Voya Financial Inc (VOYA) 2025 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. Welcome to Voya Financial's fourth-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. (Operator Instructions). Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mei Ni Chu, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

早安.歡迎參加 Voya Financial 2025 年第四季財報電話會議。（操作說明）請注意，本次活動正在錄影。現在我將把電話交給投資者關係主管朱美妮女士。請繼續。

Good morning, and thank you for joining us this morning for Voya Financial's fourth-quarter 2025 earnings conference call. As a reminder, materials for today's call are available on our website at investors.voya.com.

早安，感謝各位今天上午參加 Voya Financial 2025 年第四季財報電話會議。提醒各位，今天電話會議的資料可在我們的網站 investors.voya.com 上取得。

We will begin with prepared remarks by Heather Lavallee, our Chief Executive Officer; and Mike Katz, our Chief Financial Officer. Following their remarks, we will take your questions. I'm also joined on this call by the heads of our businesses, specifically Jay Kaduson, CEO of Workplace Solutions; and Matt Toms, CEO of Investment Management.

首先，我們的執行長 Heather Lavallee 和財務長 Mike Katz 將分別發表準備好的演講。他們的發言結束後，我們將回答你們的問題。與我一同參加此次電話會議的還有我們各業務部門的負責人，特別是工作場所解決方案首席執行官傑伊·卡杜森和投資管理首席執行官馬特·湯姆斯。

Turning to our earnings presentation materials that are available on our website. On slide 2, some of the comments during today's discussion may contain forward-looking statements and refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures within the meaning of Federal Securities law. GAAP reconciliations are available in our press release and financial supplement found on our Investor Relations website.

接下來請參閱我們網站上提供的獲利報告簡報資料。在投影片 2 中，今天討論中的一些評論可能包含前瞻性陳述，並涉及聯邦證券法意義上的某些非公認會計準則財務指標。GAAP 調整表可在我們的新聞稿和財務補充文件中查閱，這些文件可在我們投資者關係網站上找到。

And now, I will turn the call over to Heather.

現在，我將把電話交給希瑟。

Thank you, Mei Ni. Good morning, and thank you for joining us today. Let's turn to slide 4. In 2025, Voya delivered strong financial and commercial results that exceeded our targets and accelerated our growth strategy. We delivered over $1 billion of pre-tax adjusted operating earnings for the full year and significantly grew earnings across all segments.

謝謝你，梅妮。早安，感謝各位今天收看我們的節目。讓我們翻到第4張投影片。2025年，Voya取得了強勁的財務和商業業績，超越了我們的目標，並加速了我們的成長策略。我們全年稅前調整後營業利潤超過 10 億美元，所有業務部門的利潤均大幅增加。

We generated $775 million of excess cash, well above our target. And in 2025, combined Retirement and Investment Management assets surpassed $1 trillion. This achievement illustrates our scale, and reinforces the value of our integrated business model.

我們獲得了 7.75 億美元的超額現金，遠遠超出預期目標。到 2025 年，退休和投資管理資產總額將超過 1 兆美元。這項成就體現了我們的規模，也鞏固了我們一體化商業模式的價值。

These financial results reflect our outperformance against the priorities we set at the start of the year, accelerating commercial momentum in Retirement and Investment Management, successfully integrating OneAmerica and improving margins in Employee Benefits. Voya's financial performance and strategic progress showed the strength of our franchise and our team's consistent focus on execution.

這些財務表現反映了我們在年初設定的優先事項方面取得的優異表現，包括加速退休和投資管理領域的商業發展勢頭、成功整合 OneAmerica 以及提高員工福利領域的利潤率。Voya 的財務表現和策略進展展現了我們特許經營的實力以及我們團隊對執行力的持續關注。

Before Mike walks through the quarterly and full-year numbers, I'd like to touch on a few key highlights from 2025. In Retirement, we delivered exceptional results across our business. Defined Contribution net flows surpassed $28 billion, the highest in Voya's history, and our participant base is fast approaching 10 million accounts, demonstrating our expanding reach. The OneAmerica integration significantly exceeded our financial targets while expanding the capabilities we offer clients and broadening our reach with advisers.

在 Mike 詳細介紹季度和全年數據之前，我想先談談 2025 年的一些關鍵亮點。退休後，我們在各個業務領域都取得了卓越的表現。Voya 的固定繳款淨流入超過 280 億美元，創歷史新高，我們的參與者數量正迅速接近 1000 萬個帳戶，這表明我們的覆蓋範圍正在不斷擴大。OneAmerica 的整合顯著超越了我們的財務目標，同時擴展了我們為客戶提供的能力，並擴大了我們與顧問的聯繫。

We also continued to expand Wealth Management as a high-margin growth engine. The business generated over $200 million in net revenues in 2025, contributing to our exceptional financial results in Retirement, and helping us serve our customers to and through Retirement. Across Retirement, our strong margins reflect our scale, our focus on driving profitable growth, and our disciplined expense management as we invest in key growth initiatives.

我們也持續拓展財富管理業務，將其視為高利潤的成長引擎。該業務在 2025 年創造了超過 2 億美元的淨收入，為我們在退休領域取得卓越的財務業績做出了貢獻，並幫助我們為客戶提供退休前後的服務。在退休業務方面，我們強勁的利潤率反映了我們的規模、我們對推動獲利成長的重視以及我們在投資關鍵成長計畫時所採取的嚴格費用管理。

In Investment Management, we delivered strong results, reflecting the scale and breadth of our platform and the momentum we're seeing across the business. We delivered a record $1 billion in annual net revenue and 4.8% organic growth, well above our long-term target. Our platform is well positioned in the areas where the industry is growing, including private assets, insurance asset management and the continued expansion of our intermediary platform with actively managed ETFs.

在投資管理領域，我們取得了強勁的業績，這反映了我們平台的規模和廣度，以及我們在整個業務領域看到的良好發展勢頭。我們實現了創紀錄的 10 億美元年度淨收入和 4.8% 的有機成長，遠遠超過我們的長期目標。我們的平台在行業成長的領域佔據了有利地位，包括私人資產、保險資產管理以及我​​們透過主動管理 ETF 不斷擴展的中介平台。

We're an established leader in the third-party insurance channel built on our expertise in managing Voya's General Account. This channel continues to build momentum heading into 2026 and is a clear competitive advantage. Our record net flows in 2025 drove AUM to $360 billion, highlighting both the competitiveness of our offering and the trust our clients place in our investment capabilities.

我們憑藉在管理 Voya 一般帳戶方面的專業知識，已成為第三方保險管道的領導者。該通路在進入 2026 年之際繼續保持成長勢頭，並成為一項明顯的競爭優勢。2025 年，我們創紀錄的淨流入推動資產管理規模達到 3,600 億美元，這不僅凸顯了我們產品的競爭力，也體現了客戶對我們投資能力的信任。

In Employee Benefits, we made meaningful progress in improving margins and expect further improvement this year. In Stop Loss, we have increased our rates, enhanced risk selection, and been disciplined with reserving. Our actions position us well for 2026.

在員工福利方面，我們在提高利潤率方面取得了顯著進展，並預計今年將進一步改善。在停損方面，我們提高了費率，加強了風險選擇，並嚴格控制了準備金。我們的行動使我們為2026年做好了充分準備。

Across the enterprise, our results this year reflect the competitive strength of our franchise and the progress we're making against our strategic priorities. Our strong performance drove significant cash generation and positions us well to further increase excess capital in 2026. Together, our growth in excess capital and strong balance sheet gives us flexibility to deploy capital to the most value-accretive opportunities.

今年，我們整個企業的業績反映了我們特許經營權的競爭優勢以及我們在實現策略重點方面取得的進展。我們強勁的業績帶來了可觀的現金流，並為我們2026年進一步增加超額資本奠定了良好的基礎。我們不斷成長的超額資本和強勁的資產負債表，使我們能夠靈活地將資本部署到最有價值的機會中。

With that, I'll turn it over to Mike to walk through the financials in more detail. Mike?

接下來，我將把發言權交給麥克，讓他更詳細地講解一下財務狀況。麥克風？

Thank you, Heather. 2025 marked a strong year of execution. We generated over $1 billion of pre-tax adjusted operating earnings, $168 million higher than a year ago. And we increased earnings per share 22% to $8.85. This included EPS of $1.94 in the quarter, which was up 39% from last year. These results were driven by management action throughout the year as we delivered above-plan financial results across all our strategic priorities.

謝謝你，希瑟。 2025年是執行力強勁的一年。我們實現了超過 10 億美元的稅前調整後營業利潤，比去年同期成長了 1.68 億美元。我們的每股盈餘成長了 22%，達到 8.85 美元。其中包括本季每股收益 1.94 美元，比去年同期成長了 39%。這些成果得益於管理階層全年採取的行動，我們在所有策略重點領域都實現了超越計畫的財務表現。

We continued our commercial momentum in both Retirement and Investment Management. We significantly exceeded our financial targets, integrating OneAmerica, and we achieved substantial margin increases in Employee Benefits. This led to approximately $775 million of excess capital generation in 2025, including approximately $175 million in the fourth quarter. And looking forward, we expect further excess capital improvement in 2026.

我們在退休金和投資管理領域都保持了良好的商業發展動能。我們大幅超額完成了財務目標，整合了 OneAmerica，並在員工福利方面實現了利潤率的大幅增長。這將導致 2025 年產生約 7.75 億美元的超額資本，其中第四季產生約 1.75 億美元。展望未來，我們預期2026年資本過剩狀況將進一步改善。

Turning to Retirement. 2025 was an exceptional year, marked by record commercial results, robust earnings growth, and higher value accretion from OneAmerica. We generated nearly $1 billion of adjusted operating earnings in Retirement standalone, 17% higher than 2024. This included $255 million of earnings in the fourth quarter.

展望退休。 2025 年是意義非凡的一年，公司取得了創紀錄的商業業績，獲利成長強勁，OneAmerica 的價值也大幅提升。我們在退休業務獨立部分實現了近 10 億美元的調整後營業利潤，比 2024 年成長了 17%。其中包括第四季2.55億美元的收益。

Earnings growth was primarily driven by higher fee-based revenues, which now exceed $1.4 billion. Commercial momentum and our integration of OneAmerica are driving a 21% increase in fee-based revenues year-over-year.

