Unum Group

Our liquidity requirements are met primarily by cash flows provided from operations, principally in our insurance subsidiaries. Premium and investment income, as well as maturities and sales of invested assets, provide the primary sources of cash. Debt and/or securities offerings provide additional sources of liquidity. Cash is applied to the payment of policy benefits, costs of acquiring new business (principally commissions), operating expenses, and taxes, as well as purchases of new investments.

We have established an investment strategy that we believe will provide for adequate cash flows from operations. We attempt to match our asset cash flows and durations with expected liability cash flows and durations to meet the funding requirements of our business. However, deterioration in the credit market may delay our ability to sell our positions in certain of our fixed maturity securities in a timely manner and adversely impact the price we receive for such securities, which may negatively impact our cash flows. Furthermore, if we experience defaults on securities held in the investment portfolios of our insurance subsidiaries, this will negatively impact statutory capital, which could reduce our insurance subsidiaries' capacity to pay dividends to our holding companies. A reduction in dividends to our holding companies could force us to seek external financing to avoid impairing our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders or meet our debt and other payment obligations.

Our policy benefits are primarily in the form of claim payments, and we have minimal exposure to the policy withdrawal risk associated with deposit products such as individual life policies or annuities. A decrease in demand for our insurance products or an increase in the incidence of new claims or the duration of existing claims could negatively impact our cash flows from operations. However, our historical pattern of benefits paid to revenues is generally consistent, even during cycles of economic downturns, which serves to minimize liquidity risk.

The liquidity requirements of the holding company Unum Group include common stock dividends, interest and debt service, and ongoing investments in our businesses. Unum Group's liquidity requirements are met by assets held by Unum Group and our intermediate holding companies, dividends from primarily our insurance subsidiaries, and issuance of common stock, debt, or other capital securities and borrowings from our existing credit facility, as needed. As of December 31, 2023, Unum Group and our intermediate holding companies had available holding company liquidity of $1,650.0 million that was held primarily in bank deposits, commercial paper, money market funds, corporate bonds, municipal bonds, and asset backed securities. No significant restrictions exist on our ability to use or access funds in any of our U.S. or foreign intermediate holding companies. Dividends repatriated from our foreign subsidiaries are eligible for 100 percent exemption from U.S. income tax but may be subject to withholding tax and/or tax on foreign currency gain or loss.

As part of our capital deployment strategy, we may repurchase shares of Unum Group's common stock, as authorized by our board of directors. The timing and amount of repurchase activity is based on market conditions and other considerations, including the level of available cash, alternative uses for cash, and our stock price. During the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased 5.7 million shares at a cost of $250.0 million excluding commissions and excise tax.

Our board of directors has authorized the following repurchase programs:

See Note 12 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8.

In December 2020, we completed the first phase of a reinsurance transaction, pursuant to which Provident, Paul Revere, and Unum America, wholly-owned domestic insurance subsidiaries of Unum Group and collectively referred to as "the ceding companies", each entered into separate reinsurance agreements with Commonwealth to reinsure, on a coinsurance basis effective as of July 1, 2020, approximately 75 percent of the Closed Block individual disability insurance business, primarily direct business written by the ceding companies. In March 2021, we completed the second phase of the reinsurance transaction, pursuant to which the ceding companies and Commonwealth amended and restated their respective reinsurance agreements to reinsure on a coinsurance and modified coinsurance basis effective as of January 1, 2021, a substantial portion of the remaining Closed Block individual disability business that was not ceded in December 2020, primarily business previously assumed by the ceding companies. Commonwealth established and will maintain collateralized trust accounts for the benefit of the ceding companies to secure its obligations under the reinsurance agreements.

In connection with the second phase of the reinsurance transaction, Commonwealth paid a total ceding commission to the ceding companies of $18.2 million. The ceding companies transferred assets of $767.0 million, which consisted primarily of cash and fixed maturity securities. We released approximately $200 million of capital during the first quarter of 2021 as a result of the closing of the second phase of the transaction.

See "Reinsurance" contained herein in Item 1, "Segment Results" contained herein in Item 7, and Note 14 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for further discussion on the impacts related to this reinsurance transaction.

