Brighthouse Financial Inc (BHFAM) 2025 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Brighthouse Financial's second quarter 2025 earnings conference call. My name is Michelle, and I will be your coordinator today.

女士們、先生們，早安，歡迎參加 Brighthouse Financial 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。我叫米歇爾，今天我將擔任您的協調員。

(Operator Instructions) As a reminder, the conference is being recorded for replay purposes.

（操作員指示）提醒一下，會議正在錄製以供重播。

I would now like to turn the presentation over to Dana Amante, Head of Investor Relations. Ms. Amante, you may proceed.

現在，我想將演講交給投資人關係主管 Dana Amante。阿曼特女士，您可以繼續。

Good morning. Welcome to Brighthouse Financial's second quarter 2025 earnings call. Material for today's call were released last night and can be found on the Investor Relations section of our website. We encourage you to review all of these materials.

早安.歡迎參加 Brighthouse Financial 2025 年第二季財報電話會議。今天電話會議的資料已於昨晚發布，可在我們網站的投資者關係部分找到。我們鼓勵您查看所有這些材料。

Today, you will hear from Eric Steigerwalt, our President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ed Spehar, our Chief Financial Officer. Following our prepared remarks, we will open the call up for a question-and-answer period. Also here with us today to participate in the discussions are Myles Lambert, our Chief Distribution and Marketing Officer; David Rosenbaum, Head of Product and Underwriting; and John Rosenthal, our Chief Investment Officer.

今天，您將聽到我們的總裁兼執行長 Eric Steigerwalt 和財務長 Ed Spehar 的演講。在我們準備好發言之後，我們將進入問答環節。今天與我們一起參加討論的還有我們的首席分銷和行銷長 Myles Lambert、產品和承銷主管 David Rosenbaum 和我們的首席投資長 John Rosenthal。

Before we begin, I'd like to note that our discussion during this call may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Brighthouse Financial's actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties described from time to time in Brighthouse Financial's filings with the SEC. Information discussed on today's call speaks only as of today, August 8, 2025. The company undertakes no obligation to update any information discussed on today's call.

在我們開始之前，我想指出，我們在本次電話會議中的討論可能包括聯邦證券法所定義的前瞻性陳述。由於 Brighthouse Financial 不時向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的文件中所述的風險和不確定性，Brighthouse Financial 的實際結果可能與前瞻性聲明中預期的結果有重大差異。今天電話會議上討論的資訊僅截至今天（2025 年 8 月 8 日）有效。本公司不承擔更新今天電話會議上討論的任何資訊的義務。

During this call, we will be discussing certain financial measures that are not based on generally accepted accounting principles, also known as non-GAAP measures. Reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures on a historical basis to the most directly comparable GAAP measures and related definitions may be found in our earnings release, slide presentation, and financial supplement.

在本次電話會議中，我們將討論某些非基於公認會計原則的財務指標，也稱為非 GAAP 指標。在我們的收益報告、幻燈片簡報和財務補充資料中可以找到這些非 GAAP 指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標和相關定義的歷史對帳。

And finally, references to statutory results, including certain statutory-based measures used by management, are preliminary due to the timing of the filing of the statutory statements.

最後，由於提交法定聲明的時間，對法定結果（包括管理層使用的某些基於法定的措施）的引用都是初步的。

And now I'll turn the call over to our CEO, Eric Steigerwalt.

現在我將電話轉給我們的執行長 Eric Steigerwalt。

Thank you, Dana. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining the call today. Through the second quarter of 2025, Brighthouse Financial continued to make progress against its capital-focused strategic initiatives. As a reminder, those initiatives are designed to improve capital efficiency, unlock capital, and remain within our target combined risk-based capital or RBC ratio range in normal market conditions.

謝謝你，達娜。大家早安，感謝大家參加今天的電話會議。到 2025 年第二季度，Brighthouse Financial 繼續在以資本為中心的策略計畫方面取得進展。提醒一下，這些措施旨在提高資本效率，釋放資本，並在正常市場條件下保持在我們目標綜合風險資本或 RBC 比率範圍內。

During the quarter, we also continued to execute on our focused strategy, delivering strong sales results, receiving additional deposits through BlackRock's LifePath Paycheck, prudently managing our expenses, and maintaining a strong capital and liquidity position.

在本季度，我們也繼續執行我們的重點策略，取得強勁的銷售業績，透過貝萊德的 LifePath Paycheck 獲得額外存款，審慎管理我們的開支，並保持強大的資本和流動性狀況。

A cornerstone of our financial and risk management strategy is maintaining a strong capital position at our insurance subsidiaries, as defined by a target combined RBC ratio between 400% and 450% in normal market conditions.

我們的財務和風險管理策略的基石是維持保險子公司的強大資本地位，即在正常市場條件下，目標綜合 RBC 比率在 400% 至 450% 之間。

In the second quarter, our estimated combined RBC ratio was between 405% and 425%, within our target range in normal market conditions. Our liquidity position also remains strong with liquid assets at the holding company in excess of $900 million as of June 30.

在第二季度，我們估計的綜合 RBC 比率在 405% 至 425% 之間，在正常市場條件下處於我們的目標範圍內。我們的流動性狀況依然強勁，截至 6 月 30 日，控股公司的流動資產超過 9 億美元。

As we have discussed in recent quarters, we have been executing on several capital-focused strategic initiatives. Through the second quarter, we made further progress on these initiatives, including the ongoing work to simplify and revise our hedging strategy for both our in-force variable annuity and first-generation Shield books of business. As we have said previously, it is important to note that our focus on protecting our statutory balance sheet under adverse market conditions remains unchanged.

正如我們最近幾季所討論的那樣，我們一直在執行幾項以資本為中心的策略性舉措。在第二季度，我們在這些措施上取得了進一步的進展，包括正在進行的簡化和修改我們的有效變額年金和第一代 Shield 業務帳簿的對沖策略的工作。正如我們之前所說，值得注意的是，我們在不利的市場條件下保護法定資產負債表的重點保持不變。

I am pleased with the continued success of our distribution franchise as well as the strong sales results that Brighthouse Financial continues to deliver. In the second quarter, we recorded strong sales in both annuities and life insurance. Total annuity sales were $2.6 billion, a 16% increase sequentially and an 8% increase compared with the second quarter of 2024.

我對我們的分銷特許經營的持續成功以及 Brighthouse Financial 繼續取得的強勁銷售業績感到高興。第二季度，我們的年金和人壽保險銷售均表現強勁。年金總銷售額為 26 億美元，季增 16%，與 2024 年第二季相比成長 8%。

Shield sales, as always, were a significant contributor to total annuity sales. Shield sales totaled $1.9 billion in the quarter, bringing year-to-date Shield sales to $3.9 billion, consistent with the same period last year. The second largest contributor to total annuity sales in the quarter was sales of our fixed annuities, which totaled $500 million. Our total annuity sales results in the second quarter further demonstrate the complementary and diversified nature of our suite of annuity products.

與往常一樣，Shield 的銷售對年金總銷售額貢獻巨大。本季 Shield 的銷售額總計 19 億美元，使得年初至今的 Shield 銷售額達到 39 億美元，與去年同期持平。本季年金總銷售額的第二大貢獻者是固定年金的銷售額，總額達 5 億美元。我們第二季的年金總銷售業績進一步證明了我們的年金產品套件的互補性和多樣化性質。

Life insurance sales in the second quarter were $33 million, which contributed to record year-to-date Life Insurance sales of $69 million, an increase of approximately 21% compared with the same period in 2024.

第二季人壽保險銷售額為 3,300 萬美元，推動年初至今人壽保險銷售額創下 6,900 萬美元的新高，與 2024 年同期相比成長約 21%。

Furthermore, we received $176 million of deposits through BlackRock's LifePath Paycheck, or LPP product, in the second quarter. As I have said previously, we expect our involvement with this product to enable Brighthouse to reach new customers through the worksite channel, and we remain extremely excited about its success to date.

此外，我們在第二季透過貝萊德的 LifePath Paycheck 或 LPP 產品收到了 1.76 億美元的存款。正如我之前所說，我們希望透過參與該產品，Brighthouse 能夠透過工作現場管道接觸到新客戶，並且我們對它迄今為止的成功感到非常興奮。

Moving on to corporate expenses. As we have said in the past, expense discipline is extremely important for us, and we remain committed to well-controlled expense management. Second quarter corporate expenses were $202 million on a pretax basis, down from $239 million in the first quarter, and up slightly from $200 million in the second quarter of 2024.

