Primerica Inc (PRI) 2025 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to Primerica's first quarter 2025 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode (Operator Instructions) Please note this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Nicole Russell, SVP, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

您好，歡迎參加 Primerica 2025 年第一季財報電話會議。此時，所有參與者都處於僅收聽模式（操作員指示）請注意，本次會議正在被錄音。現在，我將會議交給主持人、投資者關係高級副總裁 Nicole Russell。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Primerica's first quarter earnings call. A copy of our earnings press release issued last night, along with other materials relevant to today's call, are posted on the Investor Relations section of our website.

謝謝接線員，大家早安。歡迎參加 Primerica 第一季財報電話會議。我們昨晚發布的收益新聞稿副本以及與今天電話會議相關的其他資料均發佈在我們網站的投資者關係部分。

Joining our call today are our Chief Executive Officer, Glenn Williams; and our Chief Financial Officer, Tracy Tan. Our comments this morning may contain forward-looking statements in accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. We assume no obligation to update these statements to reflect new information and refer you to our most recent Form 10-K filing, as may be modified by subsequent Form 10-Q for a list of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied.

今天參加我們電話會議的有我們的執行長 Glenn Williams；以及我們的財務長 Tracy Tan。根據《證券訴訟改革法》的安全港規定，我們今天上午的評論可能包含前瞻性聲明。我們不承擔更新這些聲明以反映新資訊的義務，並請您參閱我們最新的 10-K 表格文件，因為後續的 10-Q 表格可能會對其進行修改，以獲取可能導致實際結果與明示或暗示的結果存在重大差異的風險和不確定性清單。

We will also reference certain non-GAAP measures which we believe provide additional insight into the company's financial results. Reconciliations of non-GAAP measures to their respective GAAP numbers are included in our earnings press release. I would now like to turn the call over to Glenn.

我們也將參考某些非公認會計準則指標，我們認為這些指標可以為了解公司的財務表現提供更多見解。我們的收益新聞稿中包含了非 GAAP 指標與各自 GAAP 資料的對帳。現在我想把電話轉給格倫。

Thank you, Nicole, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining us. In the first quarter of 2025, America delivered strong financial results, despite headwinds from external factors, including sustained cost of living pressures and heightened economic uncertainty during the quarter.

謝謝你，妮可，大家早安。感謝您的加入。2025 年第一季度，儘管面臨持續的生活成本壓力和本季經濟不確定性加劇等外部因素的阻力，美國仍取得了強勁的財務表現。

Starting with a snapshot of financial results, adjusted net operating income for the quarter was $168 million of 14% year over year, while diluted adjusted operating EPS increased 20% to $5.02. These results reflect the continued strength within our investment and savings product business and the steady contribution from our term life business during the first quarter of 2025.

首先看一下財務業績，本季調整後的淨營業收入為 1.68 億美元，年增 14%，而稀釋調整後的每股盈餘成長 20%，達到 5.02 美元。這些結果反映了我們的投資和儲蓄產品業務的持續強勁以及定期壽險業務在 2025 年第一季的穩定貢獻。

The predictability of our business allowed us to return a total of $153 million to stockholders during the quarter through a combination of $118 million in share repurchases and $35 million in regular dividends.

我們業務的可預測性使我們能夠在本季度透過 1.18 億美元的股票回購和 3500 萬美元的定期股息向股東返還總計 1.53 億美元。

The strength of our business model, our commitment to the sales force, and the growing need for the financial education provided by our independent sales representatives resulted in record success during 2024. Following an outstanding year, we entered 2025 with solid business fundamentals and a clear understanding of the financial pressures affecting middle-income families.

我們強大的商業模式、對銷售隊伍的承諾以及對獨立銷售代表提供的金融教育日益增長的需求，使我們在 2024 年取得了創紀錄的成功。在經歷了出色的一年之後，我們帶著穩固的業務基礎和對中等收入家庭所面臨的財務壓力的清晰認識邁入了 2025 年。

The recent increase in economic uncertainty has impacted our marketplace, pressuring, recruiting and term life insurance sales during the first quarter. And since April, we're starting to see some resistance to investment sales momentum.

最近經濟不確定性的增加影響了我們第一季的市場、壓力、招聘和定期人壽保險銷售。自四月以來，我們開始看到投資銷售動能遭遇一些阻力。

Looking at distribution, we recruited a total of 100,867 individuals during the first quarter, representing a 9% decline year over year. Similarly, new life licenses declined 5% versus the prior year period. Both recruiting and licensing activity were softer than expected, as uncertainty appears to be contributing to greater caution and decision making.

從分佈來看，第一季我們共招募了100,867名員工，較去年同期下降了9%。同樣，新的人壽保險許可證數量與去年同期相比下降了 5%。招募和許可活動均比預期疲軟，因為不確定性似乎導致人們更加謹慎和決策。

That said, it's important to note that both recruiting and licensing numbers are historically strong and continue to fuel growth in our sales force. The total number of life license representatives grew slightly since year end and is up 7% compared to March 2024. We remain committed to growing our sales force and continue to expect around 3% growth during 2025.

話雖如此，值得注意的是，招募和許可證數量都保持歷史強勁，並繼續推動我們銷售隊伍的成長。自年底以來，人壽執照代表總數略有增長，與 2024 年 3 月相比增長了 7%。我們將繼續致力於擴大銷售隊伍，並預計 2025 年的成長率將達到 3% 左右。

Looking at term life results, we issued 86,415 new term life policies during the first quarter, representing $28 billion in new term life protection for our clients, which was in line with prior year levels. Productivity at 0.19 policies per rep was just below our historical range.

從定期壽險業績來看，我們在第一季簽發了 86,415 份新的定期壽險保單，為我們的客戶提供了 280 億美元的新定期壽險保障，與去年同期水平持平。每位代表 0.19 項政策的生產力略低於我們的歷史範圍。

We believe that today's challenging environment is particularly difficult for representatives to navigate, especially those with less sales experience. Considering these dynamics, we expect 2025 full year policies issued to be broadly in line with 2024 levels.

我們相信，當今充滿挑戰的環境對於銷售代表來說尤其難以應對，尤其是那些銷售經驗較少的銷售代表。考慮到這些動態，我們預計 2025 年全年發布的保單將與 2024 年的水準大致一致。

At quarter end, we had a total of $957 billion of protection in place for middle income families, and we're pleased to see that persistency has remained stable again this quarter.

截至本季末，我們為中等收入家庭提供了總計 9,570 億美元的保障，我們很高興看到本季的持續性再次保持穩定。

Turning next to the ISP segment, total sales during the quarter were $3.6 billion up 28% year over year, driven by strong demand across the Board, including US and Canadian mutual funds, variable annuities, and managed accounts.

接下來是 ISP 部門，本季總銷售額為 36 億美元，較去年同期成長 28%，這得益於包括美國和加拿大共同基金、變額年金和管理帳戶在內的全面強勁需求。

Net inflows for the quarter were very strong at $839 million versus $274 million in the prior year period. Client asset values ended the quarter at $110 billion up 6% year over year and down 2% during the first three months of 2025 due to negative market performance.

