美國家庭壽險 (AFL) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Aflac Inc third quarter 2025 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

大家好，歡迎參加 Aflac Inc 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。（操作說明）請注意，本次活動正在錄影。

I would now like to turn the conference over to David Young, Vice President, Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

現在我將把會議交給資本市場副總裁大衛楊。請繼續。

Good morning, and welcome. Thank you for joining us for Aflac Incorporated's third quarter 2025 earnings call. This morning, Dan Amos, Chairman and CEO of Aflac Incorporated, will provide an overview of our results and operations in Japan and the United States. Then Max Broden, Senior Executive Vice President and CFO of Aflac Incorporated, will provide more detail on our financial results for the quarter, current capital and liquidity.

早安，歡迎。感謝您參加 Aflac Incorporated 2025 年第三季財報電話會議。今天上午，Aflac Incorporated 董事長兼執行長 Dan Amos 將概述我們在日本和美國的業績和營運情況。接下來，Aflac Incorporated 的高級執行副總裁兼財務長 Max Broden 將詳細介紹我們本季的財務表現、當前資本和流動性。

These topics are also addressed in the materials we posted with our earnings release, financial supplement and quarterly CFO update on our investors.aflac.com. For Q&A today, we are 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.

這些主題也已在我們發佈於 investors.aflac.com 的獲利報告、財務補充資料和季度財務長更新報告中有所提及。今天參與問答環節的嘉賓有：Aflac Incorporated 和 Aflac US 總裁 Virgil Miller；Aflac International 董事長兼代表董事、總裁 Charles Lake；Aflac Life Insurance Japan 總裁兼代表董事 Masatoshi Koide；以及 Aflac Global Investments 全球首席投資長、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.

在會議開始之前，請注意，本次電話會議中的一些陳述屬於聯邦證券法意義上的前瞻性陳述。雖然我們認為這些說法是合理的，但由於它們具有前瞻性，我們無法保證它們會被證明是準確的。實際結果可能與我們今天討論的結果有重大差異。

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. As I mentioned earlier, the earnings release with reconciliations of certain non-US GAAP measures and related earnings materials are available on investors.aflac.com.

我們建議您查閱我們的 10-K 表格年度報告，以了解可能對我們的業績產生重大影響的各種風險因素。正如我之前提到的，包含某些非美國通用會計準則指標調節表的收益報告和相關收益資料可在 investors.aflac.com 上查閱。

I'll now hand the call over to Dan. Dan?

現在我將把電話交給丹。擔？

Thank you, David, and good morning, everyone. We're glad you joined us. Aflac Incorporated reported net earnings per diluted share of $3.08 and adjusted earnings per diluted share of $2.49 for the third quarter of 2025. We believe that these are strong results for the quarter, leading to a very good first nine-months of the year. Max will expand upon these results in a moment.

謝謝你，大衛，大家早安。很高興您能加入我們。Aflac Incorporated 公佈 2025 年第三季每股攤薄淨收益為 3.08 美元，調整後每股攤薄收益為 2.49 美元。我們認為這些是本季強勁的業績，預示著今年前九個月將取得非常好的成績。稍後Max將詳細闡述這些結果。

But before he does, I'd like to make a comment on our operations. Beginning with Aflac Japan, I am very pleased with Aflac Japan's 11.8% year-over-year sales increase, especially the 42% increase in cancer insurance sales. These strong sales were driven largely as expected, by sales of Miraito, our cancer insurance product launched in March.

但在他發言之前，我想對我們的營運狀況發表一些看法。首先是 Aflac Japan，我對 Aflac Japan 的年銷售額成長 11.8% 非常滿意，尤其是癌症保險銷售額成長了 42%。正如預期的那樣，這些強勁的銷售額主要得益於我們在 3 月推出的癌症保險產品 Miraito 的銷售。

As part of our ongoing strategy, we continue to emphasize and promote the importance of third sector protection to new and younger customers with our innovative first sector product, Tsumitasu. We believe the repricing of this product for new policies effective in September has the potential to benefit its sales. We saw positive sales growth across all distribution channels.

作為我們持續策略的一部分，我們透過創新的第一部門產品 Tsumitasu，繼續向新的和年輕的客戶強調和推廣第三部門保護的重要性。我們認為，該產品針對9月生效的新保單進行重新定價，並有可能促進其銷售。我們看到所有分銷管道的銷售額均實現了正成長。

Overall, I believe we have the right strategy to meet our customers' financial protection needs through their different life stages. Our ability to maintain strong premium persistency is a testament to Aflac's reputation, our strategy and our customer recognition of the value of our products. By maintaining this level of persistency and adding new premium through sales, we are partly offsetting the impact of reinsurance and policies reaching paid-up status and maintaining strong persistency continues to be vital to the future of Aflac Japan.

總的來說，我相信我們擁有正確的策略，能夠滿足客戶在不同人生階段的財務保障需求。我們能夠維持較高的保費續保率，這證明了 Aflac 的聲譽、我們的策略以及客戶對我們產品價值的認可。透過維持這種持續性水準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繳清狀態的影響，保持強勁的持續性對 Aflac Japan 的未來仍然至關重要。

Being where customers want to buy insurance has always been an important element of our growth strategy in Japan. Our broad network of distribution channels, including agencies, alliance partners and banks continually optimize opportunities to help provide financial protection to Japanese consumers. We will continue to work hard to support each channel as we evolve to meet the customers' changing needs.

在日本，客戶想要購買保險的地方一直是我們成長策略的重要組成部分。我們擁有廣泛的通路網絡，包括代理商、聯盟夥伴和銀行，不斷優化各種機會，以幫助日本消費者獲得金融保障。我們將繼續努力，為各個管道提供支持，以滿足客戶不斷變化的需求。

Turning to Aflac US. We generated $390 million in new sales during the third quarter, which was a 2.8% year-over-year increase. More importantly, we maintained strong premium persistency of 79% and increased net earned premiums 2.5%. We continue to focus on driving more profitable growth by exercising a strong underwriting discipline and maintaining strong premium persistency.

轉投美國Aflac保險公司。第三季度，我們實現了 3.9 億美元的新銷售額，年增 2.8%。更重要的是，我們維持了 79% 的強勁保費持續率，淨已賺保費成長了 2.5%。我們將繼續專注於透過嚴格的承保紀律和維持較高的保費持續率來推動更獲利的成長。

We believe this will continue to drive net earned premium growth. At the same time, Aflac US has continued its prudent approach to expense management and maintaining a strong pretax margin, as Max will expand upon in a moment. In both Japan and the United States, I believe that consumers need the products and solutions Aflac offers more than ever.

我們相信這將繼續推動淨已賺保費的成長。同時，Aflac US 繼續採取審慎的費用管理方式，並維持強勁的稅前利潤率，Max 稍後將對此進行詳細介紹。我認為，無論是在日本還是在美國，消費者都比以往任何時候都更需要 Aflac 提供的產品和解決方案。

When a policyholder transforms into a claimant, Aflac becomes more than an insurance company, we become a partner in health and a supporter of their family in their time of need. As a pioneer and leader in the industry, we are leveraging every opportunity to convey our products can help fill the gap during challenging times, providing not just financial assistance, but also compassion and care.

當投保人變成索賠人時，Aflac 就不僅僅是一家保險公司，我們更成為他們健康的合作夥伴，並在他們需要的時候成為他們家庭的支持者。作為行業的先驅和領導者，我們正在利用一切機會來傳達我們的產品可以幫助填補困難時期的空白，不僅提供經濟援助，還提供同情和關懷。

At the same time, we generate strong capital and cash flows on an ongoing basis while maintaining our commitment to prudent liquidity and capital management. We continue to be very pleased with our investments, producing solid net investment income. As an insurance company, our primary responsibility is to fulfill the promises we make to our policyholders while being responsive to the needs of our shareholders.

同時，我們持續產生強勁的資本和現金流，同時堅持審慎的流動性和資本管理原則。我們對我們的投資一直非常滿意，並獲得了穩健的淨投資收益。作為一家保險公司，我們的首要責任是履行我們對投保人的承諾，同時回應股東的需求。

Our financial strength underpins our promise to our policyholders balanced with the financial flexibility and tactical capital deployment. I am very pleased with the company's capital deployment. In the third quarter, Aflac Incorporated deployed a record $1 billion in capital to repurchase 9.3 million shares of our stock and paid dividends of $309 million.

我們雄厚的財務實力支撐著我們對保單持有人的承諾，同時兼顧財務靈活性和戰術性資本部署。我對公司的資金部署非常滿意。第三季度，Aflac Incorporated 投入創紀錄的 10 億美元資金回購了 930 萬股股票，並支付了 3.09 億美元的股息。

This means we delivered $1.3 billion back to the shareholders in the third quarter of 2025. Especially as we celebrate Aflac's 70th anniversary on November 17, we treasure another milestone, 43 consecutive years of dividend increases. We remain committed to extending this record supported by our financial strength. 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.

這意味著我們在 2025 年第三季向股東返還了 13 億美元。尤其是在我們於 11 月 17 日慶祝 Aflac 成立 70 週年之際，我們倍感珍惜另一個里程碑——連續 43 年提高股息。我們將繼續致力於憑藉雄厚的財力再創佳績。同時，我們保持了在業界資本回報率最高、資本成本最低的公司中的地位。

2025 also marked two other significant milestones for Aflac, the 30th anniversary of what is now known as the Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the 25th anniversary of the Aflac Duck. These are significant milestones that celebrate the privilege of benefiting the lives of millions of people.

2025 年對 Aflac 而言還有另外兩個重要的里程碑，分別是亞特蘭大兒童醫療保健中心 Aflac 癌症和血液疾病中心成立 30 週年和 Aflac 鴨子誕生 25 週年。這些都是意義重大的里程碑，慶祝我們有幸造福數百萬人的生活。

Today's complex healthcare environment has produced incredible medical advancements that come with incredible cost. We are reminded that one thing has not changed since our founding in 1955. Families and individuals still seek a partner and solutions to help protect themselves from financial hardship that not even the best health insurance covers.

