美國家庭壽險 (AFL) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Aflac Incorporated second-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All participants will be in a listen only mode. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Aflac Incorporated 2024 年第二季財報電話會議。所有參與者將處於只聽模式。（操作員說明）請注意此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to David Young, Vice President of Investor and Rating Agency Relations. Please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給投資人和評等機構關係副總裁 David Young。請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome. Thank you for joining us for Aflac Incorporated second quarter earnings call. While I have your attention I also want you to mark your calendars to join us for our Financial Analyst Briefing at the New York Stock Exchange on December 3.

早上好，歡迎光臨。感謝您參加 Aflac Incorporated 第二季財報電話會議。雖然我吸引了您的注意，但我也希望您標記您的日曆，參加我們 12 月 3 日在紐約證券交易所舉行的金融分析師簡報會。

Now this morning, Dan Amos, Chairman, CEO and President of Aflac Incorporated will provide an overview of our results and operations in Japan and the United States. Then, Max Broden, Executive Vice-President and CFO of Aflac Incorporated will provide an update on our financial results and current capital and liquidity.

今天上午，Aflac Incorporated 董事長、執行長兼總裁 Dan Amos 將概述我們在日本和美國的業績和營運情況。然後，Aflac Incorporated 執行副總裁兼財務長 Max Broden 將提供有關我們財務業績以及當前資本和流動性的最新資訊。

These topics are also addressed in the materials we posted with our earnings release and financial supplement on investors.aflac.com. In addition Max provided his quarterly video updates which also includes information about the outlook for 2024. We also posted under financials, on the same site, updated slides of investment details related to our commercial real-estate and middle-market loans.

我們在 Investors.aflac.com 上發布的收益報告和財務補充資料中也討論了這些主題。此外，Max 還提供了他的季度視訊更新，其中還包括有關 2024 年展望的資訊。我們也在同一網站的財務項下發布了與我們的商業房地產和中間市場貸款相關的投資詳細資訊的更新幻燈片。

For Q&A today, we are also joined by Virgil Miller, President of Aflac US; Charles Lake, Chairman and Representative Director, President of Aflac International; Masatoshi Koide, President and Representative Director, Aflac Life Insurance Japan; and Brad Dyslin, Global Chief Investment Officer, President of Aflac Global Investments.

Aflac US 總裁 Virgil Miller 也參加了今天的問答環節； Charles Lake，Aflac International 董事長兼代表董事、總裁； Masatoshi Koide，日本 Aflac 人壽保險公司總裁兼代表董事；以及 Aflac Global Investments 全球首席投資長兼總裁 Brad Dyslin。

Before we begin, some statements in this teleconference are forward-looking within the meaning of federal securities laws. Although we believe these statements are reasonable, we can give no assurance that they will prove to be accurate -- because they are prospective in nature. Actual results could differ materially from those we discuss today. We encourage you to look at our annual report on Form 10-K for some of the various risk factors that could materially impact our results.

在我們開始之前，本次電話會議中的一些陳述是聯邦證券法含義內的前瞻性陳述。儘管我們相信這些陳述是合理的，但我們不能保證它們將被證明是準確的——因為它們本質上是前瞻性的。實際結果可能與我們今天討論的結果大不相同。我們鼓勵您查看我們的 10-K 表年度報告，以了解可能對我們的業績產生重大影響的一些風險因素。

As I mentioned earlier, the earnings release is available on investors.aflac.com and includes reconciliations of certain non-US GAAP measures.

正如我之前提到的，收益發布可在 Investors.aflac.com 上獲取，其中包括某些非美國公認會計原則指標的調節。

I'll now hand the call over to Dan.

我現在將電話轉給丹。

Thank you, David, and good morning, and we're glad you joined us. Aflac Incorporated delivered another quarter and six months of very solid earnings results. Net earnings per diluted share were $3.10 for the quarter and $4.64 for the first six months.

謝謝你，大衛，早上好，我們很高興你加入我們。Aflac Incorporated 又一個季度和六個月的獲利業績非常穩健。本季攤薄後每股淨利為 3.10 美元，前六個月為 4.64 美元。

On an adjusted basis, earnings per diluted share for the quarter were we're up 15.8% to $1.83 and for the first six months we were up 11.5% to $3.49. From a broad operational perspective, we've generated profitable growth in the United States and Japan with new products and distribution strategies. We believe our strategy will continue to create long-term value for the shareholders, at the same time, we believe that the need for our products we offer is a strong or stronger than it has ever been before in both the United States and Japan.

經調整後，本季攤薄每股收益成長 15.8% 至 1.83 美元，前六個月成長 11.5% 至 3.49 美元。從廣泛的營運角度來看，我們透過新產品和分銷策略在美國和日本實現了獲利成長。我們相信我們的策略將繼續為股東創造長期價值，同時我們相信美國和日本對我們提供的產品的需求比以往任何時候都更強烈或強烈。

Beginning with Japan, we have continued to focus on third sector products like our cancer insurance product called the WINGS as the new fiscal year began in Japan, we saw continued improvement in cancer insurance through the Japan Post Channel. We have continued our strategy of introducing life insurance products including Tsumitasu, which we launched on June 2. This product offers policyholders an hazard formation component with nursing care option.

從日本開始，我們繼續關注第三部門產品，例如我們的癌症保險產品 WINGS。我們繼續實施推出人壽保險產品的策略，其中包括 6 月 2 日推出的 Tsumitasu。該產品為投保人提供了危險形成部分和護理選項。

It was designed to attract new and younger customers, while also introducing opportunities to sell them our core third sector products. While still very early we are pleased with how our agencies have sold this product, which drove a 4.5% sales increase for the second quarter being where consumers want to buy insurance remains in an important element of the growth strategy in Japan.

它旨在吸引新的和年輕的客戶，同時也提供向他們銷售我們的核心第三部門產品的機會。雖然還為時過早，但我們對我們的機構銷售該產品的方式感到滿意，這推動了第二季度銷售額增長 4.5%，因為消費者想要購買保險仍然是日本成長策略的重要組成部分。

Our broad network of distribution channels including agencies, alliance partners, and banks continually optimize our opportunities to help provide financial protection to the Japanese consumers. We will continue to work hard to support each channel. Overall, Koide San and his team have done a great job of turning around sales in Japan and delivering record profit margins for the quarter. I am very pleased with their efforts.

我們廣泛的分銷管道網絡（包括代理商、聯盟合作夥伴和銀行）不斷優化我們的機會，幫助為日本消費者提供財務保護。我們將繼續努力支持各個管道。總體而言，Koide San 和他的團隊在扭轉日本銷售額並創造本季創紀錄的利潤率方面做得非常出色。我對他們的努力感到非常滿意。

Turning to the US, we achieved a 2% sales growth for the quarter benefiting from good growth in Group Life Absent Management and Disability and individual voluntary benefits This is a welcome results as we enter the second half of the year that tends to be the heaviest enrollment period. At the same time, we continue to focus on more profitable growth by exercising a stronger underwriting discipline.

轉向美國，由於團體人壽缺席管理和殘疾以及個人自願福利的良好增長，我們本季度實現了 2% 的銷售增長。同時，我們繼續透過實施更嚴格的承保紀律來關注更高的利潤成長。

Additionally, we've increased benefits in certain policies to improve the value for the policyholder. We believe persistency will remain strong as customers realize the value of their policies and the related benefits. We have also continued our disciplined approach to expense management, which Max will address.

