美國家庭壽險 (AFL) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Aflac Incorporated fourth-quarter 2024 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Aflac Incorporated 2024 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）請注意，此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to hand the call over to David Young, Vice President of Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

現在，我想將電話交給資本市場副總裁戴維楊 (David Young)。請繼續。

Good morning and welcome. Thank you for joining us for Aflac Incorporated's fourth-quarter earnings call. This morning, Dan Amos, Chairman, CEO of Aflac Incorporated, will provide an overview of our 2024 results in operations in Japan and the United States. Then Max Brodén, Senior Executive Vice President and CFO of Aflac Incorporated, will provide an update on our fourth-quarter and 2024 financial results, current capital and liquidity, as well as some color on our outlook for 2025. These topics are also addressed in the materials we posted with our earnings release and financial supplement on investors.aflac.com.

早上好，歡迎光臨。感謝您參加 Aflac Incorporated 第四季財報電話會議。今天上午，美國家庭人壽保險公司 (Aflac Incorporated) 董事長兼執行長 Dan Amos 將概述我們 2024 年在日本和美國的營運表現。然後，Aflac Incorporated 高級執行副總裁兼財務長 Max Brodén 將介紹我們第四季度和 2024 年的財務業績、流動資本和流動性的最新情況，以及對 2025 年前景的一些展望。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。

In addition, Max provided his quarterly video update, which also includes information about the outlook for 2025. We also posted under financials on the same site, updated slides of investment details related to our commercial real estate and middle market loans.

此外，Max 還提供了他的季度視訊更新，其中還包括有關 2025 年展望的資訊。我們也在同一網站的財務專欄下發布了與我們的商業房地產和中端市場貸款相關的投資細節的更新幻燈片。

For Q&A today, we are also joined by Virgil Miller, President of Aflac Incorporated and 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.

今天的問答環節，我們也邀請了 Aflac Incorporated 和 Aflac US 總裁 Virgil Miller；查爾斯‧萊克 (Charles Lake)，美國家庭人壽保險公司 (Aflac International) 董事長兼代表董事、總裁；小出昌俊 (Masatoshi Koide)，日本 Aflac 人壽保險總裁兼代表董事；以及 Aflac Global Investments 總裁、全球首席投資長 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，本次電話會議中的某些聲明在聯邦證券法的定義範圍內是前瞻性的。儘管我們相信這些陳述是合理的，但由於它們本質上是前瞻性的，我們不能保證它們的準確性。實際結果可能與我們今天討論的結果有重大差異。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結果產生重大影響的各種風險因素。

As I mentioned earlier, the earnings release is available on investors.aflac.com and includes reconciliations of certain non-US GAAP measures. I'll now hand the call over to Dan. Dan?

正如我之前提到的，收益報告可在 investors.aflac.com 上查閱，其中包括某些非美國 GAAP 指標的對帳表。我現在將電話交給丹。擔？

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. We're glad you joined us. Before Max provides a more detailed view of our financial results, I'd like to reflect on what was another very good year.

謝謝你，大衛，大家早安。我們很高興您加入我們。在 Max 更詳細地介紹我們的財務表現之前，我想先回顧一下過去的另一個非常好的一年。

Aflac Incorporated delivered very strong earnings for the year with net earnings per diluted share up 23.8% to $9.63, and adjusted earnings per diluted share, up 15.7% to $7.21. Aflac Japan represented more than 70% of pretax adjusted earnings and three-quarters of the company's consolidated balance sheet in 2024. Aflac Japan also generated a 15.5% increase in pretax adjusted earnings and a record 36% pretax profit margin in 2024.

美國家庭人壽保險公司 (Aflac Incorporated) 的年度獲利非常強勁，每股攤薄淨收益上漲 23.8% 至 9.63 美元，調整後每股攤薄收益上漲 15.7% 至 7.21 美元。到 2024 年，Aflac Japan 占公司稅前調整後收益的 70% 以上，占公司合併資產負債表的四分之三。2024 年，Aflac Japan 的稅前調整後收益也增加了 15.5%，稅前利潤率達到創紀錄的 36%。

I am pleased with Aflac Japan's 93.4% premium persistency and 5.6% year-over-year sales increase, which included a 9% sales increase in the fourth quarter. By maintaining strong persistency and adding new premium through sales, we are partially offsetting the impact of reinsurance and policies reaching paid-up status. This will be integral to the future growth of Aflac Japan.

我對 Aflac Japan 93.4% 的保費持續性和 5.6% 的同比增長感到滿意，其中包括第四季度 9% 的銷售額增長。透過保持強大的持續性並透過銷售增加新的保費，我們部分抵消了再保險和保單達到付清狀態的影響。這對 Aflac Japan 的未來發展至關重要。

Taking into account Japan's demographics, our product strategy is to fit the needs of customers throughout all stages of life. Acquiring younger customers is critical to our success. We believe [Tsumitasu] appeals to younger customers in Japan. Our strong sales in Japan reflect the success of our agencies have had selling Tsumitasu.

考慮到日本的人口統計數據，我們的產品策略是滿足客戶各個人生階段的需求。獲得年輕客戶對於我們的成功至關重要。我們相信[Tsumitasu]對日本的年輕消費者俱有吸引力。我們在日本的強勁銷售業績反映了我們的代理商在銷售 Tsumitasu 方面所取得的成功。

As the pioneer of cancer insurance and leading third sector insurer, we also aim to sell these Tsumitasu policyholders a medical policy or cancer policy. Our last cancer insurance, WINGS, was launched in stages in 2022. Therefore, we are planning a staged launch through our distribution channels of our new cancer insurance product between March and April. This new product includes our unique Yorisou cancer consultation support service, along with insurance coverage that offers enhanced protection before, during, and after cancer treatment. This product also features a flexible coverage and introduces a new plan for children, thus providing comprehensive protection for customers.

作為癌症保險的先驅和領先的第三部門保險公司，我們還旨在向這些 Tsumitasu 保單持有人出售醫療保單或癌症保單。我們上一款癌症保險WINGS將於2022年分階段推出。因此，我們計劃在三月至四月期間透過我們的分銷管道分階段推出我們的新癌症保險產品。這款新產品包括我們獨特的Yorisou癌症諮詢支援服務，以及在癌症治療前、治療中和治療後提供增強保護的保險。本產品亦具有靈活的保障範圍，並新增兒童計劃，為客戶提供周全的保障。

We will also maintain our focus on being where the customers want to buy insurance through our broad network of distribution channels, including agencies, alliance partners, and banks. This reach continually optimizes opportunities to help provide financial protection to Japanese consumers.

我們也將繼續專注於透過我們廣泛的分銷管道網路（包括代理商、聯盟合作夥伴和銀行）滿足客戶購買保險的需求。這一範圍不斷優化機會，幫助為日本消費者提供財務保護。

Turning to Aflac US, we have focused on updating our products to ensure that our policyholders understand the value of our products provide. When people experience the value of our products, we believe it enhances product persistency, which both benefits our policyholders and lowers our expenses. In the US, I continue to be pleased with our 70-basis-point improvement in premium persistency to 79.3%. We also generated a 2.7% increase in net earned premiums, a measure we continue to focus on improving.

談到 Aflac US，我們專注於更新我們的產品，以確保我們的保單持有人了解我們的產品所提供的價值。當人們體驗到我們產品的價值時，我們相信這會提高產品的持久性，這不僅使我們的保單持有人受益，也降低了我們的費用。在美國，我繼續對保費持續性提高 70 個基點至 79.3% 感到滿意。我們的淨保費收入也成長了 2.7%，我們將繼續致力於提高這項指標。

Additionally, our pretax profit margin for the year was strong at 21.1%. Sales were lower than expected in the fourth quarter, leading to a 1% decline for the year. We continue to focus on more profitable growth through our stronger underwriting discipline. At the same time, we are engaging agents and brokers following the stabilization of our network dental operation. As always, we continue our prudent approach to expense management and maintaining a strong pretax margin.

此外，我們今年的稅前利潤率高達21.1%。第四季銷售額低於預期，導致全年下降1%。我們將繼續致力於透過加強承保紀律來實現更高的獲利成長。同時，隨著網路牙科業務的穩定，我們正在招募代理商和經紀人。與往常一樣，我們繼續採取審慎的費用管理方式並維持強勁的稅前利潤率。

I believe that the need for our products and the solutions we offer is as strong or stronger than they have ever been before in both Japan and the United States. We are leveraging every opportunity and avenue to share this message with consumers, knowing our products help lift the people up when they need. It is something that makes all of us at Aflac very proud and inspires us to reach more people.

我相信，日本和美國對我們的產品和解決方案的需求比以往任何時候都強烈甚至更強烈。我們利用每一個機會和途徑與消費者分享這個訊息，知道我們的產品能夠在人們需要的時候幫助他們。這讓 Aflac 的所有人都感到非常自豪，並激勵我們去幫助更多的人。

We continue to reinforce our leading position and build on that momentum. We continue to generate strong capital and cash flows while maintaining our commitment to prudent liquidity and capital management. We have been very pleased with our investments, which have continued to produce strong net investment income.

我們將繼續鞏固我們的領先地位並繼續保持這一勢頭。我們繼續產生強勁的資本和現金流，同時保持對審慎的流動性和資本管理的承諾。我們對我們的投資感到非常滿意，這些投資持續產生了強勁的淨投資收益。

As an insurance company, our primary responsibility is to fulfill the promises that we make to our policyholders while being responsive to the needs of our shareholders. Our solid portfolio support our promise to our policyholders as does our commitment to maintain strong capital ratios.

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，同時回應股東的需求。我們穩健的投資組合支持了我們對保單持有人的承諾，也支持了我們維持強勁資本比率的承諾。

We balance this financial strength with tactical capital deployment. I am very happy with how management has handled capital deployment and liquidity and specifically, how well we've adapted to this environment. Year to date, Aflac [incorporates] deployment of $2.8 billion in capital to repurchase more than 30 million shares of Aflac stock. Additionally, we treasure our track record of what is now 42 consecutive years of dividend growth. At the same time, we have maintained our position among companies with the highest return on capital and the lowest cost of capital in the industry.

我們透過戰術資本部署來平衡這種財務實力。我對管理階層處理資本部署和流動性的方式感到非常滿意，特別是我們對這種環境的適應能力。今年迄今，Aflac 已投入 28 億美元資本回購了超過 3,000 萬股 A​​flac 股票。此外，我們珍惜連續42年股利成長的業績紀錄。同時，我們持續維持業界資本回報率最高、資本成本最低的公司地位。

Combined with dividends, this means that we delivered $3.9 billion back to the shareholders in 2024. 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.

