During the quarter we generated about $555 million in fee revenue.
It was an all-time high that was up 26% year-over-year.
We had an adjusted EBITDA margin of a little over 20% and adjusted earnings per share of $1.21.
We have about 350 marquee and regional global accounts and they continue to demonstrate the power of this strategy.
The accounts, they generated about $640 million in fee revenue during the year and they sustainably utilize all of our global capabilities even during challenging economic periods.
As part of our balanced capital allocation framework, I'm pleased to announce that our Board has approved a 20% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.12 per share.
In contrast, coming out of the great recession, approximately 10 years ago, it took over 12 quarters for fee revenue to rebound past the prior pre-recession high.
For all of fiscal year '21, 35.3% of our consolidated fee revenue was generated from these accounts.
Further, our year-over-year fee revenue on marquee and regional accounts was essentially flat, while the rest of the Company was down about 9%.
For new business, our marquee and regional accounts were actually up 11% year-over-year while the rest of the Company was flat.
Just over three years ago cross line of business fee revenue referrals were approximately 15%.
Today, fee revenue from cross line of business referral stands at almost 27% for all of fiscal '21 and almost 29% for the fourth quarter.
As Gary mentioned, fee revenue in the fourth quarter was up $115 million year-over-year and $80 million sequentially, reaching an all-time high of $555 million.
Consolidated fee revenue growth in the fourth quarter measured year-over-year was up 26% with Executive Search being up 20%, RPO and Pro Search up 46% and Consulting up 27%, all reaching new all-time quarterly fee revenue highs.
Adjusted EBITDA grew $16 million or 17% sequentially to $113 million with an adjusted EBITDA margin of over 20% for the second consecutive quarter.
Our adjusted fully diluted earnings per share also reached a record level in the fourth quarter, improving to $1.21, which was up $0.26 or 27% sequentially and up $0.61, or 102% year-over-year.
Now, it's important to note that the fourth quarter expenses included $13.5 million of non-reoccurring expense accruals.
That's roughly 2.5 percentage points of margin related to our business recovery plan, as we decided to reimburse employees for the remaining portion of salaries that were foregone during the year.
On a consolidated basis, new business awards, excluding RPO, were up 48% year-over-year and up 16% sequentially.
Measured on a sequential basis, new business growth in the fourth quarter also showed broad-based improvement led by our talent acquisition businesses with Executive Search up 29% and Professional Search up 18%.
In addition, our digital business was up 8% and consulting was up 5%.
RPO new business was also strong in the fourth quarter with an additional $115 million of new contracts.
At the end of the fourth quarter, cash and marketable securities totaled $1.1 billion.
Now excluding amounts reserved for deferred compensation arrangements and for accrued bonuses, our investable cash balance at the end of the fourth quarter was approximately $642 million and that's up $108 million sequentially and up $110 million year-over-year.
Over the last three quarters combined across all of our business lines, we have hired approximately 160 new consultant fee earners and that includes about 86 in the fourth quarter with the rest coming from quarters two and three.
Additionally, as Gary mentioned, consistent with our balanced capital allocation framework, our Board has approved a 20% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.12 per share and that's going to be payable on July 30 to shareholders of record on July 6, 2021.
Global fee revenue for KF Digital was $80.5 million in the fourth quarter, which was up 16% year-over-year and up 6% sequentially.
In the fourth quarter subscription and license fee revenue was $24 million, which was up over 14% year-over-year.
Global new business for KF Digital in the fourth quarter reached $108 million, the second consecutive quarter of new business over $100 million.
Additionally, for all of fiscal '21, new business tied to subscription and license services improved approximately 72%.
Earnings and profitability also improved for KF Digital in the fourth quarter with adjusted EBITDA of $27.9 million and a 34.7% adjusted EBITDA margin.
In the fourth quarter Consulting generated $153.6 million of fee revenue, which was up approximately $32.6 million or 27% year-over-year and up approximately $17.3 million or 13% sequentially.
Consulting new business also improved in the fourth quarter, growing approximately 53% year-over-year and 5% sequentially.
Additionally, new business tied to large engagements, those over $500,000 in value, was up approximately 56% in the fourth quarter and up approximately 31% for all of fiscal '21.
Adjusted EBITDA for Consulting in the fourth quarter was up $16.1 million or 145% year-over-year with an adjusted EBITDA margin of 17.7%.
RPO and Professional Search global fee revenue improved to $120.3 million in the fourth quarter which was up 46% year-over-year and up 26% sequentially.
RPO fee revenue grew approximately 58% year-over-year and 34% sequentially, while Professional Search fee revenue was up approximately 27% year-over-year and up 17% sequentially.
With regards to new business, in the fourth quarter, Professional Search was up 17% sequentially and RPO was awarded $115 million of new contracts, consisting of $23 million of renewals and extensions and $92 million of new logo work.
Adjusted EBITDA for RPO and Professional Search surged to approximately $30 million in the fourth quarter, which is up approximately $17.2 million or 136% year-over-year and $10.3 million or 53% sequentially.
Adjusted EBITDA margin for RPO and Professional Search was 24.9% in the fourth quarter.
Finally, in the fourth quarter, global fee revenue for Executive Search exceeded $200 million for the first time in Company history.
Global Executive Search fee revenue was up approximately 20% year-over-year and up approximately 19% sequentially in the fourth quarter.
Growth was also broad based and led by North America, which grew 28% year-over-year and 23% sequentially.
Sequentially, fee revenue in EMEA and APAC was up approximately 15% and 9% respectively.
The total number of dedicated Executive Search consultants worldwide at the end of the fourth quarter was 524, which was down 32 year-over-year and up two sequentially.
Annualized fee revenue production per consultant in the fourth quarter improved to a record $1.54 million and the number of new search assignments opened worldwide in the fourth quarter was up 39% year-over-year and 32% sequentially to 1,712.
In the fourth quarter, global Executive Search adjusted EBITDA grew to approximately $49.8 million, which was up 5% year-over-year and up 19.5% sequentially.
Adjusted EBITDA margin was approximately 25%.
Recognizing normal seasonal patterns and assuming no new major pandemic-related lockdowns or changes in worldwide economic conditions, financial markets or foreign exchange rates, we expect our consolidated fee revenue in the first quarter of fiscal '22 to range from $535 million to $555 million and our consolidated diluted earnings per share to range from $1.04 to $1.14.

Summary:
During the quarter we generated about $555 million in fee revenue.
We had an adjusted EBITDA margin of a little over 20% and adjusted earnings per share of $1.21.
Consolidated fee revenue growth in the fourth quarter measured year-over-year was up 26% with Executive Search being up 20%, RPO and Pro Search up 46% and Consulting up 27%, all reaching new all-time quarterly fee revenue highs.
Our adjusted fully diluted earnings per share also reached a record level in the fourth quarter, improving to $1.21, which was up $0.26 or 27% sequentially and up $0.61, or 102% year-over-year.
Recognizing normal seasonal patterns and assuming no new major pandemic-related lockdowns or changes in worldwide economic conditions, financial markets or foreign exchange rates, we expect our consolidated fee revenue in the first quarter of fiscal '22 to range from $535 million to $555 million and our consolidated diluted earnings per share to range from $1.04 to $1.14.