此外，我們也增加了某些保單的福利，以提高保單持有人的價值。我們相信，隨著客戶認識到其保單的價值和相關利益，持久性將保持強勁。我們也繼續採用嚴格的費用管理方法，馬克斯將解決這個問題。

As we enter the second half of the year, we are continuing to focus on optimizing our Dental and Vision platform. Overall, I'm pleased with what Virgil and his team are doing to balance profitable growth enhance the value proposition for the policyholders and curb the expense ratios. Their efforts contributed to the very strong pre-tax profit margin of 22.7% for the second quarter.

進入下半年，我們將繼續專注於優化我們的牙科和視覺平台。總的來說，我對 Virgil 和他的團隊在平衡獲利成長、增強保單持有人的價值主張和控制費用比率方面所做的工作感到滿意。他們的努力為第二季 22.7% 的強勁稅前利潤率做出了貢獻。

Now turn to our ongoing commitment to prudent liquidity and capital management. Max has done a great job leading his team to take proactive steps in recent years to defend our cash flow and deployable capital against a weakening yen, as well as establishing a reinsurance platform in Bermuda. We have been very pleased with our investment portfolios performance as it continues to produce strong net investment income with minimal losses and impairments.

現在轉向我們對審慎流動性和資本管理的持續承諾。近年來，馬克斯帶領他的團隊採取了積極主動的措施，保護我們的現金流和可部署資本免受日圓貶值的影響，並在百慕達建立了再保險平台。我們對我們的投資組合表現非常滿意，因為它繼續產生強勁的淨投資收入，同時損失和減值最小。

As an insurance company, our primary responsibility is to fulfill the promises we made to our policyholders while being responsive to the needs of our shareholders. We remain committed to maintaining strong capital ratios on behalf of the policyholders. We balance this financial strength with tactical capital deployment. We intend to continue prudently managing our liquidity and capital to preserve the strength of our capital and cash flows. This supports both our dividend track record and tactical share repurchase.

作為一家保險公司，我們的首要責任是履行對保單持有人的承諾，同時滿足股東的需求。我們仍然致力於代表保單持有人維持強勁的資本比率。我們平衡財務實力與戰術資本部署。我們打算繼續審慎管理我們的流動性和資本，以維持我們的資本和現金流實力。這支持了我們的股利記錄和戰術性股票回購。

We treasure our track record of 41 consecutive years of dividend growth and remain committed to extending it. I am pleased that the Board set us on a path to continue this record when it increased the first quarter 2024 dividend 19% to $0.50 and declared the second and third quarter dividends of $0.50. We repurchased a record $800 million in shares during the quarter, and intend to continue our balanced, tactical approach of investing in growth and driving long-term operating efficiencies.

我們珍惜連續 41 年股息成長的記錄，並繼續致力於擴大這項記錄。我很高興董事會將 2024 年第一季股息提高 19% 至 0.50 美元，並宣布第二和第三季度股息為 0.50 美元，為我們奠定了繼續這項記錄的基礎。我們在本季回購了創紀錄的 8 億美元股票，並打算繼續採取平衡的戰術方法來投資成長和提高長期營運效率。

Our management team, employees and sales distribution continue to be dedicated stewards of our business, being there for the policyholders when they need us most just as we promised. This underpins our goal of providing customers with the best value in the supplemental insurance products in the United States and Japan.

我們的管理團隊、員工和銷售分銷人員將繼續成為我們業務的熱情管理者，正如我們所承諾的那樣，在保單持有人最需要我們的時候為他們提供幫助。這支撐了我們為美國和日本客戶提供最佳價值的補充保險產品的目標。

In November, we celebrate our 50 year of doing business in Japan. Additionally, in June we celebrated our 50 year as a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. We are reminded that one thing has not changed since the founding in 1955, families and individuals still seek to protect themselves from financial hardships that not even the best health insurance covers.

11 月，我們慶祝在日本開展業務 50 週年。此外，6 月，我們慶祝了作為紐約證券交易所上市公司 50 週年。我們被提醒，自 1955 年成立以來，有一件事沒有改變，家庭和個人仍然尋求保護自己免受即使是最好的健康保險也無法承保的財務困難。

Today’s complex healthcare environment has produced incredible medical advances that come with incredible costs. It’s more important than ever to have that partner. We believe our approach to offering relevant products makes us that partner.

當今複雜的醫療保健環境帶來了令人難以置信的醫療進步，但也帶來了令人難以置信的成本。擁有這樣的合作夥伴比以往任何時候都更重要。我們相信，我們提供相關產品的方法使我們成為合作夥伴。

We believe in the underlying strengths of our business and our potential for continued growth in Japan and the United States, two of the largest life insurance markets in the world. Aflac is well-positioned as we work toward achieving our long-term growth while also ensuring we deliver on our promise to our policyholders.

我們相信我們業務的潛在優勢以及我們在日本和美國這兩個全球最大的人壽保險市場持續成長的潛力。Aflac 處於有利地位，我們致力於實現長期成長，同時確保我們兌現對保單持有人的承諾。

I'll now turn the program over to Max to cover more details the financial results. Max?

我現在將把該程序交給 Max，以涵蓋財務結果的更多詳細資訊。最大限度？

Thank you, Dan and thank you for joining me as I’ll provide a financial update on Aflac Incorporated’s results for the second quarter of 2024. For the quarter, adjusted earnings per diluted share increased 15.8% year-over-year to the $1.83 with a $0.07 negative impact from FX in the quarter. In this quarter, reinvestment gains on reserves totaled $51 million and variable investment income ran $1 million above our long-term return expectations.

謝謝 Dan，感謝您接受我的採訪，我將提供 Aflac Incorporated 2024 年第二季業績的最新財務資訊。本季度，調整後每股攤薄收益年增 15.8%，達到 1.83 美元，但本季外匯帶來的負面影響為 0.07 美元。本季度，儲備金再投資收益總計 5,100 萬美元，可變投資收益比我們的長期回報預期高出 100 萬美元。

We also received a make whole payment adding approximately $20 million or $0.03 per share to our adjusted earnings. Adjusted book value per share, including foreign currency translation and the gains and losses increased 9.4% and the adjusted ROE was 14.3%, an acceptable spread to our cost of capital.

我們還收到了一筆全額付款，為我們的調整後收益增加了約 2000 萬美元，即每股 0.03 美元。調整後的每股帳面價值（包括外幣換算和損益）增加了 9.4%，調整後的股本回報率為 14.3%，相對於我們的資本成本來說是可以接受的。

Overall, we view these results in the quarter as solid. Starting with our Japan segment, net earned premiums for the quarter declined 5.7%. This decline reflects a 7.4 billion yen negative impact from internal reinsurance transaction executed in the fourth quarter of 2023 and JPY4.8 billion yen negative impact from paid up policies.

總體而言，我們認為本季的這些結果是可靠的。從我們的日本業務開始，本季淨賺保費下降了 5.7%。這一下降反映了 2023 年第四季執行的內部再保險交易帶來的 74 億日圓負面影響以及繳付保單帶來的 48 億日圓負面影響。

In addition, there is a JPY1.2 billion yen positive impact from deferred profit liability. Lapses were somewhat elevated but within our expectations. At the same time, policies in force declined 2.4%. Japan's total benefit ratio came in at 66.9% for the quarter up 120 basis points year-over-year and the third sector benefit ratio was 57.8%, up the approximately 160 basis points year-over-year. We estimate the impact from reinvestment gains to be 140 basis points favorable to the benefit ratio in Q2 2024. Long-term experience trends as it relates to treatment of cancer and hospitalization continue to be in place leading to the continued favorable underwriting experience.