獲利成長主要得益於更高的手續費收入，目前已超過 14 億美元。商業發展動能以及我們對 OneAmerica 的整合，推動了收費收入年增 21%。

Importantly, we finished the year with an adjusted operating margin of 40% as we both drove efficiency across the business while investing in key priorities that accelerate our strategy. We generated a record $28 billion of organic defined contribution net inflows in 2025, and we added $60 billion of assets from OneAmerica.

重要的是，我們最終實現了 40% 的調整後營業利潤率，這得益於我們提高了整個業務的效率，同時投資於加速我們策略的關鍵優先事項。2025 年，我們創造了創紀錄的 280 億美元有機固定繳款淨流入，並且從 OneAmerica 增加了 600 億美元的資產。

Together, this supported a 30% increase in total defined contribution assets to approximately $730 billion at year-end. We now have a base of approximately 10 million participant accounts for us to serve both to and through Retirement.

這使得退休金繳款總額在年底增加了 30%，達到約 7,300 億美元。我們現在擁有大約 1000 萬個參與者帳戶，我們可以為他們提供從退休到退休的全方位服務。

Looking ahead to 2026, we anticipate meaningful defined contribution net inflows, underpinned by plans expected to fund in the back half of the year. And our scale and leadership position in Retirement provide a strong foundation for durable fee-based revenue growth, increasing cash generation over the long term.

展望 2026 年，我們預計會有可觀的固定繳款淨流入，這主要得益於預計在下半年開始提供資金的計畫。我們在退休領域的規模和領先地位為持續的收費收入成長奠定了堅實的基礎，從而在長期內增加了現金流。

Turning to Investment Management. 2025 was a year of record commercial results and revenue. Net revenues exceeded $1 billion in 2025. Both institutional and retail revenues grew year-over-year, contributing to overall adjusted operating earnings of $226 million. This included another year of exceptional investment results as we realized $35 million of performance fees in the fourth quarter.

轉而關注投資管理。 2025年是商業業績和收入創紀錄的一年。2025年淨收入超過10億美元。機構和零售收入均較去年同期成長，使調整後的總營業利潤達到 2.26 億美元。這其中包括又一個投資業績優異的年份，我們在第四季度實現了 3,500 萬美元的業績報酬。

We generated flows of approximately $15 billion, well exceeding our long-term organic growth target of 2%, further scaling our franchise. Flows for the year were broad-based across channels and strategies.

我們創造了約 150 億美元的收入，遠遠超過了我們 2% 的長期有機成長目標，進一步擴大了我們的業務規模。今年的資金流動覆蓋了各個管道和策略。

In institutional, insurance channel demand for investment-grade credit, commercial mortgage, and private credit strategies remain strong. And in retail, international demand for income and growth remained robust while fixed income and specialty equity strategies drove positive flows in the US intermediary channel. We enter 2026 with significant momentum and are on track to deliver another year of organic growth.

在機構和保險管道，對投資等級信貸、商業抵押貸款和私人信貸策略的需求仍然強勁。在零售領域，國際市場對收益和成長的需求仍然強勁，而固定收益和專業股票策略推動了美國中介管道的積極資金流動。我們帶著強勁的發展勢頭進入2026年，並有望實現另一個有機增長年。

Turning to Employee Benefits. Adjusted operating earnings were $152 million in the full year significantly improved from $40 million in the prior year. A key driver of this improvement included Stop Loss, which I will discuss in a moment.

接下來談談員工福利。經調整後的全年營業利潤為 1.52 億美元，較上年的 4,000 萬美元大幅成長。促成這項改進的關鍵因素之一是停損功能，我稍後會詳細討論。

In Group Life, full-year loss ratios were at the low end of our target range of 77% to 80%. This included favorable loss ratios in the fourth quarter, driven by better-than-expected frequency and severity of claims. In Voluntary, our full year loss ratios were approximately 50%, consistent with our plan to drive enhanced value for our customers.

在團體人壽保險方面，全年損失率處於我們目標範圍 77% 至 80% 的低端。其中包括第四季度有利的賠付率，主要得益於理賠的頻率和嚴重程度好於預期。在自願保險方面，我們的全年損失率約為 50%，這與我們為客戶創造更大價值的計劃相符。

Turning to Stop Loss. In 2025, we delivered meaningful improvement supported by higher rates, tighter risk selection, and disciplined reserving. Full-year reported loss ratios improved by 10 percentage points from 94% to 84%. This reflects, in part, a reserve increase of $37 million in the fourth quarter. Claims experience on the Jan-25 book is developing modestly better than the prior year.

轉而使用停損單。2025年，我們透過提高利率、更嚴格的風險選擇和有紀律的準備金，實現了實質的改進。全年報告的損失率從 94% 改善了 10 個百分點，降至 84%。這部分反映了第四季度儲備金增加了 3700 萬美元。截至 1 月 25 日的理賠情況略優於去年同期。

However, ensuring we have a well-supported reserve level heading into first quarter is essential. And as a reminder, claims experience for January cohorts will move from approximately 65% to 90% credible on a paid basis through the first quarter.

但是，確保我們在進入第一季時擁有充足的儲備金至關重要。另外提醒一下，1 月的理賠經驗在第一季將以付費方式從約 65% 提高到 90%。

Looking forward, we continue to embed recent experience into our pricing and risk selection. For the January 2026 business, we achieved an average net effective rate increase of 24%, above the 21% increase secured last year.

展望未來，我們將繼續把近期的經驗融入我們的定價和風險選擇中。截至 2026 年 1 月，我們實現了平均淨有效利率成長 24%，高於去年獲得的 21% 的成長。

Different than a year ago, we were able to maintain in-force premiums, and we have more opportunities to select our risks with RFP volumes rising, driven by employers seeking greater certainty in their medical spend. Collectively, these actions, reserving, pricing, and risk selection have materially strengthened our positioning and support further margin expansion in 2026.

與一年前不同的是，我們能夠維持現有保費，隨著 RFP 數量的增加，我們有了更多選擇風險的機會，這主要是由於雇主尋求對其醫療支出有更大的確定性。綜合來看，這些措施、準備金、定價和風險選擇已顯著加強了我們的市場地位，並支持在 2026 年進一步擴大利潤率。

Turning to slide 11. We generated approximately $775 million of excess capital in the full year, including approximately $175 million in the fourth quarter. This meaningfully exceeded our $700 million target in 2025. Exceptional earnings drove a more than 200-basis-point expansion in our adjusted return on equity which now stands at 18.6%.

翻到第11張幻燈片。我們全年產生了約 7.75 億美元的超額資本，其中第四季產生了約 1.75 億美元。這比我們2025年設定的7億美元目標有了顯著提高。優異的獲利表現推動我們的調整後股本回報率成長超過 200 個基點，目前達到 18.6%。

We have been disciplined with our capital in 2025, including our acquisition of OneAmerica, which is generating earnings and returns well above our original targets. More broadly, our strong balance sheet, healthy excess capital, and highly cash-generative businesses provide us significant flexibility to deploy capital in the most value-accretive way.

2025 年，我們對資本的使用非常謹慎，包括收購 OneAmerica，該公司產生的收益和回報遠遠超過了我們最初的目標。更廣泛地說，我們強勁的資產負債表、健康的盈餘資本和高現金流業務為我們提供了極大的靈活性，可以以最有價值的方式部署資本。

In the near term, the best use of that capital is for share repurchases. We will repurchase $150 million of shares in the first quarter and expect to do the same in the second quarter subject to macro conditions. Longer term, we will continue to be strategic, opportunistic, and disciplined with our deployment of capital as we accelerate our strategy.

短期內，這筆資金的最佳用途是回購股票。我們將在第一季回購價值 1.5 億美元的股票，並預計在第二季也進行同樣的回購，視宏觀經濟狀況而定。從長遠來看，我們將繼續採取策略性、機會主義和嚴謹的資本部署策略，加速推進我們的策略。

We head into 2026 with clarity on our priorities and great momentum. We exceeded our financial targets in 2025 and expect to do the same in 2026. I'll now turn it back to Heather to share those priorities.

我們帶著清晰的優先事項和強勁的發展勢頭邁入 2026 年。我們在 2025 年超額完成了財務目標，預計 2026 年也將如此。現在我將把發言權交還給希瑟，讓她分享這些優先事項。

Thanks, Mike. Turning to slide 12. I want to thank the entire team here at Voya. Collectively, we delivered for our customers and positioned Voya for another strong year in 2026. Our priorities for 2026 are clear and compelling: growing excess cash generation, maintaining balance sheet strength and capital flexibility, driving continued commercial momentum in Retirement and Investment Management, and further improving margins and Employee Benefits.

謝謝你，麥克。翻到第12張投影片。我要感謝Voya的全體團隊成員。我們齊心協力，為客戶創造了價值，並為 Voya 在 2026 年的又一個強勁年份奠定了基礎。我們 2026 年的優先事項明確而有力：增加超額現金產生，保持資產負債表的穩健性和資本靈活性，推動退休和投資管理業務的持續商業發展勢頭，並進一步提高利潤率和員工福利。

These priorities, and our continued focus on execution, accelerate our growth strategy and create meaningful value for our customers and shareholders. We are helping our customers build financial confidence and clearing a path for better outcomes today and in the years ahead.

這些優先事項以及我們對執行的持續關注，將加速我們的成長策略，並為我們的客戶和股東創造有意義的價值。我們正在幫助客戶建立財務信心，並為他們現在和未來幾年取得更好的成果鋪路。

With that, I'll turn it over to the operator so we can take your questions.

接下來，我將把電話交給接線員，以便我們回答您的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Bob Huang, Morgan Stanley.

（操作說明）鮑勃·黃，摩根士丹利。

My first question is on Stop Loss, especially regarding the reserve that you've added. Can you maybe give a little bit more details behind the reserve actions? Is it more of you have the reserves mainly just to pad the reserves to be conservative? Or is it more you're actually seeing some losses developing that would cause you to take the actions you've taken?

我的第一個問題是關於停損的，特別是關於你添加的儲備金。能否詳細說明預備役行動的具體細節？你們持有儲備金的主要目的是為了保守起見而增加儲備金嗎？或者，你真的看到了一些損失正在發生，所以才採取了這些行動？

Hey, Bob. Yeah, first, just let me start by saying and reiterating what I shared in the prepared remarks. When we talk about the Jan-25 business relative to the Jan-24 business, it's running modestly better than where we were at this point last year. That includes when we set the reserves coming out of December and frankly, where we stand right now.

