Earnings call transcript: RF Capital Group misses Q1 2025 EPS forecast, revenue up

RF Capital Group Inc. reported its Q1 2025 earnings, revealing a larger-than-expected loss per share but surpassing revenue forecasts. The company posted an EPS of -$0.33, missing the forecast of -$0.0756, while revenue reached $99.39 million, exceeding expectations of $98.7 million. With a market capitalization of $18.45 million and a P/E ratio of 3.2, the company’s valuation metrics suggest potential opportunity. Following the announcement, RF Capital Group’s stock rose by 2.3%, reflecting a positive market reaction despite the earnings miss.

Key Takeaways

• RF Capital Group’s Q1 2025 EPS was significantly below expectations.
• Revenue for the quarter increased by 11% year-over-year.
• The company’s stock price increased by 2.3% in post-earnings trading.
• RF Capital Group continues to focus on expanding its assets under administration.

Company Performance

RF Capital Group reported a robust 11% year-over-year increase in revenue for Q1 2025, totaling $99 million. The company’s impressive revenue growth of 29.95% over the last twelve months demonstrates strong momentum. However, the company’s adjusted EBITDA decreased to $9.5 million from $13.5 million in the same quarter last year. The company generated $2 million in free cash flow during the quarter, showcasing its ability to maintain liquidity while investing in growth initiatives. According to InvestingPro, the company maintains a current ratio of 0.65, indicating careful attention to working capital management is needed.

Financial Highlights

• Revenue: $99 million, up 11% year-over-year.
• Earnings per share: -$0.33, compared to the forecast of -$0.0756.
• Adjusted EBITDA: $9.5 million, down from $13.5 million in Q1 2024.
• Free cash flow: $2 million generated in Q1 2025.

Earnings vs. Forecast

RF Capital Group’s Q1 2025 EPS of -$0.33 fell short of the forecasted -$0.0756, resulting in a negative surprise percentage. Despite this, the company’s revenue of $99.39 million exceeded the forecast of $98.7 million, indicating strong top-line growth.

Market Reaction

Following the earnings release, RF Capital Group’s stock price increased by 2.3%, closing at $8.45. This movement suggests that investors are optimistic about the company’s revenue growth and strategic initiatives, despite the EPS miss. With a beta of 0.52, the stock demonstrates lower volatility compared to the broader market. The stock remains within its 52-week range, with a high of $12.5 and a low of $6.31. InvestingPro analysis reveals 8 additional key insights about RF Capital’s market position and growth potential, available exclusively to subscribers.

Outlook & Guidance

RF Capital Group remains focused on driving net new assets and fee revenue while managing operating expenses. The company aims to grow its assets under administration, anticipating that market conditions will support its expansion efforts. InvestingPro data indicates that net income is expected to grow this year, and analysts predict the company will return to profitability. For detailed analysis and comprehensive valuation metrics, investors can access the full Pro Research Report, which provides deep-dive analysis of RF Capital Group among 1,400+ US equities.

Executive Commentary

CEO Dave Kelly highlighted the company’s ongoing investments in recruiting advisor teams, stating, "We are still investing in the business, cash flow in terms of recruiting advisor teams with the goal to make sure that we earn meaningful profits going forward." CFO Francis Barragan emphasized the stability of the company’s revenue model, noting, "Over 83% of our assets are in fee-based accounts... offering recurring and predictable revenue."

Risks and Challenges

• Continued market volatility could impact asset growth and revenue.
• The company’s profitability remains a concern for shareholders.
• Macroeconomic pressures, such as potential recession scenarios, may affect future performance.
• The transition to a new leadership team could pose operational challenges.

Q&A

During the earnings call, analysts expressed concerns about RF Capital Group’s profitability. Management reassured investors by emphasizing their commitment to long-term growth and the recurring nature of their revenue streams. The company also discussed scenario planning for potential economic downturns, showcasing confidence in its business model.