當今複雜的醫療環境帶來了令人難以置信的醫療進步，但也帶來了驚人的成本。我們不禁想起，自 1955 年公司成立以來，有一件事始終不變。家庭和個人仍在尋找合作夥伴和解決方案，以幫助他們避免即使是最好的健康保險也無法涵蓋的財務困難。

Thanks to our relevant products, financial strength, powerful brand and broad distribution, we believe Aflac's outstanding solutions make us the ideal partner. We also 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. We continue to take action to reinforce our leading position and build on our momentum.

憑藉我們相關的產品、雄厚的財力、強大的品牌和廣泛的分銷管道，我們相信 Aflac 的卓越解決方案使我們成為理想的合作夥伴。我們也相信我們業務的內在實力，以及我們在日本和美國（全球最大的兩個壽險市場）持續成長的潛力。我們將繼續採取行動，鞏固我們的領先地位，並保持發展勢頭。

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

現在我將把節目交給 Max，讓他詳細介紹財務表現。最大限度？

Thank you, Dan. I will now provide a financial update on Aflac Incorporated's results. For the third quarter of 2025, adjusted earnings per diluted share increased 15.3% year-over-year to $2.49 with no impact from FX in the quarter. In this quarter, remeasurement gains on reserves totaled $580 million, reducing benefits and also increasing the deferred profit liability in the earned premium line by $55 million.

謝謝你，丹。接下來我將提供Aflac Incorporated的最新財務業績報告。2025 年第三季度，經調整後的每股攤薄收益年增 15.3% 至 2.49 美元，本季未受匯率影響。本季度，準備金重估收益總計 5.8 億美元，減少了收益，同時也使已賺保費項目的遞延利潤負債增加了 5,500 萬美元。

The total net impact from the Q3 assumption update increased EPS by $0.76 variable investment income ran in line with our long-term return expectations. In our US business, as part of our strategic technology plan as we optimize efficiencies and migrate to the cloud, we terminated a services contract early, which led us to book a onetime termination fee of $21 million in the quarter.

第三季假設更新帶來的淨影響使每股收益增加了 0.76 美元，而可變投資收益符合我們的長期回報預期。在美國業務中，作為我們優化效率和遷移到雲端的戰略技術計劃的一部分，我們提前終止了一項服務合同，導致我們在該季度計入了 2100 萬美元的一次性終止費。

Adjusted book value per share, excluding foreign currency remeasurement increased 6.3%. The adjusted ROE was 19.1% and 22.1%, excluding foreign currency remeasurement, a solid spread to our cost of capital. Overall, we view these results in the quarter as very good. Starting with our Japan segment. Net earned premiums for the quarter declined 4%.

經過調整後的每股帳面價值（不包括外幣重估）成長了 6.3%。經過調整後的淨資產收益率為 19.1% 和 22.1%（不包括外幣重估），與我們的資本成本相比，這是一個相當可觀的差距。整體而言，我們認為本季業績非常好。首先從我們的日本業務開始。本季淨已賺保費下降 4%。

Aflac Japan's underlying earned premiums, which excludes the impact of deferred profit liability, paid-up policies and reinsurance declined 1.2%. We believe this metric better provides insight into our long-term premium trends. Japan's total benefit ratio came in at 39.3% for the quarter, down nearly 10 percentage points year-over-year.

不包括遞延利潤負債、已繳清保單和再保險的影響，Aflac Japan 的基本已賺保費下降了 1.2%。我們認為這項指標能更能反映我們的長期保費趨勢。日本本季的總福利率為 39.3%，較去年同期下降近 10 個百分點。

The third sector benefit ratio was 27.8% for the quarter, down approximately 14 percentage points year-over-year. We estimate the impact from reserve remeasurement gains to be 26.6 percentage points favorable to the benefit ratio in Q3 2025. Long-term experience trends as they relate to treatments of cancer and hospitalization continue to be in place, leading to continued favorable underwriting experience.

本季第三部門的受益率為 27.8%，年減約 14 個百分點。我們估計，到 2025 年第三季度，準備金重新計量收益將使收益率提高 26.6 個百分點。與癌症治療和住院治療相關的長期經驗趨勢仍然存在，從而帶來了持續良好的承保經驗。

Persistency remained solid year-over-year and in line with our expectations at 93.3%. With refreshed product introductions, we generally see an uptick in lapse and reissue activity, causing reported lapsation to increase. We did experience this uptick with our recently launched cancer product, but overall lapsation remains within our expectations.

與去年同期相比，保值率保持穩健，符合我們的預期，達到 93.3%。隨著新產品的推出，我們通常會看到保單失效和重新發行活動增加，導致報告的保單失效數量上升。我們最近推出的癌症產品確實出現了這種增長，但總體而言，復發率仍在我們的預期之內。

Our expense ratio in Japan was 19.8% for the quarter, down 20 basis points year-over-year, driven primarily by an increase in expense capitalization rates resulting from higher sales. For the quarter, adjusted net investment income in yen terms was relatively flat at JPY98 billion. The pretax margin for Japan in the quarter was 52.2%, up 750 basis points year-over-year, notably driven by the unlock of actuarial assumptions. But even adjusting for that, a very good result.

本季我們在日本的費用率為 19.8%，年減 20 個基點，主要原因是銷售額成長導致費用資本化率上升。本季經調整後的淨投資收益（以日圓計）基本持平，為980億日圓。日本本季稅前利潤率為 52.2%，年增 750 個基點，主要得益於精算假設的解除。但即使考慮到這一點，結果也非常好。

Turning to US results. Net earned premium was up 2.5%. Persistency increased 10 basis points year-over-year to 79%. Our total benefit ratio came in at 45.6%, 200 basis points lower than Q3 2024, driven by the unlock. We estimate that the reserve remeasurement gains impacted the benefit ratio by 480 basis points in the quarter, largely driven by the assumption unlock and claims remaining below our previous long-term expectations.

接下來來看美國方面的結果。淨已賺保費成長2.5%。保單持續率年增 10 個基點，達到 79%。受解封推動，我們的總收益率為 45.6%，比 2024 年第三季低 200 個基點。我們估計，準備金重新計量收益在本季度對福利比率產生了 480 個基點的影響，這主要是由於假設解鎖以及索賠額低於我們先前的長期預期。

Our expense ratio in the US was 38.9%, up 90 basis points year-over-year. Primarily driven by the one-time early contract termination fee of $21 million that I referred to earlier and the timing of advertising spend. Even though we incurred a onetime fee as part of our overall strategy, we anticipate reduced costs and improved efficiency, which will offset the termination fee over the next few years.

我們在美國的費用率為 38.9%，較去年同期上升 90 個基點。主要原因是之前提到的 2100 萬美元的一次性提前終止合約費用以及廣告支出的時間表。儘管作為整體策略的一部分，我們產生了一筆一次性費用，但我們預計未來幾年成本將降低，效率將提高，從而抵消終止費用。

Our growth initiatives, group life and disability, network dental and vision and direct-to-consumer had no impact to our total expense ratio in the quarter. This is in line with our expectations as these businesses continue to scale. Adjusted net investment income in the US was up 1.9% for the quarter, primarily driven by higher variable investment income compared to a year ago.

本季度，我們的成長計劃、團體人壽和殘疾保險、網路牙科和視力保險以及直接面向消費者的業務對我們的總費用率沒有產生任何影響。隨著這些企業規模的不斷擴大，這符合我們的預期。本季美國經調整淨投資收益成長1.9%，主要得益於與去年同期相比更高的可變投資收益。

Profitability in the US segment was very strong with a pretax margin of 21.7%, a 90 basis points increase compared with a strong quarter a year ago. In corporate and other, we recorded pretax adjusted earnings of $69 million. Adjusted net investment income was $66 million higher than last year due to a combination of lower volume of tax credit investments and higher asset balances, which included the impact of the internal reinsurance transaction in Q4 2024.

美國業務的獲利能力非常強勁，稅前利潤率為 21.7%，比去年同期強勁的業績成長了 90 個基點。在公司及其他方面，我們錄得稅前調整後收益 6,900 萬美元。由於稅收抵免投資額減少和資產餘額增加，經調整後的淨投資收益比去年增加了 6,600 萬美元，其中包括 2024 年第四季內部再保險交易的影響。

Our tax credit investments impacted the net investment income line for US GAAP purposes negatively by $6 million in the quarter with an associated credit to the tax line. The net impact to our bottom line was a positive $2 million in the quarter. Higher total adjusted revenues were offset by higher total benefits and adjusted expenses of $64 million, driven primarily by internal reinsurance activity, higher costs pertaining to business operations and higher interest expense.

根據美國通用會計準則，我們的稅收抵免投資對本季淨投資收入產生了 600 萬美元的負面影響，同時稅收抵免也相應減少。該季度對我們的淨利潤產生了200萬美元的積極影響。調整後總收入增加，但總收益增加，調整後支出增加 6,400 萬美元，主要原因是內部再保險活動增加、業務營運成本增加以及利息支出增加。

We continue to be pleased with the performance of our investment portfolio. During the quarter, we increased our CECL reserves associated with our commercial real estate portfolio by $28 million net of charge-offs, reflecting continued distressed property values. We did not foreclose on any properties in the period.

我們對投資組合的表現依然感到滿意。本季度，我們商業房地產投資組合相關的 CECL 準備金淨額（扣除沖銷）增加了 2,800 萬美元，反映了持續的不良資產價值。在此期間，我們沒有取消任何房產的贖回權。

Our portfolio of first lien senior secured middle market loans continues to perform well with increased CECL reserves of $7 million in the quarter, net of charge-offs. For US statutory, we recorded a $7 million valuation allowance on mortgage loans as an unrealized loss during the quarter. On a Japan FSA basis, there were securities impairments of JPY476 million in Q3, and we booked a net realized loss of JPY189 million related to transitional real estate loans.

