CAMBRIDGE Jul 31, 2020 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of Blueprint Medicines Corp earnings conference call or presentation Thursday, July 30, 2020 at 12:30:00pm GMT

* Anthony L. Boral

* Jeffrey W. Albers

* Andrea R. Tan

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Blueprint Medicines Second Quarter 2020 Financial and Operating Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to hand the conference over to your speaker today, Kristin Hodous of Blueprint Medicines. Thank you. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Blueprint Medicines' Second Quarter 2020 Financial and Operating Results Conference Call. This morning, we issued a press release, which outlines the topics we plan to discuss today. You can access the press release as well as the slides that we'll be reviewing today by going to the Investors section of our website at http://www.blueprintmedicines.com.

Today, on our call, Jeff Albers, our Chief Executive Officer, will discuss Blueprint Medicines' second quarter 2020 business highlights. Christy Rossi, our Chief Commercial Officer, will provide a commercial update. And Mike Landsittel, our Chief Financial Officer, will review our financial results. Dr. Andy Boral, our Chief Medical Officer, is also on the call and will be available for Q&A.

Before we get started, I would like to remind everyone that statements we make on this conference call will include forward-looking statements. Actual events or results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements as a result of various risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those set forth in the Risk Factors section of our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and any other filings that we may make with the SEC.

In addition, any forward-looking statements made on this call represent our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date. We specifically disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Now here's our CEO, Jeff Albers.

Jeffrey W. Albers, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - CEO, President & Director [3]

Thanks, Kristin, and good morning, everyone. I'm happy to provide an update on what has been a productive quarter for Blueprint Medicines. At the beginning of the year, we talked about how 2020 was shaping up to be transformational for Blueprint Medicines as we evolved into a fully integrated precision medicine company, and it certainly has been given the achievements we've made against our goals over the first half of the year.

Let me highlight how this progress sets us up going into the second half of the year across our 3 areas of strategic focus. First, establishing our commercial foundation with AYVAKIT, which we will now harness for pralsetinib; second, prioritizing systemic mastocytosis given the significant medical need; and third, leveraging our discovery platform to advance future pipeline opportunities.

Let's start off with a strong U.S. AYVAKIT launch for the treatment of patients with PDGFR-alpha exon 18 mutant GIST. As Christy will discuss in a moment, we gained critical commercial experience and have built a nimble and highly effective team along with infrastructure to deliver our products to patients.

Our early experience with AYVAKIT gives us a strong foundation for our planned launch of pralsetinib in the coming months, which will now be amplified as we integrate the capabilities of our new partners at Genentech and Roche.

We're also capitalizing on our AYVAKIT experience outside of the U.S. Just a few days ago, we received a positive CHMP opinion for avapritinib for the treatment of patients with PDGFR-alpha D84V mutant GIST. This achievement sets up a final decision on our marketing authorization application by the end of this quarter.

Assuming avapritinib is approved, we expect to initiate our first commercial launch in Germany with additional European countries to follow. Additionally, as in the U.S., we expect this initial launch will lay the foundation for future systemic mastocytosis commercial efforts as well.

Building from commercial readiness, our second strategic area of focus is the great progress within our systemic mastocytosis program. We believe SM represents the single largest opportunity across our clinical stage portfolio. The significant medical need, combined with our differentiated approach of potently targeting the SM disease driver, opened an opportunity to advance a new treatment paradigm. Earlier this year, we reported very encouraging data from part 1 of our PIONEER trial of avapritinib in patients with indolent systemic mastocytosis.

Based on these data, we selected 25 milligrams once per day as the recommended dose and finalized the design of the registration-enabling part 2 with input from regulatory authorities. And today, we're pleased to announce that we've initiated part 2 of this trial.

Later this quarter, we plan to report top line data from the EXPLORER and PATHFINDER trials of avapritinib in patients with advanced systemic mastocytosis.

The combined data set, which will support the submission of a supplemental new drug application to the FDA in the fourth quarter, will include response assessments for approximately 50 patients starting at the recommended 200-milligram once-daily dose. Additional data supporting the submission will include response kinetics, including the time to response and the duration of response; objective measure readouts, such as serum tryptase and mast cell burden; and updated safety results across the broader trial populations.

Finally, our robust discovery platform continues to provide broad opportunities for future growth. Earlier this year, we nominated a first-in-class development candidate, BLU-945, for triple mutant EGFR positive non-small cell lung cancer. This program combines potent inhibition of treatment-resistant triple mutant EGFR with selectivity over the wild-type kinase, highlighting the ability of our scientific platform to continue to address challenging target product profiles.

At the virtual ESMO Congress in September, we plan to present new preclinical data for BLU-945 as well as share an update on our plans to bring this therapy into the clinic early next year.

Importantly, the triple mutant EGFR program is just the first of up to 3 new development candidates we hope to nominate by the end of the year.

Our progress across these areas lays the foundation for significant growth for Blueprint Medicines as we continue on our path to become the world's leading precision medicine company. We look forward to updating you on these critical data and regulatory milestones over the coming months and into the second half or throughout the second half of the year.

And with that, I'll now turn the call over to Christy to provide an update on our commercial efforts. Christy?

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Christina Rossi, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - Chief Commercial Officer [4]

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Great. Thanks, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. I'm happy to share an update on our commercial progress, including our first full quarter of AYVAKIT sales in PDGFR-alpha exon 18 mutant GIST and our ongoing preparation for the planned launch of pralsetinib.

Through the first half of 2020, we have been focused on establishing the foundation that will support multiple anticipated global launches in the coming years. With potential near-term approvals of pralsetinib in the U.S. and avapritinib in Europe, we are truly excited to be on the precipice of delivering a portfolio of precision therapies that address significant patient needs. Of course, the successful launch of AYVAKIT has been the essential first step on our journey towards realizing this goal.