Full transcript - RF Capital Group Inc (RCG) Q1 2025:

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Meeting to order as it is now 11:00. Good morning fellow shareholders and guests. I’d like to welcome you all to this annual meeting of common shareholders of RF Capital Group Inc, and welcome also those of you who are joining us via audio webcast. My name is Don Wright, and I’m the Chair of the Board of Directors of RF Capital, and in accordance with RF Capital’s bylaws, I will be chairing today’s meeting. I’ll begin by introducing the people joining me at the head table: Dave Kelly, a Director and the President and Chief Executive Officer of RF Capital and Francis Barragan, the Chief Financial Officer of RF Capital.

We are also pleased to have members of our board in attendance today, and I’d ask them to stand as I introduce them. Natalie Berne, David Ferguson, Dave Kelly, which we’ve already introduced, David Leith, Jane Mowat, David Porter.

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: Thank you.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: I’ll begin with a few brief comments about last year. 2024 was a year of significant change at the leadership table at this firm. As we know, Dave Kelly, previously the Chief Operating Officer was appointed President and CEO. Our vacant Chief Financial Officer role was filled with Francis Bayard Jean’s appointment in November. And in December 2024, we lost Scott Sennett, one of Richardson Wealth’s longest standing employees after a very long and courageous battle with cancer.

He will be very missed. The company has navigated these transitions exceptionally well, demonstrating its resilience and adaptability. 2024 was also a year of execution. With a well articulated growth plan, the company has remained focused on the strategic pillars designed to create growth for the advisory teams and the business. Through a diligent effort to strengthen support for advisors and a refinement of the recruiting process, the company has been making good strides to ensure Richardson Wealth is the best choice for advisors to build strong practices and provide exceptional client service.

I’d like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to each advisory team at Richardson Wealth. Their dedication to their practices, to their clients is second to no one. Throughout a challenging year of internal change, coupled with the persistence of market volatility, I acknowledge their grit and perseverance, and we’d like to recognize them for this excellence. I also wish to thank all of you who are joining us today and those who have submitted their proxies in advance. After we address the formal matters on today’s agenda, there’ll be a presentation by management providing further details on the company’s 2024 financial and strategic results, an update on the company’s first quarter of twenty twenty five, and an update on the company’s initiatives to further strengthen support for our advisory teams to help them build and grow their practices and to recruit advisors to ultimately generate value for our shareholders.

After their remarks, we will be pleased to answer and respond to any questions you may have. With respect to the proxies received before the meeting, more than 95% of shares voted by proxy would be voted in favor of each of the matters, sufficient to ensure that all motions before the meeting will pass. Accordingly, vote will be conducted by a show of hands. I will now proceed with the formal portion of today’s meeting and call this meeting to order. With the consent of the meeting, I will ask Christopher Coburn, our general counsel and corporate secretary, to act as secretary of the meeting.

With the consent of the meeting, I would also ask that Amanda Delio, Matthew Burt, and Harish Harishma Aliar of TSX Trust Company, our transfer agent act as scrutineers of this meeting to report on the number of common shareholders present in person and the number of common shareholders present by proxy to tabulate the votes on any poll taken and to report to me as chair of the meeting. We have received confirmation from our transfer agent indicating that the notice of availability of our proxy materials for this meeting, which included the notice of the meeting, form of proxy and management information circular was properly made available to common shareholders of RF Capital. The scrutineers also provided me with a report on attendance confirming that the requisite quorum is present at today’s meeting. Unless there is an objection, I will dispense with the reading of the notice of the meeting. I will also direct that a copy of the notice of the meeting, form of proxy and circular, and proof of the delivery of the notice of availability together with a copy of the scrutineers report on attendance at the meeting be annexed by the secretary to the minutes of this meeting.

Notice of the meeting having been given in accordance with RF Capital’s bylaws and a quorum being present, I now declare that this meeting has been duly convened and constituted business for which it has been called. With respect to matters of business, to make the best use of our time today, certain shareholders in attendance today have confirmed that they are prepared to move and second each of the motions. For the purposes of voting on the matters of business, only holders of common shares as of the close of business on 03/21/2025, or their proxies are entitled to vote today. The first item of business today is the presentation of RF Capital’s audited consolidated financial statements. The auditors report thereon and the related management discussion and analysis.