Cash Available from Subsidiaries

Unum Group and certain of its intermediate holding company subsidiaries depend on payments from subsidiaries to pay dividends to stockholders, to pay debt obligations, and/or to pay expenses. These payments by our insurance and non-insurance subsidiaries may take the form of dividends, operating and investment management fees, and/or interest payments on loans from the parent to a subsidiary.

Restrictions under applicable state insurance laws limit the amount of dividends that can be paid to a parent company from its insurance subsidiaries in any 12-month period without prior approval by regulatory authorities. For life insurance companies domiciled in the U.S., that limitation generally equals, depending on the state of domicile, either ten percent of an insurer's statutory surplus with respect to policyholders as of the preceding year end or the statutory net gain from operations, excluding realized capital gains and losses, of the preceding year. The payment of dividends to a parent company from a life insurance subsidiary is generally further limited to the amount of unassigned funds.

In connection with a financial examination of Unum America, which closed at the end of the second quarter of 2020, the Maine Bureau of Insurance (MBOI) concluded that Unum America’s long-term care statutory reserves were deficient by $2,100.0 million as of December 31, 2018, the financial statement date of the examination period. The amount reserves are deficient may increase or decrease over time based on changes in assumed reinvestment rates, policyholder inventories, premium rate increase activity, and the underlying growth in the locked in statutory reserve basis as well as updates to other long term actuarial assumptions. The MBOI granted permission to Unum America on May 1, 2020, to phase in the additional statutory reserves over seven years beginning with year-end 2020 and ending with year-end 2026. The calculation of the premium deficiency reserve (PDR) reflects specific assumptions set by MBOI and results in significant margin above Unum America’s best estimate assumptions. As of December 31, 2023, the PDR calculated under the basis resulting from the MBOI examination has been fully recognized. The phase in amounts for 2023, 2022, and 2021 were funded using cash flows from operations and capital contributions from Unum Group. Our long-term care reserves and financial results reported under generally accepted accounting principles were not affected by the MBOI’s examination conclusion. Additional information regarding the Unum America PDR is as follows:

Unum America cedes blocks of long-term care business to Fairwind Insurance Company (Fairwind), which is an affiliated captive reinsurance subsidiary domiciled in the United States. The ability of Fairwind to pay dividends to Unum Group will depend on its satisfaction of applicable regulatory requirements and on the performance of the business reinsured by Fairwind. Fairwind did not pay dividends in 2023. During 2023, Unum Group made $600.0 million in capital contributions to Fairwind. We do not expect to make capital contributions to Fairwind during 2024.

The ability of Unum Group and certain of its intermediate holding company subsidiaries to continue to receive dividends from their insurance subsidiaries also depends on additional factors such as RBC ratios and capital adequacy and/or solvency requirements, funding growth objectives at an affiliate level, and maintaining appropriate capital adequacy ratios to support desired ratings. The RBC ratios for our U.S. insurance subsidiaries at December 31, 2023 are in line with our expectations and are significantly above the level that would require state regulatory action.

Unum Group and/or certain of its intermediate holding company subsidiaries may also receive dividends from our U.K. subsidiaries, the payment of which may be subject to applicable insurance company regulations and capital guidance in the U.K. Unum Limited is subject to the requirements of Solvency II, a European Union (EU) directive that is part of retained UK law pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, which prescribes capital requirements and risk management standards for the European insurance industry. Our U.K. holding company is also subject to the Solvency II requirements relevant to insurance holding companies while, together with certain of its subsidiaries including Unum Limited, the group (the Unum UK Solvency II Group) is subject to group supervision under Solvency II. The Unum UK Solvency II Group received approval from the U.K. Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) to use its own internal model for calculating regulatory capital and also received approval for certain associated regulatory permissions including transitional relief as the Solvency II capital regime continues to be implemented. In connection with the U.K.’s exit from the EU, the U.K. government is reviewing the regulatory framework of financial services companies and the PRA is consulting with industry on proposed changes. Certain changes have already been finalized, which have improved the solvency position of our U.K. business at December 31, 2023. Additionally, the remaining pending proposals may lead to future changes in the solvency position of our U.K. business.

