保德信金融集團 (PRU) 2024 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to Prudential's quarterly earnings conference call. At this time, all participants have been placed in a listen-only mode. Later, we'll conduct a question-and-answer session, instructions will be given at that time. (Operator Instructions). As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

女士們、先生們，感謝大家的支持，歡迎參加保誠的季度財報電話會議。目前，所有參與者都處於只聽模式。稍後我們將進行問答環節，屆時將提供說明。（操作員指令）。提醒一下，今天的通話正在錄音。

I will now turn the call over to Bob McLaughlin. Please go ahead.

現在我將電話轉給鮑伯·麥克勞克林。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. Representing Prudential on today's call are Charlie Lowrey, Chairman and CEO; Rob Falzon, Vice Chairman; Andy Sullivan, Head of International Businesses; and PGIM, our Global Investment Manager; Caroline Feeney, Head of US Businesses; Yanela Frias, Chief Financial Officer; and Rob Axel, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer.

早安，感謝您參加我們的電話會議。代表保誠出席今天電話會議的有董事長兼執行長 Charlie Lowrey；法爾松（Rob Falzon），副主席；安迪‧沙利文 (Andy Sullivan)，國際業務主管；以及我們的全球投資經理 PGIM；卡洛琳‧菲尼 (Caroline Feeney)，美國業務主管； Yanela Frias，財務長；以及財務主管兼首席會計官 Rob Axel。

We will start with prepared comments by Charlie, Rob and Yanela, and then we will take your questions.

我們將首先聽取 Charlie、Rob 和 Yanela 的準備的評論，然後回答您的問題。

Today's discussion may include forward-looking statements. It is possible that actual results may differ materially from the predictions we make today. In addition, our presentation includes references to non-GAAP measures. For a reconciliation of such measures to the comparable GAAP measures and a discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Please see the slides titled Forward-Looking Statements and non-GAAP Measures in the appendix to today's presentation and the quarterly financial supplement, both of which can be found on our website at investor.prudential.com.

今天的討論可能包括前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能與我們今天所做的預測有重大差異。此外，我們的介紹中也引用了非公認會計準則 (GAAP) 指標。將這些指標與可比較的 GAAP 指標進行調節，並討論可能導致實際結果與前瞻性陳述中的結果有重大差異的因素。請參閱今天簡報附錄中題為「前瞻性聲明和非公認會計準則指標」的幻燈片和季度財務補充文件，這兩份文件均可在我們的網站 investor.prudential.com 上找到。

And now I'll turn it over to Charlie.

現在我將把話題交給查理。

Thank you, Bob, and thank you to all of you for joining us today. First, I'd like to comment on the leadership changes we announced in the fourth quarter. The Board appointed Andy Sullivan as Prudential's next CEO, effective (technical difficulty). He is an exceptional leader and the Board and I have every confidence he is the right person to take Prudential into the future.

謝謝你，鮑勃，也謝謝大家今天的參與。首先，我想對我們在第四季宣布的領導層變動發表評論。董事會任命 Andy Sullivan 為保誠下一任首席執行官，任期從（技術難度）。他是一位傑出的領導者，董事會和我都堅信，他是帶領保誠走向未來的合適人選。

Also at the end of March, Caroline Feeney will take on an expanded role overseeing our Global Retirement and Insurance businesses. Both Andy and Caroline have been highly engaged in setting and executing our strategy, so we expect a smooth transition. And Jacques Chappuis will be joining as CEO of PGIM, our Global Asset Manage business. Both Caroline and Jacques will report directly to Andy. This is an exciting, significant time for Prudential and the right time to elevate the next generation of leadership as we mark our 150th anniversary.

此外，三月底，Caroline Feeney 將承擔更重要的職責，負責監督我們的全球退休和保險業務。Andy 和 Caroline 都積極參與制定和執行我們的策略，因此我們期待順利的過渡。Jacques Chappuis 將加入公司擔任 PGIM（全球資產管理業務）的執行長。Caroline 和 Jacques 都會直接向 Andy 報告。對保誠來說，這是一個令人興奮、意義重大的時刻，也是我們迎來150週年慶之際培養下一代領導階層的最佳時機。

Finally, I'd also note that just last week, we were recognized as the number one company among our Life and Health Insurance peers for 2024 on Fortune's List of the World's Most Hired Companies.

最後，我還要指出，就在上週，我們在《財富》雜誌的 2024 年全球員工最多公司榜單中被評為人壽和健康保險行業中的第一名。

Now let's turn to our results. In 2024, we made significant progress on our path to becoming a higher growth, more capital efficient (technical difficulty). We maintained our disciplined approach to capital deployment while also continuing to invest in our businesses. and returned excess capital to shareholders. Our strategic progress and performance are backed by our financial strength.

現在我們來看看結果。2024 年，我們在成為更高成長、更有資本的企業方面取得了重大進展（技術難度）。我們保持了嚴謹的資本配置方式，同時繼續對我們的業務進行投資。並將剩餘資本返還給股東。我們的策略進步和績效背後有我們雄厚的財務實力作為後盾。

Turning to Slide 3. Our results for the full year reflect continued momentum as we further diversified our product suite and expanded our distribution capabilities to address the Investment, Insurance and Retirement needs of our customers and clients around the world. Earnings for the fourth quarter were lower than we anticipated, but do not reflect the earnings power of our businesses. This was largely due to adverse underwriting experience, primarily driven by an elevated level of large individual life claims, large claim activity will vary on a quarterly basis, but our fundamentals remain strong, and the actions we are taking across our businesses create a solid foundation for future growth.

翻到幻燈片 3。我們的全年業績體現出持續的發展勢頭，因為我們進一步豐富了我們的產品組合，擴大了我們的分銷能力，以滿足全球客戶的投資、保險和退休需求。第四季的獲利低於我們的預期，但並未反映出我們業務的獲利能力。這主要是由於承保經驗不佳，主要是由於個人壽險大額索賠金額上升，大額索賠活動將按季度變化，但我們的基本面依然強勁，我們在各個業務領域採取的行動為未來增長奠定了堅實的基礎。

We reported strong full year sales across our Retirement and Insurance businesses as well as strong investment performance and significant positive flows in PGIM. PGIM reported robust affiliated and third-party flows for the full year 2024, benefiting from our broad capabilities across fixed income, equities and our diversified private alternatives platform, and fueled by the growing global retirement opportunity and the growth of our Retirement and Insurance business. Our Retirement Strategies business continues to address the growing needs of the market as a leader in pension risk transfer and individual annuities.

我們報告稱，我們的退休和保險業務全年銷售強勁，PGIM 的投資業績強勁，且資金流入顯著。PGIM 報告稱，2024 年全年關聯和第三方資金流動強勁，這受益於我們在固定收益、股票和多元化私人替代平台方面的廣泛能力，並受到不斷增長的全球退休機會和退休和保險業務增長的推動。作為退休金風險轉移和個人年金領域的領導者，我們的退休策略業務繼續滿足市場日益增長的需求。

On the institutional side, our pension risk transfer business had the highest annual level of sales for any single carrier since 2012. On the individual side, we had our 9th consecutive quarter of sales growth. We also continued to diversify our products and expand distribution networks in Group Insurance and Individual Life, which resulted in continued sales momentum. And in our International businesses, we continue to diversify our product portfolio in Japan, including retirement solutions, and we expanded our distribution channels in Brazil.

在機構方面，我們的退休金風險轉移業務自2012年以來創下了單一保險公司年度銷售額的最高水準。從個人方面來看，我們連續 9 個季度實現銷售額成長。我們也持續實現產品多元化，擴大團體保險和個人壽險的分銷網絡，從而保持持續的銷售動能。在我們的國際業務中，我們繼續在日本實現產品組合多樣化，包括退休解決方案，並且我們擴大了在巴西的分銷管道。

In addition to the momentum we are seeing across our businesses, during 2024, we successfully executed on a number of transactions that enhanced our capital flexibility, improved the quality of our earnings and shifted our business mix. We completed 2 guaranteed universal life reinsurance transactions, which reduced our cumulative exposure to this product by 60%. And just last month, we announced our second Prismic transaction to reinsure a $7 billion block of Japanese whole life policies, adding further scale to the Prismic platform.

除了我們在整個業務中看到的勢頭之外，在 2024 年，我們還成功執行了多項交易，增強了我們的資本靈活性，提高了我們的盈利質量並改變了我們的業務結構。我們完成了2筆保證型萬能壽險再保險交易，這使我們對該產品的累計風險敞口減少了60%。就在上個月，我們宣布了第二次 Prismic 交易，為價值 70 億美元的日本終身保險保單進行再保險，進一步擴大了 Prismic 平台的規模。

Turning to Slide 4. Our continued investments in our businesses are supported by our disciplined approach to capital deployment, which included returning nearly $3 billion to shareholders in 2024. In addition, the Board has authorized share repurchases of up to $1 billion in 2025 and increase the common stock dividend for the 17th consecutive year.

轉到投影片 4。我們嚴謹的資本配置方式支持了我們對業務的持續投資，其中包括在 2024 年向股東返還近 30 億美元。此外，董事會已批准在2025年回購最多10億美元的股票，並連續第17年增加普通股股利。

Turning to Slide 5. Our strategic progress is supported by our robust risk and capital framework. We maintained a AA rating, which reflects a healthy capital position, including holding more than $4 billion in highly liquid assets. We also maintained a well-diversified, high-quality investment portfolio and a disciplined approach to asset liability management. We're operating from a position of strength and have entered 2025 with continued confidence in our strategy, our capability and our path to deliver long-term sustainable value for all our stakeholders.

翻到幻燈片 5。我們強大的風險和資本框架支持我們的策略進步。我們維持了 AA 評級，這反映了健康的資本狀況，包括持有超過 40 億美元的高流動性資產。我們也保持了多元化、高品質的投資組合，並採取嚴謹的資產負債管理方法。我們憑藉雄厚的實力開展運營，並已進入 2025 年，對我們的策略、能力以及為所有利益相關者提供長期可持續價值的道路繼續充滿信心。

Before I turn the call over to Rob, I want to acknowledge the extraordinary partnership we have shared over these past 6 years. Rob is retiring from Prudential in July, culminating a remarkable 42-year career with the firm in which he has made innumerable and material contributions to our continued success and future growth.

