普登 (UNM) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Thank you for standing by. My name is Bailey, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Unum Group Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Results and Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝你的支持。我叫貝利，今天我將擔任你們的會議操作員。此時，我歡迎大家參加 Unum 集團 2023 年第二季度盈利結果和電話會議。 （操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the call over to Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, Matt Royal. You may begin.

我現在想將電話轉給投資者關係高級副總裁馬特·羅亞爾 (Matt Royal)。你可以開始了。

Great. Thank you, Bailey. Good morning, and welcome to the Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Call for Unum Group. Our remarks today will include forward-looking statements, which are statements that are not of current or historical fact. As a result, actual results may differ materially from results suggested by these forward-looking statements.

偉大的。謝謝你，貝利。早上好，歡迎參加 Unum Group 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。我們今天的言論將包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述不屬於當前或歷史事實。因此，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述所建議的結果存在重大差異。

Information concerning factors that could cause results to differ appears in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and are also located in the sections titled Cautionary Statement regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022. Our SEC filings can be found in the Investors section of our website at www.unum.com.

有關可能導致結果出現差異的因素的信息出現在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件中，並且也位於我們財務年度報告10-K 表格中標題為“有關前瞻性陳述和風險因素的警示聲明”的部分。截至 2022 年 12 月 31 日的年度。我們的 SEC 備案文件可在我們網站 www.unum.com 的投資者部分找到。

I remind you that the statements in today's call speak only as of the date they are made, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. A presentation of the most directly comparable GAAP measures and reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measures included in today's presentation can be found in our statistical supplement on our website in the Investors section.

我提醒您，今天電話會議中的陳述僅代表其作出之日的情況，我們不承擔公開更新或修改任何前瞻性陳述的義務。今天演示中包含的最直接可比的 GAAP 指標以及任何非 GAAP 財務指標的調節表可以在我們網站的投資者部分的統計補充中找到。

Unless otherwise noted, all comparisons to historical results are based on recast financials for the long-duration targeted improvement accounting pronouncement, which can be found on the Investors section of our website. Further, all references to Unum International sales and premium results are presented on a constant currency basis unless otherwise noted.

除非另有說明，所有與歷史結果的比較均基於長期目標改進會計聲明的重新調整的財務數據，該聲明可以在我們網站的投資者部分找到。此外，除非另有說明，所有對 Unum International 銷售額和溢價結果的引用均以固定貨幣為基礎呈現。

Yesterday afternoon, Unum reported second quarter 2023 net income of $392.9 million or $1.98 per diluted common share, an increase from $367.3 million or $1.81 per diluted common share in the second quarter of 2022.

昨天下午，Unum 報告稱，2023 年第二季度淨利潤為 3.929 億美元，即每股稀釋普通股 1.98 美元，高於 2022 年第二季度的 3.673 億美元，即每股稀釋普通股 1.81 美元。

Net income for the second quarter of 2023 included the after-tax amortization of the cost of reinsurance of $8.7 million or $0.04 per diluted common share, the after-tax impact of non-contemporaneous reinsurance of $7.9 million or $0.04 per diluted common share and a net after-tax investment gain on the company's investment portfolio of approximately $700,000 or a de minimis amount per diluted common share.

2023 年第二季度的淨利潤包括再保險成本的稅後攤銷 870 萬美元或每股稀釋普通股 0.04 美元、非同期再保險的稅後影響 790 萬美元或每股稀釋普通股 0.04 美元以及公司投資組合的稅後淨投資收益約為700,000 美元，或每股稀釋普通股的最低金額。

Net income in the second quarter of 2022 included the after-tax amortization of the cost of reinsurance of $10.5 million or $0.05 per diluted common share, the after-tax impact of non-contemporaneous reinsurance of $7.9 million or $0.04 per diluted common share and a net after-tax investment loss on the company's investment portfolio of $3.1 million or $0.02 per diluted common share.

2022 年第二季度的淨利潤包括再保險成本的稅後攤銷 1050 萬美元或稀釋後普通股每股 0.05 美元、非同期再保險的稅後影響 790 萬美元或稀釋後普通股 0.04 美元以及公司投資組合的稅後淨投資損失為310 萬美元，即每股稀釋普通股0.02 美元。

Excluding these items, after-tax adjusted operating income in the second quarter of 2023 was $408.8 million or $2.06 per diluted common share, an increase from $388.8 million or $1.92 per diluted common share in the year-ago quarter.

排除這些項目，2023 年第二季度稅後調整後營業收入為 4.088 億美元，即每股稀釋普通股 2.06 美元，高於去年同期的 3.888 億美元，即每股稀釋普通股 1.92 美元。

Participating in this morning's conference call are Unum's President and CEO, Rick McKenney; Chief Financial Officer, Steve Zabel; Chief Operating Officer, Mike Simonds; as well as Mark Till, who heads our Unum International business; and Tim Arnold, who heads our Colonial Life and Voluntary Benefit lines. Rick, I'll now turn to you for your opening commentary.

參加今天上午的電話會議的有 Unum 總裁兼首席執行官 Rick McKenney；首席財務官 Steve Zabel；首席運營官邁克·西蒙茲；以及 Unum 國際業務負責人 Mark Till；蒂姆·阿諾德 (Tim Arnold)，他是我們殖民地生活和自願福利部門的負責人。里克，我現在請你做開場評論。

Great. Thank you, Matt. It's good to be with you this morning, and we appreciate you all joining us. Our second quarter results are headlined by a record level of quarterly operating earnings. And underlying these results are also some very strong trends of a growing top line, historic levels of profitability and a continuing favorable macroeconomic environment for our business. It is evident that the employers we work with and families we protect are increasingly realizing the value of our products and services. This quarter, we delivered nearly 20% sales growth across our core operations and earned premium growth that exceeded 4%. This ongoing growth trajectory is made possible by the investments and advancements we continue to make.

偉大的。謝謝你，馬特。很高興今天早上和大家在一起，我們感謝大家加入我們。我們第二季度的業績以創紀錄的季度營業收入水平為主角。這些結果的背後還有一些非常強勁的趨勢，即收入增長、歷史性的盈利水平以及對我們業務持續有利的宏觀經濟環境。顯然，與我們合作的雇主和我們保護的家庭越來越意識到我們產品和服務的價值。本季度，我們的核心業務銷售額增長了近 20%，保費增長超過 4%。我們不斷進行的投資和進步使這種持續的增長軌跡成為可能。

Differentiating ourselves through digital capabilities is solidifying deep connections with both existing and new employers and their employees who value a high-quality experience and lasting relationships. Our sales results for the quarter illustrate that this approach continues to resonate with customers. Growth was strong in our group lines across the board. Unum International saw sales growth of over 70% as compared to last year, trending up from 47% growth last quarter. Unum U.S. saw a second straight quarter of at least 20% year-over-year increases. Persistency also remained within our expectations across most lines, which keeps our premiums on a solid growth path.

通過數字化能力使我們脫穎而出，鞏固了與重視高質量體驗和持久關係的現有和新雇主及其員工的深厚聯繫。我們本季度的銷售業績表明這種方法繼續引起客戶的共鳴。我們集團的產品線全面增長強勁。 Unum International 的銷售額與去年相比增長了 70% 以上，高於上季度 47% 的增幅。 Unum U.S. 連續第二個季度同比增長至少 20%。大多數產品線的持續性也保持在我們的預期之內，這使我們的保費保持在穩健的增長道路上。

Turning to Colonial Life. The pace of growth accelerated from the first quarter. Premiums grew just under 1% in the second quarter, on track to meet our 1% to 3% expectation for the full year. Sales growth also picked up slightly and was 3.2% for the quarter. These are steady improvements off of a good year-ago quarter, and we're encouraged by some of the early successes in key initiatives at Colonial Life that we believe will drive growth as we move through 2023 and beyond.

轉向殖民地生活。增長步伐較一季度有所加快。第二季度保費增長略低於 1%，有望達到我們全年 1% 至 3% 的預期。本季度銷售增長也略有回升，達到 3.2%。這些都是在去年同期良好基礎上的穩步改善，我們對 Colonial Life 關鍵舉措的一些早期成功感到鼓舞，我們相信這些舉措將在 2023 年及以後推動我們的增長。

Overall, we're pleased with the growing top line momentum, especially when considering our healthy margins and ability to further grow our level of earnings. Our franchise is in a period where earnings power is stronger than ever, not only because our customers are increasingly valuing our offerings, but also because of our disciplined approach to our customers, which includes pricing and operational excellence and taking care of employees at time of need. This disciplined approach translates to our solid product returns as we continue to see attractive margins across our lines.

