Unum Group

The Closed Block segment consists of group and individual long-term care and other insurance products no longer actively marketed. We discontinued offering individual long-term care in 2009 and group long-term care in 2012. Other insurance products include individual disability, group pension, individual life and corporate-owned life insurance, reinsurance pools and management operations, and other miscellaneous product lines.

Shown below are financial results and key performance indicators for the Closed Block segment.

Premium income for the long-term care product line in the second quarter and first six months of 2024 was generally consistent with the same periods of 2023. Premium income for our All Other product line continues to decline as expected due to policyholder lapses.

Net investment income was higher during the second quarter and first six months of 2024 relative to the same periods of 2023 primarily due to an increase in the level of invested assets and higher miscellaneous investment income, primarily related to larger increases in the NAV on our private equity partnerships.

Other income primarily includes the underlying results and associated net investment income of certain assumed blocks of business.

The net premium ratio for long-term care increased to 93.7 percent at June 30, 2024 from 86.1 percent at June 30, 2023 due primarily to the impacts of the reserve assumption updates in the third quarter of 2023. Benefits were unfavorable during the second quarter and first six months of 2024 relative to the same periods of 2023 driven primarily by the increase in current period benefit expense resulting from the higher net premium ratio and the impact of capped cohorts. With respect to our third quarter 2023 reserve assumption updates, see "Critical Accounting Estimates" in Item 7 and Note 6 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" in Item 8 of our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

The other expense ratio, excluding the amortization of the cost of reinsurance related to the Closed Block individual disability reinsurance transaction, was generally consistent in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. The other expense ratio, excluding the amortization of the cost of reinsurance related to the Closed Block individual disability reinsurance transaction, increased in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023 due primarily to an increase in employee-related costs and operational investments in our business.

Individual Disability Reinsurance Transaction

As shown in the chart above, we exclude from income before income tax and net investment gains and losses, the amortization of the cost of reinsurance and the impact of non-contemporaneous reinsurance related to the Closed Block individual disability reinsurance transaction, where we ceded a significant portion of this business. The cost of reinsurance continues to be amortized over a period of approximately 22 years, on a declining trajectory generally consistent with the expected run-off pattern of the ceded reserves. As a result of the execution of the second phase of the reinsurance transaction occurring after January 1, 2021, the transition date of ASU 2018-12, in accordance with the provisions of the ASU related to non-contemporaneous reinsurance, we were required to establish the ceded reserves using an upper-medium grade fixed-income instrument as of the reinsurance transaction date in March 2021 which resulted in higher ceded reserves compared to that which was reported historically. However, the direct reserves for the block reinsured in the second phase were calculated using the original discount rate utilized as of the transition date. Both the direct and ceded reserves are then remeasured at each reporting period using a current discount rate reflective of an upper-medium grade fixed-income instrument, with the changes recognized in OCI. While the total equity impact is neutral, the different original discount rates utilized for direct and ceded reserves result in disproportionate earnings impacts. The impact of non-contemporaneous reinsurance will fluctuate depending on the magnitude of reserve changes during the period. The decrease in the effects of non-contemporaneous reinsurance treatment in the second quarter and first six months of 2024 compared to the same periods of 2023 is due to expected run out of the ceded block which resulted in a smaller net change in reserves in the second quarter and first six months of 2024 compared to the same periods of 2023.

We will continue to execute on our well-defined strategy of implementing long-term care premium rate increases, efficient capital management, improved financial analysis, and operational effectiveness. We will continue to explore structural options to enhance financial flexibility. We continue to file requests with various state insurance departments for premium rate increases on certain of our individual and group long-term care policies which reflect assumptions as of the date of filings. In states for which a rate increase is submitted and approved, we routinely provide customers options for coverage changes or other approaches that might fit their current financial and insurance needs. Despite continued anticipated premium rate increases in our long-term care business, we expect overall premium income and adjusted operating revenue to decline over the long term as these closed blocks of business wind down. We will likely experience volatility in net investment income due to fluctuations of miscellaneous investment income, driven by the allocation towards alternative assets, primarily private equity partnership investments, in the long-term care product line portfolio. We record changes in our share of the NAV of the partnerships in net investment income. We receive financial information related to our investments in partnerships and generally record investment income on a one-quarter lag in accordance with our accounting policy. As these net asset values are volatile and can fluctuate materially with changes in market economic conditions, there may possibly be significant movements up or down in future periods as conditions change. We continuously monitor key indicators to assess our risks and adjust our business plans, including utilization of derivative financial instruments to manage interest rate risk.

Profitability of our long-tailed products is affected by claims experience related to mortality and morbidity, resolutions, investment returns, premium rate increases, and persistency. The net premium ratio represents the ratio of future expected benefits and related expenses to future expected gross premiums using the original discount rate. The long-term care benefits experience may continue to have quarterly volatility, particularly in the near term as our claim block matures and as we continue the implementation of premium rate increases. Claim resolution rates which reflect the probability that a disability or long-term care claim will close due to recovery or death of the insureds, are very sensitive to operational and external factors and can be volatile. Our claim resolution rate assumption used in determining reserves is our expectation of the resolution rate we will experience over the life of the block of business and will vary from actual experience in any one period. It is possible that variability in any of our reserve assumptions, including, but not limited to, mortality, morbidity, resolutions, premium rate increases, benefit change elections, and persistency, could result in a material impact to our reserves.

As a result of the execution of the reinsurance transaction related to our Closed Block individual disability line of business, we have fully ceded a significant portion of this business. We expect that earnings will continue to be impacted by the amortization of the cost of reinsurance and the impacts of non-contemporaneous reinsurance, but we anticipate these impacts will decline over time with the run-off pattern of the reserves.

For further discussion of ASU 2018-12, see Note 2 of the “Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements” contained herein in Item 1.