Globe Life (GL) Risk Factors

Certain existing or potential investors, customers and regulators evaluate our business or other practices according to a variety of corporate responsibility and sustainability standards and expectations. Certain of our regulators have proposed or adopted, or may propose or adopt, certain corporate responsibility and sustainability rules or standards that would apply to our business. Our practices may be judged by these standards that are continually evolving and not always clear. Our decisions or priorities are made with the considerations of all stakeholders. Prevailing corporate responsibility and sustainability standards and expectations may also reflect contrasting or conflicting values or agendas. We may fail to meet our commitments or targets, and our policies and processes to evaluate and manage these standards in coordination with other business priorities may not prove completely effective or satisfy investors, customers, regulators, or others. Additionally, we could fail to report accurately or achieve progress on our metrics on a timely basis, or at all, which in-turn could adversely affect our reputation, business, financial performance and growth. We may face adverse regulatory, investor, customer, media, or public scrutiny leading to business, reputational, or legal challenges.

As a holding company with no direct operations, our principal asset is the capital stock of our insurance subsidiaries, which periodically declare and distribute dividends on their capital stock. Moreover, our liquidity, including our ability to pay our operating expenses and to make principal and interest payments on debt securities or other indebtedness owed by us, as well as our ability to pay dividends on our common stock or any preferred stock, depends significantly upon the surplus and earnings of our insurance subsidiaries and the ability of these subsidiaries to pay dividends or to advance or repay funds to us. The principal sources of our insurance subsidiaries' liquidity are insurance premiums, as well as investment income, maturities, repayments and other cash flow from our investment portfolio. Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to various state statutory and regulatory restrictions applicable to insurance companies that limit the amount of cash dividends, loans, and advances that those subsidiaries may pay to us, including laws establishing minimum solvency and liquidity thresholds. For example, in the states where our companies are domiciled, an insurance company generally may pay dividends only out of its unassigned surplus as reflected in its statutory financial statements filed in that state. Additionally, dividends paid by insurance subsidiaries are restricted based on regulations by their states of domicile. Accordingly, impairments in assets or disruptions in our insurance subsidiaries' operations that reduce their capital or cash flow could limit or disallow the payment of dividends, a principal source of our cash flow, to us. Other sources of liquidity include a variety of short-term and long-term instruments, including our credit facility, commercial paper, long-term debt, Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB), intercompany financing and reinsurance. Changes in laws or regulations in the states in which our companies are domiciled could constrain the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends or to advance or repay funds to us in sufficient amounts and at times necessary to pay our debt obligations, corporate expenses, or dividends on our capital stock.

Our business is highly dependent upon the internet, third-party service providers, and information systems to operate in an efficient and resilient manner. We gather and maintain data for the purpose of conducting marketing, actuarial analysis, sales, and policy administration functions. Malicious third parties, employee or agent errors or disasters affecting our information systems could impair our business operations, regulatory compliance, and financial condition. Employee or agent malfeasance or errors in the handling of our information systems may result in unauthorized access to customer or proprietary information, or an inability to use our information systems to efficiently support business operations. As a result of more frequent and sophisticated cyberattacks and the highly regulated nature of the insurance industry, we must continually implement new, and maintain existing, technology or adapt existing technology to protect against security and privacy incidents and to meet compliance requirements of new and proposed regulations. Our ability to modernize and maintain our information technology systems and infrastructure requires us to commit significant resources and effective planning and execution. Any incident affecting confidential information systems resulting from the above factors could damage our reputation in the marketplace, deter potential customers from purchasing our products, result in the loss of existing customers, subject us to significant civil and criminal liability, constrain cash flows, or require us to incur significant technical, legal, or other expenses. In addition, should we be unable to implement or maintain our technology effectively, efficiently, or in a timely manner, it could result in poor customer experience, poor agent experience, additional expenses, reputational harm, legal and regulatory actions, and other adverse consequences. This could also result in the inability to effectively support business operations.

We have several life distribution channels that focus on distinct market niches, three of which are labor unions, affinity groups, and sales via Direct to Consumer solicitations. Deterioration of our relationships with either organized labor union groups or affinity groups, or adverse changes in the public's receptivity to Direct to Consumer marketing initiatives could negatively affect our life insurance business.

Our insurance policies are issued to and held by a large number of policyholders throughout the United States in relatively low-face amounts. Accordingly, it is unlikely that a large portion of our policyholder base would be affected by a single natural disaster. However, our insurance operations could be exposed to the risk of catastrophic mortality or morbidity caused by events such as a pandemic or other public health issues, hurricane, earthquake, or man-made catastrophes, including acts of terrorism or war, which may produce significant claims in larger areas, especially those that are heavily populated. Claims resulting from natural or man-made catastrophic events could cause substantial volatility in our financial results for any fiscal quarter or year and could materially reduce our profitability or harm our financial condition. In addition, government, business and consumer reactions to public health events could result in material negative impacts to our business and operations. Our life and health insurance products are particularly exposed to risks of catastrophic mortality, such as a pandemic or other events that result in a large number of deaths. In addition, the occurrence of such an event in a concentrated geographic area could have a severe disruptive effect on our workforce and business operations. The likelihood and severity of such events cannot be predicted and are difficult to estimate. In such an event, the impact to our operations could have a material adverse impact on our ability to conduct business and on our results of operations and financial condition, particularly if those problems affect our producing agents or our employees performing operational tasks and supporting computer-based data processing, or impair or destroy our capability to transmit, store, and retrieve valuable data. In addition, in the event that a significant number of our management were unavailable following a disaster, the achievement of our strategic objectives could be negatively impacted.