總體而言，我們對不斷增長的營收勢頭感到滿意，特別是考慮到我們的健康利潤率和進一步提高盈利水平的能力。我們的特許經營正處於盈利能力比以往任何時候都更強的時期，不僅因為我們的客戶越來越重視我們的產品，還因為我們對客戶採取嚴格的方法，其中包括定價和卓越運營以及在工作時照顧員工需要。這種嚴格的方法轉化為我們可靠的產品回報，因為我們繼續看到我們各條線具有吸引力的利潤。

Our track record of results for the past year stems from our ability to invest in our operations and deliver returns above our typical industry-leading levels. On a consolidated basis, ROE was a healthy 13.8%, and coupled with our strong top line results that I referenced earlier, before-tax operating earnings and return on equity across our core operations were well above the top end of our most recent outlook ranges. After-tax operating earnings of $408 million -- $408.8 million increased 5.1% from the same time last year and represents one of the highest earnings levels on record.

我們過去一年的業績記錄源於我們對運營的投資能力以及提供高於行業領先水平的回報的能力。綜合來看，ROE 為健康的 13.8%，再加上我之前提到的強勁的營收業績，我們核心業務的稅前營業利潤和股本回報率遠高於我們最近展望範圍的上限。稅後營業利潤為 4.08 億美元——4.088 億美元，比去年同期增長 5.1%，是有記錄以來最高的盈利水平之一。

As discussed last quarter, we believe this environment will remain very positive for us as the macroeconomic factors and a receding pandemic environment favorably impact our business. This quarter's results see that playing out. Higher interest rates, wage inflation, low to no pandemic mortality and a continuing tight labor market are all positives for us.

正如上季度所討論的，我們相信這種環境對我們來說仍然非常有利，因為宏觀經濟因素和正在消退的大流行環境對我們的業務產生了有利的影響。本季度的業績表明這一點正在顯現。更高的利率、工資上漲、低流行病死亡率甚至零死亡率以及持續緊張的勞動力市場對我們來說都是積極的。

Also, when we look to our balance sheet, our investments continue to perform very well, with portfolio quality strengthening in the quarter and income in line with our long-term expectations. These results across the board have taken our strong capital position and made it stronger. Providing us ongoing financial flexibility and options.

此外，當我們審視資產負債表時，我們的投資繼續表現良好，本季度投資組合質量得到加強，收入符合我們的長期預期。這些全面的業績鞏固了我們強大的資本地位並使其更加強大。為我們提供持續的財務靈活性和選擇。

We have cash north of $1 billion at the holding company, and our RBC level was 450%, which is 100 points above our target levels. This coming quarter, we will be paying a 10% higher dividend and increasing the run rate of our share repurchases by 50%. Concurrently, funding excess reserve margins within our Closed Block continues to be the 2023 priority. And year-to-date, we have contributed almost half of our full year expectations.

我們在控股公司擁有超過 10 億美元的現金，我們的 RBC 水平為 450%，比我們的目標水平高出 100 個點。下個季度，我們將支付更高 10% 的股息，並將股票回購的執行率提高 50%。與此同時，為我們的封閉區塊內的超額準備金保證金提供資金仍然是 2023 年的首要任務。今年迄今為止，我們已經貢獻了全年預期的近一半。

While the quarterly LTC loss ratio was slightly above our long-term expectations, we focus on the longer-term trends, and we remain steadfast with our plans to fully recognize the premium deficiency reserve by year-end. This allocation of capital eliminates the need for further LTC contributions in the near future.

雖然季度LTC損失率略高於我們的長期預期，但我們關注長期趨勢，並且我們仍然堅持在年底前完全確認保費不足準備金的計劃。這種資本分配消除了在不久的將來進一步提供 LTC 捐款的需要。

Wrapping up my overview, I continue to be proud of what the team has accomplished by extending the momentum we've seen at the halfway mark of 2023. The path we are on has us well positioned for earnings growth at the upper end of our expected range. It all comes back to our purpose that drives us to protect more people, meeting the needs and exceeding the expectations of our customers. We'll continue to achieve this by utilizing a digital-first and disciplined approach to capitalize on the favorable trends in the operating environment as we advance our market-leading positions.

在結束我的概述時，我仍然為團隊所取得的成就感到自豪，他們延續了我們在2023 年過半時所看到的勢頭。我們所走的道路使我們處於有利位置，可以實現我們預期的盈利增長上限範圍。這一切都回到了我們的宗旨，即推動我們保護更多的人，滿足客戶的需求並超越他們的期望。我們將繼續利用數字優先和嚴格的方法來實現這一目標，利用運營環境中的有利趨勢，提升我們的市場領先地位。

Now let me turn it over to Steve for additional details on the quarter. Steve?

現在讓我將其轉交給史蒂夫，了解有關本季度的更多詳細信息。史蒂夫？

Great. Thank you, Rick, and good morning, everyone. As Rick described, the second quarter was another very good quarter for the company as we benefited from strong operating performance in many parts of our business, particularly across all of our disability lines, where trends support the upper end of our most recent full year after-tax adjusted operating EPS outlook. Disability results in the second quarter were highlighted by strong sales and underwriting performance across the board, including benefit ratios of 59.4% for Unum US group disability, 42.1% for individual disability and 72.3% for Unum UK or in the mid-60s when removing inflationary impacts, all below our long-term expectations.

偉大的。謝謝你，瑞克，大家早上好。正如里克所描述的，第二季度對公司來說是另一個非常好的季度，因為我們受益於我們業務許多部分的強勁運營業績，特別是在我們所有的殘疾產品線中，這些趨勢支持了我們最近一整年的上限。 -稅收調整後的運營每股收益前景。第二季度的殘疾業績以全面強勁的銷售和承保業績為亮點，其中Unum 美國團體殘疾的福利比率為59.4%，個人殘疾的福利率為42.1%，Unum UK 的福利率為72.3%，或在消除通貨膨脹後處於60 年代中期。的影響，均低於我們的長期預期。

Sales were strong across most areas of the company with our various disability products performing very well. Consolidated sales grew 19.5% across our core operations, highlighted by 20% growth in Unum US, including 53.5% in individual disability and 70.2% for Unum International. Core operations premium grew at a healthy rate of 4.6% in the second quarter. Persistency was generally improved from first quarter results and within our expectations. However, most lines were unfavorable relative to prior year.

公司大部分地區的銷售都很強勁，我們的各種殘疾人產品表現都非常好。我們核心業務的綜合銷售額增長了 19.5%，其中 Unum US 增長了 20%，其中個人殘疾人銷售額增長了 53.5%，Unum International 增長了 70.2%。第二季度核心運營溢價健康增長 4.6%。與第一季度的結果相比，持久性總體有所改善，並且符合我們的預期。然而，大多數線路與去年相比不利。

Let's review our quarterly operating results across the segment, beginning with Unum US. Adjusted operating income in the Unum US segment increased 17.5% to $343.1 million in the second quarter of 2023 compared to $291.9 million in the second quarter of 2022. Results finished significantly above prior year, primarily due to favorable benefits experienced, partially offset by higher operating expenses. The group disability line reported another robust quarter with adjusted operating income of $159.8 million compared to $105.5 million in the second quarter of 2022, with the increase driven by improved incidents, a higher discount rate on new claims and higher earned premium. These drivers contributed to an exceptional benefit ratio of 59.4% for the second quarter. This now marks a full year of the benefit ratio being below our long-term expectations, driven primarily by improving recoveries and incidents.

讓我們回顧一下我們整個部門的季度運營業績，首先從 Unum US 開始。 2023 年第二季度Unum 美國部門調整後營業收入增長17.5%，達到3.431 億美元，而2022 年第二季度為2.919 億美元。業績顯著高於去年同期，主要是由於所經歷的有利效益，部分被較高的營業收入所抵消花費。團體傷殘險線報告又一個強勁的季度，調整後營業收入為1.598 億美元，而2022 年第二季度為1.055 億美元，這一增長是由事故改善、新索賠折扣率更高以及已賺取保費推動的。這些驅動因素使第二季度的福利比率達到了 59.4%。這標誌著全年的福利比率低於我們的長期預期，這主要是由於恢復和事故的改善所致。

The trailing 12-month group disability benefit ratio is in the low 60s, and it has contributed to strong operating earnings. We continue to expect the full year benefit ratio to be in the low 60s, driven by strong recoveries and incidence levels. Results for Unum US Group Life and AD&D decreased compared to the second quarter of last year, with adjusted operating income of $51.6 million for the second quarter of 2023 compared to $64.7 million in the same period a year ago. The benefit ratio increased to 73% compared to 70.8% in the second quarter of 2022 due to higher underlying claims incident. The benefit ratio was also at the low end of our expectation due to minimal COVID-related mortality in the current period.

