Great-West Lifeco Inc.

Thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Great West Second Quarter 2026 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 the number one on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, You may signal an operator by pressing star, then zero. I would now like to turn the conference over to Mr. Shubha Khan, Senior Vice President and Head of Investor Relations at Great West. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Morgan. Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining the call to discuss our second 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. Turning to slide two, I'd like to draw your attention to the cautionary language regarding the use of forward-looking statements, which formed part of today's remarks. And please refer to the appendix for a note on the use of non-IFRS financial measures and important notes on adjustments, terms, and definitions used in this presentation. And turning to slide three, I'd like to introduce today's call participants. Joining us today are David Harney, our president and CEO, John Nielsen, our group CFO, Ed Murphy, President and CEO Empower, Fabrice Morin, President and CEO Canada, Lindsay Wicks-Broom, CEO Europe, Jeff Poulin, CEO Capital and Risk Solutions, Linda Kerrigan, our appointed actuary, and John Melvin, our Chief Investment Officer. We'll begin with prepared remarks followed by Q&A. With that, I'll turn the call over to David.

Thanks, Shubha, and good morning, everyone. Please turn to slide five. This quarter we built on our strong start to 2026, delivering 15% base EPS growth, driven by double-digit growth at both Empower and CRS. We continue to demonstrate strong execution across all of our growth platforms. Empower crossed a notable milestone, surpassing US$2 trillion in client assets on its workplace platform. This business will be further strengthened by the acquisition of Milliman's Retirement and Benefits Administration business, which is expected to close later this year. Great West continues to generate strong risk-adjusted returns, with a base ROE of 19.3% this quarter, supported by our ongoing shift to a more capital-efficient business mix, as well as balance sheet optimisation initiatives. Lindsay will discuss some of these initiatives in more detail shortly, as part of an update on our European operations in this quarterly call. Our strong cash generation and balance sheet continue to provide significant financial flexibility and we expect total capital deployment through buybacks and M&A in 2026 to be at least as much as was deployed in 2025. Please turn to slide six. As I mentioned, we delivered base EPS growth of 15% year-on-year, primarily driven by strong growth in our retirement, wealth and reinsurance businesses across markets. Total retirement and wealth client assets grew 22% year-over-year to more than $3.37 trillion, of which $1.3 trillion represents higher margin assets under management or advisement. Robust capital generation continues to reinforce our financial position. We continued our share buybacks during the quarter and still ended with a solid capital base, including a like cash ratio of 128%, hold to call cash of $2.5 billion and a leverage ratio of 27% down one percentage point from Q1. Please turn to slide seven. Our results this quarter highlight the benefits of diversification in our portfolio. Our segments are largely delivering on their growth ambitions through the first half of the year, despite the impact of more volatile earning drivers. Empower grew base earnings at a double-digit pace year over year, with strong operating margins and retirement plan wins, while delivering impressive growth of 66% in its wealth business through the first half of 2026. Canada saw double-digit growth in both retirement and wealth earnings on particularly strong margins, though this was offset by moderated insurance experience in the second quarter. In Europe, business performance has been strong across markets year-to-date, with robust sales, including $1.2 billion of bulk annuities in the second quarter, continuing to support the growth outlook. And finally, Capital and Risk Solutions continues to see strong demand for capital solutions across geographies and product lines, driving 38% year-over-year base earnings growth for the first half of the year. Overall, I am very pleased with our performance at the midpoint of the year. Please turn to slide 8. I want to take the opportunity to highlight Empower's recently announced acquisition of Milliman's retirement and benefits administration business. The acquisition further scales our defined contribution platform and, more importantly, adds a leading defined benefit capability that strengthens our go-to-market offering. By adding 1.5 million participants and US$130 billion in client assets upon closing, Empower's workplace platform will be better positioned to compete for bundled opportunities. This transaction is expected to be financially attractive and accretive to base earnings in the first year. Ed is available today to address any additional questions on the transaction and a strong outlook for Empower's business overall. With that, I will pass over to Lindsay to discuss our European operations, where we have significantly enhanced Thank you, David, and good morning.