MSCI Inc. (NYSE:MSCI) Q2 2020 Earnings Conference Call - Final Transcript

Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the MSCI Second Quarter 2020 Earnings Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

I would now like to turn the call over to Salli Schwartz, Head of Investor Relations and Treasurer. You may begin.

Thank you, operator. Good day, and welcome to the MSCI second quarter 2020 earnings conference call. Earlier this morning, we issued a press release announcing our results for the second quarter 2020. This press release, along with an earnings presentation we will reference on the call as well as a brief second quarter update, are available on our website, msci.com, under the Investor Relations tab.

Let me remind you that this call contains forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made and are governed by the language on the second slide of today's presentation. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, please see the risk factors and forward-looking statements disclaimer in our most recent Form 10-K and in our other SEC filings.

During today's call, in addition to results presented on the basis of U.S. GAAP, we also refer to non-GAAP measures, including, but not limited to, organic operating revenue growth rates, adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA expenses, adjusted EPS and free cash flow. We believe our non-GAAP measures facilitate meaningful period-to-period comparisons and provide insight into our core operating performance. You'll find a reconciliation to the equivalent GAAP measures in the earnings materials and an explanation of why we deem this information to be meaningful as well as how management uses these measures in the Appendix pages of the earnings presentation.

We will also discuss run rate which estimates at a particular point in time the annualized value of the recurring revenues under our client agreements for the next 12 months, subject to a variety of adjustments and exclusions that we detail in our SEC filings. As a result of those adjustments and exclusions, the actual amount of recurring revenues we will realize over the following 12 months will differ from run rate. We, therefore, caution you not to place undue reliance on run rate to estimate or forecast recurring revenue. Additionally, we will discuss organic run rate growth figures, which exclude the impact of changes in foreign currency and the impact of any acquisitions or divestitures.

On the call today are Henry Fernandez, our Chairman and CEO; Baer Pettit, our President and COO; and Linda Huber, our Chief Financial Officer; Andy Wiechmann, our Chief Strategy Officer, will also join us for the Q&A portion of the call. [Operator Instructions]

With that, let me now turn the call over to Henry Fernandez. Henry?

Thank you, Salli. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. MSCI's second quarter performance once again demonstrates the resilience of our franchise and the mission-critical nature of our content, analytics and technology applications for investors, particularly during these times of market uncertainty. Specifically, today, we reported solid operating revenue