These documents were made available to registered common shareholders of RF Capital. We’ll now proceed with the matters requiring shareholder action today. The first of which is the election of directors. The term of office of the directors will be from today until the next annual meeting of common shareholders or until such time as their successors have been duly elected or appointed. As set out in our management information circular, 11 directors are to be elected today.

The following individuals have been nominated. Natalie Bernier, Dave Brown, Vincent de Hamel, Dave Ferguson, Kish Kapoor, Dave Kelly, David Leith, Jane Mowat, David Porter, Sandy Riley, and myself, Don Wright. Information regarding each of the nominee directors is set out in the circular. May I have a motion for the election of each of these 11 persons nominated as directors of RF Capital?

Michael, Shareholder: I move that each of the 11 persons nominated to be elected as directors of RF Capital told office until the next annual meeting of common shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Thank you, Michael. Can I have a seconder?

Lynn, Shareholder/Board Member, RF Capital Group Inc: I second the motion.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Thank you, Lynn. Are there any further nominations? If there are no further nominations, I declare the nominations now closed. If any shareholder or proxy holder has questions relating to the election of directors, I request that they be asked at this time. Okay.

It is now in order to vote on the motion. The vote for this resolution will take place by a show of hands. All in favor, please raise your hand. Contrary, Vinnie, noted. I declare the motion carried in each of Natalie Burnier, David Brown, Vincent de Hamel, David Ferguson, Kish Kapoor, Dave Kelly, David Leif, Jane Moet, David Porter, Sandy Ride and myself, John Wright are duly elected as directors of RF Capital until the next annual meeting of shareholders or until his or her successor is elected or appointed.

The next item of business is the appointment of auditors and the authorization of the Board of Directors to fix their remuneration. As set out in our management information circular, the resolution for approval is the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditors of RF Capital to hold office until the next annual meeting of common shareholders and that the Board of Directors on the recommendation of the Audit Committee be authorized to fix their remuneration. May I have a motion on this matter, please?

Lynn, Shareholder/Board Member, RF Capital Group Inc: I move that KPMG LLP be appointed auditors of our capital to hold office until the next annual meeting of common shareholders and that the Board of Directors on the recommendation of the Audit Committee be authorized to fix their remuneration.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Thank you, Lynn. Can I have a second here?

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: I second the motion.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Thank you, Michael. If any shareholder or proxy holder has questions relating to the appointment of auditors, I request that they be asked at this time. The vote for this resolution will take place by a show of hands. All in favor, please raise your hand. Okay.

Contrary, if any. I declare the motion carried. With voting on all business matters now complete, I would ask that the scrutineer compile the report regarding the final results, will be published on SEDAR and by press release. Is there any other formal business that may properly be bought brought before this meeting? Okay, ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the formal portion of this meeting.

May I please have a motion that the meeting be concluded?

Michael, Shareholder: I so

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Would Henry like to second the motion?

Lynn, Shareholder/Board Member, RF Capital Group Inc: I second the motion.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Thank you. All those in favor, please raise your hand. Any contrary, if any? I declare the motion carried and the annual meeting of common shareholders of Ara Capital is now concluded. I want to thank you all for attending today.

But before we hear from management, I’ll ask you to please review the disclaimer on the screen about forward looking statements. Following the management’s presentations, we would be pleased to answer any questions you may have about the company. Over to you, Dave.

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: Thank you. Thank you, Don, for your introduction. Welcome to the 20 Fifth Floor Boardroom and to our webcast participants. I’m Merci Don, Porta Presentation, bienvenue dansen au bureau et une les francispanes. I’m pleased to host you at our flagship offices in Toronto’s Waterfront District.

This is my first Annual General Meeting as President and CEO of RF Capital. You may remember I was appointed COO January of twenty twenty four and subsequently named President and CEO in October of twenty twenty four. In choosing to come to Richardson Wealth, I was convinced the strategy was a well designed journey to become the brand of choice for Canada’s top advisors and their clients. I was inspired by a clear and achievable plan that laid out the framework for the momentum that we needed. And sixteen months in, I’m even more convinced that we’re on the right path.

