Primerica, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Primerica fourth quarter 2024 earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Nicole Russell, SVP, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Primerica's fourth quarter earnings call. A copy of our press release issued last night, along with other materials relevant to today's call, are posted on the investor relations section of our website. Joining our call today are Chief Executive Officer, Glenn Williams, and our Chief Financial Officer, Tracy Tan. Our comments this morning may contain forward-looking statements in accordance with the Safe Harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act. We assume no obligations to update these statements to reflect new information and refer you to our most recent Form 10-K filing, as may be modified by subsequent Forms 10-Q, for a list of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from those expressed or implied. We also reference certain non-GAAP measures which we believe provide additional insight into the company's financial results. Reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to their respective GAAP numbers are included at the end of our earnings release and are available on our investor relations website. I would now like to turn the call over to Glenn.

Thank you, Nicole, and thanks everyone for joining us this morning. Our fourth quarter and full year results highlight an outstanding year for Primerica, with record-breaking results across the board. These range from the expansion of our distribution network to achieving unprecedented investment sales and delivering solid financial performance. These milestones highlight the strength of our business and our ability to create value for all stakeholders. Starting with a quick recap of our financial results, fourth quarter adjusted net operating income increased 11% compared to the prior year period, while diluted adjusted operating income per share increased 17%. On a four-year basis, adjusted net operating income increased 14% and adjusted operating income per share increased 20%. These results reflected very strong sales volume and higher client asset values in our investment and savings product segment and the steady contribution from our large in-force block of term life insurance premiums. During the year, we repurchased $425 million of our common stock and paid a total of $113 million in regular dividends. In total, we returned 79% of adjusted net operating income to our stockholders in 2024. Taking into consideration the predictable nature of our cash flows, in November 2024, our board of directors approved a new $450 million share repurchase program for 2025. Our distribution performance during the fourth quarter capped off a remarkable year of growth at Primerica. During the quarter, we recruited more than 95,000 individuals, a 6% increase compared to the same period last year. We also saw a 12% increase in the number of individuals obtaining a new life license. This double-digit growth in new life licenses during 2024 reflects the growing demand for additional income and alternative career choices, as well as improvements we've made to our licensing process in recent years. We ended the year with a record high 151,611 life license representatives, up 7% compared to year-end 2023. 25,493 of these life license representatives also held a securities license at year-end. Looking ahead, we expect to continue growing the life sales force, albeit at a more normalized pace of around 3% in 2025. Now let's turn to our sales results, starting with term life. We issued nearly 89,700 policies during the fourth quarter and $30 billion in new term life protection for middle income families. Productivity remained within our normal historical range at an average monthly rate of 0.20 new policies issued per life license representatives. While we're encouraged by our momentum in expanding our distribution reach, we also recognize the continued high cost of living on the families we serve. Balancing the benefit of a larger sales force with the challenges posed by these cost of living headwinds, we're taking a conservative outlook for 2025 and anticipate full year issued life policies to grow around 2%. Our investment and savings product business had another strong quarter with sales of $3.3 billion at 41% year over year. This growth was driven by solid demand for investment products across all major product lines. Client asset values ended the year at $112 billion, up 16% compared to 2023, while net client inflows for the quarter totaled $731 million, significantly higher than inflows of $172 million in the fourth quarter of 2023. For the full year, robust client demand across all investment products fueled growth in new sales. Enhanced benefits on variable annuity products continue to fuel demand, for clients seeking income protection in retirement, contributing to a 44% increase in VA sales in 2024. Additionally, managed account sales grew by 47%, driven in part by our new managed account platform, which offers clients a broader range of product choices and provides representatives with enhanced planning tools to better serve client needs. Finally, strong equity markets continue to support demand for mutual funds in both the US and Canada. Preliminary results in January show strong momentum, but we remain mindful of economic and market uncertainties. These factors, combined with more challenging year-over-year comparisons as the year progresses, lead us to expect full-year sales growth in the mid to high single-digit range during 2025. We remain well-positioned to take advantage of the improving mortgage lending market and the role we can play in helping middle-income families obtain a new mortgage or consolidate consumer debt. In 2024, we closed nearly $400 million in US mortgage volume, a 35% increase compared to the prior year. A year in 2024, we were licensed to do business in 33 states through nearly 3,200 licensed representatives. We also have a referral program in Canada, which allows us to offer similar benefits to our Canadian clients. As we look ahead to 2025, our plan is to continue expanding our distribution capabilities across all product lines, while identifying opportunities to improve productivity and maintain the financial discipline needed to maximize profitability. We appreciate your continued support and look forward to sharing more updates as we progress through the year. With that, I'll hand it over to Tracy.