Great-West Lifeco Inc.

Thank you for standing by. This is the conference operator. Welcome to the Great West LifeCo Fourth Quarter 2024 Results Conference Call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode and the conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity for analysts to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star then 0. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Subha Khan, Senior Vice President and Head of Investor Relations at Great West Life Co. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Operator. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining the call to discuss our fourth quarter financial results. Before we start, please note that a link to our live webcast and materials for this call have been posted on our website at greatwestlifeco.com under the Investor Relations tab. Please turn to slide two. I would like to draw your attention to the cautionary notes regarding the use of forward-looking statements, which form part of today's remarks. And please refer to the appendix for a note on the use of non-GAAP financial measures and important notes on adjustment terms and definitions used in this presentation. Please turn to slide three. To discuss our results today, joining us on the call are our president and CEO, Paul Mann, our CFO, John Nielsen, David Harney, President and COO, Europe and Capital and Risk Solutions. Fabrice Morin, President and COO, Canada. Ed Murphy, President and CEO, Empower. Linda Kerrigan, Senior Vice President and appointed actuary. And Jeff Poulin, Executive Vice President, Reinsurance. We will begin with prepared remarks followed by Q&A. With that, I'll turn the call over to Paul.

Thanks, Shubha. Please turn to slide five. Before I get into our results, I want to acknowledge the tariff-related uncertainty surrounding Canada, the U.S., and other markets. While governments work towards a long-term resolution, I want to assure you that our diversified portfolio, domestic businesses, and strong balance sheets position us well to navigate any potential economic impacts related to this issue. In the weeks ahead, we will stay focused on doing what we do best, supporting our customers and communities. Turning to our fourth quarter results, We closed the year of record performance across LifeCo. We delivered a sixth consecutive quarter of record base earnings. And this builds on our strong momentum in growing shareholder value. These results are supported by impressive performance in all of our segments and broad base growth across our value drivers. We're especially pleased to report a record quarter of base earnings in Empower in the U.S., with the U.S. now our largest segment. We're seeing exceptional value creating performance at Empower with base earnings growth of 36% this quarter and base ROE increasing by more than 400 basis points over the past 12 months. These achievements are a testament to our clear strategies and the team's discipline, focus, and execution. With our reposition portfolio, our four market leading franchises took further steps to advance their strategies in 24. This is particularly evident in our wealth and retirement businesses where our advances in meeting more customers' needs is unlocking growth. In the U.S., we began the year by closing the sale of Putnam, reaffirming Lifeco's commitment to growth and leadership in the retirement and personal wealth markets. The recent acquisition of Plan Management Corporation, a leading provider of stock plan admin services, has further enhanced Empower's offering, making it even more appealing to existing and future customers. In Canada, the integrations of IPC and value partners have positioned us as a top destination for independent advisors. And our new strategic agreement with Primerica Life Insurance strengthens our wealth business by giving even more Canadians access to SEG fund-based advice solutions. In Europe, Canada Life UK announced the closure of its onshore bond and personal pension offering and reached an agreement to sell the business sharpening their focus on offshore bonds as the core of their wealth division. Across our portfolio, these actions demonstrate a continued commitment to strategic capital deployment and deliberate choices that fuel sustainable long-term growth. Our disciplined approach to managing the business continues to bolster our capital strength and provides us with the significant financial flexibility to continue driving value creation while managing risk. As part of our ongoing commitment to delivering shareholder value, we're pleased to announce that our board has approved a dividend increase of 10% or a quarterly dividend of 61 cents for common share. We also announced today that we expect to repurchase an additional $500 million worth of LIFCO shares under our existing NCIB. John will provide further details on this during his remarks. Please turn to slide six. Our results reflect our unwavering focus to deliver on our growth strategies, which has enabled us to meet or exceed our medium-term financial objectives. We've successfully delivered against these objectives over one, three, and five years, with this year's base EPS growth at 14% and base ROE at 18% exceeding our target range and our dividend payout ratio within our target range. Please turn to slide seven. Our record results position us well for continued growth. Base earnings of $1.1 billion and base EPS of $1.20 both increased 15% over the prior year. Base ROE increased to 17.5%, up nearly a full percentage point from the prior year, and book value per share increased by 12%. Our capital position remains strong with a LICAT ratio