Corebridge Financial Inc.

Hello everyone and welcome to today's Corbridge Financial Inc. Second quarter 2025 earnings call. My name is Seb and I'll be the operator for your call today. If you would like to ask a question during the Q and A session, please press star one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press star two. I will now hand the floor to Ashil Midirisolu to begin. Please go ahead.

Good morning everyone and welcome to Corbridge Financial's earnings update for the second quarter of 2025. Joining me on the call are Kevin Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer and Elias Habeyev, Chief Financial Officer. We will begin with prepared remarks by Kevin and Elias and then we will take your questions. Today's comments may contain forward looking statements which are subject to risks and uncertainties. These statements are not guaranteed that future performance or events and are based upon management's current expectations and assumptions. Corbridge's filings with the SEC provide details on important factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Except as required by the applicable securities laws, Corbridge is under no obligation to update any forward looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. And you're a caution to not place and do reliance on any forward looking statements. Additionally, today's remarks may refer to non-GAAP financial measures. The reconciliation of such measures to the most comparable GAAP figures is included in our earnings release, financial supplement and earnings presentation, all of which are available on our website at .corbridgefinancial.com. With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Kevin and Elias for their prepared remarks. Kevin.

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining. I'm pleased to report that Corbridge delivered another quarter with very strong financial results and remains focused on driving shareholder value as demonstrated by our transformative reinsurance transaction that further positions our company for the future. Starting on slide three. First, the variable annuity reinsurance transaction we announced is the most important value creation action we have taken since the IPO. As we announced yesterday, we have closed on the AGL portion of the transaction, which represents approximately 90% of the value. We expect the remaining portions of the transaction to close in the fourth quarter, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Second, we are positioned to drive further organic growth from an even lower risk baseline. Across our businesses, we have a broad mix of attractive products and service offerings powered by an extensive distribution network. The second quarter provided a glimpse of this opportunity as individual retirement sales exceeded last year's record second quarter and cumulative sales of our new RILA product passed $1 billion just nine months after initial launch. Third, we remain focused on executing on our four strategic pillars. We will deliver profitable growth, ample cash generation and a strong payout ratio to create ongoing additional long-term shareholder value. Turning to slide four, our transformative reinsurance transaction changes the value creation arc of the company. I want to spend a few minutes recapping the benefits. To start the transaction achieves a full exit from our individual retirement variable annuity financial risk. This is not a partial portfolio transfer. This transaction monetized an undervalued book of business with a decrease in financial contribution to Corbridge at an extremely attractive price. The value upside of the transaction for shareholders is significant. The transaction valuation was materially above Corbridge's earnings multiple and generating $2.1 billion of net distributable proceeds. The substantial majority of which we will use for share repurchases with the balance available for investment in organic growth. This transaction also helps further improve the quality of our earnings and the risk profile of our balance sheet by reducing net income volatility while mitigating other risks intrinsic to the VA book. Post transaction, approximately 99% of our net gap liabilities are from non-legacy products. That means no exposure to long-term care, no exposure to individual retirement variable annuities from before or after the financial crisis and nominal but well-managed exposure to universal life with secondary guarantees. Maintaining our targets for profitability, financial strength and capital return with lower risk and volatility positions the company very well for the future. Finally, our ongoing business portfolio remains well-diversified, offering a broad range of retirement and protection solutions that meet our customers needs and attract a higher multiple than the reinsured VA. And for our distribution partners and their customers who still value a Corbridge variable annuity, our flow reinsurance agreement means they will have continued access to our offering. Turning to slide five, our objective is to grow earnings per share at an average of 10 to 15% per year over time. To do so, we will continue to execute on all four of our strategic pillars. We will drive organic growth by capitalizing on the huge opportunity presented by an aging society in need of guaranteed income. Private sector pensions and public sector safety nets face an uncertain future. The only other source of income you can't outlive is annuity. With more than 4 million Americans turning 65 every year, there's a massive need for both accumulation and decumulation annuity products to help people navigate retirement. Corbridge's broad annuity product suite and extensive distribution network position us well to win in this space. For example, excluding the VA seated to venerable, individual retirements net inflows in the second quarter for over $3 billion, a high watermark for the company. Each of our businesses is supported by these strong macro tailwinds. Our balance sheet is not only similar post-transaction, it is better optimized for growth. In addition to our strength in product design, breadth of offering and distribution reach, our Bermuda strategy provides us financial flexibility to support future growth across our company and is an important part of our capital management strategy. Our commitment to expense efficiency is unwavering. Corbridge Forward, which is now largely earned in, has helped reduce general operating expenses by 14% since the IPO. Through increased digitization and other modernization initiatives, we see additional opportunity to create a lean competitive cost base while improving our customer and distribution partner experience. And by executing consistently on our first three pillars, we are able to deliver on the fourth, active capital management that directly rewards our shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. We can achieve our target payout ratio without the $2.1 billion of proceeds from the reinsurance transaction. With the transaction, we will exceed our payout ratio target for a period of time, and the additional share repurchases are expected to be EPS accretive on a pro forma basis when complete. We are confident our formula for success is proving up. As we grow profitably, use our balance sheet efficiently, manage expenses diligently, and distribute cash consistently, we will continue to create long-term shareholder value, all accelerated by a transformative transaction that reduces risk, improves the quality of earnings, and drives higher distributions. We think it adds up to one of the most compelling value propositions in the sector, and believe investors should take a fresh look at Corbridge Financial. With that, I will turn the call over to Elias to cover our second quarter results in detail.