Sprott, Inc. (NYSE:SII) Q3 2023 Results Conference Call November 1, 2023 10:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Whitney George - CEO & Director
Kevin Hibbert - CFO
John Ciampaglia - CEO of Sprott Asset Management
Conference Call Participants
Mike Kozak - Cantor Fitzgerald
Rasib Bhanji - TD Securities
Geoff Kwan - RBC Capital Markets
Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to Sprott Inc.'s 2023 Third Quarter Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] As a reminder, this conference is being recorded today, November 1, 2023.
On behalf of the speakers that follow, listeners are cautioned that today's presentation and the responses to questions may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provision of the Canadian provincial security laws. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Certain material factors or assumptions are implied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. For additional information about factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations and about material factors or assumptions applied in making forward-looking statements, please consult the MD&A for the quarter and Sprott's other filings with the Canadian and U.S. securities regulators.
I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Whitney George. Please go ahead, Mr. George.
Whitney George
Thank you. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. On the call with me today is our CFO, Kevin Hibbert; and John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management.
Our 2023 third quarter results were released this morning and are available on our website, where you can also find the financial statements and MD&A. I'll start on Slide 4. Despite the challenging market conditions, we continued to grow during the second quarter with our assets under management increasing to $25.4 billion. We also reported our 17th consecutive quarter of net sales, driven largely by our energy transition strategies. This area has been a bright spot for Sprott since we launched our first uranium vehicle in 2021. Energy transition assets now account for approximately 25% of our consolidated AUM.
A key area of focus this year was the strategic exit of all remaining noncore businesses across the company. This initiative led to the divestment of our former Canadian broker-dealer in the second quarter of this year. And in the third quarter, we successfully exited our last remaining noncore asset management business that was domiciled in Korea. The result of our second and third quarter divestitures of noncore businesses is that we are now far leaner, more focused organization. We have reduced our head count by 27%, but increased our AUM and revenue per employee by 64% and 60%, respectively, to industry-leading levels. At the same time, we continue to invest in new talent, particularly in our sales and marketing groups.