In the second quarter, we generated $5.7 million in net sales or $9.1 million since launch driven by strong execution against our launch strategies. We quickly established Blueprint with key oncology and hematology centers of excellence and other stakeholders that are critical not just for our initial launch for GIST, but for pralsetinib and systemic mastocytosis. We achieved broad access for AYVAKIT rapidly, and we continue to see strong patient access in line with or better than our label. By focusing on clinical education and individualized patient support, we have ensured that prescribed patients can start on treatment quickly and also remain on treatment as long as it is clinically appropriate. And I've been particularly pleased to see that refill rates have been high, suggesting that our real-world duration may exceed those seen in our clinical studies.

Finally, last quarter, I noted that I was encouraged to see strong breadth of prescribing upon launch. This trend has continued in Q2, fueled by the efforts of our seasoned field team, and we continue to add new prescribers with approximately half now coming from the community setting.

I've noted before the significant overlap between GIST and lung prescribers in the community, and this has enabled us to advance our profiling and disease awareness efforts as we prepare for the next chapter in our commercial evolution, our anticipated launch of pralsetinib.

As I've shared before, we plan to deliver a best-in-class RET inhibitor to patients, focusing on our differentiated clinical profile, including deep and durable responses, a predictable and manageable safety profile and once-daily dosing. We will be launching with a patient- and health care provider-centered approach that recognizes the importance of community oncology centers and a highly experienced team for whom this is the top priority.

I was confident in our ability to launch before we entered into our transformative partnership with Genentech. And as we started to engage with our colleagues there to implement this collaboration, I could not be more excited about the power we will bring across our 2 organizations. While Blueprint will be driving launch efforts, we are already working to integrate with Genentech and identify near-term opportunities for them to amplify and extend our efforts. For example, by leveraging their substantial diagnostic and data capabilities, in addition to the experience of their team.

As we prepare for the launch of our second medicine in a single year. We are well positioned to maximize the opportunity for pralsetinib. With a differentiated product profile, a focused and nimble team that is amplified by a strong partner and a foundational infrastructure from our experience with AYVAKIT, we are thrilled with our commercial preparation and execution thus far. We are well on our way to building a best-in-class commercial organization to effectively deliver multiple precision therapies to patients.

I'd now like to turn it over to Mike to discuss financial updates.

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Michael Landsittel, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - CFO & Treasurer [5]

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Thanks, Christy. Earlier this morning, we reported detailed second quarter 2020 financial results in our press release. For today's call, I'll touch on a few financial highlights from the quarter. As Christy mentioned, we were pleased to record $5.7 million of AYVAKIT net product sales in the second quarter. Cost of sales remain low as we continue to work off inventory of AYVAKIT that we expensed pre-approval.

Our total operating expenses increased slightly compared to the prior quarter driven in part by an increase in stock-based compensation expense.

Looking forward, in light of our global collaboration with Roche, we expect to see quarter-over-quarter expense growth stabilize for the second half of 2020 as savings through the cost and profit sharing arrangement with pralsetinib offset planned increases in R&D investments in systematic mastocytosis and our discovery portfolio. We do anticipate continued increases in noncash stock-based compensation expense for the foreseeable future.

With over $1.4 billion in cash after including the upfront payments from our Roche collaboration, we are in the strongest financial position that we have ever been as a company. Excluding the upfront payment from Roche, we anticipate the potential for additional revenues of up to $80 million in the second half of 2020 from a combination of milestones from our multiple collaborations and product sales.

We also received an additional $20 million in cash in July from our collaboration with Clementia for BLU-782 that was previously recognized as revenue in Q4 2019. Between our collaborations and future anticipated product revenues, we now have a clear pathway to financial independence and enhanced flexibility to invest more in multiple high-value opportunities across our portfolio.

We are in a unique position for a company of our size and age and are looking forward to sharing further updates with you as we continue to make progress across our portfolio.

With that, I would now like to turn the call over to our operator for questions. Operator?

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Questions and Answers

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Operator [1]

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(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from the line of Salveen Richter with Goldman Sachs.

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Andrea R. Tan, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division - Research Analyst [2]

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This is Andrea on for Salveen. My first one is maybe for Jeff. Can you just remind us the expectations on timing for patient screening enrollment for part 2 of the PIONEER study and when we might see data? And then I have a follow-up question.

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Jeffrey W. Albers, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - CEO, President & Director [3]

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Sure. So this is Jeff. On PIONEER, we talked about this at the last quarterly call that we've now initiated the study and continue to see a lot of enthusiasm from both sites that were involved in part 1 as well as some new sites coming on that are going through their screening process. We have not guided to timing of readout. As a reminder, we plan to enroll 200 patients. But we want to see how the site initiation and impact of COVID plays out not just in the next few weeks, but also over the coming months. So to have a better handle on the consistency with which sites are staying open, we're going to hold off on providing that guidance.

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Andrea R. Tan, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., Research Division - Research Analyst [4]

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Got it. And then maybe just a second question for Christy. How should we think about the cadence of hiring for the AYVAKIT launch both in the U.S. and then expected in the EU. And then can you speak to the progress of how you guys have been incorporating the Roche team in preparation for pralsetinib? Just maybe some actions that have been taking place there.

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Christina Rossi, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - Chief Commercial Officer [5]

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Sure. So the first question was around AYVAKIT in the U.S and EU. The U.S. team, as I said before, for AYVAKIT is in place, has been in place since launch and, in fact, that team is really built with a portfolio focus in mind. So that team will be driving the pralsetinib launch and really all along our primary priority with that team has been very much focused on preparing for and launching pralsetinib. So we're going to see that team's primary focus really shift. Currently, it's disease education and profiling. And then upon launch, we'll be focused on driving promotion for pralsetinib.