繼續討論公司開支。正如我們過去所說，費用紀律對我們來說極為重要，我們仍然致力於良好的費用管理。第二季企業支出（稅前）為 2.02 億美元，低於第一季的 2.39 億美元，略高於 2024 年第二季的 2 億美元。

Before turning the call to Ed to discuss our financial results, I'd like to discuss shareholder return. In the second quarter, we returned capital to shareholders through $43 million of common stock repurchases, bringing year-to-date common stock repurchases through June 30 to $102 million. Since we began our common stock repurchase program in August of 2018, we have repurchased over $2.6 billion of our common stock, which represents 52% of our outstanding shares.

在與 Ed 通話討論我們的財務表現之前，我想討論一下股東回報。在第二季度，我們透過 4,300 萬美元的普通股回購向股東返還了資本，使截至 6 月 30 日的年初至今的普通股回購額達到 1.02 億美元。自 2018 年 8 月開始普通股回購計畫以來，我們已回購了超過 26 億美元的普通股，占我們流通股的 52%。

As we have disclosed in our public filings, we have historically repurchased our common stock pursuant to Rule 10b5-1 plans, and our most recent plan expired at the end of May 2025. As such, there have been no additional share repurchases since that date. We have $441 million of capacity remaining under our Board-approved share repurchase program.

正如我們在公開文件中所揭露的那樣，我們歷來根據 10b5-1 規則計劃回購普通股，我們最近的計劃於 2025 年 5 月底到期。因此，自該日期以來沒有進行額外的股票回購。根據董事會批准的股票回購計劃，我們剩餘的回購能力為 4.41 億美元。

In closing, the second quarter was another quarter of continued focus and execution on our strategic priorities, including our capital-focused initiatives. We delivered strong sales results, received additional deposits through BlackRock's LifePath Paycheck product, and maintained our focus on expense discipline.

最後，第二季我們又持續關注並執行我們的策略重點，包括以資本為中心的措施。我們取得了強勁的銷售業績，透過貝萊德的 LifePath Paycheck 產品獲得了額外的存款，並保持了對費用紀律的關注。

Let me turn the call over to Ed now to discuss our second quarter financial results in some more detail.

現在，讓我將電話轉給 Ed，更詳細地討論一下我們的第二季財務表現。

Thank you, Eric, and good morning, everyone. Yesterday evening, Brighthouse Financial reported second quarter financial results including preliminary statutory metrics. I will begin with commentary on the preliminary statutory metrics and close with a review of our adjusted earnings.

謝謝你，艾瑞克，大家早安。昨天晚間，Brighthouse Financial 公佈了包括初步法定指標在內的第二季財務表現。我將首先對初步法定指標進行評論，最後對我們的調整後收益進行回顧。

As of June 30, the estimated combined risk-based capital or RBC ratio was between 405% and 425%, within our target range of 400% to 450% in normal market conditions. The statutory combined total adjusted capital, or TAC, was approximately $5.6 billion at June 30 compared with approximately $5.5 billion at March 31. The increase in TAC was driven by a decline in our VA and Shield reserves in excess of cash surrender value, which more than offset a negative impact on TAC from our non-VA business.

截至 6 月 30 日，估計綜合風險資本或 RBC 比率在 405% 至 425% 之間，在正常市場條件下我們的目標範圍 400% 至 450% 之內。截至 6 月 30 日，法定合併調整後總資本（TAC）約為 56 億美元，而截至 3 月 31 日，數字約為 55 億美元。TAC 的成長是由於我們的 VA 和 Shield 儲備金的下降超過了現金退保價值，這足以抵消非 VA 業務對 TAC 的負面影響。

The combined RBC ratio decreased during the period, primarily as a result of seasonality and capital charges for fixed business and adverse non-VA results, partially driven by mortality. A normalized statutory loss associated with the VA and Shield business had a muted impact on the RBC ratio because of the previously mentioned benefit to TAC from VA and Shield.

本期間綜合 RBC 比率下降，主要由於季節性因素、固定業務的資本費用以及不利的非 VA 結果（部分原因在於死亡率）。由於前面提到的 VA 和 Shield 為 TAC 帶來的收益，與 VA 和 Shield 業務相關的標準化法定損失對 RBC 比率的影響很小。

As I have discussed in the past, during periods of strong market performance, there is divergence between VA and Shield reserves on the balance sheet, which impacts TAC and the total asset requirement for the business.

正如我過去所討論過的，在市場表現強勁的時期，資產負債表上的 VA 和 Shield 儲備之間存在差異，這會影響 TAC 和業務的總資產需求。

Holding company liquid assets were over $900 million at June 30. We consider capital strength to be a combination of the operating company's RBC ratio, holding company liquid assets and a conservative capital structure.

截至 6 月 30 日，控股公司流動資產超過 9 億美元。我們認為資本實力是營運公司的 RBC 比率、控股公司流動資產和保守的資本結構的結合。

Before moving to adjusted earnings results, I would like to reiterate the continued progress we have made on our capital-focused strategic initiatives. As a reminder, as of year-end 2024, we fully transitioned to hedging new Shield sales as well as our entire block of Shield business with a living benefit feature on a stand-alone basis. And we continue to make considerable progress on the development of a separate hedging strategy for our in-force variable annuity and first-generation Shield annuity block of business.

在談到調整後的收益結果之前，我想重申我們在以資本為中心的策略舉措方面取得的持續進展。提醒一下，截至 2024 年底，我們已完全過渡到對沖新的 Shield 銷售以及我們的整個 Shield 業務區塊，並以獨立的方式提供生存福利功能。我們在為現行變額年金和第一代 Shield 年金業務板塊制定單獨的對沖策略方面繼續取得了重大進展。

We made some modifications to our hedges at the beginning of the third quarter, and we plan to complete the transition to our revised strategy, managing the VA and Shield businesses separately by the end of September. Importantly, the foundation of our financial and risk management strategy is unwavering as we remain focused on protecting our statutory balance sheet under adverse market scenarios.

我們在第三季初對對沖進行了一些修改，並計劃在 9 月底之前完成向修訂後的策略的過渡，分別管理 VA 和 Shield 業務。重要的是，我們的財務和風險管理策略的基礎堅定不移，因為我們仍然專注於在不利的市場情況下保護我們的法定資產負債表。

I will now turn to second quarter adjusted earnings results, and first note that there were no notable items in the quarter. Adjusted earnings for the quarter were $198 million or $3.43 per share, which compares with adjusted earnings less notables of $245 million in the first quarter of 2025 and adjusted earnings of $346 million in the second quarter of 2024. The second quarter adjusted earnings of $198 million were approximately $60 million below our quarterly average run rate expectations, driven by lower alternative investment income and a lower underwriting margin.

現在我將討論第二季調整後的收益結果，首先要注意的是，本季沒有值得注意的項目。本季調整後收益為 1.98 億美元，即每股 3.43 美元，而 2025 年第一季調整後收益減去應計利潤為 2.45 億美元，2024 年第二季調整後收益為 3.46 億美元。第二季調整後的收益為 1.98 億美元，比我們的季度平均運行率預期低約 6,000 萬美元，原因是另類投資收入和承保利潤率較低。

The alternative investment portfolio yield in the quarter was 1.5%, which resulted in lower alternative investment income of $32 million or approximately $0.55 below our quarterly average run rate expectation. As a reminder, over the long term, we expect a yield on this portfolio of 9% to 11% annually.

本季另類投資組合收益率為 1.5%，導致另類投資收入減少 3,200 萬美元，比我們季度平均運行率預期低約 0.55 美元。提醒一下，從長期來看，我們預計該投資組合的年收益率為 9% 至 11%。

In addition, this quarter, we saw a lower underwriting margin relative to our run rate expectation, driven by higher average severity of claims. As we have said previously, mortality fluctuates quarter-to-quarter and can vary based on volume and severity of claims, along with the reinsurance offset.

此外，本季度，由於索賠的平均嚴重程度較高，我們發現承保利潤率低於我們的運行率預期。正如我們之前所說，死亡率每季都在波動，並且會根據索賠的數量和嚴重程度以及再保險抵銷而變化。

Turning to results at the segment level. Adjusted earnings in the Annuities segment were $332 million, which reflected lower expenses, partially offset by lower fees as a result of lower average separate account balances sequentially. The Life segment reported an adjusted loss of $26 million.

