Good afternoon. This is the Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining Banca Generali's pre-preliminary 2022 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen only mode. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing * and 0 on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Gian Maria Mossa, CEO and General Manager. Please go ahead, sir. Good afternoon, thank you for participating to our full year results conference call. First of all, let me start by saying that the overall results were pretty strong, despite one of the most difficult year ever for the financial markets. Net interest and total assets end up very well, I would say, where the mix got better during the fourth quarter. The net profit is factored by a very pure contribution from performance fee, while the recurring results posted a very strong increase and well above expectations. Thank you. Thanks to the resiliency of the margins for asset management products and the positive impact of the normalization of the yield on net interest income. We confirm very sound balance sheet with all the capital and liquidity ratio above the requirement, we will propose a dividend yield of 1.65 per share at the next AGM. Last but not less important, we are fully on track to meet all the key financial targets for our three-year business plan. Even more important, all the initiatives of our strategic pillars, the value service, innovation and sustainability are well in place. Now moving on to page 4. Let's start by looking at in a long series of our net profit. As you can see, you know very well, the bank has an increasing focus on the recurring revenues. You know, we launched several projects to diversify the revenue streams, rediversify and innovate in product and services. We redefined the incentive schemes, both short and long term for our Financial Advisors. We worked on also price optimization. All these initiatives were finalized to increase the recurring components of our PNL. The graph at page four is very impressive. We moved from less than EUR 50 million at the end of 2012, up to EUR 201 million for 2022. Very positive also for this year. In particular, if you focus just on the last five years, you can see that the recurring net profit increased by 2.4. As I said, this year will be definitely a good year. You move on the next page five, within the fourth and tenth, you see that there is a steady growth over the year with a contribution in Q4 at EUR 67.6, while our net profit were close to zero for very pure performance fee. Page six. As usual, we go through line by line our PNL, starting from net financial income. Net financial income jumped by 50%, thanks to the acceleration of net interest income, plus 74%. You look at the net interest income in the first quarter, the result was at EUR 67.1. This result benefit also from the repricing of the inflation-linked bond. Overall, EUR 6 million in the first quarter, EUR 20 million for the full year. If you look at the yield, we closed the first quarter with an average yield of 1.42%. We say the number for the final day of the year was about 2%. Page 7. Total gross fees. Total gross fees are stable in the year, with a bottom in Q3. We closed 2022 with EUR 940.7, and you see that for the fourth quarter closed at EUR 232.7. They say that again, this is the result of all the major components, as we will see in brief. While as already mentioned, variable fees were manageable also for the first quarter. Let's go through management fees. Overall, the contribution for the year was positive, +1%. The result of the fourth quarter decline closed at EUR -97.6. This is basically due to the reduction of the average managed assets. We know that average managed assets bottom out in the first quarter, while margins were very resilient at 1.43%. that is above our target to stay above 1.41%. If you focus also on the other recurring fees on, at page 9, you can see that the overall contribution were negative, -8%, it is all explained by the reduction of the more cyclical component. Minus EUR 10.5 million in the entry fee is basically driven by almost zero from fee, from management products and the lower volumes in structural products. Focusing on the other components, here there are several positive indications. The first one is about the brokerage commission, which are slightly down, but in terms of volumes, we are in line with the previous year. The mix was more conservative. A very strong result from advisory fees and a steady growth of other banking fees. In the fourth quarter, in general terms, we saw an acceleration of all the components. Page 10. Moving on to cost side. Let's start by commenting the total payout ratio to the financial advisory network. As you can see, total fee expenses and the overall payout to financial advisors were down year-on-year. The 2022 closed at EUR 488.5 million. In terms of payout, positive news from the ordinary payout rate of 35%. The incentive scheme, 10.9. This is the confirmation of very flexible model. Payout to third parties growth at 5.8%. Here we are very efficient. I don't see rooms for further improvement. I remember that this includes the two main components, the sub-advisory mandate cost and brokerage to third party. In this slide, you see a