加上股息，這意味著我們在 2024 年向股東返還了 39 億美元。我們相信我們的業務具有潛在的優勢，並且在日本和美國這兩個全球最大的人壽保險市場中具有持續成長的潛力。

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

現在我將節目交給馬克斯介紹財務結果的更多細節。最大限度？

Thank you for joining me as I provide a financial update on Aflac Incorporated's results for the fourth quarter of 2024. For the quarter, adjusted earnings per diluted share increased 24.8% year over year to $1.56 with a $0.01 negative impact from FX in the quarter. In this quarter, remeasurement gains on reserves totaled $43 million, reducing benefits. Variable investment income ran $17 million above our long-term return expectations.

感謝您加入我，我將提供有關 Aflac Incorporated 2024 年第四季業績的財務更新。本季度，調整後每股攤薄收益年增 24.8% 至 1.56 美元，外匯因素對本季產生了 0.01 美元的負面影響。本季度，準備金重估收益總計 4,300 萬美元，減少了收益。可變投資收益比我們的長期回報預期高出 1700 萬美元。

Adjusted book value per share, excluding foreign currency remeasurement, increased 3.2%. The adjusted ROE was 12% and 14.5% excluding FX remeasurement, an acceptable spread to our cost of capital. Overall, we view these results in the quarter as solid.

調整後每股帳面價值（不包括外幣重估）成長 3.2%。調整後的 ROE 為 12%，扣除外匯重估後為 14.5%，與我們的資本成本之間存在可接受的利差。整體而言，我們認為本季的業績穩健。

Starting with our Japan segment. Net and premiums for the quarter declined 5.4%. This decline reflects a JPY7.2 billion negative impact from an internal cancer reinsurance transaction executed in the fourth quarter of 2024, and a JPY4.4 billion negative impact from paid-up policies. In addition, there's a JPY300 million positive impact from deferred profit liability. At the same time, policies in force declined 2.3%.

從我們的日本分部開始。本季淨利和保費下降 5.4%。這一下降反映了 2024 年第四季執行的內部癌症再保險交易產生的 72 億日圓負面影響，以及已付清保單產生的 44 億日圓負面影響。此外，遞延利潤負債也產生了3億日圓的正面影響。同時，有效保單下降了2.3%。

Japan's total benefit ratio came in at 66.5% for the quarter, up 40 basis points year over year and 62.5% for the year. The third sector benefit ratio was 56.9% for the quarter, up approximately 70 basis points year over year. We estimate the impact from remeasurement gains to be approximately 100 basis points favorable to the benefit ratio in Q4 2024.

日本本季總福利比率為66.5％，比去年同期上升40個基點，比去年同期上升10個基點，全年為62.5％。本季第三部門效益比率為56.9%，較去年同期上升約70個基點。我們估計，重新計量收益的影響將對 2024 年第四季的收益率產生約 100 個基點的有利影響。

Long-term experience trends as they relate to treatment of cancer and hospitalization continue to be in place, leading to continued favorable underwriting experience. Persistency remained solid at 93.4%, which was unchanged year over year and in line with our expectations.

與癌症治療和住院相關的長期經驗趨勢持續存在，從而帶來持續有利的承保經驗。持續率仍維持在 93.4% 的穩定水平，與去年同期相比沒有變化，符合我們的預期。

Our expense ratio in Japan was 20.8% for the quarter, down 30 basis points year over year, driven primarily by a decline in expenses. For the year, the expense ratio in Japan was 19.1%. For the quarter, adjusted net investment income in yen terms was up 3.7%, as a transfer of assets to Aflac Re Bermuda associated with reinsurance and lower floating rate income was more than offset by higher returns from structured private credit, infrastructure, and our alternatives portfolio.

我們本季在日本的費用率為 20.8%，較去年同期下降 30 個基點，主要原因是費用下降。全年日本的費用率為19.1%。本季度，以日圓計算的調整後淨投資收入成長了 3.7%，因為與再保險和較低浮動利率收入相關的資產轉移到 Aflac Re Bermuda，被結構化私人信貸、基礎設施和我們的另類投資組合帶來的更高回報所抵消。

Adjusted net investment income was up 12.1% for the year. The pretax margin for Japan in the quarter was 31.6%, up 120 basis points year over year, a very good result. For the full year, the pretax margin was even stronger, 36%, which is also the highest in 30 years.

調整後投資淨收益全年上漲12.1%。本季日本的稅前利潤率為31.6%，年增120個基點，這是一個非常好的成績。全年稅前利潤率更加強勁，達到36%，這也是30年來的最高水準。

Turning to US results, net term premium was up 2.7%. Persistency increased 70 basis points year over year to 79.3%. Our US total benefit ratio came in at 46.3%, 170 basis points higher than Q4 2023, driven by lower remeasurement gains than a year ago.

回顧美國業績，淨期限溢價上漲2.7%。持續性較去年增加70個基點，達79.3%。我們的美國總福利比率為 46.3%，比 2023 年第四季高出 170 個基點，主要是由於重估收益低於一年前。

We estimate that the remeasurement gains impacted the benefit ratio by approximately 170 basis points in the quarter. Claims utilization has rebounded from depressed levels during the pandemic and are now more in line with our long-term expectations.

我們估計，重新計量收益對本季的收益率產生了約 170 個基點的影響。索賠利用率已從疫情期間的低迷水準反彈，目前更符合我們的長期預期。

For the full year, the US total benefit ratio was 46.8%. Our expense ratio in the US was 40.3%, down 310 basis points year over year, primarily driven by platforms improving scale and strong expense management. For the year, the US expense ratio was 38.5%.

全年美國總福利比率為46.8%。我們在美國的費用率為40.3%，較去年同期下降310個基點，主要得益於平台規模的提升和強大的費用管理。全年美國費用率為38.5%。

Our growth initiatives, group life and disability, network dental ambition, and direct-to-consumer increased our total expense ratio by 170 basis points for the quarter. This is in line with our expectations 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、團體人壽和殘障保險、網路牙科目標以及直接面向消費者的計劃導致本季度我們的總費用率增加了 170 個基點。這符合我們的預期，我們預計，隨著這些業務規模擴大和獲利能力提高，這種影響將會減少。

Adjusted net investment income in the US was up 0.9% for the quarter, mainly driven by high returns from alternatives and 3.3% for the year. Profitability in the US segment was solid with a pretax margin of 19.7%, also a good result, as was the 21.1% for the full year.

美國調整後的淨投資收入本季上漲 0.9%，主要得益於另類投資的高回報，全年上漲 3.3%。美國分部的獲利能力穩健，稅前利潤率為 19.7%，同樣取得了不錯的成績，全年利潤率為 21.1%。

We continue managing through the worst commercial real estate downturn in decades. During the quarter, we increased our CECL reserves associated with our commercial real estate portfolio by $40 million, net of charge-offs as property values remain at distressed valuations. We also foreclosed on two loans, adding them to our real estate-owned portfolio. We continue to believe that the current distressed market does not reflect the true intrinsic value of our portfolio, which is why we are confident in our ability to take ownership of these assets, manage them through the cycle, and maximize our recoveries. Our portfolio of first lien senior secured middle market loans continue to perform well, with losses below our expectations for this point in the cycle.

我們繼續應對幾十年來最嚴重的商業房地產低迷。在本季度，我們將與商業房地產投資組合相關的 CECL 儲備增加了 4000 萬美元，扣除沖銷部分，因為房地產價值仍處於困境估值。我們還取消了兩筆貸款的贖回權，並將其添加到我們擁有的房地產投資組合中。我們仍然相信，目前的低迷市場並未反映出我們投資組合的真正內在價值，因此我們有信心能夠擁有這些資產，在整個週期內進行管理，並最大限度地提高我們的回收率。我們的一級留置權優先擔保中型市場貸款組合繼續表現良好，損失低於我們對當前週期階段的預期。

In our Corporate segment, we recorded a pretax loss of $4 million. Adjusted net investment income was $153 million higher than last year due to a combination of continued lower volume of tax credit investments, higher rates and asset balances, which included the impact of the reinsurance transaction in Q4 of 2024, which was similar in structure and economics in yen terms to our October 2023 transaction. These tax credit investments impacted the corporate net investment income line for US GAAP purposes negatively by $46 million in the quarter, with an associated credit to the tax line.

在我們的企業部門，我們記錄了 400 萬美元的稅前虧損。調整後的淨投資收入比去年高出 1.53 億美元，原因是稅收抵免投資量持續下降、利率和資產餘額上升，其中包括 2024 年第四季度再保險交易的影響，該交易在結構和經濟上以日元計算與我們 2023 年 10 月的交易相似。這些稅收抵免投資對本季度美國公認會計準則下的企業淨投資收益產生了 4,600 萬美元的負面影響，併計入了稅收額度。

The net impact to our bottom line was a positive $4 million in the quarter. To date, these investments are performing well and in line with our expectations.

本季對我們的底線的淨影響為400萬美元。到目前為止，這些投資表現良好，符合我們的預期。

Our capital position remains strong. And we ended the quarter with an SMR above 1,150%, an estimated ESR about 270%. Our combined RBC, while not finalized, we estimate to be greater than 650%. These are strong capital ratios, which we actively monitor [stress] and managed to withstand credit cycles as well as external shocks.

我們的資本狀況依然強勁。本季結束時，SMR 超過 1,150%，預計 ESR 約為 270%。儘管我們的合併 RBC 尚未最終確定，但我們估計其將超過 650%。這些都是強大的資本比率，我們積極監控[壓力]並成功抵禦信貸週期以及外部衝擊。

US statutory impairments were $3 million, and it was JPY700 million of Japan FSA impairments in Q4. This is well within our expectations and with limited impact to both earnings and capital.

美國法定減損損失為 300 萬美元，日本金融服務管理局第四季減損損失為 7 億日圓。這完全符合我們的預期，且對收益和資本的影響有限。

Our leverage was 19.7% for the quarter, which is just below our target range of 20% to 25%. As we hold approximately 60% of our debt in yen, this leverage ratio is impacted by moves in the yen-dollar exchange rate. This is intentional and part of our enterprise hedging program protecting the economic value of Aflac Japan in US dollar terms.

