Sentiment Analysis of the earnings transcript to help figure out if there are any bullish or bearish sentiments that could be gathered from it. We're doing ML and AI based analysis on the earnings call to get some more insights.
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| Statement |
|---|
| We recognize that being a low cost producer is a great way to a sustainable competitive advantage in this industry |
| Efficiency gains are what will allow us to consistently offer competitive products in the marketplace, while also generating an appropriate return for shareholders |
| I am pleased with our results in the fourth quarter and for the full year 2023 |
| In closing, we ended the year with a strong statutory balance sheet and substantial cash at the holding company |
| We believe that this combination will lead to continue growth in Shield sales and expanded presence in the fixed indexed annuity market and the first dollar contributions into our worksite product offering in partnership with BlackRock |
| First, we will continue to strengthen our product suite and leverage the depth and breadth of our expertise, along with our strong distribution relationships to competitively position ourselves in the markets we choose to compete in |
| We delivered strong sales results and further strengthened our annuity and life insurance product portfolios |
| Finally, balance sheet strength always remains a key priority and we believe that our strong RBC ratio and substantial holding company cash position will allow us to continue to return capital to shareholders |
| Contributing to the strong total annuity sales results for the full year 2023 was a record sales year for our flagship Shield level annuity products |
| So, we're in a very strong position from the ability to continue our capital plan |
| Looking back on 2023, I'm proud of the progress we made as we continue to execute on our strategic priorities |
| We bought back a substantial amount of common stock, delivered strong sales results, enhanced and grew our core product suite and nicely controlled expenses, all while maintaining our strong balance sheet and robust liquidity |
| And the asset class is a good fit for our long-term liabilities |
| We remain very excited about our expanded relationship with BlackRock to deliver BlackRock's LifePath Paycheck |
| I'm proud of all that we achieved in 2023 and look forward to 2024 as the Brighthouse Financial franchise continues to grow and evolve to a more diversified company |
| Obviously, this year – last year was a good year |
| As I mentioned, in 2023, we continue to strengthen our annuity and life insurance product portfolios |
| For the full year 2023, we repurchased $250 million of our common stock, reducing shares outstanding relative to year-end 2022 by approximately 7%, further demonstrating our ongoing commitment to return capital to our shareholders over time |
| And I see your RBC looks strong |
| Now obviously, we think that over time, we're going to have more predictable cash flows, more predictable earnings |
| For full year 2023, total annuity sales were $10.6 billion, and total life insurance sales were $102 million, both of which exceeded our 2023 targets |
| Our financial position allowed us to support growth as well as return capital to shareholders in 2023, and we expect this to continue in 2024 |
| The impact from reflecting future hedges has a favorable impact on required capital because the total risk is lower and more of the risk is now reflected in reserves |
| Finally, we continued to focus on maintaining the strength of our balance sheet, ended the year with an estimated combined risk-based capital or RBC ratio of approximately 420% and liquid assets at the holding company of $1.3 billion |
| Appreciate the opportunity |
| In May, we introduced new enhancements to our Shield Level annuities product suite as we continue to be a leader in the buffered annuity marketplace that we help to create |
| On a sequential basis, Life segment results reflect a higher underwriting margin partially offset by lower net investment income and higher expenses |
| The implementation of this new requirement had a favorable impact on our required capital, with an offsetting increase in statutory reserves |
| Field sales totaled $6.9 billion, an increase of 17% on a full year basis |
| Also, we realized the capital benefits associated with the internal reinsurance transaction between BLIC and its New York affiliate that we had discussed with you previously |
| Statement |
|---|
| Excluding the impact of the notable item, the adjusted earnings results in the fourth quarter were below our average quarterly run rate expectation |
| Alternative investment income was approximately $60 million, or $0.95 per share below our average quarterly run rate expectation |
| Sequentially, results reflect a lower underwriting margin and lower net investment income |
| I also want to note that largely because of the reserve increase associated with the new statutory requirement, we had a negative unassigned funds balance at BLIC of approximately $1.1 billion at year-end |
| One of the things that we have said, I guess, starting back in late '22 was that, we were a little cautious on the environment |
| So the our ability to predict what's going to happen to unassigned funds, very difficult because you will see a lot of movement in CTE70 versus CTE98 depending on the market environment |
| Adjusted earnings for the quarter of $177 million reflected a $12 million unfavorable notable item or $0.19 per share related to legal matters |
| The Run-off segment reported an adjusted loss of $50 million |
| It's weaker this year, a little negative, and I think that included one-time benefits from both the mean reversion point change and it sounded like some AAT release in 4Q |
| This was driven by lower alternative investment returns and seasonally higher expenses |
| Sequentially, annuity results were driven by lower fees, higher expenses and a lower underwriting margin |
| So this suggests that the negative unassigned funds is more of a technical consideration than it is a fundamental one for us |
| The key drivers of the sequential decline were the impact of the new statutory requirements and $350 million in subsidiary dividends to the holding company, with $266 million from Brighthouse Life Insurance Company, or BLIC and $84 million from New England Life Insurance Company |
| My first question on, the kind of normalized EPS and if we adjust for alts, went down a little bit in the quarter |
| So that's specifically CTE98 is down by $1.14 billion, and you have about $2 billion of convergence between 98 and 70 |
| But at this point, it's still been pretty volatile |
| First one I have for you is, going back to the CTE98 level and it being lower |
| We lowered the first loss tolerance significantly from where it was and where it was initially intended to go to at separation |
| Corporate and Other had an adjusted loss, excluding notable items of $10 million and sequentially reflects lower expenses, partially offset by a lower tax benefit |
| Now obviously, with negative unassigned funds, we would need to have regulatory approval to do that |
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