過去 12 個月的團體殘疾福利比率處於 60 左右，這為強勁的營業收入做出了貢獻。在強勁復甦和發病率水平的推動下，我們繼續預計全年福利比率將在 60 左右。 Unum US Group Life 和 AD&D 的業績較去年第二季度有所下降，2023 年第二季度調整後營業收入為 5160 萬美元，而去年同期為 6470 萬美元。由於基本索賠事件增加，賠付率從 2022 年第二季度的 70.8% 增至 73%。由於當前期間與新冠病毒相關的死亡率極低，福利比率也處於我們預期的低端。

Adjusted operating earnings for the Unum US supplemental and voluntary lines in the second quarter were $131.7 million, an increase from $121.7 million in the second quarter of 2022. The increase is driven by strong underlying benefits experience in both the individual disability and voluntary benefits. The individual disability benefit ratio of 42.1% was driven by favorable mortality, while the voluntary benefits results of 39.2% was favorable to prior year, primarily due to favorable reserve development and lapses.

第二季度Unum US 補充和自願保險的調整後營業利潤為1.317 億美元，較2022 年第二季度的1.217 億美元有所增加。這一增長是由個人殘疾福利和自願福利方面強大的基本福利經驗推動的。 42.1% 的個人傷殘福利比率是由有利的死亡率推動的，而 39.2% 的自願福利結果好於上一年，主要是由於有利的儲備發展和失誤。

Turning to premium trends and drivers. Natural growth, a tailwind for our group products, continued to contribute to strong year-over-year premium growth of 4.5% in Unum US. Sales trends for Unum US were also solid, with sales increasing 20% year-over-year in the second quarter. Persistency for total group at 89.8% remained generally stable in the second quarter with less favorable results within our supplemental and voluntary lines.

轉向優質趨勢和驅動因素。自然增長是我們集團產品的推動力，繼續推動 Unum US 保費同比強勁增長 4.5%。 Unum US 的銷售趨勢也很穩健，第二季度銷售額同比增長 20%。第二季度，總體堅持率保持在 89.8%，總體保持穩定，但我們的補充和自願產品線中的結果不太理想。

Now moving to Unum International. The segment experienced exceptional overall earnings results, with adjusted operating income for the second quarter increasing to $43.5 million from $28.1 million in the second quarter of 2022. Adjusted operating income for the Unum UK's business improved in the second quarter to GBP 34.3 million compared to GBP 21.5 million in the second quarter of 2022. The reported benefit ratio for Unum UK decreased to 72.3% in the second quarter, which compares to 87.9% in the same period a year ago. You may recall, a portion of our policies in the U.K. have an inflation rider, which is backed by inflation-linked gilts. The inflation-linked benefits are capped, but the income we receive from the linked gilts is not, which does benefit earnings levels in periods of very high inflation. When you remove direct inflationary impacts, Unum UK adjusted operating income was in the GBP mid-20 million range, reflecting strong underlying claims performance.

現在搬到 Unum International。該部門整體盈利結果出色，第二季度調整後營業收入從 2022 年第二季度的 2810 萬美元增至 4350 萬美元。與英鎊相比，Unum UK 業務第二季度調整後營業收入提高至 3430 萬英鎊2022 年第二季度為2150 萬。第二季度Unum UK 報告的福利比率下降至72.3%，而去年同期為87.9%。您可能還記得，我們在英國的部分政策有通脹附加條款，由與通脹掛鉤的英國國債支持。與通脹掛鉤的福利受到限制，但我們從掛鉤英國國債中獲得的收入卻沒有，這確實有利於通脹極高時期的收入水平。當剔除直接通脹影響後，Unum UK 調整後營業收入在 2000 萬英鎊左右，反映出強勁的基本索賠表現。

International premiums continue to show strong growth. Unum UK generated premium growth of 14.5% on a year-over-year basis in the second quarter, while our Poland operation grew 22%. Both businesses continued to generate positive levels of year-over-year sales growth, with Unum UK up 64.3% and Unum Poland up nearly double.

國際保費繼續呈現強勁增長。 Unum UK 第二季度的保費同比增長 14.5%，而我們的波蘭業務則增長了 22%。兩家公司的銷售額繼續實現同比積極增長，Unum UK 增長了 64.3%，Unum Polish 增長了近一倍。

Next, adjusted operating income for the Colonial Life segment was $115.5 million in the second quarter compared to $96.6 million in the second quarter of 2022, with the increase driven by favorable benefits, partially offset by higher operating expenses. The benefit ratio of 48.3% improved from 53.8% in the year-ago period and was within our expectations. Colonial premium income of $430.6 million finished slightly higher than prior year, primarily driven by sales momentum, partially offset by lower persistency. Premium income was higher than our expectation. Expectations is on the full year growth trajectory of 1% to 3%, which we laid out in February. Sales in the second quarter of $122 million increased 3.2% from prior year, primarily driven by healthy agent recruiting and productive small case sales, partially offset by a decrease in new account sales across larger-sized segments.

接下來，Colonial Life 部門第二季度調整後營業收入為 1.155 億美元，而 2022 年第二季度為 9660 萬美元，增長是由有利的福利推動的，但部分被較高的營業費用所抵消。 48.3%的福利比率較去年同期的53.8%有所改善，符合我們的預期。殖民地保費收入為 4.306 億美元，略高於上年，這主要是由銷售勢頭推動的，但部分被持續性下降所抵消。保費收入高於我們的預期。我們在 2 月份就制定了全年增長 1% 至 3% 的預期。第二季度銷售額為1.22 億美元，較去年同期增長3.2%，這主要是由健康的代理商招募和富有成效的小案銷售推動的，但部分被大型細分市場新客戶銷售額的下降所抵消。

Now in the Closed Block segment, adjusted operating income, excluding adjustments related to the Closed Block individual disability reinsurance transaction, was $51.2 million compared to $86.9 million in the second quarter of 2022. This decline was primarily due to a year-over-year decrease in the segment's miscellaneous net investment income of $32.3 million. This was driven by less favorable income from our alternative asset portfolio year-over-year. For benefits experience, the LTC interest-adjusted loss ratio was 92.4% compared to 84.9% in the year-ago period, driven by higher claims incidents. Claims incidents remained at elevated levels, which also impacted first quarter results, but the favorable claimant mortality in the first quarter did not persist in the second quarter.

目前，在Closed Block 部門，調整後的營業收入（不包括與Closed Block 個人傷殘再保險交易相關的調整）為5120 萬美元，而2022 年第二季度為8690 萬美元。這一下降主要是由於同比下降該部門的雜項淨投資收入為 3230 萬美元。這是由於我們的另類資產投資組合收入同比下降所致。在福利體驗方面，由於理賠事件增加，LTC 利息調整損失率為 92.4%，而去年同期為 84.9%。索賠事件仍然處於較高水平，這也影響了第一季度的業績，但第一季度有利的索賠人死亡率並沒有持續到第二季度。

Notably, the monthly trend of new claims improved towards the end of the second quarter and has continued to improve early into the third quarter. The interest adjusted loss ratio on a rolling 12-month basis was 86.6%, which is within our range of expectations.

值得注意的是，新索賠月度趨勢在第二季度末有所改善，並在第三季度初繼續改善。滾動12個月的利息調整損失率為86.6%，在我們的預期範圍內。

Wrapping up my commentary on the quarter's financial results, the adjusted operating loss in the Corporate segment was $34.9 million compared to a $36.9 million loss in the second quarter of 2022, primarily driven by higher investment income on shorter-duration corporate-owned assets, a dynamic that should continue while short-term rates remain elevated.

總結我對本季度財務業績的評論，企業部門調整後的運營虧損為 3490 萬美元，而 2022 年第二季度的虧損為 3690 萬美元，這主要是由於短期企業擁有資產的投資收入增加、在短期利率保持高位的情況下，這種動態應該會持續下去。

Moving now to investments. We continue to see a good environment for new money yields and risk management. Purchases made in the quarter were again at levels above our earned portfolio yield, which is 4.43% for the first 6 months of 2023. As expected, we experienced net upgrades of high yield to investment-grade fixed maturity securities of $107.5 million and an improvement in the overall portfolio credit quality. In addition, our interest rate hedge program for LTC is performing as expected. Since inception of the program last year, we've entered into nearly $1.9 billion of treasury forwards with more than $300 million closed out and applied to recent bond purchases.

現在轉向投資。我們繼續看到新資金收益率和風險管理的良好環境。本季度的購買量再次高於我們賺取的投資組合收益率，即2023 年前6 個月的4.43%。正如預期的那樣，我們將高收益淨升級為投資級固定期限證券1.075 億美元，並取得了改善整體投資組合信用質量。此外，我們針對 LTC 的利率對沖計劃的表現符合預期。自去年該計劃啟動以來，我們已簽訂了近 19 億美元的國債遠期合約，其中超過 3 億美元已平倉並用於最近的債券購買。

Miscellaneous investment income decreased in the second quarter to $21.2 million compared to $57.2 million a year ago, as both traditional bond call premiums and alternative investment income declined. Income from our alternative invested assets was $19.9 million, which is right at the lower end of our long-term expectation of $20 million to $25 million. We continue to be pleased with and benefit from the composition of the portfolio. As of the end of the second quarter, our total alternative invested assets were valued at just under $1.3 billion, with 41% in private equity partnerships, 37% in real asset partnerships and 22% in private credit partnerships.

