Research Analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.
Owen Lau is Executive Director and Senior Analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., specializing in equity research coverage of exchanges, information analytics, and asset management, with a focus on financial institutions and fintech companies. He regularly covers major industry players such as Intercontinental Exchange, CME Group, and Nasdaq, and was ranked #14 Top Performing Analyst in the U.S. by TipRanks in 2021, earning accolades as the #1 and #2 stock picker in various sectors by Thomson Reuters from 2014 to 2018. Lau began his equity research career at Janney Montgomery Scott before joining Oppenheimer in 2015, and has also held positions at S&P Global, Barclays, and HSBC, in addition to lecturing at Columbia University. He is a CFA charterholder, holds an M.B.A. from Columbia Business School, and is licensed in New York and New Jersey.
Owen Lau asked for more details on the multi-year agreement with Zactus, specifically regarding the pricing arrangement and FICO's flexibility to raise prices over the longer term.
CEO Will Lansing clarified that the published pricing is for 2026, and while the agreement is multi-year, FICO adjusts its prices annually, and this practice will continue.
Owen Lau asked for more color on the pricing arrangement for the multi-year agreement with Zactus, specifically whether the pricing is locked in or if FICO retains flexibility to raise prices.
CEO Will Lansing clarified that the published pricing for the Zactus agreement is for 2026. He stated that while it's a multi-year agreement to work together, FICO adjusts its prices every year, and that practice will continue.
Owen Lau from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. asked if VantageScore is gaining traction in non-mortgage markets like credit cards and auto loans, and how long it would take for a lender to switch scores.
CEO Will Lansing stated that FICO has not seen any significant market share loss to VantageScore in non-mortgage areas, attributing this to FICO's superior score and industry-standard status. He noted that the question of switching time is unanswerable as it hasn't happened.
Asked about the outlook for ACV bookings following a strong quarter and the expected trajectory of operating expenses for the rest of the year, particularly regarding the FICO World event.
The bookings pipeline is strong but will remain volatile due to the nature of large, infrequent deals. Expenses are expected to increase modestly, in line with guidance, with a notable $5-6 million cost for the FICO World event in Q3, but no other material step-ups are anticipated.
Owen Lau asked about the potential negative impact of AI on the sector, specifically how MSCI gains confidence that its AI investments will maintain or accelerate revenue growth while simultaneously driving margin expansion, given concerns about AI investment compressing margins.
Henry Fernandez, Chairman and CEO, MSCI, asserted that AI will dramatically increase margins by enabling more new products, faster scaling, and significant cost reductions through AI agents for systematic tasks. He highlighted that MSCI benefits from applying AI to its proprietary data and models without incurring the high costs of building large language models or massive data centers. He stated that the required investments are not significant and will not reduce margins, but rather free up resources for further business investment to achieve higher growth.
Owen Lau asked about MSCI's confidence in AI investments to maintain or accelerate revenue growth while driving margin expansion, addressing concerns about AI compressing margins.
Henry Fernandez (Chairman and CEO, MSCI) asserted that AI will dramatically increase margins by enabling more new products, faster scaling, and significant cost reduction through AI agents for systematic tasks. He clarified that MSCI doesn't incur large language model development or massive data center costs, focusing on applying AI to its data and models. He aims to use AI-driven margin expansion to reinvest in the business for faster growth, not to reduce current margins.
Owen Lau requested more details on the sales environment in the second quarter and the outlook, noting that sales were down year-over-year against a tough comparison from a one-off item in Q2 2024.
CFO Andrew Wiechmann confirmed that Q2 2024 included a meaningful contribution from the Moody's ESG partnership, creating a difficult comparison. He characterized the current sales environment as fairly consistent with recent quarters, despite market volatility in Q2. He added that sustained favorable market dynamics could be constructive for future sales.
Owen Lau asked for clarification on the strong performance in Analytics despite tight budgets, questioning if it was driven by implementation revenue, and also asked about a discrepancy in the run rate calculation.