嘿，鮑伯。好的，首先，請容許我重申我在準備好的演講稿中分享的內容。當我們談到 1 月 25 日的業務與 1 月 24 日的業務相比時，它比去年同期略有好轉。這包括我們設定 12 月份的儲備金，坦白說，也包括我們目前的處境。

And then to your question, second, we did increase reserves in the quarter. The importance of the claims experience in the first quarter can't be understated. As I mentioned, we move from two-thirds complete to 90% complete in the first quarter. And the range of outcomes today is different than what I would say historically for Stop Loss.

其次，關於你的問題，我們本季確實增加了儲備金。第一季的理賠經驗的重要性不容小覷。正如我之前提到的，我們在第一季完成了三分之二的項目，達到 90%。現今停損策略的結果範圍與我以往所說的結果範圍有所不同。

You hear us talk about 77% to 80% a 3-point range. But with this healthcare backdrop, that range is wider. Probably double the normal range. And so when we look at the reserving, we think about being on the higher end of that best estimate range.

你常聽到我們說3分的命中率在77%到80%之間。但在目前的醫療保健背景下，這個範圍更廣。可能是正常範圍的兩倍。因此，在考慮預留金時，我們會考慮盡可能接近最佳估算範圍的上限。

Now when we look forward, when we think about the margin expansion that we expect in 2026, we certainly see that coming from not only the perspective of where we price the Jan-26 business. 24% increase we got on that business. And frankly, from a risk selection perspective, we've gotten more opportunities. RFPs are up. And as I just mentioned, we are seeing employers look for this type of coverage as they're really trying to get certainty with their medical spend.

展望未來，當我們考慮2026年預期利潤率的擴張時，我們當然認為這不僅體現在我們對2026年1月業務的定價上。該業務的利潤率成長了24%。坦白說，從風險選擇的角度來看，我們獲得了更多機會。RFP已發布。正如我剛才提到的，我們看到雇主們正在尋求這種類型的保險，因為他們真的想確保醫療支出的可控性。

I think the big step back here right now is that when we look at Stop Loss, it did not take us off course for an incredible year in 2025. And the actions we've taken across pricing, risk selection, and how we reserve for this heading into 2026, positions us to say the same.

我認為目前最大的倒退在於，當我們審視停損策略時，它並沒有讓我們偏離正軌，錯失2025年輝煌的一年。我們在定價、風險選擇以及為應對 2026 年的局面所做的準備等方面所採取的行動，使我們能夠做出同樣的預測。

Got it. Really appreciate that. So it sounds like your path hasn't changed. So maybe a follow-up on that specifically, is the 24% rate increase for the Jan-2026 cohort, as we go forward, obviously, that's a big rate increase, do you feel that rate increase is enough or sufficient going forward as we think about just the broader Stop Loss environment? Or do you feel like maybe going into the next few years, there should be more pricing? Just curious, any comments or dynamics on pricing?

知道了。非常感謝。聽起來你的道路並沒有改變。那麼，或許可以就此追問一下，2026 年 1 月到期的批次利率將上漲 24%，顯然，這是一個很大的漲幅，考慮到更廣泛的止損環境，您認為這樣的漲幅是否足夠？或者您覺得在未來幾年內，應該有更多定價機制？只是好奇，關於定價方面有什麼看法或動態嗎？

Yeah, we do. We do, Bob. When we think about where trend is, we talked a lot about the fact that we expected higher trend in 2025 and 2026. And so we went out to get that rate. Certainly, it was easier for Jan-26 than it was for Jan-25 as we were ahead of many and going after that rate. But when we look at this relative to that high single-digit, maybe 10% first dollar trend, you lever that up around that 20% range.

是的，我們有。是的，鮑伯。當我們思考發展趨勢時，我們多次談到，我們預期 2025 年和 2026 年的發展趨勢會更高。於是我們就出去了解了那個利率。當然，1月26日比1月25日要容易得多，因為我們領先許多人，並朝著那個速度前進。但是，如果我們將其與個位數高位（可能 10%）的首美元趨勢進行比較，你會發現其槓桿作用大約在 20% 的範圍內。

And so the other piece I'd mention too is that that demand we're seeing from employers that are looking for certainty of spend, we feel like as we move forward on the progress of margin improvement at the cohort level, that we're going to have even more opportunity in 2026. Because when you look at the demand, it's up; supply is, at best, limited to down.

因此，我還想提一下，我們看到雇主們希望支出有確定性，我們感覺隨著我們在群體層面利潤率改善方面取得進展，我們將在 2026 年獲得更多機會。因為從需求來看，它是上升的；而供應充其量只是下降的。

Yeah. And Bob, it's Heather. Maybe one thing I would add, just to do the broader step back on Stop Losses. We've always talked about this being a two-year journey. And as Mike talked about the $100 million improvement in earnings in 2025 is a significant step in the right direction.

是的。鮑勃，我是希瑟。我或許還要補充一點，那就是對停損進行更廣泛的回顧。我們一直都說這將是一段為期兩年的旅程。正如麥克所說，2025 年收益增加 1 億美元是朝著正確方向邁出的重要一步。

We aren't declaring victory. As Mike talked about, we're reserving for a wide range of outcomes, but we believe we only have upside from here, which is why we have reiterated our capital deployment plans for the first half of 2026.

我們並未宣布勝利。正如麥克所說，我們為各種可能的結果預留了資金，但我們相信從現在開始只有上漲空間，因此我們重申了 2026 年上半年的資本部署計畫。

Tom Gallagher, Evercore ISI.

Tom Gallagher，Evercore ISI。

A couple of Stop Loss follow-ups. Mike, when you said your actions support further margin expansion in 2026, is your baseline the 84% that you did for the full year? Or is it the 91% accident year loss ratio for the Jan-25 cohort? When you say improvement, from which number, the 84% or the 91%?

幾個停損後續問題。麥克，你說你的行動將支持在 2026 年進一步擴大利潤率，你的基準線是你全年實現的 84% 的利潤率嗎？還是指 1 月 25 日這群 91% 的事故年度損失率？您說的進步是指相對於哪個數字而言的進步，是84%還是91%？

I think it's both, Tom. Like when you think about 84%, I mean, certainly, that's the reported levels of loss ratios for the full year. And as Heather just mentioned, we took the EB business from $40 million to $152 million. That included progress with Stop Loss, but also from the 91% perspective. And I think Bob was getting at this just a moment ago. When you think about reserve levels, and frankly, fourth quarter is super critical when we make that assessment of where do we think the range of outcomes are. As I just mentioned, it's not a 3-point type of wideness in the range. We think it's frankly closer to double that. And we want to be in a position here where we're at the higher end of that best estimate range.

我覺得兩者都是，湯姆。例如，當你想到 84% 這個數字時，我的意思是，當然，這是全年報告的損失率水準。正如 Heather 剛才提到的，我們將 EB 業務從 4,000 萬美元發展到了 1.52 億美元。這不僅包括停損方面的進展，也包括從 91% 的角度來看的進展。我覺得鮑伯剛才也想表達這個意思。當你考慮儲備水準時，坦白說，第四季對於我們評估結果範圍至關重要。正如我剛才提到的，這不是範圍的 3 點式寬度。我們認為實際數字應該接近這個數字的兩倍。我們希望目前的狀況是，我們處於最佳預估範圍的較高水準。

Now we certainly need to see where things play out in the first quarter, and frankly, some of the second quarter before we decide where this is ultimately going to land or what we see where this ultimately is going to land. But the one thing I would just encourage folks to think about here is don't conflate where we're reserved at with where this ultimately lands.

現在我們當然需要看看第一季度的情況如何發展，坦白說，還需要看看第二季度的一些情況，才能決定最終結果如何，或者我們最終會看到什麼結果。但我只想鼓勵大家思考一點，不要把我們目前的保留立場和最終結果混為一談。

And Tom, I would just add to it, if you really compare where we were a year ago with our reserve levels, about this time last year, we were close to 95%. And while we're not fully complete on the Jan-25 book of business, you see it coming in closer to that 90%, 91% range, which is quite an improvement.

湯姆，我還要補充一點，如果你仔細比較我們一年前的儲備水平，大約在去年這個時候，我們的儲備水平接近 95%。雖然我們還沒有完全完成 1 月 25 日的業務安排，但可以看到完成率已經接近 90% 到 91%，這是一個相當大的進步。

And so we do think it's prudent given the backdrop to do the reserve adjustments that Mike mentioned. But as you saw last year, things only went in a one-way direction which was a positive direction. And so we like the progress we made, and we see further upside from here, an improvement to build on what we delivered.

因此，鑑於目前的局勢，我們認為進行麥克提到的儲備金調整是審慎之舉。但正如你去年所看到的，事情的發展方向是單方面的，而且是正面的。因此，我們對所取得的進展感到滿意，並且看到了更大的發展空間，可以在我們已取得的成果基礎上繼續改進。

I appreciate that color from both of you. My follow-up is just if you look at the loss pick of 91%, it implies loss cost trend was up 20%-ish. Is that the right level that you think is happening across the board for Stop Loss on a trend basis? Or was there something about your risk selection? Did you get selected against? Do you think your loss experience was worse?

我很喜歡你們兩個選的這種顏色。我的後續問題是，如果你看一下 91% 的虧損率，這意味著虧損成本趨勢上升了 20% 左右。你認為從趨勢角度來看，這個停損位是目前普遍適用的合適水準嗎？或者，問題出在你的風險選擇？你被選中了嗎？你覺得你的喪親之痛更糟嗎？

I just want to get a sense for like what did you see in the quarter? Was it material worsening? Or is this more conservatism? I just want to get a sense for what do you think actually happened. I think people look at the 91% and they get scared because you went from 87% and 91% and think, you don't have your arms around the situation. So maybe just, to the extent that you can, tell us how confident you are that you have your arms around the situation and you're not seeing adverse selection.

我只是想了解一下你這季都看到了什麼？情況是否惡化了？或者這更偏向保守主義？我只是想了解一下你認為實際發生了什麼。我認為人們看到 91% 這個數字會感到害怕，因為從 87% 到 91% 的轉變讓人覺得，你無法掌控局面。所以，請您盡可能告訴我們，您對掌控局勢、沒有逆向選擇有多大信心。

So from a risk-selection perspective, it's a battle well thought never one. I think when we talked about the Jan-24 business, that was risk selection, not where we wanted to be in any way, shape, or form. We made improvements. When we think about where we were at Jan-25, and we expect to make even further improvements on risk selection. So it's never perfect.

