Earnings Call Transcript - SSNC Q3 2021

Operator, Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the SS&C Technologies Third Quarter 2021 Earnings Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the call over to Justine Stone, Investor Relations, for opening remarks. You may proceed.

Justine Stone, Head of Investor Relations

Hi, everyone. Welcome, and thank you for joining us for our Q3 2021 earnings call. I'm Justine Stone, Head of Investor Relations for SS&C. With me today is Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; Rahul Kanwar, President and Chief Operating Officer; and Patrick Pedonti, our Chief Financial Officer. Before we get started, we need to review the safe harbor statement. Please note that various remarks we make today about future expectations, plans and prospects, including the financial outlook we provide, constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the Safe Harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those discussed in the Risk Factors section of our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, which is on file with the SEC and can also be accessed on our website. These forward-looking statements represent our expectations only as of today, October 28, 2021. While the company may elect to update these forward-looking statements, it specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. During today's call, we will be referring to certain non-GAAP financial measures. A reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP financial measures is included in today's earnings release, which is located in the Investor Relations section of our website at www.ssctech.com. Also in the third quarter, we entered into a joint venture named DomaniRx LLC, in which we are the majority interest holder and primary beneficiary. All earnings figures discussed today, including operating income, EBITDA, net income and EPS are attributable to SS&C based on the ownership interest retained by SS&C. I will now turn the call over to Bill.

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Justine, and thank you all for being here. Our third-quarter results show adjusted revenue of $1.266 billion, an increase of 9.5%, and adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.32, up 20%. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA was $530 million, and we expect to surpass $2 billion in EBITDA by the end of the year. Our adjusted consolidated EBITDA margin improved to 42.6% for the quarter, a rise of 230 basis points compared to Q3 2020. Our adjusted organic revenue for the third quarter was 8.2%, continuing our momentum and exceeding Q2's 7.2% organic revenue. All of our businesses exceeded expectations, with our alternatives, Intralinks, and software segments driving this growth. We have accelerated our new business acquisitions and competitive advantages while capitalizing on favorable market conditions. Recent quarters demonstrate SS&C's financial strength. Without undertaking large acquisitions, we have driven significant organic top line growth while improving margins by over 200 basis points and achieving 20% earnings growth. We have maintained a low-cost structure throughout the pandemic and are enhancing efficiencies through automation. We are implementing machine learning, robotic process automation, and artificial intelligence across our businesses and products. We are currently launching strategic development enhancements within the hedge fund services portal, utilizing various AI principles to strengthen controls and provide greater transparency regarding NAV anomalies, exceptions, and key operational processes. This new product is in development. Such initiatives not only generate revenue but also enhance our margins. For the first nine months of 2021, SS&C generated $944.8 million in net cash from operating activities, a 25% increase from the same period last year. We repurchased 2.1 million shares of common stock in Q3 2021 at an average price of $75.97 per share for a total of $162.9 million. Given our current valuation, we will continue our aggressive stock buybacks. We paid down $317.8 million in debt during the first nine months of 2021, resulting in a leverage ratio of 1.7x secured and 2.96x total leverage. We remain dedicated to a shareholder-friendly capital allocation strategy, and with our leverage under 3.0x, we have more flexibility to allocate additional cash towards buybacks. Our business is performing exceptionally well. Our pipelines are strong with increasingly complex global deals as organizations reassess their operating models and technology stacks. Several of our products have reached significant milestones, with Precision LM recently surpassing 100 clients. This growth is attributed to an upswing in private credit lending activities and exposure to commercial and residential loans by banks and nonbank lenders. In the past year, Precision LM gained 20 new clients. We are also responding to market trends, having recently launched our ESG reporting solutions platform, which assists asset managers in monitoring and reporting ESG exposure. Our solution provides accurate and comprehensive ESG ratings data, a significant advancement in helping investors understand sustainable investing and ESG exposures. I will now turn the call over to Rahul for a more detailed discussion of the quarter.