此外，遞延利潤負債還有12億日圓的正面影響。失誤增加，但在我們的預期之內。與此同時，現行政策下降了 2.4%。日本本季總福利率為 66.9%，較去年同期上升 120 個基點，第三部門福利率為 57.8%，較去年同期上升約 160 個基點。我們估計再投資收益的影響將為 140 個基點，有利於 2024 年第二季的福利比率。與癌症治療和住院治療相關的長期經驗趨勢持續存在，導致持續良好的核保體驗。

Persistency remains solid with a rate of 93.3%, which was down 50 basis points year-over-year. This change in persistency is in line with our expectations. Our expense ratio in Japan was 17.8%, down 170 basis points year-over-year, driven primarily by the expense allowance from reinsurance transactions and continued discipline expense management.

持續率依然穩定，為 93.3%，較去年同期下降 50 個基點。這種持久性的改變符合我們的預期。我們在日本的費用率為 17.8%，年減 170 個基點，主要是由於再保險交易的費用補貼和持續的紀律費用管理。

Adjusted net investment income in Yen terms was up 28.4%, mainly by favorably impact from FX on US dollar investments in yen terms, lower hedge costs, higher return on our alternatives portfolio compared to second quarter of 2023 and call income. The pre-tax more than for Japan in the quarter was 35.3%, up $490 basis points year-over-year, a very good result.

以日圓計算的調整後淨投資收入成長了28.4%，主要是由於外匯對以日圓計算的美元投資的有利影響、對沖成本降低、我們的另類投資組合回報率與2023 年第二季相比更高以及看漲期權收入。日本本季稅前利潤率為35.3%，年增490個基點，這是一個非常好的成績。

Turning to US results, net earned premium was up 2.1%, persistency increased 50 basis points year-over-year to 78.7%. We are encouraged by early signs from our persistency efforts and we will remain focused on driving profitable growth.

就美國業績而言，淨已賺保費成長 2.1%，持續性年增 50 個基點至 78.7%。我們對我們堅持不懈努力的早期跡象感到鼓舞，我們將繼續專注於推動獲利成長。

Our total benefit ratio came in at 46.7%, 140 basis points higher than Q2 2023 driven by product mix and lower reinvestment gains than a year ago. We estimate that reinvestment gains impacted the benefit ratio by 170 basis points in the quarter.

在產品結構和再投資收益低於一年前的推動下，我們的總福利率為 46.7%，比 2023 年第二季高出 140 個基點。我們估計，本季再投資收益對福利比率的影響達 170 個基點。

Claims utilization has rebounded from depressed levels during the pandemic and are now more in line with our long-term expectations. Our expense ratio in the US was 36.9%, down to 210 basis points year-over-year, primarily driven by platforms improving scale and strong expense management. We tend to benefit from seasonality in the first half and would expect higher expenses in the second half.

索賠利用率已從疫情期間的低迷水準反彈，現在更符合我們的長期預期。我們在美國的費用率為 36.9%，年減 210 個基點，主要是受到平台規模擴大和強有力的費用管理的推動。我們傾向於受益於上半年的季節性，並預計下半年的費用會更高。

Our growth initiatives, Group Life and Disability, network, dental and vision and the direct-to-consumer increased our total expense ratio by 230 basis points. This is in line with our expectation and we would expect this impact to decrease going forward as these businesses grow to scale and improve their profitability.

我們的成長計劃、團體人壽和殘疾、網絡、牙科和視力以及直接面向消費者的計劃使我們的總費用率增加了 230 個基點。這符合我們的預期，隨著這些業務規模的擴大和獲利能力的提高，我們預計這種影響將會減少。

In just that net investment income, in the US was up 7.4%, mainly driven by higher yields on both our alternatives and fixed rate portfolios. Profitability in the US segment was solid with a pre-tax margin of 22.7%, also a very good result. Our total commercial real estate loan watch list stands at approximately $1 billion, with less than $300 million in process of foreclosures currently.

僅美國的淨投資收入就成長了 7.4%，主要是由於我們的另類投資和固定利率投資組合的收益率上升。美國業務獲利穩健，稅前利潤率為22.7%，也是非常好的成績。我們的商業房地產貸款觀察名單總額約為 10 億美元，目前正在處理取消抵押品贖回權的貸款不到 3 億美元。

As a result of these current low valuation marks, we increased our seasonal reserves associated with these loans by $14 million in this quarter net of charge-offs.

由於目前估值較低，我們在本季將與這些貸款相關的季節性準備金（扣除沖銷後）增加了 1,400 萬美元。

We had six loan foreclosures and moved nine properties into real estate owned. We continue to believe that they currently distressed market does not reflect the true intrinsic economic value of our portfolio, which is why we are confident in our ability to take ownership of these assets, manage them through this cycle and maximize our recoveries.

我們有六處貸款喪失抵押品贖回權，並將九處房產轉為自有房地產。我們仍然認為，目前陷入困境的市場並不能反映我們投資組合的真正內在經濟價值，這就是為什麼我們對擁有這些資產、在這個週期中管理它們並最大化我們的復甦的能力充滿信心。

Our portfolio of first lean senior secured middle market loans continue to perform well with losses below our expectations for this point in the cycle. In our Corporate segment, we recorded a pre-tax gain of $23 million. Adjusted net investment income was $39 million higher than last year due to lower volume of tax credit Investments at Aflac Inc and higher volume of investable assets at Aflac REIT.

我們的第一筆精實優先擔保中間市場貸款投資組合持續表現良好，損失低於我們對週期此時點的預期。在我們的企業部門，我們錄得稅前收益 2300 萬美元。由於 Aflac Inc 的稅收抵免投資量減少以及 Aflac REIT 的可投資資產量增加，調整後的淨投資收入比去年增加了 3,900 萬美元。

These tax credit investments impacted the corporate net investment income line for US GAAP purposes negatively by $30 million with an associated credit to the tax line. The net impact to our bottom-line was a positive $4 million in the quarter. Today these Investments are performing well and in line with expectations.

這些稅收抵免投資對美國公認會計準則下的企業淨投資收入線產生了 3,000 萬美元的負面影響，並對稅收線進行了相關抵免。本季對我們利潤的淨影響為 400 萬美元。如今，這些投資表現良好並符合預期。

We're continuing to build up our reinsurance platform and I'm pleased with the outcome and performance. Our capital position remains strong and we ended the quarter with an SMR above 1100% in Japan, now combined RBC, while not finalized we estimate to be greater than 650%.

我們正在繼續建立我們的再保險平台，我對結果和表現感到滿意。我們的資本狀況依然強勁，本季結束時，日本的 SMR 高於 1100%（現在合併 RBC），但尚未最終確定，我們估計將超過 650%。

Unencumbered holding company liquidity stood at $4.1 billion, $2.3 billion above our minimum balance. These are strong capital ratios, which we actively monitor stress and managed to withstand credit cycles, as well as external shocks.

未支配的控股公司流動性為 41 億美元，比我們的最低餘額高出 23 億美元。這些是強大的資本比率，我們積極監控壓力並設法抵禦信貸週期以及外部衝擊。

US statutory impairments were released of $7 million and Japan FSA impairments were JPY10.4 billion yen or roughly $67 million in the quarter. This is well within our expectations and with limited impact to both earnings and capital.

本季美國法定減損額為 700 萬美元，日本 FSA 減損額為 104 億日圓，約 6,700 萬美元。這完全在我們的預期之內，對收益和資本的影響有限。

Adjusted leverage is 19.5% and below our leverage corridor of 20% to 25%. As we hold approximately 60% of our debt denominated in the yen, our leverage will fluctuate with movements in the yen dollar rate. This is intentional and part of our enterprise hedging program protecting the economic value of Aflac Japan in US dollar terms. We repurchased $800 million of our own stock and paid dividends of $283 million in Q2, offering good relative IRR on these capital deployments.