For Europe, we have a small, focused, nimble team in place in the countries that we anticipate near-term launches. The focus of that team will be on driving the initial AYVAKIT launch. And because that market is very focused at a number of treatment centers with whom we already have relationships, we believe that we can target that market effectively with a small and nimble team. And then that team will have the foundational infrastructure that will prepare for an eventual SM approval in Europe.

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Jeffrey W. Albers, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - CEO, President & Director [6]

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And Christy, the second part was integration with Roche?

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Christina Rossi, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - Chief Commercial Officer [7]

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Sorry. Yes. So the Roche team, as I said, has been very involved in these initial weeks. We'll announce the collaboration due to the proximity of what we anticipate to be an imminent approval for pralsetinib. Certainly, Blueprint will be driving many of the launch efforts, but we've already identified ways for Genentech in the United States to come in and really amplify our efforts, particularly around patient identification, leveraging data, helping to drive testing as an example; and then clearly, just leveraging the power of their portfolio of targeted therapies into which pralsetinib fits really nicely. So we're still working through specifics on some of the details on roles and responsibilities but have identified a number of ways where they think they can come in and really help us out of the gate.

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Operator [8]

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Our next question comes from the line of Peter Lawson with Barclays.

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Peter Richard Lawson, Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division - Research Analyst [9]

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Just on the RET space. Just point out what you're hearing from physicians regarding the better CR rates and like of QT prolongation versus [what codes] molecule. And I know we're kind of hearing mixed messages. So great to understand what you're hearing.

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Jeffrey W. Albers, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - CEO, President & Director [10]

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Sure. This is Jeff. Maybe I'll start, and then Andy and/or Christy can weigh in. We've been very encouraged by the data that we've put out most recently at ASCO and the response to that. As you know, the consistency of activity we're seeing, the deep and durable responses, the notable CR rates, which for many physicians are something that they're very encouraged by and they'll want to see how does that translate into durability of response over the longer term. And then the predictable safety profile. As Andy noted in his opening comments, that particularly if you push out the community, what we hear is physicians want -- are much more comfortable with side effects that they've managed historically or consistent with other therapies. And the more unusual an adverse event, the more that could have an impact on what they're going to -- how they're going to treat. So there's obviously differences when we look at the academic sites versus the community sites. But overall, we think we have a very promising profile with pralsetinib.

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Anthony L. Boral, Blueprint Medicines Corporation - Chief Medical Officer [11]

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Jeff, maybe I'll just add that we talk to a lot of both our investigators and other kind of community docs. Now the CR rate, I think, repeatedly comes back as a distinguishing characteristic. Now a bit more on the QT. I think the hardest thing about things like QT prolongations is that it restricts the use of other medications that the patients often need just for general supportive care, antibiotics, antiemetics. And so I think just not having to worry about that is a real advantage.

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Peter Richard Lawson, Barclays Bank PLC, Research Division - Research Analyst [12]

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Great. And then just on the launch dynamics. I mean what should we look at? Is it other RET, ROS1 or ALK? And what are the best proxies here? And what are the kind of the puts and takes versus those other launches?

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More:

Edited Transcript of BPMC.OQ earnings conference call or presentation 30-Jul-20 12:30pm GMT - Yahoo Finance

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--RFG Advisory, one of the nations leading and fastest-growing RIA firms, is pleased to announce it has been named to the 2020 Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers. Now in its seventh year, the FT 300 list recognizes top independent RIA firms from across the U.S.

RFG Advisory was selected out of a pool of 12,993* RIAs based on performance in six primary areas: assets under management, asset growth, compliance record, years in existence, credentials and online accessibility. This years impressive cohort of elite RIA firms represents nearly 40 different states and Washington, D.C. and has a median AUM of $1.9 billion.

Weve spent the past several years hyper-focused on creating a best-in-class, frictionless experience for our clients and advisors, said Bobby White, Chairman and CEO of RFG Advisory. The great honor of being named as one of the top 300 RIA firms by the Financial Times, alongside the positive feedback from advisors who are actively utilizing our platforms, underscores the value of prioritizing an exceptional client experience over everything else.

This prioritization is evident through the turnkey state-of-the-art integrated platform that RFG Advisory offers, all engineered specifically for independent advisors and validated by Wealth Management.com naming RFG a Finalist for Non-Custodial Support Platform of the Year. This nomination highlighted one example of RFGs innovative approach to serving independent advisors and driving practice growth and client acquisition through StrongHer Money, an educational and prospecting program focused on women. StrongHer gives women access to a network of financial information, support and knowledge, while simultaneously serving as a marketing tool for client acquisition opportunities at scale.

This years FT 300 announcement comes amid a global pandemic that has led to uncertainty in the industry.

No one couldve predicted the state of the world in 2020, stated Shannon Spotswood, President of RFG Advisory. However, by investing millions into building a state of the art fintech platform that is fully scalable, modular, and built for the future we are positioned to continuing providing our advisors with operational efficiencies, sustained growth and stability even in this volatile market so they in turn can deliver to their clients a truly impactful and personalized experience.

The FT 300 is one in series of rankings of top advisers by the Financial Times, including the FT 401 (DC retirement plan advisers) and the FT 400 (broker-dealer advisers).

Additional details on the Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers can be found at https://www.ft.com/reports/300-top-investment-advisers.

*2019 Evolution Revolution report is an annual joint study by the Investment Adviser Association (IAA) and National Regulatory Services (NRS), https://www.investmentadviser.org/news/newsreleases/september-12-2019

FT Disclosure

The Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers is an independent listing produced annually by Ignites Research, a division of Money-Media, Inc., on behalf of the Financial Times (July 2020). The FT 300 is based on data gathered from RIA firms, regulatory disclosures, and the FTs research. The listing reflected each practices performance in six primary areas: assets under management, asset growth, compliance record, years in existence, credentials and online accessibility. Over 750 qualified firms applied for the award, 300 of which were selected (40%). This award does not evaluate the quality of services provided to clients and is not indicative of the practices future performance. Neither the RIA firms nor their employees pay a fee to The Financial Times in exchange for inclusion in the FT 300.