Rahul Kanwar, President and Chief Operating Officer

Thanks, Bill. Most of our global offices have reopened, and we're seeing employees attending in increasing numbers on a voluntary basis. We're optimistic that the added opportunities for in-person collaboration, combined with the work anywhere flexibility we're providing to our staff, will enhance innovation and execution. Our businesses are benefiting from the global trend towards outsourced technology and services. As firms evaluate their desired post-pandemic operational state, our fund administration, middle office and Advent businesses are seeing greater demand. This trend also impacts private market alternatives with firms looking at their operational capability and limited partners assessing the resilience and scalability of the managers they invest with. Our functional depth continues to grow in lockstep with the steady addition of signed and live clients. Collaboration across SS&C teams, combined with R&D investments, has resulted in a new generation of enterprise solutions. These allow asset managers, banks, insurance companies, alternative managers, retirement and wealth management firms and others to look to SS&C as a strategic partner that offers a comprehensive solution set to address several of their requirements. As a result, we're seeing larger deal sizes and greater appreciation for the ways in which we can deliver value to our customers. Now, I will mention some key deals. One of the world's largest hedge funds and an existing middle-office client chose SS&C to run shadow accounting. A managed account platform chose SS&C GlobeOp for fund services, financial statements, bank loan servicing and reconciliation. A $30 billion-plus hedge fund, which had been running Axys for over 20 years, upgraded to Geneva and Geneva cloud delivery after a 3-year evaluation. A $10 billion-plus Canadian prime broker added Advent Syncova to their technology stack, citing its scalability. A $50 billion AUA asset manager chose Black Diamond because of our partnership focus. A U.S.-based wealth manager saw a higher level of support and stability and chose a combination of Eze EMS and market trader to replace their current solution. A top U.S. insurance company chose Chorus, our latest automated workflow solution. An existing fund administration client expanded their relationship to include retail alternatives, transfer agency, digital investor and Chorus. I'll now turn it over to Patrick to run through the financials.

