CONCORD, Calif., May 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: AMK) today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021.

First Quarter 2021 Financial and Operational Highlights

“AssetMark had a very strong first quarter, a testament to living our mission and executing on our strategy. We grew through the pandemic, and are beginning to see an acceleration in our growth as we enter a post-pandemic world,” said AssetMark CEO Natalie Wolfsen. “First quarter net flows were a record $1.9 billion and annualized net flows as percentage of beginning of period assets are over 10%. We realized record revenue and adjusted EBTIDA in the first quarter, while continuing to drive scale in the business. We are making great progress on our 2021 strategic priorities, maintaining a strong financial position and will be returning to in-person events soon. These will help us continue to attract new advisors, accelerate organic growth and gain market share.”

First Quarter 2021 Key Operating Metrics

    
 1Q211Q20Variance
per year
Operational metrics:   
Platform assets (at period-beginning) (millions of dollars)74,52061,60821.0%
Net flows (millions of dollars)1,9271,8345.1%
Market impact net of fees (millions of dollars)2,433(9,477)NM
Acquisition impact (millions of dollars)02,060NM
Platform assets (at period-end) (millions of dollars)78,88056,02540.8%
Net flows lift (% of beginning of year platform assets)2.6%3.0%(40) bps
Advisors (at period-end)8,4778,4770.0%
Engaged advisors (at period-end)2,6112,13822.1%
Assets from engaged advisors (at period-end) (millions of dollars)71,63548,79346.8%
Households (at period-end)190,915176,6818.1%
New producing advisors194217(10.6%)
Production lift from existing advisors (annualized %)21.8%23.3%(150 bps)
Assets in custody at ATC (at period-end) (millions of dollars)57,77838,77049.0%
ATC client cash (at period-end) (millions of dollars)2,4972,991(16.5%)
    
Financial metrics:   
Total revenue (millions of dollars)1191153.6%
Net income (loss) (millions of dollars)(8.9)(2.7)NM
Net income (loss) margin (%)(7.5%)2.4%(990 bps)
Capital expenditure (millions of dollars)8.26.526.4%
    
Non-GAAP financial metrics:   
Adjusted EBITDA (millions of dollars)34.128.420.2%
Adjusted EBITDA margin (%)28.6%24.7%390 bps
Adjusted net income (millions of dollars)22.217.725.2%
Note: Percentage variance based on actual numbers, not rounded results   
    

Webcast and Conference Call Information

AssetMark will host a live conference call and webcast to discuss its first quarter 2021 results. In conjunction with this earnings press release, AssetMark has posted an earnings presentation on its investor relations website at http://ir.assetmark.com. Conference call and webcast details are as follows:

About AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc. 

AssetMark is a leading provider of extensive wealth management and technology solutions that power independent financial advisors and their clients. Through AssetMark, Inc., its investment advisor subsidiary registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, AssetMark operates a platform that comprises fully integrated technology, personalized and scalable service and curated investment platform solutions designed to make a difference in the lives of advisors and their clients. AssetMark had $78.9 billion in platform assets as of March 31, 2021 and has a history of innovation spanning more than 20 years.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding our future financial and operating performance, which involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and can be identified by terms such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or “continue,” the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology that conveys uncertainty of future events or outcomes. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from statements made in this press release, including in relation to our ability to attract and retain advisors, competition in the industry in which we operate, the interest rate environment, shifting investor preferences, our market share and the size of our addressable market, our financial performance, investments in new products, services and capabilities, our ability to execute strategic transactions, legal and regulatory developments and general market, political, economic and business conditions. Other potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted include, among others, those risks and uncertainties included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in our prospectus dated July 17, 2019 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2021, which is expected to be filled on May 7, 2021. Additional information is also available in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on our investor relations website at http://ir.assetmark.com. All information provided in this release is based on information available to us as of the date of this press release and any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on assumptions that we believe are reasonable as of this date. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which are inherently uncertain. We undertake no duty to update this information unless required by law.

AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc.
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in thousands except share data and par value)

  March 31, 2021  December 31, 2020 
  (unaudited)     
ASSETS        
Current assets:        
Cash and cash equivalents $75,831  $70,619 
Restricted cash  11,000   11,000 
Investments, at fair value  12,263   10,577 
Fees and other receivables, net  8,459   8,891 
Income tax receivable, net  17,178   8,596 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets  13,088   13,637 
Total current assets  137,819   123,320 
Property, plant and equipment, net  8,187   7,388 
Capitalized software, net  69,392   68,835 
Other intangible assets, net  654,286   655,736 
Operating lease right-of-use assets  24,512   27,496 
Goodwill  338,848   338,848 
Other assets  2,294   1,965 
Total assets $1,235,338  $1,223,588 
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY        
Current liabilities:        
Accounts payable $1,434  $2,199 
Accrued liabilities and other current liabilities  32,602   43,694 
Total current liabilities  34,036   45,893 
Long-term debt, net  75,000   75,000 
Other long-term liabilities  17,241   16,302 
Long-term portion of operating lease liabilities  29,976   31,820 
Deferred income tax liabilities, net  149,500   149,500 
Total long-term liabilities  271,717   272,622 
Total liabilities  305,753   318,515 
Commitments and contingencies  —   — 
Stockholders’ equity:        
Common stock, $0.001 par value (675,000,000 shares authorized and 72,459,255 shares issued and outstanding as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020)  72   72 
Additional paid-in capital  883,858   850,430 
Retained earnings  45,655   54,571 
Total stockholders’ equity  929,585   905,073 
Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $1,235,338  $1,223,588 


AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income and Comprehensive Income
(in thousands, except share and per share data)

  Three Months Ended March 31, 
  2021  2020 
Revenue:        
Asset-based revenue $115,813  $105,650 
Spread-based revenue  2,606   7,951 
Other revenue  587   1,289 
Total revenue  119,006   114,890 
Operating expenses:        
Asset-based expenses  36,094   35,015 
Spread-based expenses  676   1,289 
Employee compensation  67,302   43,497 
General and operating expenses  17,489   19,365 
Professional fees  4,260   3,831 
Depreciation and amortization  9,471   8,409 
Total operating expenses  135,292   111,406 
Interest expense  771   1,627 
Other expense, net  (15)  50 
Income (loss) before income taxes  (17,042)  1,807 
Provision benefit from income taxes  (8,126)  (929)
Net income (loss)  (8,916)  2,736 
Net comprehensive income (loss) $(8,916) $2,736 
Net income (loss) per share attributable to common stockholders:        
Basic  (0.13)  0.04 
Diluted  (0.13)  0.04 
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, basic  70,422,306   67,142,459 
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding, diluted  70,422,306   69,317,261 


AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc.
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(in thousands)

  Three Months Ended March 31, 
  2021  2020 
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES        
Net income (loss) $(8,916) $2,736 
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by operating activities:        
Depreciation and amortization  9,471   8,409 
Interest  190   78 
Deferred income taxes  —   522 
Share-based compensation  33,428   13,188 
Changes in certain assets and liabilities:        
Fees and other receivables, net  (710)  (1,835)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets  804   944 
Accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other current liabilities  (11,028)  (12,909)
Income tax receivable, net  (8,582)  (1,884)
Net cash provided by operating activities  14,657   9,249 
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES        
Purchase of WBI OBS Financial, LLC, net of cash received  —   (18,404)
Purchase of investments  (1,363)  (1,014)
Sale of investments  151   — 
Purchase of property and equipment  (231)  (416)
Purchase of computer software  (8,002)  (6,095)
Net cash used in investing activities  (9,445)  (25,929)
Net change in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash  5,212   (16,680)
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period  81,619   105,341 
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period $86,831  $88,661 
SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION        
Income taxes paid $464  $365 
Interest paid $577  $1,547 
Non-cash operating activities:        
Non-cash changes to right-of-use assets $(2,263) $38,495 
Non-cash changes to lease liabilities $(2,263) $39,839 

Explanations and Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

In addition to our results determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), we believe adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted net income, all of which are non-GAAP measures, are useful in evaluating our performance. We use adjusted EBITDA, adjusted EBITDA margin and adjusted net income to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that such non-GAAP financial information, when taken collectively, may be helpful to investors because it provides consistency and comparability with past financial performance. However, such non-GAAP financial information is presented for supplemental informational purposes only, has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP.