轉向細分層面的結果。年金部門的調整後收益為 3.32 億美元，反映了支出的降低，但由於平均獨立帳戶餘額連續下降導致費用降低，部分抵消了這一影響。人壽部門報告調整後虧損 2600 萬美元。

Sequentially, results reflected a lower underwriting margin and lower net investment income, partially offset by lower expenses. The Run-off segment had an adjusted loss of $83 million. Sequentially, results reflected a lower underwriting margin, partially offset by higher net investment income and lower expenses. There was an adjusted loss in the Corporate and Other segment of $25 million, which was flat sequentially.

連續，績效反映承保利潤率和淨投資收益下降，但部分被費用下降所抵銷。最終結算部門的調整後虧損為 8,300 萬美元。連續，績效反映承保利潤率下降，但被淨投資收入增加和費用降低部分抵銷。企業及其他部門調整後虧損 2,500 萬美元，與上一季持平。

To wrap up, we maintained a strong balance sheet and robust liquidity as of the end of the second quarter. The estimated combined RBC ratio remained within our target range in normal markets. Additionally, we continue to make progress on our capital-focused strategic initiatives while we remain committed to protecting our statutory balance sheet under adverse market scenarios.

總而言之，截至第二季末，我們維持了強勁的資產負債表和強勁的流動性。在正常市場中，估計的綜合 RBC 比率仍處於我們的目標範圍內。此外，我們繼續在以資本為中心的策略性舉措上取得進展，同時我們仍然致力於在不利的市場情況下保護我們的法定資產負債表。

We will now turn the call over to the operator to begin the question-and-answer session.

我們現在將把電話轉給接線員，開始問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Tom Gallagher, Evercore ISI.

（操作員指示）湯姆·加拉格爾，Evercore ISI。

First question is around your actuarial review for 3Q, 4Q. I assume it's still 3Q GAAP, 4Q stat. Is there a risk here on the stat side, in particular, that there could be a charge given the continued losses? Or do you see that more about volatility and less about asset adequacy?

第一個問題是關於您對第三季、第四季的精算審查。我認為它仍然是 3Q GAAP、4Q 統計數據。從統計數據來看，是否有風險？尤其是在持續虧損的情況下，可能會出現收費？還是您認為這與波動性有關，而非資產充足性？

Tom, as you know, the actuarial review is a significant undertaking and it's the reason it's done on an annual basis. So there's nothing to report on that yet. I mean, we're in the process of doing the work. So I really don't have any update to give.

湯姆，正如你所知，精算審查是一項重要的工作，這也是我們每年進行一次的原因。所以目前還沒有任何進展可以報告。我的意思是，我們正在進行這項工作。所以我真的沒有任何最新進展可以提供。

And Ed, is it still third quarter GAAP, fourth quarter stat?

還有 Ed，這還是第三季的 GAAP 數據，第四季的統計數據嗎？

We have had different time lines at different points in time for stat versus GAAP. If you recall, I think it was the fourth quarter of 2022, we did the annuity business on a stat basis and everything else in the third quarter on a GAAP basis because we were in the final stages of actuarial transformation. And so we needed to push the review for annuities on a stat basis.

在不同時間點，我們對 stat 與 GAAP 有不同的時間軸。如果您還記得的話，我想那是在 2022 年第四季度，我們以統計數據為基礎開展年金業務，而第三季度的所有其他業務均以 GAAP 為基礎，因為我們正處於精算轉型的最後階段。因此，我們需要在統計基礎上推動年金審查。

So we're in the process of the VA, Shield separation work here, which is going to have an impact on our ending third quarter balance sheet relative to the ending second quarter balance sheet. And so we will have the -- we will complete the stat review again this time on an annuity basis in the fourth quarter and the GAAP review in the third quarter. But that's all I can tell you at this point on our actuarial assumption update.

因此，我們正在進行 VA、Shield 分離工作，這將對我們第三季末的資產負債表相對於第二季末的資產負債表產生影響。因此，我們將在第四季度再次完成統計審查，這次是基於年金，並在第三季完成 GAAP 審查。但目前關於精算假設更新，我能告訴你的只有這些。

Got you. And then just from a follow-up, Ed, can you elaborate a bit on what will be completed by the end of September? And do you feel like you are then in the right place from a go-forward standpoint, where you think you can start generating positive capital again after implementation at the end of September strategy?

明白了。然後從後續情況來看，艾德，您能否詳細說明一下 9 月底將完成哪些工作？那麼，從未來發展的角度來看，您是否覺得自己處於正確的位置，您是否認為在 9 月底實施策略後，您可以再次開始產生正資本？

Sure. So there are a couple of questions in there. I think, first of all, your question on the revisions to our hedging strategy, so we are separating and managing individually the Shield book and the VA book. And we think that's appropriate at this point given our balanced risk profile between Shield and VA.

當然。這裡面有幾個問題。我認為，首先，您的問題是關於我們修改對沖策略的問題，因此我們將 Shield 帳簿和 VA 帳簿分開並分別管理。我們認為，考慮到 Shield 和 VA 之間的平衡風險狀況，目前這樣做是合適的。

So we've talked in the past about how we were getting a capital benefit when we were doing Shield and VA together when Shield was a smaller portion of the total. And once we got to this balanced risk profile, we started to see more of the complexity of managing them together become an issue. And so that's why we're going to the separated approach.

因此，我們過去曾討論過，當我們同時進行 Shield 和 VA 時，我們如何獲得資本收益，當時 Shield 只佔總量的一小部分。一旦我們達到了這種平衡的風險狀況，我們就會開始看到，將它們一起管理的複雜性成為一個問題。這就是我們採用分離方法的原因。

With the implementation in the third quarter, it's really, I would say, in a couple of stages. We've done revisions to the hedges. We're in the process of doing some more. And then by the end of the quarter, we will have implemented the modeling and valuation changes necessary to have it reflected on the liability side. So this will all take place in the third quarter.

隨著第三季的實施，我想說，它實際上分為幾個階段。我們已經對樹籬進行了修改。我們正在做更多的事情。然後到本季末，我們將實施必要的模型和估值變更，以反映在負債方面。這一切都將在第三季發生。

In terms of the go-forward impact of this, it's too early to talk about -- to quantify what the impact of separation will be. But I'll tell you that it will introduce simplification, more transparency and allow for more effective management of the block of business. I also think, overall, we're going to see less volatility in our results over time.

就未來的影響而言，現在談論量化分離的影響還為時過早。但我會告訴你，它將引入簡化、更高的透明度並允許更有效地管理業務區塊。我還認為，總體而言，隨著時間的推移，我們的業績波動會越來越小。

The final -- wait, can you hear me?

最後——等一下，你聽得到我說話嗎？

I can. It's a little bit of an echo.

我可以。這有點像迴聲。

Yeah. I just started to hear an echo as well. Well, why don't we just pause for a second and see if we can clear this up?

是的。我剛剛也開始聽到迴音。好吧，我們為什麼不暫停一下，看看能否解決這個問題？

Technical difficulties, I think, so. We're working on it. Tom, how about now? No?

我認為有技術困難，所以如此。我們正在努力。湯姆，現在怎麼樣？不？

Yes, still an echo.

是的，仍然有迴聲。

Tom?

湯姆？

That's better now.

現在好多了。

All right. Sorry about the delay.

好的。抱歉耽擱了。

No problem.

沒問題。

So what I was going to finish off on in the impact of this separation, I talked about the simplification, the transparency and I think, therefore, more effective management. I think we will see less volatility in our results over time as a result of this change. And the second thing that I would add is that this change positions us better for what we think the new ESG is going to look like.

因此，關於這種分離的影響，我最後要討論的是簡化、透明度，以及我認為因此更有效的管理。我認為，由於這項變化，隨著時間的推移，我們的業績波動將會減少。我想補充的第二點是，這項改變使我們更了解新 ESG 的面貌。

And obviously, we've got much more clarification around that now than we had in the past. And just to finish up, though, you talk about the forward-looking impact on cash flows. We have talked about how after reaching this balanced risk profile, we started to see the capital strain come through and impact our results from writing new business. Now, obviously, writing new business is the franchise value of this company. And so we want to continue to grow and we're pleased with the profitability of the business that we write.