The payment of dividends to the parent company from our subsidiaries also requires the approval of the individual subsidiary's board of directors.

The amount available during 2023 for the payment of ordinary dividends from Unum Group's traditional U.S. insurance subsidiaries, which excludes Fairwind, was approximately $991 million. During 2023, we declared and paid in cash $1,440.6 million in dividends, of which $655.0 million was considered an extraordinary dividend. During 2023, Unum Limited declared and paid dividends of £65.0 million to Unum Group through our U.K holding company, Unum European Holding Company Limited.

During 2024, we intend to maintain a level of capital in our insurance subsidiaries above the applicable capital adequacy requirements and minimum solvency margins. As a result of our consideration of overall capitalization needs, we may not utilize the entire amount of dividends available in 2024, which are based on applicable restrictions under current law. Approximately $1,289 million is available, without prior approval by regulatory authorities, during 2024 for the payment of dividends from Unum Group's traditional U.S. insurance subsidiaries, which excludes our captive reinsurer. Approximately £140 million is available to be distributable from Unum Limited during 2024. The actual amount distributable during 2024 will depend on experience, including the impact of market movements, and is subject to local requirements, as well as regulatory and other business considerations.

Insurance regulatory restrictions do not limit the amount of dividends available for distribution from non-insurance subsidiaries except where the non-insurance subsidiaries are held directly or indirectly by an insurance subsidiary and only indirectly by Unum Group, which does not apply to our current entity structure.

Funding for Employee Benefit Plans

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2023, we made contributions of $74.0 million and £4.6 million to our U.S. and U.K. defined contribution plans, respectively, and expect to make contributions of approximately $78 million and £5 million during 2024. We had no regulatory contribution requirements for our U.S. and U.K. qualified defined benefit pension plans and made no voluntary contributions during the twelve months ended December 31, 2023. We do not expect to have regulatory contribution requirements for our U.S. and U.K. qualified defined benefit pension plans in 2024, but we reserve the right to make voluntary contributions during 2024. We have met all minimum pension funding requirements set forth by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. We have estimated our future funding requirements under the Pension Protection Act of 2006 and under applicable U.K. law and do not believe that any future funding requirements will cause a material adverse effect on our liquidity. See Note 11 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for further discussion of our employee benefit plans.

Debt, Term Loan Facility, Credit Facilities and Other Sources of Liquidity

There are no significant financial covenants associated with any of our debt obligations other than those described below. We continually monitor our debt covenants to ensure we remain in compliance. We have not observed any current trends that would cause a breach of any debt covenants.

Maturities, Purchases, and Retirement of Debt

In September 2022, pursuant to privately negotiated transactions, we purchased, and the Provident Financing Trust I (the Trust) retired, $14.0 million aggregate liquidation amount of the Trust's 7.405% capital securities due 2038, which resulted in the reduction of a corresponding principal amount of our 7.405% junior subordinated debt securities due 2038 then held by the Trust. We incurred costs of $1.2 million related to the early retirement of the junior subordinated debt securities.

In August 2022, we redeemed $350.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.000% senior notes due 2024, for which we incurred costs of $3.0 million.

In June 2021, we purchased and retired $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.500% senior notes due 2025, for which we incurred costs of $67.3 million related to the early retirement of debt.

Issuance of Debt

In June 2021, we issued $600.0 million of 4.125% senior notes due 2051. The notes are callable at or above par and rank equally in the right of payment with all of our other unsecured and unsubordinated debt.

Term Loan Facility

In August 2022, we entered into a five-year $350.0 million senior unsecured delayed draw term loan facility with a syndicate of lenders. Also in August 2022, we drew the entire amount of the term loan facility, which is scheduled to mature in August 2027. Amounts due under the term loan facility incur interest based on the prime rate, the federal funds rate or the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR). The proceeds from the term loan facility were used to redeem $350.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.000% senior notes due 2024.

Borrowings under the term loan facility are subject to financial covenants, negative covenants, and events of default that are customary. The two primary financial covenants include limitations based on our leverage ratio and consolidated net worth. We are also subject to covenants that limit subsidiary indebtedness.