CFO Andrew Wiechmann attributed the strong Analytics demand to risk models, fixed income offerings, and efficiency tools. He confirmed that revenue growth was elevated due to a large implementation coming online earlier than expected, and that revenue growth should normalize closer to run rate growth going forward. He explained the run rate calculation difference was due to technical items like foreign exchange movements.
Owen Lau asked for an updated view on Nasdaq's tokenization filing with the SEC, specifically regarding the incremental opportunity of using blockchain in an already liquid market and the demand for tokenized equities from U.S. and non-U.S. investors.
Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO, reiterated that U.S. equities markets are highly liquid and efficient, and Nasdaq aims to enhance, not disrupt, these benefits. The incremental opportunity lies in offering investors the choice to hold shares in tokenized or traditional form, providing greater flexibility. She noted a general trend towards tokenization for streamlined payments and post-trade efficiency. The first stage involves introducing tokenization at the core equity security level, with Nasdaq partnering with DTCC to create more post-trade efficiency.
Owen Lau asked for an updated view on Nasdaq's SEC filing to trade tokenized equities, specifically on the incremental opportunity of using blockchain in a liquid market and the demand from U.S. and non-U.S. investors.
Adena Friedman, Chair and CEO of Nasdaq, reiterated the goal of offering investors choice to hold shares in tokenized or traditional form, without disrupting the highly efficient U.S. equities markets. She emphasized tokenization as a technology for streamlined payments and post-trade efficiency, with the first stage focusing on core equity tokenization, not derivatives, and working with infrastructure providers like DTCC.
Owen Lau of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. asked about tokenization, questioning if it supports or disintermediates Nasdaq Private Market and inquiring about the competitive dynamics for 24/7 trading of public equities.
Chair & CEO Adena Friedman positioned tokenization as a technology, not a threat, explaining it often serves the same purpose as SPVs, which Nasdaq Private Market already facilitates with its corporate clients. Regarding public markets, she emphasized Nasdaq's focus on improving the public company experience and engaging with the SEC to support a vibrant IPO market.
Owen Lau asked for an update on the IPO environment and whether recent trade tensions were causing foreign companies to prefer listing on non-U.S. exchanges.
CEO Adena Friedman reported that while Q1 IPOs doubled year-over-year, larger deals are currently on hold as companies wait for market volatility to subside. She stated that conversations with global companies have not changed, as they continue to recognize the long-term value of accessing deep U.S. capital markets and retail investors. Friedman also highlighted strong listing demand in Nasdaq's Nordic markets, emphasizing that different exchanges offer unique value propositions.
Owen Lau asked why Financial Crime Management Technology's 20% growth was below the mid-20% medium-term outlook and inquired about the near-term prospects for the Verafin business.
CEO Adena Friedman explained the variance was primarily due to the timing of professional services fees as Nasdaq signs larger Tier 1 and Tier 2 clients, which have more complex implementations. She reaffirmed confidence in the mid-20% medium-term revenue outlook, citing a strong customer pipeline and continued momentum.
Owen Lau of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. asked about the adoption of USDC in the remittance market, how Circle competes with firms creating their own stablecoins, and for details on the partnership with the OKX exchange.
Chairman, CEO & Co-Founder Jeremy Allaire highlighted growing remittance demand, citing partnerships with Remitly and MoneyGram, and noted CPN's primary use case is remittances. He stressed Circle's competitive advantage is its deep, global liquidity network. Regarding OKX, he described the partnership as an expansion where OKX will adopt Circle's wallet technology and integrate with Circle Mint to enhance liquidity and promote USDC to its large user base.
Owen Lau from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. inquired about the SEC's 'Project Crypto' and the potential for a single license for a super app in the U.S., asking why the BaseApp is well-positioned to capitalize on this development.
Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal described the SEC's announcement as a reason for great optimism. He stated that a single license would significantly limit compliance and operational costs. Grewal emphasized that the SEC's commitment to formal rulemaking signals a major positive shift in the U.S. regulatory environment for crypto.
Owen Lau from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. inquired about the SEC's newly announced 'Project Crypto,' asking for details on the potential for a single super-app license in the U.S. and why Coinbase believes its Base App is positioned to succeed under such a framework.
Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal described the SEC announcement as 'remarkable,' signaling a significantly improved regulatory environment. He stated that a single license would reduce compliance and operational costs associated with managing multiple licenses. Grewal also highlighted that this move indicates a commitment from the SEC to implement the President's Working Group recommendations through formal rulemaking, creating optimism for the industry.
Owen Lau of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. asked about Coinbase's ability to gain market share against lower-cost competitors and spot ETFs, and what differentiates the platform.
CEO Brian Armstrong attributed market share gains to the trust customers place in the Coinbase brand and emphasized the company's focus on growing the entire crypto ecosystem, not just competing for existing share. CFO Alesia Haas added that ongoing investments in asset additions, user experience, platform stability, and effective marketing are key to their long-term strategy for durable share growth.
Owen Lau asked about the Mobility division's revenue guidance, which implies a slight slowdown in the second half, and questioned if a pull-forward of auto activity was the primary reason.
President & CEO Martina Cheung acknowledged some potential pull-forward ahead of tariffs but emphasized that the strong performance was primarily driven by the core CARFAX business and its continued customer adoption. For the second half, she pointed to hesitancy in the manufacturing segment and a very tough year-over-year comparison as the main factors contributing to the moderated growth outlook.
Owen Lau asked about the Mobility division's performance, questioning if the strong first half was driven by a pull-forward of activity and why guidance implies slower growth in the second half.
President & CEO Martina Cheung clarified that the strength was broad-based, particularly in the dealer and financials businesses like CARFAX, and not primarily due to pull-forward. She explained that the outlook for slower growth in the second half is influenced by very tough year-over-year comparisons and some continued hesitancy in the manufacturing segment related to tariff uncertainty.
Owen Lau asked for more detail on the company's sustainability products, including the outlook and plans for new launches.
Incoming President and CEO Martina Cheung announced a strategic change: the Sustainable1 business will be combined with the energy transition assets within the Commodity Insights division. She described this as an exciting move that will leverage unique measurement capabilities and allow the company to bring high-value, forward-looking transition products to a broader client base, including financial services.
Owen Lau from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. asked for more details on conversations with university clients regarding budget cuts and the outlook for subscription renewals for the remainder of 2025 and into 2026, given that 75% of 2025 subscriptions are already renewed.
CEO Matti Shem Tov stated that the Academia & Government (A&G) segment is performing well despite budget concerns, citing a 96% renewal rate and 93% of segment revenue now being recurring. He stressed that products like Web of Science are mission-critical for universities and that the strategic shift from one-time sales to subscription models is being well-received, bolstering confidence in future renewals.
Owen Lau from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. asked for more details on conversations with university clients about budget cuts and the renewal outlook for the rest of 2025 and into 2026.
CEO Matti Shem Tov reported that the Academia & Government (A&G) segment is performing well, with 93% of revenue now recurring and a 96% renewal rate. He noted that mission-critical products like Web of Science and the strategic shift from transactional to subscription models have been well-received, giving the company confidence in future renewals despite budget pressures.
Owen Lau asked about the strategic trade-off of the VCP, where near-term revenue and free cash flow are reduced in 2025 to achieve a higher recurring revenue mix, and whether this positions the company for growth in 2026 and beyond.
CEO Matti Shem Tov stated that the onetime transactional businesses were a significant drain on resources with low margins. He emphasized that the VCP is not just about disposal but about transitioning these product lines to subscription-based models. Management has a high degree of conviction that this shift will lead to more predictable, higher-margin growth, increasing the recurring revenue mix from 80% to 87%.
Owen Lau asked for characterization of the sales cycle in segments beyond Private Banking, the drivers of strong sales in the Investment Managers (IMS) segment, and SEI's long-term plans for capital return and leverage following the Stratos deal.
CEO Ryan Hicke and EVP Phil McCabe attributed strong IMS sales to macro trends like the growing appetite for outsourcing among large, first-time alternative asset managers. EVP Michael Lane added that asset management flows have significantly improved year-over-year. On capital, EVP & CFO, COO Sean Denham confirmed SEI will fund Stratos's future M&A with 'tens of millions' and plans to use free cash flow for buybacks and dividends while reducing overall cash levels.