About RFG Advisory

RFG Advisory is an innovator in the wealth management industry. Passionately committed to serving independent financial advisors and their clients, RFG Advisory prides itself on being a service company first, a technology company second and a hybrid-RIA third. RFG Advisory delivers a turn-key integrated platform that provides Advisors all of the tools and resources they need to be the CEO of their practice, not the COO, including turn-key technology, institutional-caliber investment management, marketing, compliance, business consulting and operational support. Focused on amplifying independence, Advisors who affiliate with RFG Advisory maintain all of the equity in their business and pay a basis point fee for access to RFGs investment and technology platform. Additionally, through RFG Capital, the firm buys stakes in advisor practices to facilitate succession planning and provide loans to advisors to enable the move to full independence.

Originally posted here:

RFG Advisory Named to 2020 Financial Times 300 Top Registered Investment Advisers - Business Wire

You had your best-laid plans and then COVID-19 came along and hammered the entire economy. But youve got this if you have the right information. Join Rob Carrick and Roma Luciw on Stress Test, a podcast guiding you through one of the biggest challenges your finances will ever face.

ROB: You spent your childhood and teenage years under their roof. Should you move back in with your parents if it makes sense financially? Thats our big question today.

Welcome to Stress Test, a Globe and Mail podcast where we look at how the rules of personal finance have changed in the pandemic for Gen Z and millennials. Im Rob Carrick, personal finance columnist at the Globe and Mail.

ROMA: And I'm Roma Luciw, personal finance editor at the Globe. Well, Rob, this is the last episode of Stress Test that we'll be recording this summer. And I'm feeling a bit nostalgic.

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ROB: Me too. You know, I think when we started this, it was like, there was snow on the ground and now it's like blazing hot summer like, so much has happened. The pandemic is still out there. But in Ottawa, where I live, people are out on patios and I have to confess I had a beer and a hot dog at a really nice patio by the Rideau Falls and things are looking up.

ROMA: Well, we had wine with friends on Friday night outside on their back patio, distanced but together, and I felt like old times. We were all so happy to just spend some time together outside without the children for five minutes. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience.

In terms of the podcast, I think also for me, it's been a journey because I'm more accustomed to being the person that does the assigning and editing. I'm not accustomed to being in front of the microphone and talking about these ideas where people can hear me and I have to say, that over the course of the recordings, I've gotten more comfortable, and I really enjoyed it.

ROB: Talking about all this in a podcast is a bit like rehearsing future columns and also greatest hits from the past. It's just me sort of thinking out loud about what I've learned and making mental notes about things I want to look into further in the next few months.

ROMA: So we knew we wanted moving back home to be our last episode. Why are we talking about this today?

ROB: I think we're talking about moving back home with your parents because it ties together a lot of the themes that we've been discussing in the podcast like the gig economy, student debt, expensive housing. A lot of these trends work against people achieving quick and easy financial independence after they graduate. And it's going to send some of them back home where they can live cheaply and build up their resources to move out later on.

ROMA: So once again, we see the pandemic, emphasizing or exacerbating some of the trends that were already taking place, we'll see another pop in this. And so it makes sense to use this as a launching point for looking ahead in terms of what we'll see in the months and years ahead.

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ROB: Just as occurred after the last recession, I think the pandemic-driven economic downturn, however bad it turns out to be, is going to send a lot of people moving home and that's a good thing. I hope we can draw out in this episode that that's a smart way to handle a problem.

ROMA: Absolutely. If there's one thing I think we should do today, it's make sure that that's not a shameful thing. And we can talk that through as we proceed.

ROB: Today, we're talking about whether or not you should move back home with your parents to save money. I think now is the right time to talk about it.

ROMA: In every episode of Stress Test, we talk to real people and experts to see how the basic rules of personal finance have been stress-tested by COVID-19. Should you move back home? That's up next.

COMMERCIAL: This podcast is brought to you by CPP Investments. Take comfort knowing the Canada Pension Plan Fund will be there for you. We invest to help ensure the CPP Fund remains resilient over the long term, sustainable and secure for millions of Canadians. Learn more at CPPinvestments.com.

ROMA: To find out what it's like when COVID causes you to move back home, we're taking you to Brockville, Ontario, which is halfway between Toronto and Montreal.

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RILEY: Hi, my name is Riley Morrison.

ROMA: Riley is 23 years old. Normally I live in Toronto but currently I am living in Brockville. So I was living in Toronto with my sister. Because I work in the film industry, everything is closed down so I can't work while COVID is happening. So we thought it would be best if both Paige and I came back to live with our parents until this is a little more settled or things open up a little more. So we came back.

ROMA: We spoke to Riley in April, just a month into COVID. In Canada, there was so much uncertainty. How was the new everyday routine going for Riley and her family?

RILEY: Surprisingly well. I mean, I haven't lived with my parents for more than two weeks at a time since I was 17.

ROMA: That's when Riley went away for school. And then she built the start of a pretty good career in Toronto.

RILEY: I'm an Assistant Director for film and television. I'm the fourth assistant director which means I'm one of the first people in in the morning and it's my job to make sure that cast go through hair, makeup and wardrobe. before we're ready to shoot at the beginning of a day. I coordinate with the wardrobe department. People who don't really know my industry when I describe myself job to them, they basically say that I sound like a babysitter. And it's kind of true.

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ROMA: The TV show she works on was shut down just like everything else, Back in the spring, Riley came home to Brockville where life really slowed down. At first, it was nice to have some family time.