在我將電話轉給羅布之前，我想感謝一下我們在過去六年中建立的非凡的合作關係。羅布將於今年 7 月從保誠集團退休，結束他在公司 42 年的輝煌職業生涯。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Rob.

現在我將把話題交給 Rob。

Thank you, Charlie. It's been a privilege. I'll provide an overview of our financial results and business performance for our PGIM U.S. and International businesses.

謝謝你，查理。這是我莫大的榮幸。我將概述 PGIM 美國和國際業務的財務表現和業務績效。

I'll begin on Slide 6 with our financial results. Our pretax adjusted operating income was $1.4 billion or $2.96 per share for the fourth quarter of 2024 and $5.9 billion or $12.62 per share for the full year up 6% from 2023. This reflects the execution of our strategy to grow our market-leading businesses and was driven by higher fee and spread income due to continued strong sales and flows as well as the benefit of higher interest rates and equity markets, net of increased expenses to support the growth of our businesses. Our GAAP net loss for the quarter was [$57] million.

我將從第 6 張投影片開始介紹我們的財務結果。2024 年第四季度，我們的稅前調整後營業收入為 14 億美元，即每股 2.96 美元，全年調整後營業收入為 59 億美元，即每股 12.62 美元，較 2023 年增長 6%。這反映了我們發展市場領先業務策略的執行，並且由於持續強勁的銷售和流量以及更高的利率和股票市場帶來的好處而導致的費用和利差收入增加，扣除支持業務增長而增加的支出。本季我們的 GAAP 淨虧損為 5,700 萬美元。

This was primarily due to interest rate driven, realized losses on the investment portfolio will be transferred to Prismic in connection with our recently announced reinsurance transaction as well as some modest repositioning of our investment portfolio in the quarter. 2024 adjusted operating return on equity of 13.1% improved 70 basis points from 2023. This reflects the strength of our businesses and the benefits from the deliberate actions we have taken to pivot to more capital-efficient and higher-growth products.

這主要是由於利率驅動，投資組合的已實現損失將轉移到 Prismic，與我們最近宣布的再保險交易以及本季投資組合的適度重新定位有關。 2024 年調整後營業股本報酬率為 13.1%，較 2023 年提高 70 個基點。這反映了我們業務的實力以及我們為轉向資本效率更高、成長更快的產品所採取的慎重行動帶來的好處。

Turning to the quarterly operating results from our businesses compared to the year ago quarter. PGIM, our Global Investment Manager had higher asset management fees, driven by strong net flows, market appreciation, favorable investment performance and increasing contribution from the Deerpath Capital acquisition and higher other related revenues driven by higher incentive fees. This was partially offset by higher expenses to support business growth.

與去年同期相比，我們的業務季度經營業績有所改善。我們的全球投資經理 PGIM 的資產管理費有所上漲，這得益於強勁的淨流量、市場升值、良好的投資業績、Deerpath Capital 收購帶來的貢獻增加，以及激勵費用增加帶來的其他相關收入增加。但支持業務成長的增加的支出部分抵消了這一差距。

Results of our US businesses reflected higher expenses related to the onetime transaction impacts associated with the closing of both the guaranteed universal life reinsurance transaction and the consolidation of our captive financing arrangements. Less favorable underwriting results driven by mortality experience and true-ups and lower net fee income. This was partially offset by higher net investment spread income, primarily driven by business growth.

我們美國業務的表現反映了與保證型萬能壽險再保險交易的結束以及自保融資安排的合併相關的一次性交易影響相關的更高費用。死亡率經驗和真實值以及淨費用收入下降導致承保結果不佳。這被主要受業務成長推動的淨投資利差收入的增加部分抵消。

Our International businesses have less favorable underwriting results, primarily reflecting elevated U.S. dollar product surrenders with the continued weakness in the yen and higher expenses to support business growth. These were partially offset by increased spread income due to higher yields from favorable market performance and reinvestment of the portfolio.

我們的國際業務承保業績不佳，主要反映日圓持續疲軟導緻美元產品退保額增加，以及支持業務成長的支出增加。但這些收益被利差收入的增加（由於良好的市場表現和投資組合的再投資導致的更高收益）部分抵消。

Turning to Slide 7. PGIM, our Global Investment Manager, has diversified capabilities both public and private asset classes across fixed income, equities and alternatives. PGIM's investment performance remained strong with 78% and 85% of assets under management outperforming their benchmarks over the last 5- and 10-year periods, respectively. PGIM's assets under management increased by 6% to $1.4 trillion from year-end 2023 driven by market appreciation, net flows and strong investment performance.

翻到幻燈片 7。我們的全球投資經理 PGIM 擁有多元化的投資能力，涉及固定收益、股票和另類投資等公共和私人資產類別。PGIM 的投資表現依然強勁，過去 5 年和 10 年內分別有 78% 和 85% 的管理資產表現優於基準。在市場升值、淨流量和強勁的投資績效的推動下，PGIM 管理的資產將從 2023 年底開始成長 6%，達到 1.4 兆美元。

Total net flows in the quarter of $8.6 billion included affiliated net flows of $8.9 billion, driven by a large annuities mandate, partially offset by $300 million of third-party net outflows. Total net flows for full year 2024 were $38 billion, including $24 billion in affiliated flows and $14 billion from third-party clients. These inflows reflect the competitive positioning of both PGIM and our Retirement business in the wake of large, albeit episodic institutional pension plan activity.

本季 86 億美元的總淨流量包括 89 億美元的關聯淨流量，這主要受大型年金授權的推動，但被 3 億美元的第三方淨流出部分抵銷。2024 年全年總淨流量為 380 億美元，其中包括 240 億美元的關聯流量和 140 億美元的第三方客戶流量。這些資金流入反映了 PGIM 和我們的退休業務在規模龐大（儘管是偶發的）機構退休金計畫活動之下的競爭地位。

As the investment engine of Prudential, PGIM's capabilities support the success and growth of U.S. and International businesses in Retirement, Asset Management and Insurance. PGIM's asset origination capabilities, investment management expertise and access to institutional and other sources of private capital, including through our sponsored reinsurer Prismic, our competitive advantage. Helping our businesses bring enhanced solutions and create more value for our customers.

作為保誠的投資引擎，PGIM 的能力支持著美國和國際退休、資產管理和保險業務的成功和成長。PGIM 的資產發起能力、投資管理專業知識以及獲得機構和其他私人資本來源的管道（包括透過我們贊助的再保險公司 Prismic）是我們的競爭優勢。幫助我們的企業為客戶帶來更好的解決方案並創造更多價值。

Our Retirement and Insurance businesses, in turn, provide a source of growth for PGIM through affiliated net flows as well as unique access to insurance liabilities. In addition, our diversified PGIM private alternatives platform, which has assets under management of nearly $250 billion experienced 37% growth in private credit origination activity in 2024 compared to the prior year. This was driven by our direct lending businesses, including our acquisition of Deerpath Capital and the (technical difficulty) of our private asset-backed financing business.

反過來，我們的退休和保險業務透過關聯淨流量以及獨特的保險責任管道為 PGIM 提供了成長源。此外，我們多元化的 PGIM 私人替代平台管理的資產接近 2,500 億美元，2024 年的私人信貸發放活動與前一年相比增長了 37%。這是由我們的直接貸款業務推動的，包括我們對Deerpath Capital的收購以及我們的私人資產支持融資業務的（技術難題）。

Turning to Slide 8. U.S. businesses produced diversified sources of earnings from these net investment spread and underwriting income and benefit from complementary mix of longevity and mortality businesses. We continue to focus on growing our market-leading businesses by expanding our addressable market with new financial solutions delivered through a broader distribution footprint, leveraging capabilities and credential and enhancing those capabilities to improve the experience of our customers and distribution partners while driving operating efficiencies.

翻到幻燈片 8。美國企業從這些淨投資利差和承保收入中產生了多元化的獲利來源，並受益於長壽和死亡率業務的互補組合。我們繼續專注於發展我們市場領先的業務，透過更廣泛的分銷範圍提供新的金融解決方案來擴大我們的潛在市場，利用能力和資格並增強這些能力來改善我們的客戶和分銷合作夥伴的體驗，同時提高營運效率。

Retirement strategies generated strong sales in dollars in 2024 across its Institutional and Individual Lines of business. Institutional Retirement sales of $10 billion in the fourth quarter contributed to $36 billion of sales for the year, up 27% from the prior year. U.S. funded pension risk transfer transactions for the year were over $16 billion, the highest annual level for any single carrier since we set the record in 2012. Additionally, longevity risk transfer sales totaled over $10 billion this year.

2024 年，退休策略在其機構和個人業務領域實現了強勁的銷售額。第四季機構退休銷售額為 100 億美元，為全年貢獻了 360 億美元的銷售額，比上年增長了 27%。美國資助的退休金風險轉移交易全年超過 160 億美元，這是自 2012 年創下紀錄以來任何單一保險公司的最高年度水準。此外，今年長壽風險轉移銷售總額超過 100 億美元。

Individual Retirement posted $3.6 billion in sales in the fourth quarter, its best quarter of sales in over a decade. 2024 sales were over $14 billion, up 84% from the prior year. Our product pivots and innovation have resulted in continued strong sales of our registered index-linked annuities and fixed annuity product sales have doubled from the prior year. Additionally, we continue to reduce market sensitivity by running off our legacy variable annuities.

個人退休金第四季的銷售額為 36 億美元，這是十多年來最好的季度的銷售額。 2024 年的銷售額將超過 140 億美元，比上一年增長 84%。我們的產品轉型和創新使我們的註冊指數掛鉤年金的銷售持續強勁，固定年金產品的銷售額比去年翻了一番。此外，我們透過退出傳統的變額年金繼續降低市場敏感度。

Group Insurance sales totaled $550 million in 2024, up 4% from the prior year, driven by growth in supplemental health. We are executing our strategy of both product and client segmentation diversification while leveraging technology to increase operating efficiency and enhance the customer experience. These actions to improve profitability and performance resulted in a benefit ratio of 83.1% for the year, which is at the low end of our target range.