顯然，我們現在對此的了解比過去多得多。最後，您談到了對現金流的前瞻性影響。我們已經討論過，在達到這種平衡的風險狀況後，我們開始看到資本壓力的出現並影響我們開展新業務的表現。現在，顯然，拓展新業務是這家公司的特許經營價值。因此，我們希望繼續發展，我們對我們所從事的業務的盈利能力感到滿意。

And so what we have been looking at in terms of the strategic initiatives is what can we do that can generate more capital today without harming the franchise? So we've talked about reinsurance. We continue to look at various reinsurance opportunities. I would think about this a bit like what we did when we added a lot of interest rate protection after rates went up. We saw a profile of the company where there was a back-end loading of cash flows. And so we decided to put on a lot more protection for rates to narrow the range of outcomes for market movements.

因此，就策略性舉措而言，我們一直在考慮的是，我們可以做些什麼來在不損害特許經營權的情況下產生更多的資本？我們討論了再保險。我們持續關注各種再保險機會。我認為這有點像我們在利率上升後增加大量利率保護時所做的事情。我們看到了該公司的簡介，其中有現金流的後端加載。因此，我們決定對利率施加更多保護，以縮小市場波動的範圍。

And the cost of that was some give-up in longer-term cash flows. And we thought that was a good trade-off because the longer-term cash flows that we see tend to be pretty significant. I would think about what we're doing with these strategic initiatives in a similar fashion. And I think I've said this on a prior call.

而這樣做的代價就是放棄一些長期現金流。我們認為這是一個很好的權衡，因為我們看到的長期現金流往往相當可觀。我會以類似的方式思考我們如何實施這些策略措施。我想我在之前的電話中已經說過這​​一點。

We're looking at ways where we could enter into initiatives that will be beneficial to near-term capital generation with some give-up of cash flows in the future. And everything we're doing, as I said, is going to make sure that we're protecting the franchise, which is our ability to grow new business.

我們正在尋找能夠有利於短期資本產生並在未來放棄一些現金流的措施。正如我所說，我們所做的一切都是為了確保我們保護特許經營權，也就是我們發展新業務的能力。

Jimmy Bhullar, JPMorgan.

摩根大通的 Jimmy Bhullar。

So first, just had a question on buybacks. And you've been fairly active in the past on buying back stock, and as you mentioned, you paused in May. Are buybacks are part of your normal plan going forward? And should we assume that you'd continue into 3Q? Or is there any reason to stop to preserve capital or anything else?

首先，我有一個關於回購的問題。過去你們一直非常積極地回購股票，但正如你們所提到的，你們在五月暫停了回購。回購是您未來正常計劃的一部分嗎？我們是否應該假設您會繼續進入第三季？或是否有理由停止以保留資本或其他什麼？

Jimmy, it's Eric. Listen, we have historically repurchased, as I think I said in my opening remarks, pursuant to 10b5-1 plans. The Board is very comfortable with that. We're all very comfortable using 10b5-1 plans. So it ran out at the end of May, and we'll see. I would just say, historically, you know we have been a returner of capital. But that's my answer.

吉米，我是艾瑞克。聽著，正如我在開場白中所說的那樣，我們過去一直按照 10b5-1 計劃進行回購。董事會對此非常滿意。我們都非常樂意使用 10b5-1 計劃。所以它在五月底就用完了，我們拭目以待。我只想說，從歷史上看，我們一直是資本回報者。但這就是我的答案。

Okay. We'll find out in three months anyway. And I'm not sure what you want to say on the whole discussion of M&A, but maybe just to comment on your confidence in the company's ability to sort of survive and thrive on a stand-alone basis. Like do you feel you have the capital flexibility, the product breadth. And just other -- sort of how do you feel about the company's ability and your desire to be able to stay independent and strive as a stand-alone entity in case there is no transaction? But you could add whatever else, yes.

好的。無論如何，三個月後我們就會知道答案。我不確定您想對整個併購討論說些什​​麼，但也許只是想評論一下您對公司獨立生存和發展的能力的信心。您是否覺得自己擁有資本彈性和產品廣度？還有其他—您對公司的能力有何看法？如果沒有交易，您是否希望能夠保持獨立並努力成為一個獨立的實體？但是你可以添加其他任何內容，是的。

Yeah. No, I got it, Jimmy. Look, maybe I can just try to frame up where I think we're at here, and Ed covered some of this. With respect to our legacy liabilities and I'll say specifically our VA block, as you know, it's been pretty complicated to manage, especially since we hit sort of that inflection point where we got to delta neutral there for VA and Shield 1 blocks, Shield 1 block, I'm being specific here. Given this inflection point and because of where interest rates are, where equities are, as Ed has said, we are in the process now of transitioning our hedging strategy, and we're going to end up managing these blocks of businesses separately.

是的。不，我明白了，吉米。瞧，也許我可以試著概括一下我認為我們現在所處的位置，Ed 已經涵蓋了其中的一些內容。關於我們的遺留負債，我特別要說的是我們的 VA 區塊，如你所知，管理起來相當複雜，特別是因為我們達到了那種拐點，即 VA 和 Shield 1 區塊的 delta 中性，Shield 1 區塊，我在這裡要具體一點。鑑於這個轉折點以及利率和股票的現狀，正如艾德所說，我們現在正在轉變對沖策略，最終將分別管理這些業務部門。

Obviously, a lot of work has gone into that. It's one of our most important strategic initiatives, I would say, in the last year. An enormous amount of work has gone into that. And so now we've already started that transition. And as Ed said, we'll be done with that transition at the end of September, okay? So since I've been talking about strategic initiatives, we've completed a number of reinsurance transactions. We've talked about all the work that has to go into preparing for this change with respect to the hedging strategy. And now we're actually in the third quarter executing on that.

顯然，我們為此付出了很多努力。我想說，這是我們去年最重要的策略舉措之一。我們為此付出了巨大的努力。現在我們已經開始了這項轉變。正如艾德所說，我們將在九月底完成這場過渡，好嗎？自從我開始談論策略性舉措以來，我們已經完成了許多再保險交易。我們已經討論了針對對沖策略的這項變更所需要做的所有準備工作。現在我們實際上已經在第三季執行這項計劃。

With respect to our distribution franchise and what I'll call our operational and technological capabilities, I think our journey has brought us to the place where it is obvious we are a premier carrier in this industry. So our strategy with respect to new business and our distribution partners has not changed. It's not going to change. We're going to continue to innovate with respect to products. Our technology is state-of-the-art at this point. And we're going to have the very best operational capabilities that we can going forward. Trying to think of what else you asked.

關於我們的分銷特許經營權以及我所說的營運和技術能力，我認為我們的歷程已經讓我們明顯成為這個行業的頂級運營商。因此，我們針對新業務和分銷合作夥伴的策略並沒有改變。它不會改變。我們將繼續在產品方面進行創新。目前我們的技術是最先進的。我們將盡最大努力擁有最好的營運能力。試著想想你還問了什麼。

Look, with respect to any market rumors, I don't have any comments on that. But sort of overall, if you think about what I just said, you've got the back book, which we have had to manage now for, geez, I guess, one day longer than eight years. I think our 8th anniversary was yesterday. But I'm super pleased with our situation with respect to product development, technology and operations and, of course, our distribution partners. And that includes more progress that we made in the second quarter with respect to bringing in deposits on LifePath Paycheck. So there's sort of an overall answer for you, Jimmy.

你看，對於任何市場謠言，我都沒有任何評論。但總體而言，如果你想想我剛才說的話，你就會看到這本書，我們現在必須管理它，天哪，我想，比八年多了一天。我想昨天就是我們的八週年紀念日了。但我對我們的產品開發、技術和營運以及分銷合作夥伴的情況非常滿意。這包括我們在第二季度在 LifePath Paycheck 存款方面取得的更多進展。所以，吉米，這對你來說是一個總體答案。

Okay. And just on the Shield, like that's been obviously your fastest growth product in the last several years. I think sales this quarter were down for the first time in the last couple of years. You haven't had a negative quarterly -- quarter. And everybody in the industry had been growing fairly fast the last few years, but it seems like for some of the company, sales growth has slowed down recently. So I'm not sure if you -- in your case, it has to do anything with any company-specific initiatives. Or are you just seeing more competition? Or what is it that you've seen that's resulted in the slowdown?