本季淨流入非常強勁，達到 8.39 億美元，去年同期為 2.74 億美元。本季末客戶資產價值為 1,100 億美元，年增 6%，但由於市場表現不佳，2025 年前三個月下降 2%。

Our securities license sales force has done a good job keeping clients focused on their long-term goals and the importance of staying invested despite heightened market volatility. Preliminary sales results in April, while positive, are beginning to reflect the effects of continued market volatility and broader economic uncertainty.

我們的證券執照銷售團隊做得很好，讓客戶專注於他們的長期目標，並意識到儘管市場波動加劇，但仍要堅持投資的重要性。四月份的初步銷售結果雖然樂觀，但也開始反映出持續的市場波動和更廣泛的經濟不確定性的影響。

Considering our strong outperformance during the first quarter, we continue to expect full year sales growth in the mid to high single digit range during 2025. Our mortgage business showed strong sales growth in both the US and Canada during the first quarter of 2025. In the US we had $93.5 million of closed loans of 31%.

考慮到我們在第一季的強勁表現，我們繼續預計 2025 年全年銷售額成長率將達到中高個位數。2025 年第一季度，我們的抵押貸款業務在美國和加拿大均呈現強勁的銷售成長。在美國，我們的已結清貸款金額為 9,350 萬美元，佔 31%。

We now have 3,269 licensed mortgage loan originators in 33 states. Our referral program in Canada had $43.3 million of closed loans, up 78%. While both programs are still relatively small, we believe their importance will continue to grow over time.

目前，我們在 33 個州擁有 3,269 名持牌抵押貸款發起人。我們在加拿大的推薦計畫已結清貸款 4,330 萬美元，成長 78%。儘管這兩個項目目前規模都相對較小，但我們相信，隨著時間的推移，它們的重要性將不斷增加。

The resilience of our business model demonstrated over nearly 50 years combined with our unwavering commitment to help middle-income families achieve financial independence are the key drivers of our success. There will always be a need for financial education among underserved families, a group that is often overlooked by the broader financial services industry.

我們近 50 年來所展現的商業模式的韌性，加上我們幫助中等收入家庭實現財務獨立的堅定承諾，是我們成功的關鍵驅動力。金融服務不足的家庭始終需要接受金融教育，而這個族群往往被整個金融服務業所忽視。

This reality underscores the importance of our mission and the opportunity that lies ahead. We have confidence in our model and in our sales force's ability to continue meeting the needs of the communities we serve. With that, I'll hand it over to Tracy for the financial details.

這一現實凸顯了我們使命的重要性和未來機會。我們對我們的模式和銷售團隊繼續滿足我們所服務社區的需求的能力充滿信心。說完這些，我會把財務細節交給 Tracy。

Thank you, Glenn, and good morning everyone. Starting with term life segment, operating revenues rose 4% year over year to $458 million driven by 5% growth in adjusted direct premiums. Pre-tech operating income was $147 million up 6% compared to the first quarter of 2024.

謝謝你，格倫，大家早安。從定期壽險部門開始，由於調整後的直接保費增加了 5%，營業收入年增 4% 至 4.58 億美元。技術前營運收入為 1.47 億美元，與 2024 年第一季相比成長 6%。

All key financial ratios were in line with our expectations and consistent with the prior year period. These included the benefits and claims ratio at 58.2%, the DAC amortization and insurance commissions ratio at 12%, the insurance expense ratio at 7.7%, and the operating margin at 22.1%.

所有關鍵財務比率均符合我們的預期並與去年同期保持一致。其中包括福利和理賠比率為 58.2%，DAC 攤提和保險佣金比率為 12%，保險費用比率為 7.7%，營業利潤率為 22.1%。

Overall lapse remains above our long-term expectations, which we believe reflect the ongoing financial impact from higher cost of living pressure on middle-income families. Over the last two quarters, lab trends stabilized with persistency on policies issued during the last year, largely in line with our long-term assumptions. We expect that overall persistency will continue to normalize over time.

整體虧損仍高於我們的長期預期，我們認為這反映了中等收入家庭生活成本上升壓力的持續財務影響。在過去兩個季度中，實驗室趨勢保持穩定，並持續執行去年發布的政策，這基本上符合我們的長期假設。我們預計，隨著時間的推移，整體持久性將繼續正常化。

Turning to mortality, as noted on a number of occasions last year, claims experience continued to trend favorably relative to expectations.

談到死亡率，正如去年多次指出的那樣，索賠經驗相對於預期繼續呈現良好趨勢。

Given the relatively predictable nature of our term life business, we reiterate our full year 2025 outlook to be consistent for ADP growth and PT financial ratios. We expect ADP to grow around 5%, the benefits and claims ratio at around 58%, the debt amortization and insurance commissions ratio at around 12%, and operating margin around 22%.

鑑於我們的定期壽險業務相對可預測的性質，我們重申 2025 年全年展望，即 ADP 成長和 PT 財務比率保持一致。我們預計 ADP 將成長 5% 左右，福利和索賠比率將增加 58% 左右，債務攤提和保險佣金比率將增加 12% 左右，營業利潤率將增加 22% 左右。

I want to remind investors that insurance expenses are subject to some seasonal variances. I will provide additional guidance on our expectations for the second quarter on a consolidated basis in the moment.

我想提醒投資者，保險費用會受到一些季節性變化的影響。我將在此刻以合併後的基礎對第二季的預期提供更多指導。

Turning next to our investment and savings product segment, offering revenues of $291 million increased 19% from the prior period, driven by both higher sales and growth in client asset values. Pre-tax income rose 24% to $81 million.

接下來談談我們的投資和儲蓄產品部門，由於銷售額增加和客戶資產價值成長，該部門的收入為 2.91 億美元，較上一時期成長 19%。稅前收入成長24%至8100萬美元。

Sales-based revenues increased 25%, slightly outpacing 22% increase in revenue generating sales, primarily driven by strong demands for variable annuity.

基於銷售營收成長 25%，略高於創收銷售額 22% 的增幅，主要受變額年金需求強勁的推動。

Asset-based revenues increased 18% year over year compared to 14% increase in average client asset values as we continue to benefit from the mixed shift towards products on which we earn higher asset-based commissions, including US managed accounts and Canadian mutual funds sold under the principal distributor model.

資產型收入年增 18%，而平均客戶資產價值成長 14%，因為我們繼續受益於向可賺取更高資產型佣金的產品的混合轉變，包括美國管理帳戶和在主要分銷商模式下銷售的加拿大共同基金。

Sales commissions for both sales and asset-based products increased in close correlation with revenues. The corporate and other segments incurred a pre-tax adjusted operating loss of $8 million compared to a loss of $12 million in a prior year period.

銷售和資產型產品的銷售佣金與收入密切相關。公司及其他部門的稅前調整後營業虧損為 800 萬美元，而去年同期的虧損為 1,200 萬美元。

The year over year change was driven by an increase in net investment income, primarily due to growth in the size of the portfolio. Finally, consolidated insurance and other operating expenses for $163 million up 4% year over year.

與去年同期相比的變化是由於淨投資收入的增加，這主要是由於投資組合規模的成長。最後，合併保險和其他營運費用為 1.63 億美元，年增 4%。

The growth in expenses was primarily driven by higher variable costs associated with growth in our term life and ISP segments and increased employee compensation costs from annual marriage increases.

