Good morning. I missed my cue apparently, actually, to come up here. I apologize. What a great way to actually start this meeting, Rick, with the video that I think so portrays this company and what we stand for. Again, good morning. Welcome everybody. My name is Tom Watjen. I'm the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Unum, on behalf of the board, let me welcome you to our 2017 annual meeting of shareholders. We're certainly pleased to see so many of you here with us here in Chattanooga. We also know we have a number of those joining us by webcast, I certainly want to be sure I welcome those as well. By almost any measure, 2016 was a very good year for Unum. In fact, it was one of our best years in our company's history.
We delivered strong operational and financial results, including record net income. It was also a good year for our shareholders as our stock price rose sharply. Our total shareholder returns not only outpaced our peers, the S&P 500 doing well. In short, we delivered on our commitments to our customers, shareholders, and all of our stakeholders, despite what remained a very difficult environment. Clearly, none of this would've been possible without the dedication and commitment of Unum's outstanding employees throughout the U.S. and U.K., as well as the leadership of both our senior management team and our board of directors. On that note, I'd like to take a moment to recognize several former members of our board of directors and management who are here with us today. If you would please stand when I call your name and remain standing until all names have been read.
I'll begin with our former board members. Mike Passarella, who retired in 2014 and previously chaired our audit committee. Welcome, Mike. Ron Goldsberry, who retired in 2015 and formerly chaired our governance committee. Ron, good to see you. Tom Kinzer, who retired at the end of. Remain standing, gentlemen. Don't be so bashful. Can somebody hold Mike up a little bit? Kevin, can you give him a little bit of a hand there? Thank you. It's a team effort here. Tom Kinzer, who retired at the end of 2015, throughout Tom's tenure with us, was a significant contributor to our board. As I mentioned, there are also a number of former members of our management group with us today. I'll mention just a few of those because I see several others, you're out there as well.
I'd like to invite Bob Best, who retired at the end of 2011 after heading our global services unit to please stand. Kevin McCarthy, he was our Chief Operating Officer before retiring in 2014. Welcome, Kevin. Randy Horne, who served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Colonial Life before retiring in 2015. Bo Bishop, who retired in 2015 as well and previously served as our General Counsel. Obviously, I'm thrilled that all these individuals are here with us today. Without theirs and others' leadership, Unum would not be the company that it is today. On a more personal note, each of these special people had critical roles during my tenure as CEO. I am forever grateful to them for their support and unwavering commitment to this company and its purpose. Let's please all give them a round of applause. You can sit down now, Mike. Thank you.
You still require that special attention, I see, Mike, actually. I'd also like to welcome Malcolm McCaig, who was recently named as the independent chairman of the board of directors of our principal U.K. subsidiaries. Congratulations, Malcolm, on your recent appointment, and thank you for joining us as well today. Moving to meeting logistics. I've asked Lisa Iglesias, our general counsel, to assist with the conducting of this meeting and serve as parliamentarian. A representative of our transfer agent, Computershare Trust Company, is present and serving as the Inspector of Election. I would now like to ask Lisa to give her report, which will begin the formal part of our meeting.
Thank you, Tom. I'd like to remind everyone that the annual meeting rules are printed on the back of the agenda for this meeting, which was made available to you at the registration desk when you entered. Later, I'll highlight some of those rules before we take questions from shareholders at the end of today's presentation. Any shareholder who has not already voted in person or by proxy is invited to do so now. If you need a ballot, please raise your hand and we'll give one to you. If you hold your shares in street name and wish to vote, you must submit the legal proxy provided to you by your broker with the ballot.
At this time, I'd like to present an affidavit establishing that notice of this meeting was duly given and a proxy statement or notice of internet availability of proxy material was furnished on or about April 13, 2017, to each of our shareholders of record as of the record date, March 27, 2017. I also report that the Inspector of Election has filed with me an oath of office and certificate stating that a total of 200,722,866 shares of common stock of the company, or approximately 88% of outstanding shares, are represented in person or by proxy at this meeting, therefore, a quorum is present.