RILEY: My dad declared Sunday movie night. So on Sundays, we make popcorn and we choose a movie and we all sit down and watch it together.

ROMA: Riley's family built fun routines for the new COVID life together. But the early days were still pretty stressful.

RILEY: My grandmother, she drove by and like stood outside her car and we stood at the door, and we were having a talk and she was asking me about things and it was what I was like really stressed like right at the beginning, and I ended up like, totally broke down in the yard. Because I was stressed about my rent and my worry come August like I don't want to lose my apartment.

ROMA: Riley still pays for her apartment in Toronto, which is her single biggest expense, while she lives at home, rent-free.

RILEY: So that night, my mom and I, we went over my finances, and we talked about it. And I have a bit of a plan now. So I'm okay

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ROMA: With all the stress of COVID. Being able to move home was a real relief.

RILEY: Financially speaking, it's really nice because the only money I'm spending right now is to pay my rent in Toronto. But I've been worried about my rent as I feel like a lot of people in cities like Toronto are because it's expensive.

ROMA: Because Riley and her sisters still pay for their rent in Toronto, their parents don't ask them to contribute financially to the household in Brockville.

RILEY: Which, you know, we're very lucky enough to have that kind of privilege. So it's nice to be home because I don't have any other expenses except for rent, which I only have to worry about once a month. The thing I've taken away from this is like, I haven't worked in retail in like four years, but maybe starting this year, like during the winter when I don't have a show I should get a retail job. So I have a backup. So I'm not dependent on EI. So I can work a little bit longer. Like it's just unfortunate that this thing I enjoy, my work that I love, I can't do. And I -- no one can give a like straight answer for when things are going to pick up or go back and that's the thing that frustrates me the most

ROMA: Overall, how does Riley feel about living at home during COVID?

RILEY: I don't feel bad about living with my parents right now because it's not like I've made some massive mistake in my career or a relationship and I need like, I mean, obviously, I needed to come home and it's financially better. But like, I feel reassured that it's not my fault. Like, this horrible pandemic happened and I came home, but like, it's not because I failed at anything. So I'm happy to be with my family, knowing I have not failed in anything.

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ROB: Im glad Riley mentioned the word failure because its a word I do not want to hear associated with the idea of moving back home. Its a rational, smart, shrewd thing to do. If you cant afford your rent if you cant afford to be living where you are, use the help available from your family. Its a smart thing to do. And you know, I find quite often parents are quite happy to offer that level of assistance to their adult kids.

ROMA: Certainly seemed like for Riley and her sister, her parents were willing and able and happy to help. I'd like to point out that in the meantime, Riley has moved back to Toronto and is in her apartment. She hasn't been forced to take on debt. And she's in a better financial situation that she would have been had she been living in Toronto, buying her own groceries, paying for all her bills. In the meantime, she got to go home, take a breather, and she's in a better situation overall, why wouldn't you do that?

ROB: We're grateful to Riley for telling us what it's like to move home during a pandemic. But COVID is just the latest reason why you might have to move back home.

ROMA: At this point. It's worth asking ourselves, why is it a big deal that people are moving home after graduation instead of going out on their own? How did we get here?

ROB: The idea of students moving home as a social trend got some traction after the last recession in 08 09 the economy tanked hard. And a lot of millennials started moving back home. And I remember it well, because there was a certain sourness about this as if all these millennials were losers moving back home. Remember failure to launch, the boomerang generation. Its like they went out on the world and just couldnt hack it and had to move home. The ignorance level was just stunning to me, like oblivious to the disappearance of jobs to the fact that millennials were only getting part-time jobs or temporary jobs. They werent able to use all the skills they built up getting their education. And gradually we got used to it because people started to realize especially the parents of millennials, the economy is extremely challenging. The opportunities are not the same as they were for previous generations. And just as we were getting used to it, I think were going to face a big pop and this again, theres going to be more millennials and members of Gen Z, who are not going to be on a traditional career trajectory, which means graduating from school, getting a great job, getting a first apartment and living that great phase of life, when youve just got off your first job and your income is substantial and the worlds in front of you.

ROMA: Let's remember that there are cultures and where it's normal and preferable for young adults to live at home until they marry until they can afford a house. In some cultures, kids and parents live together, grandparents then help adult children raise their kids, but for many other people, there's an expectation of this progression from university or college to a career to financial independence that includes getting your own place and not popping back in and out of mom and dad's house. That wasn't the case for me. I certainly remember moving back in with my parents after university. There were chunks of time in my life where I wasn't working where my life was in flux. It just didn't make sense for me to be renting a place and it was feasible to my parents to help me. I don't know where this shame idea came from, but I think if your parents can help you, it only makes sense to do that.

One of the things I'm seeing in the circles around me is parents of kids who are in school Elementary School in high school are preparing themselves for that kind of future. So we have some friends on our street that are doing a renovation, they're setting up their basement as almost a self-contained apartment with the expectation that one of their sons is at some point going to have to move back home, and they're going to be in a position to help him. I know of other people who were in their late 20s or early 30s and wanted to save a chunk of money for a down payment. What did they do? They move back home. Rob, you know this from personal experience, and we're going to hear from Rob's family. That's next.

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ROMA: So, Rob, this is where we hear from your family. And I looked down a timeline to see what my life is gonna be like in 10 years [laughs].

Rob actually wrote the book on this topic. It's called How Not To Move Back In With Your Parents, The Young Person's Complete Guide to Financial Empowerment. We're going to hear from your family now. You want to tell us who we're hearing from?

ROB: We're gonna hear from my wife, Theresa, and our oldest son Will, he's 26. He spent four years in Toronto, going to university there, then he moved back here. While he was finding his first job. Will works in the gig economy he's currently employed, working in graphic design and art. Our family lives in Ottawa. We recorded our family conversation in early June and started by getting Will to tell us what Theresa is like to live with.