費用的成長主要是由於定期壽險和 ISP 部門成長帶來的變動成本上升，以及年度婚姻成長帶來的員工薪資成本增加。

First quarter expense levels were a couple of million dollars lower than planned due to timing of technology investments and other expenses. We expect these projects to ramp up in the coming months.

由於技術投資和其他費用的時間安排，第一季的支出水準比計劃低了幾百萬美元。我們預計這些項目將在未來幾個月內加速推進。

As such, we're maintaining our full year outlook for expenses to increase by around $40 million or 6% to 8% in 2025, with second quarter growth consistent with our full year guidance. Our invested asset portfolio remained well diversified with a duration of 5.1 years and an average quality of aid.

因此，我們維持全年支出預測，即 2025 年支出將增加約 4,000 萬美元或 6% 至 8%，第二季的成長與我們的全年指引一致。我們的投資資產組合保持了良好的多樣化，期限為 5.1 年，援助品質平均。

The portfolio had a net unrealized loss of $169 million at the end of March, modestly better than prior year end, as rates generally decrease during the quarter. We continue to believe that the remaining unrealized loss is a function of interest rates and not due to underlying credit concerns, and we have the intent and the ability to hold these investments until maturity.

截至 3 月底，該投資組合的淨未實現損失為 1.69 億美元，略優於上年年底，因為本季利率普遍下降。我們仍然相信，剩餘的未實現損失是利率的函數，而不是由於潛在的信用問題，並且我們有意圖和能力持有這些投資直至到期。

We continue to generate significant deployable capital reflecting the strength and consistency of our capitalize distribution model. The predictability of our cash flow is driven by our large, enforced block of term life insurance policies, our use of reinsurance, which substantially reduces the mortality risk exposure, and our fee-based ISP business which requires very little capital.

我們持續產生大量可部署資本，反映了我們的資本化分配模式的實力和一致性。我們現金流的可預測性是由以下因素驅動的：我們大量強制執行的定期人壽保險單、我們使用再保險（這大大降低了死亡風險敞口）以及我們只需要很少資本的收費 ISP 業務。

This model supports our ongoing commitment to returning value to stockholders while also enabling us to invest in long-term growth. Our holding company ended the quarter with $407 million in cash and invested assets.

此模式支持我們持續致力於向股東回報價值，同時也使我們能夠投資於長期成長。我們的控股公司在本季結束時擁有 4.07 億美元的現金和投資資產。

Primerica Life estimated RPC ratio was 470%. We remain confident in our ability to sustain capital strength while supporting ongoing growth initiatives and continuing to return capital to stockholders. With that operator, please open the line for questions.

Primerica Life 估計 RPC 比率為 470%。我們仍然有信心，我們有能力維持資本實力，同時支持持續的成長計劃並繼續向股東返還資本。請與該接線員聯繫，以便我們解答疑問。

We'll now be conducting a question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

我們現在將進行問答環節。（操作員指示）

Ryan Krueger, KBW.

瑞安·克魯格（Ryan Krueger），KBW。

Good morning, Ryan.

早安，瑞安。

Hey, thanks, good morning. My first question was on the dynamic you're seeing between term life sales and ISP sales just seems striking that you're seeing some pressures on term life given economic uncertainty and cost of living pressures, but then very, extremely high production and ISP. What do you attribute this to?

嘿，謝謝，早安。我的第一個問題是，您看到的定期壽險銷售和 ISP 銷售之間的動態變化似乎令人驚訝，由於經濟不確定性和生活成本壓力，您看到定期壽險面臨一些壓力，但產量和 ISP 卻非常高。您認為這是什麼原因造成的？

Yeah, Ryan, one of the beauties of our complementary business model is that our two main lines of business often react differently under the same circumstances, and that gives us a unique balance. You're right, they're pretty much at an extreme right now as we have, our life insurance momentum decelerating, a very strong quarter and ISP, although we're seeing some deceleration due to the uncertainty.

是的，瑞安，我們互補商業模式的優點之一是，我們的兩條主要業務線在相同情況下往往會做出不同的反應，這給了我們一種獨特的平衡。你說得對，他們現在正處於極端狀態，我們的人壽保險勢頭正在減速，一個非常強勁的季度和 ISP，儘管由於不確定性我們看到了一些減速。

Cost of living, as we've talked about before, impacts our life insurance business fairly quickly, because families, often middle-income families are making priority decisions on whether to buy and keep a term policy. If they have some additional disposable income, they might start a systematic investment plan, generally fairly small and when money gets tight, those two things come into question.

正如我們之前所討論的，生活成本對我們的人壽保險業務影響相當快，因為家庭（通常是中等收入家庭）正在優先決定是否購買和保留定期保險。如果他們有一些額外的可支配收入，他們可能會開始一個系統性的投資計劃，通常規模相當小，而當資金緊張時，這兩件事就會受到質疑。

The larger sale business, particularly rollover business and movement of larger blocks of money, is not impacted nearly as much by cost of living. People aren't making a rollover decision based on the cost of gas go up this month or not. They're looking for a better investment or a different feature of the investment.

較大的銷售業務，特別是展期業務和大筆資金的流動，幾乎不受生活成本的影響。人們不會根據本月汽油價格是否上漲來做出續約決定。他們正在尋找更好的投資或具有不同特點的投資。

One of the things we've mentioned before is our variable annuity business is particularly strong, and that's because of the guarantees. And there's a flight to guarantees in time of uncertainty. We are seeing some of that so the businesses do react differently, specifically the cost of living.

我們之前提到的一件事是，我們的變額年金業務特別強勁，這是因為有擔保。在充滿不確定性的時期，人們會尋求擔保。我們看到了一些這樣的情況，因此企業的反應確實不同，特別是生活成本。

The uncertainty tends to be a headwind for both because when people are not sure what's about to happen, they tend to wait and see, and that can impact, term life sales can impact even recruiting as we've seen, and it's beginning to slow down, some of the movement of money, even the roll over and transfers in the ISP business. That said, I hope that uncertainty is, can be a relatively short phenomenon if we can get some clarity and direction, some decisions, about our tariffs in or tariffs out, what are their impacts, and so forth, hopefully this is a fairly short term, dilemma that could be resolved, during this year, and then we can get some more certainty and clarity going forward.

不確定性往往對兩者來說都是不利的，因為當人們不確定會發生什麼時，他們傾向於觀望，這可能會影響定期壽險的銷售，甚至會影響招聘，正如我們所見，一些資金的流動，甚至 ISP 業務的展期和轉移，都開始放緩。話雖如此，我希望，如果我們能夠獲得一些明確的方向和決定，關於我們的關稅的徵收或取消，它們的影響等等，那麼不確定性可以是一個相對較短的現象，希望這是一個相當短期的困境，可以在今年內得到解決，然後我們可以在未來獲得更多的確定性和清晰度。

Thanks, and related follow up, the 5% to 10% ISP sales outlook for the year, that's certainly, much lower than you had, for the first quarter. Are you kind of assuming that there's some ongoing headwinds the rest of the year because of the volatility that we're seeing and that's embedded in your outlook?

謝謝，相關的後續問題，今年 ISP 銷售額的預期為 5% 至 10%，這肯定比第一季的預期要低得多。您是否認為，由於我們所看到的波動性以及您對此的展望，今年剩餘時間仍會出現一些持續的阻力？

Yeah, we make the outlook based primarily on today's conditions because we're not sure what might happen next. I mean, uncertainty is a word that's going to be used at a record pace, I think this quarter by companies and others.