Thank you, Lisa. With that, I'll now call the meeting to order. The polls are open for voting on the items of business. If you're voting in person, please deliver your completed ballot to the Inspector of Election prior to the conclusion of this meeting. The first item of business is the election of directors, and before naming the nominees, I'd like to first recognize one director, Ed Muhl, who has reached the mandatory retirement age for board members and will therefore be stepping off of the Unum board. Ed has served this company and its shareholders with distinction for nearly 12 years, joining us at a very difficult time as a company. Over his tenure on the board, we have benefited from his nearly five decades of experience in the insurance sector, which included leadership positions with the Maryland and New York State Insurance Department.
Ed, we appreciate all that you've done for this company. We're certainly going to miss your involvement with the business. Ed's actually with us here today, and please ask him to stand to be recognized by our shareholders. Thank you, Ed. Now continuing with our current business, the directors' nominees, as noted in your proxy, are as follows, and I'll ask that they actually please stand and remain standing as I read their names. Theo Bunting, Group President of Utility Operations at Entergy Corporation. Michael Caulfield, former President of Mercer Human Resource Consulting. Joe Echevarria, former CEO of Deloitte LLP. Cynthia Egan, former president of T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services. Pam Godwin, president of Change Partners, Inc. Kevin Kabat, former president and CEO of Fifth Third Bancorp. Tim Keaney, former vice chairman of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation. Gloria Larson, president of Bentley University.
Our own Rick McKenney, president and CEO of Unum Group. Ron O'Hanley, president and CEO of State Street Global Advisors, and also vice chairman of State Street Corporation. Fran Shammo, former CFO of Verizon Communications Inc.
Tom, I'd like to move that the following resolution be adopted. Resolved, that each of the board nominees designated in Unum's proxy statement for this annual meeting be elected as directors for a one-year term expiring in 2018 and until their successors are elected.
Second.
I hear second as well. There were no other nominations made in accordance with our bylaws, and Lisa, please give us the report of the inspector.
The Inspector of Election reports that each director nominee has been elected by approximately 97% or more of the total number of votes cast. We will publish the final vote results for this item and all other voting items on Form 8-K within four business days after the Inspector of Election having certified as to the final vote results.
Looks like you're all able to stay at the rest of the meeting. Thank you very much. The second item of business is the advisory vote on executive compensation, commonly known as Say on Pay.
I move that the following resolution be adopted. Resolved, that the shareholders approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation of the company's named executive officers as disclosed in the company's proxy statement for this annual meeting.
Second.
Lisa, please give us the report of the inspector.
The Inspector of Election reports that Say on Pay resolution was approved by approximately 96% of the shares represented and entitled to vote at this meeting.
The third item of business is the advisory vote on frequency of future advisory votes to approve executive compensation. Say that many times and see how well you do. It's also thankfully commonly known as Say on Frequency.
The Say on Frequency vote was last held in 2011 and is required to be presented to shareholders every six years. Shareholders have been asked to indicate on an advisory basis whether the company should hold future Say on Pay votes every one year, every two years, or every three years. Both the board of directors and the Human Capital Committee have recommended that shareholders vote to hold future Say on Pay votes every one year.
Lisa, please give us the report of the inspector.
The Inspector of Election reports that approximately 90% of the shares represented and entitled to vote at this meeting were voted in favor of holding future Say on Pay votes every one year. The board and Human Capital Committee will consider the results of this vote in deciding on the frequency of future Say on Pay votes, and this decision will be disclosed on Form 8-K following this meeting.
The fourth item of business is to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent auditor for 2017.
I move that the following resolution be adopted. Resolved, that the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent auditor for 2017 is hereby ratified.
I second that.
Lisa, will you please give us the report of the inspector?
The Inspector of Election reports that the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent auditor was ratified by approximately 98% of the shares represented and entitled to vote at this meeting.
Before we move on, I'd ask the representatives of Ernst & Young LLP who are here with us today, Mark Thomas and Sean Divine, to please stand, and they'll be available for your questions during the question and answer period. Thank you, gentlemen. Final item of business is to approve the Unum Stock Incentive Plan for 2017.