由於傳統債券贖回溢價和另類投資收入均下降，第二季度雜項投資收入從去年同期的 5720 萬美元下降至 2120 萬美元。我們的另類投資資產收入為 1990 萬美元，正好處於我們 2000 萬至 2500 萬美元長期預期的下限。我們仍然對投資組合的構成感到滿意並從中受益。截至第二季度末，我們的另類投資資產總額略低於 13 億美元，其中 41% 為私募股權合夥企業，37% 為實物資產合夥企業，22% 為私人信貸合夥企業。

As we discussed last quarter, our commercial real estate investment portfolio, which is substantially underweight office properties compared to industry averages, is thoughtfully constructed and well positioned to manage through cycles. Our rigorous origination process and multitiered approach to monitoring loan performance and valuations does not waver in volatile periods.

正如我們上季度討論的那樣，我們的商業房地產投資組合（與行業平均水平相比大幅減持寫字樓物業）經過精心構建，並且處於有利的位置來管理整個週期。我們嚴格的發起流程和監控貸款績效和估值的多層次方法在波動時期不會動搖。

Earlier this year, we began an accelerated revaluation process for our office CML portfolio and expect to complete reviews of 100% of our office holdings over the next several months. Currently, with just under half completed, our office LTV has modestly increased and has not meaningfully impacted overall CML LTVs, which remain around 60%. While not immune to secular pressure and rising cap rates, our office loan exposure profile consists of low levels of major metropolitan locations, healthy debt service coverage ratios and very few maturities through 2026. And as a reminder, our office portfolio accounts for just under 18% of our $2.4 billion commercial mortgage loan portfolio.

今年早些時候，我們開始加速對辦公室 CML 投資組合進行重估，並預計在未來幾個月內完成對 100% 辦公室資產的審查。目前，我們的辦公室 LTV 已完成不到一半，略有增加，並未對整體 CML LTV 產生重大影響，總體 CML LTV 仍保持在 60% 左右。雖然無法免受長期壓力和上升的上限利率的影響，但我們的寫字樓貸款風險狀況包括主要大都市地區的低水平、良好的償債覆蓋率以及到2026 年的到期日很少。提醒一下，我們的寫字樓投資組合佔不到18占我們 24 億美元商業抵押貸款組合的 %。

So now I'll end my commentary with an update on our capital position. As expected, our capital levels remain well in excess of our targets and operational needs, offering tremendous protection and flexibility. The weighted average risk-based capital ratio for our traditional U.S. insurance companies is approximately 450%, and holding company liquidity remains robust at $1.1 billion. We are comfortably on track to end the year at or above our expected levels of 400% RBC and $1.5 billion of holding company liquidity following execution of planned capital deployment.

現在我將通過我們資本狀況的最新情況來結束我的評論。正如預期的那樣，我們的資本水平仍然遠遠超過我們的目標和運營需求，提供了巨大的保護和靈活性。美國傳統保險公司的加權平均風險資本比率約為 450%，控股公司的流動性仍然強勁，達到 11 億美元。在執行計劃的資本部署後，我們有望在年底達到或高於 400% RBC 的預期水平和 15 億美元的控股公司流動性。

Capital metrics benefited in the second quarter from the strong statutory results, with statutory after-tax operating income of $313.7 million for the second quarter. This puts us on pace for generating well over $1 billion for the full year, which translates to strong free cash flow generation at the holding company in the coming year.

第二季度的資本指標受益於強勁的法定業績，第二季度法定稅後營業收入為 3.137 億美元。這使我們全年的收入有望超過 10 億美元，這意味著控股公司來年將產生強勁的自由現金流。

Our strong cash generation model drives our ability to return capital to shareholders. And in the second quarter, we paid $65.2 million in common stock dividends and repurchased 1.1 million shares at a total cost of $47 million. We expect to increase the pace of share repurchases in the second half of the year. Other capital plans, such as fully recognizing the premium deficiency reserve by year-end, also remain on track.

我們強大的現金生成模式推動了我們向股東返還資本的能力。第二季度，我們支付了 6520 萬美元的普通股股息，並回購了 110 萬股股票，總成本為 4700 萬美元。我們預計下半年將加快股票回購步伐。其他資本計劃，例如年底前完全確認保費不足準備金，也仍在按計劃進行。

As planned, we contributed $200 million of capital into our Fairwind subsidiary in the second quarter, which brings the total for the year to $400 million. As a reminder, we expect to contribute $800 million to $900 million of capital in the Fairwind over the course of the year and fully recognize the premium deficiency reserve. Full recognition of the PDR results in significant excess margin over our current best estimate and supports our plans of not contributing capital in the Fairwind, as we discussed at our outlook meeting.

按照計劃，我們在第二季度向 Fairwind 子公司注資 2 億美元，使全年資本總額達到 4 億美元。提醒一下，我們預計今年將向 Fairwind 注入 8 億至 9 億美元的資本，並充分確認保費不足準備金。正如我們在展望會議上討論的那樣，對 PDR 的充分認可導致利潤率顯著高於我們當前的最佳估計，並支持我們不向 Fairwind 出資的計劃。

So to close, we're encouraged by the momentum that is built throughout the first half of the year and expect similar operating trends to persist in the second half, driving strong sales, premium and earnings growth across our corporate businesses. For the past 12 months, group disability results have been a focal point in driving higher earnings power, and we expect this to continue for the foreseeable future, supporting our expectation of being at the top end of our outlook for the full year for EPS growth.

最後，我們對今年上半年建立的勢頭感到鼓舞，並預計下半年將持續類似的運營趨勢，推動我們企業業務的強勁銷售、溢價和盈利增長。在過去 12 個月中，團體殘疾業績一直是推動更高盈利能力的焦點，我們預計這種情況在可預見的未來將持續下去，支持我們對全年每股收益增長前景的預期。

Now I'll turn the call back to Rick for his closing comments, and I look forward to your questions.

現在我將把電話轉回給 Rick，聽取他的結束語，並期待您的提問。

Great. Thank you, Steve. I'd wrap up our comments by reiterating that we're in a great position halfway through the year and the momentum it creates as we look to execute on our growth strategy. The team is here to respond to your questions. So I'll ask Bailey to begin the question-and-answer session. Bailey?

偉大的。謝謝你，史蒂夫。在結束我們的評論時，我要重申，我們在今年過半時處於有利位置，並且在我們尋求執行增長戰略時所創造的勢頭。該團隊將在此回答您的問題。我將請貝利開始問答環節。貝利？

(Operator Instructions) And your first question will come from Ryan Krueger with KBW.

（操作員說明）您的第一個問題將來自 KBW 的 Ryan Krueger。

I was hoping you could talk about pricing trends that you're seeing in the industry. I think you're continuing to see very favorable group disability results. Many of your peers are also seeing pretty favorable results. Have you seen any change in the competitive environment as a result of this? Or are things still pretty stable at this point?

我希望您能談談您在行業中看到的定價趨勢。我認為您將繼續看到非常有利的團體殘疾結果。您的許多同行也看到了相當不錯的結果。您是否看到競爭環境因此發生了任何變化？或者目前情況仍然相當穩定？

Good, Ryan. Thank you for your question. I'll turn it over to Mike to talk about what we're seeing in the markets. Mike?

好，瑞安。謝謝你的問題。我將把它交給邁克來談談我們在市場上看到的情況。麥克風？

And yes, I mean, I would start by saying we're really pleased with sales results in the quarter. We have continued to be pleased with the renewal placement success that we've had. So those are sort of our best indicators of how we're meeting the market and feel good about that. It has been a good run from a group disability loss ratio point of view. And certainly, some of that experience, over time, will flow through into renewals.

是的，我的意思是，我首先要說的是，我們對本季度的銷售業績非常滿意。我們對續約安置的成功繼續感到高興。因此，這些是我們如何滿足市場需求並對此感覺良好的最佳指標。從團體殘疾損失率的角度來看，這是一個良好的運行。當然，隨著時間的推移，其中一些經驗將會轉化為更新。

But where we sit right now, it seems like the external favorable risk trends have continued the performance of our underwriting and benefit teams remain really strong. So as Steve said in his comments, I think that the low-60s is still a really good spot for us. And our best guess at where the second half of the year will play out. And from a pricing point of view, it's always been a competitive market, but we feel like we're getting that chance to tell our story, and we feel like it's a differentiated one.

但就我們目前而言，外部有利的風險趨勢似乎仍在繼續，我們的承保和福利團隊的表現仍然非常強勁。因此，正如 Steve 在評論中所說，我認為 60 年代以下對我們來說仍然是一個非常好的地方。我們對下半年的情況進行了最好的猜測。從定價的角度來看，這一直是一個競爭激烈的市場，但我們覺得我們有機會講述我們的故事，而且我們覺得這是一個與眾不同的市場。

And then a separate question. On the NAIC's negative IMR proposal, do you think that would potentially allow you to increase the amount of interest rate hedging you're doing on long-term care beyond what would qualify for hedge accounting treatments, given that there would be some ability to absorb a negative IMR?