調整後的槓桿率為 19.5%，低於我們 20% 至 25% 的槓桿區間。由於我們持有約 60% 的債務以日圓計價，因此我們的槓桿率將隨著日圓兌美元匯率的變動而波動。這是我們有意為之的，也是我們保護 Aflac 日本以美元計算的經濟價值的企業對沖計劃的一部分。我們在第二季度回購了 8 億美元的自有股票，並支付了 2.83 億美元的股息，為這些資本部署提供了良好的相對 IRR。

We will continue to be flexible and tactical in how we manage the balance sheet and deploy capital in order to drive strong risk-adjusted ROE with a meaningful spread to our cost of capital.

我們將繼續在管理資產負債表和部署資本方面保持靈活和戰術性，以推動強勁的風險調整後淨資產收益率，並顯著降低我們的資本成本。

Thank you. I will now turn the call over to David.

謝謝。我現在將把電話轉給大衛。

Thank you, Max. (Event Instructions) We will now take the first question.

謝謝你，麥克斯。（活動說明）我們現在回答第一個問題。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Joe Horwitz, Dowling & Partners.

喬‧霍維茨，道林合夥人事務所。

Hey, good morning. So the new product launch in Japan that happened in June had very strong sales. I guess can you just talk about the targeted return on that first sector product and how it compares to the third sector product? And then what do you see as the cross-sell opportunity there?

嘿，早安。因此，六月在日本推出的新產品銷售非常強勁。我想您能否談談第一部門產品的目標回報以及它與第三部門產品的比較如何？那麼您認為那裡的交叉銷售機會是什麼？

Let me start on the product profitability. So when we look at this product through a GAAP lens, it has at or higher GAAP margins than our core third sector business. And on an IR basis, this is obviously lower than our third sector business because of the very significant new business strain associated with the high reserves, but we have lined up reinsurance that we then expect on a post-reinsurance basis it brings us very attractive returns, as well. And not too different from our core third sector business.

讓我從產品獲利能力開始。因此，當我們透過 GAAP 視角來看待該產品時，它的 GAAP 利潤率等於或高於我們核心的第三部門業務。從IR的角度來看，這顯然低於我們的第三部門業務，因為與高準備金相關的新業務壓力非常大，但我們已經安排了再保險，然後我們預計在再保險後的基礎上它會給我們帶來非常有吸引力的收益回報，以及。與我們的核心第三部門業務沒有太大不同。

Okay. In the cross-sell opportunity there with the third sector products?

好的。與第三部門產品的交叉銷售機會有哪些？

I think we'll evolve over time where obviously this product targets a younger clientele that gives us the opportunity to build that relationship and as we travel with that customer through their lifetime we have an opportunity to then cross-sell both medical and cancer, as well.

我認為我們會隨著時間的推移而發展，顯然該產品針對的是年輕客戶，這使我們有機會建立這種關係，並且當我們與該客戶一起度過他們的一生時，我們有機會交叉銷售醫療和癌症，因為出色地。

So over time, I think there's a good opportunity for us to both get the, Tsumitasi product to the younger clients but also over the lifetime cross-cell cancer and medical to those new clients.

因此，隨著時間的推移，我認為我們有一個很好的機會，既可以向年輕客戶提供 Tsumitasi 產品，也可以向這些新客戶提供終身跨細胞癌症和醫療服務。

Yeah, I think Aflac team nicely explains that. It's important that I say it, is remember it with the Tsumitasu product we are hiding a younger group, who may have less disposable income than does an older set of potential policyholders. And so whereas, with the older, we might offer the Tsumitasu product or another product and our supplemental for third sector product.

是的，我認為 Aflac 團隊很好地解釋了這一點。我這麼說很重要，請記住，在 Tsumitasu 產品中，我們隱藏了一個年輕群體，他們的可支配收入可能比老年潛在保單持有人要少。因此，對於較舊的產品，我們可能會提供 Tsumitasu 產品或其他產品以及我們對第三部門產品的補充。

With this group, we'd start by putting in one product, which would be the Tsumitasu product and then in a year or so later follow-up and add more. So it's different as we're building that policyholder base, which of course is one of the things we promised you we would work toward doing and Aflac Japan we believe is doing the right thing here for us.

對於這個組，我們首先添加一種產品，即 Tsumitasu 產品，然後在大約一年後跟進並添加更多產品。所以這是不同的，因為我們正在建立保單持有人基礎，這當然是我們向您承諾的我們將努力做的事情之一，我們相信 Aflac Japan 在這裡為我們做正確的事情。

Jimmy Bhullar, JPMorgan.

吉米·布拉爾，摩根大通。

First question just on the expense ratio in both the Japan and the US businesses, I think is the best it’s been in the past several years. So wondering how much of that is sustainable and driven by expense savings or other actions versus maybe just being timing driven by the timing of discretionary and spending and advertising?

第一個問題是關於日本和美國企業的費用比率，我認為這是過去幾年最好的。那麼想知道其中有多少是可持續的，並且是由費用節省或其他行動驅動的，而不是僅僅由可自由支配、支出和廣告的時機驅動的？

Thank you, Jimmy. Let me start with Japan. Obviously, 17.8% in a quarter is a very low number. We have a guidance range of 19% to 21% and long-term I think that is the range that we will operate within for the Japan segment. We tend to have some seasonality in Japan with the second half having a little bit higher overall spend and I would specifically call out that Aflac Japan turns 50 this year.

謝謝你，吉米。讓我從日本開始。顯然，一個季度的17.8%是一個非常低的數字。我們的指導範圍為 19% 至 21%，從長遠來看，我認為這就是我們在日本市場運作的範圍。我們在日本往往有一些季節性，下半年整體支出會稍高一些，我要特別指出的是，Aflac Japan 今年已成立 50 週年。

So we will have some promotional spend associated with that including advertising and a lot of sales activities around that. So therefore I would for the full year that we would end up in the lower end of that 19% to 21% range.

因此，我們將有一些與此相關的促銷支出，包括廣告和圍繞此的大量銷售活動。因此，我預計全年我們的成長率將處於 19% 至 21% 範圍的下限。

For the US, we also have had very good expense control especially in the first half. There are timing differences where I would expect our spend would increase in the second half and I would also caution you to please keep in mind that the fourth quarter, every year has the highest level of sales activity with that comes expenses spend, as well as our expense ratio in the fourth quarter tends to be the highest.

對於美國，我們也有很好的費用控制，特別是在上半年。由於時間上的差異，我預計下半年我們的支出會增加，我還提醒您請記住，每年第四季度的銷售活動水平最高，隨之而來的是費用支出，以及我們第四季度的費用率往往是最高的。

Over time the US still have a number of businesses that are not at scale. And therefore we are running those businesses with expenses overruns right now. This includes our Group Life and Disability business, it includes our dental and vision business, and it includes our direct-to-consumer business and to some extent also our group BB platform.

隨著時間的推移，美國仍然存在一些不形成規模的企業。因此，我們現在正在經營那些費用超支的業務。這包括我們的團體人壽和殘疾業務，包括我們的牙科和視力業務，也包括我們的直接面向消費者的業務，在某種程度上也包括我們的團體 BB 平台。

As those businesses really reach that scale then they will come down in expense ratio and we will no longer have that expense overrun. So that means there is downward pressure over time to our US expense ratio. But we're very pleased with the expense management and expense control for the first half and in particular into second quarter. But I would caution you when you think about the full year, I still would expect us to be inside of the range of 38% to 40% for the expense ratio in the US.