2024 年，團體保險銷售總額將達到 5.5 億美元，比上年增加 4%，主要得益於補充醫療保險的成長。我們正在實施產品和客戶細分多樣化的策略，同時利用技術來提高營運效率並增強客戶體驗。這些提高獲利能力和績效的舉措使得全年收益率達到 83.1%，處於我們目標範圍的低端。

In Individual Life, sales reached a quarterly record high of $326 million in the fourth quarter and for the full year increased 23% from 2023. These increases include the benefit from the strength and breadth of our distributabilities, the expansion of our product offerings, including our pivot towards more capital-efficient products and from an increased level of estate planning sales concentrated in the fourth quarter.

個人壽險方面，第四季銷售額創下 3.26 億美元的季度新高，全年銷售額較 2023 年成長 23%。這些成長包括受益於我們可分配能力的強大和廣度、我們產品供應的擴大（包括我們轉向更具資本效率的產品）以及第四季度遺產規劃銷售水準的提高。

Turning to Slide 9. Our International businesses include our Japanese Life Insurance companies, where we have a differentiated multichannel distribution model as well as our businesses aimed at expanding our presence in targeted high-growth emerging markets. In Japan, we are focused on providing high-quality service and expanding our distribution and product offerings. Our needs-based selling approach and protection and retirement product focus continue to provide important value to our customers as we extend our product offerings to meet their evolving needs.

翻到幻燈片 9。我們的國際業務包括日本人人壽保險公司，我們擁有差異化的多通路分銷模式，以及旨在擴大我們在目標高成長新興市場的影響力的業務。在日本，我們專注於提供高品質的服務並擴大我們的分銷和產品供應。隨著我們擴大產品範圍以滿足客戶不斷變化的需求，我們基於需求的銷售方式以及對保障和退休產品的關注繼續為我們的客戶提供重要的價值。

In emerging markets, we are focused on creating a selective portfolio of businesses in regions where customer needs are growing, where there are compelling opportunities to build the market-leading businesses and where the Prudential enterprise can add value.

在新興市場中，我們專注於在客戶需求不斷增長的地區建立精選的業務組合，這些地區有打造市場領先業務的誘人機會，並且保誠企業能夠在這裡實現增值。

Sales in our International businesses for 2024 were up 6% compared to the prior year. Sales in Japan are benefiting from recent retirement and savings product launches, regaining traction with customers, resulting in a 14% increase in sales of these products compared to the full year 2022. In addition, emerging market sales increased 12% versus the prior year, driven by growth in Brazil as we continue to expand third-party distribution and benefit the strong performance of our Life Planners.

2024 年，我們的國際業務銷售額與前一年相比成長了 6%。日本的銷售受益於最近退休和儲蓄產品的推出，重新獲得了客戶的青睞，導致這些產品的銷量與 2022 年全年相比增長了 14%。此外，新興市場的銷售額較上年增長了 12%，這得益於我們繼續擴大第三方分銷，並受益於我們人壽規劃師的強勁表現，推動了巴西市場的經濟成長。

As we look ahead, we are well positioned across our businesses to be a global leader in expanding access to investing, insurance and retirement security. We continue to focus on investing in growth businesses and markets, delivering industry-leading customer and client experiences and creating the next generation of financial solutions to serve the diverse needs of a broad range of customers.

展望未來，我們的各項業務都已做好準備，成為擴大投資、保險和退休保障管道的全球領導者。我們繼續專注於投資成長型企業和市場，提供業界領先的客戶和客戶體驗，並創造下一代金融解決方案，以滿足廣泛客戶的多樣化需求。

And with that, I'll now hand it over to Yanela.

現在我將發言權交給 Yanela。

Thank you, Rob. I will begin on Slide 10. Our significant capital position and strong regulatory capital ratios continue to support our AA financial strength and our ability to expand our market-leading businesses. Our cash and liquid assets were $4.6 billion, which is above our minimum liquidity target of [$3] million, and we have substantial off-balance sheet resources.

謝謝你，羅布。我將從幻燈片 10 開始。我們雄厚的資本狀況和強大的監管資本比率繼續支撐我們的 AA 財務實力以及擴展市場領先業務的能力。我們的現金和流動資產為 46 億美元，高於我們的最低流動性目標 [300 萬美元]，我們擁有大量表外資源。

Now turning to Slide 11. As I mentioned on last quarter's call, it already provide greater insights into our financial outlook and align with our longer-term nature of our business. We are introducing new financial targets through 2027. Our significant growth in sales and flows supported by the strength of our balance sheet and our commitment to become a higher growth, more capital-efficient company, position us well to achieve these targets. We expect this will lead to annual core earnings per share growth of 5% to 8%, which is based off of core adjusted operating income per share for 2024 and an adjusted return on equity of 13% to 15%.

現在轉到投影片 11。正如我在上個季度的電話會議上提到的，它已經為我們的財務前景提供了更深入的見解，並符合我們業務的長期性質。我們將在 2027 年制定新的財務目標。我們強勁的資產負債表和致力於成為更高成長、資本效率更高的公司的承諾支持了我們銷售額和流量的大幅成長，這使我們能夠實現這些目標。我們預計這將導致每股核心收益年增長率達到 5% 至 8%，這是基於 2024 年每股核心調整後營業收入和 13% 至 15% 的調整後股本回報率。

We're also introducing an operating expense ratio for our Global Retirement and Insurance businesses in anticipated range of 8.5% to 10.5%, which we expect will trend down over the 3-year period. The momentum in our sales in (technical difficulty) buying with operating efficiencies and incremental buybacks are expected to contribute to our earnings growth and returns over the 3-year period. But this perform may not be linear due to the near-term strain from new business and the impact of runoff blocks.

我們也將為全球退休和保險業務引入營業費用率，預計範圍為 8.5% 至 10.5%，我們預計在 3 年內將呈下降趨勢。我們在銷售（技術難度）購買方面的動能、營運效率和增量回購預計將在 3 年內促進我們的獲利成長和回報。但由於新業務的短期壓力和流失阻礙的影響，這一表現可能並非線性。

In addition, we will remain thoughtful in our capital deployment, preserving our financial strength and flexibility by targeting to maintain highly liquid assets of over $3 billion at the holding company while investing in our businesses for long-term sustainable profitable growth. We expect to deploy 30% to 40% of capital generated towards our growth as we see significant opportunities in our chosen markets. After consideration of organic growth, this yields a free cash flow ratio of approximately 65% of net income, with 35% to 45% expected to be deployed to attractive and increasing dividends.

此外，我們將繼續深思熟慮地進行資本配置，目標是維持控股公司超過 30 億美元的高流動性資產，同時投資於我們的業務，實現長期可持續的盈利增長，從而保持我們的財務實力和靈活性。由於我們在所選市場中看到了巨大的機遇，我們預計將 30% 至 40% 的資本用於我們的成長。考慮到有機成長後，自由現金流比率約為淨收入的 65%，預計其中 35% 至 45% 將用於有吸引力且不斷增加的股息。

This is a healthy return to shareholders that represent an annual payout of approximately 6% adjusted book value as of year-end 2024. Further, we expect to return 20% to 30% toward share repurchase and the Board authorized $1 billion of repurchases in 2025.

這對股東來說是一筆豐厚的回報，截至 2024 年底，年度派息約為調整後帳面價值的 6%。此外，我們預計將回報 20% 至 30% 的股票回購，董事會批准在 2025 年回購 10 億美元。

Finally, we continue to proactively explore opportunities to invest in inorganic growth while maintaining a disciplined approach to capital deployment in the current environment.

最後，我們將繼續積極探索投資無機成長的機會，同時在當前環境中保持嚴謹的資本配置方式。

Turning to Slide 12. Our enterprise metrics will be supported by our business segment growth targets. We (technical difficulty) double-digit earnings growth in PGIM, backed by strong management fee growth of 6% to 9% driven by net flows and market appreciation and an adjusted operating margin of 25% to 30%. In the U.S. businesses, we expect mid-single-digit earnings growth supported by a cap value and sales growth across businesses.

翻到幻燈片 12。我們的企業指標將由業務部門成長目標支持。我們（技術難度）PGIM的獲利實現了兩位數的成長，這得益於淨流量和市場升值的推動，管理費強勁增長6%至9%，調整後的營業利潤率達到25%至30%。在美國業務中，我們預期在資本價值和業務銷售額成長的推動下，獲利將實現中等個位數成長。

In Retirement strategies, our cap value growth assumes annual growth sales of [$65 billion] to $45 billion which will be partially offset by annual net runoff of our pension and longevity risk transfer products of $8 billion to $10 billion and legacy variable annuities of $12 billion to $16 billion.

在退休策略中，我們的上限價值成長假設年增長銷售額為 [650 億美元] 至 450 億美元，這將被我們的退休金和長壽風險轉移產品每年 80 億美元至 100 億美元以及遺留變額年金 120 億美元至 160 億美元的淨流失部分抵消。

In Group Insurance, we expect premium growth of 2% to 4%. And in Individual Life, we expect sales to be flat to 5% growth. And lastly, in our International businesses, we expect low to mid-single-digit earnings growth driven by sales growth of 4% to 6% as we continue to diversify our product mix. We also have included our key economic assumptions and other earnings considerations specific to 2025 in the appendix. We are confident in our ability to deliver on these financial objectives as we drive incremental organic growth in our businesses while continuing to maintain our disciplined capital deployment approach.