After decades of experience in this industry, I’m firmly of the belief that independents are an increasingly attractive alternative for Canadian investors who are looking for truly independent wealth management advice. Based on our conversations with advisors and our strong recruiting pipeline, I’m also convinced that advisory teams at large investment dealers are seeing the opportunity to grow and thrive in places like Richardson Wealth, now more than ever. And these shifts are contributing to significant growth opportunities for our business. I was honored to be appointed as President and CEO. I’m truly excited about the journey ahead.

The three pillar growth strategy aligned with what I fundamentally believe is needed to grow a great business in this industry, and that has not changed.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: I’m going

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: to share a quick overview of what Francis, our new CFO, I will present today. We’ll start with a review of 2024, including an update on our three pillars, some important leadership changes and our financial results, which Francis will provide. Francis will cover the twenty twenty five Q1 financial results as well and financial outlook, and then I’ll provide 2025 business highlights. Then we’ll open it up for your questions. But first, I want to acknowledge a major milestone in our company’s journey.

On November 25, we had $40,000,000,000 in assets for the first time in our history. Our advisory teams are the engines of this success, and I’m grateful for their dedication to their clients. It’s their perseverance and commitment during challenging times that led us to this moment. We’re still focused on our long term goal of 100,000,000,000 in assets, but also reaching an interim goal of 50,000,000,000 We feel this will give us opportunity to celebrate more milestones and create a little bit more urgency and pace to get there. This requires a concentrated effort on operational excellence and execution, which brings me to pillar one of our strategy.

The focus of my attention in 2024 was on execution. Last year was about leading the work needed to strengthen the support for our advisory teams, doubling down on support, which is pillar one of our strategy. And our goal here really was twofold. First, we wanted to make it easier for our teams to work here, enable them to free up their time to provide superior client advice and service. And secondly, we wanted to help our teams grow more valuable practices over time.

To make it easier to work here, we were and continue to be dedicated to creating middle office excellence, which is delivered through our own advisor service centre and also Fidelity Clear in Canada. And in support of our middle office excellence journey, we launched a pilot with select advisory teams and branches across Canada, really focused on freeing up unproductive time for our advisors and their teams to allow them to focus on their clients. I’m pleased to share that the pilot model achieved a number of things. It removed friction points, it reduced turnaround times, and provided our advisory teams with the feeling of trusted resources and partners, supporting them for all their operational items. We’re on track for a phased rollout of the national model, which has already begun, and we expect to have all our teams on board by June.

I’m confident this will significantly improve the experience for our clients and teams. I’m encouraged by the progress that’s being made by Fidelity Clearing. We’ve been very direct in communicating with them our key priorities, and they’re listening as partners. To grow more valuable practices, we enhanced existing platforms. We brought in a suite of business intelligence tools, giving our advisors critical data and insights, with the intention of setting both practices and firm growth objectives in the same strategic direction.

Here, we’re also making steady progress. Recruitment is the key driver of our growth strategy. We welcomed teams here in 2024 managing $1,800,000,000 in assets, which was a record year for us. We continue to grow our pipeline to over $31,000,000,000 With a focus on ensuring we bring in teams who are aligned with our strategy, our culture, and our values, and with some refinement to our discovery and onboarding processes, we are confident in our ability to execute on this pillar in 2025. I’d like to add that the caliber of the advisors that we’re meeting with are the highest that I’ve seen in my career.

Recruiting success is often more about the who than the how many, and the advisors that we are meeting to profile riches and wealth are some of the very best professionals and people in the industry. To execute on our third pillar, acquiring or partnering with like minded firms, there are many dependencies, including the availability of targets, the target’s price expectations, our share price, economic stability, and our access to other forms of capital. That said, we have and will continue to seek opportunities to work with parties that align with our strategy and in ways that will generate value for our advisors, our clients, and our shareholders. As Don mentioned, 2024 was a year of significant change at the Leadership Camp. Executive changes can be disruptive, but our corporate and advisory teams have adapted really well.