好的。就 Shield 而言，它顯然是過去幾年中成長最快的產品。我認為本季的銷售額是過去幾年來首次下降。你們還沒有經歷過負季度表現。過去幾年，業內所有公司都實現了相當快的成長，但對於某些公司來說，最近銷售成長似乎有所放緩。所以我不確定你的情況是否與任何公司特定的舉措有關。或者你只是看到了更多的競爭？或者您發現什麼原因導致了速度減慢？

Yeah. So this is Myles. I'll go ahead and take that, Eric, if you don't mind. So look, there's a lot of competition out there in the marketplace. But generally speaking, I believe it's been very reasonable. I do think those carriers that do have carrier distribution do have a competitive advantage.

是的。這就是邁爾斯。艾瑞克，如果你不介意的話，我就繼續接受它。所以，看看吧，市場上競爭非常激烈。但總體來說，我認為這是非常合理的。我確實認為那些擁有營運商分銷的營運商確實具有競爭優勢。

But look, we remain really pleased with where we're at. We continue to hit our targets.

但是，我們對目前的狀況仍然非常滿意。我們繼續實現我們的目標。

As Eric said, we did almost $4 billion of Shield sales for the first half of the year. That's coming off of a record year last year. March of this year was our best month ever for Shield sales. April was just slightly behind March.

正如 Eric 所說，今年上半年我們的 Shield 銷售額接近 40 億美元。這是去年創下的紀錄。今年三月是我們 Shield 銷售最好的一個月。四月僅略微落後於三月。

And you got to keep in mind, we're growing off a big base, right? We're a market leader in this category. And we're always focused on continuing to grow sales but, at the same time, maintaining our pricing discipline.

你必須記住，我們是在龐大的基礎上成長起來的，對嗎？我們是這一類別的市場領導者。我們始終專注於繼續增加銷售額，但同時保持我們的定價紀律。

Yeah, Jimmy, I'll just jump in and add to the last sentence that he just said. It is nice when you got a small base in a product line and you're growing. That's a great feeling. I think we all know that feeling. We're pretty big, as are some others. We are going to display pricing discipline. We have for eight years and we're going to continue to do that. I think it's a great product still for manufacturers and certainly for clients. So despite the fact that it's a little tougher to grow, I'm still pretty pleased with the second quarter.

是的，吉米，我只是想補充他剛才說的最後一句話。當你的產品線有了小規模基礎並且還在不斷發展壯大時，這是一件非常好的事情。這種感覺太棒了。我想我們都經歷過這種感覺。我們規模很大，其他一些公司也一樣。我們將展示定價紀律。我們已經這樣做了八年，我們將繼續這樣做。我認為對於製造商和客戶來說這仍然是一款很棒的產品。因此，儘管成長有點困難，但我對第二季的表現仍然非常滿意。

Suneet Kamath, Jefferies.

蘇尼特‧卡馬斯（Suneet Kamath），傑富瑞集團（Jefferies）。

I guess happy anniversary. So if I look at your unassigned surplus in BLIC at the end of the first quarter, I think it was negative $2 billion. It looks like there was a pretty big stat net loss this quarter. So just wondering where we are with that here in the second quarter. And Ed, do you still expect to take cash out over the planning period as you discussed on the last call?

我想週年快樂。因此，如果我查看第一季末 BLIC 中未分配的盈餘，我認為它是負 20 億美元。看起來本季的統計淨虧損相當大。所以我只是想了解一下第二季的情況。艾德，您是否仍希望按照上次通話中討論的那樣，在規劃期內提取現金？

Yeah, hi, Suneet. So the reason that we talk about normalized statutory earnings, one of the reasons we do over time is because it includes unrealized gains and losses on our hedging program. And so you talk about the statutory loss, and what that doesn't take into account is $1.2 billion of unrealized gains associated -- on an after-tax basis associated with our hedging program.

是的，你好，Suneet。因此，我們討論正常化法定收益的原因之一，是我們長期以來這樣做的原因，是因為它包括了我們對沖計劃中未實現的收益和損失。所以你談到法定損失，但這並沒有考慮到與我們的對沖計劃相關的稅後 12 億美元未實現收益。

So I think it is not a complete -- I know it's not a complete picture to look at the stat income statement that you're referencing. And you can also see it's not an accurate picture of what's going on with our capital because you saw that TAC was up in the quarter. So there's another example of how the total picture of not just operating and realized but also unrealized is important to take into account for us.

所以我認為這並不完整——我知道查看您所引用的統計損益表並不是一個完整的畫面。您還可以看到，這並不能準確反映我們的資本狀況，因為您看到本季的 TAC 有所上升。因此，還有另一個例子可以說明，我們不僅要考慮營運和已實現的整體情況，還要考慮未實現的整體情況。

The second point about the unassigned funds, it's negative in the -- around the same number, around the minus $2 billion range. We consider that a technical consideration, not a fundamental one. And the reason for that is, as I've talked about in the past, you have a framework for VA on a statutory basis. That's a total asset requirement framework. And you will see movement in both liabilities and capital within that total asset requirement framework.

第二點是關於未分配資金，它是負數——大約相同的數字，大約在-20億美元左右。我們認為這是一個技術考慮，而不是根本考慮。原因在於，正如我過去談到的，你們有一個基於法定基礎的 VA 框架。這就是總資產需求架構。您將看到總資產需求框架內的負債和資本的變動。

So unlike the traditional life insurance annuity type of product line where you have reserves established on a conservative basis that don't change much, and obviously that will be becoming less of an issue over time because of principles-based reserving, but generally still they don't change much.

因此，與傳統的人壽保險年金類型的產品線不同，在傳統的產品線中，您的儲備金是在保守的基礎上建立的，不會發生太大的變化，而且顯然，由於基於原則的儲備，隨著時間的推移，這個問題將變得越來越不重要，但一般來說，它們仍然不會發生太大的變化。

And then you have capital as a buffer, right? This is a different framework because you have reserves and capital moving and, therefore, there are implications for unassigned funds that I don't think were contemplated when you were thinking about really what unassigned funds means in the traditional framework, not the VA framework.

然後你就有了資本作為緩衝，對嗎？這是一個不同的框架，因為你有儲備和資本流動，因此，對未分配資金有影響，我認為當你思考傳統框架而不是 VA 框架中未分配資金的真正含義時，你沒有考慮到這一點。

But does that still become a gating factor in terms of taking cash out? Or does it not apply anymore?

但這是否仍然成為提取現金的限制因素？或者它不再適用了？

Yeah. I think it would be -- it requires a conversation with regulators because of the fact that you would not be ordinary dividend, it might be extraordinary. But I think we have very good relationships with our regulators. We are transparent and have open lines of communication. I can't predict what will happen in the future, but I can tell you that in the past, specifically when we were taking excess capital out of BRCD, both of the dividends that were taken out of BRCD were extraordinary in nature.

是的。我認為這是——它需要與監管機構進行對話，因為你獲得的不是普通的股息，而是特別的股息。但我認為我們與監管機構的關係非常好。我們是透明的並且擁有開放的溝通管道。我無法預測未來會發生什麼，但我可以告訴你，在過去，特別是當我們從 BRCD 中提取過剩資本時，從 BRCD 中提取的兩次股息本質上都是非同尋常的。

So if we think we have the level of capital that would support taking money out, we will convey that to our regulators and then we'll see what happens. In terms of your other question, I believe on the last -- maybe it was the fourth quarter call, I made some comments about dividends. And I said that our three-year financial plan assumes we will take dividends. And that is still the case.

因此，如果我們認為我們擁有足夠的資本來支持提取資金，我們就會將這種情況傳達給監管機構，然後看看會發生什麼。關於您的另一個問題，我相信在上次——也許是第四季度電話會議上，我對股息發表了一些評論。我說過，我們的三年財務計畫假設我們會獲得股利。情況至今仍是如此。

Yeah, that's what I was referring to. I guess the second question for Ed -- sorry, for Eric, if we just take a step back and think about most of these annuity companies that are focused on spread-based products, it seems like a common denominator is they have Bermuda captives and they have alternative asset management partners. And I don't believe you have either at this point. So I'm just wondering your thoughts there. Does that put you at a competitive advantage? Are those things that you're considering? If you could just shed some light on that, that would be helpful.

是的，這就是我所指的。我想第二個問題是針對 Ed 的——抱歉，針對 Eric，如果我們退一步思考一下，想想大多數專注於利差產品的年金公司，似乎一個共同點是他們有百慕大俘虜公司和另類資產管理合作夥伴。而我認為你目前也沒有這樣做。所以我只是想知道你的想法。這是否為你帶來了競爭優勢？這些是您正在考慮的事情嗎？如果您能對此作出一些解釋，那將會很有幫助。

Yes, sure. Look, historically, obviously, we've used reinsurance. So you get a lot of the benefits of what might be a Bermuda captive, and you don't end up in some of the situations that in my career we've ended up in, in the past. So I think you can generally operate on a level playing field if you have good reinsurance partners, which we do.