I move that the following resolution be adopted. Resolved, that the Unum Group Stock Incentive Plan of 2017 be approved.
I'll second.
Lisa, will you please give us the report of the inspector?
The Inspector of Election reports that the Unum Group Stock Incentive Plan for 2017 was approved by approximately 94% of the shares represented and entitled to vote at this meeting.
Thank you. The polls are now closed. This now concludes the business portion of today's meeting, and the annual meeting of shareholders of Unum Group is now adjourned. For the next agenda item, our management report, I'll now turn things over to our President and Chief Executive Officer, Rick McKenney.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Tom. Good morning, everyone. I'd like to add my welcome to everyone that is here, as well as on the webcast. As Tom said earlier, 2016 was a very good year for Unum. In my annual report letter to shareholders, I did describe what we achieved last year in two words, and that's discipline and growth. As I begin my report, there are a lot of individuals here today that helped make it happen. I'd first like to recognize our customer-facing teams who have the distinct honor of making a difference in people's lives every day. Our senior team that works tirelessly, sitting over here, nice of you all to sit together today. Our senior team works tirelessly to ensure that we have the right environment and strategy to take the company forward and our nearly 10,000 colleagues, which enable us to fulfill on our purpose.
I would also recognize my fellow board members and those that were just reelected, both the current and retired, for their guidance and stewardship. Thanks for all that you do to make this a really great company. As I begin my report, I wanted to talk a little bit about 2016, the year that it was, and I'll take us into the future and what we see coming forward to our company. I think it's a great year to launch off of, and I think it positions us extremely well for the years to come. When you think about it strategically, I'll take you through some of why I think we're strategically well-positioned today to take us forward what will be a very exciting path as the needs for our products continue to be very sought after and will continue to drive those needs going forward.
I would remind you of what we do today is so important that we serve our customers first and foremost, that we continue to drive that disciplined growth. I think in return, this will also be a very good model as we deliver value to our shareholders, many of you which will be represented today either by proxy or here in the room. 2016 overall, across the board, we saw growth across any metric that you look at. First and foremost, EPS growth that we saw this year, almost 8%. That's the largest increase we've seen in earnings per share growth after a number of years. As Jack will take you through, it's on a track record of very strong growth over many, many years. The year after tax earnings also up 3%, close to $1 billion of earnings that we saw in 2016.
Once again, serving our customers very well, but at the same time, being a very good return for our shareholders. Premium growth at 5% growth. Think about premiums in terms of number of people out there. We added almost a million and a half people to the protection roles within the company. It's an important thing to look at. It's not just about premiums, about those we protect. We saw that increase 5% for the overall company, the fastest rate of growth we've seen going back since pre-recession days. Our return on equity, the overall profitability of the company continues to still be very strong. 11.2% return on equity in a world where you have interest rates close to zero still is outperforming what we see for a shareholder perspective, very strong results.
When you take that through, our shareholders are being rewarded, and these results are being recognized in the marketplace today. Total shareholder return of 35% outpaces that of both the S&P 500 and our peer set, a very, very strong year. We're a company that's here for the long term. Although we're very excited about 2016 and the results, we also look to the last 10 years where we've outperformed both benchmarks in the S&P 500 and the life sector by a factor of almost 3 to 1. I think that's done, as we reflected, many of the people that were here, our management team that has since retired, it's a trajectory that we look very forward to. It's good to look to the past, it's good to see those returns, we're also very focused on the future.
Just to step back and what we are as a company overall, it's important to remind, we have the size and scale and heft to do that. Fortune 5 company, roughly a Fortune 250 company. We actually have $11 billion of revenues generated in the company, almost a $10 billion or just over a $10 billion market cap. We have absolutely leading positions, which I'll take you through, in the protection needs of people, particularly to the workforce. We also continue to build out a strong brand. If you talk to the people that need to decide on the type of company they'll use, they'll choose Unum, they'll use Colonial Life for the different needs they have. It's a tremendous franchise that has been built up. The reputation that we have, that our associates have built up in the marketplace, second to none.
