The same low interest rates that have hammered insurers' long-term care insure (LTCI) and annuity businesses are tapping on long-term disability (LTD) operations, but the disability operations seem to getting through the hail without major dents.
Unum Group Corp. (NYSE:UNM) reported a $279 million net loss for the fourth quarter of 2014, but that was because of a previously announced reserve increase at its closed long-term care insurance (LTCI) block, not because of any issues with ongoing operations.
The ongoing operations, which include a big group disability business, reported $323 million in operating income for the latest quarter on $2.6 billion in revenue, up from $309 million in operating income on $2.6 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter of 2013.
Unum's group long-term disability (LTD) insurance sales increased 39 percent, to $116 million. The company's group short-term disability (STD) sales rose 10 percent, to $60 million.
Another insurer with a large disability business, StanCorp Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:SFG), reported $56 million in net income for the quarter on $696 million in revenue, down from $65 million in net income on $719 million in revenue for the year-earlier quarter, but securities analysts and investors took the drop in net income in stride.
Executives and analysts said relatively little about the disability products and markets themselves during the conference calls the companies held to talk about earnings with securities analysts.
For more about what disability issuers have been saying this earnings season, read on.
1. Many executives are not bothering to talk about their disability lines.
Cigna Corp. (NYSE:CI) sells group disability insurance along with group life insurance.
During Cigna's call, Thomas McCarthy, the chief financial officer, simply noted during the call that the group life and disability unit reported $317 million in earnings in 2014, and that was that.