本季我們的槓桿率為 19.7%，略低於我們的 20% 至 25% 的目標範圍。由於我們持有的約 60% 債務是日圓，因此該槓桿率會受到日圓兌美元匯率變動的影響。這是我們有意為之，也是我們企業對沖計劃的一部分，旨在以美元計算保護 Aflac Japan 的經濟價值。

Unencumbered holding company liquidity stood at $4.1 billion, $2.3 billion above our minimum balance. We repurchased $750 million of our own stock and paid dividends of $277 million in Q4, offering good relative IRR on these capital deployments. 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.

未支配的控股公司流動資金為 41 億美元，比我們的最低餘額高出 23 億美元。我們在第四季度回購了價值 7.5 億美元的自有股票並支付了 2.77 億美元的股息，這些資本配置提供了良好的相對內部收益率。我們將繼續採取靈活且有策略性的方法來管理資產負債表和部署資本，以實現強勁的風險調整後股本回報率，並使資本成本實現有意義的利差。

On December 3, we shared estimated ranges for annual key metrics for both segments for 2025 through 2027 at our financial analyst briefing, and we continue to stand by these ranges. However, for 2025, we expect the benefit ratio in Japan to be toward the higher end of the 64% to 66% range. And we continue to expect the expense ratio to be at the lower end of the 20% to 23% range as we pursue various growth and strategic initiatives. As a result, we expect the Aflac Japan's pretax profit margin to be at the lower end of 30% to 33% range.

12 月 3 日，我們在財務分析師簡報會上分享了 2025 年至 2027 年兩個部門年度關鍵指標的預計範圍，並且我們將繼續堅持這些範圍。然而，到 2025 年，我們預計日本的福利比率將達到 64% 至 66% 的較高水準。隨著我們追求各種成長和策略舉措，我們繼續預期費用率將處於 20% 至 23% 的低端。因此，我們預計 Aflac Japan 的稅前利潤率將處於 30% 至 33% 的低端。

In the US, we expect the benefit ratio for 2025 to be at the lower end of the 48% to 52% range and the expense ratio to be at the upper end of the 36% to 39% range as we continue to scale new business lines. At the same time, we expect pretax profit margin for 2025 in the US to be at the upper end of the 17% to 20% range.

在美國，隨著我們繼續擴大新的業務線，我們預計 2025 年的福利率將處於 48% 至 52% 範圍的低端，費用率將處於 36% 至 39% 範圍的高端。同時，我們預計2025年美國稅前利潤率將達到17%至20%的上限。

Thank you. I'll now hand it back to David to begin Q&A.

謝謝。現在我將會議交還給戴維，開始問答環節。

Thank you, Max. Before we begin our Q&A, we ask that you please limit yourself to one initial question and a related follow-up. You may then rejoin the queue. We will now take the first question.

謝謝你，馬克斯。在我們開始問答之前，請您將自己限制在一個初始問題和一個相關的後續問題上。然後您可以重新加入隊列。我們現在回答第一個問題。

We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions) Joel Hurwitz, Dowling & Partners.

我們現在開始問答環節。（操作員指示）Joel Hurwitz，Dowling & Partners。

Wanted to start on US sales. Virgil, can you just provide some more color what you're seeing in the competitive environment that's impacting your sales? Is it specific products or specific areas of the market?

想要開始美國銷售。維吉爾，您能否進一步說明競爭環境中哪些因素對您們的銷售產生了影響？它是特定的產品還是特定的市場領域？

Thank you, Joel. Good morning. Yeah, look, first, let me set the stage for going into the fourth quarter. We [knew] one through the fourth quarter, Joel, that we were up against one of the tougher comparisons for Q4. In Q4 of 2023, that was one of the largest sales quarters we've had in the history of Aflac. So we knew we had to have strong, solid performance.

謝謝你，喬爾。早安.是的，首先，讓我為進入第四節做好準備。喬爾，我們從第四季就知道，我們面臨的第四季情勢最為嚴峻。2023 年第四季是 Aflac 史上銷售額最大的季度之一。所以我們知道我們必須有強勁、穩健的表現。

The second thing I would say is that we also knew that we would stick to underwriting discipline we have put forth in our group [DB] products. What that really means is that we're not going to be bringing business on board that does not fit our profit profile. Therefore, businesses that have high turnover, businesses that you have low claims filing, we're not going to accept those because they're not good for the company longer term. The stronger underwriting discipline helps sets us up for a profitable business and profitable growth in the long-term vision that we have at Aflac.

我想說的第二件事是，我們也知道我們將堅持我們在集團（DB）產品中提出的承保紀律。這實際上意味著我們不會接受不符合我們利潤狀況的業務。因此，我們不會接受營業額高、索賠額低的企業，因為這對公司的長期發展不利。更嚴格的核保紀律有助於我們實現獲利業務和獲利成長，這正是 Aflac 的長期願景。

Then the third thing I would say is we knew that the market needs to respond to the improvements we've made with our dental and vision platform. I had disclosed prior in prior conversations that we had a failed system implementation that we were recovering from.

我想說的第三件事是我們知道市場需要對我們在牙科和視覺平台上所做的改進做出反應。我在之前的談話中已經透露過，我們的系統實施失敗了，目前正在恢復。

I'm very pleased with the recovery that we've seen, though, partnership that we formed. We're one of the industry-leading third-party administrators out there that's helped substantially move the needle on improvements, and we are open for business. We needed to get the brokers and our veteran agents to come back onboard and really put that product back on the market. It is a very competitive product.

不過，我對我們所看到的復甦以及我們建立的合作關係感到非常高興。我們是業界領先的第三方管理員之一，為推動行業進步做出了巨大貢獻，並且我們已開始營業。我們需要讓經紀人和資深代理商重新加入我們，並真正將產品重新推向市場。這是一個非常有競爭力的產品。

And quite frankly, we did not get the response. Do we need it? We saw a 33% decline in our dental sales for Q4. Along with the dental sales themselves though, there is the impact that we call halo, which means that on a general sense as we get additional voluntary benefit sales when we sell the dental product.

坦白說，我們沒有收到回覆。我們需要它嗎？我們的第四季牙科銷售額下降了 33%。然而，除了牙科銷售本身之外，還有我們所說的光環影響，這意味著從一般意義上講，當我們銷售牙科產品時，我們會獲得額外的自願福利銷售額。

Those are really the things that we add them up that impacted how we really performed in Q4. I would say, Joel, that I'm disappointed with the self to sales, but I'm very pleased with our overall performance. We did demonstrate these solid financial management. As you heard from Max, you heard from Dan, they mentioned that our pretax earnings were up 9.3%. Our margins were up 1.3%, earned premiums up 2.7%, persistency up 0.7%. Overall, very pleased with that.

這些確實是我們加起來的因素，影響了我們在第四季的實際表現。我想說，喬爾，我對自我銷售感到失望，但我對我們的整體表現非常滿意。我們確實展示了這些紮實的財務管理。正如您從馬克斯和丹那裡聽到的，他們提到我們的稅前收益增加了 9.3%。我們的利潤率上漲了 1.3%，已賺保費上漲了 2.7%，持續性上漲了 0.7%。整體來說，我非常滿意。

That tells you, though, this management discipline of making sure that we're looking at profitable business is generating the response that we need. We reduced expenses by 3.1%. And then overall, we were able to give additional value to our policyholders with an increased benefit ratio. And now we're watching that very closely, but very solid performance based on that discipline when we put out there in the market.

但這告訴你，這種確保我們關注的獲利業務的管理紀律正在產生我們所需的反應。我們將開支削減了3.1%。整體而言，我們能夠透過提高福利率為保單持有人提供額外的價值。現在我們正在密切關注這一點，但當我們將產品推向市場時，我們基於這項原則取得了非常穩健的表現。

All right. Very helpful. Thank you. And then for my second one, I just wanted to move to the 2025 -- [all the] commentary that Max provided. So for Japan, you guided to the pretax margin to be at the low end of the range, which is below where I was -- I think most were -- I think it's largely on net investment income, and there's some misunderstanding on how the accounting works on the floating rate security hedges. Can you just provide more color on how the benefits from those hedges flow through earnings?

好的。非常有幫助。謝謝。然後對於我的第二個，我只想轉到 2025 年——Max 提供的所有評論。因此對於日本而言，您指導的稅前利潤率處於範圍的低端，低於我的水平——我認為大多數人的水平——我認為這主要是淨投資收益，並且對於浮動利率證券對沖的會計運作方式存在一些誤解。您能否更詳細地說明這些避險帶來的收益是如何轉化為收益的？

Yes. Thank you, Joel. So we obviously have a floating rate book in the Japan segment that is a little bit less than $9 billion of notional balance. Also, at the Corporate segment, we have a little bit over $4 billion of cash that is invested at the short end of the curve. That means that all these asset balances are very sensitive to SOFR. And that is both the one-month and the three-month SOFR that they repriced at.

是的。謝謝你，喬爾。因此，我們在日本分部顯然擁有浮動利率債務，其名目餘額略低於 90 億美元。此外，在企業部門，我們有略多於 40 億美元的現金投資於曲線的短端。這意味著所有這些資產餘額對SOFR非常敏感。這就是他們重新定價的一個月期和三個月期 SOFR。

As we go into 2025, obviously, we had a rate cut in December, and there is an expectation about further rate cuts in 2025 when you look at the forward curves. When we just inject the forward curves on to our projected yields for 2025, that means that they are likely to be lower than what they were in 2024. So that is why our floating rate income is expected to be lower.

當我們進入 2025 年時，顯然我們在 12 月已經降息了，而且從遠期曲線來看，預計 2025 年還會進一步降息。當我們將遠期曲線注入 2025 年的預期殖利率中時，這意味著它們可能會低於 2024 年的水準。這就是我們的浮動利率收入預計會較低的原因。

As it relates to our interest rate swap, this is really a tail hedge swap that made sure that we protected our floating rate income from any significant declines in interest rates at the short end of the curve. That means that, obviously, we are at higher rates now than when this swap was entered into. That means that it is out of the money and somewhat ineffective at this point. And that's why you see the full brunt of any relative -- even relatively small declines of interest rates at the short end, immediately flows through, and impacts our net investment income in 2025.