Patrick Pedonti, Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Rahul. Results for the third quarter 2021 were GAAP revenues of $1,264.4 million, GAAP net income of $184.4 million and diluted EPS of $0.69. Adjusted revenues were $1,266.3 million, including the impact of the adoption of the revenue standard 606 and for acquired deferred revenue adjustments for acquisitions. Adjusted revenue was up 9.5%, adjusted operating income increased 16.8% and adjusted EPS was $1.32, a 20% increase over Q3 2020. Overall, adjusted revenue increased $110.1 million or 9.5% over Q3 2020. Our acquisitions contributed $10 million in the quarter. Foreign exchange had a favorable impact of $10.4 million or 0.9% in the quarter. Adjusted organic revenue increase on a constant currency basis was 8.2%. We had strength across several product lines, including alternative assets, Advent software, retirement business, ALPS, our brokerage business and the Intralinks business. Adjusted operating income for the third quarter was $524.1 million, an increase of $75.3 million or 16.8% over the third quarter of 2020. Adjusted operating margins increased from 38.8% in Q3 2020 to 41.4% in the third quarter of 2021 or 260 basis points improvement, driven by strong revenue increase and cost controls. Expenses increased 2.2% on a constant currency basis. In addition, acquisitions added $9.6 million of expenses, and foreign currency increased costs by $8.4 million. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA, which is defined in Note 3 of our earnings release, was $538.9 million or 42.6% of adjusted revenue and increased $72.6 million or 15.6% from Q3 2020. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA margins increased 230 basis points from the third quarter of 2020. Net interest expense for the third quarter was $50.2 million and includes $3.3 million of noncash amortized financing costs and OID. The average rate in the quarter for our credit facility and our senior notes was 3.1% compared to 3% in the third quarter of 2020. A reduction in our debt balance resulted in interest expense decreasing $4.5 million or 8.2%. During the third quarter, in connection with the legacy DST ERISA matters and associated legal proceedings, we recorded an expense of $43.4 million to other income and expense. Due to the inherent uncertainties associated with the resolution of this litigation, the ultimate resolution and any potential exposure related to this matter is somewhat uncertain at this time. We recorded a GAAP tax provision in the quarter of $60.6 million or 24.7% of pretax income, and expect the GAAP tax provision to be approximately 26% for the full year. Adjusted net income was $352.9 million, and adjusted EPS was $1.32, and the effective tax rate used for adjusted net income was also 26%. Diluted shares decreased from 266.5 million to 267.6 million in the second quarter. The impact of share repurchases was partially offset by an increase in the average share price and option exercises. On the balance sheet and cash flow, we ended the third quarter with $351.1 million in cash and cash equivalents and $6.2 billion of gross debt. SS&C's net debt, as defined by our credit agreement, which excludes any cash and cash equivalents of $138 million held at the DomaniRx JV, was $6 billion as of September 30. Cash flow for the 9 months ended September 30 was $944.9 million, a $189.8 million or 25% increase compared to the same period in 2020. A couple of highlights for the 9 months: we've purchased treasury stock buybacks of $487.9 million or purchases of 6.8 million shares at an average price of $71.74 per share. In July 2021, the Board authorized a new stock repurchase program for up to $1 billion of stock buybacks. The program to date has seen treasury stock buybacks of $162 million for the purchase of 2.1 million shares at an average price of $75.97. Net debt payments were $317.8 million compared to $330 million in the same period of 2020. We declared and paid $122.8 million of common stock dividends, an increase of 22.9% over the prior year. In the 9 months, we paid $173.2 million of interest expense compared to $212.7 million in 2020. In taxes, we've paid $230.8 million compared to $182.5 million in the same period in 2020. Capital expenditures and capitalized software were $96.2 million or 2.6% of year-to-date adjusted revenue compared to $80 million or 2.3% year-to-date in Q3 of 2020. Our LTM EBITDA, which is used for covenant compliance, was $2,019.5 million as of September 2021 and includes $1.8 million of acquired EBITDA and cost savings related to acquisition. Based on a net debt of $6 billion, our total leverage was 2.96x and our secured leverage ratio was 1.97x. On outlook for the fourth quarter, I'll cover a couple of assumptions first. So we'll continue to focus on delivering quality client service, and we expect our retention rates will continue in the range of our most recent results. We'll expect foreign currency exchange to be at approximately current levels. And adjusted organic growth for the year will be in the range of 4.8% to 5.9%. Adjusted organic growth for the fourth quarter will be in the range of 1.1% to 5.3%. Interest rates on our term loan will be approximately the 1-month LIBOR plus the spread, which is currently 175 bps. We expect expenses to increase sequentially due in part to the impact of higher personnel costs as a result of our annual merit increases, which took effect on October 1, and we're seeing increased employee benefit costs. We will continue to invest in our business long-term, and capital expenditures will be approximately 2.8%. We will continue to allocate free cash flow to both stock buybacks and some debt paydown. For the fourth quarter of 2021, we expect revenue in the range of $1.225 billion to $1.275 billion. Adjusted net income in the range of $311 million to $334 million. Diluted shares in the range of 266.2 million to 266.7 million. For the full year, the revenue range will be $4.988 billion to $5.038 billion, adjusted net income in the range of $1.312 billion to $1.335 billion and diluted shares in the range of 266.9 million to 267.4 million. For the full year, we expect cash from operating activities to be in the range of $1.365 billion to $1.385 billion. And now I'll turn it back to Bill for final comments.

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Patrick. We're proud of the progress we've made this year. All of our businesses are gaining momentum, capitalizing on opportunities and continuously improving. Organic growth was up 8.2%, and we expect around 5.5% for the full year. Hopefully, we can surprise you positively. Alternative assets under administration increased another $80 billion in Q3 for a total increase of $480 billion since the first quarter of 2020. We now have $2.2 trillion in assets under administration, and we’re hundreds of billions ahead of our next competitor. Our EBITDA margins were up 230 basis points. We’re operating at our highest margins since the large acquisitions we made in 2018. We have a number of strong leaders and an abundance of opportunity, which we will showcase on November 10 at our Virtual Analyst Day. Please see our events on our Investor Relations webpage to register and reach out to Justine for additional information. I'll now open it for questions.

Operator, Operator

Your first question comes from Surinder Thind of Jefferies.

Surinder Thind, Analyst

Congratulations on the quarter, gentlemen. My first question is related to just the margin profile. There was a significant increase in the margins quarter-over-quarter, and then we had a similar increase last quarter. On the call, you talked a little bit about automation being one of the drivers. Is there any additional color that you can provide in terms of what might be a normalized level? When I look at the gross margins for your software services-enabled business, it seems that's where you're realizing most of the savings.

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Well, I'll give a little crack and then Rahul and Patrick, you guys can chime in. Since the pandemic, we're not leasing near as much space as we did at the end of 2020, and I believe that will continue into 2022. We've also had less aggressive hiring than we had in the past—not that we aren't hiring; we are—but we have probably made some pickups because of the number of people we had versus what we expected. Those are two big things. Our pricing discipline has helped us, and I believe it will continue. Rahul?