new line on the payout to FAs on net interest income. Basically, we pay the FAs once in a percentage of the spread between mark-up and mark-down. There is of course a cap. This amount is paid once per year. It, we always paid this kind of payout, due to the lower for longer interest scenario, we saw that we forgot this component in the past. It accounts for EUR 2 million in 2022, we expect a cost in the range of EUR 7-8 million for this year. Page 11, operating costs, in line with our guidance, flat 5.9%. As usual, we focus on the core operating costs. As you can see, we include, as I already said, the registry. The overall cost per registry closed at 6.1. Depreciation was in line with 2021. Staff costs under control, we've seen acceleration in the G&A for two main reasons. First of all, the acceleration of some specific projects, for example, data intelligence and cybersecurity projects. Fourth, the back to normality, we are relaunching all the commercial activity and meetings with our financial advisors. We confirm also for this year despite inflation pressures, the guidance of the three-year business plan closing in the range 5%-6%. Page 12, we see the usual cost ratios. We follow them the right line, so the adjusted cost/income close to 30%, very good. In terms of operating costs out of total assets, of course, here there is a negative impact on lower total assets, so a slight increase at 0.31 percentage point. Page 13, there is a sum up of the first part, and I would say very strong results with operating results at performance fee up 15%, driven by, again, I'd like to repeat several components, net interest income, the resiliency of the margins in asset management product, and all the new revenue engine launched 2 years ago. If we focus on the contribution below the operating line, we see an overall positive effect year-on-year, is mainly driven by a decrease of the pension provision and other contractual indemnities for Financial Advisors. On the negative side, there's an increase of the contribution of banking funds and some provisions for risk and charges, limited to the same financial market conditions. I remember these results include a one-off tax charge of EUR 35 million for the tax agreement to pay EUR 35 million overall. You can see the tax rate close to 25%, so slightly higher to the guidance we gave last time, that was close to 24%. This is driven by higher contribution from net interest income. Moving on next chapter about balance sheet. You see asset expansion. Balance sheet amounts at EUR 17.3 or EUR 1 billion-From one fire in three years, mainly due to the deposits from clients, where we included also the repos to financial institutions. Our next hearing. The interest-bearing assets expanded by EUR 0.7 billion. Next page, we can focus on the yield, starting from financial assets, from 10.6%-11.9%. We closed the first quarter at 1.42%. Loans to clients up from 2.4%-2.5%, with the yield at 2.57%. An overall yield on interest-bearing assets at 1.6%. In this slide, you can see also the cost of funding. The first quarter closed at 0.18%, with the cost of retail at 0.13%. This is the demonstration of a low elasticity to the spike in interest rates for the cost of funding. Page 17, with the deep dive on the financial assets. You know, here we continue to maintain a very conservative approach, and we are benefiting from the rise of interest rates, also thanks to high shares of floating rate bonds above 50%, and then of course, for the low duration. Page 18, capital and liquidity ratio. We confirm solid capital ratio. CET1 closed at 15.6. Overall total capital ratio at 16.7, based on a dividend payout ratio at 90%. Leverage ratio well above 4%, and liquidity coverage ratio and net stable funding ratio well above the required. Next section, page 20. You see the overall total assets down only 4, down 6%. This is the result of an overall performance of the portfolio clients at -9% or less, between -9% and -10%, and positive interest of 5.7%. On the positive side, you see the increasing penetration of assets under advisory. We are at the highest level, 8.9% of the overall total assets. Despite the financial market financial conditions, the assets under advisory continue to increase, both in absolute and relative terms. Focusing on the right of the page, assets under management, we see a reduction of both the Managed Solutions, the branches exposure to assets, and the Traditional Life Policies for net outflows. Managed Solutions out of total assets are below 50%. If you want to see the positive side is that in a phase of normalization, we do expect to regain 50, at least a quarter of 50%. Page 21, there is a deep dive on the left on asset management products, on the right on insurance products. Starting from asset management products, pretty impressive, the resiliency of financial wrappers. Not only positive news from assets under advisory, but also positive news from financial wrappers. I remember that these are the two investment services introduced by Intesa Sanpaolo, or strengthened by Intesa Sanpaolo. While you see a reduction in the fund distribution, retail, in the distribution to retail funds. The overall penetration of in-house solutions increased, now stands at 61.7%. Again, it is probably