在團體保險方面，我們預期保費成長率為 2% 至 4%。在個人壽險方面，我們預計銷售額將持平至成長 5%。最後，在我們的國際業務中，隨著我們繼續實現產品組合多樣化，我們預計在 4% 至 6% 的銷售額成長的推動下，獲利將實現低至中等個位數的成長。我們也在附錄中列出了針對 2025 年的關鍵經濟假設和其他獲利考量。我們有信心實現這些財務目標，因為我們推動業務的逐步有機成長，同時繼續保持嚴謹的資本配置方式。

So turning to Slide 13 and in summary. We continue to become a higher growth, more capital-efficient company. We will maintain our disciplined approach to capital deployment and are risk supported by the strength of our balance sheet.

請轉到投影片 13 並進行總結。我們將繼續成為一家更高成長、資本效率更高的公司。我們將保持嚴謹的資本配置方式，並透過強勁的資產負債表來支持風險。

And with that, we will be happy to take your questions.

我們將非常樂意回答您的問題。

Suneet Kamath from Jefferies.

傑富瑞 (Jefferies) 的 Suneet Kamath。

I want to start on the annuity outlook. I see the 20% to 25% account value growth. Caroline, I was just wondering if you could help us maybe translate that into sales growth expectations for the year. And the reason I ask is I think [Limer] is out saying sales will probably be down for the industry. And I just want to get a sense of how you're thinking about PRU's outlook.

我想開始討論年金的前景。我看到帳戶價值成長20%到25%。卡羅琳，我只是想知道您是否可以幫助我們將其轉化為今年的銷售成長預期。我之所以問這個問題，是因為我認為 [Limer] 說過該行業的銷售額可能會下降。我只是想了解一下您對 PRU 前景的看法。

Yes. Terrific, Suneet. I will certainly answer your question. So clearly, it was another extremely strong year for annuities whether $425 billion in total industry sales last year. And I think what [Limer] might be referencing in terms of some of their outlook, is this past quarter, the industry did see some softening of traditional fixed annuity sales, which is to be expected with rate decreases.

是的。太棒了，Suneet。我一定會回答你的問題。顯然，對於年金來說這又是極其強勁的一年，去年該行業總銷售額達到 4,250 億美元。我認為 [Limer] 在其展望中可能提到的是，上個季度，行業確實看到傳統固定年金銷售有所疲軟，這是隨著利率下降而出現的預期現象。

So what we're seeing is a shift from my guess, which are more sensitive to rates to index products such as [Riles] but Suneet, what I would point out is that [RILA] sales were up over 35% across the industry last year. So in our own business, we continue to see positive results. In the fourth quarter, we delivered roughly $3.5 billion in sales, which was our 9th consecutive quarter of sales growth.

因此，我們看到的情況與我的猜測有所不同，我的猜測對利率的敏感度更高，例如 [Riles] 等指數產品，但 Suneet，我想指出的是，去年整個行業的 [RILA] 銷售額增長了 35% 以上。因此在我們自己的業務中，我們繼續看到積極的成果。第四季度，我們的銷售額約為 35 億美元，這是我們連續 9 個季度實現銷售額成長。

So from an outlook perspective, Suneet, as we've discussed previously, we continue to see those compelling tailwinds in the marketplace driven by AG demographics, plus a high volume of money in motion. And that includes an estimated $70 billion in fixed annuities that's coming due as well as over $7 trillion of money market fund balances. So all of that is to underscore the importance of our diversified product portfolio.

因此，從前景來看，Suneet，正如我們之前討論過的，我們繼續看到市場上由 AG 人口統計和大量資金流動推動的強勁順風。其中包括即將到期的約 700 億美元固定年金以及超過 7 兆美元的貨幣市場基金餘額。所有這些都強調了我們多元化產品組合的重要性。

As you know, Suneet, this has been a key focus for us over the past few years. And as a result, we now have the broadest individual product portfolio in our history. We actually have 5 different products with over $1 billion in annual sales.

正如你所知，Suneet，這是我們過去幾年關注的重點。因此，我們現在擁有歷史上最廣泛的單獨產品組合。我們實際上有 5 種不同的產品，年銷售額超過 10 億美元。

So overall, we believe the tailwinds will continue to support strong sales and certainly, we're well positioned to capture this demand and thanks to the strength of our distribution and our well-established brand.

因此，整體而言，我們相信順風將繼續支撐強勁的銷售，而且，由於我們強大的分銷能力和完善的品牌，我們完全有能力滿足這種需求。

Got it. And then I just wanted to pivot to Prismic. Obviously, we saw the internal reinsurance deal. Presumably, that's going to consume some of their time in capital. I guess the question is how quickly do you think Prismic could sort of pivot to maybe some third-party deals, particularly in Japan. Is it going to take some time for them (technical difficulty) this transaction? Or just any thoughts around that would be helpful.

知道了。然後我只想轉向 Prismic。顯然，我們看到了內部再保險交易。據推測，這將消耗他們在資本上的一些時間。我想問題是您認為 Prismic 能多快轉向一些第三方交易，特別是在日本。這次交易對他們來說會花一些時間（技術難度）嗎？或任何有關此的想法都會有幫助。

Suneet, it's Rob. I'll address that. So yes, we closed the second transaction, as we, I think, had indicated Japan-based, a number important reasons for doing that. But more broadly, as we think about the Japan opportunity, include a third-party opportunity in Japan, we think it's a significant growth opportunity for Prismic both from our own book and third-party reinsurance. Japan is the 3rd largest life market in the world, and it's been relatively underserved third-party reinsurers. So there's an opportunity there. And that opportunity is sort of accelerating by virtue of the introduction of the ESR regime. And its impact on legacy books that have been sold not just by us but across the industry.

Suneet，我是 Rob。我會解決這個問題。所以是的，我們完成了第二筆交易，我認為，正如我們在日本所指出的，這樣做有許多重要的原因。但更廣泛地說，當我們考慮日本的機會時，包括日本的第三方機會，我們認為這對 Prismic 來說是一個重要的成長機會，無論是從我們自己的帳簿還是第三方再保險來看。日本是世界第三大壽險市場，但第三方再保險公司的服務相對不足。因此，這是一個機會。隨著 ESR 制度的引入，這種機會正在加速出現。它對我們銷售的傳統書籍產生了影響，而且對整個行業也產生了影響。

ESR is -- has a noneconomic treatment of long-duration foreign currency-denominated products that's in the Japan marketplace, but the industry has sold a lot of that and continues to sell it because of the demand that our customers have for the product. And so addressing those books and that -- and those flows, those sales are going to be something that the industry has to grapple with, and we think we're well positioned to do so. Our brand, our local presence and the market intelligence that we've got to create a competitive advantage. Prismic, as we've indicated in the last quarter, we saw a dedicated licensed team in Japan. And then by virtue of, as I indicated upfront, by closing on our own whole life book, it's given us the experience and confidence to execute third-party blocks and further establishes our credibility in the marketplace.

ESR 對日本市場上的長期外幣計價產品採取了非經濟處理方式，但該行業已銷售了大量此類產品，並且由於客戶對此類產品的需求而繼續銷售。因此，解決這些書籍、這些流量、這些銷售問題將是該行業必須努力解決的問題，我們認為我們已準備好解決這些問題。我們的品牌、我們的本地影響力以及市場情報，讓我們創造了競爭優勢。Prismic，正如我們在上個季度指出的那樣，我們在日本看到了一支專門的授權團隊。然後，正如我前面指出的，透過完成我們自己的整個人生歷程，它為我們提供了執行第三方區塊的經驗和信心，並進一步確立了我們在市場上的信譽。

But I would emphasize more generally, we're optimistic that we can grow Prismic through the multiple levers that we've got to need. So that includes ongoing balance sheet optimization, both in the U.S. and Japan. It includes, importantly, flow, so new sales solutions across our businesses and third-party blocks, particularly in Japan.

但我想更普遍地強調的是，我們樂觀地認為，我們可以透過我們所需的多種槓桿來發展 Prismic。因此，這包括美國和日本持續的資產負債表優化。重要的是，它包括流程，因此包括跨我們業務和第三方區塊（特別是在日本）的新銷售解決方案。

Tom Gallagher from Evercore ISI.

Evercore ISI 的 Tom Gallagher。

A few questions on free cash flow. The -- so the 65% free cash flow conversion, why is 30 to 40 kinda that needed for growth capital when most of the business is that I would think of requiring capital or growing sub (technical difficulty)?

關於自由現金流的幾個問題。那麼 65% 的自由現金流轉換率，為什麼需要 30% 到 40% 的成長資本，而我認為大多數業務都需要資本或成長子（技術難度）？

Hi Tom, it's Yanela. So let me take that. So we continue to see strong opportunities in our chosen markets, and we're leaning into those opportunities as evidenced by our strong sales and flows really across our businesses. So as an example, on a full year basis, we had a 39% increase in sales for Retirement strategies, 23% increase in sales for Individual Life and these strong sales are contributing to earnings, but we do face near-term headwinds due to a strain from new business, specifically distriction costs that are not deferred and the impact of runoff.

你好，湯姆，我是 Yanela。所以讓我來接受它。因此，我們在所選的市場中繼續看到強大的機遇，而且我們正傾向於抓住這些機遇，這從我們整個業務的強勁銷售和流量中可見一斑。舉例來說，從全年來看，我們的退休策略銷售額增長了 39%，個人壽險銷售額增長了 23%，這些強勁的銷售為盈利做出了貢獻，但由於新業務的壓力，我們確實面臨著短期阻力，特別是未遞延的區域成本和流失的影響。

So I would emphasize that we are investing in strong growth that is materializing in earnings, but we have near-term headwinds related to new business strain and runoffs. And as these headwinds moderate, we would expect an upward trajectory in our core earnings growth. But even with these headwinds, we have a 5% to 8% growth rate in core earnings, we are paying a healthy dividend and we have a healthy level of buybacks.

因此，我想強調的是，我們正在投資於正在實現盈利的強勁成長，但我們在短期內面臨著與新業務壓力和業務流失相關的阻力。隨著這些不利因素的緩和，我們預期核心獲利成長將呈現上升趨勢。但即使面臨這些不利因素，我們的核心獲利仍維持 5%-8% 的成長率，我們支付的股利也相當可觀，而且回購水準也相當可觀。

Got you. And Yanela, just a follow-up, making sure I'm understanding what the intention is here. I'm solving for buybacks and dividends. If I take the 75% of the 65% free cash flow conversion that would equate to about 50% of GAAP earnings that will return through buybacks and dividends over the next three years. Is that the rough math? And just a related question, I think you used to use operating income now you're using net income. Is there anything to read into with the change in that conversion?

