Hurricane Fiona and to thank our insurance colleagues for their tremendous efforts on the ground, providing support through the TD Insurance Mobile Response Unit to ensure that we were there for our customer when it mattered most. In our Wholesale Banking business, we delivered net income of $275 million. Revenue was roughly flat year-over-year as the impact of a weaker underwriting environment was offset by strength in other parts of our business, including higher global transaction banking, trading, and lending revenue, again reflecting the benefits of our diversified business model. TD Securities acted as sole book runner on the Council of Europe Development Bank's EUR 100 million reopening of its EUR 1 billion seven-year social inclusion bond, supporting their commitment to address the long-term needs of Ukrainian refugees in their host communities. We have made significant progress in preparing for the closing of the Cowen acquisition. On November 15th, Cowen shareholders approved the transaction with over 99% of those voting in favor. We are awaiting certain regulatory approvals and are planning to close the transaction in the first calendar quarter of 2023. Overall, I'm very pleased with the results we delivered in 2022. We built momentum in our retail segments and won more customers with differentiated, legendary experiences. We announced two strategic acquisitions, which when closed, will meaningfully accelerate our growth in the years to come. You know, we have said that we expect to grow adjusted EPS by 7% to 10% over the medium term. For the year ahead, there are both tailwinds, including rate momentum and the anticipated closing of our announced acquisitions and headwinds, including geopolitical tensions, the complex operating environment and potential economic slowdown. On balance, unless macroeconomic conditions were to shift dramatically, we believe that we will meet or exceed our medium-term target range in 2023. I'm proud of the strong financial results and returns we generated for shareholders this year, and how we have positioned the bank for the macroeconomic volatility ahead. I'm equally proud of the value we delivered for all of our stakeholders. This quarter, we announced a $10 million investment into the Boreal Wildlands carbon project in Northern Ontario, developed by the Nature Conservancy of Canada. This is the largest single private conservation project ever undertaken in the country and supports the fight against biodiversity loss and climate change. By supporting the growth and development of voluntary carbon markets and through the formation of its carbon advisory business, TD Securities is focused on providing new financing solutions to help our clients transition to a lower carbon economy. We're also innovating in supplier diversity. Working with the Tent Partnership for Refugees and the Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council, TD has sponsored a new certification program for businesses owned by entrepreneurs who recently arrived in Canada as refugees. This program will provide better market access for refugee-owned businesses and promote greater diversity in government and corporate procurement. TD's leadership builds upon our long-standing support for suppliers pursuing diversity certifications, promoting economic inclusion across supply chains. TD is also committed to supporting equitable access to funding. As part of the bank's $10 million five-year commitment, the Black Opportunity Fund announced an inclusive lending program for Black entrepreneurs. This program aims to support the continued effort of combating anti-Black racism and broader systemic discrimination, and to help meet the needs of Black communities across Canada. In the U.S., we invested $5 million U.S. dollars in Citizens Trust Bank, a minority deposit institution based in Atlanta, to further support inclusive growth in the Southeast. Enriching the lives of our customers, communities and colleagues is the center of everything we do at TD. I would like to end by thanking our TD bankers around the globe. They are responsible for our strong performance in 2022, and they are the reason that I'm confident we will build upon these achievements in 2023. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. With that, I'll turn things over to Kelvin. Thank you, Bharat. Good afternoon, everyone. Please turn to slide 11. For 2022, the bank reported earnings of CAD $17.4 billion and earnings per share of CAD $9.47, up 22% and 23% respectively. Adjusted earnings were CAD $15.4 billion, and adjusted earnings per share was CAD $8.36, up 5% and 6% respectively. Reported revenue increased 15%, and includes the net gain from mitigation of interest rate volatility to closing capital on the First Horizon acquisition and the gain on sale of Schwab shares. Adjusted revenue increased 8%, reflecting volume growth and margin expansion in the personal and commercial banking businesses. Provision for credit losses was CAD $1.1 billion, compared with a recovery of CAD $224 million in the prior year. Reported and adjusted expenses increased 7% and 6% respectively, reflecting higher employee-related expenses and higher spend supporting business growth. Absent the retailer partners net share of the profits from the U.S. strategic card portfolio, adjusted expenses increased 7.2% ex FX. Consistent with prior quarters, slide 28 shows how we calculate