Facility Agreement for Contingent Issuance of Senior Notes

We have a 20-year facility agreement with a Delaware trust (the P-Caps Trust) that gives us the right to issue and to sell to the trust, on one or more occasions, up to $400.0 million of 4.046% senior notes in exchange for U.S. Treasury securities held by the trust. These senior notes will not be issued unless and until the issuance right is exercised. The exercise of the issuance right triggers recognition of the senior notes on our consolidated balance sheets. As the amount we receive upon exercise of the issuance right is contingent upon the value of the U.S. Treasury securities, a decline in the value of the U.S. Treasury securities reduces the amount we would receive upon exercise of the issuance right. We may also direct the trust to grant the right to exercise the issuance right with respect to all or a designated amount of the senior notes to one or more assignees (who are our consolidated subsidiaries or persons to whom we have an obligation). We pay a semi-annual facility fee to the trust at a rate of 2.225% per year on the unexercised portion of the maximum amount of senior notes that we could issue and sell to the trust and we reimburse the trust for its expenses.

The issuance right will be exercised automatically in full upon our failure to make certain payments to the trust, such as paying the facility fee or reimbursing the trust for its expenses, if the failure to pay is not cured within 30 days, or upon certain bankruptcy events involving the company. We are also required to exercise the issuance right in full if our consolidated stockholders’ equity, excluding accumulated other comprehensive income, falls below $2.0 billion, subject to adjustment from time to time in certain cases, and upon certain other events described in the facility agreement.

Prior to any involuntary exercise of the issuance right, we have the right to repurchase any or all of the 4.046% senior notes then held by the trust in exchange for U.S. Treasury securities. We may redeem any outstanding 4.046% senior notes, in whole or in part, prior to their maturity. Prior to February 15, 2041, the redemption price will equal the greater of par or a make-whole redemption price. On or after February 15, 2041, any outstanding 4.046% senior notes may be redeemed at par.

For more information, see Note 10 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for further discussion of this agreement.

Credit Facilities

In April 2022, we amended and restated our existing credit agreement providing for a five-year $500.0 million senior unsecured revolving credit facility with a syndicate of lenders which is currently scheduled to expire in April 2027. We may request that the lenders’ aggregate commitments of $500.0 million under the facility be increased by up to an additional $200.0 million. Certain of our traditional U.S. life insurance subsidiaries, Unum Life Insurance Company of America, Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company, and Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, may also borrow under the credit facility, and we can elect to add additional insurance subsidiaries to the facility at any later date. Any obligation of a subsidiary under the credit facility is several only and not joint and is subject to an unconditional guarantee by Unum Group. We may also request, on up to two occasions, that the lenders' commitment termination dates be extended by one year. The credit facility also provides for the issuance of letters of credit subject to certain terms and limitations. The credit facility provides for borrowings at an interest rate based on the prime rate, the federal funds rate or the SOFR. At December 31, 2023, there were no borrowed amounts outstanding under the credit facility and letters of credit totaling $0.4 million had been issued.

We also have a five-year, £75 million senior unsecured standby letter of credit facility with a different syndicate of lenders, pursuant to which a syndicated letter of credit was issued in favor of Unum Limited (as beneficiary), our U.K. insurance subsidiary, and is available for drawings up to £75 million until its scheduled expiration in July 2026. The credit facility provides for borrowings at an interest rate based on the prime rate or the federal funds rate. In December 2023, we entered into a new five-year, £75 million senior standby letter of credit facility pursuant to which a standby letter of credit was issued in favor of Unum Limited (as beneficiary), our U.K. insurance subsidiary, and is available for drawings up to £75.0 million until its scheduled expiration in December 2028. In connection with and as security for the December 2023 senior standby letter of credit facility, we granted to the issuer of the standby letter of credit the right to exercise, if an event of default has occurred and is continuing, the issuance right in our 20-year facility agreement with the P-Caps Trust, up to a maximum of $200.0 million. The credit facility provides for borrowings at an interest rate based on the Sterling Overnight Index Average rate. No amounts have been borrowed under the credit facilities or letters of credit. If drawings are made in the future, we may elect to borrow such amounts from the lenders pursuant to term loans made under the credit facilities.