所以從風險選擇的角度來看，這是一場經過深思熟慮卻從未真正發生過的戰鬥。我認為，當我們談到 1 月 24 日的業務時，那是風險選擇，而不是我們想要達到的任何程度。我們做出了改進。當我們回顧 1 月 25 日的情況時，我們期望在風險選擇方面取得更大的進展。所以它永遠不會完美。

Tom, I think to your question around the trend, as I mentioned earlier, we think it's in that, call it, 20% or high-teens level. It was more difficult to get rate for the Jan-25 than it was for the Jan-26 for the reasons that we were talking about around demand. When you just roll that all together, the heart of your question, do we feel like we have our arms around this? Absolutely, we do.

湯姆，關於你提出的趨勢問題，正如我之前提到的，我們認為它處於，姑且稱之為，20%或接近10%的水平。由於我們剛才討論的需求問題，1 月 25 日的匯率比 1 月 26 日的匯率更難確定。當你把所有這些因素綜合起來，你會發現問題的核心在於：我們是否感覺到我們已經掌握了這個問題？當然，我們有。

Mike Ward, UBS.

瑞銀集團的麥克沃德。

I was curious about maybe just utilizing the Stop Loss experience and in terms of leverage in order to cross-sell other products with specific employers. How is that going? Is that becoming material? Is that contributing to your confidence in 2026 for the Retirement side?

我當時很好奇，或許可以利用停損方面的經驗，並藉助槓桿作用，向特定雇主交叉銷售其他產品。進展如何？這正在成為現實嗎？這是否增強了您對2026年退休前景的信心？

Yeah. Mike, it's Heather. I'll let Jay add. But I think what's important to think about is that we're often selling Employee Benefits products to the same brokers and consultants, both the Stop Loss and the Voluntary. And it goes to the point of we see high demand for the products that we're offering.

是的。麥克，我是希瑟。我讓傑伊補充。但我認為需要考慮的重要一點是，我們經常將員工福利產品（包括停損保險和自願保險）銷售給相同的經紀人和顧問。這說明我們提供的產品需求量很大。

But maybe the last bit I mentioned before I toss it over to Jay is our teams have continued to be highly disciplined on margin over growth. So we're not leading into anything to drive unnecessary growth just given the backdrop. But Jay?

但在我把話題交給傑伊之前，我最後想提的是，我們的團隊一直以來都高度重視利潤率而非成長。鑑於目前的形勢，我們不會採取任何措施來推動不必要的成長。但是傑伊呢？

Yeah. As we think through this and heading into 2026, as Mike referenced, the supply at best, we think is actually down, but the demand is significantly up, and we're hearing that from our brokers and intermediaries. And so it does cause this capacity conversation. There is only so much capacity in the marketplace for coverage and getting a more fulsome book as we think through the areas of Employee Benefits and where we have and are in similar segments in Retirement, we definitely are changing that conversation.

是的。正如麥克所提到的，當我們思考這個問題並展望 2026 年時，我們認為供應情況充其量是下降的，但需求卻大幅上升，我們從經紀人和中介那裡也聽到了這種說法。所以，這就引發了關於產能的討論。市場上的承保能力是有限的，隨著我們對員工福利領域的思考，以及我們在退休領域類似細分市場中的地位，我們正在努力擴大業務範圍，這無疑將改變人們的這種看法。

It's happening in front of us. We're engaged in those conversations now. We expect those conversations to continue. We are also seeing more and more from a bundling perspective. So as we get into different questions on different parts of the book, we're seeing a greater opportunity to bundle given what we've done in some of the product lines. And so I think we'll come back to you as this conversation progresses, but it's definitely a leverage point and a conversation point we're having actively with our partners.

這一切就發生在我們眼前。我們現在正在進行這些討論。我們預計這些對話將會持續下去。從捆綁銷售的角度來看，我們也越來越常看到這種情況。因此，隨著我們深入探討本書不同部分的不同問題，鑑於我們在某些​​產品線中所做的工作，我們看到了更大的捆綁銷售機會。所以，我想隨著談話的深入，我們會再和您談起這件事，但這絕對是我們正在與合作夥伴積極探討的一個切入點和討論點。

And then just for Heather and Mike, you both sounded confident on the idea of expanding your excess cash flow generation in 2026. Wondering if you could unpack that a little bit more?

然後，就 Heather 和 Mike 而言，你們兩位似乎都對在 2026 年擴大盈餘現金流產生的想法充滿信心。能再詳細解釋一下嗎？

Yeah. Look, it really boils down to what we've been talking about in 2025 and what we're signaling around 2026. From a priority perspective, Heather finished with this, really, there's really three elements. I think the first element is the commercial momentum that we've had in both Retirement and Investment Management, record years. Earnings have been fantastic.

是的。說到底，這其實就是我們一直在討論的 2025 年的事情，以及我們為 2026 年發出的信號。從優先順序的角度來看，Heather 最後總結道，實際上，這裡麵包含三個要素。我認為第一個因素是我們在退休金和投資管理領域都取得了創紀錄的商業發展動能。收益非常可觀。

And then what we just talked about from an Employee Benefits perspective, we made good progress in 2025, but we're not satisfied, and we see even more margin expansion in 2026. That's going to be a contributor as well.

從員工福利的角度來看，我們剛才談到的2025年取得了不錯的進展，但我們並不滿足，我們預計2026年利潤率會進一步提高。那也將是影響因素。

And then if you're looking at it from a per share perspective, to Heather's point, just a moment ago, we see share repurchases as a key element of the value proposition. And frankly, when you look at our return on equity at close to 19%, we're more than happy to buy shares at these valuations.

然後，如果你從每股的角度來看，正如 Heather 剛才所說，我們認為股票回購是價值主張的關鍵要素。坦白說，考慮到我們接近 19% 的股本回報率，我們非常樂意以這樣的估值購買股票。

And Mike, maybe to build and certainly makes sense while there's a lot of questions on Stop Loss. But if you think about the broader and, frankly, larger portion of our business, we've had an absolutely amazing year in 2025. If I think about record revenue and Investment Management, record flows driven by a diversified breadth of solutions with strong investment performance.

麥克，或許可以建造一個，而且在停損方面還有很多問題的情況下，這當然是有意義的。但如果你考慮到我們業務更廣泛、更廣闊的領域，坦白說，我們在 2025 年取得了絕對驚人的成就。如果我考慮創紀錄的收入和投資管理，創紀錄的資金流動是由多元化的解決方案和強勁的投資績效所驅動的。

We've talked about and you heard Mike mention on the call, an absolute record year in Retirement that is setting us up well for continued growth at margins that, frankly, have been above our long-term target. We're making progress on the build-out of Wealth Management, which further diversifies that business.

我們已經討論過，而且你也聽到麥克在電話會議上提到過，退休業務今年取得了絕對的創紀錄的成績，這為我們持續增長奠定了良好的基礎，坦白說，利潤率已經超過了我們的長期目標。我們在財富管理業務的拓展方面取得了進展，這將進一步豐富我們的業務。

And then the OneAmerica, where we've added additional capabilities for our clients. We brought in additional distribution partners, but we've also demonstrated really good deployment of capital into an acquisition that generated over 30% unlevered return. So to your question, Mike, yeah, we feel confident in our ability to continue to grow cash generation in 2026 and are committed to returning that back to shareholders.

然後是 OneAmerica，我們為客戶增加了額外的功能。我們引入了更多分銷合作夥伴，我們還證明了資本在收購中得到了非常好的運用，產生了超過 30% 的無槓桿回報。所以，麥克，回答你的問題，是的，我們有信心在 2026 年繼續提高現金流，並致力於將這些現金流回報給股東。

Suneet Kamath, Jefferies.

Suneet Kamath，傑富瑞集團。

I wanted to go back to Stop Loss. Mike, as you were talking about the 2025 block, I think you said it was modestly better than 2024. And I had expected it to be significantly better just given the pricing actions that you took. So I guess the question is, is this two-step process that you talked about extending? Maybe, it's going to take you another year to get there in terms of the loss ratio?

我想回到停損模式。麥克，當你剛才談到 2025 年的區塊時，我想你說它比 2024 年的區塊略好。鑑於你們採取的定價措施，我原本期望情況會好得多。所以我想問的是，您提到的這個兩步驟流程是否要擴展？或許，你還需要一年時間才能在虧損率上達到目標？

Yeah. Look, I think stay tuned, Suneet. We're pricing this business, and we did it in the fall. We'll do it in 2026 to get our target margins. And as we've been talking about, we made a lot of progress in 2025. We're not all the way there.

是的。聽著，我覺得你應該繼續關注，蘇尼特。我們正在對這項業務進行定價，我們在秋季完成了這項工作。我們將在 2026 年實現我們的目標利潤率。正如我們一直在討論的那樣，我們在 2025 年取得了很大進展。我們還沒完全到達目的地。

Our expectation is to continue to make progress in 2026. The exact amount of that, I think we'll have a better sense as we get to more in the middle, late part of 2026. But we'll update you along the way. Like Tom was asking earlier, do we have our arms around this? We do.

我們期望在2026年繼續取得進展。至於具體金額，我想到了 2026 年中後期，我們會更清楚。但我們會隨時向您報告最新進展。就像湯姆之前問的那樣，我們能掌控局面嗎？是的。

And we're taking action across the three dimensions. And those three dimensions are the pricing, the risk selection, and the reserving. And so we think we've taken the appropriate steps in the fourth quarter to make sure that we're in a good position in 2026 to continue that excess capital generation growth that Heather just talked about a moment ago.

我們正在從三個方面採取行動。這三個維度分別是定價、風險選擇和準備金。因此，我們認為我們在第四季度採取了適當的措施，以確保我們在 2026 年處於良好的地位，繼續實現 Heather 剛才提到的超額資本產生成長。

Okay. And then I guess when you go from one-third to two-thirds then to 90% of the experience, is there something in the latter part of how that experience earns in that gives you more information? Or is this just as you saw what happened in the fourth quarter, that's what caused you to take the reserve build?

好的。那麼，我想，當你從三分之一的體驗到三分之二的體驗，再到 90% 的體驗時，在體驗的後半部分，是否有一些資訊能夠讓你獲得更多資訊？或者，正如你在第四節看到的那樣，正是這種情況促使你採取了儲備建隊措施？

Yeah. It's just timing, Suneet, right? Like fourth quarter is really critical. First quarter is really critical. That's not new news. We've been trying to get that across for the reasons you just called out.