total bank PTPP and operating leverage, removing the impact of the U.S. strategic card portfolio, along with the impact of foreign currency translation and the insurance fair value change. Reported total bank PTPP was up 24% from fiscal 2021 before these modifications, and adjusted PTPP was up 8% after these modifications. Please turn to slide 12. For Q4, the bank reported earnings of $6.7 billion and earnings per share of $3.62, up 76% and 77% respectively. Adjusted earnings were CAD 4.1 billion. Adjusted earnings per share was CAD 2.18, up 5% and 4% respectively. Adjusted earnings include favorable tax impact of earnings mix and the recognition of unused tax losses. Reported revenue increased 42% and includes the net gain from mitigation of interest rate volatility to closing capital on the First Horizon acquisition and the gain on sale of Schwab shares. Adjusted revenue increased 12%, reflecting margin expansion and volume growth in the personal and commercial banking businesses and the impact of FX translation. Provision for credit losses was CAD 617 million, compared with a recovery of CAD 123 million in the fourth quarter last year. Reported and adjusted expenses increased 10% and 9% respectively, driven by higher employee-related expenses, the impact of FX translation, and higher spend supporting business growth. Employee-related expenses reflect an increase in our full-time equivalent staff, as well as the full quarter impact of the additional merit increase announced in Q3. In fiscal 2022, we had a strong revenue environment and made the conscious decision to step up our investments across a number of areas, including digital properties and frontline colleagues. We expect some of that growth momentum to moderate in fiscal 2023 on a quarter-over-quarter basis. Our goal of delivering positive operating leverage over the medium term remains unchanged. Absent the retailer partners net share of the profits from the U.S. strategic card portfolio, adjusted expenses increased 9.8% ex FX. Reported total bank PTPP with the modifications shown on slide 29 was up 81% year-over-year before modifications. Adjusted PTPP was up 9% after these modifications. Please turn to slide 13. Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking net income for the quarter was CAD 1.7 billion, up 11% year-over-year. Revenue increased 16%, reflecting margin expansion, volume growth, and increased client activity, including credit card-related and foreign exchange revenue. Average loan volumes rose 9%, reflecting 8% growth in personal volumes and 15% growth in business volumes. Average deposits rose 4%, reflecting 8% growth in personal deposits, including industry-leading market share gains in non-term deposits and a 2% decrease in business deposits. Net interest margin was 2.7%, up 11 basis points compared to the prior quarter, primarily due to higher deposit margins reflecting rising interest rates, partially offset by lower loan margins. Total PCL of $229 million increased $59 million sequentially. Total PCL as an annualized percentage of credit volume was 0.17%, up 4 basis points sequentially. Non-interest expenses increased 12% year-over-year, primarily reflecting higher spend supporting business growth, including technology and employee-related expenses. Please turn to slide 14. U.S. Retail segment reported net income for the quarter was $1.2 billion U.S., up 7% year-over-year. Adjusted net income was $1.2 billion U.S., up 10% year-over-year. U.S. Retail Bank reported net income was $926 million dollar U.S., up 3%, reflecting higher revenue, partially offset by higher PCL and non-interest expenses, including acquisition and integration-related charges for the First Horizon acquisition. U.S. Retail Bank adjusted net income was $963 million dollar U.S., up 7%. Revenue increased 22% year-over-year, reflecting higher deposit margins and volumes and higher earnings on investments, partially offset by lower income from PPP and lower loan margins. Average loan volumes increased 4% year-over-year. Personal loans increased 10%, reflecting higher residential mortgage and auto originations, coupled with lower prepayments and higher credit cards volumes. Business loans were flat, reflecting strong originations, new customer growth, higher commercial line utilization, and increased customer activity offset by PPP loan forgiveness. Excluding PPP loans, business loans increased 5%. Average deposit volumes, excluding sweep deposits, were up 3% year-over-year. Personal deposits were up 5% as TD took market share in our footprint. Business deposits were flat. Sweep deposits declined 5%. Net interest margin was 3.13%, up 51 basis points sequentially as higher deposit margins reflecting the rising interest rate environment and positive balance sheet mix were partially offset by lower loan margins. On slide 33, we've continued our disclosure on the impact of the PPP program. This quarter, PPP revenue contributed approximately $9 million to net interest income and 1 basis point to net interest margin. Total PCL was $169 million, an increase of $86 million sequentially. The U.S. Retail net PCL ratio, including only the bank's share of PCL for the U.S. strategic cards portfolio as an annualized percentage of credit volume was 0.4%, higher by 20 basis points sequentially. Reported expenses increased 15% and include acquisition and integration-related charges for the First Horizon