明白了。還有 Yanela，只是後續問題，確保我理解這裡的目的。我正在解決回購和股利問題。如果我取 65% 自由現金流轉換中的 75%，這將相當於未來三年透過回購和股息返還的 GAAP 收益的 50% 左右。這是粗略的計算嗎？還有一個相關的問題，我認為您以前使用的是營業收入，現在使用的是淨收入。這種轉換中有什麼變化值得解讀嗎？

Yes. So I mean, if you look at our capital allocation priorities that we shared, so attractive dividends are 35% to 45%, share repurchase's 20 to 30. So I think you're just adding those 2 when you get to the to the 75. And so in terms of the change to net income, while [ALI] is our primary basis for assessing operating results, we do think that over the near term, GAAP net income will be a closer proxy for free cash flows. And that is because there are items excluded from AOI that do impact statutory capital, which is the private driver of cash flows.

是的。所以我的意思是，如果你看看我們共同的資本配置優先事項，那麼有吸引力的股息是 35% 到 45%，股票回購是 20% 到 30%。因此我認為當你達到 75 時只需將這 2 個相加即可。因此，就淨收入的變化而言，雖然 [ALI] 是我們評估經營績效的主要依據，但我們確實認為，在短期內，GAAP 淨收入將更接近自由現金流的代表。這是因為 AOI 中排除的一些項目確實會影響法定資本，而法定資本是現金流的私人驅動力。

So for example, realized gains and losses that arise due to normal core portfolio management activity or mark-to-market on hedging instruments impact both GAAP and staff. Now conversely, there are some component of net income that don't impact cash flows but our free cash flow ratio is an overtime calculation, Tom. And we do anticipate that much of the noneconomic volatility largely evens out over time, leaving us with net income being a good indicator of cash flows in the near term for us.

舉例來說，由於正常的核心投資組合管理活動或對沖工具的市價調整而產生的已實現收益和損失會對 GAAP 和員工產生影響。相反，淨收入中有一些部分不會影響現金流，但我們的自由現金流比率是加班計算的，湯姆。我們確實預計，大部分非經濟波動會隨著時間的推移而基本上趨於平穩，從而使淨收入成為我們近期現金流的良好指標。

Ryan Krueger from KBW.

來自 KBW 的 Ryan Krueger。

My first question was just on the ULSG transaction you completed in the Japan Prismic transaction that announced between the two of them you're freeing up several hundred million dollars, I think, over $500 million, but kept the buyback at $1 billion for '25. Can you give more color on how you may use that capital over time? Are you holding it for potential opportunistic on May? Or is there -- are there any other considerations or you could use that for?

我的第一個問題是關於您在日本 Prismic 交易中完成的 ULSG 交易，該交易宣布兩家公司將釋放數億美元，我想，超過 5 億美元，但將 25 年的回購金額保持在 10 億美元。您能否詳細說明一下今後如何運用這些資本？您是否在等待 5 月的潛在機會？或者有——還有其他考慮因素或您可以使用它來做什麼嗎？

Hi Ryan, it's Yanela. So the potential uses of the capital will be consistent with our capital allocation priorities that we detailed with our financial targets and will be consistent with our essentially our priorities in terms of how we think about capital deployment. So we look to strike a balance between preserving financial strength and flexibility, investing in our businesses for long-term growth and returning capital to shareholders.

你好，Ryan，我是 Yanela。因此，資本的潛在用途將與我們在財務目標中詳述的資本分配優先事項一致，也將與我們在資本部署的考量重點一致。因此，我們希望在維持財務實力和靈活性、投資業務實現長期成長和向股東返還資本之間取得平衡。

As part of our shareholder distribution philosophy, a core level of share repurchases will generally be sustainable. But keep in mind that, that may vary with opportunities for attractive capital deployment or reductions in free cash flow in times of starts. So we constantly monitor developments in economic and market conditions. We will follow our risk management and capital management playbooks with discipline to be prepared for opportunities and risks as well.

作為我們股東分配理念的一部分，核心水準的股票回購通常是可持續的。但請記住，這可能會隨著有吸引力的資本配置機會或啟動時自由現金流的減少而變化。因此，我們不斷監測經濟和市場狀況的發展。我們將嚴格遵循風險管理和資本管理手冊，為機會和風險做好準備。

And there was a recent lawsuit against the planned sponsor that involved the pension risk transfer transaction with Prudential. There have been some other lawsuits against other plan sponsors from other pension risk transfer providers that have had some negative impact it seems on activity. Do you think this will have any impact on Prudential's transaction pipeline? Or do you view this more as a one-off issue?

最近還有一起針對計劃發起人的訴訟，涉及與保誠的退休金風險轉移交易。其他退休金風險轉移提供者也對其他計劃發起人提起了一些訴訟，這些訴訟似乎對活動產生了一些負面影響。您認為這會對保誠的交易管道產生任何影響嗎？或者您認為這只不過是個一次性問題？

Yes. So Ryan, it's Caroline, and I'll take your question. While I won't comment on the impact on any of our peer companies. I will say clearly that litigation like this threatens the ongoing health of the pension risk transfer industry. It's particularly harmful for plan sponsors looking to derisk their pension obligations and for the retirees, whose pensions are protected through these transactions.

是的。那麼瑞安，我是卡洛琳，我來回答你的問題。但我不會評論這對我們任何同行公司的影響。我要明確地說，這樣的訴訟威脅著退休金風險轉移產業的持續健康發展。這對於希望降低退休金風險的計劃發起人和透過這些交易保護退休金的退休人員尤其有害。

So fundamentally, companies like Prudential, who are governed by the insurance regulatory system or simply better holders of these types of risks. Our industry has an extensive history of fulfilling the promises made to retirees since we here at Prudential actually pioneered this business in a transaction with the Cleveland Public Library, which was now over 100 years ago, Ryan.

因此從根本上來說，像保誠這樣的公司受到保險監管體系的監管，或者說它們更適合承擔這類風險。自從我們保誠在與克利夫蘭公共圖書館的交易中率先開展這項業務以來，我們的行業在履行對退休人員的承諾方面有著悠久的歷史，這已經是 100 多年前的事了，瑞安。

So while we're not a named party in the lawsuit, let me just reiterate that this lawsuit does not accurately represent Prudential or the quality and the security of the industry.

因此，雖然我們不是訴訟中的指定當事人，但我仍想重申，這起訴訟並不能準確代表保誠或產業的品質和安全性。

In terms of the impact going forward from a new business perspective, Ryan, we still see strong funded statuses and we see favorable market conditions. So we have every reason to believe they'll continue to be an active pipeline. And with our ability to work with plan sponsors of all different types and sizes, we are well positioned to continue to be a market leader in this space.

瑞安，就從新業務角度來看未來的影響而言，我們仍然看到強勁的資金狀況和有利的市場條件。因此，我們有充分的理由相信它們將繼續保持活躍。憑藉我們與各種類型和規模的計劃發起人合作的能力，我們有能力繼續成為該領域的市場領導者。

Elyse Greenspan from Wells Fargo.

富國銀行的 Elyse Greenspan。

I know you guys said the [5Ps] growth outlook, right, is not expected to be linear, I think, with the words. And obviously, there could be some variations by year. But how would you think into '25, '25 your expectations there relative to the 5% to 8% target?

我知道你們說過，[5Ps] 成長前景預計不會是線性的，我認為是這樣。顯然，每年可能會有一些變化。但是，您如何看待 25 年、25 年相對於 5% 至 8% 目標的預期？

Yes, hi Elyse, it's Yanela. So I would start by saying that we feel confident about our 5% to 8% EPS growth target off of core earnings. We see strong opportunities and tailwinds and we're executing on those opportunities as evidenced by our strong sales inflow. But as you pointed out and as I said in opening remarks, this growth will not be linear, and we do have near-term headwinds, mainly due to strain of sales and runoff.

是的，你好，Elyse，我是 Yanela。因此，我首先要說的是，我們對核心收益 5% 至 8% 的每股盈餘成長目標充滿信心。我們看到了強大的機會和順風，我們正在抓住這些機遇，強勁的銷售流入就證明了這一點。但正如您所指出的以及我在開場白中所說的那樣，這種增長不會是線性的，而且我們確實面臨短期阻力，主要是由於銷售壓力和流失。

So the 5% to 8% is an average over the 3-year period. It could be lower or higher in any given year. And naturally, as the headwinds of some of our runoff blocks moderate and our growth investments take hold, we would expect an upward trajectory in our core earnings over that 3-year period.

因此 5% 到 8% 是 3 年期間的平均值。在任何一年中，該數字都可能更低或更高。當然，隨著一些決勝區塊的阻力逐漸減弱以及我們的成長投資逐漸發揮作用，我們預計在這 3 年期間我們的核心收益將呈現上升趨勢。

And then my session is just on Prismic in Japan. You guys did announce a recent transition. Beyond that, as we deal with the capital -- the upcoming capital changes in Japan, do you guys expect to do additional transactions with Prismic there?

然後我的會議就在日本的 Prismic 上。你們確實宣布了最近的轉變。除此之外，當我們處理資本問題——日本即將到來的資本變更時，你們是否希望在那裡與 Prismic 進行更多交易？

Elyse, it's Rob. I'll take that question. We're continuing to work on an active line of multiple reinsurance transactions. They include ongoing balance sheet optimization from our own book, both in the U.S. and Japan. We're working on flow solutions as well across our businesses, again, in the U.S. and Japan. And are looking at third-party blocks with a focus there being really almost exclusively in Japan.

