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Mark Begor, Chief Executive Officer, noted that FICO has been less aggressive on pricing in non-mortgage verticals, leading to less attention compared to mortgage. However, he believes there are still savings opportunities and performance comparable to FICO, which Equifax aims to capitalize on by offering free VantageScores with every paid FICO score in these verticals. Mark Begor declined to discuss specific customer contracts but highlighted broader opportunities from the OB3 bill and the focus on $160 billion in improper payments. He emphasized new OB3 requirements (e.g., 6-month redeterminations, work requirements, SNAP error rates) as catalysts for states to adopt Equifax solutions to avoid paying larger portions of benefits. John Gamble, Chief Financial Officer, added that the vast majority of SNAP revenue is directly with states.

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CEO Mark Begor reiterated that FICO's pricing in non-mortgage has been less aggressive, leading to a different catalyst for VantageScore adoption, but a price advantage still exists. Equifax is offering free VantageScores in these verticals to drive understanding. He declined to discuss specific SNAP contracts but highlighted broader opportunities from OB3, the focus on improper payments, and states' need to reduce error rates. CFO John Gamble clarified that most SNAP revenue is directly with states.

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CEO Mark Begor acknowledged the impressive detail but deferred specifics on the Maine contract, suspecting it reflects deeper service penetration. Regarding the OBBBA bill, he stated that while it may reduce the number of benefit recipients, the tailwinds from increased verification requirements are overwhelmingly positive for EWS, given the massive $5 billion TAM that Equifax is penetrating.

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CEO Mark Begor stated that the company had not performed a specific stagflation analysis, having focused on a 'typical recession' scenario. Regarding government growth, he noted the impact of the CMS/USDA funding changes was already in the guide, and they are hopeful the current administration will reverse the policy. He emphasized that state-level penetration and the new administration's focus on improper payments are key long-term drivers.

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CEO Mark Begor clarified the SSA contract is a direct federal agreement unaffected by state-level CMS changes and will benefit 2025 from a price increase. He declined to size specific partner contributions but noted that a strong backlog of new partners from 2024 provides good visibility for continued record growth in 2025.

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CEO Mark Begor described the Workday partnership as strategic and the expected record additions as "sizable," with the bulk coming online through 2025. He noted this was one of six new partnerships signed in the quarter. Regarding consumer lending, Begor and CFO John Gamble explained that growth is driven by the high value of combining income and employment data with credit files, which allows lenders to approve more consumers with lower loss rates. They also cited the direct benefit of strong overall record growth in The Work Number (TWN) database.

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Sanoke Viswanathan, CEO, emphasized the complexity of capturing AI value, highlighting FactSet's open architecture, cloud-native, and API-first design as key advantages for partnering with clients' proprietary and third-party data. Helen Shan, CFO, reported that 2025 GenAI ASV growth was exactly in the middle of the 30-50 basis points guidance. Goran Skoko, CRO, noted that 60% of AI tooling and content sales occurred in Q4, and 35% of renewals cited GenAI tooling and strategy as a contributor to their decision, including three large banking renewals.

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Sanoke Viswanathan, CEO, stressed the complexity of capturing AI value, emphasizing the critical role of implementation, data quality, and reliable partnerships. He highlighted FactSet's open architecture as a significant advantage. Helen Shan, CFO, confirmed that fiscal 2025 GenAI product ASV growth was precisely in the middle of the 30-50 basis points guidance range. Goran Skoko, Chief Revenue Officer, added that 60% of AI tooling and content sales occurred in Q4, and FactSet's GenAI strategy was a pivotal factor in 35% of renewals and several large banking renewals.

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Sanoke Viswanathan, CEO & Director, FactSet, emphasized the complexity of capturing AI value in regulated environments, highlighting FactSet's open architecture and infrastructure as key advantages for client and third-party data integration. Helen Shan, CFO, FactSet, confirmed that fiscal 2025 GenAI ASV growth was exactly in the middle of the 30-50 basis points guidance range. Goran Skoko, EVP & Chief Revenue Officer, FactSet, noted that 60% of Q4's AI tooling and content sales came in the quarter, and GenAI strategy was pivotal in 35% of renewals and new deals, including three large banking renewals.