我們的優先擔保中端市場貸款組合持續表現良好，本季 CECL 準備金增加 700 萬美元（扣除核銷款項後）。根據美國法定規定，我們在本季將抵押貸款的 700 萬美元估值準備金計入未實現損失。依照日本金融服務管理局（FSA）的規定，第三季證券減損4.76億日元，與過渡性房地產貸款相關的淨已實現虧損1.89億日圓。

This is well within our expectations and has limited impact on regulatory earnings and capital. During the quarter, we also enhanced our liquidity and capital flexibility by $2 billion with the creation of two off-balance sheet pre-capitalized trusts that issued securities commonly referred as PCAPs. Unencumbered holding company liquidity stood at $4.5 billion, which was $2.7 billion above our minimum balance.

這完全符合我們的預期，對監理收益和資本的影響有限。本季度，我們也透過創建兩個表外預先註資信託發行證券（通常稱為 PCAP），提高了流動性和資本靈活性 20 億美元。控股公司未受限制的流動資金為 45 億美元，比我們的最低餘額高出 27 億美元。

Our leverage was 22% for the quarter, which is within our target range of 20% to 25%. As we hold approximately 64% 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 22%，在我們 20% 至 25% 的目標範圍內。由於我們約 64% 的債務以日圓計價，因此該槓桿率會受到日圓兌美元匯率波動的影響。這是有意為之，也是我們企業避險計畫的一部分，旨在保護 Aflac Japan 以美元計價的經濟價值。

Our capital position remains strong. We ended the quarter with an SMR above 900% and an estimated regulatory ESR with the undertaking specific parameter or USP, above 250%. While not finalized, we estimate our combined RBC to be greater than 600%. These are strong capital ratios, which we actively monitor, stress and manage to withstand credit cycles as well as external shocks.

我們的資本狀況依然穩健。本季末，我們的 SMR 超過 900%，而根據特定參數或 USP 估算的監管 ESR 超過 250%。雖然尚未最終確定，但我們估計我們的紅血球總數超過 600%。這些都是強勁的資本充足率，我們會積極監控、施加壓力並進行管理，以抵禦信貸週期和外部衝擊。

Given the strength of our capital and liquidity, we repurchased $1 billion of our own stock and paid dividends of $309 million in Q3, 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.

鑑於我們雄厚的資本和流動性，我們在第三季度回購了價值 10 億美元的公司股票，並支付了 3.09 億美元的股息，這些資本部署提供了良好的相對內部收益率。我們將繼續靈活運用策略來管理資產負債表和部署資本，以實現強勁的風險調整後淨資產收益率，並與我們的資本成本保持顯著的利差。

For 2025, we now expect that the benefit ratio in Japan will be in the 58% to 60% 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.

我們現在預計，到 2025 年，日本的福利率將在 58% 到 60% 之間。我們預計，隨著我們推進各項成長和策略舉措，費用率將繼續保持在 20% 至 23% 區間的較低水準。

As a result, we expect the Aflac Japan's pretax profit margin to be in the 35% to 38% range. In the US, we continue to expect the benefit ratio for 2025 to be at the lower end of the 48% to 52% range, and the expense ratio to be in the mid- to 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. Thank you.

因此，我們預計 Aflac Japan 的稅前利潤率將在 35% 至 38% 之間。在美國，我們繼續預期 2025 年的收益比率將處於 48% 至 52% 區間的下限，而費用比率將處於 36% 至 39% 區間的中上限，因為我們將繼續擴大新的業務線。同時，我們預計 2025 年美國稅前利潤率將達到 17% 至 20% 區間的上限。謝謝。

I will now turn the call over to David.

現在我將把通話轉給大衛。

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 to ask additional questions. We'll now take the first question.

謝謝你，馬克斯。在開始問答環節之前，請您盡量只提出一個初始問題和一個相關的後續問題。然後您可以重新排隊提問其他問題。現在我們來回答第一個問題。

(Operator Instructions) Joel Hurwitz, Dowling & Partners.

（操作說明）Joel Hurwitz，Dowling & Partners。

I wanted to touch on sales and maybe start with the US It looks like dental and group sales were very good, but your core voluntary product sales were down quite a bit year-over-year. Just can you talk about what you're seeing across your product offerings?

我想談談銷售情況，或許可以從美國開始。看起來牙科和團體銷售情況非常好，但你們的核心自願性產品銷售額比去年同期下降了不少。您能否談談您目前在產品方面觀察到的情況？

Yes. Joel, this is Virgil. Let me give you some commentary on that. First, let me start with where you started your question with. Yes, what we're seeing is in the market as the brokers have become more involved with selling supplemental benefits, they are leaning toward group products. So therefore, we are seeing some pressure on our individual products.

是的。喬爾，我是維吉爾。讓我對此發表一些看法。首先，讓我從你問題開頭說起。是的，我們看到市場上的趨勢是，隨著經紀人更多地參與銷售補充福利，他們越來越傾向於團體產品。因此，我們看到我們的個別產品面臨一些壓力。

I will tell you, though, that our focus is to continue to grow our average weekly producers and looking for an increase in recruiting this year. Having said that, along with recruiting comes conversions, we had an 8% increase in converting those recruits into producers for us, and then we saw overall productivity of 16%. We are seeing very strong production though in the investments we made in our buy-to-bills.

不過我可以告訴你們，我們的重點是繼續提高每周平均產量，並尋求今年增加招募人數。也就是說，隨著招募的進行，轉換率也隨之提高，我們將新招募的員工轉化為生產人員的比例提高了 8%，整體生產力提高了 16%。不過，我們在購銷票據方面的投資確實帶來了非常強勁的產出。

With our lab business, we achieved a 24% increase during the quarter. We also won the contract with the state of Maine to provide claims administration for their paid family medical leave program. It's really a testament to the type of service we're providing in that market. And also, we stabilized our dental operations, and we are seeing a 40% increase for the first nine-months, which is strong.

我們的實驗室業務在本季度實現了 24% 的成長。我們還贏得了與緬因州的合同，為其帶薪家庭醫療休假計劃提供理賠管理服務。這充分證明了我們在該市場上提供的服務品質。此外，我們的牙科業務也趨於穩定，前九個月的業務量成長了 40%，這是一個強勁的成長。

So our agents have returned back to selling those products. We are entering the broker market with those products, but a continued focus though on growing our Aflac nation, getting our veterans active to really drive, as you pointed out, the individual products. Overall, I would say one more comment, though, I'm pleased for the year. We are at $1 billion for the first nine-months.

所以我們的代理商已經恢復銷售這些產品了。我們將帶著這些產品進入經紀商市場，但我們仍將繼續專注於發展我們的 Aflac 會員群體，讓我們的退伍軍人積極參與進來，真正推動個人產品的銷售，正如您所指出的那樣。總的來說，我還有一點要補充，我對今年的表現很滿意。前九個月我們達到了10億美元。

We are focused on persistency, which means we are still providing some strong underwriting criteria to ensure though that we are making the right decisions for long-term performance. And that's why you see the overall strong performance that we have with profitability, which exceeded our expectations.

我們專注於保單持續性，這意味著我們仍然提供一些嚴格的承保標準，以確保我們為長期績效做出正確的決策。正因如此，您才會看到我們整體業績表現強勁，獲利能力超乎預期。

Got it. That's helpful. And then maybe shifting just to Japan sales. They were good in the quarter. Can you just provide some more color on how the cancer sales trended in the quarter? And then how demand is for the new Tsumitasu repriced product?

知道了。那很有幫助。然後或許會轉向只在日本銷售。他們這節表現不錯。能否詳細介紹本季癌症相關銷售額的趨勢？那麼，市場對重新定價後的 Tsumitasu 新產品的需求如何呢？

Yoshizumi, would you mind taking that question?

吉住，你介意回答這個問題嗎？

(interpreted) My name is Yoshizumi, in-charge of sales and marketing. I am very pleased to say that we're very much satisfied with the results in the third quarter, we did much better than in the second quarter. And it was mainly driven by our cancer insurance, Miraito. And first of all, one of the features that is not available at others is the fact that we have flexible protection design on Miraito.

（翻譯）我叫吉住，負責銷售和行銷。我很高興地告訴大家，我們對第三季的業績非常滿意，比第二季好得多。而這主要得益於我們的癌症保險產品 Miraito。首先，Miraito 擁有其他產品所不具備的靈活保護設計。

And this whole product can be customized to entire people, including those who already have cancer insurance and who doesn't have any cancer insurance today. And it's appealing also to the younger and middle-aged generation and also to people of all ages. And it also carries plans for children, which is unique to Aflac. And also it carries a premium waiver function.

而且，這款產品可以根據每個人的需求進行定制，包括已經擁有癌症保險的人和目前沒有任何癌症保險的人。而且它也吸引了年輕一代、中年一代以及所有年齡層的人。它還提供兒童保險計劃，這是 Aflac 獨有的。它還具備免除額外費用的功能。

And also, it has the premium-based plans. So this is a very unique cancer insurance to APAC and that -- this product can be provided to the customers because we have the 50-years of history. And at all the distribution channels, it is showing a great result. And shifting to Tsumitasu, we went through a rate revision. And we started to see a solid growth in sales from September.

此外，它還提供高級付費套餐。所以，這對亞太地區來說是一種非常獨特的癌症保險，而且——我們能夠為客戶提供這款產品，是因為我們擁有 50 年的歷史。在所有分銷管道，該產品都取得了非常好的效果。轉投津津津之後，我們進行了費率調整。從9月開始，我們看到銷售額出現了穩定成長。

So the two main products, Tsumitasu and Miraito, these are driving our sales performance. And we expect this momentum to sustain in the fourth quarter as well. And related to channels, our main channel is associate channels. And Japan Post Group, which is our alliance partner. They are doing -- both of them are doing very well. And we would like to make sure that we continue this momentum and close the year by doing well in the fourth quarter. That's all from me.