伊莉絲，我是羅布。我來回答這個問題。我們將繼續致力於多項再保險交易。其中包括我們在美國和日本持續進行的資產負債表優化。我們也在美國和日本的業務中致力於流程解決方案。並且正在關注第三方區塊，重點幾乎全部集中在日本。

So our expectation is that, yes, we'll continue to have opportunities with Prismic to address the -- what we see as a significant market opportunity, not just in our own book, but across the industry in Japan.

因此，我們的期望是，是的，我們將繼續有機會與 Prismic 一起解決我們所看到的重大市場機遇，這不僅在我們自己的書中，而且在日本的整個行業中都是如此。

Wes Carmichael from Autonomous Research.

來自 Autonomous Research 的 Wes Carmichael。

I wanted to follow up on Japan and maybe the progress that's being made on ESR implementation. I think your Japanese SMR ratios are in excess of 700% today. But could you give us any insight on your view of current excess capital in Japan if you had to implement ESR today?

我想跟進日本在 ESR 實施方面的進展。我認為當今日本的 SMR 比率已超過 700%。但是，如果您今天必須實施 ESR，您能否向我們介紹一下您對日本當前資本過剩狀況的看法？

Hi Wes, it's Yanela. So yes, the JFSA's plan is to adopt the SR for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2025, with the first mandatory reporting day March 31, 2026.

你好，Wes，我是 Yanela。所以是的，日本金融廳的計畫是在 2025 年 4 月 1 日開始的財政年度採用 SR，第一個強制報告日為 2026 年 3 月 31 日。

We expect upon implementation of ESR and our capital levels will continue to be above target levels that would support AA financial strength ratings. And as we said before, our intent is to start providing inflammation our ESR position in the summer. We have executed some transactions, affiliated reinsurance transactions to help mitigate the volatility. And like we always do constantly seek to optimize our balance sheet and manage our risks and capital and reserving regimes that best match the economics of our products. So we don't anticipate a significant change in our capital position in those entities

我們預計，實施 ESR 後，我們的資本水準將繼續高於支持 AA 財務實力評級的目標水準。正如我們之前所說，我們的目的是從夏季開始為發炎提供 ESR 立場。我們已經執行了一些交易、附屬再保險交易，以幫助緩解波動。像往常一樣，我們不斷尋求優化我們的資產負債表並管理最符合我們產品經濟狀況的風險和資本和儲備制度。因此，我們預期這些實體的資本狀況不會有重大變化

Wes, it's Andy. Let me just add that in Japan, we offer a broad product portfolio that meets the needs of our customers. and we're continuing to innovate and expand on that portfolio, including with ESR friendly offerings. So the bottom line for us is these product capabilities when combined with our strong underwriting, our asset liability management and our hedging, we have everything that we need to continue to profitably grow well in Japan.

韋斯，我是安迪。我只想補充一點，在日本，我們提供廣泛的產品組合來滿足客戶的需求。並且我們將持續創新和擴展該產品組合，包括推出 ESR 友善產品。因此，對我們來說，最重要的是，這些產品能力與我們強大的承保、資產負債管理和對沖相結合，我們就擁有了在日本繼續實現良好盈利增長所需的一切。

Got it. And maybe, Andy, as a follow-up for you. As you think about taking the reins of Prudential at the end of March, how are you thinking about your direction of the business? Any color on where you're most focused strategically in your first few months as CEO?

知道了。也許，安迪，作為你的後續行動。當您在三月底執掌保誠集團時，您是如何考慮業務發展的方針的？在您擔任執行長後的頭幾個月裡，在策略上最關注的是什麼？

Yes. So Wes, thank you for the question. And let me start by saying this is an absolute honor and it's a privilege, and I couldn't be more excited about what's ahead of us. As you would expect, we have a rigorous transition plan that we're marching through and that transition is going very well. It obviously helps that I've been a member of this executive team now for over 5 years.

是的。韋斯，謝謝你的提問。首先我要說，這絕對是一種榮幸和特權，我對未來充滿期待。正如您所期望的，我們有一個嚴格的過渡計劃，並且正在逐步實施，而且過渡進展順利。我加入這個執行團隊已經 5 年多了，這顯然很有幫助。

But having said that, we always have a lot of work to get done in front of us. We absolutely intend to continue to raise the performance of the company over time. given the strong opportunities that we see in the marketplace.

但話雖如此，我們面前總是有很多工作要做。我們絕對願意隨著時間的推移繼續提高公司的業績。鑑於我們在市場上看到的巨大機會。

So what I'd say is I'm not yet in the role, so it would be premature to share additional information right now, but I look forward to sharing more with you in the future calls as the team settles in.

所以我想說的是，我還沒有擔任這個職務，所以現在分享更多資訊還為時過早，但我期待在團隊安頓下來後在未來的電話會議中與大家分享更多資訊。

John Barnidge from Piper Sandler.

派珀·桑德勒 (Piper Sandler) 樂隊的約翰·巴尼奇 (John Barnidge)。

My question is on the free cash flow conversion in the 0 to 10% opportunistic M&A. I know prepayments ownership in the second run of Prismic. Is that going to be the main consumer of that 0% to 10% of opportunistic M&A? Or does the remain interest in high-growth emerging markets, international and Asset Management as previously expressed by the company in prior years?

我的問題是關於 0 到 10% 機會型併購中的自由現金流轉換。我知道 Prismic 第二輪的預付款所有權。這會成為那 0% 到 10% 機會性併購的主要消費者嗎？或者是否仍然像公司前幾年表達的那樣，對高成長新興市場、國際市場和資產管理感興趣？

So John, it's Charlie. I will take your question. I say thank you. I'm excited to get a question. So that's great. Taking a step back for a moment, as always, organic growth is job number one, as you heard from some of the other management. But we're open to opportunistic and selective M&A that accelerates our strategy and meets our financial objectives as we go forward.

約翰，我是查理。我願意回答你的問題。我說謝謝。我很高興收到一個問題。這太棒了。退一步來說，一如既往，有機成長是首要任務，正如您從其他一些管理層聽到的那樣。但我們願意接受機會性和選擇性的併購，以加速我們的策略發展，並實現我們未來的財務目標。

In the past, we've executed on many acquisitions that have significantly grown the company and we pursue these acquisitions for a whole variety of reasons, such as expanding our capabilities, broadening distribution, increasing scale or adding key talent and as we look forward, we're going to focus on organic growth opportunities to expand our product breadth and distribution capabilities scale our existing businesses, including through Prismic, as you suggest, which provides us access to third-party capital. And we will be both strategic and selective in our M&A interest, which remain consistent in terms of focusing on our programmatic acquisitions for PGIM or emerging markets and focusing on distribution capabilities or scale.

過去，我們進行了許多收購，這些收購顯著促進了公司的發展，我們進行這些收購的原因多種多樣，例如擴大我們的能力、拓寬分銷、增加規模或增加關鍵人才。 展望未來，我們將專注於有機增長機會，擴大我們的產品廣度和分銷能力，擴大我們現有的業務，包括透過您所建議的 Prismic，它為我們提供了獲得第三方資本的機會。我們在併購方面將兼具策略性和選擇性，始終專注於PGIM或新興市場的程序化收購以及分銷能力或規模。

That's helpful. And with the pipes kind of laid with that second transaction in Prismic, were you getting to kind of warehouse liabilities and investors for subsequent rounds to the (technical difficulty) lab?

這很有幫助。那麼，隨著 Prismic 第二筆交易的順利完成，您是否會為後續的（技術難題）實驗室建設獲得倉儲負債和投資者的支持？

John, it's Rob. We have a specific plan for warehousing liabilities in the way that you described it. What I would say is that we have brand quality and scale in our Insurance and Retirement businesses, both the U.S. and in Japan. And so we both have significant back books, and we have a significant volume of sales as evidenced by the growth that we've witnessed just in this last year and quarter with the sales across our businesses. And so we don't have a bespoke warehouse instead what we have is a business system, which is generating significant amounts of liabilities, which lend themselves to opportunities for Prismic on a go-forward basis.

約翰，我是羅布。我們對倉儲負債有一個具體的計劃，就像您所描述的那樣。我想說的是，無論在美國還是日本，我們的保險和退休業務都擁有品牌品質和規模。因此，我們都有大量的庫存，我們的銷售量也相當可觀，這從我們去年和今年一個季度各項業務的銷售成長就可以看出。因此，我們沒有客製化的倉庫，而是有一個業務系統，它產生了大量負債，這為 Prismic 的未來發展提供了機會。

Jack Matten from BMO.

來自 BMO 的 Jack Matten。

Just one follow-up on the free cash flow conversion. You mentioned the headwinds from new business strain and the impact of runoff. I guess just to clarify, are those comments related to GAAP earnings? Or are you referring to the cash flow conversion ratio? (technical difficulty) the new business strain alter that makes sense to me, but I would have thought that blocks running off would have had a higher cash flow conversion rates since you're not been creating any new business strain. So I just want to make sure I'm understanding those impacts correctly.

只需對自由現金流轉換進行一次跟進。您提到了新業務壓力帶來的阻力以及業務流失的影響。我想澄清一下，這些評論是否與 GAAP 收益有關？還是你指的是現金流轉換率？（技術難度）新的業務壓力改變對我來說是有意義的，但我認為由於您沒有創造任何新的業務壓力，因此運行的區塊將有更高的現金流轉換率。所以我只是想確保我正確理解這些影響。

Yes, Jack, it's Yanela. So yes, I was referring to the GAAP earnings Core earnings, specifically in my answer to the runoff and the new business strain.

是的，傑克，我是 Yanela。是的，我指的是 GAAP 收益核心收益，特別是在回答流失和新業務壓力時。

Got it. And then just a question on the intermediate term growth outlook within the international operations and your guidance for low to mid-single-digit earnings growth. I guess does that outlook assume that product surrender rates normalize off of the more recent and elevated levels? Any other drivers that you would call out as driving an uptick in kind of your growth trajectory in those markets?