是的，當然。看看，從歷史上看，顯然我們使用了再保險。因此，你可以獲得百慕達俘虜公司的諸多好處，而且你不會陷入我過去職業生涯中遇到的一些情況。因此，我認為，如果您擁有良好的再保險合作夥伴，那麼您通常可以在公平的競爭環境中開展業務，而我們擁有良好的再保險合作夥伴。

With respect to alternative asset management, let's just say, in my mind, when I talk about things like strategic initiatives, we think about where we might be lacking, where we need to upgrade. And so it wouldn't surprise you, I'm sure, if we're thinking about that every single day. So I think those were your two questions. And Ed wants to add.

關於另類資產管理，在我看來，當我談論戰略舉措之類的事情時，我們會考慮我們可能缺乏什麼，我們需要在哪些方面進行升級。因此，我相信，如果我們每天都思考這個問題，你不會感到驚訝。所以我認為這就是你的兩個問題。艾德還想補充一點。

Yeah. I'd just add, first of all, as I'm sure you are aware, we're always looking for ways to effectively utilize our capital base, be as efficient as possible. And while we don't have, you said, a Bermuda captive, we obviously have a significant captive that gives us capital efficiency, which is BRCD, our reinsurance subsidiary which is used to reinsure our legacy term and ULSG block. I think as Eric alluded to, we also partner with third-party reinsurers. And that has given us, I think, the ability to lever some of the things that you're referencing without owning these other captive structures. We're still availing ourselves of that benefit in the market today.

是的。我想補充一點，首先，我相信您知道，我們一直在尋找有效利用資本基礎、盡可能高效的方法。正如您所說，雖然我們沒有百慕達自保公司，但我們顯然有一個重要的自保公司，可以提高我們的資本效率，那就是 BRCD，我們的再保險子公司，用於為我們的遺留期限和 ULSG 區塊提供再保險。我認為正如 Eric 所提到的，我們也與第三方再保險公司合作。我認為，這讓我們有能力利用您所提到的一些事物，而無需擁有這些其他的附屬結構。如今我們在市場上仍然享受著這項優勢。

Wilma Burdis, Raymond James.

威爾瑪伯迪斯、雷蒙詹姆斯。

TAC increased modestly in 2Q '25, which seemed to be a pretty good result given the S&P 500 was up more than 10% point-to-point in the quarter. Is there any way to clarify how much, if any, that benefited from the additional hedging actions you have taken earlier in 2025?

TAC 在 2025 年第二季度小幅增長，考慮到標準普爾 500 指數在本季度環比上漲超過 10%，這似乎是一個相當不錯的結果。有什麼方法可以澄清您在 2025 年初採取的額外對沖行動帶來了多少好處（如果有的話）？

Yeah. Wilma, it's Ed. So it didn't have anything to do with the hedging actions. What it has to do with is sort of what I was talking about with Suneet in terms of the framework for VA, so -- and the reason that there was, I think, a disconnect this quarter between our normalized statutory earnings and what you actually saw with our capital base and our RBC ratio.

是的。威瑪，我是艾德。所以這跟對沖行動沒有任何關係。這與我與 Suneet 討論的 VA 框架有關，所以 - 我認為本季度我們的正常法定收益與您實際看到的資本基礎和 RBC 比率之間存在脫節。

So I would just start by saying the RBC ratio was down sequentially, and the drivers of that were really, in equal parts -- roughly equal parts, the seasonality of capital charges for new business, so nothing to do with the fundamental operating performance; and the second would be adverse results in non-VA, which was driven by some of the -- which included sort of the mortality experience that we've talked about.

因此，我首先要說的是，RBC 比率是環比下降的，其驅動因素實際上大致是新業務資本費用的季節性，因此與基本營運績效無關；其次是非 VA 的不利結果，這是由一些因素驅動的，其中包括我們談到的死亡率經驗。

So even though VA had a normalized statutory loss and was the biggest piece of the normalized statutory loss, it actually didn't have the type of impact on our RBC ratio that you would have thought. And the reason for that was with the strong market that you referenced, we had what I've talked about in the past and I mentioned it in my prepared remarks, divergence. And what that means is that our reserves went down more than our total asset requirement.

因此，儘管 VA 有標準化法定損失，並且是標準化法定損失中最大的一塊，但它實際上並沒有對我們的 RBC 比率產生您想像的那種影響。原因在於，正如您所提到的，市場表現強勁，我之前也談到過，我在準備好的發言中也提到過，存在分歧。這意味著我們的儲備下降幅度超過了我們的總資產需求。

And the reason that you have that dynamic, divergence in a very strong market environment and convergence in a negative market environment, is that your capital, your total adjusted capital is affected by your reserves. And your reserves are calculated on a CTE70 or average of the 30% worse scenarios, okay?

而之所以會出現這種動態，在非常強勁的市場環境中出現分歧，而在負面的市場環境中出現趨同，是因為您的資本，您的總調整資本受到您的儲備的影響。您的儲備是根據 CTE70 或 30% 更糟糕情境的平均值計算的，好嗎？

And the point here is that the average of 30% worst scenario isn't so bad, okay? Your tail, on the other hand, is calculated the average of the 2% worst scenarios. And so when the market goes up a lot, you see your reserves drop because your reserves are really reflecting more the state of where you are today.

這裡的重點是，平均 30% 的最壞情況並不是那麼糟糕，好嗎？另一方面，你的尾部是根據 2% 最壞情況的平均值計算出來的。因此，當市場大幅上漲時，您會看到您的儲備下降，因為您的儲備實際上更反映了您當前的狀況。

You see your capital requirement not change as much as you would think because your total asset requirement doesn't come down as much because you continue to contemplate bad stuff happening in the future, right? And so that's the reason that you saw a benefit to TAC, which actually translated to a muted impact from the VA business on our RBC ratio even though we had an approximately $400 million norm stat loss in the second quarter. So I know that's a lot, but I think it's very important for us to understand this quarter, there was a disconnect between capital generation, our RBC ratio and the norm stat result.

您會發現您的資本要求並沒有像您想像的那樣發生太大變化，因為您的總資產要求並沒有下降那麼多，因為您繼續考慮未來發生的不好的事情，對嗎？這就是您看到 TAC 受益的原因，這實際上轉化為 VA 業務對我們的 RBC 比率的影響不大，儘管我們在第二季度遭受了約 4 億美元的正常統計損失。所以我知道這很多，但我認為了解本季的情況非常重要，資本產生、我們的 RBC 比率和標準統計結果之間存在脫節。

Should I interpret that, that the $400 million of normalized statutory losses just -- it's not very meaningful in this particular quarter?

我是否應該這樣解讀：4 億美元的正常化法定損失只是──在這個特定季度意義不大？

I think that, that would be a good interpretation.

我認為那將是一個很好的解釋。

And then could you talk a little bit about the appetite to continue to lean into sales with quarterly pretty strong on the sales front?

然後，您能否談談在季度銷售表現強勁的情況下繼續傾向於銷售的意願？

Wilma, did you hear her question? Could you repeat the question?

威瑪，你聽到她的問題了嗎？你能重複一下這個問題嗎？

Yes, Wilma you did cut off there.

是的，威爾瑪，你確實在那裡打斷了。

Yeah. Just could you talk a little bit more about your appetite to continue to lean into sales after a pretty strong quarter in 2Q?

是的。您能否再多談談在第二季表現相當強勁之後，您對繼續提高銷售額的意願？

Okay. Yeah. We don't have any changes right now with respect to how we're operating from a new business perspective, and that's across the board in all of our product lines we're actually having the beginning of a very nice third quarter. So no change, Wilma.

好的。是的。從新的業務角度來看，我們的營運方式目前沒有任何變化，而且我們所有產品線的第三季都表現得非常好。所以沒有變化，威爾瑪。

Nick Annitto, Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的尼克安尼托 (Nick Annitto)。

Just wanted to follow up kind of on the assumption viewpoint and, I guess from a higher level, like if you guys decide to go on as an independent entity, like in your opinion, are the auditors going to require Brighthouse to consider any of the findings from all the independent actuarial reviews that have been done as a part of the rumoured sales process? I think it's kind of in the same thing with companies in the past.