It’s my intention to ensure we have the leadership skills and experiences that we need to achieve our goals today and also moving forward. And the great news is we have lots of talented people and leaders interested in joining Richardson Wealth. But as Don Wright noted in his opening remarks, sad news was felt deeply throughout the organization last year with the passing of Scott Stannett, Vice Chair of Richardson Wealth, who succumbed to cancer after a courageous battle. Scott’s loyalty to this company was absolutely unwavering. His dedication to his team, to his peers on the executive committee was unmatched, and of his will to see the transformational projects that he led to the end was remarkable.

What we’ll remember most is that he was absolutely determined that his illness would not define him, and it didn’t. Scott’s legacy lives on in the DNA of this company. In terms of leadership changes to our executive committee, in November we filled our CFO position. Francis Beyer Jean, who you’ll hear from shortly, brings experience with investment banks focused on both the investment and wealth management industries. I met him when he worked at TD Bank in corporate development and quickly developed a deep respect for his expertise and perspectives.

Most recently, he spent four years as CFO for one of Canada’s leading clean technology companies. I’m delighted to have him here as part of the executive committee. And in 2024, we conducted a very extensive search for a national sales leader. And we were very pleased with how many talented professionals across industry were interested in joining our company in this capacity. In the end, it was clear that Kevin Schubli was the best person to lead the work to help our teams grow, make their practices more valuable, and to ensure a relentless focus on creating operational excellence.

In March of this year, Kevin was appointed SVP, Head of Advisor Experience and Growth. He’s an accomplished leader with more than two decades of experience. And prior to joining Richardson Wealth, he held progressively senior leadership roles at TD, including leading their Private Investment Council business. Last summer, we also welcomed Marcus Chunlin, Head of Digital Strategies and Advisory Services. Marcus has been leading the digital journey and just making sure our technology is aligned to the overall business vision.

Has managed to deliver significant value by optimizing operational processes, technology platforms to really help us deliver a state of the art desktop program for our advisory teams. A transformational leader, Marcus joined us from BMO Private Wealth, where he was VP and Managing Director of Strategic Management and Initiatives. And he’s also held leadership roles at RBC Wealth Management, including Senior Director of Strategic Execution and Operations. I’m equally delighted to have Marcus on the Executive Committee. Lastly, I would take this moment to acknowledge the upcoming retirement of our Chief People Officer, Lynn Breachak, who will be leaving upon the confirmation of her success.

After more than ten years of dedicated service to Bridgeson Wealth and its predecessor firm, Lynn is planning to shift gears and enjoy a new chapter in her life. Lynn has been a tremendous help integrating me into my role and a significant driver of culture, and she will be deeply missed. I invite you to thank Lynn directly for her many years of service with the company. Now I’d like to turn it over to Francis to provide our 2024 financial results, our twenty twenty five Q1 financial highlights and 2025 financial outlook.

: Over to Francis.

Francis Barragan/Beyer Jean, Chief Financial Officer, RF Capital Group Inc: Good morning. Thank you, Don and Dave. I appreciate the warm welcome from you and the team since joining a few months ago, and I continue to be incredibly energized by the quality and potential of this franchise. Today, we’ll first do a quick recap of our previously announced 2024 results and then a more detailed review of our financial performance for the first quarter of twenty twenty five, which we announced yesterday after market close. I’ll then pass it back to Dave to highlight some of our 2025 priorities before we open it up to questions.

With respect to 2024, we ended the year with AUA at $39,500,000,000 up $4,300,000,000 from 2023, helped by rising equity markets as well as strong recruiting activity and an increase in assets of our existing clients. For the year ended 12/31/2024, RF Capital reported $369,000,000 in revenue, an increase of 5% compared to 2023. Fee revenue was up 8% due to higher average AUA, which increased $2,200,000,000 or 6% and trading commissions, which increased 11% driven by higher trading activity in client accounts. Corporate finance revenue increased 37% and insurance revenue was up 9% reflecting initiatives to drive sales in both those areas. Interest revenue decreased 18% mainly due to a decline in benchmark interest rates in Canada, while client cash and margin loan balances remained relatively stable.