就我們的利率互換而言，這實際上是一種尾部對沖互換，可確保我們的浮動利率收入免受曲線短期端利率大幅下降的影響。這意味著，顯然我們現在的利率比達成互換協議時的利率還要高。這意味著它目前已經失去了資金，並且有點無效。這就是為什麼您會看到任何相對的影響——即使是短期利率相對較小地下降，也會立即影響我們 2025 年的淨投資收入。

Also, the mark-to-market component of the interest rate swap, that falls below the line in the realized gains losses, i.e., outside of adjusted earnings, but obviously included in our US GAAP earnings. I hope that's helpful.

此外，利率互換的按市價計價部分低於已實現損益損失線，即超出調整後收益範圍，但顯然包含在我們的美國公認會計準則收益中。我希望這有幫助。

Jimmy Bhullar, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的 Jimmy Bhullar。

So first just had a question either for Dan or for Charles on Japan sales, you obviously grew at a strong pace this quarter. But if you look at where sales are versus where they used to be pre-pandemic, they're so fairly depressed. So just wondering what's changed in the market? And what's your optimism of being able to get to, in an absolute sense, the sales level that you had before that will allow you to potentially grow your in force as opposed to report declining premium growth?

所以首先我想問丹或查爾斯關於日本銷售的情況，本季你們的銷售顯然成長強勁。但如果你看看現在的銷售額與疫情之前的情況，你會發現它們相當低迷。那麼你想知道市場發生了什麼變化嗎？您是否認為，從絕對意義上來說，您的銷售水平能夠達到先前的水平，從而有可能實現員工人數的成長，而不是出現保費成長下滑的情況？

Koide, do you want to start with that? Or let Yoshizumi?

小出，你想從那裡開始嗎？還是讓吉住？

Yes. This is Koide from Aflac Japan. (interpreted) Well, after the pandemic, most of several activities amongst the public has recovered. So we do not see -- we see that it has recovered and that is -- so we have been focusing on making a recovery on solicitors activity because during the two, three years of the COVID that sales activities have been stagnant. So that has been a focus point, which is to make a recovery on the activity.

是的。這是來自 Aflac Japan 的 Koide。(翻譯) 嗯，疫情過後，社會大部分活動都恢復了。因此，我們沒有看到——我們看到它已經恢復了——所以我們一直專注於恢復律師活動，因為在 COVID 爆發的兩三年期間，銷售活動一直處於停滯狀態。因此，這一直是一個重點，即恢復經濟活動。

(interpreted) So let me answer. This is Yoshizumi. First of all, we have gone through this marketing and sales transformation starting January. This is to conduct integrated or end-to-end marketing activities based on the different brand group pipeline, starting with medical, cancer, asset [formation, and] nursing care.

（翻譯）那麼讓我來回答。這是吉住。首先，我們從一月開始經歷了行銷和銷售轉型。這是根據不同的品牌群組管道，從醫療、癌症、資產和護理開始，進行整合或端到端的行銷活動。

And we will be continuously injecting our competitive products into around our main products, cancer and medical insurance. And we plan to launch a new cancer reinsurance product in stages from March to April in order to respond to changing customer needs.

而我們將圍繞我們的主要產品，癌症和醫療保險，不斷注入我們的競爭力產品。而我們計劃在3月至4月分階段推出新的癌症再保險產品，以回應不斷變化的客戶需求。

And now with the launch of the new product, Tsumitasu, which was launched last June 2024, we have managed to expand our product lineup and now being able to approach more greater customer audience. And we will be executing measures in order to develop and enhance the potential of the solicitor agents. With these efforts, we would like to recover our performance on the pre-COVID level. That's all.

現在，隨著 2024 年 6 月推出的新產品 Tsumitasu，我們成功擴大了我們的產品陣容，現在能夠接觸到更多的客戶群。我們將採取措施，發展和提高律師代理人的潛力。透過這些努力，我們希望恢復疫情之前的績效水準。就這樣。

And then maybe for Virgil. In the US business, I think there have been a couple of reasons that you've cited for sales being weak in '24. One is just the dental [DP] issues. And then secondly, competition in -- and margins in supplemental products or in the voluntary market. I'm assuming that the competition and market issue is something that's not going to change. But -- and if that is the case, assuming that that will be an ongoing headwind to your sales. But then on the dental rollout, should -- is that starting to get to normal or is that more of a 2026 event?

然後也許是對於維吉爾來說。在美國業務中，我認為您列舉了2024年銷售疲軟的幾個原因。一個是牙齒[DP]問題。其次，補充產品或自願市場的競爭和利潤。我認為競爭和市場問題是不會改變的。但是——如果情況確實如此，那麼假設這將會持續阻礙你的銷售。但就牙科治療的推廣而言，這是否應該開始正常化，還是更像是 2026 年的事件？

No, thank you for the question. The -- we absolutely want everyone listening know we're open for business. We've invested time, resources, and dollars to make sure we've got a strong platform. We went through a very diligent process to get the right partner who is an industry-leading partner to make sure that we're prepared to deliver on the customer experience that we need. So we are confident in our dental platform the way we have it now.

不，謝謝你的提問。我們絕對希望所有聽眾都知道我們已經開始營業了。我們投入了時間、資源和金錢來確保我們擁有強大的平台。我們經歷了非常艱苦的過程來尋找合適的合作夥伴，也就是業界領先的合作夥伴，以確保我們準備好提供我們所需的客戶體驗。因此我們對現有的牙科平台充滿信心。

The concern, though, is making sure that the brokers and the agents are back in market with it and that they're on board to sell it. I expected to see a stronger return for them in the fourth quarter, but I'm looking forward to seeing how we deliver on that this year. We're out meeting with them. We'll let them know about how the process works. We're energetic to say come back and sell the product.

不過，令人擔心的是確保經紀人和代理商能夠重返市場並願意銷售它。我預計他們會在第四季取得更強勁的回報，但我期待看到我們今年如何實現這一目標。我們正在外面與他們會面。我們會讓他們了解流程是如何進行的。我們非常高興地回來銷售該產品。

I would also say, though, what's going well for us is you look at the investments we made in our life and absence and disability platform, we term as PLADS, we exceeded our sales expectations there. We are strong in that lowest can market now, very competitive against some very known brands that have been in that space for a long time.

不過，我還要說，我們進展順利的是，看看我們在人壽、缺勤和殘疾平台上的投資，我們稱之為 PLADS，我們在那裡的銷售超出了我們的預期。目前，我們在最低罐裝飲料市場上實力雄厚，與一些長期在該領域佔有一席之地的知名品牌相比，我們極具競爭力。

Our disability products are competitive. We have a world-class absence management discipline, where we are doing it for one state in particular, and we're delivering well on that. And then we are also selling our -- what we would call our paid-up life or employee life products. We also invested in a direct-to-consumer platform we term as consumer markets. We saw a better-than-expected sales year there.

我們的殘障產品具有競爭力。我們擁有世界一流的缺勤管理制度，我們正在為某個州實施這項制度，並且表現良好。然後我們也銷售我們所謂的已付清壽險或員工壽險產品。我們也投資了一個直接面向消費者的平台，我們稱之為消費者市場。我們看到那裡的銷售情況比預期好。

So those are the things that are going well. We get our dental platform back in line this year, and I expect it to demonstrate an increase in sales over last year.

這些都是進展順利的事。我們的牙科平台今年重新恢復正常，我預計其銷售額將比去年有所成長。

And this is Dan. I am encouraged about what I'm seeing. Virgil talked to me early on in the first quarter and said, there's some ways we can make this sales number. And -- but I've got to push some areas. And I said, don't push lower profits for the sake of making the sale of them. That's the wrong way.

這是丹。我對我所看到的一切感到非常鼓舞。維吉爾在第一季初曾與我交談過，他說，有一些方法我們可以實現這個銷售數字。而且——但我必須推動一些領域。我說，不要為了增加銷售量而降低利潤。那是錯誤的方法。

I want to look at earned premium. I want to look at what's going on. And I think our model for the future is much stronger today than it was a year ago, especially on this dental and vision side. And we are expecting that to come through for the full year.

我想看一下已賺得的保費。我想看看發生了什麼事。我認為我們今天的未來模式比一年前更強大，特別是在牙科和視力方面。我們預計這一目標將在全年實現。

Mike Ward, UBS.

瑞銀集團麥克沃德 (Mike Ward)

I was just wondering just on the contribution to the Japan sales growth from Tsumitasu. It seems like a primary driver of the growth. I guess, is it -- how fair is it to assume that we might be relying on first sector sales maybe more heavily than we previously thought in order to reach the Japan sales targets?

我只是想知道 Tsumitasu 對日本銷售成長的貢獻。這似乎是成長的主要動力。我想，是嗎──為了實現日本的銷售目標，我們可能比之前認為的更依賴第一航段的銷售，這種假設公平嗎？

(interpreted) Well, for Tsumitasu, to begin with, we do not announce or disclose the sales percentage or contribution. However, Aflac is a company centered around the third-sector insurance products.

（翻譯）嗯，對於 Tsumitasu 來說，首先，我們不會公佈或披露銷售百分比或貢獻。然而，Aflac 是一家以第三部門保險產品為中心的公司。

And the main way to conduct our sales activity today is to also offer medical or cancer insurance whenever third-sector product Tsumitasu has been offered. So although it is true that Tsumitasu will make a certain contribution to our first-sector performance, but our goal is to grow our third-sector performance.

目前，我們進行銷售活動的主要方式是，只要提供第三部門產品 Tsumitasu，就會提供醫療或癌症保險。因此，雖然 Tsumitasu 確實會對我們的第一部門業績做出一定貢獻，但我們的目標是提高第三部門的表現。

And last year, right after the launch of this Tsumitasu, we have enjoyed significant growth in sales. And we expect sales to settle compared to 2024. However, we believe the product will continue to generate solid results.

去年，這款Tsumitasu上市後，我們的銷售量就取得了顯著的成長。我們預計銷售額將與 2024 年相比趨於穩定。然而，我們相信該產品將繼續產生穩健的業績。

(interpreted) And this is Koide. May I add? And Tsumitasu is unlike the traditional product feature in the first-sector product. It is developed to respond to the needs of the younger generation who are looking to accumulate their asset.

（翻譯）這是小出。我可以補充嗎？且Tsumitasu不同於第一階段產品中的傳統產品特徵。它的開發是為了滿足那些希望累積資產的年輕一代的需求。

And another nature of this product is that in addition to the asset provisioning, it also carries the nursing care feature. And another characteristic is that after the policy premiums are paid up, you can convert it to the medical insurance or other type of insurance products. And it also carries a strategic objective, which is to expand our customer base by capturing the younger generation and through concurrently offering this product together with the third-sector products. So this is a very unique product. That's all.