the highest level, for, you know, 5 years. Again, in a difficult moment, financial advisors, clients prefer in-house solutions with a particular focus on financial wrappers. Focusing on insurance products, you see that both components are down. Traditional life policies is the result of net outflows. Insurance wrappers is the result of positive inflows, but negative performance. Here, you know, we are waiting for the release of new science, new initiatives for both traditional life insurance as well as the insurance wrappers. I'm positive that in the second. At the end of the first quarter, and probably more in the second quarter, we will see different inflows. About inflows, page 22. You already know these numbers, 5.7 with a contribution of assets under management products at 1.2. On the right, you can see that this 1.2 is the result of EUR 2 billion in wrappers and in the funds, and outflows for EUR 800 million in traditional life insurance. This, of course, is positive in terms of margins as a mix. Page 23, there is the net inflows by position channels, good results from the existing base force. On the right, you see a focus on recruitment. Recruitment, you know, lower than expected due to the financial market. An acceleration in new financial advisors without remuneration strategies. It is about mainly younger financial advisors and for the creation of new teams. To work together with more senior financial advisors, also for the succession planning. Page 54, there is a deep dive on sustainability. We see a spike on the penetration of asset under management with a focus on ESG. Now they stand at 32.2%. This acceleration is due to a broader inclusion of assets following the introduction of the new ESG regulation. Basically, at the beginning, we included only the most preferred funds that we advise in our platforms. Now we include all the ESG solutions. On the right, we give evidence of the great job done in the ESG ratings. All the major rating agencies increased the rating on Banca Generali, MSCI, Standard Ethics, Moody's, and Sustainalytics. Last, we had signed the Principles for Responsible Investment. Page 25, a quick update on inflows for Generali. In terms of net inflows, positive, EUR 100 million. In terms of mix with the saying, the pretty poor, that is basically explained by the seasonality of the first month, and then the closing of the 2022 year incentive scheme for the network. Net inflows in asset under advisory is positive, EUR 100 million also in January, and the recruitment started well. Here you can see that there is a different behavior from, let's say, financial advisors and, let's say, financial advisors coming from Sella Bank. The recruitment from Sella network increased from 5 to 7. It's easy to move financial advisors, thanks to this normalization of the market. Let's say the traditional bankers, it takes more time to convince them, and they probably are waiting for more sign of stabilization of the market. The blue bar confirms the commitment to work on the aging issue and to foster new talented financial advisors. The last part of the presentation on the business update is all about our three-year business plan. You remember well, three clear targets, consistent growth, so it's about net inflows. Profitable growth is about recurring net profit and remunerative growth. It is about dividend. You remember the targets for the three years. The numbers for 2022 were pretty good, and they allows us to confirm all the targets for the full period. Today, we set also the targets for 2023. In particular, starting from consistent growth, we see net inflows in the range of EUR 5.7-EUR 6.7. We consider the results of 2022 as low, where the mixing will be between 55%-60% in asset management products. About profitable growth, you remember we gave a target in the range 10%-15%. The result for 2022 was very impressive, up by 25%. Also for this year, we project an increase above the target in the range of 15%-10%. Last but not least, remunerative growth. Also for this year, we confirm our dividend policy to distribute in the range of 70%-80% the recurring net profit and from 50% to 100% for the variable net profit. As I already mentioned, for this year, we propose a dividend at EUR 1.65 or 9% of net profits. In the following slide, you see all the initiatives supporting these targets. Starting from page 28 and 29, there is a focus on consistent growth. Here we have 2 major initiatives to support the productivity of the existing salesforce. The first one, are the first release and the first pilot on data-driven approach. Very concrete initiatives for top line and surplus, but also more in general for all the customer base. The second initiative is Think Back to Normal. Probably you remember that at the beginning of 2020, just before the COVID pandemic, we launched, we announced a project of a dedicated location for our trading, training courses, for sharing experiences. Now we are back to normal, and finally, we see this building full of financial advisors, and this is very, very important to us by sharing experience and training on the new scenarios. That normalization implies also more events and meetings on the territory. Here the proximity is again a very strategic factor for us. For the