是的，我們主要根據今天的情況做出展望，因為我們不確定接下來會發生什麼。我的意思是，「不確定性」這個詞將會以創紀錄的速度被企業和其他機構使用，我認為本季將會如此。

So we tend to look out, but we also had extremely strong last two quarters last year. So the comparisons that trying to get the same percentage growth that we saw in the first quarter result in much bigger numbers.

因此我們傾向於保持警惕，但去年最後兩季我們的表現也非常強勁。因此，與第一季相同的百分比成長進行比較，結果會得出更大的數字。

So it's the combination of the very strong finish last year and the comparison and the kind of decelerating percentages, as well as assuming that the disruption and uncertainty we're experiencing today is probably going to continue for a while. I hope it doesn't, but we make our plans assuming it will.

因此，這是去年非常強勁的表現和比較以及百分比下降的結合，同時假設我們今天所經歷的混亂和不確定性可能會持續一段時間。我希望不會發生這種情況，但我們制定計劃時就假設會發生這種情況。

Makes sense, thank you.

有道理，謝謝。

Thank you. Wilma Burdis, [Credit Suisse].

謝謝。威爾瑪·伯迪斯，[瑞士信貸]。

Good morning, Will.

早安，威爾。

Hey, good morning. This is a little bit of a follow up on Ryan's question, but you've talked before about how your clients tend to be a little bit slower to react to market news. Just can you talk about how people have been thinking about things and how you're seeing that now, especially in April. Thanks.

嘿，早安。這是對 Ryan 問題的一點跟進，但您之前談到過，您的客戶對市場新聞的反應往往比較慢。您能否談談人們對事物的看法以及您現在的看法，尤其是在四月。謝謝。

We do believe, well, as you point out that in general, most of our clients react a little more slowly, particularly the middle-income clients, but even those that have a fairly large assets, we always teach long-term investing, buy and hold most of our accounts by far retirement accounts, so they have long term time horizon.

我們確實相信，正如您所指出的，一般來說，我們的大多數客戶反應較慢，特別是中等收入客戶，但即使是那些擁有相當大資產的客戶，我們也總是教導他們進行長期投資，購買並持有我們的大部分退休帳戶，因此他們具有長期的投資期限。

So we're not in an environment where people are moving in and out like day traders or other more frequent traders might be. So I would expect our people to buy and hold and react more slowly. We do see that, but after the noise gets so loud or lasts so long, we do people start, see people start to take a wait and see attitude and that does start to slow down some of the momentum. So I think it's catching up with us now. I do think that, again it could be short-lived if we get some clarity quickly, but we're assuming that, we're going to be under the current conditions for most of this year as we make our plans going forward.

因此，我們並不處於人們像日內交易者或其他更頻繁的交易者那樣進進出出的環境中。因此我希望我們的員工能夠買入並持有，並且反應速度要慢一些。我們確實看到了這一點，但是在噪音變得如此之大或持續如此之久之後，我們確實看到人們開始採取觀望態度，而這確實開始減緩一些勢頭。所以我認為它現在正在追趕我們。我確實認為，如果我們能迅速得到一些明確的答案，這種情況可能會持續很短的時間，但我們假設，在製定未來計劃時，今年大部分時間我們都會處於當前的狀況。

Thank you. And then can you talk a little bit about the recruiting environment or a little bit more about the recruiting environment, especially going forward? Is there, maybe a situation where the prime opportunity becomes more attractive as people maybe look for a little bit more income or that kind of thing, thanks.

謝謝。然後您能否稍微談談招募環境，或多談招募環境，特別是未來的招募環境？是否存在這樣的情況，即主要機會變得更具吸引力，因為人們可能尋求更多的收入或諸如此類的東西，謝謝。

Sure, as we've talked about many times before, some disruption and dissatisfaction actually helps our recruiting. So when people are frustrated or they fear for job loss, about job loss and that kind of they look for alternatives, and I think we've benefited from that over the last few years. What we do need to remember that the uncertainty is new, but the cost of living pressures are not new. It's something that has people in the family has been dealing with for a number of years.

當然，正如我們之前多次談到的那樣，一些混亂和不滿實際上有助於我們的招募。因此，當人們感到沮喪或擔心失業時，他們會尋找其他選擇，我認為過去幾年我們從中受益匪淺。我們確實需要記住，不確定性是新出現的，但生活成本壓力並不是新出現的。這是一個家庭成員多年來一直在處理的事情。

And so, but there is a point I believe where when you just don't know what's going to happen next, you just stop and think a little longer, and that's what we believe we're seeing both on the recruiting side compared to last year. It's people are just being, are giving it a little more consideration, a little more thought, whether they're buying, if money's tight, whether they're buying a term insurance policy, or if they're about to invest the effort, there's very little money, but there's tremendous effort in building business and kind of exercising that entrepreneurial spirit, they're in a wait and see mode.

所以，但我相信，當你不知道接下來會發生什麼時，你就會停下來思考一會兒，這就是我們認為與去年相比，我們在招募方面看到的情況。人們只是在多考慮一點，多想一點，無論他們是在購買，如果資金緊張，無論他們是在購買定期保險，還是準備投入精力，雖然資金很少，但在建立業務和發揮創業精神方面付出了巨大的努力，他們處於觀望模式。

And again, it's possible that this could be short-lived, that clarity could come quickly, but we're assuming it lasts for some time and so that's why we've taken the edge off of some of our expectations for the year. But on the other side of that is once clarity does come back; people remember the disruption and that becomes a recruiting tailwind.

再次強調，這種情況可能是短暫的，可能很快就會明朗，但我們假設它會持續一段時間，這就是為什麼我們降低了對今年的一些預期。但另一方面，一旦清晰度恢復；人們記住了這種混亂，這就成為了招募的順風。

So, when we do get some clarity, if people start feeling better, money is not quite so tight, the future direction is not quite so cloudy. We will remind people what they just went through. You don't want to experience that with no control. You want to take control of your future, and it becomes a recruiting message. So we will turn a positive into a negative whenever we can when it comes to delivering our message of our entrepreneurial opportunities.

因此，當我們確實獲得一些明確的認識時，如果人們開始感覺更好，資金就不會那麼緊張，未來的方向也不會那麼模糊。我們會提醒人們他們剛剛經歷過的事情。您不會想經歷這種無法控制的情況。你想掌控自己的未來，而這成為了一個招募訊息。因此，當我們傳遞創業機會的訊息時，我們總是盡可能地將正面因素轉化為負面因素。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Thank you. Jack Matten, BMO Capital Markets.

謝謝。傑克‧馬滕 (Jack Matten)，BMO 資本市場。

Welcome Jack.

歡迎傑克。

Hey, thank you, good morning. Just one more follow up on the ISP, growth outlook. I'm just curious, are you seeing any particular products more impacted than others? I mean, in recent quarters you've been seeing a mixed shift towards more higher margin products. Just wondering how we should think about that dynamic, moving forward?