而這款產品的另一個本質就是除了資產配置功能之外，還附帶護理功能。而另一個特點就是，保單保費繳清後，可以轉換為醫療保險或其他類型的保險產品。它還附帶一個策略目標，即透過吸引年輕一代並透過同時提供該產品和第三部門產品來擴大我們的客戶群。所以這是一個非常獨特的產品。就這樣。

Thank you. And I just wanted to add a few comments as well, Mike. We do not have a sales cap on our Tsumitasu sales and the reason why is that, number one, we do believe that we get very good profitability out of this product. This is both on a GAAP basis, but also on an IRR basis post reinsurance. And what it means is that we also now have a very good hook product that ultimately will drive higher third-sector sales as well. So we definitely see ourselves as a third-sector company, but this is an additional product that will help grow both our first-sector business and the third-sector business while also giving another tool to our distribution to sell more and make more commissions.

謝謝。我也想補充幾點評論，麥克。我們對 Tsumitasu 的銷售沒有設定上限，原因在於：第一，我們確實相信這款產品能帶來非常好的獲利能力。這既是基於 GAAP 基礎，也是基於再保險後的 IRR 基礎。這意味著我們現在擁有一款非常好的掛鉤產品，最終也將推動第三部門銷售的成長。因此，我們確實將自己視為第三部門的公司，但這是一個附加產品，它將有助於我們第一部門業務和第三部門業務的成長，同時也為我們的分銷提供了另一種工具，以實現更多銷售和賺取更多佣金。

Now I do want to say that the reason why now is because interest rates are higher in yen terms. But more importantly, we have built reinsurance expertise in and around the company. which means that we can now conduct these operations and get the better capital efficiency associated with these products so we can really make them work.

現在我想說的是，現在的原因是日圓利率較高。但更重要的是，我們在公司內部及周圍建立了再保險專業知識。這意味著我們現在可以進行這些操作並獲得與這些產品相關的更好的資本效率，讓我們能夠真正發揮它們的作用。

And I will add that I have been so impressed with the job that Koide and his team has done in monitoring this through the guidance of Max and what -- and Steve Beaver and what we've done to watch this. And every Sunday night, I get a report when we have our call on what is taking place and how the interest rates are going and where the lines are, and our actuarial department is on it.

我還要補充一點，小出和他的團隊在馬克斯和史蒂夫·比弗的指導下監控此事，他們的工作給我留下了深刻的印象。每個星期天晚上，當我們打電話時，我都會收到一份報告，報告正在發生什麼、利率如何變動以及界限在哪裡，我們的精算部門也會對其進行處理。

And it's just -- I think you'd be proud if you saw the inner workings of what has taken place over the last couple of years with reinsurance. It shows that we're a company that's evolving over time and just getting stronger in what we're doing and having better financial controls over the things that are taking place.

而且—我想，如果您了解過去幾年再保險業的內部運作，您會感到自豪。這表明我們是一家隨著時間推移而不斷發展的公司，我們在做的事情上變得越來越強大，並且對正在發生的事情有更好的財務控制。

Wes Carmichael, Autonomous Research.

韋斯·卡邁克爾，自主研究。

My first question just on remeasurement gains/losses. It appears that the gains benefit has been slowing, which is perhaps not surprisingly going to pretty sizable unlocking in the third quarter. But when you look at trends going forward, would you expect that to continue, Max? Or should that be relatively muted?

我的第一個問題是關於重新測量收益/損失。看起來收益效益一直在放緩，這也許並不令人意外，因為第三季收益將大幅增加。但是，當您觀察未來的趨勢時，您認為這種情況會持續下去嗎，馬克斯？或者說應該相對低調一點？

We obviously have experienced very significant remeasurement gains and also favorable gains from unlock of our actuarial assumptions in the US in 2023 and in Japan in 2024. As it relates to our assumptions going forward, we do feel that we obviously have realistic and very good assumptions that -- by definition. Otherwise, we would have to change it.

我們顯然獲得了非常顯著的重估收益，並且還因 2023 年美國和 2024 年日本的精算假設解鎖而獲得了有利的收益。就我們未來的假設而言，我們確實覺得，根據定義，我們顯然具有現實且非常好的假設。否則，我們就必須改變它。

This is something that we look at every quarter. But we -- and if something material were to change, we will unlock assumptions, but our deep dive study occurs in the third quarter of every year. Each quarter, though, there is a remeasurement gains, losses that are coming through our results as we true up for the experience in that quarter. And that has continued to be favorable as we have come out of the pandemic.

這是我們每季都會關注的事情。但是，如果發生重大變化，我們就會解除假設，但我們的深入研究每年在第三季進行。不過，每個季度，我們都會重新衡量收益和損失，這些收益和損失會透過我們的業績體現出來，因為我們會根據該季度的經驗進行調整。隨著我們走出疫情，這種情況繼續保持有利。

That being said, I do want to be a little bit cautious as we are seeing higher claims come through, especially on products, for example, in the US on our accident and our hospital products and to some extent, also cancer. And that means that our remeasurement gains may not be as strong going forward as they have been in the past.

話雖如此，我確實想稍微謹慎一點，因為我們看到索賠金額正在增加，尤其是針對產品，例如在美國，針對我們的事故和醫院產品，以及某種程度上的癌症產品。這意味著我們未來的重新計量收益可能不會像過去那麼強勁。

But generally speaking, we are a company that take a cautious approach to our underwriting make sure that we get good results. And I think that the remeasurement gains that you have seen is a testament to that of very good underwriting decisions that the company have taken in the past.

但總體來說，我們是一家採取謹慎承保方式的公司，以確保獲得良好的結果。我認為，您所看到的重估收益證明了公司過去做出的非常好的核保決策。

Thank you. And my follow-up, I guess, in the press release, Dan, you mentioned efforts on reengaging agents in the US. Can you just talk about the recruiting environment in the US? Or are you seeing progress there? Or is that kind of slowed?

謝謝。我想，我要跟進的是，丹，在新聞稿中，您提到了重新招募美國特工的努力。能談談美國的招募環境嗎？或者您看到那裡有進展嗎？或者說有點放慢速度了？

Hi, good morning. This is Virgil. Let me give you a little color on that. I mentioned last year, I said we're in a new regime here. So definitely, there is a lot of competition. There are things like the economy that would impact recruitings from time to time.

嗨，早安。這是維吉爾。讓我給你稍微解釋一下這一點。我去年提到過，我們這裡處於一個新的政權之下。因此，競爭肯定非常激烈。經濟等因素會不時對招募產生影響。

Overall and all, I'm sticking to the point that we're going to always be around the 10,000 mark with our recruiting. We've demonstrated that now back to back. Although it's a little bit down from the year over year, we're still right around that 10,000 mark.

總的來說，我堅持的觀點是，我們的招募人數將始終保持在 10,000 人左右。我們現在已經連續證明了這一點。儘管與去年同期相比有所下降，但仍保持在 10,000 左右的水平。

Here's what I would say is that the core strength of Aflac has always been in our distribution. When you think about that, we will continue to go out, recruit agents, convert them, make the field force strong and dominant in that small market. I've added some new levels of leadership where we continue that focus. Our compensation plans are built around recruitment and conversion average weaker producer and opening new small accounts.

我想說的是，Aflac 的核心優勢一直在於我們的分銷。當你考慮到這一點時，我們將繼續走出去，招募代理商，轉化他們，使現場力量強大並在那個小市場中佔據主導地位。我增加了一些新的領導層級，我們將繼續關注這一重點。我們的薪酬計劃是圍繞招募和轉化平均較弱的生產者以及開設新的小額帳戶來製定的。

We continue to be strong doing our partnership with brokers in the mid-market. And as I mentioned earlier, very strong in the upper-case market now with the relationships we formed in our life and absence disability discipline. So we've got the market cover when it comes to the distribution. I expect to recruit another 10,000 -- around 10,000 this year, and I'll continue to invest in what we're doing in that field force.

我們持續與中端市場的經紀商保持強勁合作。正如我之前提到的，我們在人壽和缺勤殘疾學科中建立的關係現在在大寫市場中非常強大。因此，就分銷而言，我們已經涵蓋了市場。我預計今年將再招募 10,000 名 — — 大約 10,000 名，而且我將繼續對我們在該領域工作進行投資。

Elyse Greenspan, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的伊莉絲‧格林斯潘 (Elyse Greenspan)。

I guess my first one is on capital. Buyback picked up $750 million in the quarter. You guys obviously -- pretty healthy capital positions in both the US and Japan. Does that $750 million feel like a good run rate level? Or how should we think about share repurchase in '25?

我想我的第一個問題是關於資本的。本季回購金額增加 7.5 億美元。顯然，你們在美國和日本的資本狀況都相當健康。7.5 億美元的運行率水準是否比較好？或者我們應該如何考慮25年的股票回購？

Thank you, Elyse. Your observation is correct that we obviously have a very healthy capital position around the company. And together with that, we also have a very good free cash flow generation overall as well. And that is what gives us the opportunity to reinvest into our operations and to redeploy capital back to our shareholders as well.

謝謝你，伊莉絲。您的觀察是正確的，我們公司的資本狀況顯然非常健康。除此之外，我們整體上也擁有非常好的自由現金流產生。這也使我們有機會重新投資於我們的營運並將資本重新部署給我們的股東。

We are very IRR driven. And as of right now, I would say that we get by far the best IRR on selling another policy. So as it relates to capital, that is the number one area that our capital is going to. So we're looking for areas to grow our business organically.

我們非常注重內部報酬率 (IRR)。就目前而言，我想說我們在出售另一張保單時獲得了迄今為止最好的 IRR。所以就資本而言，這是我們資本流向的首要領域。因此，我們正在尋找能夠有機成長業務的領域。

On top of that, we obviously have increased our dividends quite significantly over the last five years where we've almost doubled our dividend per share. And on top of that, we want to be opportunistic and tactical in the way we deploy capital back to shareholders through share repurchase.

除此之外，我們顯然在過去五年中大幅增加了股息，每股股息幾乎翻了一番。除此之外，我們也希望以機會主義和策略性的方式，透過股票回購將資本返還給股東。

We stepped that up a little bit in the fourth quarter by $750 million, which I believe is the most that we've done in a single quarter. So that's a meaningful return back to shareholders. But going forward, we will continue to obviously evaluate all the opportunities that we have and make sure that we get good IRRs on all the deployments that we do.