When you think about that from a product perspective and what we're able to do in the workplace, we have leading positions across all those areas we choose to play in. When you think about us at the workplace, you can think about the healthcare piece, the savings piece, all the other pieces that people derive in the workforce. When you think of those other pieces, the non-healthcare, the non-savings pieces, we have leading market positions in all of those spaces. Where that helps is the scale and heft that we need to actually to have a database that we can serve our customers very well, that we have scale operations across the board that continue to make us a market leader, we don't take that lightly. We continue to build on those positions.
The second piece that's very important is we are only at the workplace. When we think about a business-to-business type environment that we have today, we are at the workplace delivering these skills. We think that that is the absolute best place to protect people. People go to their workplace, actually employers look to protect their employees. When you can see today that 90% of the disability that's provided today is done at the workplace. That's a place we'll continue to pursue. We'll continue to add coverages. You would have seen that last year in our acquisition of a dental business that we have. We'll continue to fill out the portfolio to make sure that the protections that people need are being derived for them at the workplace and are given to them by Colonial Life and Unum.
You have to take us back, though, on why do we have those leading market positions. The reason we have those is we have some very specific skills that differentiate us in the marketplace today. The first is distribution and relationship management, that sounds like it would go hand in hand. The reality is, if you look at our distribution today, the reason our brand is so strong is because of the tenure of our folks, the knowledge of our folks, and the breadth that we have across the operations.
Whether it's in Unum US and our ability to work with brokers across the spectrum and being dedicated to their needs as well as the needs of the employer, or when you look at Colonial Life, who's actually able to go into smaller firms, being able to serve those people that wouldn't be served by anybody else to make sure they have the protection coverages they need. We have strong distribution, we have growing distribution in the form of Colonial Life, we're very excited that we can take this as a competitive advantage and continue to leverage it. The second is on the pricing and risk selection. You think about that, it's important that we know that we're out there not just to protect people, but we want to do so in a stable and predictable way.
As we go through pricing processes, as you as a customer want, stability is critical. Making sure that we'll be there to back up those promises is also critical, we do a very good job of understanding our customer base, both the needs they have and also the underlying experiences that they can expect over the course of their lifetime, just given the scale that we have. The last is the claims process. We have an incredibly empathetic company. As somebody calls into our company, whether it's a very complex claim or whether it's somebody that comes in with a simple accident they may have had, we're going to be there to serve them incredibly well.
Where this is a competitive advantage is you have to think about these individuals that are going through these type of experiences will also talk to their employer about the experience they had. Those are the decision makers that give them access. As you will find as you talk to people around the industry or around the world, Unum does this the best. We're very proud of our claims processes. We think it's a competitive advantage that people you talk to today recognize us as the gold standard, and we're going to continue to make sure that our claim process is the best out there, bar none. The second is going back to the needs of the individuals, because the reality is the financial fragility in the country today, in the U.S. both and in the U.K., continues to go up. People are living paycheck to paycheck.
40% actually are living paycheck to paycheck today. The needs that they have, they would not be able to come up with $500 in the event of an emergency. Deductibles are going up in healthcare plans, and those protection gaps continue to be up there. Yet we see today that 70% of people still don't have basic disability insurance. The need is real, the delivery we have, and we just need to make sure we connect that with individuals to provide those basic coverages. We see the opportunity to grow as a company, but more importantly, to protect more people. Because the reality is today is that one in four people will actually become disabled in their working life. One in four. Most people don't know that or don't believe that, but it's a reality.
Making sure that we're there with that protection safety net is critical for the U.S. workforce and that in the U.K. We have a job to do, which is to get the word out, protecting more and more people from the needs that they may not recognize that they might have, but unfortunately, they may come across. We've been doing this for a number of years. Today, we sit with a customer base of 35 million people, a good representation. We'd like to see that continuing to grow. As I say, it's grown by 1.5 million people just in the last year. The more we can get out there, the more we can protect people, the better we'll be doing for our company, but more importantly, the better we'll be doing for the workforce of America. 189,000 companies utilize our protections today. 189,000.