然後是一個單獨的問題。關於 NAIC 的負 IMR 提案，您是否認為這可能會讓您增加對長期護理的利率對沖金額，超出對沖會計處理的資格，因為有一定的吸收能力負IMR？

Ryan, it's Steve. Yes, I can take that one. It's an interesting question, one we think about a lot. And we have very little IMR -- negative IMR right now in our portfolio. So kind of the current period or the immediate impact would be pretty de minimis to us if that negative IMR would be admitted.

瑞安，我是史蒂夫。是的，我可以接受那個。這是一個有趣的問題，我們思考了很多。我們的投資組合中目前的 IMR 非常少——負 IMR。因此，如果承認這種負面的 IMR，那麼當前時期或直接的影響對我們來說將是微乎其微的。

But we do think about moving forward just around the stat accounting for hedges. And if we were able to, in essence, take the negative marks, the realized losses on those and put those in IMR and be able to admit that, that would be something we'd have to consider. That would be helpful to really ramp up the hedging program a little bit more. So on the -- on the margins, we're supportive of that. It really wouldn't have kind of an immediate impact on us though. So we continue to monitor that discussion at the NAIC.

但我們確實考慮圍繞對沖的統計會計向前推進。如果我們能夠從本質上採取負面標記，即已實現的損失並將其放入 IMR 中並能夠承認這一點，那將是我們必須考慮的事情。這將有助於真正加強對沖計劃。因此，在某種程度上，我們支持這一點。不過，它確實不會對我們產生直接影響。因此，我們將繼續關注 NAIC 的討論。

Your next question comes from Wes Carmichael with Wells Fargo.

您的下一個問題來自富國銀行的韋斯·卡邁克爾。

On group disability, very strong loss ratio performance, but I just want to get an insight on any kind of recovery trends in the quarter. Was that incrementally beneficial from the first quarter? Or was incidents really the driver there?

在群體殘疾方面，損失率表現非常強勁，但我只想深入了解本季度的任何復蘇趨勢。與第一季度相比，這是否逐漸有利？或者事件真的是那裡的司機嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Wes. It's Mike. I think actually, you're actually pretty right, it's -- recovery trends have been strong, pretty consistent quarter-to-quarter. And again, we've continued to invest in the people in our organization and making sure that we're appropriately resourced our benefit specialists, the clinicians, our Boat teams all kind of geared towards helping those claimants get back to work. And that has been at a high level and it's persisted at that high level.

是的。謝謝，韋斯。是邁克。我認為實際上，你說得很對，復甦趨勢一直很強勁，每個季度都非常一致。再次，我們繼續對組織中的人員進行投資，並確保我們為福利專家、臨床醫生、船隊提供適當的資源，以幫助這些索賠人重返工作崗位。這一直處於高水平，並且一​​直保持在高水平。

And then from an incidents point of view, we pretty much have seen a return all the way to pre-COVID incidents levels. So we talked a lot over the last couple of years about some of those environmentally sensitive-type claims and how they have become elevated. That's been running down and continue to do so here in the second quarter.

然後從事件的角度來看，我們幾乎已經看到一切都回到了新冠疫情之前的水平。因此，我們在過去幾年中多次討論了其中一些環境敏感型聲明以及它們如何變得越來越高。這個數字一直在下降，並且在第二季度繼續如此。

That's helpful. And then on the long-term care, the loss ratio did tick up. And you mentioned this in prepared remarks, but just -- any help on how that's trending? Is this just normal quarterly volatility? And I think you said it's getting better in terms of incidents, but just maybe any color there would be helpful.

這很有幫助。然後，在長期護理方面，損失率確實有所上升。您在準備好的發言中提到了這一點，但是 - 對趨勢有何幫助？這只是正常的季度波動嗎？我想你說過在事件方面正在變得更好，但也許任何顏色都會有幫助。

Yes, Wes, this is Steve. I'll just reiterate a couple of the remarks that I made in my prepared remarks and then maybe give a little bit more color. So we did see elevated incidents in the first quarter that did continue into the second quarter. What we also saw, though, in the first quarter was pretty elevated claimant mortality. We don't think that, that was necessarily related to COVID. It was a tough flu season, I think, more broadly. And so mortality was a little bit above our expectations, I would say, in the first quarter. You roll that forward to the second quarter, claimant mortality came down closer to what we would view as our seasonal expectations, where incidents did remain elevated.

是的，韋斯，這是史蒂夫。我將重申我在準備好的發言中發表的一些言論，然後也許會提供更多的色彩。因此，我們確實看到第一季度的事件增多，並持續到第二季度。不過，我們在第一季度也看到申請人死亡率相當高。我們認為這與新冠疫情沒有必然關係。我認為，更廣泛地說，這是一個艱難的流感季節。因此，我想說，第一季度的死亡率略高於我們的預期。如果將其推進到第二季度，索賠人死亡率下降到更接近我們所認為的季節性預期，而事故率仍然很高。

Now we did talk about the trend, and that is a trend we saw, really the submission of claims peaked in the, I'd say, the end of the first quarter into the March period. And then we did see a gradual decline of the submission levels, March to April, April to May, May to June and then June even into July. And so I'd say although we're not completely back to our expected level of submissions, we're optimistic about the trend. We'll have to see where the third quarter plays out, and we'll continue to monitor it. But we are happy about that trend.

現在我們確實討論了趨勢，這是我們看到的趨勢，我想說的是，索賠的提交在第一季度末到三月份期間達到了頂峰。然後我們確實看到提交水平逐漸下降，從三月到四月，四月到五月，五月到六月，然後六月甚至到七月。所以我想說，儘管我們還沒有完全恢復到預期的提交水平，但我們對這一趨勢感到樂觀。我們必須看看第三季度的表現，我們將繼續關注。但我們對這種趨勢感到高興。

I will just go back to and reiterate, on a 12-month trailing basis, the loss ratio is at 86.6%, which is at the lower end of our longer-term expectation. And we did see that loss ratio really experienced a lot of volatility over the last few years, and most of it favorable volatility this quarter, a little bit unfavorable. But we'll just track that in the third quarter and see how it progresses.

我想重申一下，在過去 12 個月的基礎上，損失率為 86.6%，處於我們長期預期的下限。我們確實看到，損失率在過去幾年中確實經歷了很大的波動，本季度的波動大部分是有利的，但也有一點不利。但我們只會在第三季度跟踪這一情況，看看進展如何。

Your next question comes from Tom Gallagher with Evercore ISI.

您的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 Tom Gallagher。

Just a follow-up on long-term care. So Steve, I heard what you said on the, I guess, the levels of paid claims. Now, I guess the level at which you saw toward the end of the quarter when you said it was returning towards normal, would that -- if it kind of continues at that level, would that be then back within the range of [85 to 90]? Or would that be more on the upper end? Just want to get a sense for where you see really that trending.

只是長期護理的後續行動。史蒂夫，我想，我聽到了你所說的關於賠付索賠水平的內容。現在，我猜你在本季度末看到的水平，當你說它正在恢復正常時，如果它繼續保持在這個水平，那麼它會回到[85到90]？或者說會更高端？只是想了解一下您在哪裡看到了真正的趨勢。

And is your -- when you kind of step back and say what's happening here, is your expectation that we might actually have a period of elevated long-term care claims following a period of 3 years worth of favorability? Or is that not necessarily what you're expecting?

當您退後一步並說出這裡發生的事情時，您是否期望在 3 年的優惠期之後，我們實際上可能會經歷一段時期的長期護理索賠上升？或者這不一定是您所期望的？

Thanks, Tom, I'm Steve. Let me break that apart a little bit. Just from a perspective of giving any kind of guidance for loss ratios in the third quarter. It's really -- I'd say too early to do that. But all things being equal, we did have an elevated loss ratio in the second quarter above our range. On claims experience -- claims submission experience, that really so far is not recurring in the third quarter. And it's early, it's July, but we're optimistic about that. So -- but I'm not going to give guidance about what that loss ratio may look like yet in the third quarter.

謝謝，湯姆，我是史蒂夫。讓我稍微分解一下。僅從對第三季度虧損率提供任何指導的角度來看。我想說，現在這樣做還為時過早。但在所有條件相同的情況下，我們第二季度的損失率確實高於我們的範圍。關於索賠經驗——索賠提交經驗，到目前為止，這種情況在第三季度並未再次出現。現在還早，現在是七月，但我們對此持樂觀態度。所以，但我不會就第三季度的損失率可能是什麼樣子提供指導。

And then when I think about kind of longer-term expectations, we do take a very long view when we look at experience and just think about expectations going forward. And so yes, we take into consideration some of the experience that we saw during the pandemic, where claims submissions were low. We'll take into account what we've seen over the last 6 months. But we look at that all kind of together and look at what our longer-term expectations would be. So neither of those are going to completely drive our longer-term views, but we will incorporate that into our data set.