是的。蘇尼特，這只是時機問題，對吧？第四節比賽真的非常關鍵。第一季至關重要。這並非什麼新鮮事。我們一直試圖傳達這一點，原因正如你剛才提到的那樣。

And so even though the claims are happening in 2025, we may not be aware of them until 2026. There's just a lag between an event and when it's reported. And so with that healthcare backdrop, I think it's just super prudent to be on the higher end of best estimate ranges for reserves. So that's what we did.

因此，即使這些說法是在 2025 年提出的，我們可能也要到 2026 年才會知道。事件發生到被報道之間存在時間差。因此，在這樣的醫療保健背景下，我認為儲備金最好保持在最佳估算範圍的較高水平，這是非常謹慎的做法。所以我們就這麼做了。

John Barnidge, Piper Sandler.

約翰·巴尼奇，派珀·桑德勒。

My first question is on Stop Loss. And Mike, you had some comments that range of outcomes is different today than historically and a lot wider. Is it one of these things with the Stop Loss business with the fourth quarter [where there](corrected by company after the call) is going to be more seasonality going forward in this business, in this backdrop, setting aside the rate you need?

我的第一個問題是關於停損的。麥克，你曾說過，如今的結果範圍與歷史上有所不同，而且範圍要廣得多。第四季止損業務是否會面臨更多季節性因素的影響？ （公司在電話會議後更正）在這種背景下，考慮到所需的利率，這是否就是其中之一？

Look, I think when we look at 2024, we look at 2025, we're in a once-in-a-generation type of situation as it relates to the healthcare backdrop. Where this lands as we get deeper into 2026 and is this going to be something that's happening every fourth quarter? Yeah, I wouldn't want to signal that.

我認為，展望 2024 年和 2025 年，就醫療保健背景而言，我們正處於一代人一次的境地。隨著我們進入 2026 年，這種情況會如何發展？這是否會成為每第四季都會發生的事情？是的，我不想發出那樣的訊號。

What I would want to signal is that the analysis, the work that we do, and what we're putting on our book and the analysis and the work that we're doing in assessing what the right amount of reserves are, that's going to continue. Does the range stay at a similar level in December of 2026 that it is in December 2025? We would hope not, but if it is, that's the way we're going to assess it, and all the actions we've taken heading into this year, again, give us a confidence level that we're going to continue to expand margins in EB, and it's not just a Stop Loss story. It's frankly across the board in that particular business line.

我想表明的是，我們所做的分析工作，以及我們記錄在案的關於評估適當儲備量的分析工作，都將繼續進行。2026 年 12 月的價格區間是否會與 2025 年 12 月的價格區間保持相似水準？我們希望不會，但如果真的發生了，我們會這樣評估。今年以來我們採取的所有行動，再次讓我們有信心繼續擴大EB的利潤率，這不僅僅是停損的故事。坦白說，這種情況在該行業普遍存在。

And my follow-up question, can you talk about the strategic rationale of Stop Loss in the context of what it brings in synergies to the growth opportunity Investment Management and Retirement?

我的後續問題是，您能否談談停損的策略原理，以及它如何為投資管理和退休業務的成長機會帶來綜效？

Yeah. John, it's Heather. Happy to do that. And I think if you look broadly at Employee Benefits and Stop Loss, this is a very important product in our overall portfolio. If you think about within the Workplace business, Stop Loss is in incredibly high demand for employer clients to help them control really more volatile medical expenses when they choose to self-insure.

是的。約翰，我是希瑟。我很樂意這樣做。我認為，從員工福利和停損的角度來看，這是在我們整體產品組合中非常重要的產品。如果你考慮一下工作場所業務，你會發現停損服務對雇主客戶的需求非常高，可以幫助他們在選擇自保時控制波動性更大的醫療費用。

As you heard Jay mention, there is much greater demand and lower supply. And so we think we're well positioned, specifically demonstrated by the 24% rate increase we achieved on the book, while maintaining the block size.

正如傑伊所說，目前需求遠大於供應。因此，我們認為我們處於有利地位，這一點尤其體現在我們實現了 24% 的貸款利率成長，同時保持了貸款規模不變。

But it also goes broadly. You think about the supplemental benefits we have. Those are really critical for families and employees to cover out-of-pocket expenses when they're in a high deductible plan. It goes to the capabilities Jay talked about in terms of the leave management build-out is that our workplace benefits are designed to help people protect against unforeseen events.

但它的適用範圍也很廣。想想我們享有的額外福利。對於參加高免賠額計畫的家庭和員工來說，這些對於支付自付費用至關重要。這與 Jay 談到的休假管理能力相符，我們的工作場所福利旨在幫助人們防範意外事件。

And then you think about the complementary nature across Retirement, Wealth Management, and Asset Management, those are all really around accumulation returns and planning. And so I see them as the opposite side of the same coin is that we've got the right capabilities to serve clients at the workplace. We've got the right capabilities to bring to institutional clients. And it goes back to our vision really helping clients to achieve a secure financial future. So it really is a great strategic asset for us.

然後你會想到退休、財富管理和資產管理之間的互補性，這些其實都是圍繞著累積回報和規劃展開的。所以我認為它們是同一枚硬幣的兩面，也就是說，我們具備在工作場所為客戶提供服務的合適能力。我們具備為機構客戶提供服務的相應能力。這一切都源自於我們的願景，即真正幫助客戶實現安全的財務未來。所以它對我們來說確實是一項巨大的戰略資產。

Jimmy Bhullar, JPMorgan.

吉米·布拉爾，摩根大通。

So I just had a question on Stop Loss as well. And clearly, the results have improved over the past year as you've implemented price hikes. But it's hard to imagine that you're not seeing something that would have warranted you increasing the pace at which you're building reserves versus three to six months ago.

我也想問一下關於停損的問題。顯然，隨著過去一年價格的上漲，業績有所改善。但很難想像，你沒有看到任何足以讓你加快儲備速度（與三到六個月前相比）的跡象。

Like I just don't think you would just reliably raise the reserves just for the hell of it to be conservative. And you haven't answered anything on any other questions on what it is that you've seen now versus maybe three months ago, six months ago that have caused you to raise reserves as much as you have. Like I realize you will eventually fix this, but you're just not answering the question on what's happened in the business the last few months.

我覺得你不會只為了保守起見就隨意提高儲備金。對於其他問題，例如你現在所看到的與三個月前、六個月前相比，究竟是什麼原因導致你大幅提高儲備金，你都沒有回答。我知道你最終會解決這個問題，但你始終沒有回答過去幾個月公司裡究竟發生了什麼事。

Yeah. Jimmy, I think, again, and maybe just to give you a little bit of color on the types of claims that we're seeing, if that's what you're looking for. And it's not a different theme, like we're seeing the same themes with respect to higher frequency related to cancer, particularly at younger ages. We're seeing the higher severity from a cell and gene therapy perspective.

是的。吉米，我想，再說一遍，也許只是想給你稍微介紹一下我們看到的索賠類型，如果你想了解的話。而且這並不是一個不同的主題，我們看到的都是與癌症相關的更高發病率的相同主題，尤其是在年輕人中。從細胞和基因治療的角度來看，我們看到病情更為嚴重。

And again, think about where we are in the development. I think that's the key here, right? We moved from really not developed until we get to the third quarter. But even in the third quarter, we're only about one-third developed. And we moved to two-thirds developed in the fourth quarter. That's when we're making the real assessment on the range of outcomes. And then in the first quarter, we're getting a sense of where this lands.

再想想我們目前處於發展階段的哪個階段。我覺得這才是關鍵所在，對吧？直到第三季度，我們的發展才真正步入正軌。但即使到了第三季度，我們也只開發了大約三分之一。第四季度，我們實現了三分之二的開發目標。那時我們才能真正評估各種可能的結果。然後在第一季度，我們就能大致了解最終結果了。

And so as I mentioned earlier, when Tom was asking, don't conflate where this is landing from where we're reserving at right now. The range of outcomes are wider, and so the prudent thing to do is to be on the higher end of that best estimate range. So the ultimate improvements are going to play out as we move through the course of 2026, but we feel good about where we are, and we feel good about the progress we're making.

所以正如我之前提到的，當湯姆問起的時候，不要把最終的落腳點和我們現在的預訂地點混為一談。結果的範圍更廣，因此謹慎的做法是取最佳估計範圍的較高值。因此，最終的改進將在 2026 年逐步顯現，但我們對現狀感到滿意，也對我們正在取得的進展感到滿意。

But the range of outcomes that is wider, but you're choosing to be conservative based on something you're seeing in the market, right, or in the loss environment. Because you could have chosen to be conservative throughout the last several quarters as well. Like I heard all the other questions. That's the reason I asked.

但結果的範圍更廣，而你卻根據你在市場上或虧損環境中看到的某些情況，選擇採取保守的做法，對吧？因為你過去幾季也完全可以選擇採取保守策略。就像我聽到的其他所有問題一樣。這就是我問這個問題的原因。

Jimmy, let me add on. I think Mike's been really clear in why we did what we did. But if you take a bigger step back and you think about what's going on in the US healthcare market, right? We are seeing more cancer claims. We are seeing higher cost of pharmaceutical drugs.

吉米，我再補充一點。我認為麥克已經非常清楚地解釋了我們這樣做的原因。但如果你退後一步，想想美國醫療保健市場正在發生的事情，對吧？我們看到越來越多的癌症索賠案例。我們看到藥品價格上漲。

That gives a wider range of outcomes. So if we have historically given you a target range of 77% to 80% of a loss ratio, when you think about it, that's a really narrow margin, right? If you think about hurricane trajectory, several days out, you've got a much wider cone. And as you get closer you have a lot more certainty.

這樣一來，結果的範圍就更廣了。所以，如果我們過去給您設定的目標範圍是損失率的 77% 到 80%，仔細想想，這確實是一個非常窄的範圍，對吧？如果你考慮颶風的路徑，提前幾天預測，你會發現預測範圍大得多。隨著距離的拉近，你的確定性也會越來越高。

And that's really how Stop Loss develops. It is one-third complete through the first nine months of the year. The completion doubles in the next quarter. And so for where we are and given the claims that we see coming in, as Mike hit on, that we see 2025 coming in favorable to the 2024 book.

這就是停損機制的真正發展過程。今年前九個月，這項工程已完成三分之一。下一季完成率將翻倍。因此，就我們目前的情況以及我們所看到的各種說法而言，正如麥克所指出的，我們認為 2025 年的情況將比 2024 年的情況更有利。

But it really is that range of uncertain outcomes given the broader healthcare backdrop that we just think it is prudent to take the reserves up. And we see opportunities to more surprise to the good versus surprise to the bad.