我只是想跟進一下假設的觀點，我想從更高的層面來看，如果你們決定繼續作為一個獨立實體運營，那麼在您看來，審計師是否會要求 Brighthouse 考慮作為傳聞中的銷售過程的一部分進行的所有獨立精算審查的結果？我認為這和過去的公司的情況有點類似。

We have said repeatedly we don't comment on rumors and speculation.

我們已多次表示我們不對謠言和猜測發表評論。

Got it. Okay. And then in terms of the C4 charges, I think kind of the glide path as you get the benefit in Q1 and that kind of ramps down during the year because of the strain, right? So all else being equal, if you have just 0 kind of stat results, we should expect the RBC to decline from here given the C4 targets?

知道了。好的。然後就 C4 費用而言，我認為隨著您在第一季獲得收益，這將呈下滑趨勢，並且由於壓力，這種收益在年內會逐漸下降，對嗎？因此，在其他條件相同的情況下，如果您只有 0 種統計結果，那麼考慮到 C4 目標，我們應該預期 RBC 從現在開始下降嗎？

Yeah. I think the impact from the C4 charge, you're correct, there's a seasonal benefit in the first quarter and then it will build over the year based on our assumption that we continue to write fixed business that generates the C4 charge. But that is the effect of the C4 charge. I would not extrapolate that to an overall projection of the RBC ratio, which is something that we do not provide.

是的。我認為 C4 費用的影響，您說得對，第一季有季節性效益，然後它會在全年累積，基於我們繼續寫產生 C4 費用的固定業務的假設。但這就是 C4 炸藥的效果。我不會將其推斷為 RBC 比率的總體預測，因為我們不提供該比率。

Alex Scott, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的亞歷克斯·斯科特。

So I wanted to ask about the capital in the Delaware Reinsurance Company. And look, the reason I think it's important is from an external standpoint, if we're trying to value your business, it's pretty hard to place the value on your closed block because there's some amount of capital down there. We don't know how much. And so everybody is going to have their views on universal life and do what they're going to do relative to reserves, but we don't know how much equity is down there. So it makes it very difficult to value your company. So I was just hoping that maybe you could provide some disclosures on that entity and help us in any way on thinking through the capital position through your lens.

所以我想問一下特拉華再保險公司的資本狀況。而且，我認為這很重要的原因是從外部角度來看，如果我們試圖評估您的業務，那麼很難對您的封閉式區塊進行估值，因為那裡有一些資本。我們不知道有多少。因此，每個人都會對萬能壽險有自己的看法，並針對儲備採取相應的行動，但我們不知道其中有多少權益。因此，評估你的公司價值變得非常困難。所以我只是希望您能提供一些有關該實體的披露信息，並以任何方式幫助我們從您的角度思考資本狀況。

Yeah. Alex, so we do disclose information in the K on BRCD related to surplus, and you can also figure out what the approximate level of the credit-linked notes are. So you can get to some basic numbers. I would tell you that the numbers that you see there are not the most relevant numbers to consider when you're looking at the capitalization of this entity. We look at cash flow testing scenarios, as you can imagine, the stress scenarios that you would think, the New York 7, plus others. And we consider what are our margins under those different scenarios.

是的。亞歷克斯，我們確實在 K 中披露了與 BRCD 相關的盈餘信息，你也可以了解一下信用掛鉤票據的大致水平。這樣你就可以得到一些基本數字。我想告訴你，當你查看這個實體的資本化時，你在那裡看到的數字並不是最相關的數字。我們研究現金流測試情景，正如您所想像的，您會想到的壓力情景，紐約 7 號以及其他情景。我們會考慮在不同情況下我們的利潤是多少。

And it was that analysis that led us to the actions that we took several years ago in terms of bringing down the excess -- what we consider to be excess capital at BRCD. As I have said over time now, I mean, the last -- at least the last couple of years, maybe more, that we don't see that as a source of excess capital. We see cash flow testing margins that are favorable to suggest that we are appropriately capitalized. But that is not something that if you're thinking about sort of a valuation boost from some excess number or something, I would just tell you, I don't see an excess capital number in that entity.

正是這種分析促使我們在幾年前採取行動，降低過剩資本——我們認為是 BRCD 的過剩資本。正如我一直以來所說的那樣，我的意思是，過去——至少是過去幾年，甚至更久，我們並不認為這是資本過剩的來源。我們看到現金流測試利潤率良好，顯示我們的資本充足。但如果您考慮透過一些超額數字或其他東西來提高估值，我只想告訴您，我沒有看到該實體中有超額資本數字。

Got it. That's helpful. I thought I'd try one more time on just the actuarial review, and so less about like having to do with third-party audits and that kind of thing. I guess I look at the cash flow that you've actually had relative to some of the projections you've given us over time. And equities are obviously up a lot and have performed incredibly well. Interest rates are up. I mean, it's almost hard to believe that we would be this high equity levels with higher interest rates. You sort of got like the magical scenario here.

知道了。這很有幫助。我想再嘗試一次精算審查，而不是像第三方審計和諸如此類的事情那樣。我想我會看一下您實際擁有的現金流與您在一段時間內給我們的一些預測的現金流相對應。股票價格顯然大幅上漲，表現非常好。利率上升。我的意思是，幾乎很難相信在更高的利率下我們的股權水平會達到如此高。你有點像是看到了這裡的神奇場景。

But yet the cash flows have continued to fall significantly short of some of the original projections. And so that sort of suggests that there's something that's problematic about the way you're projecting and accounting for your liabilities. And I just want to better understand that. I mean, is that right? Could you help shed some light on like what has been the crux of the issue there? And is that something you have to deal with in 3Q?

但現金流仍遠低於最初的一些預測。所以這表明，您在預測和核算負債的方式上存在問題。我只是想更好地理解這一點。我的意思是，是這樣嗎？您能否幫忙釐清一下問題的癥結所在？這是你們在第三季必須處理的事情嗎？

Alex, I was trying to find the question in there, and I think I got one at the end, and it's the same answer. We do our actual assumption update annually and we will be talking to you about that in the second half of the year and early next year.

亞歷克斯，我試著在那裡找到問題，我想我最後找到了一個，而且答案是一樣的。我們每年都會進行實際假設更新，我們將在下半年和明年初與您討論此事。

Peter Troisi, Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的 Peter Troisi。

Just another question on capital. Your cost of preferred equity has been volatile lately in the secondary market. And so in that context, can you discuss a little bit about how the Board thinks about the dividend on your preferred stock? How committed is the company to continuing to pay dividends on your preferred stock? And then would that approach to the preferred dividend change if the company was part of an M&A process?

這只是關於資本的另一個問題。您的優先股成本最近在二級市場上波動較大。那麼在這種背景下，您能否談談董事會對優先股股利的看法？公司對於繼續支付優先股股息的承諾有多大？那麼，如果公司參與併購過程，優先股股利的發放方式會改變嗎？

Let me start with the last one. We're not commenting on rumors and speculation. I'll start off by telling you that we're very pleased with the long-term capital structure that we have. We've spent several years getting our capital structure to a place that we thought made sense. And we have issued preferred stock in that process at very favorable yields, and they're fixed for life. So we like the preferred plays in our capital structure, and we also received favorable rating agency treatment from that.

讓我先談最後一個。我們不對謠言和猜測發表評論。首先我要告訴大家，我們對現有的長期資本結構非常滿意。我們花了數年時間將我們的資本結構調整到我們認為合理的水平。在這個過程中，我們發行了收益率非常優惠的優先股，而這些優先股的收益率是終身固定的。因此，我們喜歡資本結構中的優先投資項目，也因此獲得了評級機構的有利待遇。

So I guess I would just say that for any of the other things that you're trying to discern here, I would refer you to the prospectuses that were filed with all these securities when we issued them. But we are -- there is no intent to not pay preferred dividends. I'm not sure why that would be a question. But if I need to say that on this call, I'll say there's all intents to pay preferred dividends. But please read the prospectus for the appropriate terms and conditions and risks associated with any security that we've issued.

所以我想我只想說，對於您在這裡試圖辨別的任何其他事情，我都會讓您參考我們發行所有這些證券時提交的招股說明書。但我們無意不支付優先股息。我不確定為什麼會有這樣的疑問。但如果我需要在這次電話會議上說這一點，我會說我們有意支付優先股利。但請閱讀招股說明書，以了解我們發行的任何證券的相關條款和條件以及風險。

Ryan Krueger, KBW.

