Stifel Financial Corp Q1 2021 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Christopher John Allen - Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC, Research Division - Analyst : Nice quarter. Maybe we could just dig in a little bit more on the outlook for the balance sheet. Obviously, you noted you can grow up more if the credit looks good. Maybe could you talk about where you're seeing the better growth opportunities right now within C&I, what industries, what sectors? And any color just in terms of how much the CLO reduction will be -- the payoff will be in 2Q, just so we can kind of think about what it looks like ex that?

Question: Christopher John Allen - Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC, Research Division - Analyst : Understood. And then maybe on the brokerage side, obviously, we're seeing industry trends slow in 2Q, as you kind of pointed out, versus the first quarter. Any color in terms of how you guys think about maybe the incremental opportunity around the electronic products on the equity side? What -- help us come to frame out what's been environmentally driven in recent quarters versus taking share? Anything on those fronts would be helpful.

Question: Gautam Dileep Sawant - CrTdit Suisse AG, Research Division - Analyst : This is Gautam Sawant filling in for Craig. Can you please just expand on some of the adviser recruitment dynamics and how we should think about the pipeline and pace of adviser onboardings through the rest of the year? And I also just wanted to follow-up on the commentary on the independent channel. How have your initial conversations with advisers there kind of trended so far?

Question: Gautam Dileep Sawant - CrTdit Suisse AG, Research Division - Analyst : Got it. And as a follow-up, can you speak to the compensation ratio? And you mentioned conservative recruiting for 1 -- sorry, conservative accruing in 1Q '21. And how should we expect the ratio to decline in future quarters if revenue normalizes down?