但考慮到當前醫療保健情勢的不確定性，我們認為增加儲備金是明智之舉。我們看到，驚喜帶來的好處比壞的消息多得多。

Wes Carmichael, Wells Fargo.

韋斯·卡邁克爾，富國銀行。

Maybe first question on Stop Loss. But in the Retirement business, could you maybe talk about the outlook for Full Service in 2026 in terms of organic growth? And also, are there any shock lapses that you expect to still come from OneAmerica? Or are we largely through that?

或許第一個問題應該是關於停損的。但就退休業務而言，您能否談談 2026 年全方位服務在內生成長的前景？另外，您認為 OneAmerica 還會出現哪些令人震驚的失誤？或者我們已經基本度過了那段時期？

Sure. If you think a little bit about where we are heading into 2026, we are building off of 2025 strong organic DC net flows, if you think about the $28 billion we generated. We also had $60 billion in assets from OneAmerica. Our growing participant base is approximately 10 million, and we've done that in high 90s retention rates. So we do expect that the flows to continue to be strong.

當然。如果你稍微思考一下我們2026年的發展方向，我們會發現我們是在2025年強勁的有機DC淨流入的基礎上發展起來的，想想我們當時創造了280億美元。我們還擁有來自 OneAmerica 的 600 億美元資產。我們不斷成長的參與者群體約為 1000 萬，而且我們的留存率一直保持在 90% 以上。因此，我們預計資金流動將持續保持強勁勢頭。

And much of this, we expect to be back-half weighted. We do have visibility into some of the plans that are funding in 2026. An important data point that we use is around plan RFP activity. And we saw that activity continuing to grow at a healthy and consistent pace heading into 2026.

而且我們預計大部分會集中在下半年。我們確實了解一些在 2026 年獲得資助的計劃。我們使用的一個重要數據點是關於計劃 RFP 活動。我們看到，這項活動在進入 2026 年之前將繼續以健康穩定的速度成長。

We're really pleased with the strong commercial momentum in Retirement, and we'll continue to come back. Again, that's on the heels, if you think about where we finished in 2025. Heather referenced this, earnings growth of 17% and above target margins of approximately 40%. So really heading into the year with a lot of strength.

我們對退休用品市場的強勁商業勢頭感到非常滿意，我們將繼續回歸。再說一遍，這都只是緊跟在後，想想我們到 2025 年的最終目標就知道了。Heather 提到了這一點，獲利成長 17%，目標利潤率約為 40%。所以，我們帶著非常強勁的勢頭進入新的一年。

Got it. That's helpful. Thanks, Jay. And maybe just a follow-up on capital deployment. Mike, I hear you loud and clear on buybacks being a near-term use of capital. But could you maybe talk about a little bit further out? Are there more potential roll-up opportunities in the Retirement space? And maybe how many opportunities are out there that are similar to OneAmerica that you might be thinking of?

知道了。那很有幫助。謝謝你，傑伊。或許還需要跟進一下資金部署狀況。麥克，我完全理解你的意思，股票回購是短期內使用資金的一種方式。但您能否談談更遠的事情？退休領域是否還有更多潛在的整合機會？或許，還有許多與 OneAmerica 類似的機會值得您考慮？

Yeah, Wes, it's Heather. I'll take your question. So if you think about it, the Retirement industry continues to be in secular consolidation. And we're viewed as a natural buyer. I think we demonstrated that very clearly with OneAmerica that we can do this quite successfully and deliver for our clients.

是的，韋斯，我是希瑟。我來回答你的問題。所以仔細想想，退休產業仍在持續長期整合。我們被視為天然的買家。我認為我們已經透過 OneAmerica 專案非常清楚地證明了我們能夠非常成功地做到這一點，並為我們的客戶提供優質服務。

So we're actively assessing opportunities. We think that there is a number of opportunities that we can pursue. But having said that, we do have a high bar for M&A right now, given what Mike talked about as we see the most value accretion deployment of excess capital is into share buybacks.

所以我們正在積極評估各種機會。我們認為有很多機會可以去追求。但話雖如此，鑑於麥克所說的，我們現在對併購的要求確實很高，因為我們看到，將過剩資本用於股票回購是實現價值增值的最有效方式。

Maybe the final comment I'd make Wes is, to go back to something Mike mentioned on the third quarter call, is that if we were to pursue a Retirement roll-up, it does not take us off track to be able to return capital to shareholders. We understand that delivering and returning capital on a consistent basis is important to our shareholders. So if you think about the cash payment of OneAmerica, not a large size. So we think there's something that we can do both.

韋斯，我最後想說的是，回到麥克在第三季電話會議上提到的一點，如果我們進行退休金合併，並不會讓我們偏離向股東返還資本的軌道。我們明白，持續不斷地為股東創造和回報資本至關重要。所以，如果你考慮 OneAmerica 的現金支付，那可不是一筆大數目。所以我們認為我們可以同時做到這兩點。

Alex Scott, Barclays.

亞歷克斯·斯科特，巴克萊銀行。

Thanks for taking it. I do have one Stop Loss question, and I promise I'll ask about something different. So when I think about the 91% policy year and I think about the 2024 and the fact you took 21% and it didn't get better last year, it does feel like to believe that you can get better off the 84% calendar year, I need to be able to believe that what you're saying on the conservatism and reserves is real. And it's obviously a tough thing to believe just because we've had this negative momentum broadly in the business, albeit you did have favorable development out last year, so I get it. But I wanted to see if you could give us some metrics, right? Usually, we could assess this using property and casualty something like a paid to ultimate.

謝謝你接受這份工作。我確實有一個關於停損的問題，但我保證下次會問一些其他的問題。所以，當我想到 91% 的政策年度，再想到 2024 年，以及你採取了 21% 的措施，而且去年情況並沒有好轉，我感覺要相信你能在 84% 的日曆年中有所改善，我需要相信你所說的關於保守主義和儲備金的說法是真實的。顯然，這很難讓人相信，因為我們整個產業都處於負面發展勢頭，儘管去年你們確實取得了一些有利的發展，所以我能理解。但我希望你能提供一些指標，對吧？通常，我們可以使用財產和意外保險來評估這一點，類似於付費終極保險。

So if you could tell us how much in actual cash claims you've paid out so far this year on the 2025 policy year versus last year versus maybe the historical average? Or IBNR as a percentage of reserves? Something to help us like have some quantitative evidence that what you're saying is real around this conservatism?

所以，如果您能告訴我們，在 2025 保單年度，您今年迄今為止實際支付的現金賠款金額與去年相比，以及與歷史平均水平相比，分別是多少？或以未申報虧損（IBNR）佔儲備金的百分比來衡量？有沒有什麼量化證據可以幫助我們證明你所說的保守主義的觀點是真實存在的？

Yeah. Again, Alex, I mean that's something we can think about for future calls to put out there. I think, again, as we've been talking about, the first quarter is going to be able to put that in a more clear light because I think folks will take information on paid claims and try to compare that to 2024. And it's hard to do that. And why it's hard to do that is, number one, it's a smaller block. Second, we've improved the loss ratio experience and then even claim settlements, which we're doing faster today than we did a year ago can conflate how to think about those things. So we don't want to confuse the matter from that perspective.

是的。Alex，我的意思是，我們可以考慮在以後的電話會議中提出這個問題。我認為，正如我們一直在討論的那樣，第一季將能夠更清楚地說明這一點，因為我認為人們會關注已支付的索賠信息，並嘗試將其與 2024 年進行比較。但這很難做到。之所以很難做到這一點，首先是因為這是一個較小的模組。其次，我們改善了損失率體驗，而且我們現在的理賠速度比一年前更快，這可能會讓人混淆如何看待這些事情。所以我們不想從這個角度把事情搞得複雜。

But again, when we've been talking about the uncertainty around claims in the fourth quarter was high and coming into 2025. It's high coming into 2026. We're happy with how the 2024 block is developing, that's developed favorable relative to where things were reserved for coming into 2025. We cannot guarantee that's going to happen in 2026, but that's exactly how we're positioning ourselves.

但話說回來，我們一直在討論第四季索賠的不確定性，以及進入 2025 年的情況。進入2026年，這個數字很高。我們對 2024 年的發展感到滿意，相對於 2025 年的預期發展而言，情況進展順利。我們不能保證2026年一定會實現這一點，但這正是我們努力的方向。

Okay. All right. Understood. And then second question I wanted to ask about artificial intelligence. And maybe both the good and the bad, right? Like what are the opportunities you see broadly? But then also from a risk standpoint, are there any parts of your business that could get disintermediated? And I think the stocks moved yesterday on the idea that maybe there's software concerns and investment portfolios broadly. So I'd be open to any kind of color you could provide on that as well. Thanks.

好的。好的。明白了。其次，我想問的第二個問題是關於人工智慧的。或許好的和壞的都有，對吧？您認為整體上有哪些機會？但從風險角度來看，你的業務中是否存在可能被去中介化的環節？我認為昨天股市的波動是由於市場可能對軟體產業和整體投資組合有擔憂。所以，如果你能提供任何顏色方面的內容，我都樂意接受。謝謝。

Thanks, Alex, for the question. It's Heather. I'll start, and then I'll ask Matt to add some comments on just how we see it in the broader investment arena. So first, as you think about AI, the opportunities, as you'd imagine, it's something we're leaning into. Our focus is on leveraging AI to be able to improve client experience to help us to drive efficiencies and to support scale and growth.

謝謝你的提問，Alex。是希瑟。我先開始，然後我會請 Matt 補充一些評論，談談我們在更廣泛的投資領域是如何看待這個問題的。所以首先，當你想到人工智慧帶來的機會時，正如你所想，我們正在積極擁抱它。我們的重點是利用人工智慧來改善客戶體驗，從而幫助我們提高效率並支援規模化和成長。

We are deploying it right now across a number of areas within our claims organization, within our contact center, certainly within technology as we think about how it allows us to speed up some of the software, the programming that we're doing. So it's something that we are leaning into. It's not new. We've been leveraging some bit of AI for a number of years.

我們現在正在理賠機構、聯絡中心以及技術領域的多個方面部署這項技術，因為我們正在思考它如何幫助我們加快一些軟體和程式設計的速度。所以我們正在積極推進這件事。這並非新鮮事。我們已經運用人工智慧技術好幾年了。

We're also paying attention to how it could disintermediate us. I do think that given the businesses that we are in, people need insurance, they need retirement planning. We see it as something that is a little bit less of a disintermediator, but we're paying attention to ways that it could disrupt us.