我們在第四季度將這一數字略有增加，達到 7.5 億美元，我認為這是我們單季實現的最高水平。這對股東來說是一次有意義的回報。但展望未來，我們將繼續評估我們擁有的所有機會，並確保我們在所有部署中獲得良好的 IRR。

Thanks. And then my second question, I believe there was a data sharing issue with Japan Post, not related to Aflac, I believe, right, but in general. If you could just comment on that. And then -- does that have any impact on your sales in the fourth quarter? Would you expect there to be an impact in 2025?

謝謝。然後我的第二個問題是，我認為日本郵政存在數據共享問題，我認為這與 Aflac 無關，但總體而言。如果您能對此發表評論的話。那麼—這對您第四季的銷售有影響嗎？您預計 2025 年會產生影響嗎？

(interpreted) This is Koide speaking from Aflac Japan. First of all, let me be clear, but there was no issues with the sales of Aflac Japan's cancer insurance upon this incident. And given its past experience, Japan Post is taking a conservative approach to addressing this matter.

(翻譯)我是 Aflac Japan 公司的 Koide。首先我要澄清的是，這起事件並沒有對 Aflac Japan 的癌症保險的銷售造成任何影響。而根據過去的經驗，日本郵政對此事採取了保守的態度。

The Japan Post Group is committed to selling our products. And for our standard practice, Aflac Japan is in close communication with Japan Post Group at all levels of the organization. So we'll continue to work closely with Japan Post Group in support of its sales of Aflac cancer. That's all.

日本郵政集團致力於銷售我們的產品。按照我們的標準做法，Aflac Japan 與日本郵政集團在組織的各個層面都保持著密切溝通。因此，我們將繼續與日本郵政集團密切合作，以支持其 Aflac 抗癌產品的銷售。就這樣。

John Barnidge, Piper Sandler.

約翰·巴尼奇，派珀·桑德勒。

Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity. Virgil, in your comments, you talked about a failed implementation that was corrected. And how much of the market was dental and vision not present?

早安.感謝您給我這個機會。維吉爾，在您的評論中，您談到了一個已糾正的失敗的實施。那麼有多少市場沒有牙科和視力保健產品？

Hey, John, great to hear from you. Ask me that question one more time. I didn't catch the last part, please.

嘿，約翰，很高興收到你的來信。再問我一次這個問題。拜託，我沒聽清楚最後一部分。

So yeah, you talked about a failed implementation that was corrected. And how much of the market was dental and vision not present to be offered by brokers as a result of the failed implementation?

是的，您談到了一個已修正的失敗的實施。並且由於實施失敗而導致牙科和視力保險市場有多少被經紀商所佔據？

No, I had it. Thanks, John. Yeah, we were available, John. So I would tell you this, though, that we had some service degradation earlier in the year. That definitely impacts the perception of trust and making sure that the brokers and the agents will come back and sell it.

不，我吃過。謝謝，約翰。是的，我們有空，約翰。不過，我想告訴你們的是，今年早些時候我們的服務品質有所下降。這肯定會影響信任度，並確保經紀人和代理商會回來銷售它。

So during the fourth quarter, we were open for business and ready to go. We have tested all of our processes. We work with a partner who has a strong reputation and who's doing a good job with Aflac. Our network of dentists is one of the largest out in the industry. We do a rented network, and we also have a proprietary network both to offer.

因此，在第四季度，我們就已經開始營業並做好了準備。我們已經測試了所有流程。我們的合作夥伴聲譽卓著，為 Aflac 做出了卓越貢獻。我們的牙醫網絡是業內最大的牙醫網絡之一。我們有租賃網絡，也有專有網絡可供使用。

What I would say to you, though, is that in this business where agents and brokers have choices, to go in a business, we have to earn trust. And that's what we're focused on: getting back that trust and demonstrating that the processes work. So if you look again, just to mention, end of Q4, sales from prior year were down 33%.

不過，我想對你們說的是，在這個代理商和經紀人有選擇權的行業裡，我們必須贏得信任才能進入這個行業。這就是我們所關注的：重新獲得信任並證明流程是有效的。所以如果你再看一下，你會發現，第四季末，銷售額較去年同期下降了 33%。

Now although they don't make up a large part of our overall sales right now, I would say to you, though, that we get the additional voluntary benefits alongside. So it's not just impacting demo. It also has this halo effect where you're not bringing other business that you normally would have.

現在，儘管它們現在還不占我們整體銷售額的很大一部分，但我要告訴你們，我們還獲得了額外的自願福利。所以它不僅僅影響演示。它還會產生這種光環效應，讓你無法獲得通常會有的其他業務。

Seeing progress here. As we look into January, we're regaining some confidence. We are going around to all of our broker partners. And we put all types of messages out, demonstrating confidence to our agents, and I'm looking forward to seeing them come back and sell the product. It is a competitive product. We spend a lot of time developing it, and I think it's good for our consumers out there to give it a try.

這裡看到進展。展望一月，我們恢復了一些信心。我們正在與所有經紀合作夥伴進行溝通。我們發出了各種類型的信息，向我們的代理商展示了信心，我期待看到他們回來銷售產品。這是一個有競爭力的產品。我們花了很多時間來開發它，我認為我們的消費者嘗試一下是有好處的。

Thank you for that. And my follow-up question remains on distribution ahead of the anticipated new cancer product launch. Should we expect more modest sales in the near term for that?

謝謝你。我的後續問題仍然是關於預期的新抗癌產品上市之前的分銷問題。我們是否應該預期短期內銷售額會更溫和？

(interpreted) This is Yoshizumi speaking. So this new cancer insurance will be launched in March 2025. And we're expecting this to be a big driver. And we have been introducing innovative cancer insurance to the market so far. But this time, in addition to the insurance coverage, we'll be integrating our Aflac Yorisou Cancer Consultation Support, which is our unique concierge service into the coverage.

（翻譯）我是 Yoshizumi。所以這個新的癌症保險會在2025年3月推出。我們預計這將成為一個巨大的推動力。到目前為止，我們一直在向市場推出創新的癌症保險。但這次，除了保險範圍之外，我們還將把 Aflac Yorisou 癌症諮詢支援（我們獨特的禮賓服務）整合到保險範圍中。

And I would like to mention three characteristics. It carries a very rich and simple coverage structure. And not only during the treatment, but there will be -- coverage will be enhanced before and after the treatment. And we have changed the payment conditions for the benefit to be more easy to understand.

我想講三個特點。它具有非常豐富且簡單的覆蓋結構。並且不僅在治療期間，而且在治療前後覆蓋範圍也會增強。而我們已經改變了福利的支付條件，使其更容易理解。

The next nature is the fact that it has a very flexible coverage design that allows to combine the existing policies and other products. And we have also newly established a tiered plan with lower premiums to support pediatric cancer patients family whose economic burden tends to be high with longer treatment period. And we expect to see a big increase in the performance by introducing this product to various channels in stages. That's all.

下一個特性是，它具有非常靈活的覆蓋設計，可以結合現有的政策和其他產品。此外，我們還新設立了分級保險計劃，以較低的保費為經濟負擔較重且治療期較長的兒童癌症患者家庭提供支援。而我們期望透過分階段將該產品引入各個管道，看到業績的大幅提升。就這樣。

Let me add one thing that I think is part of your question is that any time we introduce a new product, our revised product, we'll call it, there's a little dip in sales waiting for the new product and then the product should take off and with the excitement of it being introduced throughout the country. So I just want to be clear on that. You can see a little dip and then a strong growth.

讓我補充一點，我認為這也是你問題的一部分，那就是每當我們推出一款新產品，也就是我們稱之為改進的產品時，在等待新產品的過程中，銷售額會略有下降，然後該產品就會開始暢銷，並在全國範圍內推出，引起人們的興奮。我只是想明確這一點。你會看到，一開始只是小幅下降，然後出現了強勁成長。

Wilma Burdis, Raymond James.

威爾瑪伯迪斯、雷蒙詹姆斯。

First question, could you talk a little bit about any change in your thinking regarding the 10% reinsurance of the Japan block to Bermuda? And also just maybe touch on how you would reevaluate that, if at all? Thanks.

第一個問題，您能否談談您對日本至百慕達區塊 10% 再保險的想法有何變化？另外，如果您願意的話，也許可以談談您將如何重新評估這一點？謝謝。

Thank you, Wilma. So we currently have no change in our thinking. To date, we have ceded roughly 6% of our asset base of apps like Japan to Bermuda. And so we have significant capacity as it relates to our internal cap of 10%. I want to stress that this is not an external cap, but it's an internal cap.

謝謝你，威爾瑪。因此我們目前的想法沒有改變。到目前為止，我們已將日本等應用程式資產基礎的約 6% 轉讓給百慕達。因此，就我們 10% 的內部上限而言，我們擁有相當大的容量。我想強調的是，這不是一個外部上限，而是一個內部上限。

And I think it's a good risk management practice to have these kind of caps in place because it means that we now have an opportunity to evaluate what we have done. And once we get closer to that 10%, then obviously, all legal entities involved will make their own evaluation of if it makes sense to then move forward and increase that level for reasons where it may make sense for that legal entity. That applies to Aflac Bermuda. That applies to Aflac Japan, and obviously, to Aflac Inc., as well.

我認為設定此類上限是一種很好的風險管理做法，因為這意味著我們現在有機會評估我們所做的事情。一旦我們接近 10% 的水平，那麼顯然，所有涉及的法律實體都會自行評估是否有必要繼續前進並提高該水平，因為這對於該法律實體而言可能是合理的。這適用於 Aflac Bermuda。這適用於 Aflac Japan，顯然也適用於 Aflac Inc.。

To date, we are very pleased with the outcomes of our reinsurance operations both in how they are being conducted, but also the overall outcomes of it as it relates to improved balance sheet efficiency. And as you can see, improved return on equity overall for the group. And in fact, it has also reduced the risk of our Aflac Japan operations as well. So overall, we're quite pleased with where we are. And as we get closer to that 10% level, we will reassess.

到目前為止，我們對我們的再保險業務的成果感到非常滿意，不僅包括其開展方式，還包括其與提高資產負債表效率相關的整體成果。正如您所看到的，集團整體的股本回報率有所提高。事實上，它也降低了我們 Aflac Japan 業務的風險。總的來說，我們對目前的狀況非常滿意。當我們接近 10% 的水平時，我們將重新評估。

Thank you. And then are there any dynamics of the weaker yen that could impact Aflac's operations or results aside from, I guess, the repatriation impacts? Thank you.

