Voya Financial (VOYA) Risk Analysis

Because we operate in highly competitive markets, we may not be able to increase or maintain our market share, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In each of our businesses we face intense competition, including from broker-dealers, financial advisors, asset managers and diversified financial institutions, banks, technology companies and start-up financial services providers, both for the ultimate customers for our products and for distribution through independent distribution channels. We compete based on a number of factors including brand recognition, reputation, quality of service, quality of investment advice, investment performance of our products, product features, scope of distribution, price, perceived financial strength and credit ratings, scale and level of customer service. A decline in our competitive position as to one or more of these factors could adversely affect our profitability. Many of our competitors are large and well-established and some have greater market share or breadth of distribution, offer a broader range of products, services or features, assume a greater level of risk, have greater financial resources, or have higher claims-paying or credit ratings than we do. Furthermore, the preferences of the end consumers for our products and services may shift, including as a result of technological innovations affecting the marketplaces in which we operate. To the extent that our competitors are more successful than we are at adopting new technology and adapting to the changing preferences of the marketplace, our competitiveness may decline. Further, the profitability of our engagements with clients may not meet our expectations due to unexpected costs, cost overruns, early contract terminations, unrealized assumptions used in our contract bidding process or the inability to maintain our prices in light of any inflationary circumstances. In recent years, there has been substantial consolidation among companies in the financial services industry resulting in increased competition from large, well-capitalized financial services firms. Many of our competitors also have been able to increase their distribution systems through mergers, acquisitions, partnerships or other contractual arrangements. Furthermore, larger competitors may have lower operating costs and an ability to absorb greater risk, allowing them to price products more competitively while maintaining financial strength ratings. These competitive pressures could result in increased pressure on the pricing of certain of our products and services, and could harm our ability to maintain or increase profitability. There can be no assurance that we will continue to effectively compete within the industry or that competition will not have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Recent acquisitions, including managing the transition on the terms or timing currently contemplated, could have negative impacts on us. As further described under –Organizational History and Structure–Recent Acquisitions in Part I, Item 1. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we completed several acquisitions in 2022 and 2023. Although we believe these acquisitions to have been successful to date, it is possible that we may not achieve certain of the benefits that we expect to obtain in connection with the acquisitions, or that integrating these businesses, including their information technology, data management and operational systems, may take longer than expected or create additional vulnerabilities. For example, it is possible that expected revenues may not fully materialize or that the value of the acquisitions to us is less than we anticipated. In addition, the costs of integrating these acquired businesses may be more than anticipated. See Overview in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Part II, Item 7. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information. Should any of the acquisitions ultimately prove to be less beneficial than we anticipated, or should the integration costs, transition services or other developments resulting from the acquisitions create unanticipated difficulties for our business, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected, including impairment to the value of goodwill and intangible assets which has materially increased as a result of our most recent acquisitions. Further, we share ownership of VIM Holdings with Allianz, which holds a 24% equity interest in VIM Holdings. While we maintain full operational control of VIM Holdings, we may have less flexibility to engage in strategic transactions involving Voya IM or its subsidiaries. Our products and services are complex and are frequently sold through intermediaries, and a failure to properly perform services, the misrepresentation of our products or services or a loss or significant change in these relationships may have an adverse effect on our revenues and income. Many of our products and services are complex and are frequently sold through intermediaries. In particular, our Workplace Solutions business is reliant on intermediaries to describe and explain our products to potential customers. The intentional or unintentional misrepresentation of our products and services in advertising materials or other external communications, or inappropriate activities by our personnel or an intermediary, could adversely affect our reputation and business prospects, as well as lead to potential regulatory actions or litigation. We distribute certain products under agreements with affiliated distributors and other members of the financial services industry that are not affiliated with us. We compete with other financial institutions to attract and retain commercial relationships in each of these channels, and our success in competing for sales through these distribution intermediaries depends on factors such as the amount of sales commissions and fees we pay, the breadth of our product offerings, the strength of our brand, our perceived stability and financial strength ratings, and the marketing and services we provide to, and the strength of the relationships we maintain with, individual distributors. An interruption or significant