How do we continue to grow that? There are still many, many smaller companies. There's companies that don't actually provide benefits today. How do we get to them and make sure that that number continues to grow? When you think about the claims processes I talked about, 327,000 people return to work. One of the things in my job you have to always be careful of is that you talk about numbers in aggregates. You talk about millions. You talk about billions. 327,000 people. These are individuals that are now back to work, that talk to one of our claims adjudicator, and we can't take that lightly that every claim matters. Every person that's fallen on hard times is somebody that needs our help. Ultimately, it comes in a financial form, almost $7 billion of benefits paid last year. Critical needs that we provide.
I can tell you that our workforce values it very much in terms of the purpose that we have to protect people at time of need. Let's think about the future. The workforce is not static. The workforce is changing greatly. In our annual report that we put out this year, it was protecting the workforce of the future. We've done a great job protecting the workforce over history. It's how do you protect the workforce of the future? We have a workforce that's dynamic in terms of who is there today. As retirement ages have extended out, a millennial generation is coming in. It's the first time we have four generations that are working side by side.
What we have to do, and then combined with that, is employers, given the financial challenges they might have, are shifting more and more of that need to the individual. The combination of those two things provide us a great opportunity to continue to grow our footprint, both with products and services that we provide out there, but also making sure that we are flexible in delivering the needs to somebody that might be 50 years old and is thinking about retirement, somebody that's 24 years old, just came into the workforce and has very different needs, and making sure that our product set, our delivery mechanisms, are actually able to be attributable to all those sectors. I think it's a great opportunity.
It's something we do best, because of our singular focus on the workplace, we are best positioned to serve the needs of all those individuals. 2017 is an interesting year. As we've come into the year, there's a lot going on. The challenges actually have been pretty consistent with what we've seen over a period of time. We've been talking about this over a number of years. Low interest rates, uncertainty both in the U.K. and in the U.S. with Brexit that we have going on in the U.K., and then what's going on with the Affordable Care Act, what's going on with healthcare in general. It's a lot of noise in terms of what's going out there today.
For the first time in a number of years, we could talk about the opportunities because some of these things have the opportunity, it doesn't mean they will, but have the opportunity to change. As we start to see some of the actions taken in the current administration, you're starting to see more inflationary type things that will happen, which could mean rising interest rates, infrastructure spending, tax reform that's coming through. All these different pieces are actually opportunities for our company. That changing environment, for the first time in many years, I think actually plays to many of our strengths. We'll see how it plays out, but it is a very different environment for the company that we see in 2017 than we've seen in previous years. The second piece that we have to do is make sure that we're investing.
One of the things that Jack will talk about in a minute is we're generating a tremendous amount of capital in the company. Our business model is very strong, but it's all about the future and protecting the workforce of tomorrow. We have to be investing in that future. When we think about that, we think about services and technologies, those products that I talk about, expanding our footprint. I mentioned getting into the dental and the vision business. We just announced recently to get in the stop-loss business to help protect actually employers. We're going to continue to grow out. I'd like to wrap it up with our people. Many of you represented here today, but importantly, the 10,000 people we have across the globe, it's about you. You are our greatest asset.
When I talked about a claims process, it wasn't because we have the best, snappiest system. It's because we have the most empathetic, knowledgeable people. We have to continue to invest in our workforce, both training and development, which we've been doing for a long time. Our workplace strategy, which is making sure we have a modern work environment, that you come to work every day, proud of the space that you're in, space that you can collaborate with and work with your individuals as we grow the company. The last piece I mentioned today, but not last on our minds, is diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion, particularly inclusion, is something that's so powerful for our company today. We're a company that represents, in terms of who we serve, the entire tapestry of America and of the U.K.
We need to make sure that that inclusion is something we're bringing the best ideas. We have the absolute backbone to do that as a company. We will continue to drive that, making sure that we have the best ideas, the most inclusive culture out there in the industry, in our locations that we operate, and across the country today. I'd wrap it up with we are Unum. We are Unum is a label of pride. It's something that we strive for every day, we don't take lightly.
