When many health insurance company executives are talking to securities analysts during conference calls, they sound as if they want to run walk-in clinic companies that focus mainly on telling people to exercise.
Many executives from life insurers seem to want to grow up to be financial planning companies.
(Related: Lower Interest Rates Hurt: Annuity Issuers)
Executives from Unum Group and CNO Financial Group Inc., like executives from Aflac Inc., spend some time talking about how they want to work with live humans to sell insurance products and annuities.
The Earnings
Executives from CNO and Unum talked to the securities analysts during conference calls they held to go over their latest financial results.
CNO reported $38 million in net income for the second quarter on $980 million in revenue, compared with $102 million in net income on $1 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2018.
Much of the drop in earnings was due to a $36 million change in the fair value of embedded derivative liabilities related to the company’s indexed annuities.
Spending on commission expense and distribution fees increased to $15 million, from $13 million, at the Bankers Life unit, and to $22 million, from $19 million, at the Washington National unit.
The number of quarterly average producing agents increased 3% at Bankers Life, to 4,294, and 7.4% at Washington National, to 726.
Sales of long-term care insurance increased to $4.7 million, from $3.7 million.
Unum reported $281 million in net income for the latest quarter on $3 billion in revenue, compared with $286 million in net income on $2.9 billion in revenue for the year-earlier quarter.
The main U.S. group insurance unit, Unum US, reported $254 million in operating income for the latest quarter on $1.7 billion in revenue, up from $251 million in operating income on $1.6 billion in revenue.
Commission spending increased to $158 million, from $152 million.
The Colonial Life worksite unit reported $84 million in operating income for the latest quarter on $459 million in revenue, compared with $85 million in operating income on $436 million in revenue.
Commission spending at Colonial Life increased to $95 million, from $91 million.