Rahul Kanwar, President and Chief Operating Officer

Bill, I agree with all of that. I think the things that I would add are: We've had an opportunity to spend a fair amount of energy on R&D. So Bill talked about machine learning and some of the other things we're doing, and that has resulted in productivity, right? We expect those productivity gains to continue.

Surinder Thind, Analyst

So just to clarify, is the current level of margins that you're generating in the neighborhood of what we should expect on a go-forward basis, subject to any kind of seasonality?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

I think that's right. We've always been around 40%, and I think the latest was 42.6%, so I would say it's going to be somewhere between 40% and 44%. It will fluctuate based on the investments we make. We tend not to be particularly aggressive about capitalizing software and stuff like that, so I think our margins will depend on some of our ability to close big deals, but the difference between getting them live in, say, the third quarter and getting them live in the fourth quarter can often impact margin in the 10 basis point to 20 basis point range.

Surinder Thind, Analyst

That's helpful. And as my follow-up, Bill, in terms of just the capital allocation strategy now that you're kind of below the 3x leverage ratio, you talked about having additional flexibility. If we were to translate that into practical terms, does that mean you're going to primarily now focus on share repurchases at this point? Or are you willing to take leverage down further? Is there kind of a level that you're not willing to go below when it comes to leverage? Just any color you can provide there in terms of why you wait for the right acquisition.

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Yes. We anticipate cash flow around $1.350 billion, and with share counts ranging from 266 million to 267 million, that translates to about $5 per share in cash. Therefore, from a financial perspective, repurchasing shares is more advantageous than paying down 2% debt. At the same time, we intend to invest the $4 billion we have in 2% debt into assets that are growing faster and have better margins. We are always looking for opportunities to do this. Currently, we have a lot of confidence in our development teams, especially regarding our excitement about DomaniRx. We believe that our forthcoming products demonstrate our development capabilities, and we will keep directing cash towards these initiatives. Overall, we will likely prioritize share buybacks over debt repayment.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from Michael Young of Truist Securities.

Michael Young, Analyst

I wanted to ask about the margin profile question and think about it in the context of some of the macro drivers, mainly inflation. Net-net, does that kind of help you guys on the pricing side and being able to push pricing higher more so than it impacts on the cost side? Any thoughts there would be helpful.

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

I think that's a great question. Obviously, inflationary times affect all organizations with increasing wages, which I hope to pay our people more. I know that our clients appreciate having continuity with the talented people we have on their accounts. So I think they also understand that there will have to be some revenue adjustments to them, some price increases. So net-net, I think you're right; we might be able to get 50 basis points, maybe 100 basis points more on the revenue side than on the expense side. I wouldn't say it's going to be massive, though.

Michael Young, Analyst

Okay. That's helpful. And then maybe just a second on kind of general sales pipeline as we're getting back to normal. Are you seeing strength or opportunities to land larger deals? Any update there on pipeline and progress?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Yes, I believe we are. We're also engaging at higher and higher levels in organizations. We have a number of very successful lift-outs that we will turn into a pitch book on how we could take some of your people as well as these accounting processes and reporting processes, risk processes, compliance processes and other things that we do exceptionally well and streamline these large financial institutions' middle and back offices. We have front to back solutions; we're optimistic about our opportunity to continue to go upscale.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from Andrew Schmidt of Citi.

Andrew Schmidt, Analyst

First, I just want to dig into the third quarter organic revenue growth performance. Really nice to see the acceleration in growth. Can you talk about the factors that drove that acceleration from the second quarter to the third quarter? Patrick, you mentioned strength in a few products, but if we could dig into that a little bit more, that would be helpful. Based on the momentum you have in the third quarter, how you think about the fourth quarter setup from an organic growth perspective based on those factors?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Again, we do believe we have some momentum. Our software businesses, Advent in particular, and our fund administration businesses as well as our Intralinks businesses have been particularly strong, and we expect all three of those to continue that strong pattern. Again, as we add tens of billions of dollars to our AUA, those revenues start to flow into our financial statements, providing some tailwind as well. Rahul, could you add to that?

