Earnings Call Transcript - BENF Q4 2024

Operator, Operator

Good day and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Beneficient Company's Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2024 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to Dan Callahan. Please go ahead.

Dan Callahan, Head of Investor Relations

Good morning and thank you for joining us today for Beneficient's Fiscal Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2024 Conference Call. In addition to this call, we issued an earnings press release that was posted to the shareholders section of our website at shareholders.trustben.com. Today's website is being recorded and a replay will be available on the company's website at shareholders.trustben.com. On today's call, management's prepared remarks may contain forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those discussed today. Actual results and future events could materially differ from those discussed in these forward-looking statements because of factors described in our earnings press release and the risk factors section of our Form 10-K and in subsequent filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements represent management's current estimates, and Beneficient assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements in the future. Today's call also contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to our earnings press release, which is available on our website, for important disclosures regarding such measures, including reconciliations to the most comparable GAAP financial measures. On the call today are Brad Heppner, CEO and Chairman and Greg Ezell, Chief Financial Officer. I'll turn it over to Brad Heppner. Brad.

Brad Heppner, CEO and Chairman

Thank you, Dan. Good morning and thank you for joining us. Today I will discuss our plans to grow Ben's business through liquidity and primary capital fiduciary solutions as we work to scale our business and provide benefits to our customers and shareholders. Then Greg will share comments on our quarterly and annual results as we concluded fiscal year 2024. I recognize many of you might still be familiarizing yourselves with Ben's business and strategy, so let's start with a brief overview of what Ben is and what sets us apart. Essentially, Ben was established to offer fiduciary products and services that provide enhanced liquidity and primary capital for holders and managers of alternative assets. For smaller managers, securing liquidity for alternative assets is often a complex, costly, and prolonged endeavor, sometimes taking over 15 months, if liquidity can be found at all. To tackle this challenge, we have developed a Fintech platform and a fully integrated process aimed at completing these crucial transactions in as little as 15 days. We have also launched a unique primary capital fiduciary financing product through our GP Solutions Group, targeting general partners, as smaller managers face similar difficulties in sourcing capital and lack innovative solutions. Our operating business enjoys at least three key advantages, including being a public company, having statutory and regulatory oversight and compliance, and utilizing a custom-built technology platform to deliver our products and services. These advantages create a significant barrier around our business as we strive to scale and realize our vision. Integral to that barrier is our advanced, bank-regulator-examined, and internally developed Fintech platform AltAccess, our first-of-its-kind fiduciary trust framework governed by specific statutes, and thousands of industry connections that enable us to access holders of private assets. By offering these vital fiduciary products and services, we will generate fee revenue from fiduciary products, trusts, and custody services, akin to other publicly traded asset managers. Moreover, we will offer our investors a distinctive chance to benefit from the returns of the underlying loan portfolios. Let's explore this opportunity further. In the realm of alternative assets, there is no unified marketplace where a regulated fiduciary serves on behalf of investors, supplying dedicated permanent capital and ensuring timely trade execution for early liquidity. This structural limitation makes alternative assets quite illiquid, cumbersome, and costly to transact in, especially for most investors, excluding well-capitalized institutional firms. Nevertheless, we are witnessing unprecedented interest in alternative investments from our primary audience of smaller funds, affluent individuals, and mid-sized institutions. Of the over $2.7 trillion in net asset value held by Ben's target market in the US, we estimate an annual unmet liquidity demand exceeding $61 billion. As our target markets grow and enhance their allocations to alternative investments, we project this unmet liquidity demand will surpass $100 billion within the next five years. Furthermore, general partner-led restructurings continue to generate a significant share of the secondary market need for liquidity, positioning us to compete in this $106 billion market based on several defining factors. Our goal is to continually transform the outdated practices within the alternative investment industry by delivering innovative solutions that address the unmet liquidity, primary capital needs, and tools to navigate the alternative asset markets effectively. By integrating these two markets, we are set to tackle the $167 billion demand for liquidity from affluent investors and middle-sized institutions. Finally, as fund sponsors roll out new products amidst a competitive and challenging fundraising landscape, Ben estimates the potential demand for primary commitments needed to support fundraising efforts, which we can finance directly, to be up to $330 billion in the coming years. Our completed deals so far illustrate that our framework can address the essential needs of smaller institutional holders, affluent individuals, and mid-sized general partner managers. Through Ben liquidity, we provide fiduciary liquidity from investors' alternative assets when they face limited options, along with custody services for these financings in trusts through Ben custody, generating trustee and custody administrative fees. These fiduciary financings are secured by our customers' limited partnership interests. Our proprietary AltAccess Fintech platform streamlines and enhances the transaction experience through an online, customer-friendly portal. Additional possibilities may involve aggregating several of our financings into a loan participation program attractive to other institutional alternative asset lenders while providing Ben with cash liquidity. We intend to seize the opportunities in our target markets through a market awareness strategy that is cost-effective and data-driven. Utilizing third-party data, internal intelligence, and Ben's networks, we initiate awareness campaigns to engage customers who may benefit from our products and services. As Ben liquidity closes transactions related to liquidity and primary capital, the ExAlt loan collateral portfolio is expected to grow accordingly. Our plan is to expand and scale our capital in line with the demand for liquidity in primary capital products, while also reinforcing Ben's balance sheet over time. To achieve an optimized, adjusted return and diversification under our OptimumAlt endowment model, alongside operational economies of scale, enhanced margins, and tangible book value for shareholders, our company must continue to innovate and introduce new fiduciary products and services. In line with our commitment to innovation, our Board has approved the launch of the ExchangeTrust product plan, targeting up to $5 billion in fiduciary financings to Customer ExAlt Trusts. Each fiduciary financing to a customer ExAlt Trust under the plan will require prequalification and be priced using an automated formula-based model. Following the successful underwriting of an ExchangeTrust transaction, the formula is designed to automatically price the financing to achieve a risk-adjusted return expected to benefit our shareholders. Our aim is to promote the adoption of our fiduciary products and services, including our liquidity and primary capital products, while potentially enhancing the economic efficiency of our OptimumAlt endowment model strategy. With the implementation of the ExchangeTrust product plan and efficiencies from formula-based financing, we anticipate reducing our transaction closing times to 15 days. During fiscal 2024, we achieved our objective of listing on NASDAQ. We showed how our business model meets a critical market need. However, I am even more enthusiastic about the future, as we strive to expand our business, scale our balance sheet, introduce new integrated fiduciary services, and seize the opportunities to innovate products and services that can disrupt our industry for the benefit of all alternative investors. Before I pass the call over, I want to give an update on legal proceedings. On May 22, a federal judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas ruled against a motion to dismiss Ben's defamation lawsuit against Wall Street Journal reporter Alex Gladstone. The judge stated that the article juxtaposed facts with provocative language in a way that conveyed the defamatory essence identified by the plaintiffs, and noted that communications clearly indicate the plaintiffs contested Gladstone's findings, which he referred to as predetermined facts while omitting significant information. The ruling emphasized that the tweet and article did not accurately reflect the hundreds of pages of information Gladstone submitted to the court, much of which came from Ben to illustrate the inaccuracies in his story. Additionally, on July 1st, the company and key members received letters from the SEC informing us that the investigation has concluded, and the SEC does not plan to recommend enforcement action based on the previously issued Wells Notices. Now, I will hand the call over to Greg to discuss our financial performance in more detail. Greg?