嘿，謝謝，早安。關於 ISP 的成長前景還有最後一個問題。我只是好奇，您是否看到任何特定產品比其他產品受到的影響更大？我的意思是，最近幾個季度，我們已經看到了向利潤率更高的產品轉變的趨勢。只是想知道我們應該如何看待這種動態並向前發展？

Yeah, as we're accustomed to seeing Jack, when things get bumpy, the guarantees of variable annuities and index-linked variable annuities become very attractive. And we are seeing that is sort of our lead, product that we've sold for a long time, mix shift in that direction.

是的，正如我們習慣看到的傑克，當事情變得坎坷時，變額年金和指數掛鉤變額年金的擔保就會變得非常有吸引力。我們看到，這是我們長期銷售的主導產品，正在朝著這個方向轉變。

Our managed account business is a newer business and it's a fast-growing product line, not just in America but in the industry. And so, we're seeing good percentage growth in that simply because it's new, and it's a great addition to our product line if we call it new, it's, been a decade, but it's newer than the other product lines. So that's what we're seeing is we're seeing the faster growth in [VAs] because of the guarantees, and then we're seeing some fast percentage growth in our managed account because it's a newer smaller business. It's got some really great momentum.

我們的託管帳戶業務是一項較新的業務，並且是一條快速成長的產品線，不僅在美國，而且在整個行業中。因此，我們看到了良好的百分比成長，只是因為它是新產品，如果我們稱它為新產品，它是我們產品線的一個很好的補充，它已經有十年了，但它比其他產品線更新。所以，我們看到的是，由於擔保，我們看到 [VA] 成長更快，然後我們看到託管帳戶的百分比快速成長，因為它是一項較新的小型企業。它確實擁有巨大的發展勢頭。

Got it thank you and I just want on capital, can you just talk about what drove the nice uptick in the RBC ratio so 470% this quarter up from 430% I think last quarter. Was there anything notable, going on that drove that that result?

明白了，謝謝。我只想談談資本問題，您能否談談是什麼推動了 RBC 比率的大幅上升？本季 RBC 比率從上一季的 430% 上升到了 470%。有什麼值得注意的事情導致了這樣的結果嗎？

Good morning, Jack. The RBC ratio in our capital position, overall, our RBC ratio, is a function of, some of the also state, regulatory requirements for where we domicile and sometimes, we have some variation on that. But overall, we, believe in having strong capital position, both for our insurance businesses as well as for our overall company.

早上好，傑克。我們資本狀況中的 RBC 比率，總體而言，我們的 RBC 比率取決於我們所在地的一些州的監管要求，有時我們會對此進行一些調整。但總體而言，我們相信，無論是對於我們的保險業務還是對整個公司而言，我們都擁有強大的資本實力。

So when you look at the RBC ratio, obviously there's some, quarterly ups and downs variations, but overall our line of thinking is that we need a strong, capital in order to support our growth, but more importantly also have a strong rating and in in the time of any sort of potential uncertainty, our capital position is very important and you also look at the whole capital that we have. By and large, we do believe that given any sort of growth for the long term as well as for facing any sort of potential downturn, we have the resiliency and the strong capital position to absorb any sort of uncertainties and downside risks.

因此，當您查看 RBC 比率時，顯然會有一些季度性的起伏，但總體而言，我們的想法是，我們需要強大的資本來支持我們的增長，但更重要的是，也要有強大的評級，並且在任何潛在的不確定性時期，我們的資本狀況非常重要，您還可以查看我們擁有的全部資本。總的來說，我們確實相信，考慮到任何形式的長期成長以及面臨任何形式的潛在衰退，我們都具有韌性和強大的資本實力來吸收任何形式的不確定性和下行風險。

Thank you very much.

非常感謝。

Thank you. John Barnidge, Piper Sandler.

謝謝。約翰·巴尼奇、派珀·桑德勒。

Good morning, John.

早安，約翰。

Good morning. Appreciate the opportunity. My question here is, how do you view the health of the economy in Canada? You talked about moderation and sales in April, I believe. Is that experience any different between your US business and your Canada business?

早安.感謝這次機會。我的問題是，您如何看待加拿大經濟的健康狀況？我相信您在四月談到了節制和銷售。您在美國和加拿大開展業務的經驗有什麼不同嗎？

I think, John, speaking as an expert who lived in Canada for 15 years, but I'm not really an expert. I think there are more similarities than there are differences, in the countries and most questions, and I think this is one of them. I think the two economies are very similar. There's uncertainty in both, although, one segment of uncertainty has been removed with the election that's done in Canada, so now there's clarity in who the leadership is. But we have a great business in Canada.

約翰，我認為，作為一名在加拿大生活了 15 年的專家，但我並不是真正的專家。我認為，在各個國家和大多數問題上，相似之處多於不同之處，而我認為這就是其中之一。我認為這兩個國家的經濟非常相似。兩者都存在不確定性，不過，隨著加拿大選舉的結束，一部分不確定性已經消除，因此現在領導人是誰已經很明確了。但我們在加拿大的業務很好。

We've been doing business there 39 years. We have a very strong and experienced leadership team both in our sales force and in our corporate office. And, unfortunately, we're viewed by Canadians as a Canadian company since we do have the strong outpost there.

我們已經在那裡做生意39年了。我們的銷售團隊和公司辦公室都擁有非常強大且經驗豐富的領導團隊。不幸的是，由於我們在那裡擁有強大的前哨基地，加拿大人將我們視為一家加拿大公司。

So I would, we, we're anticipating that the timing might be a little different in the impact of some things, but it's going to be a very similar set of dynamics. Our business in Canada generally reacts very much like our business in the US, the two investment businesses, for example, are tracking very close to each other in growth. I would say that our, distribution building and term business, has been exceptionally strong this year in Canada following a period coming out of the pandemic where Canada reacted more slowly, so they're catching up.

因此，我預計某些事情的影響時間可能會有所不同，但動態將非常相似。我們在加拿大的業務總體上與在美國的業務反應非常相似，例如，兩項投資業務的成長趨勢非常接近。我想說的是，在經歷了疫情爆發後的一段時間後，加拿大的反應比較慢，但今年我們的分銷建設和定期業務在加拿大表現異常強勁，所以他們正在迎頭趕上。

So again, there are a handful of differences, but at the same time, we would expect the results to be similar in direction, and in quantity. So we're just as optimistic about the future in Canada as we are here.

因此，再次強調，存在一些差異，但同時，我們預期結果在方向和數量上是相似的。因此，我們對加拿大的未來和我們這裡的未來一樣樂觀。

Appreciate that answer and my follow-up question, in light of a dynamic macro environment, how do you think about your presence in the market repurchasing stock versus maybe your expectations coming into the year? Thank you.

感謝您的回答和我的後續問題，鑑於動態的宏觀環境，您如何看待您在市場上回購股票的情況以及您對今年的預期？謝謝。

Good morning, John. In terms of stock purchase program, we have, announced the program for 2025 at $450 million and there's a nice healthy growth from prior year. The way we look at the repurchase program is to provide consistent, resilient and predictable type of return on capital for our stockholders.

早安，約翰。在股票購買計劃方面，我們已經宣布了 2025 年 4.5 億美元的計劃，與前一年相比實現了良好的健康成長。我們看待回購計畫的方式是為股東提供一致、有彈性且可預測的資本回報。

So, we typically try not to plate and time the market, and we also like to be able to provide the type of strength on the ability to return based on multi-year stress test as a premise. So we don't at the current point believe there's any risk to our program that's announced for 2025 and our, thesis really is to have a predictable type of pattern which is very helpful for investors.

