LINCOLN NATIONAL CORP

Details underlying the results for Group Protection (in millions) were as follows:

(1)Consists of revenue from third parties for administrative services performed, which has a corresponding partial offset in commissions and other expenses.

Income from operations for this segment increased due primarily to the following:

•Higher insurance premiums due to growth in business in force.

•Lower benefits, net of policyholder liability remeasurement gain, driven by more favorable reported incidence and claim terminations than assumed in our disability business and lower incidence in our life business.

The increase in income from operations was partially offset by higher commissions and other expenses due to incentive compensation as a result of production performance.

Income from operations for this segment increased due primarily to the following:

•Higher insurance premiums due to growth in business in force.

•Lower benefits, net of policyholder liability remeasurement gain, driven by more favorable discount rate impacts on new claims, lower incidence in our disability and life businesses and the impact from our annual assumption review.

The increase in income from operations was partially offset by higher commissions and other expenses driven by higher compensation-related expenses and other costs pertaining to business operations and higher commissions due to growth in business in force.

See “Summary of Critical Accounting Estimates – Annual Assumption Review” above for information on our reserve adjustments.

Management compares trends in actual loss ratios to pricing expectations as group-underwriting risks change over time. We expect normal fluctuations in our total loss ratio, as claims experience is inherently volatile. For every one percent increase in the total loss ratio, we would expect an estimated annual decrease to income from operations of $41 million to $45 million. The effects are symmetrical for a comparable decrease in the loss ratio and, therefore, move in an equal and opposite direction.

For information on the effects of current interest rates on our long-term disability claim reserves, see “Part II– Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk – Interest Rate Risk – Effect of Interest Rate Sensitivity.” For information on the interest rate environment, see “Introduction – Executive Summary – Industry Trends – Interest Rate Environment” above.

Details underlying insurance premiums (in millions) were as follows:

Premiums are a function of the rates priced into the product and our business in force. Business in force, in turn, is driven by sales and persistency experience.

Sales relate to new policyholders and new coverages sold to existing policyholders. We believe that the trend in sales is an important indicator of development of business in force over time. Sales in the table above are the combined annualized premiums for our products. Generally, we have higher sales during the fourth quarter of the year.

We use our investment income to offset the earnings effect of the associated build of our reserves, which are a function of our insurance premiums and the yields on our investments. Details underlying net investment income (in millions) were as follows:

(2)Represents net investment income on the required statutory surplus for this segment and includes the effect of investment income on alternative investments for such assets that are held in the portfolios supporting statutory surplus versus the portfolios supporting product liabilities. See “Consolidated Investments – Alternative Investments” below for more information on alternative investments.

Benefits, Interest Credited and Policyholder Liability Remeasurement (Gain) Loss

Details underlying benefits, interest credited, policyholder liability remeasurement (gain) loss (in millions) and loss ratios by product line were as follows:

Generally, we experience higher mortality in the first quarter of the year and higher disability claims in the fourth quarter of the year due to the seasonality of claims. For additional information on our loss ratios, see “Additional Information” above.

Commissions and other expenses that result directly from and are essential to the successful acquisition of new or renewal business are deferred to the extent recoverable and are amortized on a constant level basis over the expected term of the related contracts using the groupings and actuarial assumptions consistent with those used for calculating the related policyholder liability balances. Certain broker commissions that vary with and are related to paid premiums are expensed as incurred rather than deferred and amortized.