acquisition. Adjusted expenses were up 11%, reflecting higher employee-related expenses and business investments. The contribution from TD's investment in Schwab was $237 million, up 22% from a year ago, reflecting higher net interest income, partially offset by higher expenses, lower asset management fees, and lower trading revenue. Please turn to slide 15. Wealth management and insurance net income for the quarter was $516 million, down 15% year-over-year. Revenue decreased 1%, reflecting lower transaction and fee-based revenue in the wealth management business, and a decrease in the fair value of investments supporting claims liabilities, which resulted in a similar decrease in insurance claims, partially offset by higher insurance premiums. Insurance claims increased 11% year-over-year, reflecting increased driving activity, inflationary costs, and more severe weather-related events, partially offset by favorable prior years' claims development and the impact of a higher discount rate, which resulted in a similar decrease in the fair value of investment supporting claims liabilities reported in non-interest income. Non-interest expenses increased 1% year-over-year, reflecting higher spends supporting business growth, including higher employee-related expenses and technology costs, largely offset by the impact of lower legal provisions and variable compensation. Assets under management and assets under administration both decreased 7% year-over-year, reflecting market depreciation, partially offset by net asset growth. Please turn to slide 16. Wholesale Banking reported net income for the quarter was $261 million, a decrease of 38% year-over-year, reflecting higher non-interest expenses and PCL. Adjusted net income was $275 million, down 35% year-over-year. Revenue was $1.2 billion, up 1% year-over-year, reflecting higher global transaction banking, trading-related and lending revenue, partially offset by lower underwriting revenue and markdowns in certain loan underwriting commitments. PCL for the quarter was $26 million, an increase of $1 million from the prior quarter. Reported expenses increased 22% and include acquisition and integration-related charges, primarily for the Cowen acquisition. Adjusted expenses increased 19%, reflecting continued investments in Wholesale Banking's U.S. dollar strategy, including the hiring of banking, sales and trading, and technology professionals, timing of employee-related costs, and the impact of foreign exchange translation. Please turn to slide 17. The corporate segment reported net income of $2.7 billion in the quarter, compared with a reported net loss of $150 million in the fourth quarter last year. The year-over-year increase is primarily attributable to gains from the mitigation of interest rate volatility to closing capital on the First Horizon acquisition and from the sale of Schwab shares, lower net corporate expenses, and a higher contribution from other items. The increase in other items primarily reflects the favorable tax impact of earnings mix and the recognition of unused tax losses, partially offset by lower revenue from treasury and balance sheet management activities this quarter. Adjusted net loss for the quarter was CAD 10 million, compared with an adjusted net loss of CAD 65 million in the fourth quarter last year. Please turn to slide 18. The Common Equity Tier One ratio ended the quarter at 16.2%, up 126 basis points sequentially. We had strong organic capital generation this quarter, which added 44 basis points to CET1. This was partially offset by an increase in RWA, which decreased CET1 by 19 basis points. We saw a 13 basis point increase in CET1 related to the issuance of common shares under our dividend reinvestment plan. The sale of a portion of TD's investment in Schwab to provide the capital required for the Cowen acquisition increased CET1 by 49 basis points. Relating to the First Horizon acquisition, the net gain from the mitigation of interest rate volatility through closing capital increased CET1 by 35 basis points, and an FX hedge increased CET1 by 12 basis points. RWA increased 4.3% quarter-over-quarter, reflecting higher credit risk RWA. Credit risk RWA increased $22 billion or 5%, mainly reflecting the impact of FX, higher volumes, and risk migration. Market risk RWA decreased $1.7 billion or 7%, reflecting lower exposures partially offset by market volatility. The leverage ratio was 4.9% this quarter, and the LCR ratio was 128%, both well above published regulatory minimums. I will now turn the call over to Ajai. Thank you, Kelvin. Good afternoon, everyone. Please turn to slide 19. Gross impaired loan formations increased by 2 basis points to 14 basis points this quarter, reflecting some normalization of credit performance. Please turn to slide 20. Gross impaired loans were stable quarter-over-quarter and remained at cyclically low levels. Please turn to slide 21. Recall that our presentation reports PCL ratios both gross and net of the partner share of the U.S. strategic card PCLs. We remind you that U.S. card PCLs recorded in the corporate segment are fully absorbed by our partners and do not impact the bank's net income. The bank's provision for credit losses increased $266 million quarter-over-quarter to $617 million or 29 basis points. The increase was largely recorded in the Canadian and U.S. consumer lending portfolios. Please turn to slide 22. The