因此，我們通常嘗試不對市場進行定價和計時，我們也希望能夠以多年壓力測試為前提，提供回報能力的強度類型。因此，我們目前認為，我們宣布的 2025 年計畫不存在任何風險，我們的論點實際上是建立一種可預測的模式，這對投資者非常有幫助。

Thank you for the answers.

謝謝你的回答。

Great, thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

Thank you. Mark Hughes, Truist Securities.

謝謝。馬克·休斯，Truist Securities。

Good morning, Mark.

早上好，馬克。

Good morning, Glenn. Good morning, Tracy.

早安，格倫。早安，特蕾西。

Good morning.

早安.

The corporate segment, doing better looks like just higher net investment income. Was there anything unusual in this quarter or, should that higher allocated net investment come carry through the balance of the year and help support a better corporate expense or corporate, performance?

企業部門表現較好，看起來只是淨投資收益更高。本季度是否存在什麼異常情況，或者更高的分配淨投資是否應該延續到全年餘額並幫助支持更好的公司費用或公司業績？

Yeah, Mark, our corporate CNO segment really benefited from the investment portfolio. This is really a combination result for several things. One is the growth of the portfolio itself, and that has been, on a pretty healthy trajectory, in the past.

是的，馬克，我們的企業 CNO 部門確實受益於投資組合。這其實是多種因素綜合作用的結果。一是投資組合本身的成長，過去一直保持著相當健康的軌跡。

The second part is we have moved of some of our investments as the securities mature into a slightly higher yielding type of investments without giving up on the conservative risk profile we have, the majority of it is really fixed income portfolio that well matches our life side of the business in terms of duration in terms of risk profile, and we are relatively conservative.

第二部分是，隨著證券成熟，我們將部分投資轉向收益略高的投資類型，但同時又不放棄我們保守的風險狀況，其中大部分實際上是固定收益投資組合，在期限和風險狀況方面與我們業務的壽命方面非常匹配，而且我們相對保守。

However, that being said, we are pursuing some higher yields without giving up the risk and having that good balance, and I see this as a pretty good predictable around $40 million a quarter type of, up or down in that range support for our CML segment and I also do believe that our investment portfolio in general is a good way of keeping our capital very strong continuously while having a very balanced and low risk profile that supports our distribution business model and not having that being the main relying focus on our revenue.

然而，話雖如此，我們在不放棄風險的情況下追求更高的收益並保持良好的平衡，我認為這對我們的 CML 部門來說是一個相當可預測的、每季度約 4000 萬美元的上下波動的支持，我也確實相信我們的投資組合總體上是一種很好的方式，可以持續保持我們的資本狀況非常強勁，同時擁有非常平衡的收入，同時擁有以支持業務的主要資本狀況，我們將非常依賴我們的資本狀況非常強勁，同時擁有平衡以支持收入的主要業務。

And then when thinking about the term business, did you provide guidance? I think in the past you've talked about a growth and adjusted direct premium for instance any reason to think the outlook has changed I think the new sales perhaps stabilizing is a little bit different, but any updates on that, those performance measures within term life?

然後，當您思考業務一詞時，您是否提供了指導？我認為過去您曾談論過成長和調整後的直接保費，例如有任何理由認為前景已經改變，我認為新的銷售可能穩定下來有點不同，但有關這方面的最新消息，定期壽險內的那些績效衡量標準是什麼？

Yeah, on the term life, ADP guidance, even though we have seen some uncertainty and there's some headwinds on the recruiting licensing side, given the large size of our imported block, any given year of new policies and premium is a very small slice of the overall income on revenue that we bring in from term life.

是的，關於定期壽險，根據 ADP 的指導，儘管我們看到了一些不確定性，並且在招聘許可方面也遇到了一些阻力，但考慮到我們進口的保險塊規模很大，任何一年的新保單和保費都只占我們從定期壽險中獲得的總收入的很小一部分。

So considering the very stable nature of that business, there's really no impact materially this year, and I think our ADP guidance is going to be very consistent around 5% of the growth and also keep in mind that when we give out our guidance for ADP, we have already considered the last situation, so that's already been factored in all of that situation as well.

因此，考慮到該業務的穩定性，今年實際上不會受到實質性影響，我認為我們的 ADP 指導將非常穩定地保持在 5% 左右的增長水平，同時請記住，當我們發布 ADP 指導時，我們已經考慮了最後一種情況，因此這也已經被考慮到了所有這些情況中。

So it's pretty consistent. It's a very good defense business and you could see that given also the capital life nature, very good defensive business in the long term.

所以它非常一致。這是一項非常好的防禦業務，而且您可以看到，考慮到資本壽命性質，從長遠來看，這是一項非常好的防禦業務。

Thank you for that. And then maybe one more quick one, Glen, I think you've touched on this, but the annuity sales versus the mutual funds seems like, more broadly there's been growing demand for annuities is protection products, volatile markets make those more attractive. Do you think, maybe that outperforms in this, go around relative to your earlier experience?

謝謝你。然後也許還有一個快速的問題，格倫，我想你已經提到了這一點，但年金銷售與共同基金相比似乎更廣泛地存在對年金保護產品的需求不斷增長，動蕩的市場使它們更具吸引力。您是否認為，與您之前的經驗相比，這次的表現會更好一些？

I'm just thinking in comparison to early experience because this is a fairly common phenomenon when things get a little bumpy and uncertain, we see it in the makeshift toward VAs. Not sure whether it'll be more extreme this time. I think it depends on how long this goes on. The longer uncertainty continues, kind of the more impact it has to a certain extent, I think on the investment side at least.

我只是在考慮與早期經驗進行比較，因為當事情變得有點坎坷和不確定時，這是一個相當普遍的現象，我們在臨時 VA 中看到它。不確定這次是否會更加極端。我認為這取決於這種情況持續多久。我認為不確定性持續的時間越長，至少在投資方面，其影響在某種程度上就越大。

So I'm not sure it's much more extreme than it has in the past. It's a pretty natural phenomenon. We expect it, we see it, and but I don't think it's it's too much different from the past.

所以我不確定它是否比過去更極端。這是一個非常自然的現象。我們期待它，我們看到它，但我不認為它與過去有太大的不同。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Certainly.

當然。

Thank you. Dan Bergman, TD Cowen.

謝謝。丹‧伯格曼 (Dan Bergman)，TD Cowen。

Welcome Dan.

歡迎丹。

Hey, thanks. Good morning. I guess just to follow up on your prepared remarks, I wanted to see if you could give a little more detail on what you're seeing regarding lapse rates across the term book. It sounded like they stabilized overall, but any more detail around, what you're seeing, any differences across vintages would be very helpful.

嘿，謝謝。早安.我想只是為了跟進您準備好的評論，我想看看您是否可以提供一些更詳細的信息，說明您所看到的有關整個學期書籍的失效率的情況。聽起來它們總體上已經穩定下來了，但是如果您能更詳細地了解所看到的情況以及不同年份之間的差異，將會非常有幫助。

And I know it sounds like you expect normalization over time but just given the recent uncertainty. Is there a risk that this could take a step back before it gets better? Just any thoughts on the outlook given that the uncertain environment would be much appreciated.