所以，Tsumitasu 和 Miraito 這兩款主要產品是推動我們銷售業績的主要因素。我們預計這一勢頭將在第四季度繼續保持。說到管道，我們的主要管道是聯盟頻道。還有我們的聯盟夥伴日本郵政集團。他們倆都做得很好。我們希望保持這種勢頭，並在第四季度取得好成績，為今年畫下完美的句點。我的內容就這些了。

I'd like to also add something to that, this is Dan. I was over in Japan two weeks ago specifically to meet on Tsumitasu product and see how it was doing with the banks. I met with 29 regional banks through meetings and then I called on four shinkin banks and the Head of the Association of Shinkin Banks. And the tone for the product of Tsumitasu is very -- going very well for us. It's hard to tell exactly what the sales will be.

我還要補充一點，我是丹。兩週前我專門去了日本，目的是與銀行洽談 Tsumitasu 產品，看看它在銀行的銷售情況。我透過會議與 29 家地方銀行進行了會面，然後拜訪了 4 家信用金庫和信用金庫協會會長。Tsumitasu 的產品目前的情況非常——對我們來說進展非常順利。很難準確預測銷售額。

But certainly, it is -- we can see in our numbers that we're writing a younger block of business through Tsumitasu, which allows us to tack on our supplemental or third sector products with it over a period of time. And we thought we might do as high as 40% of our -- of the people would be what I would call in the 30s and 40s in terms of age. It's actually run over 50%. So 40% is to 50%, 25% better.

但事實的確如此——我們可以從我們的數據中看出，我們正在透過 Tsumitasu 拓展更年輕的業務板塊，這使我們能夠在一段時間內將其與我們的補充產品或第三部門產品結合起來。我們當時認為，我們可能會有高達 40% 的人——這些人的年齡在 30 多歲到 40 多歲之間。實際上已經超過 50% 了。所以 40% 比 50% 好 25%。

So it's doing very well with us and bringing on a younger block of business that I think will play well in the long term for us. So I do like that. The other thing is, I'm really impressed with our Miraito product and what's going on there. I mean the idea of the percentage increase we've had is spectacular this year, and I credit what's going on with our sales organization there to continue to grow it.

所以它和我們合作非常成功，並吸引了一群更年輕的業務人員加入，我認為這從長遠來看對我們有利。我很喜歡這樣。另外，我對我們的 Miraito 產品以及它目前的發展狀況印象深刻。我的意思是，我們今年取得的百分比成長非常驚人，我認為這要歸功於我們銷售團隊的努力，正是他們的努力才使得成長得以持續。

So I agree totally with Yoshizumi. Also, I got Virgil to go over two times during the quarter and also pump up everyone and try to just talk about what we can do and pat them on the back because Yoshizumi joined us about the worst time you could join, which was during COVID. And so this has really been a good year for him and enjoying it. And so we're enjoying productivity and feel it will carry through the year.

所以我完全同意吉住的觀點。另外，我讓 Virgil 在這個季度來了兩次，也讓大家振作起來，試著談談我們可以做什麼，並鼓勵他們，因為 Yoshizumi 加入我們的時候正值最糟糕的時期，也就是新冠疫情期間。所以對他來說，今年真的是個好年頭，他很享受這一年。因此，我們目前生產力很高，並且相信這種勢頭會持續到年底。

Tom Gallagher, Evercore ISI.

Tom Gallagher，Evercore ISI。

My first question is just a follow-up on the repricing of the policies in September. Did you say that was Miraito? And how did -- what was the difference between -- because I think you launched that in June. And so what was actually repriced in September? Did you lower pricing? Can you just elaborate a bit more?

我的第一個問題是關於9月份保單重新定價的後續問題。你說那是未來人？那兩者之間有什麼差別呢？因為我覺得你們是在六月推出的。那麼，9月實際重新定價的是什麼呢？你們降價了嗎？能再詳細說說嗎？

Tom, the repricing related to Tsumitasu. And what we did was as yields have increased throughout the year, we increased the assumed interest rate on the product and moved that up. And that relates both to the underlying rate, but also the discounted advanced premium rate that we moved up from 25 basis points to 1%. And that's a pretty meaningful move that we did.

Tom，與Tsumitasu相關的重新定價。隨著全年收益率的上升，我們提高了產品的假定利率，並將其上調。這既與基礎利率有關，也與我們將折現預付保費率從 25 個基點提高到 1% 有關。我們採取的這個措施意義重大。

But nothing with cancer.

但與癌症無關。

Got you. So cancer is just playing out as you expected?

抓到你了。所以癌症的發展正如你所預期的？

Yes. No repricing on cancer.

是的。癌症治療不重新定價。

Got you. And just for my follow-up, so I guess I'm thinking about your launch of medical in Japan next year. And I'm not asking for specific numbers per se, but I guess it's a broader question. If I think about you now have two products selling simultaneously doing pretty well. And wondering, as you add a third, how do we think about your ability to support three products at once?

抓到你了。我再跟進一下，我想問的是你們明年在日本推出醫療產品的計畫。我並不是想要具體的數字，但我想這是一個更廣泛的問題。仔細想想，你現在同時銷售兩款產品，而且業績相當不錯。在您增加第三款產品之際，我們想知道您同時支援三款產品的能力如何？

Because I think historically, Aflac was really a one product at a time company and now you have two going, doing pretty well. How do you think about the launch of a third product? And do you think that can translate into over JPY80 billion in sales from a ballpark perspective to where we could get to overall premium growth flattening or even maybe beginning to grow?

因為我認為從歷史上看，Aflac 一直是一家一次只做一種產品的公司，而現在他們有兩款產品，而且都做得相當不錯。您如何看待推出第三款產品？你認為從粗略估計來看，這能否轉化為超過 800 億日圓的銷售額，從而使整體高端產品成長趨於平緩，甚至開始成長？

(interpreted) This is Koide speaking from Aflac Japan. We have just gone through the marketing and sales transformation this January and the new structure is now applied to the cancer medical asset formation and nursing care. And organization was function-based when it comes to product development and marketing. But we changed the organization to be more cross-functional and the product development and marketing are conducted in parallel across all the three brands.

（翻譯）這裡是來自 Aflac 日本的 Koide 的演講。今年一月，我們剛完成了行銷和銷售轉型，現在新的架構已應用於癌症醫療資產形成和護理領域。在產品開發和行銷方面，組織是以職能為基礎的。但我們改變了組織結構，使其更加跨職能，產品開發和行銷在所有三個品牌中並行進行。

The purpose of having this transformation is for us to launch the three brands or three products concurrently and support them directly. So with this new organization or transformation, we saw a positive result even by launching Miraito and Tsumitasu at the same time. And we're planning to launch a new medical insurance in the end of December, but I am confident that under this new transformation or organization, we will be able to run all the three brands in parallel and separately.

此次轉型的目的是為了同時推出這三個品牌或三款產品，並直接為它們提供支援。因此，透過這種新的組織或轉型，即使同時推出 Miraito 和 Tsumitasu，我們也看到了積極的成果。我們計劃在 12 月底推出新的醫療保險，但我相信，在這種新的轉型或組織架構下，我們將能夠並行且獨立地經營所有三個品牌。

And now that the sales teams have witnessed the success of the sales of Miraito and Tsumitasu and the team is now looking forward to make a similar success by launching the new medical insurance. That's all from me.

現在，銷售團隊已經見證了 Miraito 和 Tsumitasu 的銷售成功，團隊現在期待著透過推出新的醫療保險取得類似的成功。我的內容就這些了。

Comment about what was just covered. And that is, the Miraito will be influenced to some degree when we go to medical. An agent has so much time in a day to sell. And when they're making the call on the count or whatever, they generally -- if they've been pushing cancer insurance for a year or so. Then the opportunity to bring a new product like medical always works to the advantage, whereas in the case of Tsumitasu, it's totally different and a different way of approaching consumers that we normally have not been approaching.

請就剛才講的內容發表一些評論。也就是說，當我們去上醫學院時，Miraito 會在某種程度上受到影響。經紀人一天中有很多時間可以用來銷售。當他們做出決定，例如統計人數或其他什麼的時候，他們通常會——如果他們已經推銷癌症保險一年左右了。那麼，推出像醫療這樣的新產品的機會總是有利的，而 Tsumitasu 的情況則完全不同，它採用了一種我們通常不會採用的不同的方式來接觸消費者。

So I just want to make sure that was picked up that there always is some decline in sales of an older product that's been out there a few years than -- when we go to a brand-new product because that's the whole idea of sales is to have bells and whistles and excite people to go push and sell more. And so that does happen. So I want to be clear on that for you, Tom. I think it was Tom that asked question.

所以我想確保大家注意到，與推出全新產品相比，上市幾年的老產品的銷量總是會有所下降，因為銷售的全部意義就在於要有各種花哨的功能，激發人們的購買慾望，從而促使他們去推廣和銷售更多產品。所以，這種情況確實會發生。所以，湯姆，我想跟你明確一點。我想是湯姆問的問題。

(interpreted) May I add one more thing? This is speaking. By the way, our alliance partner sells cancer reinsurance only. So this partner will not be impacted by the new launch of medical insurance. And just to mention one thing about the three brands new structure, the teams are not working in silos. They are working concurrently and to support other products as well. We expect that with the launch of an attractive new medical insurance, there will be a positive impact to Tsumitasu and other products within our company.

（翻譯）我還能補充一點嗎？這是說話。順便一提，我們的聯盟夥伴只賣癌症再保險。因此，這家合作夥伴不會受到新推出的醫療保險的影響。另外，關於這三個品牌的新架構，還有一點需要說明，那就是各個團隊不再各自為政。它們同時進行開發，並為其他產品提供支援。我們預計，隨著極具吸引力的新醫療保險的推出，將對 Tsumitasu 和我們公司的其他產品產生積極影響。

John Barnidge, Piper Sandler.

約翰·巴尼奇，派珀·桑德勒。

My questions are focused on the US business. With the success and the growth of the buy-to-build initiatives, have we crossed over the period of investment and are now starting to yield some earnings from those efforts?