Borrowings under the credit facilities are subject to financial covenants, negative covenants, and events of default that are customary. The two primary financial covenants include limitations based on our leverage ratio and consolidated net worth. We are also subject to covenants that limit subsidiary indebtedness.

See Note 10 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for additional information on our debt.

Shelf Registration

We maintain a shelf registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue various types of securities, including common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, depository shares, stock purchase contracts, units and warrants. The shelf registration enables us to raise funds from the offering of any securities covered by the shelf registration as well as any combination thereof, subject to market conditions and our capital needs.

Cash Requirements

As previously discussed, cash is applied primarily to the payment of policy benefits, costs of acquiring new business (principally commissions), operating expenses, and taxes, as well as purchases of investments. We have established an investment strategy that we believe will provide for adequate cash flows from operations to meet cash payment requirements. Summarized below are our estimated material cash requirements, both in the short-term (within 12 months) and the long-term (beyond 12 months) resulting from contractual obligations as of December 31, 2023:

•Policyholder liabilities, which exclude the effect of change in discount rate assumptions and therefore differs from the amount shown in the consolidated balance sheet, totaled $46,672.3 million, of which $4,397.3 million is estimated to be paid in 2024. We also maintain reinsurance agreements for which the recoverable under those agreements totaled $13,092.3 million of which $1,358.3 million is estimated to offset related policyholder liability payments in 2024. Policyholder liabilities and the related reinsurance recoverable represent the projected payout of the current in-force policyholder liabilities and the expected cash inflows from reinsurers for liabilities ceded and therefore incorporate uncertainties as to the timing and amount of claim payments. We utilize extensive liability modeling to project future cash flows from the in-force business. The primary assumptions used to project future cash flows are discount rate, claim resolution rate, incidence rate, and policyholder lapse and mortality. These cash flows are discounted to determine the current value of the projected claim payments. The timing and amount of payments on policyholder liabilities may vary significantly over time.

•Payments related to our long-term debt and our facility agreements, which include contractual principal and interest payments and therefore exceeds the amount shown in the consolidated balance sheets, totaled $6,536.4 million, of which $196.4 million in interest payments is estimated to be paid in 2024.

•Investment commitments which represent commitments we have made to purchase or fund investments including privately placed fixed maturity securities, commercial mortgage loans, and private equity partnerships totaled $925.2 million, all of which is estimated to be paid in 2024 based on the expiration date of the commitments. The timing of the fulfillment of certain of these commitments cannot be estimated, therefore the settlements of these obligations are reflected in amounts estimated to be paid in 2024. These commitments may or may not be funded and are therefore not recorded on our consolidated balance sheets.

•Pensions and OPEB which includes commitments related to our defined benefit pension and postretirement plans for our employees, including our non-qualified pension plan, totaled $599.4 million, of which $20.0 million is estimated to be paid in 2024. Pension plan obligations, other than the non-qualified plan, represent our contributions to the pension plans and are projected based on the expected future minimum contributions as required under current U.S. and U.K. legislative funding requirements. Non-qualified pension plan and other postretirement benefit obligations represent the expected benefit payments related to these plans which we expect to pay, as incurred, from our general assets.

•Amounts owed to reinsurers totaled $484.5 million of which $119.0 million is estimated to be paid in 2024.

•Payables for general operating expenses and deferred compensation liabilities totaled $441.7 million of which $318.1 million is estimated to be paid in 2024.

•Obligations to return advances received from the FHLB and to return unrestricted cash collateral to our securities lending and derivative counterparties totaled $138.7 million of which $113.1 million is estimated to be repaid in 2024.

•Commissions due totaled $141.3 million all of which is estimated to be paid in 2024.

•We also have obligations with outside parties for computer data processing services, software maintenance agreements, and consulting services of $125.7 million, of which $59.4 million is estimated to be paid in 2024.

•Operating lease payments representing the amount of undiscounted minimum lease payments due totaled $71.6 million of which $19.2 million is estimated to be paid in 2024.

See "Critical Accounting Estimates" contained herein in this Item 7 and Notes 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 14, and 17 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for additional information on our various commitments and obligations.