Other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly titled non-GAAP measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison.  

Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and not rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

Adjusted EBITDA is defined as EBITDA (net income plus interest expense, income tax expense, depreciation and amortization and less interest income), further adjusted to exclude certain non-cash charges and other adjustments set forth below. Adjusted EBITDA margin is defined as adjusted EBITDA divided by total revenue. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin are useful financial metrics in assessing our operating performance from period to period because they exclude certain items that we believe are not representative of our core business, such as certain material non-cash items and other adjustments such as share-based compensation, strategic initiatives and reorganization and integration costs. We believe that adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin, viewed in addition to, and not in lieu of, our reported GAAP results, provide useful information to investors regarding our performance and overall results of operations for various reasons, including:

We use adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin:

Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin have limitations as analytical tools, and should not be considered in isolation to, or as substitutes for, analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

Set forth below is a reconciliation from net income, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, to adjusted EBITDA for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 (unaudited).

  Three Months Ended March 31,  Three Months Ended March 31, 
(in thousands except for percentages) 2021  2020  2021  2020 
Net income (loss) $(8,916) $2,736   (7.5)%  2.4%
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes  (8,126)  (929)  (6.8)%  (0.8)%
Interest income (loss)  (25)  (482)  (—)%  (0.4)%
Interest expense  771   1,627   0.6%  1.4%
Amortization/depreciation  9,471   8,409   8.0%  7.3%
EBITDA  (6,825)  11,361   (5.7)%  9.9%
Share-based compensation(1)  33,428   13,188   28.0%  11.5%
Reorganization and integration costs(2)  4,496   103   3.8%  0.1%
Acquisition expenses(3)  2,817   3,577   2.3%  3.1%
Business continuity plan(4)  72   96   0.1%  0.1%
Office closures(5)  121   —   0.1%  — 
Other expenses  (15)  50   (—)%  — 
Adjusted EBITDA $34,094  $28,375   28.6%  24.7%

(1)    “Share-based compensation” represents granted share-based compensation in the form of Class C Common Units (which are incentive units) of AssetMark Holdings LLC, our former parent company, and RSA, restricted stock unit, stock option, and stock appreciation right grants by us to certain of our directors and employees. Although this expense occurred in each measurement period, we have added the expense back in our calculation of adjusted EBITDA because of its noncash impact.
(2)    “Reorganization and integration costs” includes costs related to the departure of our former chief executive officer (“CEO”), our functional reorganization within our Operations, Technology and Retirement functions as well as duplicate costs related to the outsourcing of back-office operations functions. While we have incurred such expenses in all periods measured, these expenses serve varied reorganization and integration initiatives, each of which is non-recurring. We do not consider these expenses to be part of our core operations.
(3)    “Acquisition expenses” includes employee severance, transition and retention expenses, duplicative general and administrative expenses and other professional fees related to acquisitions.
(4)    “Business continuity plan” includes incremental compensation and other costs that are directly related to operations while transitioning to a remote workforce and other costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(5)    “Office closures” represents one-time expenses related to closing facilities.

Set forth below is a summary of the adjustments involved in the reconciliation from net income and net income margin, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures, to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA margin for the three months for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, broken out by compensation and non-compensation expenses (unaudited).

  Three Months Ended March 31, 2021  Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 
(in thousands) Compensation  Non-
Compensation		  Total  Compensation  Non-
Compensation		  Total 
Share-based compensation(1) $33,428  $—  $33,428  $13,188  $—  $13,188 
Reorganization and integration costs(2)  2,207   2,289   4,496   105   (2)  103 
Acquisition expenses(3)  716   2,101   2,817   1,132   2,445   3,577 
Business continuity plan(4)  —   72   72   96   —   96 
Office closures(5)  —   121   121   —   —   — 
Other expenses  —   (15)  (15)  —   50   50 
Total adjustments to adjusted EBITDA $36,351  $4,568  $40,919  $14,521  $2,493  $17,014 
                         
