Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated

Good day and welcome to the Reinsurance Group of America second quarter 2021 results conference call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to introduce Mr. Todd Larson, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and Ms. Anna Manning, President and Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead, Mr. Larson.

Thank you. Good morning and welcome to RGA's second quarter 2021 conference call. With me this morning on the call is Anna Manning, RGA's President and Chief Executive Officer, Elaine Nimi, Chief Operating Officer, Leslie Barbee, our Chief Investment Officer, Jonathan Porter, Chief Risk Officer, and Jeff Hobson, Head of Investor Relations. We will discuss the second quarter results after a quick reminder about forward-looking information and non-GAAP financial measures. Following our prepared remarks, we'll be happy to take your questions. Some of our comments or answers to your questions may contain forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from expected results. Please refer to the earnings release we issued yesterday for a list of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results. Additionally, during the course of this call, information we provide may include non-GAAP financial measures. Please see our earnings release, earnings presentation, quarterly financial supplement, and website for discussion of these terms and reconciliations to GAAP measures. And now, I'll turn the call over to Anna for her comments.

Thank you, Todd. Good morning, everyone. and thank you for joining our call today. Last night, we reported adjusted operating earnings per share of $4. I am very pleased with these results, as we delivered an excellent quarter, even in the face of continuing COVID-19 claims. The COVID-19 impact in the quarter was material, although at much reduced levels than in the first quarter. And notably, the performance of the rest of our business was more than enough to absorb these costs and deliver the strong quarter we had. This quarter, once again, provides evidence of the strength of our underlying earnings power, the value of our diversified business, and the resilience of our global platform. I am also very proud of the way that the RGA team has responded during the pandemic. Our client-centric solution-oriented approach combined with disciplined execution has proven itself over time and served us well. This strategy helps us compete and win. In the quarter, we were very active and successful on new business opportunities in both our organic business and on enforced lock transactions. Turning to some of the highlights of the quarter, Our GFS business performed extremely well across all our regions and lines of business. In the quarter, we deployed $200 million into in-force transactions, including the modern Woodman transaction that we publicly announced. The transaction pipeline remains there with opportunities in all our regions. Our traditional business also performed well overall. as COVID-19 claims were significantly reduced and non-COVID-19 experience was apt or better than our expectations across all our segments. The U.S. individual mortality business had a good quarter as the COVID-19 impact was lower than expected and non-COVID-19 experience was in line with our expectations. The U.S. group and U.S. individual health businesses both performed above our expectations. Overall investment performance was very good and our new money rate increased slightly despite lower market yields. Impairments were minimal and we realized some nice gains in our limited partnerships and real estate joint ventures. Australia reported a modest profit in the quarter, which is a continuation of the more favorable trend over the last six quarters. Reported premium growth was very good. organic growth was solid, and new business momentum has picked up and is encouraging. And we increased the quarterly dividend and have lifted the previous suspension of share repurchases, good indications of the health and future prospects for our business. Looking forward, we expect COVID-19 claims to continue over the near term, but at manageable and decreasing levels. Vaccinations continue to provide very good protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death, which should mitigate the impact of future waves. Given the vaccine levels in all our key markets of the US, the UK, and Canada, we expect COVID-19 claims to decline in the second half of the year. In India and South Africa, we will likely see some continuation in COVID-19 claims through the remainder of the year. but at manageable levels. Jonathan will provide more specific thoughts on this shortly. In closing, I am very pleased with the quarter. We are well positioned with a strong balance sheet and capital levels and with positive business fundamentals. We see encouraging signs and increasing momentum on new business. Capital deployments into transactions of $300 million through the first half is an excellent start to the quarter, so an excellent start to the year. We believe there's reason for optimism as we look ahead, and as such, we expect to resume our balanced and effective capital management strategy in the coming quarters. We look forward to continuing to deliver attractive financial results and to building on our long-term track record of performance. Thank you for your interest in RGA. I hope you all remain safe. and stay well. Let me now turn it over to Todd to go over the detailed financial results.