我知道這聽起來像是您期望隨著時間的推移一切會正常化，但考慮到最近的不確定性。在情況好轉之前，是否有先退步的風險？鑑於不確定的環境，任何關於前景的想法都將受到高度讚賞。

Yeah, good morning, Dan. Regarding lapse rates, the first thing I will say is that we continue to see higher lapses across multiple durations than our long-term actuarial assumptions, which was really the pre-pandemic level of lapse rates. And also be reminded that during the pandemic period we had extraordinarily low lapse rates. So, some of the elevations in the recent past since the pandemic had been the runoff of those relatively uncommitted population, but our recent within, let's say the last year of new policies have consistent lapse rates as our expectations.

是的，早安，丹。關於失效率，我首先要說的是，我們繼續看到多個時期的失效率高於我們的長期精算假設，這實際上是疫情前的失效率水準。還要記住，在大流行期間，我們的失效率極低。因此，自疫情爆發以來，近期的一些上漲是那些相對不堅定的人口流失造成的，但我們最近，比如說去年的新政策的遞減率與我們的預期一致。

So cumulatively persistency also is in line with pre-pandemic period. This is when you consider the very low lapse and the very high lapse. So over the long haul when you look at it cumulatively, it's feel very reasonable to our expectations. Now, the last couple of quarters, we also have seen stabilizing trends and for example, last quarter has been a decrease from the recent past. So that's also a good trend that we're observing. Obviously we're going to need to give it a little bit more time, even with the uncertainty that is, being faced by the middle income families, we are still.

因此，累積持久性也與疫情大流行之前的時期一致。這是當您考慮非常低的失誤和非常高的失誤時的情況。因此，從長遠來看，當你累積起來看時，它對我們的預期來說非常合理。現在，過去幾個季度，我們也看到了穩定的趨勢，例如，上個季度比近期有所下降。這也是我們觀察到的好趨勢。顯然，我們需要給它多一點時間，即使中等收入家庭面臨不確定性，我們仍然會這樣做。

Already considering some of those higher lapses in our ADP guidance, so none of that is going to be new. We obviously over time we expect the trend to return to normal. That's really just relying on how quick the economic can return for the normalcy for the family, and we know that in past financial recession. Type of situation it may take a few years for the middle-income families to get back on their feet, but by and large we've considered a lot of those higher elevations in our guidance. So we see that for the year, our ADP growth outlook remains the same, and we also do believe that, overall cumulative trend is within our expectations. Hope that answers your question, Dan.

我們的 ADP 指導中已經考慮到了一些較高的失誤，因此這些都不是新的。我們顯然預計隨著時間的推移趨勢將恢復正常。這其實只是依賴經濟能多快恢復正常，讓家庭能夠過正常的生活，我們在過去的金融衰退中知道這一點。對於中等收入家庭來說，可能需要幾年的時間才能重新站起來，但總的來說，我們在指導中已經考慮了很多更高的情況。因此，我們認為，對於今年而言，我們的 ADP 成長前景保持不變，我們也相信，整體累積趨勢在我們的預期之內。希望這能回答你的問題，丹。

Yeah, it's very helpful. Thank you. And then maybe one more on the ISP business if I could, I guess despite the market volatility, if my math is right, I think your full year guidance still implies something like flattish sales growth for the rest of the year against a pretty tough comp given that you had nice growth in 2024. Is there any way to frame, what would it take in the markets for there to be a more material decline in sales over the rest of the year? I mean, I guess that's a business that's shown some sales volatility in the past. I think, for example, in 2022. You had a drop in sales after a really strong year in 2021. So how confident are you that, this 2024 sales level is relatively sustainable going forward? A little bit of a broad question, but any thoughts would be much appreciated.

是的，這很有幫助。謝謝。如果可以的話，我可能還想再問一個關於 ISP 業務的問題，我想儘管市場波動，但如果我的計算正確的話，我認為您的全年指引仍然意味著今年剩餘時間的銷售增長將持平，而考慮到您在 2024 年實現了良好的增長，這是一個相當艱難的競爭局面。有什麼方法可以預測，市場會如何表現，才會導致今年剩餘時間內銷售額出現更大幅度的下滑？我的意思是，我猜這家企業的銷售在過去曾經出現過一些波動。我認為，例如，在 2022 年。在經歷了 2021 年非常強勁的一年之後，你們的銷售額出現了下降。那麼您對 2024 年的銷售水準未來是否能夠相對可持續有多大信心？這個問題有點寬泛，但如果有任何想法，我們將非常感激。

Yeah, well, as we kind of view how our business has been reacting, again, some of these pressures that we're seeing this year or there last year, the uncertainty I think is new. And so that's what we're trying to layer on and assess, but, we don't have an exact formula that says if the market drops 20%, here's what we'd expect, that would definitely impact. But we're assuming that we, get sort of a flattish market, net. It seems like it goes way up and goes way down, from day to day or week to week, but, and then if it were, down 5%, 10%, you would see more slowing of our business, but to be able to gauge that and do the math, you've done the math for the full year in your head very well, I think. But to try to give sensitivity to that is a little trickier. And so that's why we'll update by quarter, the full year number and then you can see what that means we're thinking for the, coming quarters, as you kind of back into them. So, we don't try to participate. It would take something more severe than what we're seeing, exactly how to quantify that it's pretty difficult.

是的，當我們再次觀察我們的業務如何應對今年或去年我們看到的一些壓力時，我認為不確定性是新的。這就是我們試圖分層評估的，但是，我們沒有一個確切的公式來表示如果市場下跌 20%，我們預期會產生什麼影響，這肯定會產生影響。但我們假設我們得到的是一個較為平緩的市場淨值。看起來它每天或每週都在大幅上升和下降，但是，如果下降 5% 或 10%，您會看到我們的業務進一步放緩，但為了能夠衡量和計算，我認為您已經在腦海中很好地計算了全年的業績。但嘗試對此賦予敏感度則有點棘手。這就是為什麼我們會按季度更新全年數據，然後你可以看到這意味著什麼，我們正在考慮未來幾個季度，就像你回到過去一樣。所以，我們不想參與。這需要一些比我們所看到的更嚴重的事情，確切地量化它是相當困難的。

Got it. It's very helpful. Thank you.

知道了。這非常有幫助。謝謝。

Sure.

當然。

Thank you. Suneet Kamath with Jefferies.

謝謝。傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的 Suneet Kamath。

Good morning, Suneet.

早上好，Suneet。

Good morning, Glenn. So, I wanted to go back to your prepared remarks. I think it was when you were talking about the term life business. I believe you used the word resistance, so we're seeing some resistance, which, I don't know, it's to me it sounds like a stronger word than sort of phrasing we're seeing people take a pause, so I just want to make sure I'm not reading too much into that and if you could provide any color in terms of what that means, that would be helpful thanks.

早安，格倫。所以，我想回到你準備好的發言。我認為那是在您談論定期壽險業務的時候。我相信您使用了「抵抗」這個詞，所以我們看到了一些抵抗，我不知道，對我來說，這個詞聽起來比我們看到人們停下來的措辭更強烈，所以我只是想確保我沒有過度解讀，如果你能提供任何關於這意味著什麼的信息，那將會很有幫助，謝謝。

Yeah, and this is us trying to quantify human behavior, which is a little tricky at best. But what we're seeing in addition to the cost-of-living pressures which we have been facing for a number of years now and have successfully overcome, I think our results would have been better in past years that had not been for the cost-of-living pressures, but we still were able to produce some growth.