我們也在關注它可能如何使我們失去中間環節。我認為，就我們所處的行業而言，人們需要保險，需要退休規劃。我們認為它對中間環節的影響較小，但我們仍在關注它可能對我們造成的干擾。

But right now, we see a lot more opportunities than headwinds on AI. And a critical one goes back to something we've done for years, which is expense efficiency, being able to maintain and grow our margins, and we see AI as an important lever. But Matt?

但就目前而言，我們看到人工智慧領域的機會遠多於挑戰。而關鍵的一點可以追溯到我們多年來一直在做的事情，那就是提高成本效率，維持並提高我們的利潤率，我們認為人工智慧是一個重要的槓桿。但馬特呢？

Yeah, Alex, an important question for the broader investment universe here. You're 100% right. I think it's important to think about where there's risk and where there's volatility. And I'll start with an insurance sense about our general account and how we view this really not an issue within the core GA bond portfolio.

是的，Alex，這對於更廣泛的投資領域來說是一個重要的問題。你說的完全正確。我認為重要的是要思考哪裡存在風險，哪裡存在波動。首先，我想從保險的角度談談我們的一般帳戶，以及我們認為這在核心一般帳戶債券組合中實際上並不是一個問題。

A broad technology makes up for us a little over 1%. I think you'll see some stats a bit higher across our peers. But again, I think you're going to be generally in the single digits there. We're a little over 1%. And software is about 0.5% if you look at that directly.

廣泛的技術為我們貢獻了略高於 1% 的份額。我認為你會發現我們同行的一些統計數據會略高一些。但我認為，整體來說，這個數字應該會是個位數。我們略高於1%。如果直接看軟體，它大約佔0.5%。

And in the investment-grade space, you're going to run in names like Alphabet, Microsoft, Salesforce, and beyond. So you've got diversified business models that can actually do quite well with AI, have done correctly. So within a core GA sense, I don't view it as an issue. Within the private portfolio, less than 1% of our portfolio is in tech.

在投資等級債券領域，你會遇到像 Alphabet、微軟、Salesforce 等公司，以及其他更多公司。所以，你們擁有多元化的商業模式，這些模式實際上可以很好地利用人工智慧，而且已經取得了正確的成果。所以從 GA 的核心意義上講，我不認為這是一個問題。在我們的私人投資組合中，科技類股佔比不到 1%。

And within high yield, we're not really exposed to below investment grade in a meaningful way as a balance sheet, and that's where you see more industry risk. We don't have anything notable there, nearly zero in high-yield tech. Over time, we view technology to be a much better investment from an equity standpoint than a debt standpoint. You can have very disparate outcomes. That plays itself better in an equity sense.

在高收益債券領域，我們的資產負債表上並沒有真正意義上持有低於投資等級的債券，而這正是產業風險較大的地方。我們在那裡沒有什麼值得一提的東西，在高收益技術領域幾乎沒有。從長遠來看，我們認為從股權角度來看，科技投資比從債務角度來看好得多。結果可能截然不同。從公平的角度來看，這樣做比較有利。

Across the equity portfolio, you really have to get into our alternative portfolio for Voya. That's about 3% of our balance sheet. Within PE, you'll tend to see 20%, 25%, where we're lower than the 25% number in software related. So it's still meaningful. But you get, again, down to a number that's less than 1% of the GA.

在整個股票投資組合中，如果您想投資 Voya，真的需要關注我們的另類投資組合。這大約占我們資產負債表的3%。在PE領域，你往往會看到20%、25%的比例，而我們在軟體相關領域的比例低於25%。所以它仍然有意義。但最終，這個數字又會降到 GA 的 1% 以下。

And I think that's where you have both upside and downside. But in the debt markets, we prefer to lean away from tech and feel very well supported. But if you're going to look for volatility, look for those, more the venture more the recent vintage PE, we don't feel meaningfully exposed there as far as even that alternative portion of our portfolio.

我認為這既有好處也有壞處。但在債券市場，我們更傾向於避開科技股，並且感覺得到了很好的支持。但如果你打算尋找波動性，那就去尋找創投，尤其是近期的私募股權投資，就我們而言，即使是我們投資組合中的另類投資部分，我們也感覺沒有真正意義上的風險敞口。

Joel Hurwitz, Dowling & Partners.

Joel Hurwitz，Dowling & Partners。

So just one on Stop Loss, Mike. I guess I'm just still trying to understand why you can't provide us with the paid claims experience, right? That's something that you guys provided last year in the fourth quarter in your slide deck. And at the end of the day, I think we're all just trying to understand what does it actually mean that the book is performing modestly better year-over-year?

麥克，就講一個關於停損的問題吧。我只是想弄清楚為什麼你們不能為我們提供付費理賠體驗，對嗎？這是你們去年第四季在投影片中介紹過的內容。歸根結底，我認為我們都只是想弄清楚，這本書的銷量比去年略有好轉，這究竟意味著什麼？

Yeah. Look, I think that's again something we can think about taking forward, Joel. Like when I mentioned this just a moment ago, from a reserving perspective and why we need to be cautious with this. And the amount of reserves that we have this year versus last year's is meaningfully less.

是的。喬爾，我覺得這又是我們可以考慮繼續前進的事情。就像我剛才提到的，從儲備的角度來看，以及為什麼我們需要謹慎。今年我們的儲備金金額比去年大幅減少。

And part of that is because we've got a smaller block. A part of that is because of just timing of when reserves were released versus incurred from the 2024 to 2025 block and then just the settlement part of it on paid claims.

部分原因是我們的地塊較小。部分原因是由於 2024 年至 2025 年期間釋放準備金的時間與產生準備金的時間之間的差異，以及已支付索賠的結算部分。

And so when we do the assessment of what we think the appropriate reserve level is, yes, we look at paid claims. We're looking at reported claims. There's more dimension to that than just, hey, how are paid claims developing?

因此，當我們評估我們認為合適的準備金等級時，是的，我們會查看已支付的賠款。我們正在調查已報告的索賠案件。這其中還有更多值得探討的內容，而不僅僅是“已支付的索賠進展如何？”

Well, we certainly can provide more color as we move down the road and particularly in the first quarter, I think it would be an appropriate time to do that because you're going to have the right comparison year-over-year. But we'd just be reiterating the same messages that we shared earlier with respect to how we think about reserve levels.

當然，隨著工作的推進，我們可以提供更多細節，尤其是在第一季度，我認為這是一個合適的時機，因為屆時您可以進行正確的同比比較。但我們只是在重申之前我們分享過的關於儲備水準的看法。

Okay. And then shifting, can you just provide some outlook on how the take-up of your new leave offering and short-term disability has gone and how we should think about that from a revenue and earnings standpoint in '26?

好的。接下來，您能否展望一下貴公司新推出的休假計劃和短期殘障保險的接受情況，以及我們應該如何從 2026 年的收入和盈利角度來看待這些計劃？

Sure, Jay will start and Mike can address the revenue question.

當然，Jay會先開始，Mike可以回答收入問題。

Great. If you think about the leave investment, we did successfully launch the integrated leave and disability claims solution in January. We do expect that the offering is going to continue to contribute revenue throughout 2026.

偉大的。從休假投資的角度來看，我們已在 1 月成功推出了綜合休假和殘障索賠解決方案。我們預計該產品將在 2026 年繼續貢獻收入。

While it's early, we are encouraged by the initial feedback from our clients and our intermediaries, and they are providing that feedback real time. The market demand for this is really strong. We did see that over 50% of the Group Life, Disability and Supp Health RFPs for 1.1.2026 were bundled with Leave. It's a really positive sign given the in-source and the commitment we've made to the space.

雖然現在還為時過早，但我們對客戶和中介機構的初步回饋感到鼓舞，而且他們正在即時提供回饋。市場對這款產品的需求非常強勁。我們發現，2026 年 1 月 1 日的團體人壽、殘疾和補充健康保險招標書中，超過 50% 的內容與休假捆綁在一起。考慮到我們內部的資源投入以及我們對該領域的承諾，這確實是一個非常積極的信號。

But we are consistently hearing right now from our clients and brokers that leave administration is the most important capability they're looking for from carriers today. So specifically, they focus on the claims experience for their employees. We'll report back on the progress throughout the year, but we're really happy with the 1/1 launch.

但我們現在不斷從客戶和經紀人那裡了解到，他們目前最希望保險公司具備的能力是離職管理。具體來說，他們專注於員工的理賠體驗。我們將全年持續報告進度，但我們對 1 月 1 日的發布非常滿意。

Yeah. The only thing I would add, and I want to come back to the question from Joel just for a moment. But just as you're looking at in-force premium growth, I think we just would encourage you to look at the growth from 2023 to 2024 to 2025. So growth has been more modest year-over-year. But when you look at two-year growth across Voluntary and Group Life, it was very, very good. We had a fantastic year in 2024.

是的。我唯一想補充的是，我想稍微回到喬爾提出的問題。但是，正如您正在關注有效保費增長一樣，我認為我們建議您也關註一下 2023 年至 2024 年以及 2025 年的增長情況。因此，年比增速較為溫和。但如果你看一下自願保險和團體保險這兩年的成長情況，你會發現成長非常非常好。2024年我們度過了精彩的一年。

And just on paid claims too, I know that's come up a couple of times here at the end. Like we're not sharing a number. We're saying it's modestly better when you look at Jan-25 or Jan-24, you should be thinking low single digits better on a paid claim basis from where we were a year ago to today.

還有關於已支付的索賠，我知道這一點在最後被提及了幾次。好像我們沒有共享號碼似的。我們說，如果以 1 月 25 日或 1 月 24 日為基準來看，情況略有好轉；從一年前到今天，在已支付的索賠金額方面，應該會有個位數的改善。

More to come. We don't want people running with that number yet because we need to see how things play out for the balance of the year. But just to size it a bit, that's what I would have in your mind.

更多內容敬請期待。我們不希望人們現在就根據這個數字來預測，因為我們需要觀察今年剩餘時間的發展。但為了稍微說明一下，這就是我腦海中的想像。

Kenneth Lee, RBC Capital Markets.

Kenneth Lee，加拿大皇家銀行資本市場。

One on Investment Management. You saw nearly 5% organic growth in 2025. What were your expectations for organic growth this year? And in particular, any specific products or offerings you see as driving most of that growth? Thanks.