Adjusted EBITDA was $57,300,000 as compared to $59,500,000 in the prior year, as the increase in our operating expenses was slightly greater than the increase in revenue that I just mentioned. Operating expenses were up from 2023 due to costs related to our leadership transition in the latter half of twenty twenty four, as well as an increase in carrying broker costs from higher client trading volumes. As well, the mark to market benefit recorded on the revaluation of our share based compensation liability decreased from $4,900,000 to $3,000,000 driven by a lesser change in our share price. Discretionary expenses decreased from the year prior. And as a reminder, while we do use the term adjusted EBITDA for comparative purposes, we did not incur any transformation costs or other adjusting items that impacted that figure in 2024.

Moving on to our results for the first quarter of twenty twenty five. We ended Q1 with AUA at 39,200,000,000.0 down $400,000,000 from the end of twenty twenty four. For the first quarter, RF Capital reported $99,000,000 in revenue, an increase of 11% year over year. Fee revenue was up 17% due to higher average AUA driven by growth from markets, recruiting and net new assets exceeding the impact of advisor attrition. Fee revenue in Q1 also included annual performance fees from selected sub advised products.

Corporate finance revenue increased 35%, while insurance revenue remained largely flat to Q1 of last year. Interest revenue decreased 14% due to a decline in benchmark interest rates, while average client cash and margin loan balances remained relatively stable. Adjusted EBITDA was $9,500,000 as compared to 13,500,000 in the prior year quarter. This result reflects an increase of $4,000,000 in mark to market expenses on share based compensation. In Q1, our share price increased resulting in a mark to market expense on the revaluation of our share based compensation liability due to our share price increasing from $7.51 to $10 at the closing of the past quarter.

In Q1 last year, we had recorded a mark to market recovery of $900,000 and excluding the increase in these expenses, EBITDA was flat to last year as the increase in revenue that I mentioned earlier was offset by an increase in operating expenses. Operating expenses were up due to primarily higher carrying broker charges as a function of trading activity and higher salaries and benefits reflecting annual inflation. Discretionary expenses decreased from the first quarter last year. Turning to cash flow. As a reminder, we disclosed free cash flow available for growth, which is the cash flow that the company generates before any investments in growth or transformation initiatives.

It provides an indication of the cash that we generate organically to fund our strategic plans. In the first quarter of twenty twenty five, we generated $2,000,000 of free cash flow available for growth, up from a cash outflow of $13,300,000 last year, primarily due to higher operating cash flows. Free cash flow itself is the net cash flow that the company generates after its continuing operations and considering its recruitment, transformation and strategic investments. In Q1, RF Capital had a usage of free cash flow of CAD1.8 million compared to a usage of $15,700,000 in Q1 twenty twenty four, driven by increased cash flow available for growth and partly offset by higher expenditures on real estate initiatives. Now I’ll turn over to our outlook and some of the drivers of our revenue and profitability for the coming year.

In 2025, AUA will continue to be driven by growth in client assets and recruiting and is expected to correlate highly with equity market returns, which may be impacted by global economic conditions, including U. S. Trade policies in Paris, particularly starting in Q2. Interest revenue is impacted by Canadian benchmark rate trends, which economists expect to continue to decline before stabilizing later in the year and may be offset by higher client cash balances and margin positions. As far as operating expenses go, we are committed to finding savings and efficiencies where we can and driving operational leverage from the fixed costs and many investments we have incurred in the last few years to operate our platform.

Furthermore, operating expenses will continue to be subject to mark to market expenses on RSUs and DSUs. Cash flow available for growth will be driven by the factors just discussed and primarily be deployed towards initiatives to improve our advisor desktop and middle office experience that Dave alluded to, as well as adding new advisors to the Richardson Wealth Platform through traditional recruiting and to a lesser extent inorganic growth opportunities. Capital expenditures are expected to continue at normalized levels and will continue to support the growth of our advisor team footprint. With that, I’ll pass it back to Dave to cover our 2025 business priorities. Thank you.

