Good day. Welcome to the 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I would now like to turn the conference over to Daniel Maurer. Please go ahead.
Good morning. I am Daniel Maurer, Chairman of the Board of CNO Financial Group. I'm pleased to welcome you to our 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. We're holding today's meeting in a virtual format to provide convenient access and a consistent experience for all of our shareholders, regardless of geographic location, and includes the same shareholder participation opportunities that were available at our past meetings.
During the meeting, authenticated stakeholders may vote online and submit questions using the designated Ask a q uestion box on your screen. We'll take questions related to the three proposals during the business portion of the meeting. For questions regarding a certain proposal, please clearly note the specific proposal in your submission to assist us in identifying your question. After we adjourn the formal meeting, we'll open the floor for general Q&A.
In a few minutes, we'll begin with the formal business of the meeting, and then I'll turn to Gary Bhojwani, our Chief Executive Officer, for an update on the company, followed by Q&A. First, however, I'd like to introduce our director nominees who are standing with me for election, all of whom are joining us today. Gary Bhojwani, Archie Brown, Dave Foss, Linda Gibson, Adrianne Lee, Chet Ragavan, Steven Shebik, and Jessica Turner. Nina Henderson is also joining us and will retire from the board at the conclusion of today's meeting.
On behalf of the entire board, I want to recognize and thank Nina for more than 14 years of distinguished service, leadership, and commitment to CNO. Nina has been a valued presence on our board and we're grateful for her many contributions and wish her much continued success. Thank you, Nina. Also with us today is Kelly King, a representative of our independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Ms. King has informed me that she does not wish to make a statement and will be available during Q&A to respond to any shareholder questions. The meeting is now called to order. Richard Kratz has been sworn in to act as the independent Inspector of Elections for today's meeting. The polls are now open and will remain open while we consider the three proposals. After the discussion concludes, the polls will close, and we'll announce the preliminary voting results.
If you have not yet voted or wish to change your vote, you may do so online at any time before the poll closes. Notice of the meeting and the proxy statement and related proxy materials were timely sent on March 26th, 2026 to all holders of record of CNO's common stock as of the close of business on March 16, 2026. Th e record date for the meeting as reflected in the affidavit of company's distribution agent. On the record date, CNO had 93,727,767 shares of common stock outstanding and entitled to vote at this meeting.
Each share of common stock entitles the holder to one vote on each director nominee and each proposal presented at this meeting as an item of business. I've been informed by our Inspector of Elections that a majority of our outstanding shares are present in person or by proxy. Accordingly, a quorum is present and this meeting is duly constituted. We have three proposals to be voted upon today, i nformation about each item is contained in the company's proxy statement.
As indicated in the proxy statement, the Board of Directors recommends that shareholders vote for each of the three proposals. Questions directed at specific proposals will be addressed during this portion of the meeting. If you have not voted or wish to change your vote, you may do so online while the polls remain open. Shareholders who have already sent in proxies or voted by telephone or online and do not want to change their vote do not need to take any further action.
Proposal one is the election of nine directors nominated to CNO's board of directors, each for a one-year term expiring at the 2027 Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. The board recommends a vote for each director nominee. Proposal two is the approval by non-binding advisory vote of the executive compensation of the company's named executive officers disclosed in the proxy statement. The board recommends a vote for proposal two.
The next item is proposal three, the ratification of the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31st, 2026. The board recommends a vote for proposal three. We'll now take any questions on these proposals. Adam Auvil, Vice President of Investor Relations and Sustainability, will read today's questions. Adam, do we have any questions on these proposals?
Thanks, Dan. At this time, there are no questions in the queue.
Thank you. Discussion of the matters for shareholders' consideration is now closed. We will now proceed with voting. If any shareholders have not voted or wish to change their vote, please do so now, w e will close the polls momentarily. The polls are now closed. The Inspector of Elections has delivered the preliminary voting results. I am pleased to report that based on these results, on proposal one, each of the nine director nominees has been elected.
On proposal two, the executive compensation of the named executive officers has been approved. On proposal three, the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2026 has been ratified. We'll report the final voting results in a Form 8- K to be filed with the SEC within four business days of today's meeting. That concludes the business portion of our meeting, and I formally declare that the 2026 annual meeting of shareholders is now adjourned.