bank's impaired PCL was CAD 454 million, an increase of CAD 114 million quarter-over-quarter, largely related to some normalization of credit performance in our Canadian and U.S. consumer lending portfolios. The bank's impaired provisions remained well below pre-pandemic levels. Performing PCL increased by CAD 152 million to CAD 163 million, as reflected across the U.S. Retail, Corporate, and Canadian Personal and Commercial Banking segments. For 2022, the bank's full-year PCL rate was 14 basis points compared to a recovery of 3 basis points in 2021. The higher full-year PCL rate was due to a smaller current year performing release and moderately higher impaired provisions. Please turn to slide 23. The allowance for credit losses increased by $445 million quarter-over-quarter to $7.4 billion, reflecting the impact of foreign exchange, deterioration in our economic forecasts, some normalization of credit performance, and volume growth, partially offset by release of overlays previously set aside for economic uncertainty. The bank's allowance coverage remains elevated to account for ongoing uncertainty relating to the economic trajectory and credit performance. Now, let me briefly summarize the year. The bank exhibited strong credit performance this year, as evidenced by cyclically low gross impaired loan formations, gross impaired loans, and impaired PCLs. While credit performance remains strong, we saw some normalization in certain portfolios this quarter as credit metrics have come off their recent lows. In addition, economic risks remain elevated, reflecting persistent inflation and rising interest rates and the increasing risk of a recession. While results may vary by quarter, I expect PCLs to be higher in 2023 in the range of 35-45 basis points as credit performance continues to normalize and the economic trajectory unfolds. To conclude, TD remains well positioned given we are adequately provisioned, we have a strong capital position, and we have a business that is broadly diversified across products and geographies. With that, operator, we are now ready to begin the Q&A session. Thank you. We will now take questions from the telephone lines. If you have a question and you are using a speakerphone, please lift your handset before making your selection. If you have a question, please press star one on the device's keypad. You may cancel your question at any time by pressing star two. Please press star one at this time if you have a question. There will be a brief pause while the participants register. We thank you for your patience. The first question is from Gabriel Dechaine from National Bank Financial. Please go ahead. Your line is open. All right, thanks for that, Abraham. I have a couple questions here. Well, one actually, just, the all bank NIM, based on your calculation, it's 7 basis points increase. I have it a little bit smaller if I adjust for the trading stuff. If I compare that to the segments where in Canada it's up 11 and the U.S. up 50, pretty huge. Can you give me a bit of a technical explanation as to why there might be some divergence there? Is that a wholesale funding issue at the top of the house or what? Hi, it's Kelvin Tran here. I'll take that question. As you said, what we need to do, we need to adjust it out for trading and II. The trading and II number is actually disclosed in our MD&A in the Wholesale Bank section, there's a footnote underneath the table. If you adjust for that and also for the trading loans, for the volume, you get to a core or non-trading NIM of 12 basis point quarter-over-quarter. Okay. That's. We calculated ourselves, but might need to compare methodology there. My real question, I guess, is on the First Horizon, the subtle shift in timing expectations, I guess. L ast quarter, you were guiding or expecting to close in fiscal Q1, now first half. What's prompting the delayed expectation of closing? Hi, Gabe. This is Bharat. W e're already in December, Gabe, so we thought it's appropriate. Can you hear me, Gabe? Yes, I can. All right. We're already in December, and so we don't control the timing of all the regulatory approvals. You know, we are confident that we'll get closing within the timeline that we've put out. I mean, are they taking a closer look at anything? Are you anticipating having to make any adjustments to your product lineup or your fee, schedule in advance of the close? No, I'm not aware of anything of the sort you're mentioning. All right. Well, thanks and, enjoy the rest of the year, and have a good holiday season. Thank you. Happy holidays to you as well, Gabe. Thank you. The next question is from Meny Grauman from Scotiabank. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Hi, good afternoon. Wanted to stick to a discussion of the margin up 11 basis points in Canada, 51 in the U.S. Just wondering if you think we've hit peak margin expansion at TD, or could we see coming quarters with bigger sequential increases in the margin? Hi, it's Kelvin here. I would say, first of all, at the top of the house, when you look at the total bank, if forward rates are realized, we expect that to be favorable to margins, both because of rising short rates and also for tractors repricing as on rates are higher than off rates. A big part of the margin expansion story is that we've seen significant rise in short rates, so that provided a, I would say, a turbocharge to the margin expansion. It really depends on the rise in the short rates, going forward. I don't know whether Michael or Leo, do you have anything to add on the customer dynamics front or balance sheet mix? I just, this is Michael. Just for the Canadian Personal Bank and I guess P&C overall, we expect NIM to improve in the near term, assuming that the forward curves that we see hold. I think the dynamics are lining up well for us, and so we would expect to see some further expansion. Meny, I would just add the NIM for the quarter came in at 3.13, so very strong, 92 basis points up last on a year-on-year basis, 51 basis points on a quarter-on-quarter basis. As Kelvin described, deposit margin expansion clearly driving that. Also, we've had some good gains in terms of improvement in treasury returns on our investment portfolio. Those two things obviously have driven the result. As we look forward, I agree with Michael, we'll continue to see some additional pricing power if the forward curve holds. I would expect though that beta may begin to increase in the medium term. I'd say as we think about the balance of the year, there's going to be increased pricing sensitivity, certainly amongst mass affluent, high net worth, and institutional, commercial clients. I would expect to see further improvement in NIMs, but on a more gradual basis, over time. Leo, just following up on that, I think we've heard from other banks that betas haven't changed as much as we would've expected given the rise in rates. Is that what you're seeing right now? You're talking about an expectation for that to increase in the future. I would say that was generally true. I am in the fourth quarter, I do think we saw a little bit more inflection at the industry level. Obviously, our own franchise is very core checking account dependent, which gives us a little bit more pricing resiliency than some of our other peers. The reality is in that, in that mass affluent high net worth client, in the large institutional, there is greater search for yield and greater search for alternative investment opportunities. I, I would expect that to crystallize a little bit more over the subsequent quarters. Just as a follow-up, broadly, we've heard some banks talk about positioning for potential declines in rates. How exposed is TD to declining rates? I'll leave it there. We look at that. I would say that it is reflected somewhat in our net interest margin disclosure. You would see a shock of rate hike or rate decline impacting our net interest income. There's sensitivity there. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Paul Holden from CIBC. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Thank you. Good afternoon. Actually, I'm gonna continue with that line of questioning, but just ask sort of a different question. Would you consider hedging some of that rate exposure, so taking advantage clearly of the upside today, but maybe some point within the next year, if you think rates have topped out, you could protect and lock in some of that margin? Is that something you would think about doing? Hi, it's Kelvin. Yes, we look at that, and at the margin, but you have to look at both upside and downside. On one hand, if you lock it in, if rates decline, then you benefit, but inflation continues to be persistent and rates break high, then that would go against you. It's a fine balance that we monitor. Got it. Okay. Thank you. Next question is with respect to your HELOC exposure, and I guess particularly in Canada. There's been a lot of discussion lately around variable rate mortgages, but for TD, I'm more curious on the HELOC exposure, assuming it's also variable rate. What kind of impacts are you seeing on your customers or changes in behavior? Is this something we should be focusing on and worried about from a credit perspective? Yeah, it's Ajai. Let me start, and I'll talk a little more broadly around housing. You may have noticed from our macro outlook, we have revised our housing outlook downwards because of higher rates. We 're not expecting a crisis. We're definitely expecting an unwind of some of the gains that have occurred since COVID. When I look at quality and when I look at quality across whether it's HELOC, whether it's fixed rate, whether it's variable, I would say the asset quality is strong. We look at distribution of scores, we look at how much equity customers have in homes, we look at debt service levels, and yes, there's a bit of an uptick, but they're generally robust delinquencies formation charge-offs. Across all our books, our quality is strong. I don't know, Michael, if you wanted to add something. I think that captures it and nothing else to add. Great. I'm gonna sneak in one more, if that's okay. Just curious on the increase in the LCR ratio this quarter. Not unusual to see it jump around maybe two or three points from quarter to quarter, but seven points is a pretty big move, so maybe you can help unpack that for us. Yeah. It's partly because of pre-funding for the First Horizon transaction and also, in our Wholesale Bank and TD Securities. All right. Okay. Thank you. I'll leave it there. Thank you. The next question is from Doug Young from Desjardins Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Hi. Good afternoon. At page 16, I think it is, in Wholesale Banking, looking at expense growth, I guess it's for Riaz. There was mention of investing in the U.S. dollar strategy, I just