我的問題主要集中在美國企業方面。隨著「購買自建」計劃的成功和發展，我們是否已經度過了投資期，現在開始從這些努力中獲得一些收益了？

Thanks, John. It's Virgil. Let me say this that we're not at scale. However, though, we are seeing some -- with the growth that we're seeing, I'll be specific on the lab, there are quarters where we have realized being to the good. However, though, we've got to get more scale to make that consistent. So I'm not ready yet to claim that. I would say on the dental, no, we've got to get more growth.

謝謝你，約翰。是維吉爾。我想說的是，我們還沒有達到規模化水準。不過，我們看到了一些——隨著我們所看到的增長，我具體說說實驗室的情況，在某些方面，我們已經意識到這是好事。不過，要實現這一點，我們需要擴大規模。所以，我現在還不能下這樣的結論。就牙科而言，我認為不行，我們需要取得更大的發展。

So we were able to get stabilized. I am very pleased with what we're seeing operationally. Those challenges have pretty much subsided. And as I mentioned before, the first nine-months, we've got 40% growth, but we're going to need more sales and to really drive earned premium to get to that scale. The trajectory is there, but we're not at a point of arrival. Max, anything you want to add to that?

所以我們得以穩定下來。我對我們目前在營運方面取得的成果非常滿意。這些挑戰基本上已經緩解。正如我之前提到的，前九個月我們實現了 40% 的成長，但我們需要更多的銷售額，並且真正推動保費收入的成長，才能達到那個規模。方向已經確定，但我們還沒有到達終點。馬克斯，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

I want to add something. I'm very pleased with what's going on. When I look at it last year and look where we are this year, we're running way ahead, and it's nice to see that. And so Virgil is correct. We need more, but it's come a long way, and I am very pleased with what I've seen them accomplish.

我想補充一點。我對目前的情況非常滿意。回顧去年的情況，再看看我們今年的進展，我們遙遙領先，看到這一點真令人欣慰。所以維吉爾的說法是正確的。我們還需要更多，但它已經取得了長足的進步，我對他們所取得的成就感到非常滿意。

Well, I would say that you got one of the businesses is running -- have turned to profitability this year and two are not. That being said, it will still be some time until we reach target profitability. One thing is just to breakeven, but we want to get these businesses to adequate profitability overall, and that will still take a few years.

嗯，我想說的是，其中一家企業今年已經轉虧為盈，另外兩家還沒有。也就是說，距離我們實現預期獲利目標還需要一段時間。實現收支平衡是一回事，但我們希望這些企業整體達到足夠的獲利能力，而這還需要幾年時間。

And my follow-up question on the US. Given the comments about more of the broker distribution going into group products, how do you get larger in that? Can you talk about maybe efforts organically and potentially inorganically?

我還有一個關於美國的後續問題。鑑於有評論稱，越來越多的經紀商分銷管道轉向團體產品，那麼如何才能擴大這方面的規模？您能否談談可能採取的有機成長和潛在的無機成長措施？

I would say two things to that, John. The first is that we had to make sure we got the right product set available to them and are making sure that we are giving what we call a unified experience. So the trajectory you're seeing and the positivity we're seeing in our lab products, the brokers are accepting that. We are giving a level of service that is top notch.

約翰，對此我有兩點要說。首先，我們必須確保為他們提供合適的產品組合，並確保我們提供所謂的統一體驗。所以，你看到的這種發展趨勢，以及我們在實驗室產品中看到的正面表現，經紀人們都接受了這一點。我們提供一流的服務。

As I mentioned before, our brand is very strong in that area now, and we're winning cases. What we are now focused on going into 2026 is to now take those products and bundle them with our other VB products. We've used the term halo in the past, but we need to have those products bundled together so that the brokers can make a unified solution out there.

正如我之前提到的，我們的品牌目前在該領域非常強大，而且我們贏得了許多案件。我們現在著重考慮的是，在 2026 年將這些產品與我們的其他 VB 產品捆綁在一起。我們過去曾使用過「光環效應」這個詞，但我們需要將這些產品捆綁在一起，以便經紀人能夠提供統一的解決方案。

And it's not just about making it as an underwriting offer, it is being able to provide the technology and the process to support that. That is our extreme area of focus. And then you go and you add the dental products -- as I mentioned earlier, the dental is growing. It's mainly still driven by our agents. So we are open for business and asking the brokers now to move it in some of their larger cases.

這不僅是提出承保要約的問題，還要提供支援該要約的技術和流程。這是我們重點關注的領域。然後你再添加牙科產品——正如我之前提到的，牙科產品正在成長。這主要還是由我們的代理商推動的。所以我們已經恢復營業，現在正在請經紀人幫忙處理一些大宗貨物。

When you put that together, we believe that we will continue to grow consistently strong in the group space, and that has been our focus really with those buyer deals. And John, let me make sure -- there was a second part. What was the second part of your question?

綜合以上因素，我們相信我們將繼續在集團領域保持強勁成長，而這正是我們與買家達成交易的重點。約翰，讓我確認一下──還有第二部分。你問題的第二部分是什麼？

Yes. I think you covered the first part from the organic. I was asking is the inorganic opportunity for good scale there.

是的。我認為你已經涵蓋了有機食品的第一部分。我當時想問的是，那裡是否存在著實現良好規模化的非有機成長機會。

Thank you for that, John. I will tell you that as I've taken over now my role as President of the corporation, I've worked behind the scenes with all our leadership teams, primarily Max and I were making sure that we've got a strong corporate development arm. My point on that is that we're going to make sure we've got the right rigor and discipline to be looking out in the market for any opportunity.

謝謝你，約翰。我可以告訴大家，自從我擔任公司總裁以來，我一直在幕後與所有領導團隊合作，主要是我和馬克斯確保我們擁有一個強大的企業發展部門。我的意思是，我們要確保我們有足夠的嚴謹性和紀律性，以便在市場上尋找任何機會。

We're going to be very deliberate, though. So we are preparing to make sure that we have that discipline, that rigor to be looking. But at the same time, though, we have not seen anything become available that has attracted us that can really move our operations. So we're not going to just make a move to make a move, but the discipline that we have, we're making sure that we're ready if and when there is an opportunity.

不過，我們會非常謹慎。所以我們正在準備，確保我們擁有那種紀律和嚴謹去審視問題。但同時，我們還沒有看到任何能夠真正吸引我們、推動我們業務發展的機會出現。所以，我們不會為了行動而行動，而是憑藉著我們所擁有的紀律，確保在機會出現時做好準備。

Ryan Krueger, KBW.

Ryan Krueger，KBW。

I guess I had a follow-up on that last question on inorganic. I think last year at your investor conference, I think your views were you wanted to build out the newer US capabilities and give it a few years to see if it was working before you'd really consider anything larger from an M&A standpoint. It sounds like things are going better than you expected when it comes to the progress in the US.

我想我應該對上一個關於無機物的問題做一個後續問題。我認為去年在你們的投資者大會上，你們的觀點是希望先發展美國的新能力，並給它幾年時間看看是否有效，然後再從併購的角度真正考慮更大規模的收購。聽起來，就美國的發展而言，情況比你預期的還要好。

So I just wanted to follow up and maybe can kind of circle back to what you had said last year. When it comes to inorganic, are you mostly looking at smaller things that would add capabilities? Or would you actually consider something more meaningful?

所以我想跟進一下，也許還能再談談你去年說過的話。就無機物而言，你們主要關注的是能夠增加功能的較小事物嗎？或者你會考慮一些更有意義的事情嗎？

I think first, the point we were making last year is the focus. It's hard to go out and do something and then look at any type of opportunity when huge opportunity is sitting right in front of us with our life and (technical difficulty) and disability platform is our first focus to get that to scale. And we are actually exceeding the trajectory that we have put forth. So very pleased with that.

我認為首先，我們去年提出的觀點是關注點。很難抽出時間去做某件事，然後再去尋找其他機會，因為巨大的機會就擺在我們面前，那就是我們的生活和（技術困難），而殘疾人平台是我們首要關注的重點，目的是將其規模化。事實上，我們已經超越了我們所設定的預期目標。對此我非常滿意。

And to your point also, but when we had our dental operations not stable, that became our definite focus also. It's just a huge opportunity in both of those markets. Those products continue to be desired out there for consumers. And so therefore, that is our focus. Now having said that, when you mentioned the word small, if there are opportunities that could really enhance our technology, we are very, very aware of what's happening in the world of AI.

你說的也有道理，但是當我們的牙科手術不穩定時，這也成為了我們工作的重點。這兩個市場都蘊藏著巨大的機會。這些產品在市場上仍然深受消費者歡迎。因此，這就是我們的關注重點。話雖如此，你剛才提到了「小」這個詞，如果存在能夠真正提升我們技術的機會，我們非常非常清楚人工智慧領域正在發生的事情。

We've set up a clear framework. We will be active in making sure that we're able to be efficient and effective in how we manage our business and technology is a great part of that. So we're always looking at how we can advance and move our technology. But when it comes to looking at blocks of business or other opportunities out there, our focus will stay here, but we will have the discipline to make sure though that we are always looking at what's going to happen in the market.

我們已經建立了一個清晰的框架。我們將積極確保我們能夠有效率、有效地管理業務，而科技是其中非常重要的一部分。所以我們一直在研究如何推進和發展我們的技術。但是，當涉及業務板塊或其他機會時，我們的重點仍然會在這裡，但我們會保持自律，確保我們始終關注市場的發展趨勢。

What got Aflac to the dance that we're at right now, though, is a history of being innovative. We're the pioneers of the supplemental space. We're the pioneers of the cancer insurance. And we will make sure, though, that we're going to be innovators, and we will continue to be innovative going forward.

然而，Aflac之所以能達到如今的成就，是因為它一直以來都勇於創新。我們是保健品領域的先驅。我們是癌症保險領域的先驅。但我們會確保自己成為創新者，並在未來繼續保持創新精神。

I would just add that I don't think that our views have changed on M&A. We think that right now, we -- the things that we are building out are working for us, and we're making very good progress there. And we have a core business that is doing very, very well. So we are in a position where we don't have to do anything. We obviously have the flexibility and opportunity.