Rahul Kanwar, President and Chief Operating Officer

I think I'd echo that. Some of what we've done in the last 18 months has fostered collaboration within SS&C, where our products and services are more integrated, leading to larger ticket sizes. While these may take longer to sell, having enough of them is additive to the revenue process and helps drive sustainable growth.

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Yes. We're constantly studying how we deliver information to our stakeholders. In the next quarter or two, we will start being a little more granular, to provide you with a longer viewpoint on expectations. I think that approach may be well received by the analyst and investing community.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from Peter Heckmann of D.A. Davidson.

Peter Heckmann, Analyst

I just wanted to follow up on fund administration. The company continues to gain share. Can you talk a little bit about where you're gaining share? How are you gaining share? Is it primarily from the smaller and mid-tier fund administrators? Or is there a mix of funds outsourcing for the first time? What other dynamics should we be thinking about? I know there's some transition going on in Malta; I don't know if that's going to require any changes in your business. How does this continue to win new contracts and gather AUA?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

We believe we're by far the most innovative fund administrator in the world. We use our own software in our fund administration business. We push the envelope with the kinds of products we will adopt first and create excitement. Larger financial institutions have more difficulty implementing releases in large-scale systems, which can hinder their ability to train and stay current. We have a very capable sales force, and our marketing is more targeted than ever.

Rahul Kanwar, President and Chief Operating Officer

On the types of things that are additive, we are seeing new funds and particularly in the private markets with private equity and real estate. Larger funds are embracing outsourcing but doing so at their own pace. Larger players are more accepting of our services due to our growth and investment, which accelerates their transformation efforts. We continue to be strong among startups as well.

Peter Heckmann, Analyst

Has there been much change in pricing on a net basis? You'd think that more illiquid and complex assets might help raise the overall, but can you comment on how pricing has trended in the last couple of years?

Rahul Kanwar, President and Chief Operating Officer

Pricing has been pretty stable, with the change in baseline driven by the addition of more products and services for individual managers. Overall deal sizes are larger, but the prices for very similar services are consistent with previous years.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from Mayank Tandon of Needham & Company.

Mayank Tandon, Analyst

Bill, just given your comments around demand, and it sounds like decision-making is also improving. I was curious, as you look into '22 and beyond, wondering if the trend line growth for SS&C could potentially be better. In the past, you've talked about mid-single-digit organic growth and supplementing with M&A. But you're growing a little faster right now. Is that sustainable or do you think growth reverts to trend as you look a bit longer term?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

We like the current trend. Going back to previous seasons doesn't thrill us. We deployed $8.4 billion in capital in 2018, and we feel good about the assets we've gathered and our disciplined approach. Our earnings show strong progression, and our opportunity to grow faster is due to the breadth and depth of what we offer. The size of our current client base—including the largest hedge funds and banks—indicates promising growth opportunities. The complexity of investing informs our development; we just need to ensure we deliver what you want along the way.

Mayank Tandon, Analyst

Right. There seems to be plenty of runway, no question. Bill, a quick follow-up on health. I don't think I caught anything in terms of an update on the health business. Any updates on that in terms of positioning, competition, how that's faring in your longer-term thoughts on how core that is to your business?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

We announced DomaniRx last quarter, capitalized with $1 billion. PBM is a hot area. We have a bright team building our new platform for Domani. We expect sophisticated partners like Anthem and Humana to join us. We believe it's a big opportunity for us, and monetization is in formative stages while we complete the product. We expect the healthcare business to perform well in the coming years.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from Jackson Ader of JPMorgan.

Jackson Ader, Analyst

State Street bought Brown Brothers or the accounting and fund administration piece. I was curious whether you had any comments on that deal. It seems like it would be right up your alley, SS&C's alley, I should say. I'm curious about your thoughts on the deal and whether you guys were interested.

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

We would have been interested. However, it seems that that was baked already. Both companies are good clients, and we wish them well. We hope that no large financial institution will want to exit the fund administration business, allowing us more options.

Jackson Ader, Analyst

Was there anything in this third quarter that was pulled forward from the fourth quarter that would explain the organic revenue growth deceleration?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

We prefer not to overextend. If there's going to be a surprise, we hope it's a positive one. Being circumspect with guidance has served us well. We have a strong sales force and an exciting pipeline, but it's essential to close that pipeline effectively.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from James Faucette of Morgan Stanley.

