Voya Financial, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Voya's second quarter 2022 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question-and-answer session will follow a formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during this conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to our host, Hema Nguva, Senior Vice President, Head of Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Thank you and good morning. Welcome to VOIA Financial's second quarter 2022 earnings conference call. We appreciate all of you who have joined us for this call. As a reminder, materials for today's call are available on our website at investors.voia.com or via the webcast. Turning to slide two, some of the comments made during this conference call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities law. I refer you to the slide for more information. We'll also be referring today to certain non-GAAP financial measures. GAAP reconciliations are available in our press release and financial supplement found on our website, investors.boyer.com. Joining me on the call are Rod Martin, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Heather LaVallee, our President and Chief Executive Officer-elect, and Mike Smith, our Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer. After their prepared remarks, we'll take your questions. For the Q&A session, we have also invited Vice Chairman and Chief Growth Officer Charlie Nelson, SLS heads of our businesses, specifically Christine Herzeller, Investment Management, and Rob Grubka, Health Solutions. With that, let's turn to slide three as I turn the call over to Rod.

Good morning. Let's begin on slide four with some key themes. Our results during the second quarter reflect the continued execution of our strategy, and long-term growth plans. This resulted in a number of positive outcomes, including strong adjusted operating EPS, continued momentum across our businesses, as well as disciplined and opportunistic capital deployment. As a result, we generated second quarter adjusted operating EPS of $1.67. Excluding notable items, EPS grew 18% year over year. We're pleased with the strong year-over-year growth. This is a result of the diligent execution of our plans, strong relationships with our distribution partners, and a shared focus on client needs. Our client-centric focus can be seen in organic growth across our businesses. In Wealth Solutions, full-service recurring deposits for the trailing 12 months grew 11.2% compared with the prior year period. During the second quarter, we generated positive full-service net flows of $1 billion. In health solutions, annualized in-force premiums grew 9.3% compared with the prior year period. This was driven by growth across all product lines, including a 24% increase in voluntary. In investment management, we generated $559 million of positive net flows during the second quarter. Net flows over the last 12 months were nearly $10 billion, which represent organic growth of 4.6%. Voya is meeting the complex and increasing needs of our clients as they face challenges and changes in the macroeconomic environment. Despite inflationary pressures and volatility in both the equity and interest rate markets, Voya remains well-positioned. At a time when many are seeking help to navigate challenging economic times, both at home and in the workplace, our digital capabilities, insights, and focus on client needs enable Voya to remain a trusted partner to our customers. This, along with our continued focus and commitment to execution, has us well positioned to generate double-digit EPS growth in 2022. In addition to our commercial growth, we're excited about the additive inorganic growth that will result from our recently completed transaction with Allianz GI. This transaction is a great inorganic opportunity that will complement the already strong organic growth plans that we've shared with all of you. Specifically, it adds significant scale and diversified revenues to our asset management business. combining new investment capabilities with a major expansion of our international and domestic retail reach. It also provides global distribution for our existing asset management expertise and strategies with a leading international partner. Along with our continued investments in technologies and capabilities that will meet the broad health, wealth, and investment needs of our clients, This transaction enables us to drive even greater positive outcomes for our customers, our employees, and our shareholders. It will also provide financial benefits for Voya, including immediate cash accretion to the company's adjusted operating EPS, estimated at 6% to 8% for 2023. And it required no external financing or use of Voya's excess capital, fully aligning with our company's future flexibility and opportunities as we continue to remain focused on our long-term growth and EPS plans. Notably, this transaction was completed in just two short months. This is a terrific example of the hard work and dedication of our people. Thank you to everyone across Voya for your continued hard work and support. In addition to the revenue and EPS growth, we continue to demonstrate our focus on being good stewards of shareholder capital. During the second quarter, we deployed approximately $300 million in excess capital through a combination of share repurchases, debt redemption, and common stock dividends. This now brings our total excess capital deployed for the first half of 2022 to approximately $1 billion. Over the trailing 12 months, we've deployed $1.7 billion and concluded the quarter with approximately $700 million of excess capital. Moving forward, we will continue to be both disciplined and opportunistic with capital deployment. Turning to slide five, our focus on our brand and culture continue to differentiate Boya. We have once again earned several recognitions for our strong culture and commitment to clients. Recently, Voya earned recognition as a best place to work for disability inclusion for the fifth consecutive year. Voya earned a score of 100% on the 2022 Disability Equality Index. And in May, we once again celebrated Voya's National Days of Service. Voya employees volunteered more than 10,000 hours to numerous nonprofits across the country. Boya has been recognized as a top five retirement plan provider in the first ever National Association of Planned Advisors Advisor Choice Awards. And our company earned Delbar's ESG retirement plan certification along with a five-star rating for the second year in a row. The actions of our people and our company reflect the strength of our culture and how that carries through in all that we do. Turning to slide six. We announced last month our leadership succession plan with Heather Lavallee becoming our president and Voya's next CEO. As president, Heather has joined our board and is now overseeing all of our businesses. She has distinguished herself as an extraordinary executive focused on growth, innovation, and our culture. Working closely with me and our board and our entire management team, Heather has played a vital role in shaping and driving Voya's enterprise growth strategy and is well-prepared to lead its continued execution and evolution going forward. At the same time, I'm delighted to have the opportunity to continue as executive chairman through early 2024. It's been an honor and a privilege serving as Voya's CEO, and I'm both excited and optimistic about our company's growth opportunities and prospects. With that, Let me ask Heather to say a few words.