瑞安·克魯格（Ryan Krueger），KBW。

This is not about the assumption review. It's about the change in hedging. It's a pretty major change you're making. Are there -- and I definitely understand the reason you're doing it, but are there implications for the balance sheet that day one when you make these hedging changes? Like should we anticipate material impacts to your capital and capital ratios because this is such a big change to the way you're hedging the business?

這與假設審查無關。這是關於對沖的變化。你正在進行一個相當重大的改變。有嗎——我當然理解你這樣做的原因，但是當你進行這些對沖變化時，第一天的資產負債表會受到什麼影響呢？例如，我們是否應該預見這會對您的資本和資本比率產生重大影響，因為這對您規避業務的方式產生了很大的影響？

Yeah. Ryan, so I'm going to have to just modify a few things that you're assuming because I don't -- the words meaningful, material and big, I might like just take some issue with. And the reason for that is, I think in response to a question that I got a couple of quarters ago, maybe from Tom, this is not like start with a blank sheet of paper type of hedging changes. We have continued to run the company with the view of protecting the statutory balance sheet under adverse market scenarios. That has never changed and it hasn't changed going forward either.

是的。瑞安，所以我必須修改你所假設的幾件事，因為我不知道——有意義、實質和大這些詞，我可能會有一些異議。原因在於，我想這是對幾個季度前我收到的一個問題的回答，也許是湯姆提出的，這並不像從一張白紙開始進行對沖變化那樣。我們繼續經營公司，以在不利的市場情況下保護法定資產負債表。這一點從未改變，未來也不會改變。

So -- and when you think about the actual changes to the hedges that we're making. I would say one of the revisions on our rate hedges because, first of all, if you look at the amount of rate hedges that we put on in 2022, we are protected for that bad scenario of rates drop on COVID-level type rates, and I think we're protected on pretty much like a risk-neutral type of basis for those very large moves and rates. If you look at the revisions we're making today on rates, I think it's more along the curve than it is the overall DDL1. So that's something to think about on the rate side.

所以——當您考慮我們正在對沖進行的實際改變時。我想說這是我們對利率對沖的修改之一，因為首先，如果你看看我們在 2022 年進行的利率對沖的數量，我們就可以免受利率下降到 COVID 水平的不利情況的影響，而且我認為，對於那些非常大的波動和利率，我們幾乎是在風險中性的基礎上受到保護的。如果你看我們今天對利率所做的修改，我認為它更多的是沿著曲線而不是整體 DDL1。所以這是利率方面需要考慮的。

And if you look on the equity side, that's -- we're working through it a little bit still. I'd say we've probably done more -- well, I don't want to talk about what we've done actually. We're too big to talk about what we've done or we're doing. But I will say that on the equity side, our delta position is not going to change that much. So I don't see a lot of change in the equity overall risk position, and I'd say a lot of what has happened on the rate side is along the curve.

如果你從公平方面來看，那就是——我們仍在努力解決這個問題。我想說我們可能做得更多——好吧，我不想談論我們實際上做了什麼。我們太大了，無法談論我們已經做過什麼或正在做什麼。但我要說的是，在股票方面，我們的 delta 部位不會有太大變化。因此，我認為股票整體風險狀況不會發生太大變化，而且我認為利率方面發生的許多變化都是沿著曲線發生的。

Okay. Maybe just one follow-up because it seems like the way you've been describing this is like it is -- I guess, just in a sense that you've been studying it for quite a long time. It seemed like it was a fairly meaningful change. But I guess, the way you're describing it sounds a lot more minor. So is that the right interpretation? It actually is just changes around the hedges. It's not like some -- it's just not as big of a change maybe as I thought?

好的。也許只是一個後續問題，因為看起來你描述這個問題的方式就像是——我想，從某種意義上說你已經研究它很長一段時間了。這似乎是一個相當有意義的改變。但我想，您描述的方式聽起來就沒那麼重要了。那麼這是正確的解釋嗎？這實際上只是樹籬周圍的變化。它並不像某些──它的變化可能沒有我想像的那麼大？

Yeah. I guess I would say that the ability to execute this separation and have -- and do it in a way that makes sense for us financially, it is driven by where we are with the current rate environment. So the ability to do this and have it make sense for us financially is linked to the fact that interest rates are where they are.

是的。我想說的是，執行這種分離的能力——並且以對我們財務上合理的方式執行，是由我們當前的利率環境所驅動的。因此，我們能否做到這一點，以及從財務角度來看是否合理，與當前的利率水準息息相關。

Yeah, Ryan, it's Eric. So I'm going to jump in. I'm absolutely cutting you a break here. I mean, we've been talking about this for a long time. Externally, it can sound very big. Internally, there's been a ton of work. Having said all that, we found ourselves in a position where, I think it was you who mentioned this, I'm sure somebody previously did as well, rates are pretty high. Equities are pretty high. So in the end, it will probably turn out to not be as big externally. But internally, this has been a lot of work. I'm pretty sure that probably makes sense to you.

是的，瑞安，我是艾瑞克。所以我要加入進來。我絕對會在這裡給你一個機會。我的意思是，我們已經討論這個問題很久了。從外部來看，它聽起來可能非常大。在內部，已經做了大量的工作。話雖如此，我們發現自己處於這樣的境地，我想是你提到了這一點，我相信以前也有人提到過，利率相當高。股票價格相當高。所以最終，它的外部規模可能不會那麼大。但從內部來看，這需要大量的工作。我確信這對你來說可能是有道理的。

Wes Carmichael, Autonomous Research.

韋斯·卡邁克爾，自主研究。

And a follow-up maybe on the last one in terms of the transition for hedging. But do you think, Ed, are you guys going to be in a position to provide your long-term free cash flow projections this year? Or do you think that's likely going to be a 2026 event?

關於對沖轉型，我們可能也會對最後一個問題進行跟進。但是，艾德，你認為你們今年能夠提供長期自由現金流預測嗎？或者您認為這很可能是 2026 年的事件？

Yeah. Wes, so as you've heard from Eric and from me, we continue to work on several initiatives, and all of these initiatives are going to have some impact on our long-term free cash flows. So I would just say we need to complete these initiatives before we're in a position to provide an outlook for future results. And I would say that, that outlook for future results is not likely to be in 2025.

是的。韋斯，正如你從艾瑞克和我那裡聽到的，我們將繼續致力於幾項計劃，所有這些計劃都將對我們的長期自由現金流產生一定的影響。因此，我想說，我們需要先完成這些舉措，然後才能對未來的結果進行展望。我想說的是，未來結果的前景不太可能在 2025 年實現。

Yeah. No, I totally understand. And I guess maybe my follow-up. I think you saw a little bit of claims severity heightened in both Life and Run-off. Just wondering if you could unpack a little bit of the experience in the quarter.

是的。不，我完全理解。我想這也許是我的後續行動。我認為您會看到生命保險和決賽中的索賠嚴重性都有所增加。只是想知道您是否可以分享本季的一些經驗。

Sure. So severity was, I think, 18% higher perhaps than our normal level, something in that range, about 18%. And if you're looking at the impacts by segment relative to what we would think is run rate, you're talking about probably two-third, one-third Life, Run-off. Obviously, mortality will fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter. And we've talked repeatedly in the past about frequency, severity and also the reinsurance offset. So this quarter, we had some severity in excess of normal.

當然。因此，我認為嚴重程度可能比我們的正常水平高出 18%，大約在這個範圍內，18% 左右。如果你看一下相對於我們認為的運行率的各個部分的影響，你談論的可能是三分之二、三分之一的生命、流失。顯然，死亡率每季都會有所波動。我們過去曾多次討論過頻率、嚴重程度以及再保險抵消。因此，本季我們遇到的情況比正常情況更為嚴重。

Thank you. And this concludes today's question-and-answer session. And I would like to hand the conference back over to Dana Amante for any closing remarks.

謝謝。今天的問答環節到此結束。現在，我想將會議交還給達娜·阿曼特 (Dana Amante)，請她做最後發言。

Thank you, Michelle. Thank you, everyone, for joining the call today. Have a good day.

謝謝你，米歇爾。感謝大家今天參加電話會議。祝你有美好的一天。

This concludes today's conference call. Thank you for participating. Everybody, you may disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。各位，可以斷開連接了。