謝謝。那麼，除了匯回資金的影響之外，日圓貶值還有哪些因素會影響 Aflac 的營運或業績呢？謝謝。

So, Wilma, obviously, the yen-dollar exchange rate does have an impact on our GAAP financials. As you know, we do not hedge our GAAP financials. So as you translate our yen-denominated earnings into US dollars, it does have an impact. And you obviously have seen that, especially over the last three years, when you have experienced a significant depreciation of the yen versus the dollar.

因此，威爾瑪，顯然日圓兌美元的匯率確實會對我們的 GAAP 財務狀況產生影響。如您所知，我們不會對我們的 GAAP 財務進行對沖。因此，當你將我們的日圓收益轉換成美元時，確實會產生影響。大家顯然已經看到了這一點，特別是過去三年，日圓兌美元大幅貶值。

That being said, we do believe and we have the philosophy that we protect the economic value of Aflac Japan through an enterprise hedging program. And this is, as you know, three components to it, where we hold US dollar assets on the Aflac Japan balance sheet. It is us at Aflac Inc. We are borrowing in yen, and we also have an overlay of FX forwards at the holding company as well. And you add that up, and we believe that we -- that gives us very good protection on an economic basis to any moves, both small and significant to the yen-dollar rate.

話雖如此，我們確實相信並且我們有這樣的理念：透過企業對沖計劃來保護 Aflac Japan 的經濟價值。如您所知，這是它的三個組成部分，我們在 Aflac Japan 資產負債表上持有美元資產。是我們 Aflac Inc. 的。把這些加起來，我們相信——這為我們在經濟基礎上提供了非常好的保護，以應對日圓兌美元匯率的任何變動，無論大小。

Tom Gallagher, Evercore ISI.

湯姆·加拉格爾，Evercore ISI。

Good morning. Max, how much of the Japan margin coming in at the low end of the guide is floating rate impact on NII? And how much of it is more limited benefit ratio improvement? If you can unpack that.

早安.馬克斯，日本處於指導低端的利潤率中，浮動利率對 NII 的影響有多大？其中有多少是更有限的福利比率改善？如果你能解開它。

I would say that the vast majority of it is obviously driven by net investment income. And I'll let Brad comment a little bit on that because, obviously, we're coming off a very good base here in 2024.

我想說，其中絕大部分顯然是由淨投資收益推動的。我會讓布拉德對此發表一些評論，因為顯然，我們在 2024 年的基礎非常好。

That being said, when you think about the components of the benefit ratio, I would expect that over the forecast period of 2025 to 2027, that as we travel through that forecast period, the benefit ratio, all things being equal, we would expect to decline.

話雖如此，當您考慮收益率比率的組成部分時，我預計在 2025 年至 2027 年的預測期內，在我們經歷該預測期時，在其他條件相同的情況下，收益率比率會下降。

So it will start at the high end of the range and end at the lower end of the range. And the reason for that is that as our in-force mix is changing -- and it's each year tilting a little bit more towards third sector and a little bit less towards first sector -- that means that the third sector lower benefit ratio business makes up a bigger component. So the mix impact of that is going to push us from the higher end of the benefit ratio range towards the lower end of the benefit ratio range.

因此它將從範圍的高端開始並以範圍的低端結束。原因在於，隨著我們的現有員工結構發生變化 - 每年我們都稍微更傾向於第三部門，而稍微減少傾向於第一部門 - 這意味著第三部門較低福利比率業務佔比更大。因此，這種混合影響將推動我們從福利比率範圍的高端走向福利比率範圍的低端。

But what it also means is that from a pretax margin standpoint, it means that we expect to travel throughout the forecast period starting at the lower end of the range and then travel higher towards the higher end of the range throughout the forecast period. But I'd let Brad give some more color on net investment income as we go into 2025.

但它也意味著，從稅前利潤率的角度來看，我們預計整個預測期內利潤率會從範圍的低端開始，然後逐漸向範圍的高端攀升。但我想讓布拉德對 2025 年的淨投資收益進行更詳細的說明。

Yeah, Tom, you're right that we are definitely facing some headwinds with the floating rate portfolio. As discussed, this is driven by the decrease in short rates, the 100 basis points decline we saw last year in SOFR. It does hit our $9 billion floating rate portfolio, but it also impacts our cash holdings and other short-term opportunities that we can see throughout the year, which we were able to take advantage of in 2024.

是的，湯姆，你說得對，我們在浮動利率投資組合方面確實面臨一些阻力。正如所討論的，這是由於短期利率下降所致，去年我們看到 SOFR 下降了 100 個基點。它確實影響了我們 90 億美元的浮動利率投資組合，但也影響了我們的現金持有量和我們全年可以看到的其他短期機會，我們可以在 2024 年利用這些機會。

But we also had a couple of one-off items that had a strong contribution last year that we're facing this year. One was a rather large make whole. And then we were also able to accelerate deployment in certain asset classes that had very attractive spreads earlier in the year.

但我們也有一些去年貢獻龐大的一次性項目，今年我們面臨這些項目。其中一個是相當大的修復。然後，我們也能夠加速部署今年稍早利差非常有吸引力的某些資產類別。

So there's a variety of things that contributed to a very strong 2024. It puts us up against some very difficult comps for 2025 that is the source of that headwind.

因此，有多種因素促成了 2024 年的強勁成長。這使我們面臨著 2025 年一些非常困難的競爭，而這正是逆風的根源。

Got you. And then just for a follow-up, around -- looking at your capital position in Japan, it looks like you have about $4 billion of access under the new ESR framework, anyway. Would you anticipate getting an extraordinary dividend out of that entity? And any updated thoughts on what you might do with that much level of access? I guess it's the high-class problem, but still without robust growth opportunities, I can't imagine it makes a lot of economic sense to leave that much access in Japan.

明白了。然後只是後續問題，看看你在日本的資本狀況，看起來你在新的 ESR 框架下有大約 40 億美元的使用權。您預期會從該實體獲得特別股利嗎？對於如何利用如此高的訪問級別，您有什麼最新的想法嗎？我猜這是高層的問題，但是仍然沒有強勁的成長機會，我無法想像將這麼多的訪問權留在日本是否具有很大的經濟意義。

So, Tom, I would characterize our capital position in Japan is very strong. We are still going through the transition of the capital regime framework from SMR to ESR. And while ESR has not formally been implemented yet, I think it would not be very smart to go and try to rightsize your capital base on a future capital regime basis. So step one is we would expect to certainly wait and fully evaluate this until after the ESR has been implemented. And as you know, that is at the end of the first quarter of 2026.

所以，湯姆，我認為我們在日本的資本地位非常強大。我們仍在經歷資本製度架構從 SMR 轉變為 ESR 的轉變。儘管 ESR 尚未正式實施，但我認為，嘗試根據未來的資本製度來調整資本基礎並不是明智之舉。因此，第一步是我們肯定會等到 ESR 實施後再進行全面評估。如您所知，那是在 2026 年第一季末。

So that means that over time, we would expect to be in the target operating range of 170% to 230%. But for the time being, I would not expect any special dividend in the near term.

所以這意味著隨著時間的推移，我們預計將達到 170% 到 230% 的目標營運範圍。但就目前而言，我預計近期不會有任何特別股息。

Josh Shanker, Bank of America.

美國銀行的喬許‧尚克（Josh Shanker）。

I guess this is for Virgil. I was wondering with the elevated expense ratio in Aflac US, how long do you expect the investments in the work you're doing to accelerate growth weighs on the expense ratio?

我猜這是給維吉爾的。我想知道，隨著 Aflac US 的費用率上升，您預計為加速成長而進行的投資會在多長時間內對費用率產生影響？

Yeah. Thanks, Josh. I would say we started to be in that curve. We at one time been up to 40% -- around 41% of the expense ratio. This year, we came in around -- not -- look, it's like about 38.5%, I think, to be exact. So very, very pleased with that performance that we are been in that. And that is why we're still, as you pointed out, investing in the buy the bills.

是的。謝謝，喬希。我想說我們開始處於那條曲線之中。我們的費用率一度高達40%——約41%。今年，我們的收入大約是 — — 不 — — 準確來說，我想是 38.5% 左右。我們對這項表現非常非常滿意。正如您所指出的，這就是我們仍在投資購買票據的原因。

The key is to get buy these bills to scale. And we are experiencing a solid better-than-expected growth on the platform, better-than-expected growth on the consumer markets platform. And like I said, it sounds like I'm a broken record, but we've got to turn the curve the dental vision platform. We're doing all the right things to get that done.

關鍵是要讓這些帳單達到一定規模。我們在平台上經歷了穩固優於預期的成長，在消費市場平台上經歷了好於預期的成長。就像我說的，這聽起來像是老生常談，但我們必須扭轉牙科視覺平台的頹勢。我們正在採取一切正確措施來完成這一目標。

If we do that, right, that will help not only contribute to the top about bringing in additional new sales revenue that we need to offset that expense ratio, but we will continue to do a strong disciplined expense management. I expect the curve to come down even further this year in 2025.

如果我們這樣做，那麼，這不僅有助於我們帶來抵銷費用率所需的額外新銷售收入，而且我們將繼續進行嚴格而嚴格的費用管理。我預計今年（2025年）曲線將進一步下降。

If we think out more long-term '26, '27, are we thinking it's on the margin? Or this is several hundred basis points?

如果我們考慮更長遠的 26、27 年，我們是否認為它處於邊際？還是這是幾百個基點？

Yeah. So I would tell you that we put forth the range on the margin between 17% and 20%. We're going to stay within our range because we're going to make sure that our disciplined expense management hits those marks. If you look at '25, '26 and '27, I am showing a decrease, though, in expense margin -- in expense ratio incrementally year over year over year.

是的。因此我會告訴你，我們提出的邊際範圍在 17% 到 20% 之間。我們會保持在我們的範圍內，因為我們要確保我們嚴格的費用管理達到這些標準。如果你看一下 25、26 和 27 年，我可以看出費用利潤率和費用率逐年下降。

I think the important factor to get from this sales part of dental and vision is we got it right in that we want that business. We just didn't execute to the level we needed to and made a mistake and have got that now on target, and we've just got to now come through with it. So it's something I think we can achieve and will achieve.