The passion that we have for serving our customers, the passion that we have for generating results for all our constituents, including our shareholders, taking risks, doing so smartly, making sure that we own it every day as individuals as we serve those customers, then finally, a caring spirit, both in our communities, when we're answering the phone, talking to a claimant. I think it's something special we have today. We are Unum. We're very proud of that. I thank all the people that are here in the room, those that are around the company, to make sure that we continue to fulfill the purpose, the mission that we have today. I thank you very much for that. The thanks to the individuals here in the company, it's thanks to our shareholders, thanks to our board of directors that provide the stewardship.
There is confidence and trust placed in us every day. We don't take that lightly, and we look forward to what we can deliver in 2017. We look forward to what we can deliver for our shareholders and for our many constituents for many years to come. With that, let me turn it over to Jack McGarry, who will take you through our financials. Thank you.
Thank you, Rick McKenney. Good morning, everyone. What can I say? 2016 was another outstanding year for Unum. In 2016, we crested the $10 billion mark for the first time, a huge achievement as an organization. That achievement was built on outstanding performance. In 2016, on an earnings per share basis, we earned $3.88. That was an 8% increase in earnings per share over 2015. It exceeded our outlook for 2016, and it's also on the heels of a steady increase in earnings per share pattern. Over the past seven years, the compound annual growth rate of our earnings per share has been 6.2%. What's really rewarding is to see that earnings per share performance reflected in our stock price appreciation.
Our stock price has appreciated over that same period by 11.2%, 11.3%, which reflects not only the earnings per share growth, but also multiple expansion along the way, an outstanding performance. Probably what's as notable about this as anything is that it was done in an extremely difficult environment. Over that same period, we've been in a sluggish economic growth environment. We've seen historically low interest rates, and yet, as a company, we have continued to perform. That performance has led to industry-leading return on equities. The return on equity of our core businesses, which is Unum US, Colonial Life, and Unum UK, the businesses we're actively selling, was near 16% in 2016, truly an industry-leading performance. Our total return on equity as a company, including the closed block, was at 11.2%, which competes very effectively against our industry peers.
This steady return profile, combined with an increasing book value per share, is a recipe for stock appreciation. We've seen that appreciation over the ensuing years. We expect to be able to continue to deliver on that recipe of growing book value per share and steady returns, should fuel future stock appreciation as well. The other key element of our value story as a corporation is our free cash flow generation. As an insurance company, the principal driver of a current year's free cash flow is the prior year's statutory earnings. Based on the very strong statutory earnings that we produced in 2015, along with a very successful debt issuance, in 2016, we were able to pay $183 million of shareholder dividends to our shareholders. We repurchased $403 million of shares. Very importantly, we acquired Starmount.
Starmount's a dental company that provides us a platform in the dental business that we are confident will be a significant source of growth going forward. In 2016, we achieved record statutory earnings. Those statutory earnings are going to fuel another great year of free cash flow generation. In 2017, we expect to be able to maintain our risk-based capital ratios at the high ends of our range. We expect to increase our holding company cash by the end of the year. We'll be able to reduce our leverage as a company, thus building our financial flexibility. We're going to increase our shareholder dividends. In fact, just this morning, the board approved a 15% increase in our dividend, raising our annual dividend from $0.80 per share to $0.92 per share. They also approved another $750 million share repurchase program to be executed over the ensuing 18 months.
These approvals set us up to continue our track record of returning capital to our shareholders. Since the financial crisis, and I can never figure out whether to call this the beginning of the financial crisis or the end of the financial crisis, but going back to 2009, we've returned almost $5 billion to shareholders, including share repurchases and dividends. We expect to continue that track record of increasing our shareholder returns to shareholders going forward. We've been well rewarded. As a result of both strengthening our balance sheet, the strong earnings performance, and that return of capital to shareholders, we have had exceptional 10-year total shareholder return performance. Over the 10 years, we're 60% above S&P 500, we are three times the performance of our industry peers in the S&P Life & Health Index. A truly exceptional performance.
Summing it up, we continue to be keenly focused on creating shareholder value by serving our customers extremely well. We expect to continue our strong history of performance by using our market-leading positions in our core capabilities to continue to generate strong earnings. As a result of the strength of those earnings, we expect to continue to strengthen our balance sheet as a franchise, as well as continue to return capital to shareholders. As a result of that, over the history, we have built an extremely strong franchise that is extremely well-positioned and poised to take advantage of market opportunities as they arise in the future. With that as a closing note, I'm going to turn things back to Rick.