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: Thank you, Francis. So I’ll just briefly add on some of Francis’ comments on the drivers of revenue and profitability. We’ve had an exceptionally challenging start to the year based on the complex global economic environment. This volatility has its impact on our industry and our business, and it may require us to make decisions that are prudent considering the times and may cause us to delay some intended investments. With so much out of our control, our approach has been to focus on what is within our control and that takes us right to where we have been centered, is the first few pillars of our strategy.

As for pillar two, the uncertainty inevitably leads to challenges in recruiting advisors. The disruption in the markets is very difficult for them and challenging to move clients when the times are as unsettling as they are by moving their books of business. We’ll need to work through these challenges, and in the meantime, we’ll keep close to those teams who are more ready to make a transition once the markets stabilize. This of course is not new to us, it’s the nature of the business in which we work. I want to make a brief comment about our share price.

As we know, our shares trade at a price that does not reflect the fundamental value of the business, and its limited float and volume can cause greater short term fluctuations than the stability of our business model might suggest.

: And

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: while it’s good to see some positive movement recently, it’s not where it should be. Francis and I have been meeting shareholders and prospective shareholders in Toronto and Montreal and getting positive reactions to our story. Our message is resonating and we’ll continue to invest time to tell our story. Ultimately, any share price reflects revenue and earnings growth. As shareholders, you pay for growth and that’s what we’re laser focused on delivering.

For 2025, there’s four things that we’re driving on with real focus for our shareholders. First, it’s delivering the key initiatives to increase advisor and employee engagement and satisfaction, and ultimately retain assets. The focus here is on improving our mid office excellence and we’re gaining some traction. Second is enabling and driving increased growth in net new assets, fee and insurance revenue through our existing advisor teams. Third is continuing to invite select advisory teams to positively contribute to our culture, our strategy and our assets under management.

And fourth is making sure that people are organized in a way that provides their ability to do their best work and also drive efficiencies. Our focus on efficiencies was in place before the current market challenges and we’re committed to holding operating expenses in check and delivering operating leverage. As we move forward with achieving these goals, it’s my intention to continue to strategically and thoughtfully deepen our partnership with our advisory teams. An important step in that direction was last fall when I had one on one thirty minute meetings with every advisory team. In those conversations, I reiterated what we’re doing and why.

And I also asked the teams for their input. Did they agree with our areas of focus or were there other areas that were more critical and required our attention? These were very transparent conversations and I was pleased with the alignment on what needs to be done. I’m on the road again this spring visiting branches just to make sure we keep the momentum building on the discussions. I’ll repeat the one on one calls with every team this fall to keep that momentum high.

In my view, these conversations are critical to building the mutual trust and respect that we need to be successful together. But we also have regular touch points as larger groups to ensure we continue to be connected. For our advisors only this year, we launched a quarterly partners conference call where we come together to discuss the business, how we’re doing from a financial results perspective, including resource allocations and key decisions. And each month we host a national call for the entire firm to make sure we’re taking the time to celebrate each step forward, big or small. Through these touch points, we’re striving to instill even more alignment resulting in greater confidence, trust, and pride for our teams as we demonstrate a steady and continuous flow of progress.

Now it’s time to turn to you for questions. So we’d be happy to take any questions you might have.

Shareholder: Yes, I have a question here. If I read this correctly, I believe

: you had losses in 2024, profit wise I’m talking about, and also 02/2025 the first quarter you still lost money. Am I correct?

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: Yes, you are.

: By how much did you lose in 02/2024?

Francis Barragan/Beyer Jean, Chief Financial Officer, RF Capital Group Inc: So in 2025, just to have the number handy because we just reported, we were at point $1,000,000 of losses in the first quarter. And then in 2025, I’ll get you the number from I I can follow-up with you separately with the exact number in our

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: financial statements.