find that a little interesting in light of the fact that you are in the midst of closing the Cowen transaction. Can you help me understand, what that relates to? I would have thought you would have waited to make further investments or at least stop investments in the U.S. strategy until you onboarded Cowen, but maybe I'm thinking about this incorrectly. No, Doug, not at all. The, you have to remember that the U.S. dollar strategy has been unfolding for a while now, and then the acquisition of Cowen was announced at the beginning of August. A fair bit of that is just the increased run rate that was put on prior to the acquisition being announced. You know, there's a fairly robust hiring of front office individuals, both in investment banking, global markets, and the related support individuals as well as technology professionals. It's mostly a just the annualization of the build that had taken place prior to. This is year-over-year, and I guess this has already been going. It's not like you did incrementally more sequentially. This was already in the running. I guess because you're doing this, I mean, is there a risk that we're gonna have a restructuring charge of some form as you onboard Cowen? Well, I think, as you know, a lot of the verticals, where Cowen is strong as compared to where TD Securities is strong, there's not a lot of overlap. I think that we would look to usually manage our expenses in the normal course. As you know, when we acquired Cowen, we didn't announce any particular synergies from an expense perspective. Okay. Okay, then just last, Kelvin Tran, it looks like in corporate, it was a lower adjusted loss than normal. I mean, there's lots going in to the underlying items, so I get that. Is there anything unusual in there? You know, should we expect the loss to go back to more of a normal loss level, if you can unpack that? Sure. This quarter we benefited from lower tax rates, and if you quantify that, it's about CAD 170 million of an impact. That related to anything in particular? It's just business mix and unused tax losses. You have these items that bounce around quarter-over-quarter. Sometimes they're positive, sometimes they're negative. In this quarter, the items just happens to be larger and of that magnitude. Okay, I'll leave it at that. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Lemar Persaud from Cormark Securities. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Thanks. Just looking at your sensitivity to higher interest rates, it looks like it's still relatively high. I think CAD 1.2 billion increase in NII for a 100 basis point increase in rates across the curve. I think that number is CAD 1.3 billion last quarter. Did I hear you right in that higher deposit betas are gonna limit some of the upside? If so, why isn't that showing up in this rate sensitivity table more meaningfully, or is our rising deposit beta simply not considered in this sensitivity? Hi, it's Kelvin. I'll take that question. Betas are taken into account in that model. As a matter of fact, some of the reduction in NIS quarter-over-quarter is due to the higher beta. As rates rise, then you have less sensitivity to the next rate hike. In that number, there are a lot of things that happen. There are also hedges that expires, so that would add sensitivity to it. It is in there. Okay, thanks. Then, one thing that stuck out to me was the 5% sequential mortgage growth in the U.S. Can you help me reconcile what's driving such strong growth, when we're seeing volumes slowing across the industry? Then maybe talk about mortgage spreads in the U.S. Would it be fair to suggest that spreads are tightening there, and maybe it's less of a concern for TD just given the excess deposit position? Is that k the right way to think about why you guys are putting up such strong mortgage growth in the U.S.? Lamar, this is Leo. Thanks for the question. You're right. We had a really strong mortgage quarter. Total balances grew 17% on a year-over-year basis. I think this question came up last quarter as well. Two fundamental strategies driving the volume growth. One, we reintroduced an in-store direct origination model, which has been extremely well received and has allowed us to be able to counteract some of the contraction trend that we've seen in the marketplace. Second, we've been successful in our correspondent mortgage business, attracting high quality, mass affluent, high net worth mortgage relationships. That coupled with a sharp decline in pay downs meant that we saw good balance growth. We do think that will moderate a little bit as we go into 2023, but for the most part, we think that the near term quarters will remain strong. In terms of overall margins, the margins have been relatively stable. We're not seeing a price competition that's outsized at this point. We like the volumes that we're putting on. We'll continue to do that. I would say one final thing. We've also been less active in terms of selling our mortgage portfolio. We're seeing spreads we like, we like the portfolio risk associated with it, and that's giving us the ability to be able to build out our mortgage book a little bit more. You put all those factors together, and I think it's been certainly positive in terms of our mortgage portfolio growth. Thanks. I'll leave it there. Thank you. The next question is from Sohrab Movahedi from BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Thank