當這些業務真正達到這一規模時，它們的費用比率就會下降，我們將不再出現費用超支的情況。因此，這意味著我們的美國費用率隨著時間的推移而面臨下行壓力。但我們對上半年尤其是第二季的費用管理和費用控制感到非常滿意。但我要提醒你，當你考慮全年時，我仍然預計美國的費用比率將在 38% 至 40% 的範圍內。

Okay. And then, just maybe for Dan or the Japanese team, you talked a lot about competition in Japan on the last call. And it seems like as rates gone up in Japan some of the companies have cut prices to adjust for that. But what are you seeing in the competitive environment? And is it any different than what you've seen in the last few months or over the past few years?

好的。然後，也許對於丹或日本隊來說，你在最後一次通話中談論了很多關於日本的比賽。隨著日本利率的上漲，一些公司似乎已經降價來適應這種情況。但您在競爭環境中看到了什麼？這與您過去幾個月或過去幾年看到的情況有什麼不同嗎？

Yoshizumi, would you like to take that?

吉住，你願意接受嗎？

(Interpreted)

（解釋）

Thank you for the question. Good morning, everyone. I'm Yoshizumi. I'm in charge of sales in Japan. So as you have mentioned our competitors have entered third sector market. And so the environment is totally different compared with maybe five years ago or 10 years ago.

謝謝你的提問。大家早安。我是吉住。我負責日本的銷售。正如您所提到的，我們的競爭對手已經進入第三部門市場。因此，與五年前或十年前相比，環境完全不同。

And there are competitors that are launching a very reasonable or low price products. However, in Aflac, our concept is to launch and sell products that have values to our customers and not just lower product buy for the sake of lowering product, lowering prices, excuse me.

並且有競爭對手正在推出非常合理或低價的產品。然而，在 Aflac，我們的理念是推出和銷售對我們的客戶有價值的產品，而不是為了降低產品、降低價格而降低產品購買量，請原諒。

And as we enter into our 50 anniversary this year in Aflac Japan. And this is based on the history and trust that we have from our customers in providing the appropriate insurance policies at all points by thoroughly thinking about what is needed in each environment or at times because the illnesses change and treatment methods change.

今年我們將迎來 Aflac Japan 成立 50 週年。這是基於我們從客戶那裡獲得的歷史和信任，我們透過徹底思考每種環境或有時由於疾病變化和治療方法變化而需要什麼來提供適當的保險單。

Now according to the data that’s been publicized between April 2022 and March 2023. And Aflac is recording is the number one most sold policy company in Japan in third sector products. We will aim for is to continue to provide customers that most appropriate product for our customers, so that we can maintain our number one position. That’s all for me.

現在根據 2022 年 4 月至 2023 年 3 月期間公佈的數據。Aflac 是日本第三部門產品中銷售第一的保單公司。我們的目標是繼續為客戶提供最適合我們客戶的產品，從而保持我們第一的地位。這就是我的全部。

John Barnidge, Piper Sandler

約翰·巴尼奇、派珀·桑德勒

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity. My first question is on distribution in the new first sector product in Japan. The closest customers and existing customer and one that doesn’t have that products, the product was introduced in early June. Have you identified how much of the existing customer base is the target for this new product? Thank you.

早安.謝謝你給我這個機會。我的第一個問題是關於日本新的第一部門產品的分銷。最接近的客戶和現有客戶以及沒有該產品的客戶，該產品於 6 月初推出。您是否已確定有多少現有客戶群是該新產品的目標客戶？謝謝。

They're translating give us one second. -- or Yoshizumi please?

他們正在翻譯，請給我們一點時間。 ——還是吉住？

(Interpreted)

（解釋）

Hey, this is Yoshizumi once again. Let me continue to answer your question. We have a large number of existing customers as you know. And our target customers are young and middle-aged customers. And the reason why I say our target is young and middle aged customers is as follows.

嘿，這又是吉住。讓我繼續回答你的問題。如您所知，我們擁有大量現有客戶。我們的目標客戶是年輕和中年客戶。我之所以說我們的目標是中青年客戶，原因如下。

Well first of all, the Japanese government is really pushing and encouraging the Japanese citizens to go after asset accumulation products and the Japanese government is offering various systems so that the Japanese citizens can do that. And as a result of that asset formation needs is heightening very strongly in Japan. And we’ve launched our new product in order to respond to the kind of asset accumulation needs in Japan. And this product is very well taken by the market and selling well and it is increasing our sales.

首先，日本政府確實在推動和鼓勵日本公民追求資產累積產品，而日本政府正在提供各種系統，以便日本公民能夠做到這一點。因此，日本的資產形成需求非常強勁。我們推出了新產品，以因應日本的資產累積需求。該產品非常受市場歡迎並且暢銷，並且正在增加我們的銷售額。

And the reason why this product is attracted attention is because there are various options that would allow our customers to choose after they paid up their premiums. For example after they paying off the premiums, this policy can be converted to death benefit or nursing care benefits or the customer can receive cash value and use that cash as asset accumulation.

而這個產品之所以受到關注，是因為我們的客戶在繳完保費後，有許多選擇可供選擇。例如，在繳清保費後，該保單可以轉換為死亡撫卹金或護理福利，或者客戶可以獲得現金價值並將該現金用作資產累積。

And as we go through these kind of discussions with our customers there will be more touch points with our customers and there will be more opportunities for our sales people to talk to our customers about third sector products. We’ve already have this established sales pattern and we have trained our sales agents to do so.

當我們與客戶進行此類討論時，與客戶的接觸點將會更多，我們的銷售人員將有更多機會與客戶討論第三部門產品。我們已經建立了這種既定的銷售模式，並且我們已經培訓了我們的銷售代理來這樣做。

So our purpose is to increase our third sector sales by using this new product Tsumitasu as a hook. Because we are the company that would increase sales by centering on third sector product sales. And the way we are doing sales is to really ultimately sell third sector products by launching first sector product and that is based on the needs of younger middle-aged customers at each times and a period of time. That's all for me.

所以我們的目的是透過這個新產品Tsumitasu作為一個鉤子來增加我們第三部門的銷售額。因為我們是一家以第三部門產品銷售為中心來增加銷售的公司。我們做銷售的方式是透過推出第一部門產品來真正最終銷售第三部門產品，這是根據年輕中年客戶在每個時期、每個時期的需求。這就是我的全部。

Thank you for that. Very helpful. My follow up on distribution is the 50 anniversary plans mainly related to this product, was it broader? Could you to about that? Thank you.

謝謝你。非常有幫助。我的後續發行是50週年紀念計劃，主要與該產品相關，範圍更廣嗎？你能說一下嗎？謝謝。

(Interpreted)

（解釋）

Hey, this is again Yoshizumi. And as I just mentioned, it’s not just about Tsumitasu, but since we are a company that mainly sell third sector product. For example as for the 50 anniversary, we will be selling pushing for cancer insurance sales and in order to increase our touch points with our customers, we will be having campaigns to offer gifts to our customers.

嘿，這又是吉住。正如我剛才提到的，這不僅僅是關於 Tsumitasu，而且因為我們是一家主要銷售第三部門產品的公司。例如，在50週年紀念日，我們將推動癌症保險銷售，為了增加與客戶的接觸點，我們將進行向客戶贈送禮物的活動。

We also have a conservative service that no other competitor has. And so what we are planning to do is to appeal this conservative service in line with our 50 anniversary through the website, TV commercials, and video services.

我們也提供其他競爭對手所沒有的保守服務。因此，我們計劃要做的是透過網站、電視廣告和視訊服務來吸引這種保守的服務，以配合我們的 50 週年紀念日。

We have a large number of sales agents and agencies that only sell Aflac and have walked together with Aflac for the past 50 years. And these agents and agencies are extremely pleased and happy about celebrating 50 anniversary. And there's a very big momentum for these sales agents and agencies to sell a large proportion of third sector products. We as a sales team would like to support these sales agencies at our maximum. That’s all for me.