投資管理篇。預計到 2025 年將實現近 5% 的自然成長。您對今年的有機成長有何預期？具體來說，您認為哪些具體產品或服務推動了大部分成長？謝謝。

Yeah. So as you referenced, very pleased with the overall momentum in 2025, the $14.6 billion [net flows, 4.8% growth rate.](corrected by company after the call) Really best in a market that still has headwinds. So very happy with that. The theme going into 2026 is, say, twofold. Longer term, we continue to think about that 2%-plus organic growth rate assumption. We entered 2026 with momentum that has allowed us to grow above that. And we do expect the first quarter to be positive with good breadth across the domestic market.

是的。正如您所提到的，我對 2025 年的整體發展勢頭非常滿意，146 億美元的淨流入（4.8% 的增長率）（公司在電話會議後進行了更正）。在市場仍面臨不利因素的情況下，這確實是最好的結果。對此我非常滿意。展望 2026 年，主題可概括為兩方面。從長遠來看，我們仍然會考慮2%以上的有機成長率這個假設。我們帶著強勁的發展勢頭進入了 2026 年，並在此基礎上實現了超越預期的成長。我們預計第一季將呈現正面態勢，國內市場整體表現良好。

So that's good as we really come into the year on our front foot. That's driven by strong investment outcomes. If you think about the 1, 3, 5, 7, 10 years. We deliver for our clients, and we get rewarded by our clients with net cash flows. And that's still the basis. And I think the performance fees at the end of the year were a testament to that as well.

所以這很好，因為我們今年開局就佔據了有利位置。這是由強勁的投資成果所驅動的。想想1年、3年、5年、7年、10年。我們為客戶提供服務，客戶也透過淨現金流向我們支付報酬。而這仍然是基本原則。我認為年底的演出費也證明了這一點。

As far as where we're seeing products and channels, not a big change, insurance with fixed income, public and private, still very strong competitive position. We think more broadly in the US Institutional space, in DC, our target date offerings and partnership and coordination with our Retirement business is a good forward look, new products coming there, and fixed income continues to resonate there.

就我們看到的產品和管道而言，並沒有太大變化，固定收益保險，無論是公共部門還是私人部門，仍然擁有非常強大的競爭地位。我們從更廣泛的角度考慮美國機構市場，尤其是在華盛頓特區，我們的目標日期產品以及與退休業務的合作與協調是一個良好的前瞻性，那裡將推出新產品，固定收益產品在那裡繼續引起共鳴。

And then internationally, Income and Growth in thematic equities, again, driving that. So really, it's a continuation of a story of breadth while we're looking to continue to grow upon our strength. So we enter first quarter feeling quite good.

然後，在國際市場上，主題股票的收益和成長再次成為驅動因素。所以，這其實是我們不斷拓展業務範圍，並在此基礎上繼續發展壯大的故事的延續。所以，我們帶著相當不錯的感覺進入了第一季。

Great. Very helpful there. And just one quick follow-up, if I may, just on the Voluntary benefits side. What's the outlook here for this year? Is it still around 50% benefit ratio there?

偉大的。那方面很有幫助。如果可以的話，我再補充一點關於自願福利方面的內容。今年的前景如何？那裡的收益率仍然在50%左右嗎？

Yeah. Maybe I'll hit it from a loss ratio perspective. And then maybe, Jay, if you want to hit it from just a premium perspective. So we've talked about 50% throughout the course of 2025. We have been building up reserves to get in front of the fourth quarter when we see a lot of seasonality for that product line. That worked exactly according to plan. So we saw the 50% come through.

是的。或許從損失率的角度來看，我會看好它。那麼，傑伊，或許你可以從高階用戶的角度來評價它。所以我們一直在討論2025年50%的目標。我們一直在累積儲備，以應對第四季度，因為我們認為該產品線的季節性波動很大。一切都按計劃進行。所以我們看到了50%的轉換率。

The outlook, we say modest increase with respect to loss ratios. That's totally part of the plan of us providing more customer value with these products. These are important complements to high deductible healthcare plans.

展望未來，我們認為賠付率將小幅上升。這完全是我們透過這些產品為客戶創造更多價值的計劃的一部分。這些是對高免賠額醫療保險計劃的重要補充。

But from a net margin perspective and, Heather was alluding to this before, I think it's true not just within EB, but across the board. I mean we are constantly finding areas where we're looking for efficiencies to offset either investments for growth or protect margins where we want to deliver more customer value. And so I think when you look at the Voluntary line, I would think of slightly higher loss ratios, but net margins intact.

但從淨利潤率的角度來看，正如 Heather 之前提到的那樣，我認為這不僅適用於 EB，而且適用於所有行業。我的意思是，我們一直在尋找提高效率的領域，以抵消成長投資或保護利潤率，從而為客戶創造更多價值。所以我覺得，當你審視自願保險這條線時，我會想到略高的賠付率，但淨利率保持不變。

Ken, I'll address a little bit how we see the Voluntary market heading into 2026 and maybe a quick step back on EB. We do expect growth in 2026. 1/1.2026 sales showed that commercial momentum. Just as a reminder, we are a top three provider of Voluntary. We've got about 10% market share.

Ken，我將稍微談談我們對 2026 年自願市場的看法，也許還會快速回顧一下 EB。我們預計 2026 年將實現成長。 2026 年 1 月 1 日的銷售額表明了商業勢頭。再次提醒，我們是志願服務領域的前三名提供者。我們擁有大約10%的市場份額。

I did reference the newly in-sourced integrated Leave and Disability claims solution that is going to be contributing to some of the growth and retention of our Voluntary products. That did show itself in 1.1.2026, as I referenced, that 50% RFP with bundle. With that said, our top priorities right now across all of EB really does remain focused on this margin expansion.

我確實提到了新近內部整合的休假和殘疾索賠解決方案，這將有助於我們自願性產品的成長和客戶留存。正如我所提到的，2026 年 1 月 1 日，50% 的 RFP 捆綁銷售就反映了這一點。綜上所述，目前EB所有部門的首要任務仍是擴大利潤率。

We're doing it through pricing execution where it is driving stronger persistency in our customer base. That's important. And as Mike referenced, we're creating more efficiencies in the business through investments in claims, automation, and AI, which is starting to show itself into the efficiency line. And so really happy with where we are in the EB business. As it relates to Voluntary, 1.1.2026 was a positive step.

我們透過價格策略的執行來實現這一目標，從而增強客戶群的忠誠度。這很重要。正如麥克所提到的，我們透過對理賠、自動化和人工智慧的投資，提高了業務效率，這已經開始在效率方面顯現出來。我對我們在EB業務方面取得的成就感到非常滿意。就自願性而言，2026 年 1 月 1 日是一個積極的步驟。

Wilma Burdiss, Raymond James.

威爾瑪·伯迪斯，雷蒙德·詹姆斯。

Could you give us some insight into how you're thinking about the loss pick for the Jan-26 Stop Loss business? Maybe if you could just pull together the pieces on the 24% rate increases, 20% medical trend, and any benefits from risk selection? Thanks.

能否請您談談您是如何考慮 1 月 26 日止損交易的虧損選擇的？或許你可以把 24% 的利率成長、20% 的醫療趨勢以及風險選擇帶來的任何好處整合起來？謝謝。

Not a ton to add here, Wilma, on just how to think about trend part of it. We've talked about that being an approximately 20% or high teens. That is where we see trend. And so the other part of it is risk selection where we continue to make improvements, particularly versus where we were with the Jan-24 block.

威爾瑪，關於如何看待趨勢這部分，我沒什麼要補充的了。我們之前討論過，這個比例大約是 20% 或接近 10%。這就是我們看到趨勢的地方。因此，另一方面是風險選擇，我們將繼續改進，特別是與我們 1 月 24 日的交易區塊相比。

Jan-26, we'll come back to that in the first quarter. I think it's the same story here where we're going to look at the experience that comes in Q1. We talked about getting improvements. So we'll be in a better place than we were for Jan-25, but where we ultimately set that, we'll make that judgment in April.

1月26日，我們將在第一季再討論這個問題。我認為這裡的情況也是一樣，我們將著眼於第一季帶來的體驗。我們討論瞭如何改進。所以，到 1 月 25 日的時候，我們的處境會比那時好，但最終情況如何，我們會在 4 月做出判斷。

Yeah. And Wilma, the only thing I'd add to Mike's point is just something he said earlier is, as we're pricing this business, we are pricing it to be back within our target loss ratio range. So I just think that's an important element. And as Mike mentioned, we'll give you more details on the first quarter call.

是的。威爾瑪，我唯一想補充的是麥克之前說過的一點，那就是，我們在為這家公司定價時，要確保它的虧損率回到我們的目標範圍內。所以我認為這是一個非常重要的因素。正如麥克所提到的，我們將在第一季財報電話會議上提供更多細節。

And cash generation exceeded Voya's target for 2025. Could you drill a little bit more into the factors? Were reserve releases on Jan-24 Stop Loss, is that something that would have supported the figure? Or how should we think about that? Thanks.

現金流超過了 Voya 為 2025 年設定的目標。您能否更深入地探討一下這些因素？1月24日的儲備釋放是否構成停損？這是否對該數字起到了支撐作用？我們該如何看待這個問題？謝謝。

Yeah. I mean certainly had an effect on the cash generation in 2025. I think net, if you think about what we did in the fourth quarter with the prior period reserve releases in Q1, Q2, we're net favorable with respect to just Stop Loss, EB in totality was better. I talked about expenses. So it certainly played a role. And the base case is that it plays a role in 2026 as well.

是的。我的意思是，這肯定會對 2025 年的現金流產生影響。我認為總的來說，如果你考慮到我們在第四季度對第一季和第二季前期準備金的釋放，那麼僅就止損而言，我們的淨收益是有利的，整體而言，EB 也更好。我談到了開支問題。所以它肯定發揮了作用。基本情況是，它在 2026 年也會發揮作用。

Yeah. And I would add, Wilma, is, again, you think about the cash generation of our Retirement business, the largest business is successful integration of OneAmerica above our targets. That was also a significant contributor to cash generation in addition to what we delivered for in Investment Management. So really, it is a portfolio story and something that we are confident we're carrying into '26.

是的。我還要補充一點，威爾瑪，再想想我們退休業務的現金流，最大的業務就是成功地將 OneAmerica 整合到我們的目標之上。除了我們在投資管理方面取得的成績外，這也是現金流產生的重要因素。所以，這其實是一個投資組合的故事，我們有信心將這種組合延續到 2026 年。

Thank you. We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time, and thank you for your participation.

謝謝。我們的問答環節到此結束。今天的會議到此結束。現在您可以斷開線路了，感謝您的參與。