Unum Group

Hello, and thank you for standing by. My name is Bella, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Unum Group 3Q 2025 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. We do request for today's session that you please limit to one question and one follow-up. If you would like to ask a question during this time, simply press star, then the number one on your telephone keypad. To withdraw your question, press star one again. I would now like to turn the conference over to Matt Royal, head of investor relations. You may begin.

Thank you, Bella, and good morning to everyone. Welcome to Unum Group's third quarter 2025 earnings call, which will include discussion of our annual reserve assumption review. Please note that today's call may include forward-looking statements and actual results, which are subject to risks and uncertainties, may differ materially, and we are not obligated to update any of these statements. Please refer to our earnings release and our periodic filings with the SEC for a description of factors that could cause actual results to differ from expected results. Yesterday afternoon, Unum released our third quarter earnings press release and financial supplements. Those materials, which include an overview of the GAAP Reserve Assumption Update and updates to key sensitivities, may be found on the Investors section of our website, along with a presentation of the most directly comparable GAAP measures and reconciliations of any non-GAAP financial measures included in today's presentation. References made today to core operations sales and premium, including Unum International, are presented on a constant currency basis. Participating in this morning's conference call are Unum's President and CEO, Rick McKinney, Chief Financial Officer, Steve Zabel, Tim Arnold, who heads our Colonial Life and Voluntary Benefits lines, Chris Pine for Group Benefits, and Mark Till, CEO of Unum International. Now let me turn it over to Rick for his comments. Great.

Thank you, Matt, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. Our third quarter results underscore the strength of our core businesses. which have delivered consistent performance throughout 2025. Year-to-date solid premium growth, which is up 4%, and disciplined execution continue to drive industry-leading margins and robust capital generation. We will get to the details of our assumption updates, particularly on the closed block, which in aggregate increased reserves and had an after-tax impact of $378 million. The changes there include a series of actions we are taking to continue to manage the block while still affirming our view of no additional capital contributions needed behind this business. Turning to the details of the quarter, we delivered another solid performance across the board, from top-line growth to bottom-line profitability. While earnings per share of $2.09 fell below our overall expectations, this is primarily due to volatility in the closed block. Importantly, our core businesses have exceeded our most recent expectations and continue to demonstrate healthy margins and strong returns. Our core business profitability trends are underscored by continued discipline in pricing and risk selection as we show continued strength in both group disability and group life. Each have shown very favorable levels of earnings power. And we are particularly pleased with the premium growth across our core segments, which grew nearly 4.5%, excluding transactions. This includes UNMUS growth in nearly 4%, Colonial Life up over 3%, and international delivering 10% growth. This growth is supported by high levels of persistency and sales growth of 12% in the quarter and reflects the strength of our market position and the value employers place on our offerings. That is true for new customers, but even more so from existing clients that support our very high persistency trends. Our growth is enabled by the success of key technology initiatives like HR Connect and Total Leave, which continue to differentiate us in the market. These platforms create deep connections with employers and employees who value a high quality digital experience, backed by the expertise and empathy of our team, who are supported by the AI tools we are equipping them with. This combination of technology and human touch is driving stronger engagement and retention. and employers increasingly view us as a trusted partner for integrated benefit solutions. Delivering on our purpose and growing the number of people we protect is highly motivating to our team. It is also deeply rooted that we do so with an eye to profitability and long-term growth. Our disciplined approach to pricing and risk selection, combined with consistent execution, translates into solid product returns. Return on equity for our core operations continues to be near 20%, as margins across our lines remain above historical levels. These results demonstrate the strength and scale of our core operations and our ability to deliver sustainable margins and maintain expense discipline. Combined with our closed block, in aggregate, our return on equity is 11.3%. The stability of our core operations supports our ability to take strategic actions to advance our closed block strategy and reduce the associated overhang of this legacy business. The third quarter began with a successful closing of our milestone long-term care reinsurance transaction with Fortitude Re, which seeded 20% of our LTC reserves. The transaction showcased our ability to execute in the market, and we are actively pursuing additional opportunities with third parties to remove this risk. Meanwhile, we continue to actively manage the block from within. We implemented several actions in conjunction with our annual assumption review that de-risk the block and strengthen its long-term stability. While Steve will go into more detail on these changes, I'll stress that while our strategic actions necessitate higher gap reserves, we are pleased that they position us to reduce the size of our existing group policies, remove an area of modeling uncertainty, and supports further risk management through premium rate increases. Altogether, these steps reinforce our confidence that no future capital contributions will be necessary. Turning to the balance sheet, our investment portfolio continues to perform well. We have de-risked the portfolio, improved credit quality, and positioned ourselves for future market cycles. Our portfolio maintains an A-minus average rating with historically low exposure to below investment grade securities. Our overall position, combined with strong underlying statutory earnings of approximately $300 million, resulted in holding company liquidity of $2 billion and an RBC ratio of over 450%, both well above targets. This robust level of capital provides tremendous flexibility to pursue our strategy and return capital to shareholders. Through the first nine months of the year, we have returned nearly $1 billion to shareholders. including $750 million in share repurchases and $230 million in dividends. Our capital priorities have not changed. First, to invest in strategic initiatives that strengthen our core businesses. Second, to pursue selective M&A opportunities that complement our capabilities. And third, to execute on shareholder-friendly actions through increasing dividends and share repurchases. These priorities reflect our disciplined approach to building franchise value and delivering long-term returns. Underpinning these strong financial results is our team that is relentlessly focused on protecting more people and exceeding customer expectations in time of need. Our digital-first, disciplined approach is driving favorable operating trends as we advance our market-leading positions and prepare for continued growth into 2026. With that, I'll turn it over to Steve for some more details on the quarter. Steve?