Aug 20, 2026 earnings call — Announces U.S. relocation and strong commercial growth
Increases second-half share buyback by EUR 150 million to EUR 350 million.
Revenue $8.1B (est $7.4B) · EPS $0.44 (est $0.35)
Key quotes
"The next major milestone is the Extraordinary General Meeting targeted for October 8, where shareholders will vote on the relocation, governance amendments and the new Omnibus Equity Plan."
"New life sales increased by 54% in the first half of 2026."
"Cash capital at holding reached EUR 1.7 billion, supported by EUR 392 million of free cash flow in the period."
Analyst Q&A 8
Portfolio repositioning and assumption changes
Q (Farooq Hanif · JPMorgan): He asked what 'repositioning' of savings and investment portfolios means and how it helps future earnings. He also asked what assumption changes were made below the line and why.
A: Management said the assumption update was an annual review driven by negative policyholder behavior variances seen in 2025. They said the repositioning moved a portfolio to a Bermuda entity to increase capital efficiency and support OCG while they invest to grow new business.
"So it's really related to the variances we saw during 2025 and philosophically wanting to make sure that we remain ahead of that." — Duncan Russell (CFO)
Locked-in capital target and U.K. proceeds
Q (Nasib Ahmed · UBS): He asked whether runoff and markets will get them to the $2.2 billion locked-in capital target or if more transactions are needed. He also asked whether U.K. sale proceeds must be used to pay down debt given similar cash flow.
A: They said capital employed fell to $2.4 billion from $2.7 billion and is close to the $2.1 billion target, helped by markets and runoff, and they will use unilateral, bilateral actions or transactions if needed. On the U.K. proceeds, they said there is no change: proceeds will be used for a mix of share buybacks and debt reduction.
"It came down to $2.4 billion compared to $2.7 billion at the full year and is pretty close to the target of $2.1 billion, so improved by about $300 million." — Duncan Russell (CFO)
Drivers and returns of individual life sales
Q (Farquhar Murray · Autonomous): He asked what is driving the strong individual life sales and whether those sales have good IRRs and payback periods. He also asked if the tension between strain and U.S. GAAP earnings is similar.
A: Management said sales were driven by a digitally enabled instant-issue process that cut paperwork time from weeks to under 12 minutes and by growth in the World Financial Group agent force. They reported the simplified-issue product earns an IRR of over 12% with a payback of around 8 years, and said they will not discuss U.S. GAAP details yet but expect a dry run in the second half of the year.
"we are earning an IRR of over 12% and a payback of around 8 years." — Duncan Russell (CFO)
Name change and buffer release for new business
Q (Michael Huttner · Berenberg): He asked when they will change the company name to Transamerica and how much more buffer they can release to fund new business growth.
A: They said they will change the holding company name to Transamerica when the legal seat moves, expected in the very early part of 2028. They also said the group's financial position has improved and they have significant balance sheet flexibility to fund and, if needed, repeat the actions taken in the first half to support new business.
"we're going to change our name to Transamerica as a holding company." — E. Friese (CEO)
WFG agent numbers and retirement balances
Q (Henry Heathfield · Morningstar): He asked for the number of multi-ticket agents in WFG and for an update on large and midsized retirement plan balances.
A: Management said they no longer disclose the multi-ticket metric but reported the agent base has grown to over 100,000 licensed agents and they target around 110,000 licensed agents by 2027. They said they will provide retirement plan balances offline.
"we've grown our agent base now to over 100,000 licensed agents, and we're continuing to target to reach around 110,000 licensed agents by 2027." — Duncan Russell (CFO)
VA fee hedging and OCG outlook
Q (Nasib Ahmed · UBS): He asked if they would hedge more of base fees on the VA block given good equity markets, and asked for a bridge to OCG in the second half since guidance wasn't upgraded.
A: They said they have hedged about 25% of base fees and could consider more, but rising equity markets create floor reserves that act like a self-hedge; floor reserves were just under $500 million at period end. On OCG, they said the guidance from the Capital Markets Day is multiyear, the assumption update is a small drag, and strain from life sales may stay elevated in the second half.
"On the base fees, you're right, we hedged about 25% of that." — Duncan Russell (CFO)
Move to aggregation approach for solvency reporting
Q (Farquhar Murray · Autonomous): He asked why they accelerated the shift to the aggregation approach for group solvency and what the consequences are, including any risk if they had not accelerated it.
A: They said the move was discussed with the BMA to simplify calculations and reporting and to reduce operational complexity while they transition other major projects. They said there is nothing more to read into it and they expect no change in the solvency outcome except a roughly 10-point positive effect in the U.K. versus the prior guidance.
"The desire to accelerate the transition to the reporting under the aggregation approach was something we discussed with the BMA in order to allow us to simplify our own calculations and reporting and basically reduce operational complexity across the group." — Duncan Russell (CFO)
Long-term care capital and underwriting confidence
Q (Michael Huttner · Berenberg): He asked where they stand on long-term care capital exposure and whether instant-issue sales have adequate underwriting and risk coverage.
A: They said long-term care is just under 50% of the total required capital and is a long-duration book with reserves peaking in the early 2030s. They said they use actuarially justified premium increases where needed, are exploring transactions, and that pricing and underwriting remain rigorous; they believe new business returns are around 12% IRR with a payback of about 9 years.
"It's just under 50% of the total required capital." — Duncan Russell (CFO)