IT: 10-K Risk Factor Changes

We are subject to risks from operating globally. We have clients in approximately 90 countries and territories and a substantial amount of our revenue is earned outside of the United States. Our operating results are subject to all of the risks typically inherent in international business activities, including general political and economic conditions in each country, challenges in staffing and managing foreign operations, changes in regulatory requirements, compliance with numerous and complex foreign laws and regulations, currency restrictions and fluctuations, the difficulty of enforcing client agreements, collecting accounts receivable and protecting intellectual property rights including against economic espionage in international jurisdictions. Further, we rely on local distributors or sales agents in some international locations. If any of these arrangements are terminated by our agent or us, we may not be able to replace the arrangement on beneficial terms or on a timely basis, or clients of the local distributor or sales agent may not want to continue to do business with us or our new agent.

Additionally, tariffs, trade barriers and restrictions, and other acts by governments to protect domestic markets or to retaliate against the trade tariffs and restrictions of other nations could negatively affect our business operations. In addition, the withdrawal of nations from existing common markets or trading blocs, such as the exit of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (the EU), commonly referred to as Brexit, could be disruptive and negatively impact the business of our clients. We continue to monitor Brexit and its potential impacts on our results of operations and financial condition. Depending on the application of the terms of the trade and cooperation agreement, there could be near or long-term negative impacts on our clients who have significant operations in the UK. This may cause clients in the UK to forgo new purchases, and decrease renewals of subscription-based services and to request to cancel or renegotiate current subscription-based services. The impact of any of these effects of Brexit, among others, could materially harm our business and financial results.

Our operating results could be negatively impacted by global economic conditions. Our business is impacted by general economic conditions and trends in the United States and abroad, including without limitation inflation, slowing growth, rising interest rates and recession. In its recent report, Global Economics Prospects, January 2023, the World Bank reported that global growth is projected to decelerate sharply in 2023, to its third weakest pace in nearly three decades, overshadowed only by the 2009 and 2020 global recessions. According to the World Bank, this reflects policy tightening aimed at containing very high inflation, worsening financial conditions, and continued disruptions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The report also notes that further negative shocks – such as higher inflation, even tighter policy, financial stress, deeper weakness in major economies, or rising geopolitical tensions – could push the global economy into recession. The World Bank predicts that global growth is expected to decelerate sharply to 1.7% in 2023 and increase modestly to 2.7% in 2024. A downturn in growth could negatively and materially affect future demand for our products and services in general, in certain geographic regions, in particular countries, or industry sectors, or could reduce demand for our in-person conferences. In addition, U.S. federal, state and local government spending limits may reduce demand for our products and services from those governmental agencies as well as organizations that receive funding from those agencies and could negatively affect macroeconomic conditions in the United States, which could further reduce demand for our products and services. Such difficulties could negatively impact our ability to maintain or improve the various business measurements we utilize (which are defined in this Annual Report), such as contract value and consulting backlog growth, client retention, wallet retention, consulting utilization rates, and the number of attendees and exhibitors at our conferences and other meetings. Failure to achieve acceptable levels of these indicators or improve them will negatively impact our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows.

We face significant competition and our failure to compete successfully could materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows. The markets for our products and services are characterized by intense competition and we face direct competition from a significant number of independent providers of information products and services, including information available on the internet free of charge. We also compete indirectly against consulting firms and other information providers, including electronic and print media companies, some of which have greater financial, information gathering and marketing resources than we do. These indirect competitors could also choose to compete directly with us in the future. In addition, low barriers to entry exist in the markets in which we do business. As a result, new competitors may emerge, and existing competitors may start to provide additional or complementary services. Additionally, technological advances may provide increased competition from a variety of sources.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully compete against current and future competitors and our failure to do so will result in loss of market share, diminished value in our products and services, reduced pricing and increased marketing expenditures. Furthermore, we will not be successful if we cannot compete effectively on quality of research and analysis, timely delivery of information, customer service, the ability to offer products to meet changing market needs for information and analysis, or price.

The COVID-19 pandemic had a material adverse impact on our operations and financial performance, specifically our Conferences segment, and may continue to have an adverse impact on our operations. We face challenges from evolving factors related to the COVID-19 pandemic that are not within our control, remain uncertain and to which we may not effectively respond. For example, our operations span numerous locations around the world, and many local governments and countries may impose various restrictions on our employees, partners and customers’ physical movement to limit the spread of COVID-19. These restrictions are constantly changing, and we cannot predict how long and to what extent they will continue. We also face increased operational hurdles as we make efforts to promote employee health and safety, including limiting travel and implementing a hybrid virtual-first work policy, meaning that most of our employees will have the option to work remotely at least some of the time, for the foreseeable future.

Additionally, for the continuing risks we face in our Conferences segment related to COVID-19, please refer above to the risk factor “The profitability and success of our conferences and other meetings are subject to external factors beyond our control.”

We are exposed to volatility in foreign currency exchange rates from our international operations. A significant portion of our revenues are typically derived from sales outside of the United States. Revenues earned outside the United States are typically transacted in local currencies, which may fluctuate significantly against the U.S. dollar. While we use forward exchange contracts to a limited extent to seek to mitigate foreign currency risk, our revenues and results of operations could be adversely affected by unfavorable foreign currency fluctuations.

Our business could be negatively impacted by climate change. While we seek to mitigate the business risks associated with climate change for our operations, there are inherent climate-related risks wherever business is conducted. Access to clean water and reliable energy in the communities where we conduct our business, whether for our offices, clients, vendors or other stakeholders is a priority. We have large offices in Connecticut, Florida, India, the United Kingdom, Spain and Australia, and other locations that are vulnerable to climate change effects. Changing market dynamics, global policy developments, and the increasing frequency and impact of extreme weather events on critical infrastructure in the U.S. and elsewhere have the potential to disrupt our business, the business of our vendors, and the business clients, and may cause us to experience higher attrition, losses and additional costs to maintain or resume operations.

Failure to achieve ESG commitments or meet stakeholder expectations in ESG could harm our reputation. We have committed to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 in accordance with the SBTi's Net-Zero Standard. Our ability to achieve this and other ESG goals is subject to numerous risks outside of our control. Our failure to achieve them or continue practices that meet evolving stakeholder expectations in ESG could harm our reputation, adversely affect our ability to attract and retain employees or clients and expose us to increased scrutiny from investors and regulatory authorities.