知道了。然後我只想問一下關於國際業務的中期成長前景，以及您對低至中等個位數獲利成長的預測。我猜想這種觀點是否假設產品退還率從近期較高的水平正常化？您認為還有哪些因素可以推動您在這些市場的成長軌跡上升？

Yes, it's Andy. I'll take the question. So as we look at the growth at a low to mid-single-digit earnings rate, the growth is really driven by a few things. favorable net spread results that flow from higher yields and stronger alternative investment income stronger underwriting results as our sales momentum is continuing and obviously a continued expense discipline.

是的，是安迪。我來回答這個問題。因此，當我們以低至中等個位數的獲利率來看待成長時，我們會發現成長實際上是由一些因素推動的。有利的淨利差結果源於更高的收益率和更強勁的另類投資收入以及更強勁的承保業績，因為我們的銷售勢頭持續不斷，而且顯然我們繼續嚴格控制費用。

Those positive forces are going to more than counteract the near-term pressure that we are expecting to continue from the U.S. dollar product surrenders in Japan. Those we did see in Q4, the lowest level of surrenders of any quarter in 2024 and so we think and believe, over time, that will stabilize. Net-net, we expect solid growth, but we are having to overcome some of these headwinds.

這些正面力量將足以抵消我們預期日本繼續拋售美元產品所帶來的短期壓力。我們確實在第四季度看到了這一點，這是 2024 年各季度中最低的退保水平，因此我們認為並相信，隨著時間的推移，這一水平將會穩定下來。總體而言，我們預期會有穩健的成長，但我們必須克服其中的一些不利因素。

Alex Scott from Barclays.

巴克萊銀行的亞歷克斯·斯科特。

I wanted to drill into the PGIM drivers of earnings in the low double digits that you provided, it looks like revenue is more mid-single digits. So I just wanted to understand the margin improvement that you're expecting there? It looks to be pretty substantial. And I just wanted to understand like what are some of the things that are tangible that you're doing to improve the expense base?

我想深入研究您提供的低兩位數 PGIM 收益驅動因素，看起來收入更像是中等個位數。所以我只是想要了解您預期的利潤率提升嗎？它看起來相當可觀。我只是想了解一下，您正在採取哪些切實可行的措施來改善費用基礎？

So thanks, Alex, it's Andy. So let me talk about our PGIM margins. And let me just start by saying we are pleased with the progress that we've made improving the margins every quarter through 2024. Ending the year with a 25.6% margin so really good progress. That being said, I think as we've talked about in previous quarters, over (technical difficulty) are still depressed as a result of the higher rate environment and the impact that has on both fixed income and from the slowdown in the real estate market. But the path for us is very clear. We expect to expand our margins towards 30%, really led by 3 main drivers.

所以謝謝你，亞歷克斯，我是安迪。那麼讓我來談談我們的 PGIM 利潤率。首先我要說的是，我們對 2024 年每季利潤率提高的進展感到滿意。今年年底的利潤率為 25.6%，因此進展確實不錯。話雖如此，我認為正如我們在前幾個季度所討論的那樣，由於利率上升的環境以及對固定收益和房地產市場放緩的影響，技術難度仍然較低。但我們的道路非常清晰。我們預計利潤率將擴大至 30%，這主要得益於三個主要驅動因素。

First, an improving fixed income and real estate environment that will drive fees, and it will drive a normalization of flows and fundraising. Second, we expect continued reduction in our growth investments where we're seeing very real progress, particularly in our private credit work. And third, we do have a continued discipline on expenses. That's been a laser focus for us, and we are balancing, finding efficiency with reinvesting in growth. So the bottom line is we do expect our margins are going to continue to expand from here from both our intentional actions but also from an improvement in the cycle.

首先，固定收益和房地產環境的改善將推動費用的成長，並推動資金流動和籌資的正常化。其次，我們預期成長投資將繼續減少，我們已經看到了實質的進展，特別是在私人信貸工作方面。第三，我們確實持續嚴格控制開支。這一直是我們關注的焦點，我們正在平衡尋找效率與再投資成長之間的關係。因此，底線是，我們確實預計我們的利潤率將從現在開始繼續擴大，這不僅得益於我們的有意行動，也得益於週期的改善。

Got it. Okay. And then similar question on the expense ratio improvement that was part of the intermediate guide for the insurance businesses. How do we think about calculating that and understanding the way that, that will influence the bottom line results across the different segments?

知道了。好的。然後還有關於費用率改善的類似問題，這是保險業務中期指南的一部分。我們如何計算這一點，並理解這將如何影響不同部門的底線結果？

Hi Alex, this is Yanela. So the expense ratio, what I would start with is as of the full year 2024, we are already close to meeting the top end of that range. In terms of calculating it, we share in the materials, how we calculate it. Now, we don't currently disclose the split between variable and operating G&A, we will start doing that to help you calculate the ratio.

你好，Alex，我是 Yanela。因此，我要說的是，截至 2024 年全年，費用率已接近該範圍的最高值。在計算方面，我們在材料中分享了我們如何計算它。現在，我們目前沒有揭露可變費用和營運費用之間的分割，我們將開始這樣做以幫助您計算比率。

But I would also speak to the fact that there has been upward pressure on our G&A, but that has been really driven by variable distribution expenses resulting from our strong sales and these variable expenses corresponding revenues that we generally have a positive impact on the operating expense ratio. So we do anticipate that over time, our continuous improvement approach and that the investments that we're making to grow and transform our businesses will continue to contribute efficiencies, which will be evident through the positive trends in the ratio over time. So that's what we expect the ratio.

但我也想說，我們的一般及行政開支確實面臨上行壓力，但這實際上是由強勁的銷售業績導致的變動分銷費用所致，這些變動費用對應著我們通常對營業費用率產生積極影響的收入。因此，我們確實預計，隨著時間的推移，我們的持續改進方法以及我們為發展和轉變業務而進行的投資將繼續提高效率，這將透過該比率隨著時間的推移而呈現的積極趨勢得到體現。這就是我們預期的比例。

I do want to go back to Jack's question on the runoff and the cash flow though. So yes, when I was speaking about the runoff, I was speaking about the impact on core earnings. But runoff also does impact cash flows because, obviously, the fees that we receive on those legacy variable annuities is also going away.

不過我確實想回到傑克關於決選和現金流的問題。所以是的，當我談到決選時，我談論的是其對核心收益的影響。但流失也會影響現金流，因為顯然，我們從這些遺留變額年金中收取的費用也會消失。

[Mike Ward] from UBS.

瑞銀的[Mike Ward]。

One question just on the Life sales, pretty big jump in sales in the quarter. Wondering what product lines that was in? And if we're seeing that big growth, like if it's a state planning cut sales, could that actually open up for a little bit more earnings volatility going forward?

一個關於人壽銷售的問題，本季的銷售額有相當大的成長。想知道屬於哪些產品線？如果我們看到如此大的成長，例如國家計劃削減銷售，那麼這是否會導致未來的獲利波動更大一些？

Sure. Mike, it's Caroline and I'll (technical difficulty) to your question. So as you say, our Individual Life business finished the year strong. We had record sales of over $325 million in the fourth quarter which is an increase of 60% over the prior year quarter. For the full year, my sales were up nearly 25% versus the prior year. And most importantly, you asked about products and where we're seeing that. We're actually achieving those sales increases across virtually every product and our well-diversified portfolio while continuing to generate active returns.

當然。麥克，我是卡羅琳，我將（技術難題）回答您的問題。正如您所說，我們的個人人壽業務在今年取得了強勁成長。我們第四季的銷售額創下了 3.25 億美元的記錄，比去年同期成長了 60%。全年來看，我的銷售額比前一年成長了近 25%。最重要的是，您詢問了產品以及我們看到的產品。實際上，我們幾乎每種產品和多元化的產品組合都實現了銷售成長，同時繼續產生積極的回報。

You also mentioned estate planning and the significant sales increase we saw this past quarter did benefit from some increased to estate planning activity. I don't think that, that brings any additional volatility to us. What I would say is that it's quite possible that we may continue to see some of our customers continue to focus here on a couple of macro factors that are driving this activity. Overall, Mike, we're very pleased in the growth and the quality of our Life new business.

您還提到了遺產規劃，我們看到上個季度銷售額的大幅成長確實受益於遺產規劃活動的增加。我不認為這會帶來任何額外的波動。我想說的是，我們很有可能繼續看到我們的一些客戶繼續關注推動這項活動的幾個宏觀因素。總的來說，麥克，我們對我們的人壽新業務的成長和品質感到非常滿意。

The last point that I will note is that we are seeing a flight to quality across the industry, and we are well positioned to continue to benefit, thanks to our slush brand and our distribution strength.

我要指出的最後一點是，我們看到整個行業都在追求質量，並且得益於我們的優質品牌和分銷實力，我們有能力繼續從中受益。

Great. That's helpful. Maybe on the -- just on the capital strain. Yanela, I know you clarified this, but I would have thought that there's at least some sort of capital relief or release upon runoff business. I'm guessing it's sort of just the -- or the fees are more significant in that component. But any clarity on that would be helpful.

偉大的。這很有幫助。或許只是因為資金壓力。Yanela，我知道你已經澄清了這一點，但我認為在業務流失時至少會有某種形式的資本減免或釋放。我猜這只是——或者費用在那個部分更為重要。但任何對此的澄清都會有幫助。

Yes. When there's run off, there's capital release, but we are also reinvesting capital into the growth of the business and the sales. So when we talk about 30% to 40% of organic growth funding, that is -- that includes the piece that we're freeing up and the cash flow we're generating.

是的。當資金流失出現時，就會釋放資本，但我們也會將資本重新投資於業務和銷售的成長。因此，當我們談論 30% 到 40% 的有機成長資金時，其中包括我們釋放的部分和我們產生的現金流。

Wilma Burdis from Raymond James.

雷蒙德詹姆斯 (Raymond James) 的威爾瑪伯迪斯 (Wilma Burdis)。

Could you talk about the morbidity margins in Japan and the potential opportunities to free up some of that capital? And along the same lines, can you talk about why Prismic reinsured a more recent block of business from Japan when the legacy products are more turbo ESR? And just maybe talk about the goals there. Thanks.