Owen Lau asked about the drivers behind the strength in the Research and Insights segment, particularly the role of the Research Assistant product, and questioned if AI adoption is accelerating across the client base.
CFO Noémie Heuland confirmed that Research Assistant was a key driver for the segment's growth, leading to higher client NPS and relationship expansion. CEO Robert Fauber added that AI adoption patterns vary by client tier: large banks integrate Moody's tools into their own platforms, while smaller banks consume AI through embedded features in solutions like CreditLens, which provides an opportunity to price for added value at renewal.
Owen Lau of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. asked about the macroeconomic outlook for the second half of 2025 and the key drivers that could sustain CME's strong trading volumes.
Terrence Duffy, Chairman & CEO, responded that while volumes are difficult to predict, significant global risks persist. He cited record government debt in the U.S. and Europe, ongoing geopolitical unrest in Ukraine and the Middle East, and trade policy uncertainties as fundamental factors that create a continued need for risk management, which underpins demand for CME's products.
Owen Lau of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. asked about the macroeconomic outlook for the second half of 2025 and the key drivers that could sustain CME's strong trading volumes and hedging activity.
Chairman & CEO Terrence Duffy responded that while predicting volumes is difficult, significant global risks persist that necessitate risk management. He cited record government debt in the U.S. and Europe, ongoing geopolitical unrest in Ukraine and the Middle East, and tariff policies as fundamental drivers. Duffy concluded that these factors create a continued need for clients to manage and mitigate risk, though he refrained from forecasting specific volume levels.
Owen Lau inquired about the long-term strategic goal for VantageScore and asked for more details on the drivers and sustainability of the strong 19% growth in the consumer lending business.
CEO Mark Begor explained that VantageScore has been a long-standing offering and Equifax will continue to promote it, but acknowledged that displacing the deeply embedded FICO score is a long-term effort. He and CFO John Gamble attributed the consumer lending strength to increased penetration, new products, and strong record growth in The Work Number, particularly for personal loans.
Owen Lau from Oppenheimer asked for more color on the strong double-digit growth in the insurance and commercial verticals. He also requested an update on the expected top-line revenue contribution from the cloud migration in 2025 and 2026.
CEO Mark Begor and CFO John Gamble attributed the commercial vertical's strength to a return to form after prior execution issues, driven by unique data assets like PayNet. The insurance growth was due to higher online transaction volumes. Regarding cloud benefits, Begor pointed to the rising Vitality Index as a direct result of cloud investments. He expects this innovation, along with market share gains, to help USIS deliver solidly within its 6-8% long-term growth framework.
Owen Lau of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. questioned the implied Q4 adjusted operating margin decline needed to meet guidance, asking about specific Q4 expenses.
Chief Financial Officer Helen Shan confirmed the investment pace has increased as planned for the second half of the year. She specified that higher Q4 spending is allocated to GenAI expertise, integration costs for recent acquisitions, and increased technology expenses, reaffirming confidence in the full-year margin guidance.
Owen Lau asked about a 'landmark 7-figure win' away from an incumbent, inquiring about the key reasons for the win and whether more such wins are expected.
CEO Frederick Snow attributed the win with an outsourced CIO to the quality of FactSet's technology, analytics, multi-asset class capabilities, and partnership approach. Chief Financial Officer Helen Shan added that the inclusion of managed services and the flexibility of FactSet's open platform were also key differentiators that helped secure the deal.
Owen Lau from Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. inquired about the key reasons behind the landmark 7-figure win from an incumbent, asking whether it was driven by pricing or product, and if similar wins are anticipated.
CEO Frederick Snow attributed the win to the quality of FactSet's technology, analytics solutions, multi-asset class capabilities, and partnership approach. CFO Helen Shan added that the ability to provide managed services and the flexibility of their open platform were also critical factors in securing the deal with the outsourced CIO.
Performance on expert-authored financial analysis tasks