: So it’s nice we’re hiring all these advisers and all that, but if you can’t make a profit, what’s going on? I I got some risks that I own, and every one of them has made money. What’s happening here? Why can’t you make a profit?

Francis Barragan/Beyer Jean, Chief Financial Officer, RF Capital Group Inc: So the negative profit, which I would say is very close to zero and we do believe we will be able to bend the curve, if you will, over time as a reflection of the investments that we are making in a competitive environment in order to retain our existing advisor teams and to some extent to recruit as you stated.

: But still, you’ve got to make a profit no matter how many people there are. I know where these advisors are coming from, but they don’t sound very good to me if they can’t turn a profit in the last two years or so.

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: Yeah, the advisors are good. I think it’s the balance of investing for future profits and building those over time versus what you realize in the short term. And so we are still investing in the business, cash flow in terms of recruiting advisor teams with the goal to make sure that we earn meaningful profits going forward.

: Or you could be like course down the, when I look out the window I see course entertainment and they were doing good and now it looks like they’re going bankrupt. And they didn’t make any profits either, but finally it’s quite up to them.

Francis Barragan/Beyer Jean, Chief Financial Officer, RF Capital Group Inc: So I I would say we’re obviously very, very different.

: I know you are.

Francis Barragan/Beyer Jean, Chief Financial Officer, RF Capital Group Inc: Very different industries. So I can’t comment on course. I would say we have a very prudent balance sheet management policy. We have some great partners in both our preferred shareholders and in our bank lending partners. We’re very comfortable under fairly conservative risk appetite that we’re able to meet our financial obligations.

And again, we are running this business for the future and to scale and that requires investment. If the environment were to change, we’d have different levers we could pull. The first obviously being different growth opportunities that we’re invested in and then looking at other elements of our cost structure if the situation warranted it.

: Yes. And are you allowing for a fact that Canada will go into recession if we’re not in one right now? Are you allowing for all this?

Francis Barragan/Beyer Jean, Chief Financial Officer, RF Capital Group Inc: We do regular scenario planning across a variety of economic scenarios. I think the beauty of our general business model is that over 83% of our assets are in fee based accounts. And so offer recurring and predictable continue that while it does fluctuate, it certainly is recurring and predictable. And that’s one of the reasons why we feel that our share price does not reflect the fundamental value of the business.

: Thank you.

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: Thank you.

Francis Barragan/Beyer Jean, Chief Financial Officer, RF Capital Group Inc: Thank you for your input.

Peter, Shareholder: The growth in AUA year over year is about 3,000,000,000. What’s the split in that between market growth and acquired assets?

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: Your acquired assets and departed assets are just about flat. So it’s a combination of market growth plus the work that our teams do to consolidate additional assets from their existing client base.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Like organic growth. Organic growth.

Peter, Shareholder: So that’s new money from existing clients.

: Got it.

Peter, Shareholder: Okay. But so the advisors departing and arriving, that’s about a wash. That was about a wash in 2024. Okay.

Francis Barragan/Beyer Jean, Chief Financial Officer, RF Capital Group Inc: Alright. And just to maybe link your question with the the the preceding one, the average return on client portfolio was about a 60% correlation or beta, if you will, to overall equity markets. So part of why we feel good about our financial situation is because we run a fairly conservative investment philosophies. Those are determined at the advisor level to be clear, but I think there’s generally a pretty good approach across our advisory practices in terms of preserving the wealth as much as growing it in our client portfolios.

Peter, Shareholder: What would be the split in the portfolios between Canadian assets and non Canadian assets?

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: Geez, for roughly 60% equity. I don’t have that number in my hand. We would be predominantly Canadian though,

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: I would

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: think, Peter. We can find that number for you. Please. Yes.

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: Okay. Any other questions? Anyone pass? Okay, thank you. I think that concludes our meeting for today.

Think you’re

Dave Kelly, President and CEO, Richardson Wealth: going be around

Don Wright, Chair of the Board of Directors, RF Capital Group Inc: for a few minutes. If everyone has a question they want to ask one on one, please feel free to step up and ask. Thank you very much for coming. Thank you, everyone.

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