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CEO Phil Snow and Chief Revenue Officer Goran Skoko responded, stating they are pleased with the momentum and on track to meet their monetization goals for the year. Snow highlighted that Pitch Creator has the most traction among banking clients, while the conversational API is seeing broad interest. Skoko added that clients are reacting well to the pricing structure, recognizing the productivity gains, with nearly 2,000 active trials for Pitch Creator.

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CEO Frederick Snow highlighted recent momentum, including a deal with an outsourced CIO and a partnership with JPMorgan. Chief Revenue Officer Goran Skoko added that the service leverages highly skilled talent to augment client teams, which is effective in a cost-sensitive environment. Chief Financial Officer Helen Shan noted they are tracking high attach rates for the service with existing clients.

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CEO Frederick Snow highlighted recent momentum, including a significant deal with an outsourced CIO and a partnership with JPMorgan. Chief Revenue Officer Goran Skoko added that FactSet's offering is unique, focusing on augmenting client capabilities in performance and risk reporting, making direct competition difficult to define. CFO Helen Shan noted they are tracking high attach rates for these services.

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CEO Lee Shavel acknowledged that Verisk faces a large competitor in the auto space where it has less scale, leading to occasional competitive pressures. He stated that Verisk continues to compete by finding ways to integrate its other data assets, such as claims data, into its auto underwriting solutions.

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CFO Elizabeth Mann acknowledged the formulaic input from strong 2023 premium growth but emphasized that the primary driver of pricing outcomes is the client's perception of the value Verisk provides. She did not quantify the specific pricing contribution for 2024, instead pointing to the success of value-based conversations.

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President and CEO Chris Cartwright stated that TransUnion supports the FHFA's policy clarifications, as they promote modernizing scores with more predictive trended data and encourage healthy competition. He noted that while the operational rollout will take time, TransUnion and VantageScore are ready to assist the GSEs. The core strategy relies on the principle that competition drives innovation and better outcomes for consumers and lenders across all verticals, not just mortgage.

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President and CEO Chris Cartwright affirmed TransUnion's support for the FHFA's policy clarification, viewing it as beneficial for the mortgage ecosystem. He advocated for modernizing scoring by adopting trended credit data, which VantageScore uses, and welcomed the increased competition to drive innovation and better pricing. He noted that while operational details need to be resolved, TransUnion is ready to assist the GSEs in the transition.

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CEO Christopher Cartwright pointed to several factors supporting demand. He noted that lenders have replenished capital and are eager to lend, while consumer delinquencies are normalizing. He believes consumers are adjusting to current interest rates and highlighted a specific demand driver: the need for debt consolidation loans for consumers who increased card balances during the COVID era, which is fueling fintech lending.

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President and CEO Christopher Cartwright attributed over a decade of outsized growth in Canada to consistent innovation, including importing U.S. products and being a first-mover with trended data. While he expects the high-teens growth rate to decelerate as the company laps large gains in a mature market, he expressed confidence that the team will continue to innovate and perform well.

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Chairman & CEO Henry Fernandez described active ETFs as a significant growth opportunity with high client engagement. He explained that MSCI's economic model is flexible, ranging from selling data and benchmarks for unconstrained strategies to licensing indices and earning AUM-based fees for more structured, enhanced indexation products, similar to the passive model.

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Chairman and CEO Henry Fernandez argued that significant turmoil only began in the latter part of Q1. He explained that future growth will be shaped by three forces: two positives (increased client need for data/analytics in turmoil and asset reallocation to non-U.S. markets) weighed against one negative (potential client budget constraints). The net effect on sales is yet to be determined.

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CFO Andrew Wiechmann distinguished between the two parts of the segment. For PCS, he noted a slight slowdown but steady growth at 15%, attributing softness to normal volatility. For Real Assets, he confirmed continued pressure from a large client down-sale and weakness among brokers. He did not provide a specific timeline for achieving the 20% PCS growth target but noted early positive signs in the market.

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President and COO Baer Pettit outlined a strategy focused on collecting deeper and broader data in private markets, enhanced by AI, to serve both LP and GP clients. He mentioned that the company is actively redeveloping the acquired benchmarks to create new use cases beyond real estate. He expressed excitement about the opportunity and noted the new leadership will help accelerate this strategy.

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