然後，當我考慮長期期望時，我們在審視經驗時確實會採取非常長遠的眼光，只考慮未來的期望。所以，是的，我們考慮了我們在大流行期間看到的一些經驗，當時索賠申請量很低。我們將考慮過去 6 個月所看到的情況。但我們會綜合考慮這一切，並考慮我們的長期期望是什麼。因此，這些都不會完全推動我們的長期觀點，但我們會將其納入我們的數據集中。

Okay. And then my follow-up is, let's say, if you take a more adverse case scenario and claims remain elevated in long-term care for a while here, we'll call it mean reversion, just considering the recency bias of that. If claims were to remain around current levels in the low 90s, what consequence would this have for Unum? I -- Would it be a GAAP charge only? I presume, just given how strong your stat reserves are, it's probably unlikely to have much of an impact there. But can you talk about in the adverse case scenario, what impact you think it would have just for contingency planning purposes here.

好的。然後我的後續行動是，如果你採取更不利的情況，並且長期護理中的索賠率在一段時間內保持較高水平，我們將其稱為均值回歸，僅考慮其近期偏差。如果索賠額維持在 90 年代初的當前水平附近，這會對 Unum 產生什麼後果？我——這只是按照公認會計原則收費嗎？我認為，考慮到你的統計儲備有多強大，它可能不會產生太大的影響。但您能否談談在不利的情況下，您認為這對於應急計劃的目的會產生什麼影響？

Yes, Tom, I might just step back and just take the opportunity to just talk about our reserving process and how reserve adequacy really is going to work this year. It's a little bit different than what you may have seen historically. Historically, it was very focused on reserves efficiency with locked-in assumptions for the majority of our lines of business. And then you had LTC, which was in loss recognition. And again, we needed to look at our current best estimate and whether we felt reserves are adequate.

是的，湯姆，我可能會退後一步，只是藉此機會談談我們的儲備流程以及儲備充足性今年將如何發揮作用。這與您在歷史上看到的有點不同。從歷史上看，它非常關注儲備效率，並對我們的大多數業務線進行了鎖定假設。然後是 LTC，它處於損失確認狀態。同樣，我們需要審視當前的最佳估計以及我們是否認為儲備充足。

Moving forward into LDTI, we're more on a best estimate reserve basis, which means that we're going to look across all of our product lines. We're going to look across all of our assumption sets and how those look to our experience over a longer-term period. And then we'll look to see if we need to make any adjustments to those best estimates. We anticipate that occurring here in the third quarter. So we'll be able to report out on that here in the next quarter.

展望 LDTI，我們更多地以最佳估計儲備為基礎，這意味著我們將審視我們所有的產品線。我們將審視所有假設集，以及這些假設集對我們長期經驗的影響。然後我們將看看是否需要對這些最佳估計進行任何調整。我們預計這將在第三季度發生。因此，我們將能夠在下個季度在此報告這一情況。

If you drill down, though, into specifically LTC, I just go back to the remarks that I made earlier, where we will look at all the experience that we have and not necessarily have a recency bias. We'll look at it in aggregate. We'll look at what trends we're seeing. And it's probably too early to predict kind of the outcome of that review, just given the more recent elevated claims experience that we've seen. The other thing that I'd say is we won't just look at claims submissions. We'll look at the full performance and experience of that block when we go through that review of assumptions. So not able to really predict for you, Tom, necessarily.

不過，如果你深入研究 LTC，我會回到我之前發表的言論，我們將審視我們擁有的所有經驗，而不一定存在新近度偏差。我們將從總體上來看。我們將看看我們所看到的趨勢。考慮到我們最近看到的索賠經歷增加，現在預測該審查的結果可能還為時過早。我要說的另一件事是我們不會只查看索賠提交。當我們審查假設時，我們將查看該塊的完整性能和體驗。所以不一定能夠真正為你預測。

Now the other thing that I'd go to which you brought up is the difference between how we think about our GAAP assumption review, which again is on a best estimate basis, and how we think about our statutory reserve adequacy review. Our estimation is that by the end of this year, we'll probably have close to $3 billion of margin between our statutory reserve levels and what our best estimate -- our current best estimate would be for those reserves. And so we do feel like we have quite a bit of margin there. And so we'll go through the process here in the third quarter for GAAP and later in the year for our statutory reserve basis, just like we normally would do on an annual basis.

現在我要談的你提到的另一件事是我們如何看待我們的 GAAP 假設審查（同樣是在最佳估計的基礎上）和我們如何看待我們的法定準備金充足性審查之間的差異。我們的估計是，到今年年底，我們的法定準備金水平與我們的最佳估計（我們目前對這些準備金的最佳估計）之間可能會有接近 30 億美元的差額。所以我們確實覺得我們在那裡有相當多的利潤。因此，我們將在第三季度針對 GAAP 進行流程，並在今年晚些時候針對法定儲備金進行流程，就像我們通常在年度基礎上所做的那樣。

Your next question comes from Erik Bass with Autonomous Research.

您的下一個問題來自自主研究中心的埃里克·巴斯 (Erik Bass)。

Maybe if we could start on just the international businesses. You've had very strong sales growth the past few quarters, particularly in the U.K. So just curious for a little more color on what's driving that and how you see that translating into future premium growth.

也許我們可以只從國際業務開始。過去幾個季度，您的銷售增長非常強勁，尤其是在英國。因此，我想知道更多關於推動這一增長的因素以及您如何看待這種增長將如何轉化為未來的保費增長。

Great. Thanks, Erik. We'll turn it over to Mark Till in the U.K. Mark?

偉大的。謝謝，埃里克。我們會把它交給英國的馬克·蒂爾 馬克？

Thank you very much, Erik. Yes, we've had good growth across all of the product sets. So we have -- historically been very strong in the long-term disability market. We've been seeing some slightly increased growth in the life market as pricing has rationalized. And generally, across the market, we've been performing strongly, such that we've actually had the highest sales in the group risk markets last year and expect to do so in the first half of this year.

非常感謝你，埃里克。是的，我們的所有產品系列都取得了良好的增長。因此，從歷史上看，我們在長期殘疾市場上一直非常強大。隨著定價合理化，我們看到壽險市場略有增長。總的來說，在整個市場上，我們一直表現強勁，因此我們去年在團體風險市場上的銷售額實際上是最高的，預計今年上半年也將達到這一水平。

The trends remain positive. Although the economy is not growing quite as strongly, it's not affecting demand for the product set. Employers are still fighting a war for talent. The quality of the product that we've got is very high. And we've made some big investments in value-added services, in particular, the employee portal Help@Hand, which is making a difference. And I think we feel confident about the future growth of sales in the business.

趨勢仍然積極。儘管經濟增長不那麼強勁，但這並沒有影響對產品組合的需求。雇主們仍在為人才而戰。我們的產品質量非常高。我們在增值服務方面進行了大量投資，特別是員工門戶網站 Help@Hand，它正在發揮作用。我認為我們對業務未來銷售的增長充滿信心。

And then if we could pivot a little bit to capital. You talked about the really strong stat earnings in the first half of the year. Credit impacts have been benign. It seems like you're trending towards the upper end of your range for both free cash flow and probably where you'd expect to end the year from an excess capital standpoint. And I know the priority for the remainder of this year is fully funding the PDR. But as we think about future capital return plans, should we really be focused on the plus in your kind of the $300 million-plus plan for buybacks as we think to 2024?

然後我們是否可以稍微轉向資本。您談到了今年上半年非常強勁的統計收入。信貸影響是良性的。看來您的自由現金流正趨向於您的範圍上限，而且從資本過剩的角度來看，您可能預計今年年底會達到該範圍的上限。我知道今年剩餘時間的首要任務是為 PDR 提供充分資金。但當我們考慮未來的資本回報計劃時，我們真的應該像我們認為的到 2024 年那樣，將重點放在你們那種 3 億美元以上的回購計劃中嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Erik. I think you actually, in your question, you kept -- really hit what we're talking about, which is the statutory earnings have been really good for 6 months. But hopefully, it will stay the same. But regardless, we will be above our range if that holds from a capital generation perspective. When we think about putting back to work, we've been very consistent in talking about reinvesting in our lines. I think we're -- when we think about the returns that we're seeing, we want to make sure the investments are going right back into our core businesses, very clear strategy of how we're looking to grow, and that's where our capital will go first. I think M&A is another place back on strategy, making sure that we can put money behind anything that will add to that growth capability internal to our business.