我只想補充一點，我認為我們對併購的看法並沒有改變。我們認為，目前我們正在建造的設施對我們有效，我們在這方面取得了非常好的進展。我們的核心業務發展得非常好。所以我們現在處於什麼都不用做的狀態。我們顯然擁有這種靈活性和機會。

But that being said, we also recognize that we operate generally in niche businesses where it's very difficult to either, a, find complementing businesses; and b, sometimes very difficult to integrate them as well, given the -- how sort of niche operated we are, both in terms of distribution administration, et cetera. So recognizing all of that, I would say that I don't think necessarily that our views or opinions have really changed.

但即便如此，我們也意識到，我們通常在利基市場經營，因此很難找到互補的業務；而且，考慮到我們在分銷管理等方面的利基市場運作方式，有時也很難將它們整合起來。綜上所述，我認為我們的觀點或意見並沒有真正改變。

And then you had a 64% to 66% Japan benefit ratio target over the next few years coming into this year. Following the assumption review in Japan, do you think that's still a good range? I know there's some ongoing benefits from that.

然後，你們設定了未來幾年日本福利比例目標為 64% 至 66%，直到今年。在日本進行假設審查之後，您認為這個範圍仍然合理嗎？我知道這樣做會帶來一些持續的好處。

So Ryan, if you look at our underlying benefit ratio for the quarter, it came in at 65.9%. So I think that's a reasonably good range going forward. Keep in mind that when we give guidance, we generally do not include any further unlock assumptions in those ranges. So the long-term range of 64% to 69%, we feel pretty good with.

所以瑞安，如果你看一下我們本季的基本福利比率，結果是 65.9%。所以我認為這算是比較合理的未來發展範圍。請記住，當我們給予指導意見時，我們通常不會在這些範圍內包含任何進一步的解鎖假設。因此，我們對 64% 到 69% 的長期範圍感到相當滿意。

Obviously, we get a little bit of a tailwind from the 130 basis points lower net premium ratio. We also get a little bit of a tailwind from mix overall as we grow -- continue to grow contribution of our in-force from the third sector block, predominantly cancer. So when you take all of that together, we said a year ago, that in the range of 64% to 66%, we will start at the high end of that range and trend lower throughout the forecast period. And I think that as we sit here today post the current unlocking and given the experience that we have, that still holds.

顯然，淨保費率下降 130 個基點為我們帶來了一些利好。隨著我們的發展，整體組合也為我們帶來了一些順風——第三部門（主要是癌症）的現有員工人數持續成長。所以，綜合所有因素來看，我們一年前就說過，預測值將在 64% 到 66% 的範圍內，我們將從該範圍的高端開始，並在整個預測期內呈下降趨勢。我認為，在我們今天坐在這裡，經歷了當前的解封措施以及我們所獲得的經驗之後，這一點仍然成立。

Wilma Burdis, Raymond James.

威爾瑪·伯迪斯，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Could you talk a little bit about why the Japan cash earnings have been so high over the last few years and how long this could persist?

您能否談談過去幾年日本現金收益為何如此之高，以及這種情況能持續多久？

Thank you, Wilma. The two main drivers of the high FSA earnings and therefore, ultimately dividends from Aflac Japan to Aflac Inc. over the last couple of years has really been driven by two factors. The first one is actually the weakening yen. And the way the FSA accounting works is that on US dollar assets held on the Japanese balance sheet, you recognize the full impact from FX movements at the maturity of those bonds.

謝謝你，威爾瑪。過去幾年，Aflac Japan 向 Aflac Inc. 支付的 FSA 高額收益和最終股息主要由兩個因素驅動。第一個因素其實是日圓貶值。而日本金融廳的會計處理方式是，對於日本資產負債表上持有的美元資產，要確認這些債券到期時匯率波動的全部影響。

And we obviously generally buy a lot of 5-year and 10-year tenors. And that means that you have to go back and look at what the yen was 5-years ago and 10 years ago. In particular, if you look at where the yen was 10 years ago, it was significantly stronger than what you have today. That means that as those bonds mature, you realize a very significant FX gain.

而且我們通常會買很多 5 年期和 10 年期的債券。這意味著你必須回顧一下 5 年前和 10 年前日圓的匯率。尤其是如果你看看10年前日圓的匯率，你會發現它比現在強勢得多。這意味著隨著這些債券到期，您將獲得非常可觀的外匯收益。

As an example, 10-years ago, you roughly had a yen at JPY1.05 relative to the dollar. If those bonds mature today at 1.50, that is close to a 45% appreciation of that asset that gets recognized at the time of maturity. So this boosts the FSA earnings in the near term. The other impact that you've seen since 2022 is that we have executed a series of reinsurance transactions between Aflac Japan and Aflac Bermuda.

舉例來說，10 年前，日圓兌美元的匯率約為 1.05 日圓。如果這些債券今天到期，價格為 1.50，那麼到期時資產將增值近 45%。因此，這將在短期內提振FSA的收益。自 2022 年以來，您還看到另一個影響，那就是我們在 Aflac Japan 和 Aflac Bermuda 之間執行了一系列再保險交易。

When we do that, there's also a release of reserves in the Japan segment, and that is boosting the FSA earnings as well. So I would say that those two components have been the main driver of the very high FSA earnings that you have seen.

當我們這樣做時，日本業務板塊的儲備也會釋放出來，這也提振了FSA的收益。所以我認為，這兩個因素是推動FSA收益大幅成長的主要因素。

And just a follow-up. It sounds like that could persist for at least a couple more years. And then along the same lines, can you just talk about the higher share repurchases in the quarter? And if that's something that you expect to see as more of a run rate?

還有一個後續問題。聽起來這種情況至少還會持續幾年。同樣地，您能否談談本季較高的股票回購額？如果你希望看到的是更高的運行率呢？

So as long as you have a yen that is weakening, you would continue to have a tailwind from maturing US dollar assets. If you have a yen strengthening, you could have the opposite. So I do want to caution you that this goes both ways. The other factor, we do continue to evaluate further reinsurance transactions. And if we were to execute any in the future, that is also likely to create FSA earnings and therefore, higher cash coming through.

所以，只要日圓持續走弱，美元資產到期就會繼續為你帶來利多。如果日圓走強，則可能出現相反的情況。所以我想提醒你，這種情況是雙向的。另一方面，我們仍在繼續評估進一步的再保險交易。如果我們將來能夠執行任何此類計劃，那也可能會創造 FSA 收益，從而帶來更高的現金流。

But if you look at the underlying FSA earnings, that has generally been on a core basis, a little bit over JPY200 billion per year. And then the way I would think about it is that, that's sort of a core underlying base. And then on top of that, you have the FX gains and any sort of gains coming through as it relates to reinsurance on top of that as well. In terms of buybacks, our philosophy have not changed.

但如果你看一下 FSA 的基本收益，其核心收益通常略高於每年 2000 億日元。然後我的理解是，這算是一種核心基礎。除此之外，還有外匯收益以及與再保險相關的任何收益。在股票回購方面，我們的理念並沒有改變。

It is a function of our capital ratios that we have, the cash levels that we have at the holding company as well as the capital formation that we see going forward. And then obviously, we evaluate all the different kinds of deployment opportunities that we have throughout the company and the enterprise. And where we see good returns, that's where we have the capital allocated to.

這取決於我們現有的資本比率、控股公司的現金水準以及我們未來預期的資本形成。然後，很顯然，我們會評估公司和企業內所有不同類型的部署機會。凡是回報好的地方，我們都會把資金投入那裡。

In the quarter, we obviously saw good levels and attractive IRRs on the capital that we deployed into share repurchase. And that's the reason why you saw that being a little bit higher than what you've seen in previous quarters.

本季度，我們顯然看到了良好的業績水準和可觀的內部報酬率，這得益於我們投入股票回購的資金。這就是為什麼你會看到這個數字比前幾季略高的原因。

Suneet Kamath, Jefferies.

Suneet Kamath，傑富瑞集團。

I wanted to come back to John Barnidge's line of questioning on Aflac US And this comment that you made about the brokers pivoting back to, I guess, true group product and you sort of reinvigorating Aflac Nation. Is this a new development? I don't remember you talking about this in the past. And the reason I ask is, fourth quarter is traditionally your big group broker quarter in terms of US sales. And I'm just wondering if it's a new development, should we start thinking about how that could impact fourth quarter of '25 sales?

我想回到約翰·巴尼奇關於 Aflac US 的提問，以及你關於經紀人重新轉向真正的團體產品，以及你重振 Aflac Nation 的評論。這是新的進展嗎？我不記得你以前談過這件事。我這麼問的原因是，第四季歷來是你們集團經紀人在美國銷售的主要季度。我想知道，如果這是一個新情況，我們是否應該開始考慮這會對 2025 年第四季的銷售額產生怎樣的影響？

Suneet, Virgil here. I would tell you that our pipeline for fourth quarter looks strong. I am confident and optimistic that we were going to finish our sales here within our ranges that we set forth. The pipeline I'm looking at will give us consistent expectations for the quarter. So for fourth quarter, the pipeline was good. No, I wouldn't say anything has changed.

我是維吉爾，蘇尼特。我可以告訴你，我們第四季的業務拓展前景良好。我充滿信心和樂觀地認為，我們一定能夠按照我們設定的目標範圍來完成銷售目標。我關注的這條產品線將為本季提供穩定的預期。所以第四季度，產品供應情況良好。不，我覺得沒什麼變化。

What I would say is that with the -- our growth in the large case space and with our life in absence and disability products is actually a positive that we are growing faster than what we had anticipated. And we are also continuing to forge those broker relationships. We're also now looking to bundle, as I mentioned before, those life in absence and disability products alongside our core group VB products.