It's now time for the company presentation. Before we begin, Adam Auvil will provide an opening statement. Adam?
Thanks, Dan. Let me remind the audience that any forward-looking statements we make today are subject to a number of factors that could cause actual results to be materially different than those contemplated by the company's forward-looking statements. Today's presentation includes certain non-GAAP financial measures, which should not be construed as substitutes for the most directly comparable GAAP measures.
Please refer to the reconciliation tables of the non-GAAP measures corresponding to the most directly comparable GAAP measures provided in our quarterly earnings releases and financial reports filed with the SEC.
Thank you, Adam. I'll now turn the meeting over to Gary Bhojwani to review CNO's business. Gary?
Thanks, Dan. Good morning, and thank you for joining us. As I reflect on my 10th year with CNO and my eighth as CEO, I am proud of our progress and grateful to the people who made it possible. From the outset, we aim to make CNO a growth story. Together, we are proving that to be true. We have pivoted to growth and sharpened our focus on earnings and profitability, all while serving the middle-income customers and businesses who rely on us.
Our mission to help secure the future of middle-income America is arguably more important today than a decade ago. More than 20 million Americans will turn age 65 in the next five years, and many are entering retirement underprepared. In a consumer sentiment survey that we published earlier this year, one in three middle-income Americans reported feeling less confident in their retirement plans than they did a year ago. That sentiment underscores the importance of the work we do.
I thank our associates, agents, and independent partners for their commitment to our customers. They deliver on the promises behind our products. It remains our great privilege to serve middle-income America. Turning to our year in review, 2025 was a strong year for CNO. We once again delivered an excellent full-year performance showcasing our ability to grow earnings, improve profitability, and reinvest in the business. Consistent, repeatable results continue to drive our momentum, underpinned by strong execution.
We achieved, and in most cases, exceeded all 2025 guidance metrics. Highlights of our full year performance include, our 14th consecutive quarter of sales growth, our 12th consecutive quarter of producing agent count growth, production records set in both divisions, and continued strong capital position and free cash flow generation. Our stock achieved multiple record highs in 2025 and last week we hit another all-time high.
Over the past three years, CNO has nearly doubled our stock price and we rank second among our life insurance peers in total shareholder return. Turning to our business highlights. Demographics and our exclusive agent model are powerful tailwinds for our business. Across both divisions, our middle market focus and our last mile captive agent distribution create our durable competitive moat. When paired with our digital capabilities and broad product portfolio, our business model is a catalyst for profitable growth.
The consumer and worksite divisions both delivered record insurance sales growth for the year, each up 15%. Fourth quarter 2025 marked the consumer division's 13th consecutive quarter of sales growth and the worksite division's 15th consecutive quarter of insurance sales growth. We enter 2026 with strong momentum and we expect to carry that through the remainder of 2026 and beyond. Turning to our financial performance on slide five.
Operating earnings per share grew 11% from 2024 to $4.40 per share, reflecting continued strong underwriting margins and strong net investment income results. Our second Bermuda reinsurance transaction further enhanced our capital structure. Sales production and agent force results were once again strong in both divisions. Total new annualized premiums for CNO were up 15% for the year.
At year-end 2025, we had a consolidated RBC ratio of 380% and $351 million of liquidity at the holding company after returning $386 million to shareholders, an 11% increase from 2024. Book value, excluding AOCI, grew to nearly $39 per diluted share. Our ambition is to be among the top performers in the life insurance sector based on operating ROE. We ended the year with an 11.4% operating ROE, excluding significant items. I expect more progress.
Our current 12% goal in 2027 is not the destination, but rather a waypoint in the journey of our continued improvement. We seek to further improve ROE, while continuing to drive sales momentum and reinvesting in the business. Our financial health is strong, o ur business model is unique, valuable, and resilient. As we look to the balance of 2026 and beyond, we remain confident in our abilities to continue to enable profitable growth, drive ROE expansion, and deliver value for our customers, associates, and shareholders.
Now I will turn the meeting over to Adam to moderate the question and answer session. Adam?
We'll now begin the Q&A session. As a reminder, if you're an authenticated shareholder, you may submit questions using the designated Ask a q uestion box on your screen. At this time, there are no questions in the queue. I'll now turn the meeting back to Gary.
To all of our shareholders, thank you for your continued support of CNO Financial.