HORACE MANN EDUCATORS CORP DE

•1.7% decrease in net investment income due to lower returns on the commercial mortgage loan funds

•Decline of 46 basis points in the annualized net interest spread due to higher interest credited with slight decrease in net investment income

•Lower DAC amortization due to lower levels of write-offs as annuity persistency has been stable in the current year

•Life Benefits increased 4%

The following table provides certain information for the Life & Retirement segment for the years indicated.

The Life & Retirement segment net income decreased 21.3% in 2024 reflecting the lower net interest margin. Net investment income decreased 1.7% for the full-year due to lower returns on the commercial mortgage loan funds. The annualized net interest spread in our fixed annuity business was 172 basis points for the full year compared to 218 basis points in 2023, largely due to lower commercial mortgage loan funds and higher credited rates on the retained annuity block. The net dollar contribution from our FHLB funding agreements increased $3.8 million compared with 2023, with FHLB interest expense reflected in interest credited.

For 2024, net annuity contract deposits* for variable and fixed annuities decreased 0.8% for the year to $452.4 million. Educators continue to begin their relationship with Horace Mann through 403(b) retirement savings products, including the company’s attractive annuity products, which provide encouraging cross-sell opportunities. Cash value persistency remained strong at 91.4%.

Life annualized sales* were $10.4 million for the year, which was an 11.8% increase over prior year. Life insurance in force rose to $21.1 billion at year-end.

Horace Mann currently has $5.5 billion in annuity assets under management, including $2.2 billion of fixed annuities, $2.9 billion of variable annuities and $0.4 billion of fixed indexed annuities. Assets under administration, which includes Horace Mann Retirement Advantage® and other advisory and recordkeeping assets, were up 4.8%, benefiting from the strong equity markets.

We actively manage our interest rate risk exposure, considering a variety of factors, including earned interest rates, credited interest rates and the relationship between the expected durations of assets and liabilities. We estimate that over the next 12 months approximately $512.5 million of the Life & Retirement investment portfolio and related investable cash flows will be reinvested at current market rates.

Interest rates remained relatively elevated throughout 2024. However, the risk of a deep recession or shock to the economy, such as a global pandemic, could result in a return to historically low interest rates. The current environment of higher interest rates have afforded us the opportunity to invest new insurance cash flows and reinvested cash flows at higher yields, which should be a benefit to net investment income, but the higher interest rates have caused net unrealized investment losses in the portfolios.

As a general guideline, based on our existing policies and investment portfolio, the impact from a 100 basis point decline in the average reinvestment rate would reduce Life & Retirement net investment income by approximately $2.0 million in year one and $5.9 million in year two, reducing the annualized net interest spread by approximately 7 basis points and 21 basis points in the respective periods, compared to the current period annualized net interest spread. We could also consider potential changes in rates credited to policyholders, tempered by any restrictions on the ability to adjust policyholder rates due to minimum guaranteed crediting rates.

We reinsure a $2.4 billion block of in force fixed annuities with a minimum crediting rate of 4.5% which helps mitigate the risk of not being able to generate appropriate spreads on the annuity business. Information regarding the interest crediting rates and balances equal to the guaranteed minimum crediting rates for deferred annuity account values excluding the reinsured block is shown below.