WILL:I know that my mom really loves to keep a clean house. I like my space to feel a little lived in. I've noticed that my mom, you know, she, she really likes to make a good impression on guests, you know, the place has got to be clean for that kind of thing with me, it's like, you know, whatever, I'll do some dishes. And that's good enough.

THERESA: His room was a little bit messier than ours. And I would try to stay out of it. And every once in a while, I just couldn't help myself I would just go in there and with a garbage bags and clean things out, but you cooked amazing dinners.

WILL: That made up for it [laughs]. But honestly, like, I think is there's definitely more of like a give and take. I feel less like I'm just owed anything and more like I need to contribute to the household.

ROB: I think that's a really good observation. And you know, now that you've mentioned it Will, I thought that was exactly what was happening. You know what, you did make a lot of the dinners like it was I felt like we had a chef living in the house and it was I thought that was a huge contribution like, on nights where wasn't making dinner, Theresa and I just sort of looked around and thought we better go out [laughs].

THERESA: Thats right! Will gained life skills, we lost life skills -- the ability to cook dinners.

ROB: You know, kids moving back home after university is something as a subject that I think you really are only aware of if you're a parent with kids in their 20s. And so tell them about your book club. And all the comings and goings of the kids of the members.

THERESA: Right. Every single member of my book club has had their kids come and go and many still have their children living at home now, even well into adulthood. It's just, not only is it financially difficult to have your own place and expensive. The job market is so precarious even our own kids, they're employed right now. And yet it's so hard to find permanent employment, and then layer on that, just the complexities of life and the fact that kids may struggle with physical health issues, mental health issues, changes in relationships that are going to bring kids back home again, sometimes. I've seen all that among my friends, and a little bit of that with ourselves with our own kids.

ROB: The whole point of letting your adult children move back home is to help them get a handle on their finances. When Will did that he got his own place. The key was to land a stable job.

WILL: I knew I wanted to live alone. So that kind of helped me sort of budget what kind of apartment I was looking for, something like a bachelor, you know. And then once I had the first and last month's rent, and then I think money for two or three more months after that, I think it came out, I don't know, like five $6,000 then I was able to kind of comfortably say to myself, okay, I can I can move out and I know that I'm not going to end up on the street and you know, yeah, although I know my parents wouldn't allow that.

ROB: I have taught that boy well [laughs].

Are there any downsides to moving back in with your parents?

WILL: I think there's definitely a loss of freedom. Nonetheless, when you are living with your parents, I guess you feel some sort of obligation to you know, let them know where you're going or you know, all that kind of stuff. And then I guess there's also the element of living with somebody who isn't a college student, which is, you know, two very different standards in terms of, I'd say cleanliness and I guess, home maintenance.

ROB: Also, some recreational activities may have to be moderated or adjusted for communal living [laughs]

WILL:Touch, yeah.

THERESA: Will moved out when he was just 18 and moved back after he graduated. He was really just a high schooler when he left and he was an adult when he came back. So mentally, I found for me, it was a big adjustment. Was I going to be his mom? Or was I his roommate? And if they were to move back in again, at some point, you know, we would have a whole different Will and Jamie that we had to get to know and develop a relationship with.

WILL: I think it was very interesting getting into my own place and realizing I can just go wherever I want and do whatever I want and spend my money on whatever I want. Right? And I think there's definitely a period where I had to kind of, you know, learn the hard lessons about that sort of thing and learn how to, you know, moderate financially, and otherwise. You know, I'm constantly trying to, you know, turn myself into an adult, I'd like to behave more as such.

THERESA: This is where it's great when your dad is a personal finance columnist because I've found that Rob and the boys had this ongoing conversation about how they manage their finances. And Rob sort of had this really nice way of very gently kind of easing back on getting involved with their finances. And I'm really impressed with how financially responsible both of them are.

ROB: My one rule is no credit card debt. And if you ever have it, you come and talk to me and we will kill it off right away, because we're not, there's no way, that's just an endless trap. And far from that being a concern, actually, it's impressed me that both boys really know how to save. They know they're precarious workers because they work on contracts and they have both socked away a good amount of money and that really impresses me. Will, of all the things that you've learned about money at home what sticks with you?

WILL: I think it's a really a package deal of how to moderate your spending. One of the most important things that I learned, especially with the way that you're helping me sort of organize my finances early on, is that I need to make my money last. And I need to kind of be paying a little bit more attention on how I spend that exactly and where.

ROB: You know, I think all parents want to see their kids become financially successful and independent and be able to live the lives that they want to lead. And I think moving back home can be a way to strategically make that happen.

THERESA: For sure. And I guess what I would add is that, at the same time, there are things that our kids only learned once they move out, financial lessons they can only learn by living on their own and maybe feeling a little bit of nervousness and fear about how will I pay the rent and how much money am I spending week to week so it's always a balance between offering that space and enjoying spending time with them, but at the same time letting them grow.

ROB: Yeah, no, you know, I thought having the boys back in as adults was a kick really, you know what, like we had the best discussions ever. And, you know, were there tensions, of course there were but I thought it was a bit relaxing to be the parent of 20-somethings living at home. Like I've trusted them to go and come back when they needed to. And I had no concerns where they were going and what they were doing. I trusted them. And you know, there were moments when I thought it'd be nice to have a place back to ourselves again, but then we used to think we're going to be empty nesters again. So you know what, on the whole, a positive experience.

THERESA: It's nice to get to spend time with your kids that -- it's a little bit of a gift in, you know, in the middle of their adulthood that you get to spend time with them.

ROB: Any advice for someone who's going to make the leap and move back home, Will?