Jonathan Lee, Analyst

There's been a flurry of capital markets activity around the higher growth assets in the investment management solutions space. With that in mind, how are you thinking about your acquisition strategy around growth-oriented assets? What are you seeing in the market? What types of assets are you looking for?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

We are looking for less expensive assets than are currently available. When you start looking at 10x and 12x revenue, the math becomes tough. We don't want to risk development delays if we could buy functionality at a reasonable price. We like wealth management, regtech, and insurtech sectors. We will always be in the bidding for fund administration businesses and hope to strengthen our presence in Asia.

Jonathan Lee, Analyst

Are you seeing any headwinds related to finding and hiring talent for those development teams given the constrained labor environment?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Yes. We've figured out that paying people more helps.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from Chris Donat of Piper Sandler.

Christopher Donat, Analyst

I wanted to ask about the fourth quarter guidance and revenue. The revenue guidance is down 3% or up—a range of down 3% to up 1% from the third quarter. Can you remind us what the swing factors can be in your revenue besides the timing of onboarding?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

The fourth quarter is usually our biggest license revenue quarter and licenses are more difficult to predict than recurring revenue increases. There's also less adjacent services in our fund administration businesses during the fourth quarter, like tax and financial statements work, which tend to come in first and second quarter. Those are a couple of distinctions.

Rahul Kanwar, President and Chief Operating Officer

You hit the big ones. It's the seasonality of special services in fund administration, coupled with the larger license quarter. The difference between the midpoint of our guidance for Q4 and our actual Q3 is something like $15 million, so we aren't far off.

Christopher Donat, Analyst

Got it. And I just want to ensure I heard you correctly. I thought you said you had a $30 billion hedge fund client that was running Axys for 20 years, is that right? How many other clients are out there running Advent legacy Axys software?

Rahul Kanwar, President and Chief Operating Officer

You heard that correctly. There are opportunities among our client base with products that have been around for a while; they are functional and clients like them. However, they do tend to invest in new requirements and need upgrades, which can positively impact both their revenue and ours.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from Patrick O'Shaughnessy of Raymond James.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Analyst

There have been a couple of recent IPOs of firms that compete against SS&C in certain areas, pitched as cloud native or SaaS-based. How comfortable are you with your competitive positioning, particularly on the software side of the business?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

We are very competitive in the software segment. Our platforms, Singularity, Geneva, Eze Eclipse, Intralinks, and Precision LM, are all top-tier. This quarter, we achieved an additional $110 million in revenue, which is around half of Clearwater's total annual revenue and more than double what our competitors brought in. While some technologies may work well for smaller businesses, they tend to face challenges in larger companies that require more complex financial transactions. We are also excited about our new product, Aloha, which offers unique features. We plan to enhance our sales and marketing efforts.

Patrick O'Shaughnessy, Analyst

You've been pretty aggressive on the share repurchase front over the last several quarters. However, your fully diluted share count is essentially flat. Would you expect to make a more significant impact going forward?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Yes, I think so. Our Board and comp committee want to ensure we have adequate equity awards for our staff, which is a balancing act. We moved from a $250 million program to $1 billion. We want to make a bigger dent in our share count, and we will be aggressive with buybacks.

Operator, Operator

Your next question comes from Jackson Ader of JPMorgan.

Jackson Ader, Analyst

Patrick, could we get organic revenue growth by segment: fund administration, Intralinks, etc.?

Patrick Pedonti, Chief Financial Officer

Sure. In Q3, fund administration business was up 14.8% organically. Intralinks was up 23.5%. Our DST Financial Services segment was up 3.7%. Our core software businesses, mostly Advent, was up 6.9%.

Jackson Ader, Analyst

Awesome. Just a quick follow-up on the Intralinks number. How much of that was driven by M&A activity in the market that might be outside of your control versus SS&C's own execution?

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

We're proud of our team's execution. They're gaining market share, innovating, and we’re pleased with every aspect of that team.

Operator, Operator

At this time, there are no further questions. I will now turn the floor back over to Bill Stone for any additional or closing remarks.

Bill Stone, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Again, thanks, everybody, for being on this call, and we look forward to talking to you after the fourth quarter. Please stay safe, and we'll see you next quarter. Thanks a lot.

Operator, Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's event. You may now disconnect. Thank you for your participation.