我想說的是，我們在大宗案件領域以及缺席和殘疾生活保障產品方面的增長實際上是積極的，因為我們的增長速度比我們預期的要快。我們也持續鞏固與經紀人的關係。正如我之前提到的，我們現在也正在考慮將這些缺勤生活保障和殘障保障產品與我們的核心團體 VB 產品捆綁在一起。

What you're hearing me say though, is that what you're seeing in this in the fab documents, there is a weaker -- average weaker producer number that we have currently today. And with the weaker -- average weaker producer they're currently mostly driving our individual products. And that's why you're seeing an overperformance in our group and really underperformance in our individual.

但我想表達的是，從這些工廠文件中可以看出，目前的平均生產者數量較弱。而實力較弱的──平均實力較弱的生產商──目前主要影響著我們的單一產品。這就是為什麼你會看到我們團隊整體表現優異，而個人表現很差的原因。

And we have to focus on making sure that we get the Aflac Nation built back up and looking forward to a stronger recruiting year. But again, it's not just about recruiting, we have to convert. I'm pleased with our 8% conversion. And then I'm also pleased with our productivity at 16%. Now I want you to know that is a focus of ours, though, is to grow producers because they are the ones that sell more of the individual business.

我們必須集中精力確保重建 Aflac Nation，並期待在新的一年中取得更好的招募成績。但話說回來，這不只是招募的問題，我們還要轉化人才。我對我們8%的轉換率感到滿意。另外，我對我們16%的生產力提升也感到滿意。不過，我想讓你們知道，我們工作的重點是發展生產者，因為他們才是個人事業中銷售額最高的族群。

Okay. All right. That makes sense. And then maybe a follow-up on the US, Virgil, if I could. So if I look at annual sales, they've been sort of traveling around $1.5 billion and it looks like this year might be pretty close to that as well. And I know you're focused on earned premium growth of 3% to 5%, but obviously, sales is pretty important. And a few years ago, we talked about a $1.8 billion kind of target. Just wondering what needs to happen to get to some level of sales like that?

好的。好的。這很有道理。維吉爾，如果可以的話，也許我可以跟進美國的情況。所以，如果我看一下年度銷售額，他們一直都在 15 億美元左右徘徊，而且今年的銷售額似乎也差不多。我知道你們關注的是保費收入成長3%到5%，但顯然，銷售額也相當重要。幾年前，我們曾討論過一個約18億美元的目標。我想知道要達到那樣的銷售水準需要做些什麼？

Yes. So if you go back to -- I'll start with the buy-to-bills because it started with our lack of performance with the dental product. So if you look at what we had expected, we're really about two-years behind from where we are today. So while I'm being positive, the fact that we recovered operations, I'm very pleased with the 40% growth we've seen in the first nine-months, but that is really a year or two behind.

是的。所以，如果要追溯到——我會從採購與帳單比率說起，因為這一切都始於我們在牙科產品方面的表現不佳。所以，如果我們看看我們之前的預期，就會發現我們比現在的進度落後了約兩年。所以，儘管我保持樂觀，承認我們恢復了運營，並且對前九個月取得的 40% 的增長感到非常滿意，但這實際上比一兩年前的情況要好得多。

So when we projected those original numbers, we would expect it to have been higher on an annual sales production from dental right now. My goal is to recover that, pick that back up, finish strong this year and then going into 2026, getting closer to those numbers that we had originally predicted years ago. The second part I would tell you is it's the bundling.

因此，當我們根據最初的數字進行預測時，我們預計目前牙科的年銷售額會更高。我的目標是恢復到之前的狀態，重新振作起來，在今年取得好成績，然後在2026年，更接近我們幾年前預測的那些數字。第二點我想說的是捆綁銷售。

We mentioned that it's not trying to be best in dental. It is the ability to bundle dental with our VB products. As I look at my numbers in the third quarter, about $0.85 to $1. So every time we sell a $1 of dental, $0.85 worth of VB was sold. That is exactly what we're looking for. So the more dental we will get to sell as we recover that business, you're going to also see it pull up that individual block.

我們之前提到過，它並不是要成為牙科領域最好的。我們能夠將牙科產品與我們的 VB 產品捆綁銷售。從我第三季的財務數據來看，大約是 0.85 美元到 1 美元。所以，我們每賣出 1 美元的牙科產品，就相當於賣出了價值 0.85 美元的 VB。這正是我們想要的。因此，隨著我們恢復牙科業務，我們將出售更多的牙科產品，你也會看到它帶動了單一街區的發展。

And so that is part of the reason why we're lagging behind. And then the last thing I'll say though, it does get back to the number of producing agents. That is what we're addressing right now also.

所以，這也是我們落後的部分原因。最後我想說的是，這最終還是要回到製片經紀人的數量問題上。這也是我們目前正在努力解決的問題。

Yes. This is Dan. Let me add one other thing. I've always talked about evolution, not revolution. We're making some changes internally that are evolving that are good decisions. I'll give you an example. We write according to these classifications, 5s and 6s, which are high turnover areas, nursing homes, for example, the employment there. It's -- writing that business didn't make any sense because, number one, is there was too much turnover to the point where our claims were low.

是的。這是丹。我還要補充一點。我一直以來談論的是演進，而不是革命。我們正在內部進行一些變革，這些變革正在逐步推進，而且都是正確的決定。我給你舉個例子。我們根據這些分類進行寫作，5 和 6 是人員流動率高的地區，例如養老院，那裡的就業情況。寫那篇關於業務的文章毫無意義，因為，首先，人員流動太頻繁，以至於我們的索賠額很低。

Another thing that made it, there was no profit because the expenses were too high. So if you go back a few years ago and say, well, what did you make in your forecast? We didn't forecast we were going to stop selling it. And yet now we've stopped selling it because it's not good for anybody. It's not good for the company. It's -- it's not good for the consumer after we see the loss ratio.

導致失敗的另一個原因是，由於支出太高，所以沒有獲利。所以，如果你回顧幾年前，問問自己：你的預測收益是多少？我們並沒有預料到會停止銷售這款產品。但現在我們已經停止銷售它了，因為它對任何人都沒有好處。這對公司來說不是好事。看到損失率之後，對消費者來說可不是好事。

And so we've moved on. So there are things that we're evolving and doing. And that's what I've seen about cleaning things up and making them more profitable, too, with the buy-to-bills. They've done a good job with that, and we're not where we want to be. Let me be clear on that. But we are moving in the right direction. And I'm talking about a major move.

於是，我們繼續前進了。所以，有些事情我們正在不斷發展和改進。這就是我看到的，透過採購到付款的方式，可以清理帳目並提高利潤。他們在這方面做得很好，但我們還沒有達到我們想要的目標。讓我把話說清楚。但我們正朝著正確的方向前進。我指的是一項重大舉措。

I'm talking about better than I thought they've done. And so I'm very positive about that and what Virgil saying is exactly right.

我的意思是，他們做得比我想像的還要好。所以我對此非常肯定，Virgil 說的完全正確。

Just a quick follow-up. I'm not sure what you meant by 5s and 6s, but in any event, how big of a headwind is that issue?

再補充一點。我不太明白你說的 5 和 6 是什麼意思，但無論如何，這個問題造成的阻力有多大？

Well, what I mean by 5s and 6s is the classifications. Certain areas like if you're working in a lumber mill, that's the highest rating you can get because accidents occur more. So the higher the number, the higher the probability you're going to have claims or whatever it might be, if it's a high persistency. But the best would be a white collar worker in an air conditioned room working day-to-day and just counting numbers.

我說的5分和6分指的是分類。在某些領域，例如木材廠，這是你能獲得的最高評級，因為事故發生率較高。所以，數字越高，發生索賠或其他類似情況的機率就越高，尤其是在保單持續率較高的情況下。但最好的情況莫過於白領在有空調的房間裡日復一日地工作，只是數數而已。

That's the safest one we can give the best rate to. And a lot of people were not writing or what I'll just call less poor persistency business and less profitable business.

這是我們能提供最優利率的最安全方案。很多人不再寫作，或是我​​姑且稱之為缺乏毅力、利潤較低的業務。

Suneet, we have basically gone through a project to basically classify all our different accounts by profitability, and we're tiering them between one and six. And then we have essentially adjusted to some extent, the commission schedules accordingly to make sure that we capture more of the more profitable business and less of the less profitable business.

Suneet，我們基本上完成了一個項目，根據盈利能力對我們所有不同的帳戶進行分類，並將它們分為 1 到 6 級。然後，我們基本上在一定程度上調整了佣金表，以確保我們獲得更多利潤更高的業務，減少利潤較低的業務。

He said it better than me.

他說得比我好。

Jimmy Bhullar, JPMorgan.

吉米·布拉爾，摩根大通。

I had a couple of questions on the US business as well. So first, just in terms of claims trends, it seems like your benefits ratio has been going up if we adjust for the actuarial reviews and remeasurement gains and stuff. And I'm not sure to what extent experience -- claims experience and supplemental products has gotten back to normal? Or has it gotten worse than normal because obviously, it was favorable?

我還有幾個關於美國商業的問題。首先，就理賠趨勢而言，如果我們對精算審查和重新衡量收益等因素進行調整，您的福利比率似乎一直在上升。我不確定理賠經驗和補充產品在多大程度上已經恢復正常？或者說，情況比正常情況更糟，因為顯然之前情況比較有利？

Or is it just the mix of business and growth in the group insurance products or per group that's driving the uptick? So the question is just on what you're seeing in terms of claims trends in supplemental policies?

或者，推動成長的只是團體保險產品或每個團體的業務成長組合？所以問題就在於，您觀察到的補充保險理賠趨勢如何？

Jimmy, let me kick it off on the benefit ratio. So there are essentially three factors that's been pushing up our underlying benefit ratio to the higher levels now into the 50s. First of all, we went through actively a round of endorsements and benefit enhancements of our underlying policies. This applies to our cancer product. This applies to our accident product.