我們擁有大量只銷售Aflac的銷售代理商和機構，與Aflac一起走過了50年。這些代理商和機構對慶祝 50 週年感到非常高興和高興。這些銷售代理商和代理商銷售很大一部分第三部門產品的動力非常大。作為銷售團隊，我們願意盡力支持這些銷售機構。這就是我的全部。

Tom Gallagher, Evercore ISI

湯姆·加拉格爾，Evercore ISI

Good morning. A couple of follow up questions on the Tsumitasu product in Japan. In response to John's question, I just want to be clear, I'm assuming you're not selling this product. The Tsumitasu product to existing customers that already have third sector Aflac products. This would be all brand new Aflac customers. Is that is that correct?

早安.關於日本 Tsumitasu 產品的幾個後續問題。在回答約翰的問題時，我只想澄清一下，我假設您不銷售該產品。Tsumitasu 產品面向已經擁有第三部門 Aflac 產品的現有客戶。這將是所有全新的 Aflac 客戶。這是正確的嗎？

Correct. Our thrust is to write new customers, but if someone wants to buy, we certainly will sell it to them because as was mentioned by Max, the profit margin is very acceptable on this product. And so, yes, we'll take anyone that wants to buy. But it is not our push. We want the younger customers is what we're working toward.

正確的。我們的目標是寫新客戶，但如果有人想買，我們當然會把它賣給他們，因為正如Max所提到的，這個產品的利潤率是非常可以接受的。所以，是的，我們會接受任何想購買的人。但這不是我們的推動。我們希望年輕的客戶是我們正在努力的方向。

And Dan, do you have a, are you keeping track of that to make sure this doesn't become a situation where the sales force kind of monetizes the in-force customer base and does a lot of selling there because then obviously that would limit the cross-sell opportunity?

丹，你有沒有跟踪這一點，以確保這不會成為銷售人員通過有效客戶群貨幣化並在那裡進行大量銷售的情況，因為顯然這會限制交叉銷售機會？

Absolutely, we are. Now they can call more about it. I just was cutting through the translation and Max can cover that a little bit more too.

當然，我們是。現在他們可以打電話了解更多。我剛剛剪掉了翻譯，Max 也可以多介紹一點。

Tom, we track that closely. So we know what those numbers are. We will not necessarily publish those publicly, but it's an important factor that we keep track off.

湯姆，我們密切跟踪。所以我們知道這些數字是多少。我們不一定會公開發布這些內容，但這是我們保持追蹤的重要因素。

Nick Annitta, Wells Fargo.

尼克安妮塔，富國銀行。

Hey, thanks. Good morning. Just wanted to touch on the US a bit. I know, sales came in a little late in the quarter relative to the full year guidance. I just wanted to get your overall thoughts there on the confidence of hitting something in the guidance for the year?

嘿，謝謝。早安.只是想談談美國。我知道，相對於全年指導，本季的銷售額有點晚了。我只是想了解您對實現今年指導中的目標的信心的整體想法？

Good morning. This is Virgil from the US. Let me say that, I think the big takeaway is very strong quarter for the US, because of the balanced approach. You heard and you saw, you heard from Max earlier, you heard from Dan earlier, what we saw was an increase, not just in sales of 2% but we had an increase of 50 basis points in our premium persistency.

早安.我是來自美國的維吉爾。我想說的是，我認為最大的收穫是美國季度非常強勁，因為採取了平衡的方法。你聽到了，你看到了，你早些時候從麥克斯那裡聽說過，你早些時候從丹那裡聽說過，我們看到的是增長，不僅僅是銷售額增長了2%，而且我們的溢價持久性成長了50 個基點。

We drove a higher benefit ratio that was intentional actions to put more value into the hands of our customers. We lowered our expense ratio and then that led to one of the highest pre-tax margins we've had in US in some years of 50 basis points and 22.7%. My point on that is that, we knew going to the quarter we’ve came up negative in Q1.

我們提高了效益比，這是有意為顧客提供更多價值的措施。我們降低了費用比率，這導致我們的稅前利潤率達到美國多年來最高的之一，達到 50 個基點和 22.7%。我的觀點是，我們知道進入第一季我們的業績為負。

Second quarter, I mentioned a previous earlier that we have made a lot of changes to go to a more profitable business. That was really focused in our group with VB business formerly it’s Continent American business that we bought. We wanted to make sure that we are only bringing business that has higher benefits where people actually filing claims and less churn. So we knew that would have an impact. So this the 2% is actually right on target of what I expected.

第二季度，我之前提到過，我們做出了很多改變，以轉向更有利可圖的業務。我們團隊真正關注的是 VB 業務，之前我們收購了美洲大陸業務。我們希望確保我們只為那些真正提出索賠且流失率較低的人帶來更高收益的業務。所以我們知道這會產生影響。所以這 2% 其實剛好符合我的預期目標。

I'm expecting a stronger push in the second half of the year. A lot of that is seasonality. But it is also what Max mentioned earlier some scale will see from buy to bills. We're going to see a stronger performance with the new files we bought with Life and Disability that we call PLATS. We're going to see better performance in the second half from Dental and vision property. I mentioned before that we're making huge Investments to stabilize that platform.

我預計下半年會有更強勁的推動。其中很多是季節性的。但這也是馬克斯之前提到的，從購買到帳單的一些規模。我們將看到我們透過 Life and Disability 購買的新文件（我們稱之為 PLATS）具有更強的性能。我們將在下半年看到牙科和視力財產更好的表現。我之前提到過，我們正在進行巨額投資來穩定該平台。

We also announced a partnership with SKYGEN that’s bringing some operational excellence to the table with us to help manage that property. And so, all I'm expecting -- higher sales on the dental property. Stronger push with PLATS and then continue to what we have driven year-over-year with our veteran agents and with our broker partnerships, good performance from them and we'll see how our yield in the second half of the year.

我們也宣布與 SKYGEN 建立合作關係，與我們一起提供卓越的營運服務，協助管理該資產。所以，我所期待的是──牙科資產的銷售額更高。加強與 PLATS 的合作，然後繼續我們與資深代理商和經紀商合作夥伴逐年推動的工作，他們的良好表現，我們將看到下半年的收益如何。

And I just want to make a comment. I think that we've seen one of the best years and certainly one of the best quarters in the US in terms of we've got a lot of balls in the air. And to realize that they brought up the loss ratio. They brought down the expense ratio. They have switched business and our business is more complicated as we go into other products. They're training their people better, I just have a kudos to Virgil and the team for the hard work they're doing.

我只想發表評論。我認為我們已經經歷了最好的年份之一，當然也是美國最好的季度之一，因為我們有很多機會。並意識到他們提出了損失率。他們降低了費用比率。他們已經轉換了業務，隨著我們進入其他產品，我們的業務變得更加複雜。他們正在更好地培訓員工，我對 Virgil 和團隊的辛勤工作表示敬意。

And I think long term, our US operation is going to be a much stronger company because we're doing all the right things, I think we need to do to prepare us for the future. So, -- the sales, yes I want more than 2%. But I promise you that the 2% that we had is much bigger than a normal 2%, because it's cleaner business is more profitable and it should compound as we move forward.