Transfers of Financial Assets

Our investment policy permits us to lend fixed maturity securities to unaffiliated financial institutions in short-term securities lending agreements, which increases our investment income with minimal risk. We account for all of our securities lending agreements and repurchase agreements as secured borrowings. As of December 31, 2023, we held $63.1 million of cash collateral from securities lending agreements. The average balance for securities lending agreements which were collateralized by cash during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $87.4 million, and the maximum amount outstanding at any month endwas $134.4 million. In addition, at December 31, 2023, wehad $12.5 million of off-balance sheet securities lending agreements which were collateralized by securities that we were neither permitted to sell nor control. The average balance of these off-balance sheet transactions during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $28.5 million, and the maximum amount outstanding at any month end was $65.5 million.

To manage our cash position more efficiently, we may enter into securities repurchase agreements with unaffiliated financial institutions. We generally use securities repurchase agreements as a means to finance the purchase of invested assets or for short-term general business purposes until projected cash flows become available from our operations or existing investments. We had no securities repurchase agreements outstanding at December 31, 2023, nor didwe utilize any securities repurchase agreements during 2023. Our use of securities repurchase agreements and securities lending agreements can fluctuate during any given period and will depend on our liquidity position, the availability of long-term investments that meet our purchasing criteria, and our general business needs.

Certain of our U.S. insurance subsidiaries are members of regional FHLBs. As of December 31, 2023, we owned $15.7 millionof FHLB common stock and had outstanding advances of$64.5 million from the regional FHLBs which were used for the purpose of investing in either short-term investments or fixed maturity securities. As of December 31, 2023, we have additional borrowing capacity of approximately $935.3 million from the FHLBs.

See Note 3 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for additional information.

Consolidated Cash Flows

Operating Cash Flows

Operating cash flows are primarily attributable to the receipt of premium and investment income, offset by payments of claims, commissions, expenses, and income taxes. Premium income growth is dependent not only on new sales, but on policy renewals and growth of existing business, renewal price increases, and persistency. Investment income growth is dependent on the growth in the underlying assets supporting our insurance liabilities and capital and on the earned yield. The level of commissions and operating expenses is attributable to the level of sales and the first year acquisition expenses associated with new business as well as the maintenance of existing business. The level of paid claims is affected partially by the growth and aging of the block of business and also by the general economy, as previously discussed in the operating results by segment.

The operating cash flows for 2021 included $456.8 million of cash paid to the reinsurer related to the second phase of the Closed Block individual disability reinsurance transaction. See "Executive Summary" contained herein in this Item 7 and Note 14 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for additional information on the Closed Block individual disability reinsurance transaction.

Investing Cash Flows

Investing cash inflows consist primarily of the proceeds from the sales and maturities of investments. Investing cash outflows consist primarily of payments for purchases of investments. Our investment strategy is to match the cash flows and durations of our assets with the cash flows and durations of our liabilities to meet the funding requirements of our business. When market opportunities arise, we may sell selected securities and reinvest the proceeds to improve the yield and credit quality of our portfolio. We may at times also sell selected securities and reinvest the proceeds to improve the duration matching of our assets and liabilities and/or re-balance our portfolio. As a result, sales before maturity may vary from period to period. The sale and purchase of short-term investments is influenced by proceeds received from FHLB funding advances, issuance of debt, our securities lending program, and by the amount of cash which is at times held in short-term investments to facilitate the availability of cash to fund the purchase of appropriate long-term investments, repay maturing debt, and/or to fund our capital deployment program.

During the third quarter of 2023, we sold over $700.0 million of shorter duration bonds in our long-term care portfolio and reinvested the proceeds in higher quality, higher yielding, and longer duration bonds that better match our liability cash flows. As a result of this activity, both sales and purchases of fixed maturity securities increased during 2023 compared to 2022.

See Note 3 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for further information.

Financing Cash Flows

Financing cash flows consist primarily of borrowings and repayments of debt, dividends paid to stockholders, repurchases of common stock, cash transferred related to the active life cohort volatility agreement with Commonwealth, and policyholders' account deposits and withdrawals.