  Three Months Ended March 31, 2021  Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 
(in percentages) Compensation  Non-
Compensation		  Total  Compensation  Non-
Compensation		  Total 
Share-based compensation(1)  28.0%  —   28.0%  11.5%  —   11.5%
Reorganization and integration costs(2)  1.9%  1.9%  3.8%  0.1%  —   0.1%
Acquisition expenses(3)  0.6%  1.7%  2.3%  1.0%  2.1%  3.1%
Business continuity plan(4)  —   0.1%  0.1%  0.1%  —   0.1%
Office closures(5)  —   0.1%  0.1%  —   —   — 
Other expenses  —   —   —   —   —   — 
Total adjustments to adjusted EBITDA margin %  30.5%  3.8%  34.3%  12.7%  2.1%  14.8%

(1)    “Share-based compensation” represents granted share-based compensation in the form of Class C Common Units (which are incentive units) of AssetMark Holdings LLC, our former parent company, and RSA, restricted stock unit, stock option, and stock appreciation right grants by us to certain of our directors and employees. Although this expense occurred in each measurement period, we have added the expense back in our calculation of adjusted EBITDA because of its noncash impact.
(2)    “Reorganization and integration costs” includes costs related to the departure of our former chief executive officer, our functional reorganization within our Operations, Technology and Retirement functions as well as duplicate costs related to the outsourcing of back-office operations functions. While we have incurred such expenses in all periods measured, these expenses serve varied reorganization and integration initiatives, each of which is non-recurring. We do not consider these expenses to be part of our core operations.
(3)    “Acquisition expenses” includes employee severance, transition and retention expenses, duplicative general and administrative expenses and other professional fees related to acquisitions.
(4)    “Business continuity plan” includes incremental compensation and other costs that are directly related to operations while transitioning to a remote workforce and other costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(5)    “Office closures” represents one-time expenses related to closing facilities.

Adjusted Net Income

Adjusted net income represents net income before: (a) share-based compensation expense, (b) amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, (c) acquisition and related integration expenses, (d) restructuring and conversion costs and (e) certain other expenses. Reconciled items are tax effected using the income tax rates in effect for the applicable period, adjusted for any potentially non-deductible amounts. We prepared adjusted net income to eliminate the effects of items that we do not consider indicative of our core operating performance. We have historically not used adjusted net income for internal management reporting and evaluation purposes; however, we believe that adjusted net income, viewed in addition to, and not in lieu of, our reported GAAP results, provides useful information to investors regarding our performance and overall results of operations for various reasons, including
the following:

Adjusted net income does not purport to be an alternative to net income or cash flows from operating activities. The term adjusted net income is not defined under GAAP, and adjusted net income is not a measure of net income, operating income or any other performance or liquidity measure derived in accordance with GAAP. Therefore, adjusted net income has limitations as an analytical tool and should not be considered in isolation to, or as a substitute for, analysis of our results as reported under GAAP. Some of these limitations are:

Set forth below is a reconciliation from net income, the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure, to adjusted net income for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 (unaudited).

  Three Months Ended March 31, 2021  Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 
(in thousands) Compensation  Non-
Compensation		  Total  Compensation  Non-
Compensation		  Total 
Net income (loss)         $(8,916)         $2,736 
Acquisition-related amortization(1) $—  $5,108   5,108  $—  $5,108   5,108 
Expense adjustments(2)  2,922   4,568   7,490   1,332   2,493   3,825 
Share-based compensation  33,428   —   33,428   13,188   —   13,188 
Tax effect of adjustments(3)  (687)  (14,250)  (14,937)  (346)  (6,804)  (7,150)
Adjusted net income $35,663  $(4,574) $22,173  $14,174  $797  $17,707 

(1)    Relates to intangible assets established in connection with HTSC’s acquisition of our Company in 2016.
(2)    Consists of the adjustments to EBITDA listed in the adjusted EBITDA reconciliation table above other than share-based compensation.
(3)    Reflects the tax impact of expense adjustments and acquisition-related amortization.

Contacts
Investors:
Taylor J. Hamilton, CFA
Head of Investor Relations
InvestorRelations@assetmark.com

Media: 
Oliver Hays
MSR Communications for AssetMark, Inc.
oliver@msrcommunications.com

SOURCE: AssetMark Financial Holdings, Inc.