you. Just one quick clarification first. Kelvin, do you think the total bank tax rate will go back to that 21%-22% effective throughout 2023? Let's put it this way. This quarter is lower than normal. Would the last seven or eight quarters be consistent with what you would expect normal to be? Yes. Thank you. Then just to clarify, Bharat or Kelvin, I guess the 7%-10% EPS growth in 2023, the target may be met or exceeded in 2023. Can you just provide any guideposts as how much of that growth you would attribute to existing versus acquired business? Hard to split it, that precisely because timing of acquisitions are there's no certainty as to when exactly they close. Overall, when you think of the bank, you've got interest rates, which we've talked a lot about on this call as to what it does to TD's P&L, and you got the acquisitions. Those I would say are plus points, going into 23. Of course, the very good organic growth that the bank has posted over many years, and I expect it'll continue to do so next year. On the other hand, we are in a complex operating environment, geopolitical tensions are out there, of course, there is the potential for an economic slowdown. The way I said it in my remarks, Sohrab, is on balance, we feel, we will meet or exceed, the guidance, the medium-term guidance that we provided, but it could shift based on the points that I've just made if any one of those turns out to be dramatically different. Than what we know today, then of course the numbers will change. That's how we've been thinking about it. No, I appreciate that. I just wanted to distinguish between what would have been indigenous TD growth, so to speak, absent the acquisitions. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you. The next question is from Joo Ho Kim from Credit Suisse. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Hi. Thank you. Thanks for taking my question. Just wanted to stick with U.S. Retail. I'm looking at the expenses up 11% year on year, on adjusted basis. I'm also looking at the total employees in that segment, and that's up about 8% over that time. I'm just wondering if you can speak to how much of the increase in expenses this quarter was due to inflation in that segment. Also how you think about the pace of hiring from the business and whether we could see that FTE number continue to climb up from here. Thank you. Thank you very much for the question, Joo Ho. Maybe just to give you a little bit of context, expenses up 11%, essentially two factors. One is inflationary pressures, both in terms of wage and other core expenses, but a very significant portion of it, investment spending. Let me just describe some of the areas that we've been very deliberate about in terms of investing. One, we added to our retail and wealth advisory ranks. Part of that was making up for some lost ground. The pandemic did result in higher attrition rates, and so we did hire to be able to bring back staffing levels to a pre-pandemic level. Consistent with what I shared earlier in the year, we've been very focused in building out our wealth advisory ranks. And so that was another area of investment. We also in our commercial banking teams, we have been investing in our mid-market and our specialty verticals, and so very focused on building greater national scale in that area. And then finally, we did something that would have influenced our FTE numbers, not necessarily our expenses, is that we did repatriate our cards servicing platform, which amounted to just under 400 overall employees. And we did that because we wanted to upscale the actual services that we were rendering to our cards clients. So those are some of the big categories In addition to that, from a technology standpoint, we have been very focused on investing in digital, and also investing in our cards next generation platform. Those are some of the areas that we've been investing in. We're quite comfortable that those will allow us to continue to maintain a strong revenue growth going forward. I would imagine your follow-up question is going to be, how do we look, think about expenses going forward? I would expect us to moderate the rate of expense growth over the subsequent quarters. So we're deliberately mindful of our operating leverage focus. Thank you. That's very helpful. Just one last one for me. I wanted to go back to Wholesale Banking segment. The loan growth from that segment is up 18% sequentially. Wondering if you could let me know what drove the results there? It looks like could have come from perhaps financial sectors or some of the other sectors. Wondering what drove the growth and how we should think about that going forward? Joo Ho, it's Riaz. Look, there's been a really attractive growth in really all parts of our lending book, whether that's in corporate lending, in our prime businesses, in our securitized businesses. It's quite widely spread out in the businesses. I think we've been really happy with the business that we're doing with our clients, and as we continue to add clients. I mean, obviously the environment for deals as it has been a bit slower, I would expect that growth rate to moderate a bit. A s you know, that can be that can change very quickly depending on economic circumstances. I feel pretty good about the growth that we were able to deliver in 22 across the board. Thank you. Thank you. The next question is from Mike Rizvanovic from KBW Research. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Thanks. Good afternoon. Probably one for Michael. First off, thanks for updating your disclosure on remaining amortization in the mortgage book. I'm referencing the 25% that's greater than 35 years amortization. What I'm wondering is, do you face any regulatory or legal constraints in terms of how much you could renew in terms of that amortization? So you've got a quarter of your book above 35. I'm guessing there's probably a portion above 40 even. Is there some constraint that you face? I'm trying to get a better understanding of how much leeway you may have when you, when you have your customers renewing and for the ones that maybe potentially have a bit of a struggle to make a higher payment. Yeah. For the most part, and you're right, we did. First of all, we did update the table to reflect current payment trends as opposed to the contractual obligation for the customer. The contractual obligations haven't changed for a customer. If a customer has a 25-year term, even if they may be amortizing currently at a lower rate, they still do have a 25-year term. When the renewal comes, the options are either reset the payment to reflect what's required in order to amortize it over the contractual term from origination. You can actually reset the amortization, basically re-underwrite the loan. There, we generally look to re-underwrite them for again, a 25-year term. On a case-by-case basis, we'll look at longer terms, but come that moment, when the renewal comes, we're generally looking to either, reset to the initial term or, possibly re-underwrite for, you know, let's call it a new 25-year term. Okay. Well, it's Ajai. The only additional comment I'd add is, we are watching the rate reset risk across, our fixed and variable books like very, very closely. You know, we've done a lot of stress testing. What happens at 5%? What happens at 6%? We've actually estimated potential formations, potential PCL, a lot of that thinking is already incorporated into our allowance. I just thought I'd share that. Okay, that's helpful. Fair to say that you do have leeway. There's no real limitation that regulators would have. I don't see anything in the B-20, correct me if I'm wrong, but no real limitations. You aim for the 25-year or the original amortization period, but you will work with your customers and I'm guessing really try to limit any disruption in that in your book. Yeah, no. That's right. We work with our customers on, obviously on a case-by-case basis. T hat aside, the contractual amortization terms, they are generally 25 years. if someone's slow amming today, there is an expectation under the obligation that when the loan renews, that the payment resets to reflect the initial term. Okay. Thanks for the insight. Thank you. We have a last question from Scott Chan from Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead. Your line is open. Thank you so much. Just a quick clarification question first, Ajai. On the, you talked about a PCL ratio target for 2023, 35-45 basis points. Was that a total? Yes. Okay. That is total. I do expect, if I could go and look at 19, for example, a large part of that will be impaired. Got it. Okay. Last question for Bharat. 8% dividend increase, obviously very strong, and I think it signals a really strong organic outlook. You've got the acquisitions coming. Maybe talk about the reason for the increase now, the amount, and does this set the bar for TD to raise their dividend once a year like they did pre-pandemic? Thanks. Thanks, Scott for the question. I outlined earlier, somebody asked me about how we are feeling about next year. As you rightly pointed out with the momentum we have, with the further rate increases that are embedded in the forward curve, with the acquisitions, we feel that, we should be able to meet or exceed our target. But there are headwinds as well. Things could change, and when they change, they change quite dramatically, the economic environment, et cetera, et cetera. I pointed that out. On dividends, we don't look at it from that perspective. You know, we wanna look at the earnings power of the bank. We wanna look at the overall environment, and feel very comfortable with what we've done this quarter. Generally our view is, we don't like to think about dividends every quarter or every little while. We like to think of it from a long-term perspective. It depends on the circumstance. It's hard to speculate on future events and what may or may not happen. Very happy with what we've done today, with the increase that we announced earlier. Fair enough. Thank you very much. Thank you. There are no further questions registered at this time. I will return the call back to Mr. Masrani. Thanks very much, operator, and thank you all for joining us today. In a very strong quarter from TD, very happy with it, how the year has turned out. I would once again like to take this opportunity to thank our TD bankers around the world. They continue to deliver for all our stakeholders, including our shareholders. It's terrific to see that the bank continues to make progress on a consistent basis. If I don't see any of you before the holidays, happy holidays to all of you, and we will talk again in about 90 days. Thank you. Thank you. The conference has now ended. Please disconnect your lines at this time, and we thank you for your participation.