您能談談日本的發病率範圍以及釋放部分資本的潛在機會嗎？同樣，您能否談談為什麼在傳統產品更多是渦輪 ESR 的情況下，Prismic 會為來自日本的較新的業務板塊進行再保險？也許只是談論那裡的目標。謝謝。

Wilma, it's Rob. I'll jump in on the second part of that question first and then someone might want to jump in on the first part. With respect to the block that we selected for Prismic and treatment under ESR what I would note is that it was, again, a longer-duration dollar-denominated product. And so under ESR, that is, in fact, the type of product where we have significant margins. but those margins aren't necessarily reflected well in the -- from an economic standpoint under ESR and so it actually presented itself as a good test case block for us given that our view is across the industry, that type of product, meaning dollar-denominated (technical difficulty) duration is the area where people -- where other players in the marketplace be fueling some strain under ESR.

威瑪，我是羅布。我將首先討論該問題的第二部分，然後可能有人想討論第一部分。關於我們為 Prismic 選擇的區塊以及根據 ESR 進行的處理，我想指出的是，它再次是一種期限較長的以美元計價的產品。因此，在 ESR 下，這實際上是我們擁有可觀利潤的產品類型。但從 ESR 的經濟角度來看，這些利潤率不一定能得到很好的反映，因此，考慮到我們對整個行業的看法，它實際上為我們提供了一個良好的測試案例，這種類型的產品，意味著以美元計價的（技術難度）持續時間是市場上其他參與者在 ESR 下加劇壓力的領域。

And therefore, a good opportunity for us to sort of get the pipe set up, demonstrate that we could do it and learn from that process and create the credibility we need for third parties as well.

因此，這對我們來說是一個很好的機會，可以建立管道，證明我們可以做到這一點，並從過程中學習，並為第三方建立我們所需的信譽。

With respect to your first question on mortality margins, maybe Andy wants to jump in on that part of the question.

關於您關於死亡率幅度的第一個問題，也許安迪想參與討論這個問題的這一部分。

Yes. And Wilma, I'll be upfront. I didn't fully follow what you meant by your question, but what I would tell you is our morbidi experience in Japan has been within our expected ranges. And as I said earlier, what we've really been experiencing in the underwriting line is the enhanced headwinds and pressure from a surrender perspective. But that being said, we've done a lot of work to broaden out our product portfolios, we've been very successful at enhancing our yen offerings, and that's really shown the strength and say over the last couple of years.

是的。威瑪，我會坦白的。我沒有完全明白你問題的意思，但我想告訴你的是，我們在日本的 morbidi 經驗是在我們預期範圍內的。正如我之前所說，從退保的角度來看，我們在核保業務中真正經歷的是增強的阻力和壓力。但話雖如此，我們已經做了很多工作來擴大我們的產品組合，我們在增強日元產品方面非常成功，這在過去幾年中真正顯示了我們的實力和影響力。

Okay. And then just trying to put a little bit of a finer point on '25. Should we expect the EPS growth to be at the lower end of the 5% to 8% EPS range or (technical difficulty) been more weighted towards the back half of that 27 range?

好的。然後嘗試對‘25’進行更細緻的闡述。我們是否應該預期每股盈餘成長將處於 5% 至 8% 每股盈餘範圍的低端，或者（技術難度）將更偏向 27 範圍的後半部分？

Yes. Wilma, it's Yanela. So as I mentioned, it's not linear. And also we have the near-term headwinds. So if you take into account near-term headwinds, then I would say, yes, '25 being close to the term would have higher headwinds than the out years.

是的。威瑪，我是亞內拉。正如我所提到的，它不是線性的。而且我們也面臨近期的阻力。因此，如果考慮到近期的不利因素，那麼我會說，是的，『25』年接近預期期限時，面臨的不利因素會比未來幾年更大。

Wes Carmichael from Autonomous Research.

來自 Autonomous Research 的 Wes Carmichael。

Andy, you just mentioned on surrender activity in Japan. I just wanted to touch on that for a second. That's been impacted, I think, by the move in the yen. And in your assumptions, you're assuming a meaningful strengthening of the yen dollar at [135]. So I guess, can you talk about what we might see or how you expect that to play out in guidance if you don't see a pretty significant strengthening in the end?

安迪，您剛才提到了日本的投降活動。我只是想稍微談談這一點。我認為這受到了日圓走勢的影響。在你的假設中，你假設日圓兌美元大幅走強[135]。所以我想，如果您最終沒有看到顯著的加強，您能否談談我們可能會看到什麼，或者您預計這將如何在指導中發揮作用？

Sure, Wes. Let me take that in a couple of parts. So first, let me take the guidance around the assumption of the yen going to [135]. So that our yen assumption is really based on the forward curve. And as we sit here today and look at that, that sits in and around [135]. So the market believes the end will appreciate based on both the economic growth of Japan and the interest rate increases in Japan.

當然，韋斯。讓我分成幾個部分來討論這個問題。首先，讓我來談談日圓將上漲的假設[135]。因此，我們的日圓假設實際上是基於遠期曲線的。我們今天坐在這裡，看著它，它就位於[135]。因此市場認為，無論是從日本經濟的成長速度，或是日本利率的調漲來看，人民幣最終還是會升值。

But I would remind you, no matter which way these yen rates go, we've been intentionally diversifying the portfolio, as I just said, and our yen sales in Japan as a percent of the total are up 10% year-over-year to 35%. So we do expect these surrender headwinds to lessen as we look forward and the yen to appreciate given the economic environment. But no matter which way those go, we have a broad set of offerings across yen and US dollar, and we know that demand for our products is going to stay strong.

但我要提醒大家，無論日圓匯率如何變化，我們都在有意分散投資組合，正如我剛才所說，我們在日本的日圓銷售額佔總銷售額的百分比年增 10%，達到 35%。因此，我們確實預計，隨著時間的推移，這些退保阻力將會減弱，考慮到經濟環境，日圓將會升值。但無論結果如何，我們都提供涵蓋日圓和美元的廣泛產品，我們知道我們產品的需求將保持強勁。

That's really helpful. And I guess my last follow-up on Individual Life underwriting, I was a little bit worse in the quarter. But if I look back over the past couple of years, it's been a pretty meaningful headwind as you called it out in your slides. So I realize there's some seasonality and you guys have done a couple of transactions. But can you give us any help on how you're expecting to kind of get that back to a headline profitability?

這真的很有幫助。我想，我上次對個人壽險的跟進，本季的情況有點糟糕。但如果我回顧過去幾年，正如您在幻燈片中提到的那樣，這是一個相當有意義的逆風。所以我意識到存在一些季節性，而且你們已經做了一些交易。但是您能否幫助我們，告訴我們您期望如何才能恢復整體獲利能力？

Yes. So, Wes I'll take your question, it's Caroline. So for this past quarter, as Charlie mentioned in his opening comments, we had several large case claims from permanent policies or legacy [Hartford] block. And so this resulted in the adverse mortality, that negative underwriting that you saw, which can happen episodically. What I would say though, in terms of underwriting (technical difficulty) more broadly, we do continue to see encouraged signs that COVID-19 has transitioned to an endemic state with more predictable fees of fluctuations in mortality such as what we typically see during the flu season.

是的。那麼，韋斯，我來回答你的問題，我是卡洛琳。因此，正如查理在開場白中提到的那樣，在過去的一個季度，我們收到了幾起來自永久政策或遺留[哈特福德]街區的大型索賠案件。因此，這導致了不良死亡率，也就是您所看到的負面承保，這種情況可能偶爾會發生。不過，我想說的是，就更廣泛的承保（技術難度）而言，我們確實繼續看到令人鼓舞的跡象，表明 COVID-19 已轉變為地方性流行狀態，死亡率波動更加可預測，就像我們通常在流感季節看到的那樣。

The other thing that I would add, Wes, is clearly, you have seen us continue to successfully execute on our strategy to reduce market sensitivity and increased capital flexibility with actually derisking and now reducing the size of our GUL in-force by roughly 60%. So we are very pleased with the transactions we've completed. We will continue to be very proactive in terms of managing our in-force block of business and so that is a major priority for us. And so our derisking transactions have gone a long way towards moving out expectations.

韋斯，我想補充的另一件事是，顯然，您已經看到我們繼續成功執行我們的策略，以降低市場敏感性和增加資本靈活性，實際上降低了風險，現在我們將 GUL 的有效規模減少了約 60%。因此我們對已完成的交易非常滿意。我們將繼續積極主動地管理我們現有的業務區塊，因此這是我們的首要任務。因此，我們的去風險交易在實現預期方面已經取得了很大進展。

We reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to Mr. Lowrey for any further closing comments.

我們的問答環節已經結束。我想將發言權交還給洛瑞先生，請他發表進一步的結論。

Thank you, and thank you for joining us today. I'll close with a few final thoughts. It has been a privilege to lead Prudential as CEO for the past [8] years. I'm proud of what we've accomplished to become a higher growth and more capital-efficient company that is well positioned for long-term sustainable growth. And I offer my profound thanks to our employees in the world who care for our customers, our clients, our communities and for each other every day. I'm confident that this will continue under the next station of leadership, and I look forward to supporting Andy and the leadership team in my role as Executive Chairman.

謝謝您，謝謝您今天加入我們。最後我想說幾點想法。在過去 [8] 年裡，我很榮幸能夠擔任保誠集團的執行長。我為我們所取得的成就感到自豪，我們已成為一家成長更快、資本效率更高、為長期可持續成長做好準備的公司。我也要向世界各地的員工表達深切的感謝，他們每天都關心我們的客戶、我們的客戶、我們的社區以及彼此。我相信，在下一任領導下，這種情況將繼續下去，並且我期待以執行主席的身份支持安迪和領導團隊。

Thank you for joining our call today and for your time.

感謝您今天參加我們的電話會議並付出時間。

Thank you. That does conclude today's teleconference and webcast. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.

謝謝。今天的電話會議和網路直播到此結束。此時您可以斷開您的線路，並享受美好的一天。我們感謝您今天的參與。