是的。謝謝，埃里克。我認為實際上，在您的問題中，您確實擊中了我們正在談論的內容，即法定收入在 6 個月內一直非常好。但希望它能保持不變。但無論如何，如果從資本生成的角度來看，我們將超出我們的範圍。當我們考慮重返工作崗位時，我們一直非常一致地談論對我們的產品線進行再投資。我認為，當我們考慮所看到的回報時，我們希望確保投資直接回到我們的核心業務中，我們有非常明確的增長戰略，這就是我們的目標我們的首都會先走。我認為併購是戰略上的另一個方面，確保我們可以將資金投入到任何能夠增加我們業務內部增長能力的事情上。

And then we think about returning capital to shareholders. I mentioned in my comments, we're increasing dividends, 10%, which will come out this quarter. Share repurchases going up by 50% to a run rate of $300 million. And you also articulated our priority 2023 is to fully fund the PDR. We're about halfway through that process to funding that. So we'll look to complete that over the course of the year.

然後我們考慮向股東返還資本。我在評論中提到，我們將增加股息 10%，將於本季度發放。股票回購增加 50%，達到 3 億美元。您還明確表示，我們 2023 年的首要任務是為 PDR 提供全額資金。我們的融資過程已經進行了大約一半。因此，我們將尋求在一年內完成這一任務。

And then as you start to look out into 2024, I think we've also been clear that we're going to get all those things done this year. And then as we get later in the year towards the end of this year, beginning of next year, we'll talk about our capital redeployment plans that we have there. So we feel great. We all feel really good about where we are. We're doing the things that we've talked about, balancing, funding LTC with returning capital to shareholders, and we look to be -- communicate more as we get towards the end of the year.

然後，當你開始展望 2024 年時，我認為我們也已經明確表示，我們將在今年完成所有這些事情。然後，當我們在今年年底、明年初時，我們將討論我們在那裡的資本重新部署計劃。所以我們感覺很棒。我們都對自己所處的位置感覺非常好。我們正在做我們已經討論過的事情，平衡、為 LTC 提供資金以及向股東返還資本，我們希望在年底時進行更多溝通。

The other thing that I'd add to that, it was kind of implied in my remarks is, the overperformance of statutory earnings this year is really going to be a driver for free cash flow next year, as we're a year in arrears as far as being able to take dividends out of the operating companies and really taking it up to the holding company and then making capital deployment decisions around that capital.

我要補充的另一件事是，我的言論中暗示的是，今年法定收益的超額表現確實將成為明年自由現金流的驅動力，因為我們拖欠了一年能夠從運營公司中提取股息，並將其真正交給控股公司，然後圍繞該資本做出資本部署決策。

Got it. That all makes sense. And as you talk about investing in the business, I assume a lot of that in terms of the capital deployed and growing sales is getting reflected in the current statutory earnings. So is that what you're referring to? Or more investment on top of that?

知道了。這一切都是有道理的。當您談論對業務的投資時，我認為在資本部署和銷售增長方面的很多內容都反映在當前的法定收益中。那麼你指的是這個嗎？或者在此基礎上進行更多投資？

Yes. It's Mike. In addition to that, we talked a little bit about the outlook meeting. The investments in our technology, digital and analytics agenda has grown pretty substantially each year over the last 4, and we would continue to look to increase those investments. So that will be another place where we'll look to take what has been very good returns on the investments we're making in those capabilities and continue to double down there.

是的。是邁克。除此之外，我們還討論了展望會議的一些情況。在過去四年裡，我們對技術、數字和分析議程的投資每年都大幅增長，我們將繼續尋求增加這些投資。因此，這將是我們在這些能力方面進行的投資獲得非常好的回報並繼續加倍投資的另一個地方。

Your next question comes from Mike Ward with Citi.

您的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的邁克·沃德。

I was just wondering, you've gotten this question before, but these types of deals just incrementally important around long-term care and potential de-risking avenues activity just continues to pick up in lines that we wouldn't have thought possible just a few years ago, or likely just a few years ago. So I was just wondering, any update on that landscape?

我只是想知道，您以前曾遇到過這個問題，但是這些類型的交易在長期護理方面越來越重要，並且潛在的去風險途徑活動繼續增加，而我們認為這只是一個不可能的事情幾年前，或者可能就幾年前。所以我只是想知道，這個景觀有什麼更新嗎？

Yes. Thanks, Mike. It's a good question. It's one that the team is focused on, making sure we're prepared for risk transfer opportunities as we think about our long-term care block. As we've said multiple times, kind of the demand in the market or the availability of capital coming into that line is from third parties. It increases and decreases, depending on what they're looking at, but we've been very consistent that we're looking to find the right partner to do either with risk transfer on the block and even thinking about different slices of that block. So we're continuing on that path, keeping active out there in parties. I think the people that have the ability to deploy that capital know that we're very interested. And so we'll take it from there.

是的。謝謝，邁克。這是一個好問題。這是團隊關注的焦點，確保我們在考慮長期護理塊時為風險轉移機會做好準備。正如我們多次說過的那樣，市場的需求或進入該領域的資金的可用性來自第三方。它會增加和減少，具體取決於他們所關注的內容，但我們一直非常一致地認為，我們正在尋找合適的合作夥伴來進行該區塊的風險轉移，甚至考慮該區塊的不同部分。因此，我們將繼續走這條路，在聚會中保持活躍。我認為有能力部署這些資本的人知道我們非常感興趣。所以我們將從那裡開始。

Your point is a good one, though, that I reiterate about blocks that have the ability to be risk transferred. We would be beneficiaries of 1 of those. To remind you 3 years ago, we did the same with our individual disability block. And so those markets will come to fruition. So nothing more, nothing new to relate around demand or process, just reiterate that we are actively looking to think about risk transfer opportunities.

不過，你的觀點很好，我重申了具有風險轉移能力的區塊。我們將是其中之一的受益者。提醒您，三年前，我們對個人殘障塊也做了同樣的事情。因此，這些市場將會開花結果。因此，僅此而已，圍繞需求或流程沒有什麼新內容，只是重申我們正在積極考慮風險轉移機會。

And then maybe you mentioned -- I think about capital deployment in out years. Uses of capital. If you were to turn acquisitive to any degree, any specific lines or regions that you think could make sense for Unum?

然後也許你提到——我考慮了未來幾年的資本部署。資本的用途。如果您要進行任何程度的收購，您認為對 Unum 有意義的任何特定產品線或區域？

Yes, we wouldn't want to get too specific on that. I think we've talked about capabilities. I think the most important thing to think about as we think about M&A, it's about being on strategy. When you think about the markets we participate in today, it would be about making ourselves stronger, as opposed to getting into something -- a new category. So -- so that's how I think about it. It's not necessarily geography or product line-dependent, but it will be on the strategy that we've articulated to you over the last several years.

是的，我們不想對此說得太具體。我想我們已經討論過能力了。我認為，當我們考慮併購時，最重要的事情就是製定戰略。當你思考我們今天參與的市場時，你會發現這將是為了讓我們自己變得更強大，而不是進入某個新的類別。所以——這就是我的想法。這不一定取決於地理位置或產品線，而是取決於我們在過去幾年中向您闡述的戰略。

Your next question will come from Suneet Kamath with Jefferies.

您的下一個問題將由 Jefferies 的 Suneet Kamath 提出。

I want to go back to group disability for a second. I hear you on the low 60s loss ratio, I guess, for the balance of this year. But I guess, the question is how much line of sight do you have on that as we think about rolling into 2024, sort of what sort of glide path would you expect that loss ratio would take?

我想再回到群體殘疾問題上來。我聽說你說今年剩下的時間損失率在 60 多歲左右。但我想，問題是，當我們考慮進入 2024 年時，您對此有何看法？您預計損失率會採取什麼樣的下滑路徑？

Suneet, it's Mike. And appreciate the question. I think -- the first thing I'd say is just -- you know this, but just to reiterate it, is a lot in terms of any forecast, it's just going to be dependent on the external environment. So what does -- what has submitted incidents look like? How conducive an environment we have in labor markets, getting people back to work, those kinds of things that we've talked about for years. So really, I mean, I think if you sort of think about -- I don't have a crystal ball on those fronts, but if you were to assume pretty consistent macro risk trends, then we sort of look at our own pricing approaches and how that might impact the loss ratio over time. Currently, where we sit right now is lower than where we've been historically.

蘇妮特，是邁克。並感謝這個問題。我認為——我要說的第一件事是——你知道這一點，但重申一下，就任何預測而言，它都取決於外部環境。那麼提交的事件是什麼樣子的呢？我們在勞動力市場上擁有多麼有利的環境，讓人們重返工作崗位，這些我們多年來一直在談論的事情。所以說真的，我的意思是，我認為如果你想一下——我在這些方面沒有水晶球，但如果你假設宏觀風險趨勢相當一致，那麼我們就會看看我們自己的定價方法以及隨著時間的推移這可能如何影響損失率。目前，我們現在所處的位置低於歷史上的位置。

And as those favorable experience patterns play through good rules of thumb or things like in our mid and large employer markets, about 1/3 of those clients will go through a renewal process each year. And importantly, we use experience, usually about 3 years of experience in those renewals. So a year of favorability would be weighted against 2 years prior as well. And then in the core market, it's actually a smaller percentage. So maybe 20% of those cases will go through.