of 130%, and we've maintained a comfortable leverage ratio. Overall, it's worth noting these results have benefited from tailwinds in the macro environment, as well as geographic diversification of our businesses. Favorable equity markets and the impacts of stronger foreign currencies relative to the Canadian dollar positively contributed to our performance, particularly in the fourth quarter. We remain committed to operating with discipline, including making decisions that support sustainable growth in a changing macro environment. Please turn to slide eight. Canada delivered a good quarter and is maintaining its momentum for continued growth. Our individual wealth business further expanded its market presence, aligned with our goal of driving growth through scale, technology and the delivery of advice. Past acquisitions, strong market performance and improved flows have contributed significantly to AUA growth, with average AUA increasing by more than 30% over the prior year. This momentum is reinforced by the improved performance of SEG fund sales in the quarter. In Group Life and Health, we were pleased to expand our business relationship with the federal government, taking on the administration of the Public Service Dental Care Plan and the Pensioner's Dental Services Plan. Book Premium saw solid growth this quarter, largely driven by the expansion of our in-force business. While this growth is encouraging, maintaining our discipline in underwriting and pricing remains a key to success in this business. In insurance and annuities, CSM declined primarily due to the impact of last quarter's assumption changes. As we previously stated, our approach to non-participating insurance prioritizes customer value while maintaining pricing discipline, and we do not view CSM as a key growth metric in Canada. Turning to slide nine. We're pleased to report very strong performance at Empower. In workplace, average AUA grew 22% over the past year, supported by the strength in the U.S. equity markets. We saw continued withdrawals as plan members used their higher account balances, boosted by strong market performance, to fund their retirement. As a result, we again experienced net outflows, a trend that remains consistent across the industry at this time. While net flows can vary from quarter to quarter, Empower continues to deliver strong value-creating performance. Scale remains a critical ingredient to success, and Empower is growing both plan contributions and the number of participants. In 2024, DC participant contributions were up 7%, and Empower added approximately 600,000 net new plan participants, an increase of 3%. This growth not only generates the fees we earn today, but also builds future balances. A thriving workplace business fuels the growth of our personal wealth offering, unlocking even more opportunities. Empower Personal Wealth delivered an outstanding quarter, with average AUA up nearly 30% compared to last year. Positive net flows were driven by significant boosts in rollover sales, contributing to the highest growth sales on record, and over $3 billion in net new assets. For the full year, net flows alone accounted for 12% asset growth in the personal wealth business, demonstrating the growing strength of the platform. With a growing participant base in the workplace and stronger momentum at Empower Personal Wealth, the U.S. remains on a clear path driving growth. Empower continues to invest in the business and brand to strengthen its position and help even more Americans secure their financial future. Please turn to slide 10. Our European businesses also delivered record performance this quarter, with double-digit growth across all value drivers. Our offerings in wealth and retirement continued to scale and drive positive net flows. International product sales in the UK were particularly strong, up 60% compared to the prior year. Across all our European wealth and retirement businesses, average AUA grew by 23% year over year. Like our other regions, these results were supported by strong equity market performance. We've seen steady sales and organic growth in group life and health, with book premiums up 11% year over year, supported by rising employment growth and higher salaries in Ireland and the UK. Insurance and annuities also delivered strong results, in part fueled by high demand for bulk annuities in the UK throughout 2024. This reflects the success of our targeted strategy in this market and increasing demand for stable retirement income solutions. Please turn to slide 11. Our capital and risk solutions business ended the year on a strong note. Given our diversified book and disciplined approach to participation in property and casualty reinsurance markets, we anticipate modest impacts from the recent tragic events in California. Throughout the year, we've stayed committed to supporting our customers affected by natural disasters across the U.S., and our thoughts remain with those who've been impacted. Growth in run rate reinsurance earnings was driven by an increase in structured business, which has a seasonal component that is typically weighted towards the fourth quarter. We've also begun recognizing higher CSM from structured transactions completed earlier in 24. Reinsurance CSM increased 40% year over year, largely due to the impact of the assumption changes we announced last quarter. As we've emphasized before, our disciplined approach to reinsurance underwriting and pricing remains a cornerstone of our long-term success in this business. And with that, I'm going to turn the call over to John now for his remarks on our financial performance. John? Thank you, Paul.