我認為從牙科和視力銷售部分獲得的重要因素是，我們清楚地知道我們想要這項業務。我們只是沒有達到我們所需要的水平，並且犯了一個錯誤，現在已經達到了目標，我們現在必須克服它。所以我認為我們能夠而且將會實現這個目標。

Alex Scott, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的亞歷克斯·斯科特 (Alex Scott)。

First question I had is just on the competitive environment a bit. And going back to some of the comments you all made around sales -- and you're remaining disciplined, like you could have shown better sales, but you're remaining disciplined. And I just want to dig into that a bit. I mean, when I think about like the signposts that I look at, I mean, it seems like, well, you're doing reinsurance to Bermuda, the new money yields were in excess of 9% in the US and 8% in Japan this quarter.

我的第一個問題是關於競爭環境。回顧你們對銷售所做的一些評論——你們仍然保持紀律，例如你們本可以表現出更好的銷售業績，但你們仍然保持紀律。我只是想深入探討一下這個問題。我的意思是，當我想到我看到的路標時，我的意思是，看起來好像你正在向百慕大做再保險，本季度美國的新資金收益率超過了 9%，日本的新資金收益率超過了 8%。

I'm just trying to understand, are you getting those targeted IRRs because of some of the levers you're pulling? Or do you still feel like there's the same opportunity here that you've had in the past?

我只是想要了解，您是否通過採取一些措施獲得了這些目標 IRR？或者您仍然覺得這裡有和過去一樣的機會？

Let me address our life insurance business in Japan, in particular, because I think that's what you're really driving at. Obviously, higher yields, they matter, especially in yen terms as we sell yen-denominated products. But it's really the new business strain associated with these products and high reserving levels still puts the IRRs under significant pressure. But if you look at it on a post reinsurance basis, we get very, very good IRRs. And that's why we feel very confident at selling both our waste and our Tsumitasu product into the marketplace.

讓我特別談談我們在日本的人壽保險業務，因為我認為這才是你真正想要的。顯然，更高的收益率很重要，尤其是以日圓計算，因為我們出售以日圓計價的產品。但實際上，與這些產品相關的新業務壓力和高準備金水準仍然對內部報酬率造成巨大壓力。但如果你從再保險後的角度來看，我們會獲得非常非常好的內部報酬率。這就是為什麼我們非常有信心將我們的廢料和 Tsumitasu 產品銷往市場。

Okay. And maybe as a follow-up, I mean, one of the themes we've seen in group benefits this quarter from some of the peers, there seems to be sort of a have versus have not in terms of like capabilities on the platform and having that translate to sales growth being favorable or less favorable.

好的。也許作為後續，我的意思是，我們本季從一些同行的團體福利中看到的一個主題是，在平台功能方面，似乎存在有與無的區別，而這又轉化為銷售增長是有利的還是不利的。

And I guess I just posed a question to you. I mean, how do you feel about the capabilities in your group benefits platform, the scale? Do you have what you need? Is there more that you could go out and acquire whether inorganically or things that you may need to invest in?

我想我剛才向你提出了一個問題。我的意思是，您對團體福利平台的功能和規模有何看法？你有你需要的東西嗎？您是否還有更多可以出去收購的東西，無論是無機收購還是需要投資的東西？

This is Virgil. I would say this that when we acquired the Life and Disability business, and we have invested to make sure we've got the right platform for that business line -- I'm being very technical on this, meaning that we have the right technology, we have the right resources, the talent to scale. On the group [BB], we've made significant investments over the years to get the same talent, with technology. And then we are doing it and we just did the same with our dental platform.

這是維吉爾。我想說的是，當我們收購人壽和殘障保險業務時，我們已經進行了投資，以確保我們擁有適合該業務線的正確平台——我對此非常技術性，這意味著我們擁有正確的技術，我們擁有正確的資源和可以擴大規模的人才。在 [BB] 集團，我們多年來進行了大量投資以獲得相同的人才和技術。然後我們正在這樣做，我們對我們的牙科平台也做了同樣的事情。

Where I'm going with this is we have put forth what I would call a market segmentation strategy. We've got the right products with each segment. We've got the right distribution for each segment. What we're investing in right now is the ability to bring those things together. So we're able to be more competitive with the ability to bundle and to present one unique experience to the market.

我要說的是，我們提出了所謂的市場區隔策略。我們為每個細分市場提供合適的產品。我們對每一個部分都有正確的分佈。我們現在投資的是將這些事物結合在一起的能力。因此，我們能夠透過捆綁銷售並向市場呈現獨特的體驗來提高競爭力。

Each platform stands strong independently. The talent stands strong independently. The product sale stands strong independently. Our core strategy will be bringing those things together. So there will be a little additional investment to do that over the next couple of years.

每個平台都獨立且強大。人才能夠獨立自主。產品獨立銷售強勁。我們的核心策略就是將這些結合在一起。因此，未來幾年我們將會有一些額外的投資來實現這一目標。

We're currently doing it right now. We respond to RFPs in the market as one Aflac. And we're going to really demonstrate the ability to be best-in-class with the technology and the discipline to have those things fit together going forward.

我們現在正在做這件事。我們作為 Aflac 的一員，對市場上的 RFP 做出回應。我們將真正展示出我們在技術和紀律方面處於領先地位的能力，以便在未來將這些東西結合在一起。

Jack Matten, BMO Capital Markets.

傑克·馬滕 (Jack Matten)，BMO 資本市場。

I think those might have answered, but maybe just one on commercial real estate. Could you just talk a little bit more about trends in that market and how you expect things to develop on Aflac's portfolio in 2025?

我想這些可能已經回答了，但也許只有一個是關於商業房地產的。您能否再談談該市場的趨勢以及您對 2025 年 Aflac 投資組合發展的預期？

Sure. Thank you, Jack, for the question. As you're undoubtedly aware, the market remains pretty difficult. It does seem that we may have hit the bottom, but we're very slow to recover. We continue working through our portfolio. Our preference is to work with borrowers to find a solution. But if the best way to protect our interest is to foreclose, we've demonstrated we're willing to do that to maximize our recoveries.

當然。謝謝傑克提出這個問題。正如您無疑意識到的那樣，市場狀況仍然相當困難。看起來我們確實可能已經觸底，但恢復的速度非常慢。我們將繼續努力完善我們的投資組合。我們傾向於與借款人合作尋找解決方案。但如果保護我們利益的最佳方式是取消抵押品贖回權，我們已經表明我們願意這樣做，以最大限度地恢復我們的利益。

We do expect this to be a long recovery. We have seen some early signs that things are moving the right way, but it's very early and values remain still quite depressed. At this point, we expect 2025 to largely play out much like 2024. We'll continue working through our watch list. We will manage our REO portfolio to maximize our long-term returns. We expect it is going to take quite some time for this recovery to happen. But that's our general outlook at this point. We do think it's going to be a manageable process, but it's one that's going to take time to work through.

我們確實預計這將是一個長期的復甦過程。我們已經看到一些早期跡象，表明事情正在朝著正確的方向發展，但現在還為時過早，價值觀仍然相當低迷。目前，我們預計 2025 年的情況將與 2024 年大致相同。我們將繼續審查我們的觀察名單。我們將管理我們的 REO 投資組合，以最大化我們的長期回報。我們預計復甦還需要相當長一段時間。但這是我們目前的整體觀點。我們確實認為這將是一個可控的過程，但需要一些時間來完成。

Thank you. And then just a quick follow-up on the Japan sales outlook. I guess other than the major kind of cancer product launch you have coming in a couple of months, are there any kind of other launches or like refreshes that you have planned this year that could impact the cadence of sales in 2025?

謝謝。然後簡單回顧一下日本的銷售前景。我想，除了幾個月後您將要推出的大型抗癌產品外，今年您還計劃推出其他什麼產品或更新，這些產品可能會影響 2025 年的銷售節奏嗎？

(interpreted) As for the new product, we'll be launching the new cancer insurance in stages from March to April. And for the medical insurance, we have rebranded and we have found the rebranding and improved the service last August.

(翻譯)至於新產品，我們將在3月至4月分階段推出新的癌症保險。對於醫療保險，我們已經進行了品牌重塑，並在去年 8 月找到了品牌重塑方案並改善了服務。

And we have also been strengthening our sales with a new plan targeting the middle-aged and older customers that was launched September 2024. And we'll be able to provide more strengthened promotion through our end-to-end structure, and that has been developed recently, and this structure is developed by each brand.

此外，我們也於 2024 年 9 月推出了針對中老年客戶的新計劃，以加強銷售。我們將能夠透過最近開發的端到端結構提供更有力的推廣，該結構是由每個品牌開發的。

In terms of the Tsumitasu, in comparison to the sales volume on 2024, this year will settle down. However, we believe that this will continue to generate solid results.

就Tsumitasu而言，與2024年的銷量相比，今年的銷量將會穩定下來。然而，我們相信這將繼續產生可靠的成果。

As regards to the channel, we started a network two years ago to enhance an increase at the agent. And in 2023, we have hired approximately 600 agents and they have made a great deal of contribution to our activities last year in 2024. But we have succeeded in hiring much more than 600 people in 2024. And we expect these new agents to be more active in 2025.

至於通路方面，我們兩年前就開始建立網絡，以提高代理商的成長。而在2023年，我們僱用了大約600名代理商，他們為我們去年和2024年的活動做出了巨大貢獻。但我們成功在 2024 年招募了超過 600 名員工。我們預計這些新代理商將在 2025 年更加活躍。

As I said earlier, we will be utilizing the first-sector product as a hook to expand the third-sector business largely. And such training is being implemented and strengthened. That's all.

我剛才說了，我們會以第一部門的產品為紐帶，大力拓展第三部門的業務。而這種培訓正在實施和加強。就這樣。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call back over to David Young for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將電話轉回給 David Young，請他做最後發言。

Thank you, Andrea, and thank you all for joining us on today's call. Just want to say if there are any follow-up questions, please reach out to Investor and Rating Agency Relations. We look forward to hearing from you and seeing you soon. Have a good day.

謝謝你，安德里亞，也謝謝大家參加今天的電話會議。我只是想說，如果有任何後續問題，請聯繫投資者和評級機構關係部門。我們期待很快收到您的來信並見到您。祝你有美好的一天。

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

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演示，現在您可以斷開連接了。

Portions of this transcript that are marked (interpreted) were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call. The interpreter was provided by the company sponsoring this event.

本記錄中標記（翻譯）的部分是由現場通話中的翻譯人員說的。翻譯由贊助此活動的公司提供。