Thank you, Jack. Once again, I'd like to thank our shareholders for their continued support. Unum is as strong today as it has ever been. We've successfully executed on orderly leadership transitions as well in recent years, and we believe the company is positioned to continue to generate outstanding results well into the future. Before we move to the Q&A session, there is one additional item to attend to. As you know, Tom Watjen is retiring from the board of directors today, and I think it's important that we pause before you leave, Tom, to recognize your incredible service and commitment to this company. Unum is much stronger today because of your vision and leadership over the years. You've been instrumental in shaping this company and solidifying its foundation.
Like you, we will work tirelessly to ensure Unum continues to deliver value to our shareholders while meeting the financial protection needs of our customers. Your influence will be felt in perpetuity. Thank you for your many contributions and best of luck in your full retirement. Before thanking Tom, let me ask Tom, if he'd like to come up and say a few words before he leaves. Tom?
Well, thank you, Rick, and thanks for those very gracious words. It's been an honor and a privilege, frankly, to have been part of this special company for as many years as I've been part of it. It's special, I think as you know, many have heard me say this before, it starts with our purpose, and I think both Jack and Rick talked about it, the purpose where we can make a difference in people's lives. It's a special company because all of you, we have so many people who have a passion for this business and a commitment to do the right thing. It's a special company too, because despite all our successes, there's an awful lot more we can do and build and grow from and have tremendous opportunity to help our customers, create opportunities for our employees, and frankly, create value for our shareholders.
Again, it's been a real pleasure to do what I've done. It's been an interesting journey, as you could imagine. For those that have been around for a period of time, we've had our ups and downs together, but I never felt alone because I know others were on that journey with me, starting with my family and my wife Nanette, and daughter Katherine are here with me today. It's also starting with, obviously, the management teams and the leaders. Not just the present, but those in the past that actually have helped us to get to this position. Good to see some of them actually with us today.
Most importantly, it's for all of our employees, past and present, who delivered on the commitments that we know are so important for us to continue to be an organization that has strong values and a strong culture of giving back. Again, thank you so much for the privilege for having a chance to do what I do. I feel enormously confident that bigger and better things are ahead. We've got a very strong board under the leadership of Kevin Kabat. I forgot your name for a second there, actually, Kevin. A tremendous management team under the direction of Rick, and obviously I see the liveliness and the fire in our people's eyes today, and that gives you great confidence in the future. Best of luck to all of you in the future, and again, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you, Michael.
Thank you. I think thank you. My last official act is to pass things to Rick to close out the program. Thank you again, everybody.
Thank you so much, Tom. We would like to take some questions and answers from the audience. Before we do so, I'd ask Lisa to review the process with everyone. Lisa?
Thank you, Rick. If you wish to ask a question, please raise your hand and a microphone will be brought to you. Please speak directly into the microphone so that everyone can hear your question. We ask that you begin by stating your name and confirming that you're a shareholder. Questions should be relevant and as brief as possible so that all shareholders wishing to speak may do so. Remarks should be limited to no more than three minutes. Thanks for your cooperation.
Thank you, Lisa. Do we have any questions? The floor is open. I think everybody still wants to get back up and clap for Tom. I guess we don't have any questions today, but we do appreciate everyone's attendance today. I think that ends the Q&A session. Before we do conclude today, though, I would like to take just a moment on behalf of the entire board to also congratulate Kevin Kabat on our new role as chairman of the board. We all have great confidence in Kevin's ability to lead the board and the oversight of our company. He's previously chaired other company boards and has served in several leadership positions on those boards, all of which have prepared him very well for his new role. I would now invite everyone to join me in please welcoming our new Chairman, Kevin Kabat.
Thanks everyone for coming today, and most importantly, for your continued support of Unum. I know I speak for my fellow board members in saying we are proud to be associated with this company. We look forward to seeing you again next year. Once again, thank you for joining us. That now concludes the meeting. Thank you.