我認為從長遠來看，我們的美國業務將成為一家更強大的公司，因為我們正在做所有正確的事情，我認為我們需要做一些事情來為未來做好準備。所以，——銷售額，是的，我想要超過 2%。但我向你們保證，我們的 2% 比正常的 2% 要大得多，因為它的業務更清潔，利潤更高，而且隨著我們的前進，它應該會復合。

That's helpful. Thanks. I guess, sticking with the US can you just touch on recruiting trends there. I know you said you still have a bit of a way to go to get back to pre-pandemic levels. So it would be just good to get your thoughts on the recovery there.

這很有幫助。謝謝。我想，堅持美國可以讓你了解那裡的招募趨勢。我知道你說過要回到大流行前的水平還有一段路要走。因此，最好能了解您對那裡的恢復情況的看法。

In the first quarter, we came up negative on recruiting came in with the second quarter, though, very strong. I think we were over 10% increase. I see us continuing that trend going forward to the second half. But when I mentioned that you kind of go back and look pre pandemic and you look where we are today. We're going for quality recruiting. We're going for a better conversion rate and invest leads at a higher productivity.

在第一季度，我們對招募結果持負面態度，但第二季度的招募情況卻非常強勁。我認為我們的增幅超過 10%。我認為我們將在下半年繼續這種趨勢。但當我提到你可以回顧一下大流行之前的情況，看看我們今天的處境。我們致力於高品質的招募。我們致力於提高轉換率並以更高的生產力投資潛在客戶。

We continue to see better productivity from what we're seeing with our agents and that is really the bigger factor for us. Last year we recruited over 10,000. I would expect the same this year. We've got some national recruiting efforts going on right now across the country.

從我們的代理商身上看到的生產力不斷提高，這對我們來說確實是更重要的因素。去年我們招募了超過 10,000 名員工。我預計今年也是如此。我們目前正在全國各地進行一些全國性的招募工作。

What we really do is we leverage support from headquarters to drive our message and then we leveraged what we call it, nomination process is to local agents, local brokers went out telling people about the Aflac career path and bringing people in to listen to that story. And then we actually turn them into recruits and ultimately trying to get them to be average weekly producers. I am very pleased what we did in the second quarter. Some of those efforts will definitely continue in third and fourth quarters also.

我們真正做的是利用總部的支持來傳達我們的訊息，然後我們利用我們所說的，提名過程是針對當地代理商的，當地經紀人出去告訴人們 Aflac 的職業道路，並讓人們進來聽這個故事。然後我們實際上把他們變成了新兵，並最終試圖讓他們成為平均每週的製作人。我對我們第二季的表現感到非常滿意。其中一些努力肯定會在第三和第四季繼續下去。

Tom Gallagher, Evercore ISI.

湯姆·加拉格爾，Evercore ISI。

Just a Tsumitasu product follow-up question. Can you talk a little bit about how you think this rollout is going to go? Clearly, the June rollout seems to have been a big success. Would you expect this to become a much larger percentage of sales as you think about the rollout over the next couple of quarters here?

只是Tsumitasu 產品的後續問題。能談談您認為這次推出會如何進行嗎？顯然，六月的推出似乎取得了巨大成功。當您考慮未來幾季的推出時，您是否預期這將在銷售額中佔據更大的比例？

How do you think third sector sales are going to hang in there? Because I think it's being sold through the same distribution as your third sector. So I'm just wondering while this gets rolled out, are we going to see a slowdown in third sector? How do you see that all playing out, I guess over the near term next couple of quarters?

您認為第三部門的銷售將如何維持？因為我認為它是透過與第三部門相同的分銷管道出售的。所以我只是想知道，當這個推出時，我們會看到第三部門放緩嗎？我想在接下來的幾個季度中，您如何看待這一切的進展？

Let me kick it off and then I'll hand it over to Yoshizumi for some more details. We do not have an explicit caps around this product. And the reason why it’s because it producing very good returns for us both from a profit margins standpoint and also from an IRR standpoint, with a significant spread to our cost of capital. So we actually do want to sell quite a bit of all this product.

讓我開始吧，然後我會將其交給 Yoshizumi 以了解更多細節。我們對該產品沒有明確的上限。之所以如此，是因為無論從利潤率的角度還是從內部收益率的角度來看，它都為我們帶來了非常好的回報，並且顯著降低了我們的資本成本。所以我們實際上確實想出售相當多的這些產品。

That being said, this product is very much about how it can lift our third sector franchise. We still believe that we are a third sector company. And we want to make sure that we keep our exceptionally strong position in that marketplace as the number one as third sector player in Japan. So that is the context of this product. And Yoshizumi can help give you some more details in terms of the timing of the full rollout of the product.

話雖這麼說，這個產品很大程度上是關於如何提升我們第三部門的特許經營權。我們仍然相信我們是一家第三部門公司。我們希望確保我們在該市場中保持異常強大的地位，成為日本第三行業的第一大參與者。這就是這個產品的背景。Yoshizumi 可以幫助您提供有關該產品全面推出的時間的更多詳細資訊。

(Interpreted)

（解釋）

Thank you. This is your Yoshizumi. I would like to answer your question. First of all this product was launched on June 2. We have able to record a very successful big sales. And the reason why we have been able to record such big sales at the beginning of its launch is because, we, we meaning our distribution channel has been fully prepared to really to sell this product where they should be selling. How we should be selling and that's what we'd be working on since the beginning of the second quarter.

謝謝。這是你的吉住。我想回答你的問題。首先，該產品於6月2日推出。我們能夠取得非常成功的大銷售。我們之所以能夠在推出之初就取得如此大的銷量，是因為我們的分銷管道已經做好充分準備，可以真正在他們應該銷售的地方銷售該產品。我們應該如何銷售，這就是我們自第二季初以來一直在努力的方向。

And the reason why this kind of preparation was needed was because. And as our agents talk to about Tsumitasu new customers, our agents really need to practice how to sell this product. As a result, our agents did visit those customers that are easy for them to be talking to and as a result it made a big hit in the sales.

而之所以需要這樣的準備，是因為。當我們的代理商談論 Tsumitasu 新客戶時，我們的代理商確實需要練習如何銷售該產品。結果，我們的代理商確實拜訪了那些容易交談的客戶，結果對銷售產生了很大的影響。

And as a result of this through preparation for the June launch we are not expecting the same level of sales from July and on. But as a product to earn certain level of volume. And we are quite sure that this product will serve that kind of a role.

因此，透過為 6 月的發布做準備，我們預計 7 月及以後的銷售水平不會相同。但作為一個產品，要賺取一定程度的銷售量。我們非常確定該產品將發揮這種作用。

And the big role that this product will play is to cross-sell third sector products. And it would be easier for our sales agents to talk about third sector products through their customers once they start talking about Tsumitasu.

該產品將發揮的重要作用是交叉銷售第三部門產品。一旦我們的銷售代理商開始談論 Tsumitasu，他們就會更容易透過客戶談論第三部門產品。

And that is the difference between other first sector products because Tsumitasu has its own feature that can make that sales agents easily talk about third sector products. So what we are expecting is to have Tsumitasu sell to certain volume on its own, but on top of that sell third sector products is to certain level, as well. That's all for me.

這就是與其他第一部門產品的區別，因為Tsumitasu有自己的特點，可以讓銷售代理商輕鬆談論第三部門產品。因此，我們期望的是Tsumitasu 自己能夠銷售到一定數量，但除此之外，第三部門產品的銷售也達到一定水準。這就是我的全部。

This is Dan, I want to make a couple of comments. Number one is we normally don't show the first month. We show a quarter of whatever new product is. It is not unusual to have a spike. What I've always said is we introduce new product no matter of what it is. You have a spike and then it levels off. We're in the spike period. And we've seen that with others. But it will come down as he said and we expect that.

