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November 06, 2013 at 06:38 AM
The environment for selling employee benefits in the United States is poor, but Unum Group Corp. (NYSE:UNM) still managed to sell more group long-term disability (LTD) insurance during the third quarter.
Unum executives gave that assessment during the company’s third-quarter earnings call.
Thomas Watjen, the president, told securities analysts that, especially in the market for employers with fewer than 50 lives, challenges include a soft economy, an unsettling political environment, and distractions from employers’ need to understand and make decisions about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
Unum executives said they see other insurers using low prices to get the attention of the employers that are willing to change their benefits plans.
The company as a whole is reporting $206 million in net income for the latest quarter on $2.5 billion in revenue, down from $230 million in net income on $2.6 billion in revenue for the third quarter of 2012.
Even at Unum, group short-term disability (STD) insurance sales fell 9.2 percent, to $13 million.