是的，這就是我們試圖量化人類行為，這充其量是有點棘手。但是，除了多年來一直面臨並已成功克服的生活成本壓力之外，我認為，如果沒有生活成本壓力，過去幾年我們的業績會更好，但我們仍然能夠實現一些成長。

Now we have The uncertainty which creates the wait and see, kind of behavior is what we believe we're seeing you're right, how to quantify, the impact of the word resistance is, but what we see is we've got a growing sales force, which means we've got new sales people in the marketplace, overcoming objections is part of what sales people do, but this is a particularly hard over objection to overcome saying I'm not sure what you, the economic situation means for my job or for my family and therefore, check back with me next quarter, check back with me in a few weeks, particularly hard to overcome, particularly for a brand new sales person and so you, whether we characterized it perfectly using the word resistance, it's another objection that a salesperson has to deal with sitting down with families and helping them through the very tough process of prioritizing, tight budgets.

現在，我們面臨的不確定性導致了觀望，我們認為我們看到了這種行為，您說得對，如何量化“阻力”一詞的影響，但我們看到的是，我們的銷售隊伍不斷壯大，這意味著市場上有了新的銷售人員，克服異議是銷售人員工作的一部分，但這是一個特別難以克服的異議，比如說我不確定經濟形勢對說我不確定經濟形勢對說我的工作或家庭意味著什麼，因此，下個季度再來找我，幾週後再來找我，特別難以克服，特別是對於一個全新的銷售人員來說，所以，無論我們是否用“阻力”這個詞完美地描述了它，這都是銷售人員必鬚麵對的另一個異議，與家庭坐下來，幫助他們度過優先排序和緊張預算的非常艱難的過程。

And so that's a little different, that's a little new and that's what we're seeing that's different this year. Again, uncertainty can resolve itself with certainty or it can resolve itself that people just get used to it and start to ignore it after a period of time. And so, we do have some optimism that this, doesn't go on forever, but it is a phenomenon we believe we're seeing in the numbers right now, and that's how we tried to express it.

這有點不同，有點新，這就是我們今年看到的不同之處。再一次，不確定性可以透過確定性自行解決，也可以透過人們習慣它並在一段時間後開始忽略它而自行解決。因此，我們確實樂觀地認為這種情況不會永遠持續下去，但我們相信這是我們目前在數字中看到的一種現象，這就是我們試圖表達它的方式。

I got it, that makes sense. So resistance in terms of customers, not in terms of recruits, is kind of the message.

我明白了，這很有道理。因此，阻力來自顧客方面，而不是來自招募方面，這是一種訊息。

Exactly. And you even get, you do even get some recruits with wait and see, if you're thinking about starting a new business and the effort that it takes to get a new prime business up off the ground and you're not sure what the economic environment is going to be, that's hard at the best of times, but it looks like, if I have an opinion that for the next three months, that might be particularly hard. I might say, let me start later when conditions are better.

確切地。你甚至會得到一些觀望的招聘信息，如果你正在考慮創辦一家新企業，並努力讓一家新的主要企業起步，而你又不確定經濟環境會是什麼樣的，那麼即使在最好的情況下，這也很困難，但看起來，如果我認為在接下來的三個月裡，這可能會特別困難。我可能會說，等條件好一點了再開始吧。

So, you get, humans are looking for a reason to procrastinate in general, and uncertainty provides a great one. And so it's just another, it's not the first time we've seen this, won't be the last time, but it's just an extra dynamic to deal with in the marketplace that's relatively new this year.

所以，你明白了，人類總是在尋找拖延的理由，而不確定性就是一個很好的理由。所以這只是另一種情況，這不是我們第一次看到這種情況，也不會是最後一次，但這只是今年市場上相對較新的額外動態。

That makes sense. And then I guess in response to Ryan's question, you talked a little bit about the complementary nature of term versus ISP, and you know these offsets that exist, but it feels like maybe as you move into 2Q, you may lose some of that just because markets were generally pretty positive in the first quarter. So I just want to make sure I have that right and then if that's the case, is it? Are you guys thinking about anything that you might want to do on the cost side or anything like that or is it sort of too early to kind of take those steps? Thanks.

這很有道理。然後我想在回答 Ryan 的問題時，您談到了定期合約與 ISP 的互補性，並且您知道這些抵消是存在的，但感覺也許隨​​著進入第二季度，您可能會失去其中的一些，因為市場在第一季度總體上相當積極。所以我只是想確保我有這個權利，如果是這樣的話，對嗎？你們是否考慮過在成本方面或類似方面可以採取什麼措施，或者現在採取這些措施是否為時過早？謝謝。

Sure. Well, on the ISP side, we had a very strong April, not at the percentage growth that we reported in the first quarter, but still significant growth. And so we're assuming that momentum continues, for some period of time. It doesn't just turn on a dime and stop one day.

當然。嗯，在 ISP 方面，我們 4 月表現非常強勁，雖然成長率沒有達到第一季報告的水平，但仍然實現了顯著成長。因此我們假設這種勢頭會持續一段時間。它不會突然轉變，然後某一天就停止。

So we got a pretty good read on how we think this quarter shapes up and so there are no cliffs in sight, I would say that. And so, we think we, we've got a little bit of a tail, obviously, we're working to generate momentum in our life business and overcome those objections we just discussed. We run a very disciplined and very lean organization expense wise, and what that means is that we don't just have a lot of fat, we can go and let's just drop a few million dollars of expenses.

因此，我們對本季的情況有了很好的了解，所以我想說，目前還看不到任何懸崖。因此，我們認為，我們已經取得了一些進展，顯然，我們正在努力為我們的生活業務創造動力並克服我們剛才討論過的那些反對意見。我們的組織運作非常規範，在開支方面也非常精簡，這意味著我們不會有太多的浪費，我們可以減少數百萬美元的開支。

Now we do have a game plan where we can reduce expenses as necessary, if it became necessary, but it's not something like we just got a unimportant expenses that we can, just lift out of here. It's because we run a disciplined shift all the time, it makes it a little harder to reduce your expenses when necessary. We can do it. We have a plan to do that, but, we believe that, we'll we'll be able to overcome the headwinds and that's not at the top of our list for our game plan for the rest of the year.

現在我們確實有一個計劃，如果有必要，我們可以根據需要減少開支，但這並不是說我們可以直接取消一些不重要的開支。這是因為我們始終實行嚴格的輪班制度，所以在必要時減少您的開支會變得更加困難。我們能做到。我們有計劃做到這一點，但我們相信，我們能夠克服逆風，這並不是我們今年剩餘時間比賽計劃的首要任務。

Got it that makes sense thanks for the answers.

明白了，這很有意義，感謝您的回答。

Absolutely.

絕對地。

Thank you. We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. And with that, I would like to bring the call to a close. We appreciate your participation. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Enjoy the rest of your day.

謝謝。我們的問答環節已經結束。至此，我想結束本次通話。感謝您的參與。現在您可以斷開線路。享受剩餘的一天。