WILL: I suppose I would say adjust your expectations. It's easy to go back home and think that things are going to be just the way they were except now you're an older person and you can do whatever you want. But I think it's important to know that your parents aren't going to be you know, serving your every backing call all the time, you have to be a little bit more self-sufficient. And you know, make sure that the house that you're living in is, you know, everyone's doing their part.

ROB: And the other advice? Well give the last word to Will.

WILL:

Really kind of manage your expenses in a way where you know that you're constantly building towards that, like first and last month's rent that'll let you you know, get out of there as soon as possible.

ROMA: Rob, it was so nice to hear from your family. Will totally sounds like a kid that's got it all together. Sounds like he must have learned some of those money skills from you, either through osmosis or maybe some of those conversations eventually sank in.

ROB: It's osmosis, I think. You know, you never really know what your kids are listening to what they're picking up on. So anyway, however it was I was super-happy to hear that he had picked up a lot of the basic fundamentals and everything that I see it shows me that he's on a really good track for handling money.

ROMA: Rob, you wrote the book on this topic, How Not to Move Back in With Your Parents, The Young Person's Complete Guide to Financial Empowerment. But it was published over 10 years ago in the aftermath of the global economic crisis, when we saw the first wave of adult kids moving back home, what would you say has changed today?

ROB: One of the big differences to me is that back in 08 09, 2010, the gig economy was a novelty. People thought, Oh, interesting. Companies are only hiring millennials for short periods of time. Maybe well get back to normal and we havent got back to normal. That trend is a lot more pronounced now. And I expect it to get even worse. So I think helping millennials flourish in the gig economy would be a theme that I would hammer harder this time around. And I think Id probably want to spend more time helping young people pick a course of study that will develop into a decent-paying career. And I think I would also want to talk to them more about jobs or skills about developing a career how to get your foot in the door so that you get higher-quality contracts and you have a better chance of getting a full-time job.

ROMA: How much has the housing market impacted all this?

ROB: I recall back in 08 09, millennials were very keen to get into housing and I know theyre at least as keen today. I think its a little bit more economically out of reach because the past decade has been all about giant increases in house prices. So I think we might have to work a little harder to make millennials and Gen Z comfortable with the idea of renting for longer, Ive looking at alternatives to homeownership of not rushing into this financial straitjacket, waiting to get yourself more solid in the workforce before buying a house.

ROMA: One thing that stands out to me listening to your story, and with my own, is that it seems like the shame or stigma of living at home in your 20s and into maybe your 30s is sort of dissipating. Is that something you see?

ROB: I think it is you know, I moved back home after I graduated from journalism school back in the 80s. And I felt a little bit of shame but I had a job that was promised to me, it fell through for various reasons, and I ended up going to work for that employer later but I moved back in April. It took until December for me to start working again and then I moved out again in February but I did feel a bit, I didn't feel, I wasn't really proud of having to do that. Although it worked out super well. It was like up to me it was the prototype of an effective smart, moving back home, gathering your resources and then moving right back out again. Today I hear parents talk about it so normally they I hear parents talk about the quote, revolving door on their front door with our kids are moving in, they're moving out, moving in and out multiple times. We've seen that at our house. I think it is quite normal now. And I think it's seeping into the broader population. There's much less judgement about that. And I think that is such a healthy development.

ROMA: To me, one thing that stands out that we haven't really discussed is parents helping kids who can't afford it. I'm a little less worried about that when it comes to this idea of moving back into a house they already have. But when does that become dangerous?

ROB: I think that parental support for adult children becomes financially risky when the parents are digging into their own savings to help the young people. I think that digging into an RRSP to help young people buy a house is not an intelligent use of money. Often it's helping people get into a housing market they can't really afford. And so what value is really occurred from the sacrifice the parents have made? Parents need to keep themselves on a good trajectory for retirement. And I encourage them to help their kids as much as they want, and feel able to, without self-sacrifice. Now, there may be some, you know, day to day, month to month, year to year helping with various expenses, but I'm talking about taking a big chunk of money out of their savings and giving it to an adult child to pay for a house or for something else, that should only be done where it is clearly affordable.

ROMA: And what we're talking about for the purposes of this episode is mostly adult kids moving into their childhood home, and parents helping them out by giving them free rent. There are of course, other ways that kids could contribute that we've discussed. You could help out with some bills or you can help out by helping around the house, making meals doing things like that.

ROB:Absolutely. You know, there's a lot of value to be done in that. When our boys were home, they cut the grass, they shoveled the driveway, they made dinners. They helped with other tasks, they picked up stuff for me, they took the cars to the garage. I mean, the amount of time and money they saved was phenomenal. It was like so useful. So I thought there was huge economic value in that.

ROMA: One thing we're also seeing is parents helping their adult kids by paying for things like cell phone bills, car insurance, car loan payments, what are the ins and outs around that?

ROB: I have no problem with that. You know, I say that from the point of view of knowing that a lot of millennials and Gen Z, people are making minimal salaries, they've got high rents. They don't have a lot of money to do anything other than cover all the basics. So if you can take a little of the pressure off, and it's no problem for your parental finances. Basically, you're keeping the same family cellphone plan going after your kids are graduating, you're used to making the payments. If it's no sweat, why not keep on? As soon as they're able, as their income increases, you can fix that. Same with car insurance. It's just a little extra parental help that if it's affordable, I don't see a problem doing that. As long as it's understood that as soon as their salary moves up to a decent level, you offload that cost to them, pronto.

ROMA: So what we're talking about here is progression. What you want to see is someone who starts off in a more tenuous job position, perhaps in their early 20s. How they move through that, what kinds of steps they're taking, as they move into their mid and late 20s and into their 30s.

ROB: For sure, and if parents, if you see your kids forgetting to take on the cell phone bill after that, so don't hesitate to say, you know what, I see you're making more money now, why don't you pay for your cell phone?

