UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INC

3. Investments

A summary of debt securities by major security type is as follows:

Nearly all of the Company’s investments in mortgage-backed securities were rated “Double A” or better as of December 31, 2025.

The Company held $5.5 billion and $4.9 billion of equity securities as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The Company’s investments in equity securities primarily consist of venture investments and employee savings plan related investments. The carrying values of equity securities held at fair value on non-recurring basis were $3.3 billion and $3.0 billion, including cumulative net unrealized gains of $0.8 billion and $1.3 billion, as of December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023, the Company recognized $(360) million, $710 million and $276 million, respectively, of unrealized (losses) or gains related to fair value adjustments on equity securities primarily in the Company’s venture portfolio and recorded $(54) million, $121 million and $44 million, respectively, of investment expenses related to the fair value adjustments. Unrealized gains and losses on equity securities are recorded within investment and other income with associated expenses recorded within operating costs within the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Additionally, the Company’s investments included $3.8 billion of equity method investments primarily in operating businesses in the health care sector, as of both December 31, 2025 and 2024. The allowance for credit losses on held-to-maturity securities as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 was not material.

The amortized cost and fair value of debt securities as of December 31, 2025, by contractual maturity, were as follows:

The fair value of available-for-sale debt securities with gross unrealized losses by major security type and length of time that individual securities have been in a continuous unrealized loss position were as follows:

The Company’s unrealized losses from all securities as of December 31, 2025 were generated from approximately 24,000 positions out of a total of 41,000 positions. The Company believes it will timely collect the principal and interest due on its debt securities that have an amortized cost in excess of fair value. The unrealized losses were primarily caused by interest rate increases and not by unfavorable changes in the credit quality associated with these securities which impacted the Company’s assessment on collectibility of principal and interest. At each reporting period, the Company evaluates available-for-sale debt securities for any credit-related impairment when the fair value of the investment is less than its amortized cost. The Company evaluated the expected cash flows, the underlying credit quality and credit ratings of the issuers, noting no significant credit deterioration since purchase. As of December 31, 2025, the Company did not have the intent to sell any of the securities in an unrealized loss position. Therefore, the Company believes these losses to be temporary. The allowance for credit losses on available-for-sale debt securities as of December 31, 2025 and 2024 was not material.

4. Fair Value

Certain assets and liabilities are measured at fair value in the Consolidated Financial Statements or have fair values disclosed in the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements. These assets and liabilities are classified into one of three levels of a hierarchy defined by GAAP. In instances in which the inputs used to measure fair value fall into different levels of the fair value hierarchy, the fair value measurement is categorized in its entirety based on the lowest level input which is significant to the fair value measurement in its entirety. The Company’s assessment of the significance of a particular item to the fair value measurement in its entirety requires judgment, including the consideration of inputs specific to the asset or liability.

The fair value hierarchy is summarized as follows:

Level 1 — Quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets/liabilities in active markets.

Level 2 — Other observable inputs, either directly or indirectly, including:

•Quoted prices for similar assets/liabilities in active markets;

•Quoted prices for identical or similar assets/liabilities in inactive markets (e.g., few transactions, limited information, noncurrent prices, high variability over time);

•Inputs other than quoted prices observable for the asset/liability (e.g., interest rates, yield curves, implied volatilities, credit spreads); and

•Inputs corroborated by other observable market data.

Level 3 — Unobservable inputs cannot be corroborated by observable market data.

There wereno transfers in or out of Level 3 financial assets or liabilities during the years ended December 31, 2025 or 2024.

Nonfinancial assets and liabilities or financial assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis are subject to fair value adjustments only in certain circumstances, such as when the Company records an impairment. The Company holds equity securities without readily determinable fair values, primarily related to the Company’s venture portfolio, and an equity method stake from the deconsolidation of a business in 2025, which are classified as Level 3 and measured on a nonrecurring basis. The fair values of these securities are typically based upon transactions of the same or similar security or unobservable amounts, with estimated value derived using valuation approaches such as discounted cash flow analyses, market comparable analyses and consideration of Company-specific information, market conditions and third-party indications.The assets and liabilities within businesses held for sale as of December 31, 2025 were measured at the lower of carrying value or fair value less cost to sell. Fair value is measured based upon unobservable amounts, such as estimated selling price derived from Company-specific information, market conditions and third-party indications. There wereno other significant fair value adjustments for these assets and liabilities recorded during the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 or 2023.

The following methods and assumptions were used to estimate the fair value and determine the fair value hierarchy classification of each class of financial instrument included in the tables below:

Cash and Cash Equivalents. The carrying value of cash and cash equivalents approximates fair value as maturities are less than three months. Fair values of cash equivalent instruments which do not trade on a regular basis in active markets are classified as Level 2.

Debt and Equity Securities. Fair values of debt securities and equity securities reported at fair value on a recurring basis are based on quoted market prices, where available. The Company obtains one price for each security primarily from a third-party pricing service (pricing service), which generally uses quoted or other observable inputs for the determination of fair value. The pricing service normally derives the security prices through recently reported trades for identical or similar securities, and, if necessary, makes adjustments through the reporting date based upon available observable market information. For securities not actively traded, the pricing service may use quoted market prices of comparable instruments or discounted cash flow analyses, incorporating inputs currently observable in the markets for similar securities. Inputs often used in the valuation methodologies include, but are not limited to, benchmark yields, credit spreads, default rates, prepayment speeds and nonbinding broker quotes. As the Company is responsible for the determination of fair value, it performs quarterly analyses on the prices received from the pricing service to determine whether the prices are reasonable estimates of fair value. Specifically, the Company compares the prices received from the pricing service to prices reported by a secondary pricing source, such as its custodian, its investment consultant and third-party investment advisors. Additionally, the Company compares changes in the reported market values and returns to relevant market indices to test the reasonableness of the reported prices. The Company’s internal price verification procedures and reviews of fair value methodology documentation provided by independent pricing services have not historically resulted in adjustment to the prices obtained from the pricing service.

Fair values of debt securities which do not trade on a regular basis in active markets but are priced using other observable inputs are classified as Level 2.

Fair value estimates for Level 1 and Level 2 equity securities reported at fair value on a recurring basis are based on quoted market prices for actively traded equity securities and/or other market data for the same or comparable instruments and transactions in establishing the prices.

The fair values of Level 3 investments in corporate bonds, which are not a significant portion of our investments, are estimated using valuation techniques relying heavily on management assumptions and qualitative observations.

Throughout the procedures discussed above in relation to the Company’s processes for validating third-party pricing information, the Company validates the understanding of assumptions and inputs used in security pricing and determines the proper classification in the hierarchy based on such understanding.

Loan Receivables. The fair values of loan receivables which do not trade on a regular basis in active markets but are priced using other observable inputs are classified as Level 2. The fair values of Level 3 loans receivables are estimated using valuation techniques relying heavily on management assumptions and qualitative observations.

Long-Term Debt. The fair values of the Company’s long-term debt are estimated and classified using the same methodologies as the Company’s investments in debt securities.

The following table presents a summary of fair value measurements by level and carrying values for items measured at fair value on a recurring basis in the Consolidated Balance Sheets:

The following table presents a summary of fair value measurements by level and carrying values for certain financial instruments not measured at fair value on a recurring basis in the Consolidated Balance Sheets:

The carrying amounts reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets for other current financial assets and liabilities approximate fair value because of their short-term nature. These assets and liabilities are not listed in the table above.