Greg Ezell, CFO

Thank you, Brad. Let's now turn to our quarterly and full-year results and our financial position as of March 31, 2024. Our primary business segments are Ben Liquidity, which generates interest revenue for supplying liquidity off the balance sheet, and Ben Custody, which produces fee revenue for the use of the platform and trust services. As typical, I will be focusing my discussion on these business segments since it's their operations, along with corporate and others, that accrue to Ben's equity holders. During the fourth quarter, Ben Liquidity recognized $10.6 million in base interest revenue, down 5.6% from the prior quarter, due to lower carrying value of loans receivable which was driven by higher allowances for credit losses. For the full year, revenue was $46.9 million down 7.6% also due to lower carrying value of loans receivable because of higher allowances for credit losses. Operating loss for the fourth fiscal quarter was $29.4 million compared to an operating loss of $606.4 million in the prior quarter, which included a large non-cash goodwill impairment charge. Absent those, adjusted operating income in the prior quarter was $2.5 million. The decrease was primarily due to higher credit loss adjustments, partially offset by lower credit loss adjustments related to securities of our former parent company in the fiscal fourth quarter. For the full year, operating loss was $1.8 billion compared to an operating loss of $46.5 million in the prior year period. The current period loss was driven by non-cash goodwill impairment totaling $1.7 billion and credit losses largely related to securities of our former parent company. Adjusted operating loss for the full year was $41.2 million compared to adjusted operating income of $9.7 million in the prior year period. The decrease in adjusted operating income primarily relates to higher credit losses offset partially by lower credit loss adjustments related to securities of our former parent company recognizing the current fiscal year and additional interest expense. Moving on to bank custody, NAV of alternative assets and other securities held in the period was $381.2 million compared to $491.9 million as of March 31, 2023. The decrease was driven by unrealized losses on existing assets, principally related to interest in a wind-down trust for a bankrupt entity and distributions, which were partially offset by new liquidity transactions of Ben Liquidity of $50.1 million during the current fiscal year, representing 10.2% of NAV as of March 31, 2023. However, approximately $37.7 million of the NAV originated during the current fiscal year was written off during the year ended March 31, 2024. Revenues applicable to Ben Custody were $5.6 million for the fourth fiscal quarter compared to $5.9 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was a result of lower NAV of alternative assets and other securities held in custody. For the full year, revenues were $24.5 million, down 15.5% as compared to the prior year period, due to lower NAV of alternative assets and other securities held in custody. Operating loss for the fourth fiscal quarter was $50.0 million compared to an operating loss of $268.0 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The decrease in operating loss was primarily due to lower non-cash goodwill impairment in the fourth fiscal quarter of $28.7 million compared to $272.8 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Additionally, in the fourth fiscal quarter, we recognized a $25.5 million provision for credit losses related to accrued fees collateralized by securities of our former parent company compared to no such credit losses in the quarter ended December 31, 2023. Adjusted operating income for the fourth fiscal quarter was $4.0 million compared to adjusted operating income of $4.8 million for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to a change in revenue due to lower NAV of alternative assets and other securities held in custody during the fourth fiscal quarter. Operating loss for the full year ended March 31, 2024 was $588.8 million compared to operating income of $24.0 million in the prior year period, with the decrease in operating income principally related to non-cash goodwill impairment of $583.3 million and a $25.5 million provision for credit loss related to accrued fees collateralized by securities of our former parent company in the current fiscal year. Excluding these items, adjusted operating income for the fiscal year 2024 was $19.8 million compared to adjusted operating income of $24.0 million in the prior year period. At year-end, the company had cash and cash equivalents of $7.9 million and total debt of $120.5 million. Distributions received from alternative assets and other securities held in custody totaled $46.3 million for the year compared to $85.0 million for the prior year. Total investments at fair value of $329.1 million at March 31, 2024 supported Ben Liquidity's loan portfolio. We look forward to meeting and speaking to investors about our business and growth initiatives in the coming quarters as we move ahead.

Dan Callahan, Head of Investor Relations

With that, we close out today's webcast. Thanks to all who logged in this morning. Have a great rest of your day.

Operator, Operator

This concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.