Cash used to repurchase shares of Unum Group's common stock during 2023, 2022, and 2021 was $250.1 million, $200.1 million, and $50.0 million, respectively. In connection with the repurchases made during 2023, we recognized $1.9 million of excise tax which has not been settled as of December 31, 2023. During 2023, 2022, and 2021 we paid dividends of $277.1 million, $254.2 million, and $239.4 million, respectively, to holders of Unum Group's common stock.

During 2022, we purchased, and the Trust retired, $14.0 million aggregate liquidation amount of our 7.405% capital securities due 2038, for which we paid an additional $1.2 million in cash associated with the early retirement of this debt.

During 2022, we entered into a five-year $350.0 million senior unsecured delayed draw term loan facility with a syndicate of lenders. Also in 2022, we drew the entire amount of the term loan facility, for which we received total proceeds of $349.2 million, and used the proceeds to redeem $350.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.000% senior notes due 2024, for which we paid an additional $2.4 million in cash associated with the early retirement of this debt.

During 2021, we issued $600.0 million of 4.125% senior notes due 2051 and received total proceeds of $588.1 million.

Also during 2021, we purchased and retired $500.0 million aggregate principal amount of our 4.500% senior notes due 2025, for which we paid an additional $62.8 million in cash associated with the early retirement of this debt.

See "Debt, Term Loan Facility, Credit Facilities and Other Sources of Liquidity" contained herein in this Item 7, and Notes 10, 12, and 14 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for further information.

Ratings

AM Best, Fitch, Moody's, and S&P are among the third parties that assign issuer credit ratings to Unum Group and financial strength ratings to our insurance subsidiaries. We compete based in part on the financial strength ratings provided by rating agencies. A downgrade of our financial strength ratings can be expected to adversely affect us and could potentially, among other things, adversely affect our relationships with distributors of our products and services and retention of our sales force, negatively impact persistency and new sales, particularly large case group sales and individual sales, and generally adversely affect our ability to compete. A downgrade in the issuer credit rating assigned to Unum Group can be expected to adversely affect our cost of capital or our ability to raise additional capital.

The table below reflects the outlook as well as the senior unsecured debt ratings for Unum Group and the financial strength ratings for each of our traditional insurance subsidiaries as of the date of this filing.

NR = not rated

We maintain an ongoing dialogue with the four rating agencies that evaluate us in order to inform them of progress we are making regarding our strategic objectives and financial plans as well as other pertinent issues. A significant component of our communications involves our annual review meeting with each of the four agencies. We hold other meetings throughout the year regarding our business, including, but not limited to, quarterly updates.

In August 2023, AM Best upgraded its long-term issuer credit rating to bbb+ from bbb and also affirmed its financial strength ratings for our domestic insurance subsidiaries. The credit rating upgrade reflects improved risk-adjusted capitalization, stable asset quality, strong financial flexibility, and enhanced liquidity. Following the upgrade, the outlook for the long-term issuer credit rating was revised to stable from positive, while the outlook for financial strength rating remains stable.

In November 2023, Fitch Ratings upgraded the insurer financial strength rating for our domestic subsidiaries to A from A- and credit ratings, including the senior debt rating, to BBB from BBB-. The credit rating upgrade reflects improved balance sheet fundamentals, including capital metrics, while profitability returned towards pre-pandemic levels. Following the upgrade, the outlook for the long-term issuer credit rating and financial strength rating was revised to stable from positive.

There have been no other changes in the rating agencies' outlooks or ratings during 2023 or in 2024 prior to the date of this filing.

Agency ratings are not directed toward the holders of our securities and are not recommendations to buy, sell, or hold our securities. Each rating is subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the assigning rating organization, and each rating should be regarded as an independent assessment, not conditional on any other rating. Given the dynamic nature of the ratings process, changes by these or other rating agencies may or may not occur in the near-term. We have ongoing dialogue with the rating agencies concerning our insurance risk profile, our financial flexibility, our operating performance, and the quality of our investment portfolios. The rating agencies provide specific criteria and, depending on our performance relative to the criteria, will determine future negative or positive rating agency actions.

See "Ratings" contained herein in Item 1 and "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A for further discussion.