ROMA: Rob, how do you prevent your kids from feeling entitled, like you should be paying their cell phone bill for them? Like it's sort of an easy thing? And why not let mom and dad take care of that? How do you help to make sure that they're progressing into a fully functioning, financially successful adult?

ROB: One thing is to make them realize the cost pressures of everyday life from a young age. So if your kids are going to university and you've saved up money for them through an RESP, you're going to have them contribute to this you're going to have understand this is how much tuition cost you want to go away? Okay, here's how much a dorm room is going to cost for accommodation. What can you kick in? They need to understand the economic value of living as an adult. And you can help them do that, as they take their very first step as an adult, which is going to university giving up high school, going to university taking on this big cost of education, they should have some skin in that game.

ROMA: It's interesting you mentioned that. My son just got his first cell phone, and we are having him pay for the cost of that phone each month. He wanted a cell phone. We didn't think that he needed one yet. We came to an agreement. You want a cell phone, you pay the monthly bill. What we're talking about here, and I think what you and I are both seeing, is that we need to have a higher degree of financial literacy. And that just means talking to your kids about money and how to manage it and how to handle it.

ROB: Right.

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Should you move back in with your parents? Read the transcript for episode eight of Stress Test - The Globe and Mail

Published 31 July 2020

TheOuter House of the Court of Sessionhas granted a decree of divorce to a domiciled Scot and his spouse living in Dubai.

The pursuer,YI, a qualified medical doctor originally from Russia, raised proceedings in Scotland on the basis of irretrievable breakdown due to unreasonable behaviour on the part of the defender,AAW. The date of separation was also disputed.

The case was heard byLady Wise.

Rude sexual jokes

The couple met on an internet dating site and married in 2011. At the time of proceedings, the pursuer was 45 years old and the defender was 65 years old. They had one child together, JW, in 2012, who also had a half-brother from the defenders previous relationship.

The defender raised divorce proceedings in Inverness Sheriff Court in 2019 on the basis of non-cohabitation as husband and wife for a period in excess of two years. Those proceedings were dismissed due to the defender not living in the sheriffdom. The defender then raised divorce proceedings in Dubai, which were ongoing concurrently with the Outer House proceedings raised by the pursuer.

The pursuers complaints centred around her husbands controlling and domineering behaviour towards her, his speaking derogatorily to her and acting in a sexually inappropriate manner towards her generally. She also stated that towards the end of the marriage he began taking absences from home and she discovered condoms and email pictures of young women in his car and on an electronic device.

Specific examples given by the pursuer included the defender not letting her return to Russia with JW to see her mother, his making rude sexual jokes about her consorting with Pakistani taxi drivers, and not encouraging her to try and work as a doctor in Dubai. She also stated that he was obsessed with sex and would demand it of her daily after she fell pregnant with JW.

The pursuer also stated that she had not undertaken any remunerative employment since the date of their marriage, although she wanted to continue as a doctor if she could, and that the marriage broke down when she confronted her husband about the emails on his device and he walked out. He moved to new accommodation on 5 September 2018.

The defender disputed that his wife had wanted to work and denied all the pursuers allegations regarding his language towards and about her. He denied that his wife had found pictures of other women or condoms, and said that he could not remember what the cause of the final argument was.

A sort of slavery

In heropinion, Lady Wise stated that she found the pursuer to be a generally credible witness and said of her evidence: The clear picture that emerged from the pursuers evidence was of a woman who had considered that, while it involved risk, it was worth leaving her family and work as a medical practitioner in Russia for the emotional security of an older man and the hope of children. She was prepared to put up with quite a lot of unpleasant behaviour, such as offensive remarks about her family and the defenders control over her childs citizenship and travel in return for that stability.

She continued: It became clear, however, that her views on any matter were totally disregarded and that the defender viewed her worth as merely the object of his excessive sexual demands.That, coupled with her lack of financial independence and the relegation of her role to cooking and looking after her husband and son, led the pursuer to become unhappy and upset and feel trapped in a sort of slavery.

Regarding the defenders version of events, she said: The defenders position was highly unsatisfactory and indicative of the very behaviour about which the pursuer complained. His evidence on a passport for JW illustrated that it had never occurred to him that his wife, the childs primary carer, should have a say in what passport or passports the child should hold. His assertion that he would make sure his wife never managed to take the child to Russia (even for a visit) by keeping his UK passport away from her was indicative of the controlling behaviour described by the pursuer.

On the circumstances surrounding the ultimate breakdown of the marriage, she said: In my view the pursuers position makes more sense because the discovery of messages from unknown women was the ultimate insult from a man whose controlling behaviour she had endured for the sake of their son. When she confronted the defender in anger he withdrew from the situation and thereafter it was inevitable that the relationship was at an end, albeit that the final departure by AAW to his new accommodation was not until 5 September 2018.

Applying the law to the facts of the case, she said: The evidence of the pursuers witnesses comprises mostly hearsay and so the weight of that evidence requires to be considered carefully. I have already indicated that I accept the evidence of [two of the pursuers witnesses] as providing support for and being consistent with the pursuers account on important matters.

She concluded: I am satisfied that the evidence of the pursuer on the four material areas listed as disputed issues is credible and can be relied on. There is also sufficient credible and reliable supporting evidence as required by section 8(3) of theCivil Evidence (Scotland) Act 1988. I find that the parties marriage has broken down irretrievably and that the defender has behaved in such a way that the pursuer cannot reasonably be expected to cohabit with him.

For these reasons, Lady Wise granted decree of divorce. It was also concluded that the current care arrangements for JW, who was living with the pursuer in the former matrimonial home and had contact with the defender, were in his best interests and presented no impediment.

Scottish Legal News Ltd 2020

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Outer House grants divorce to Russian wife of Scotsman living in Dubai - Scottish Legal News