existing case force, the focus is on how to increase the productivity. The new financial advisors, the main driver are basically two, increased diversification. It means by aging and by gender. You see the results of 2022, the age average 48 years old, gender, 25% women. All is bringing and driving an acceleration of the BG team project. We have now 143 teams for EUR 12.4 billion. Of course, we will continue in attracting very talented and senior financial advisors. In terms of target, we have a goal of 150 financial advisors. We confirm the target of the three-year business plan, and the contribution on the overall net inflows will be in the range of 25%-40%. Next 3 pages is on our second target, that is about profitable growth. Here we have 3 very strong levers. The first one is net interest income, the second is about managed solutions, and the third is about assets under custody. Let's start from net interest income, page 13. We increased our guidance for this year to stay above EUR 200 million. Key assumption, average 6-month EURIBOR at 3.2. A potential cost of the retail retail bank, we say the current accounts at 130 basis points, that is a very, very conservative assumption, and we assume stable volumes. In this way, we will increase our net interest margin at least of 45%. And again, this guidance is to think of a normalization of the markdowns of the cost of the current accounts. As we mentioned last time, we don't have any automatic mechanism, and we wait for a bid request. Next page will be the focus on assets under management. The results of the last quarter of last year were impressive. We had numbers in line with the sum of the previous quarters, and this is due basically to new initiatives. We revised all the positions for the new scenario of yields with new financial product solutions, new target fund solutions, and how to offer, we say, asset management products in a context in which gov bonds provide higher yields. Of course, we have the competition of gov bonds has been increasing over time. For us could be an acceleration because it allows you to offer more diversified solutions with the same yield, and to provide also, we say, protected solutions by stripping out the gov bonds and completing the offering with equity funds. Bonds at 4% is not necessarily bad for asset management products. We launched several initiatives with good success in the last weeks. Page 22, you see assets under custody. Also, in this case, I'm pretty optimistic. You know, in the previous 3-year business plan, we launched new revenue engines, and the results are very good. Assets under custody almost doubled. We recorded also an acceleration in the profitability of assets under custody from 13 to 20 basis points. On the right of page 22, you see the trends from the launch of these new initiatives and a deep dive on last year. Asset advanced advisory services, you know, we started providing advanced advisory services for funds, and then we completed the offer with advisory also for assets under custody. Now, assets under custody offered through advanced advisory amount at EUR 2.5 billion, you see the acceleration in the last quarter. Primary and structured products. Again, we, here we multiplied by 3 the volumes, so EUR 1.2 billion. The first quarter was pretty impressive. Again, having a different yield, of course, is easier to offer these structured solutions. Then brokerage fees. Again, also here you see that we almost doubled the volumes. The revenues were marginally lower due to a more conservative mix. Again, the first quarter was pretty impressive. Also from assets under custody, I do expect more positive news. Third target is about the dividend policy. Here you see the proposal for 2022, and you see the dividend paid in the previous 3 years. We decided to confirm the dividend at 1.65. That is in line with the 2019 and 2020. You know, 2021 was an exception due to the very strong performance here. We confirm our approach to pay two different tranches. The first one will be paid this year, EUR 1. The second will be paid next year, EUR 0.65. This will imply a cash view for this year at EUR 1.8, because I want just remember that on the 20th of February we will pay the dividend for the previous year, of EUR 0.8 euro per share. Just to sum up, we say I'm very confident in the acceleration of business to achieve our 3-year business plan. I see positive signs from the commercial activity and stabilization of the market will imply a potential acceleration. Plenty of initiatives, very complete ones. Profitable growth, 3 levers, net interest income, assets under custody and assets under management. Clear in mind the target and how to achieve it. The United Group, you know, we are a capital light company, focusing on growth but also focus on value. We love to pay back the profit, the net profits to our shareholders. Now I will leave the floor to the Q&A session. Thank you. Thank you. This is the conference call conference operator. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press * and 1 on their touchtone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press * and 2. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press * and 1 at this time. The first question is from Elena Perini with Intesa Sanpaolo. Please go ahead. Yes. Good afternoon, thank you for your presentation. My first question is about the discussions that we see on the press, the comments that you already have had from your competitors regarding the potential ban of inducements. What's your position about this, how do you think that you could manage a potential change? Another question is about your assets under management inflows, which were positive for the purely managed assets in the first month of the year. It is true that January is usually not a very exciting month. You had a negative flow from traditional policies. I was wondering if your reopening of the offer is bearing fruit. It seemed to bear them in the fourth quarter. I would like to add any additional comment also considering your guidance of net inflows for the current year. Thank you very much. Thank you, Elena. Let's start on the ban of inducement. Let me say that I'm not so sure of the result of the current discussion, because other countries could be even more than Italy, and I mean Germany and France, because Italy is probably the best positioned in terms of transparency. We already disclosed all the costs. You know that the discussion is not only on the ban, yes or no, but also on different level of transparency that we feel that too. Let's say that I'm not sure that we will see the ban, and any intermediate solution will be favorable for Italy versus other countries. This is my view. In case of ban, it would be very exciting for us because I think that we are probably the best positioned for at least two reasons. I mentioned several times that with Banif and review, two investment services were at the core of our strategy. That is Advanced Advisory Services and Financial Wrappers. We are definitely best in class. We are core deposit also last year. We have positive performance for our Financial Wrappers, and this is the solution, the answer. More in general, all the strategies based on wrappers, so the Insurance Wrappers are the right way to approach this kind of regulation. Last but not least, don't forget that we provide services with the best Financial Advisors in the market, first for the average, but also for, let's say, experience and the capabilities. Let's say that I don't see problem for other distribution channels because overall financial advisors will be more better positioned. Among financial advisors, I'm no doubt we will be the best in class on all the investment services we can offer in this new environment. The second question is on the, let's say, the breakdown of the increase with a particular focus on traditional policies. Of course, you know, the main competitor of the traditional life policies are the BTPs and, as a mitigating factor, you know, we launched several services and advanced advisory services. Let's say that from a revenue perspective for us, I mean, the switch is not necessarily negative. I think that traditional life insurance has a great value in terms of protection, in terms of value proposition. With the relaunch of the initiative, let's say in March, I'm pretty confident to see also positive regain momentum, to see also positive interest to, let's say, offset eventually the outflow. I'm not so negative on traditional life insurance because, let's say, the reason why this product is not just about the yield, but it's a more, let's say, sophisticated, it's about a concept of protection. Okay, thank you very much. As a reminder, if you wish to register for a question, please press * and 1 on your telephone. The next question is from Luigi De Bellis with EQUITA. Please go ahead. Yes, good afternoon. I have several questions. The first one is on the recruitment. Can you elaborate on the cost of acquisition, if you expect to remain stable or not, and the competition on this side? The second question on the product mix and margins. Can you elaborate on the evolution of the mix of assets, net income mix and the management fee margin, and that you do expect in the coming quarters? The third question on the securitization. Can you provide us an update on the reimbursement trend and performance of these products? The fourth question on the expectation for 2023 of the new revenue stream engine, tax rate and cost. Last question, if I may? Can you give us also an update on the JV with Saxo Bank, BG Saxo SIM, or if you have some targets in terms of new clients, assets under management, recruitments and economics for 2023 for BG Saxo SIM, Saxo? Thank you. Thank you, Luigi De Bellis. I'll start actually. Please interrupt me if I forget some questions, because I took notes, but I'm not sure to written all. Let's start from the recruitment. Cost of acquisition is flat. We are around 2.3, depending on the mix. Last year was lower due to a more conservative asset allocation. No news on this side. Competition is always the same. I don't see an acceleration of competition. There is a great attention on recruitment, especially from, let's say, retail banks. We say we have different targets if you compare our activities with FinecoBank and illimity, that are the most aggressive ones in this moment. Maybe. Second, margins. We are confident to stay above our guidance of 1.31% for managed solutions. I'm very confident on financial wrappers. I think that