SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc at JPMorgan Technology, Media and Communications Conference (Virtual) Transcript

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

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : That's great. Yes. I think that that really segues nicely into the first topic, which is M&A. You've been an extremely acquisitive company over the last, not just recently, I mean, in the entire life of the company, really. So what have been some of the more transformative acquisitions that you've done, if we can keep it maybe to the last -- maybe since Advent, if you'd like? And why is it that these acquisitions have made sense under the broader umbrella of SS&C?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. So what are some of those things when you talk about being trained under the SS&C way? What are some of the differences that you see when talent enter the door and maybe when SS&C is able to maybe reshape their focus?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Great. Before we move on, I rushed the introduction a little bit. I should mention for those that are on the webcast or the webinar, there is a Q&A function. If you want to ask any questions if they pop up during our fireside chat here, please use the Q&A button. We'll see if we can get to your questions. Bill, just quickly back to what you see as the core competency here. In SS&C, you're often -- you will say, "Hey, we're counting things." This is -- we're accountants. So as you think about some of the core competencies, even as the company has changed pretty dramatically through some of these acquisitions over the last decade or so, what remains core to the SS&C value proposition?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : If we just look at the appetite or potential for future M&A, most of it -- I think you may agree, most of the acquisitions you've done, including Algorithmics and some of these others have been maybe more tuck-in. What's the appetite? I'm sure that you see many, many deals come across your desk with relative frequency. So what are you seeing in maybe private market valuations? What kind of looks interesting and what's your appetite?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Great. And what about your debt capacity? You've been paying down tons of debt since the DST acquisition. Are you comfortable with it now? Would you lever up a few times to go after something that you felt was really particularly attractive on the M&A side?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Yes, that's actually a good segue that there's a question. First question in the queue comes from an investor, wondering, can you compare and contrast maybe previous recessions or market volatility compared to what we're seeing now?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Okay. Sounds good. What about market volatility, though? How does -- regardless of the underlying reason for the volatility, how does your business either benefit or how is it impacted negatively from significant volatility?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : You -- so just speaking of JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, the more traditional banks or the custody banks are really your primary competitors in a lot

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. A couple of questions from the audience. Just talking about the scenarios that the company laid out for the rest of the year, I'd loved it. I thought it was a great move to just say, look, here's 3 different time lines and here's how we believe our business would react in those time lines. Can you just give us maybe a brief overview of those time lines, and then we'll get into some specifics? without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. 'Thomson Reuters' and the Thomson Reuters logo are registered trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies. MAY 13, 2020 / 3:10PM, SSNC - SS&C Technologies Holdings Inc at JPMorgan Technology, Media and Communications Conference (Virtual)

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : But it's a highly recurring business, I mean, across your different lines. What percent is recurring now? And another question from the audience was, what about renewal rates? Where did they get in the worst of the 2008, 2009? And what would be your expectation for renewal rates as we fight this current environment?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Would you expect -- I'm sorry, just really quickly, would you expect that the current SS&C would have -- would be more resilient than it was in 2008, 2009 based on the businesses you've added or...

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Organic growth, what kind of levers do you think that you'll be able to pull to maybe accelerate organic growth coming out once maybe we get past this disruption?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Which recent acquisitions have really been able to drive more of the insight your use of artificial intelligence in order to clean these things?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : The -- another question from the audience, pretty broad or strategic, however you want to frame it, they move -- the continued shift or wave from active management to passive management? How does that impact your business? And where are you in terms of your exposure to either active or passive management?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. Small part of the DST business that you acquired actually has some health care exposure. How is that business holding up in this current environment?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : Yes. The parallels between prescription and trade ticket is gold. That's really helpful. Another -- only a couple of minutes left, so just really quickly, another question from the audience. How do you think that you -- you're still the largest shareholder. I mean it's -- you're obviously, founder, CEO, very involved. But what is different from the way that you run the company maybe in 2020 from when it was still private in 2008, 2009 and just before 2010?

Question: Jackson Edmund Ader - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst : That's great. Thank you very much, Bill, for joining us. Thanks, everybody, for joining us this morning. Really appreciate it, Bill. Good to talk to you.