由於這些有利的體驗模式通過良好的經驗法則或我們的中型和大型雇主市場中的事物發揮作用，因此每年約有 1/3 的客戶將經歷更新過程。重要的是，我們在這些續約中使用經驗，通常是大約 3 年的經驗。因此，一年的好感度也會與兩年前相比進行加權。然後在核心市場，這個比例實際上較小。因此，這些案件中的 20% 可能會得到解決。

So I think it would be a pretty gradual change to a loss ratio driven by the favorable experience coming through. And again, I just finish where I started, which is all that also is dependent on what's happening externally. But certainly, right now, it's a really good time to be in the group disability market. And as Rick said in his comments, the disability success is moving beyond just that long-term disability line. We've seen really good growth in our short-term disability, in our total leave offering that's packaged with that short term and long term. We're starting to see really good growth in our recently issued individual disability book of business that's very often packaged with our LTVs, sales up 50%-plus. And Mark talked a little bit about the success we've had in LTD in the U.K. as well. So it's a pretty favorable outlook at this point.

因此，我認為，在良好的經歷的推動下，損失率將發生相當漸進的變化。再說一遍，我只是從開始的地方完成，這也取決於外部發生的事情。但當然，現在確實是進入團體殘疾人市場的好時機。正如里克在評論中所說，殘疾方面的成功正在超越長期殘疾線。我們看到，我們的短期傷殘以及與短期和長期結合在一起的總休假數量確實取得了良好的增長。我們開始看到我們最近發布的個人殘疾業務手冊出現了非常好的增長，該業務手冊通常與我們的 LTV 捆綁在一起，銷售額增長了 50% 以上。馬克也談到了我們在英國有限公司取得的成功。所以目前來看這是一個相當有利的前景。

Okay. Makes sense. And then I guess just going back to long-term care, I hear you on the -- you don't get too weighted to sort of short-term fluctuations, and that makes sense. But maybe coming out at the other way, we had some pretty interesting developments on like Alzheimer's drugs earlier in the quarter. And just wanted to get a sense of how you think about those types of developments ultimately informing kind of your longer-term views of reserve adequacy and potentially even risk transfer.

好的。說得通。然後我想回到長期護理，我聽到你說——你不會對短期波動過於重視，這是有道理的。但也許從另一方面來看，我們在本季度早些時候在阿爾茨海默病藥物等方面取得了一些非常有趣的進展。只是想了解您如何看待這些類型的發展，最終影響您對儲備充足性甚至可能的風險轉移的長期看法。

Yes, I'd say the short answer is we will monitor it, but in the short term, it doesn't really influence our view of the future right now. We are optimistic about some of the trials that have taken place. They continue to progress, which just for society, is a very, very good thing. And so we'll continue to track those, but it takes a long time for those types of drugs to make its way through all the trials that it needs to be productionalized, actually get out there in the market and then be able to see the impact of what that may have on the types of claims that we receive around our long-term care blocks.

是的，我想說，簡短的答案是我們會對其進行監控，但從短期來看，它並不會真正影響我們現在對未來的看法。我們對已經進行的一些試驗持樂觀態度。他們不斷進步，這對於社會來說，是一件非常非常好的事情。因此，我們將繼續跟踪這些藥物，但這些類型的藥物需要很長時間才能完成生產所需的所有試驗，真正進入市場，然後才能看到這可能對我們在長期護理區收到的索賠類型產生影響。

So I would say right now, it doesn't really influence our view of the longer term, but we -- obviously, we're very happy that some of those drugs are progressing through trials. It's a very positive thing for the industry, but also just for society.

所以我現在想說，它並沒有真正影響我們對長期的看法，但我們 - 顯然，我們非常高興其中一些藥物正在通過試驗取得進展。這對行業來說是一件非常積極的事情，對社會也是如此。

And your final question will come from Mark Hughes with Truist Securities.

最後一個問題將由 Truist Securities 的馬克·休斯 (Mark Hughes) 提出。

Yes. Thank you. Good morning. Did you provide a specific number for natural growth in the quarter?

是的。謝謝。早上好。您是否提供了本季度自然增長的具體數字？

Mark, it's Mike. Nothing specific, but we've talked about trending above that 5% level and we're continuing to see a good split between employment growth within the client base as well as wage inflation coming through.

馬克，是邁克。沒有什麼具體內容，但我們已經討論了高於 5% 水平的趨勢，並且我們繼續看到客戶群內的就業增長與工資通脹之間存在良好的分化。

Understood. And then on Colonial, the benefit ratio back down this quarter, should we anticipate that -- fairly good results there through the balance of the year? And then also sales, just kind of latest thoughts on the sales outlook.

明白了。然後，在殖民地，本季度的福利比率有所回落，我們是否應該預期 - 在今年剩餘時間裡會有相當好的業績？然後還有銷售，只是對銷售前景的最新想法。

Yes, I appreciate the question. I'm glad you hit sales. We're encouraged by the trends at Colonial Life. You highlighted benefit ratio, but sales as well. And maybe I'll turn it over to Tim to speak to that.

是的，我很欣賞這個問題。我很高興您實現了銷量。 Colonial Life 的趨勢令我們深受鼓舞。您強調了福利比率，但也強調了銷售額。也許我會把它交給蒂姆來談談。

Yes. Thanks, Mike. On the benefit ratio side, we do think the first quarter was a bit of an anomaly, and we would look for results that came about in the second quarter to be sustained throughout the balance of the year overall. On the sales side, as Mike mentioned, we are very encouraged by some of the trends we're seeing, some of the leading indicators. COVID was very challenging for our business from a lot of perspectives, certainly impacted recruiting in 2021 and the first half of 2022, as we shared with you all during those times. We're really encouraged for the first half of this year. New agent recruiting is up 34% and new agent sales were up 16%. We have grown our 1099 sales manager cohort by 10% net in the first half of the year. So we're encouraged by that.

是的。謝謝，邁克。在福利比率方面，我們確實認為第一季度有點反常，我們希望第二季度的結果能夠在全年剩餘時間內持續下去。在銷售方面，正如邁克提到的，我們對我們看到的一些趨勢和一些領先指標感到非常鼓舞。從很多角度來看，新冠疫情對我們的業務都帶來了很大的挑戰，當然也影響了 2021 年和 2022 年上半年的招聘，正如我們在那段時間與大家分享的那樣。今年上半年我們確實受到鼓舞。新代理商招募人數增長 34%，新代理商銷售額增長 16%。今年上半年，我們的 1099 名銷售經理隊伍淨增長了 10%。所以我們對此感到鼓舞。

We are also very encouraged by the sales coming from those new sales manager teams. A few years ago, we made a conscious decision to deemphasize some less profitable lines of business that have lower persistency and focus more on higher-quality industries, and public sector is 1 of those really high-quality industries for us. We saw sales up 18%. And public sector in the first half of the year, and that follows a really strong 2022 in public sector as well. Sales that are direct to employer were up 7%. We saw really strong growth in our dental vision products in the quarter.

我們也對這些新銷售經理團隊的銷售感到非常鼓舞。幾年前，我們做出了有意識的決定，不再強調一些利潤較低、持久性較低的業務線，而是更多地關注更高質量的行業，而公共部門對我們來說是真正高質量的行業之一。我們看到銷售額增長了 18%。今年上半年的公共部門也是如此，而 2022 年公共部門的表現也非常強勁。直接面向雇主的銷售額增長了 7%。本季度我們的牙科視力產品增長非常強勁。

We had a little pressure, as Steve Zabel mentioned earlier in large case sales, and part of that is because we've been deemphasizing those lower persistency industries. And another part of it is just some more competitive in the large case market. So we're going to be pretty opportunistic as it relates to the opportunities and large case. So on balance, really encouraged by the momentum that we're seeing in the market and encouraged about what we think we'll be able to do in the second half.

正如史蒂夫·扎貝爾（Steve Zabel）之前在大宗銷售中提到的那樣，我們面臨著一些壓力，部分原因是我們一直在淡化那些持久性較低的行業。另一部分只是在大機箱市場上更具競爭力。因此，我們將非常機會主義，因為這涉及到機會和大型案例。因此，總的來說，我們對市場上看到的勢頭感到非常鼓舞，並對我們認為下半年能夠做的事情感到鼓舞。

Appreciate that detail. Thank you.

欣賞這個細節。謝謝。

There are no further questions at this time. I will turn it back over to Mr. Rick to close.

目前沒有其他問題。我會把它轉回給里克先生來結束。

Great. Thank you, Bailey. Thanks, everybody, for joining us today. We look forward to seeing a number of you over the course of the next quarter, but I appreciate your continued support, and we look forward to talking to you next quarter. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝你，貝利。謝謝大家今天加入我們。我們期待在下個季度見到你們中的許多人，但我感謝你們持續的支持，我們期待著下個季度與你們交談。謝謝。

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連接。