the overall now solution could gain ground because on average performance are, in relative terms, better than others. In terms of securitization, not big news at your hand. We haven't received any information of further realized losses. Remember that the overall realized losses were almost 10% of our spending. We are continuing to explore and take action to protect our clients and the bank. In terms of reimbursement, we are close to 50% of the first 3 securitizations. In terms of revenue engine, if I understood well, first of all, advanced advisory service. Here there is a great opportunity. It takes time because it's a cultural shift to accelerate also in the business of asset under custody with an explicit fee. While I see constant growth in asset under advisory through we say funds. These, say, rumors and news on the inducements could be an accelerator, because I see increasing demand for training, for information, for communication from the network and from the clients. This could be a positive surprise for the year. Brokerage fee, Saxo Bank. Let's say that you have two different behaviors. The first one is the trader, mainly focused on equity. We saw a small cluster of clients that have accelerated a lot in terms of turnover, so positive. We have for the last year, a major focus on bonds. This is, we say that, we will leverage the capabilities of the structure in the bond market. A normalization of the market should allow us to increase also the brokerage fees, structural products and, let me say, primary market. I'm more optimistic because the level of yield allow us to accelerate with also this kind of offer. We have all the processes which are digitalized. We are better positioned than others to, you know, to gain momentum also in this kind of offering. In terms of Swiss project, we are waiting for the approval from the regulators. We should be very close. We project the green light in the next couple of months. At worst, we should be ready to provide these services in the second half of this year. We will give more color on this project once we receive the formal authorization. Tell me if I forget something, Luigi. Thank you. Only tax rate and cost. Thank you. Tax rate, sorry. Let's say in the range of let's say 24, 25. Probably closer to 25 than 24. The cost is in the range of 5%-6%. Brilliant. Thank you very much. You're welcome. Thank you, Luigi, sorry. Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press * and 1 on your telephone. For any further questions, you may press * and 1 now. The next question is from Gianluca Ferrari with Mediobanca. Please go ahead, sir. Yes. Hi, good afternoon. I have a question on the retail cost of funding. It seems that you raised the guidance from the bank at this point, in spite so far we are not seeing any real signs that the cost of funding is deploying. I was wondering that these new guidance, what is implying in terms of the migration, if you are expecting to give that to a specific segment or across the board, how much and, I mean, a bit of additional color to square these the guidance. Thank you. Thank you, Gianluca. We say that it is a very conservative projection. We start seeing some specific initiatives from commercial banks and some competitors offering deposits and initiatives to higher rate and also from very small and medium banks. We are not certain this competition. I have seen several initiatives. Starting with the conservative approach, we prefer to think of a worst case scenario. Of course, on the, let's say, on network individual, there is a little bit more pressure to be part of the rival. The overall impact on our numbers are pretty low. I would consider 30%, 35% of the overall stocks. Unless you don't have in mind any structural initiatives from the two major banks, this projection will be probably a little bit too conservative. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. The next question is a follow-up from Elena Perini with Intesa Sanpaolo. Please go ahead. Excuse me, I was not fully connected today, I apologize if I ask some questions about things you have already said. I would like to have a guidance on operating costs for 2023. We read in the press these past days that you are ready to post some additional provisions on solvency ratio. I was wondering if maybe in the fourth quarter or are you going to consider them and on what basis? Thank you very much. No problem, Elena. The guidance, of course, operating cost, we are in the range of 5%-6%. For the provision, we don't have specific provision for securitization, but we have posted EUR 10 million of provision in the first quarter for, let's say, to manage commercial initiatives due to the extreme negative market conditions. Just as a conservative approach, we prefer to post in the third quarter EUR 10 million, but in general terms for any commercial activities to support the relationships or the financial wrappers with the client. Thank you. A final reminder at this time. If you wish to register for the question- and- answer session, please press * and 1. Mr. Mossa, there are no more questions registered at this time. Okay. Thank you for attending our conference call, and bye. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over. You may disconnect your telephones.