吉米，讓我先從收益比說起。因此，基本上有三個因素推動我們的基本福利比率上升到目前的 50% 以上的較高水準。首先，我們積極地進行了一輪對現有保單的認可和福利提升工作。這適用於我們的抗癌產品。這適用於我們的意外險產品。

This applies to our hospital product because simply, they were too low, especially coming out of the pandemic. So part of it is that we have pushed that through. Then you also have the cyclical component that because claims were very low, there's also an element of catching up impact that you are seeing now as well coming out of the pandemic, especially as it relates to cancer claims.

這也適用於我們的醫院產品，因為它們的價格太低了，尤其是在疫情之後。所以部分原因是我們已經推動了這件事的進展。此外，還有一個週期性因素，由於索賠數量非常低，現在也出現了疫情後遺症的影響，尤其是在癌症索賠方面。

During the pandemic, there was a significant amount of undetected cancers that post-pandemic as more people go for their regular annual checkups, these are now being detected. So we see, therefore, a little bit of a catching up impact on that line of business. And the last piece to the benefit ratio is mix. So a greater proportion of our in-force are now gradually sitting in higher benefit ratio product categories like life and disability and also dental and vision.

疫情期間，大量癌症未被發現；疫情後，隨著更多人進行年度體檢，這些癌症現在都被發現了。因此，我們看到該業務線受到了一些追趕性的影響。最後一點影響效益比的因素是混合模式。因此，我們現有保單中越來越多的人逐漸選擇福利比例較高的產品類別，例如人壽保險、殘障保險以及牙科和視力保險。

And as sales grow of those product categories, they will become a greater proportion of our overall in-force. And therefore, when you look at the total US benefit ratio, that will structurally move up over time.

隨著這些產品類別的銷售成長，它們在我們整體有效庫存中所佔的比例將會越來越大。因此，從美國整體福利比率來看，隨著時間的推移，這一比率將呈現結構性上升。

Okay. But nothing alarming in terms of claims in supplemental going up beyond what you would have assumed?

好的。但補充保險理賠額並沒有超出預期，這方面並沒有什麼令人擔憂的情況發生吧？

No, I wouldn't say so.

不，我不會這麼說。

And then just on -- and there's been a number of questions on this already. But if you think about the growth potential -- or what do you think about the growth potential of the US business over the long term? Because I realize dental was a weak spot, but it's been recovering. And if I think about your sales the past couple of years, you had, I think, 5% growth in '23.

然後就繼續——關於這一點已經有很多問題了。但如果你考慮成長潛力——或者說，你認為美國企業長期成長潛力如何？因為我意識到牙科曾經是我的弱點，但它一直在恢復。如果我回顧一下你們過去幾年的銷售情況，我認為你們在 2023 年實現了 5% 的成長。

It was a slight decline in '24. This year, you're going to grow, but it seems like it will be low single-digit growth again. But I would have assumed that the business would grow a lot faster than that, just given the sort of under penetration of supplemental policies, a fairly high medical care inflation. But do you think what you've seen recently is representative of what you'd expect longer term? Or is this a business that over time should be growing faster than what it's been growing at?

1924年略有下降。今年你們會成長，但似乎又會是低個位數的成長。但考慮到補充保險的滲透率較低，以及醫療保健通膨率相當高，我原本以為這項業務的成長速度會比這快得多。但你認為最近看到的情況能夠代表長期的發展趨勢嗎？或者說，隨著時間的推移，這家企業的成長速度應該比現在更快才對？

Jimmy, I would say that this is exactly what we expected. It's actually a little bit faster than we expected this year because we had to regain confidence. And what I'm looking at is the number of agents and then, as I mentioned, now get into the broker market that are actually coming to sell it. And so we are getting higher numbers than we anticipated. It's going to be a gradual grind to get really to where we want to get to.

吉米，我想說，這完全符合我們的預期。實際上，今年的速度比我們預期的要快一些，因為我們必須重拾信心。我現在關注的是經紀人的數量，然後，正如我所提到的，現在進入經紀市場，真正來銷售房產的經紀人數量。因此，我們得到的數字比預期的要高。要真正達到我們想要的目標，需要一個循序漸進的過程。

I can tell you, though, consistency matters here. So as you mentioned before, that 5% -- and then we had the negative year. And so you're coming on a smaller base. So when I talk about a 40%, what you're really talking about, I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but you're probably talking about -- I think it's about a $12 million increase for the quarter.

不過我可以告訴你，在這裡，一致性很重要。正如你之前提到的，那 5%——然後我們又經歷了負成長的一年。所以你們的規模比較小。所以當我提到 40% 的時候，你真正指的是什麼，我手頭上沒有確切的數字，但你可能指的是——我認為是本季度增長約 1200 萬美元。

So these numbers need to get larger and larger and larger, but I am seeing that happen quarter-over-quarter as more and more are seeing that the operations work. This is something we have to prove out in the market. We've also, though, now started to get cases with the broker, and I expect that to grow. So I expect this trend to continue in the fourth quarter and then see an additional trend increase going into next year.

所以這些數字需要越來越大，越來越大，但我看到這種情況正在逐季發生，越來越多的人意識到這些運作方式是有效的。這是我們需要在市場上證明的。不過，我們現在也開始接到一些與經紀人相關的案件，我預計這種情況會越來越嚴重。因此，我預計這一趨勢將在第四季度繼續，並在明年看到進一步的成長趨勢。

Jack Matten, BMO Capital Markets.

Jack Matten，BMO資本市場。

Just one on your margins in Japan. To what degree are you now like assuming future improvement in cancer and hospitalization trends, I guess, versus maybe your prior assumption and how you've seen recent experience trends?

日本，你只需在利潤空間裡找一個。我想問的是，您現在對未來癌症和住院趨勢的改善有多大程度的預期？這與您先前的預期以及您觀察到的近期經驗趨勢相比，又有什麼不同？

So in our unlocked assumptions, that incorporates our up-to-date experience. It also assumes a little bit of further improvement in that as we have seen a very, very long-term trend of favorable development. So we do incorporate a slight improvement going forward, but I would put it as fairly limited. So I want you to be aware of that it's not -- there's not no improvement whatsoever, but there is a very small improvement incorporated in our future actuarial assumptions for cancer.

因此，在我們未加限制的假設中，融入了我們最新的經驗。這也假設情況會進一步好轉，因為我們已經看到了一個非常非常長期的有利發展趨勢。因此，我們確實在未來做出一些改進，但我認為改進幅度相當有限。所以我想讓你們知道，情況並非——並非完全沒有改進，而是我們在未來癌症精算假設中納入了非常小的改進。

Got it. And then a follow-up, just wondering about your perspective around private credit, given it's been in the headlines lately. I guess can you just talk about your outlook for that asset class and what kind of experience Aflac is being in its portfolio?

知道了。最後還有一個問題，想了解您對私人信貸的看法，因為最近它一直是新聞熱點。我想請您談談您對這類資產的看法，以及Aflac在其投資組合中的表現如何？

Sure. Thank you for the question, Jack. Private credit is not something that's new to us or to the industry by any means. We're very comfortable with our current strategy as it relates to private credit. To state the obvious, there's two risks you need to understand and you need to underwrite. This is a credit asset. You need to have very strong credit management capabilities. And it needs to focus on bottoms-up security level underwriting with a disciplined top-down portfolio management approach.

當然。謝謝你的提問，傑克。私人信貸對我們或整個行業來說都不是什麼新鮮事。我們對目前的私人信貸策略非常滿意。顯而易見，你需要了解並承擔兩種風險。這是一項信用資產。你需要具備非常強的信用管理能力。它需要專注於自下而上的安全等級承保，並採用自上而下的嚴格投資組合管理方法。

And then the second obvious risk factor is liquidity and making sure you're stressing to make sure that you've got the liquidity you need to meet obligations across the organization. And we obviously do both of those. As it relates to the credit cycle and things we're seeing there, nothing systemic that would suggest we're at the beginnings of a serious credit cycle. Corporate balance sheets remain strong.

第二個顯而易見的風險因素是流動性，你需要確保有足夠的流動性來履行整個組織的義務。我們顯然兩者都做。就信貸週期和我們目前所看到的現象而言，沒有任何系統性跡象表明我們正處於一個嚴重的信貸週期的開端。企業資產負債表依然穩健。

We've not seen a discernible trend in downgrades or credit deterioration across our portfolio. In our structured private credit space, all of our holdings are performing in line with expectations. I'm very confident that if we do get a turn, our portfolio is going to perform well. Defaults and downgrades generally are isolated in below investment-grade portfolios.

我們尚未發現投資組合中出現明顯的評級下調或信用惡化趨勢。在我們結構化的私募信貸領域，我們所有的持股都符合預期。我非常有信心，如果我們能把握機會，我們的投資組合將會表現良好。違約和評級下調通常只發生在投資等級以下的投資組合中。

We have been very cautious in how we've built that exposure. So we feel very good about our overall private credit and aren't too concerned. We didn't have any exposure to the names that have been in the news lately, and we think our disciplined underwriting is going to allow us to do very well if and when the cycle does turn.

我們在建立這種投資敞口方面一直非常謹慎。因此，我們對自身的整體個人信用狀況非常滿意，並不太擔心。我們沒有投資最近新聞中提到的那些公司，我們認為，如果市場週期真的逆轉，我們嚴謹的承銷策略將使我們能夠取得非常好的業績。

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。我謹將會議交還給大衛楊，請他作總結發言。

Thank you, Andrea, and thank you all for joining us here today. If you have any follow-up questions, please reach out to Investor and Rating Agency Relations, and we look forward to speaking to you soon. Have a great day.

謝謝安德里亞，也謝謝各位今天蒞臨現場。如果您有任何後續問題，請聯絡投資者和評級機構關係部門，我們期待盡快與您溝通。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.

會議已經結束。感謝您參加今天的演講，現在可以斷開連接了。

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.

本記錄中標有（已翻譯）的部分是由現場通話中的翻譯人員翻譯的。本次活動的翻譯人員由活動贊助公司提供。