我是丹，我想發表幾點評論。第一是我們通常不顯示第一個月。我們展示了四分之一的新產品。出現尖峰並不罕見。我一直說的是，無論新產品是什麼，我們都會推出。你會出現一個峰值，然後就會趨於平穩。我們正處於高峰期。我們在其他人身上也看到過這一點。但它會像他所說的那樣下降，我們對此也期望如此。

So, just keep that in mind the other thing is that the numbers were small numbers in the past. And so that also as a percentage makes it look bigger than it normally is. But there's nothing here that makes me think that is any different from other new products other than it's doing very well as a few of our products have.

因此，請記住另一件事是，過去的數字很小。因此，從百分比來看，它看起來比平常更大。但這裡沒有什麼讓我認為它與其他新產品有什麼不同，除了它像我們的一些產品一樣表現得很好。

And we're excited about that and pleased that we were able to find the way to get the profit margins to acceptable levels so we could do this. We've been wanting to do it, but we haven't been able to do it and given Max his credit. He was been able to find a way to help do this and we appreciate that very much on his part.

我們對此感到興奮，並且很高興我們能夠找到將利潤率提高到可接受水平的方法，以便我們能夠做到這一點。我們一直想這麼做，但一直沒能做到，這要歸功於麥克斯。他能夠找到一種方法來幫助做到這一點，我們非常感謝他。

Tom, I want to address a question that you did not ask, but I think you wanted to ask and that is, how is this different from the waste sales that we had in the years 2012 through 2014? And I would characterize is there are three main differences. The first one is that we will do much more frequent repricing of new business for this product.

湯姆，我想回答一個你沒有問過的問題，但我想你想問的是，這與我們 2012 年至 2014 年的廢棄物銷售有何不同？我認為有三個主要差異。第一個是我們將對該產品的新業務進行更頻繁的重新定價。

And that's very important because this is a more interest rate sensitive product than our core third sector business. The other one is that we will have a much more diligent management of the distribution channels and the third piece is that we are not utilizing reinsurance to make sure that we can relieve some of that new business train and get the IRS higher. And if you take all of that to get or that is what makes this different from the waste sales that we had of that were very significant back in that timeframe of 2012 through 2014.

這非常重要，因為這是比我們的核心第三部門業務對利率更敏感的產品。另一個是我們將對分銷管道進行更勤奮的管理，第三個是我們不會利用再保險來確保我們可以減輕一些新的業務培訓並提高國稅局的稅率。如果你把所有這些都考慮在內，那就是這與我們在 2012 年至 2014 年這段時間內的廢物銷售的不同之處。

Joel Hurwitz, Dowling & Partners.

喬爾‧赫維茲 (Joel Hurwitz)，道林合夥人事務所。

Hey, thanks for taking the follow-up. I just wanted to touch on net investment income in Japan and particularly, the US dollar portfolio unified just for the make whole and the slightly favorable VIII it seem to have a pretty sizeable step up in yield from the first quarter. Is there any color on what drove that and do you think that the, I guess the normalized NII level implied in Q2 is sustainable?

嘿，感謝您的關注。我只想談談日本的淨投資收入，特別是美元投資組合的統一隻是為了整體和稍微有利的第八季度，它的收益率似乎比第一季度有了相當大的提高。推動這一趨勢的因素有什麼色彩嗎？

Joel, this is Brad Dyslin. Thank you for the question. We did have a very solid second quarter as you pointed out and there were several things that drove that that we do think are sustainable into the back half of the year. Besides the adjustments that you that you’ve highlighted short rates remain very attractive even with the Fed likely to cut sometime this fall, short rates remain very attractive compared to historical levels.

喬爾，這是布拉德戴斯林。謝謝你的提問。正如您所指出的，我們的第二季度確實非常穩健，有幾件事推動了我們認為下半年可持續發展。除了您強調的調整之外，即使聯準會可能在今年秋季某個時候降息，短期利率仍然非常有吸引力，與歷史水平相比，短期利率仍然非常有吸引力。

And that benefits us in a few ways including our significant floating rate portfolio. We also took some actions early in the year, some tactical things we did with the portfolio. We moved a few bonds around in our public portfolio to capture some yield opportunities. It was a pretty sizable switch trade.

這在幾個方面使我們受益，包括我們重要的浮動利率投資組合。我們也在今年年初採取了一些行動，對投資組合做了一些戰術性的事情。我們在公共投資組合中轉移了一些債券，以捕捉一些收益機會。這是一筆相當大的轉換交易。

We also took advantage of some attractive spreads and accelerated deployment in our structured private credit portfolio. So we think the things that have carried us in the second quarter these tailwinds are going to continue through the second half of the year. Now there are risks of course, but we think we're pretty well positioned and should have a good second half.

我們也利用了一些有吸引力的利差，並加快了結構化私人信貸投資組合的部署。因此，我們認為第二季帶給我們的這些利多因素將持續到今年下半年。現在當然存在風險，但我們認為我們已經處於有利位置，應該有一個好的下半場。

And then just, I had won on US persistency. So Max, you mentioned in your prepared remarks that you're encouraged by the early signs from some of the initiatives that you guys put in place. I guess, just what are you seeing and how much improvement do you guys think you can drive in persistency in the US?

就在那時，我憑藉美國的堅持而獲勝。麥克斯，您在準備好的發言中提到，您們所採取的一些舉措的早期跡象讓您感到鼓舞。我想，你們看到了什麼？

I'm not going to put an exact number on that, but I would say that anything if you get even something like a 100 basis points is meaningful when the overtime translates that into the economic impact that would have from additional net earned premium. So, it's something that we will continue to drive over time.

我不會給出一個確切的數字，但我想說，當加班將其轉化為額外淨賺保費所產生的經濟影響時，即使是 100 個基點之類的任何東西都是有意義的。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們將繼續推動這一目標。

The other thing I want you to be aware of is that persistency will jump around somewhat driven by mix of business. So our in-force in the US, it is gradually changing. So you are going to see more Group Life and Disability business as a proportion of our in-force, which clearly has a much higher persistence rate than our average.

我希望您注意的另一件事是，持久性會在某種程度上受到業務組合的驅動。所以我們在美國的力量正在逐漸改變。因此，您將看到更多的團體人壽和殘疾業務在我們的現有員工中所佔的比例，顯然其持續率比我們的平均水平高得多。

And then also the same thing applies to over time our Dental and Vision businesses as well should have an improved persistency. So we're driving all the underlying businesses and the way they improve persistency but then the mix impact will be an important component as well. So, over time, what we are driving is both that business-by-business improved persistency and then obviously the mix impact, as well. So we will over time sort of call that out and give you some more colors on that as well.

隨著時間的推移，同樣的事情也適用於我們的牙科和視力業務，並且應該具有更好的持久性。因此，我們正在推動所有基礎業務及其提高持久性的方式，但混合影響也將是重要組成部分。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們正在推動的是逐一業務提高持久性，以及明顯的混合影響。因此，隨著時間的推移，我們會指出這一點，並為您提供更多的顏色。

This concludes our question and answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to David Young for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給大衛楊（David Young）發表閉幕詞。

Thank you, Betsy and thank you all for joining us this morning. I hope you'll be able to join us on the morning of December 3 at the New York Stock Exchange or on our webcast for our Financial Analysts Briefing. If you have any additional follow-ups, please reach out to the Investor and Rating Agency Relations team. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

謝謝貝特西，也謝謝大家今天早上加入我們。我希望您能夠於 12 月 3 日上午在紐約證券交易所參加我們的金融分析師簡報會網路直播。如果您有任何其他後續事宜，請聯絡投資者和評級機構關係團隊。我們期待您的來信。謝謝。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連線。