change in certain key relationships could materially affect our ability to market our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Distributors may elect to alter, reduce or terminate their distribution relationships with us, including for such reasons as changes in our distribution strategy, adverse developments in our business, adverse rating agency actions or concerns about market-related risks. Alternatively, we may terminate one or more distribution agreements due to, for example, a loss of confidence in, or a change in control of, one of the distributors, which could reduce sales. We are also at risk that key distribution partners may merge or change their business models in ways that affect how our products are sold, either in response to changing business priorities or as a result of shifts in regulatory supervision or potential changes in state and federal laws and regulations regarding standards of conduct applicable to distributors when providing investment advice to retail and other customers. Revenues, earnings and income from our Investment Management business operations could be adversely affected if (i) the amount of our AUM is adversely impacted due to performance and (ii) the terms of our asset management agreements are significantly altered or the agreements are terminated, or if certain performance hurdles are not realized. We derive operating revenues from providing investment management and related services. Our investment management related revenues are derived primarily from fees based on a percentage of the value of AUM. Any decrease in the value or amount of our AUM because of market volatility, client withdrawals or other factors negatively impacts our revenues and income. Macroeconomic developments and other factors that are difficult to predict affect the mix, market values and levels of our AUM. The funds we manage may be subject to an unanticipated large number of redemptions as a result of such developments, causing the funds to sell securities they hold, possibly at a loss, or draw on any available lines of credit to obtain cash, or use securities held in the applicable fund, to settle these redemptions. We may, in our discretion, also provide financial support to a fund to enable it to maintain sufficient liquidity in such an event. Additionally, changing market conditions may cause a shift in our asset mix towards fixed-income products and a related decline in our revenue and income, as we generally derive higher fee revenues and income from equity products than from fixed-income products we manage. Any decrease in the level of our AUM resulting from price declines, interest rate volatility or uncertainty, increased redemptions or other factors could negatively impact our revenues and income. Our investment performance is critical to the success of our investment management and related services business, as well as to the profitability of our retirement and insurance products. Poor investment performance as compared to third-party benchmarks or competitor products could lead to a decrease in sales of investment products we manage and lead to redemptions of existing assets, generally lowering the overall level of AUM and reducing the management fees we earn. We cannot assure you that past or present investment performance in the investment products we manage will be indicative of future performance. Any poor investment performance may negatively impact our revenues and income. Our revenues from our investment management business operations are also dependent on fees earned under asset management and related services agreements that we have with the clients and funds we advise. Revenues for this segment could be adversely affected if these agreements are altered significantly or terminated in the future. The decline in revenue that might result from alteration or termination of our asset management services agreements could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations or financial condition. In addition, under certain laws and contract provisions, advisory contracts may require approval or consent from clients or fund shareholders in the event of an assignment of the contract or a change in control of the investment adviser. Were a transaction to result in an assignment or change in control, the inability to obtain consent or approval from clients or shareholders of mutual funds or other investment funds could result in a significant reduction in advisory fees. As investment manager for certain private equity funds that we sponsor, we earn both a fixed management fee and performance-based capital allocations, or "carried interest." Our receipt of carried interest is dependent on the fund exceeding a specified investment return hurdle over the life of the fund. The profitability of our investment management activities with respect to these funds depends to a significant extent on our ability to exceed the hurdle rates and receive carried interest. To the extent that we exceed the investment hurdle during the life of the fund, we may receive or accrue carried interest, which is reported as Net investment income and Net gains (losses) within our Investment Management segment during the period such fees are first earned. If the investment return of a fund were to subsequently decline so that the cumulative return of a fund falls below its specified investment return hurdle, we may have to reverse previously reported carried interest, which would result in a reduction to Net investment income and Net gains (losses) during the period in which such reversal becomes due. Consequently, a decline in fund performance could require us to reverse previously reported carried interest, which could create volatility in the results we report in our Investment Management segment, and the adverse effects of any such reversals could be material to our results for the period in which they occur. We may face significant losses if our actuarial assumptions, including mortality rates, morbidity rates, persistency rates or other underwriting assumptions, are not accurate, differ significantly from our pricing expectations or change in the future. Our financial results are subject to risks around actuarial assumptions, including those related to mortality and the future behavior of policyholders, such as lapse rates and future claims payment patterns. These assumptions, which we use to determine our liabilities for future policy benefits, may not reflect future experience. Changes to these actuarial assumptions in the future could require increases to our reserves in amounts that could be material. Any adverse changes to reserves could require us to make material additional capital contributions to one or more of our insurance company subsidiaries or could otherwise be material and adverse to our results of operations or financial condition. We review these assumptions at least annually in the third quarter and update them if necessary. For further information, see Results of Operations and Critical Accounting Judgments and Estimates in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Part II, Item 7. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We set prices for many of our Health Solutions products based on expected claims and payment patterns, using assumptions for mortality rates, or likelihood of death, and morbidity rates, or likelihood of sickness or accident, of our policyholders. In addition to the potential effect of natural or man-made disasters, significant changes in mortality or morbidity could emerge gradually over time due to changes in the natural environment, the health habits of the insured population, technologies and treatments for disease or disability, the economic environment, or other factors. The long-term profitability of such products depends on how our actual mortality and morbidity rates compare to our pricing assumptions. In addition, prolonged or severe adverse mortality or morbidity experience could result in increased reinsurance costs, and ultimately, reinsurers might not offer coverage at all. If we are unable to maintain our current level of reinsurance or purchase new reinsurance protection in amounts that we consider sufficient, we would have to accept an increase in our net risk exposures, revise our pricing to reflect higher reinsurance premiums, or otherwise modify our product offering. Pricing of our Health Solutions products is also based in part on expected persistency of these products, which is the probability that a policy will remain in force from one period to the next. Actual persistency that is lower than our persistency assumptions could have an adverse effect on profitability, especially in the early years of a policy, primarily because we would be required to accelerate the amortization of expenses we defer in connection with the acquisition of the policy. Actual persistency that is higher than our persistency assumptions could have an adverse effect on profitability in the later years of a block of business because the anticipated claims experience is higher in these later years. If actual persistency is significantly different from that assumed in our current reserving assumptions, our reserves for future policy benefits may prove to be inadequate. Although some of our products permit us to increase premiums or adjust other charges and credits during the life of the policy, the adjustments permitted under the terms of the policies may not be sufficient to maintain profitability. Many of our products, however, do not permit us to increase premiums or adjust charges and credits during the life of the policy or during the initial guarantee term of the policy. Even if permitted under the policy, we may not be able or willing to raise premiums or adjust other charges for regulatory or competitive reasons. Pricing of our products is also based on long-term assumptions regarding interest rates, investment returns and operating costs. Management establishes target returns for each product based on these factors, the other underwriting assumptions noted above and the average amount of regulatory and rating agency capital that we must hold to support in-force contracts. We monitor and manage pricing and sales to achieve target returns. Profitability from new business emerges over a period of years, depending on the nature and life of the product, and is subject to variability as actual results may differ from pricing assumptions. Our profitability depends on multiple factors, including the comparison of actual mortality, morbidity and persistency rates and policyholder behavior to our assumptions; the adequacy of investment margins; our management of market and credit risks associated with investments; our ability to maintain premiums and contract charges at a level adequate to cover mortality, benefits and contract administration expenses; the adequacy of contract charges and availability of revenue from providers of investment options offered in variable contracts to cover the cost of product features and other expenses; and management of operating costs and expenses. Reinsurance subjects us to the credit risk of reinsurers and may not be available, affordable or adequate to protect us against losses. We cede life insurance policies and annuity contracts or certain risks related to life insurance policies and annuity contracts to other insurance companies using various forms of reinsurance, including coinsurance, modified coinsurance, coinsurance with funds withheld, monthly renewable term and yearly renewable term. However, we remain liable to the underlying policyholders if the reinsurer defaults on its obligations with respect to the ceded business. If a reinsurer fails to meet its obligations under the reinsurance contract, we will be forced to bear the entire unresolved liability for claims on the reinsured policies. In addition, a reinsurer insolvency or loss of accredited reinsurer status may cause us to lose our reserve credits on the ceded business, in which case we would be required to establish additional statutory reserves. In connection with the Individual Life Transaction, we have entered into large reinsurance agreements with Security Life of Denver ("SLD"), our former insurance subsidiary, with respect to the portion of the Individual Life and other legacy businesses that have been written by our insurance subsidiaries domiciled in Minnesota, Connecticut and New York. While SLD's reinsurance obligations to us are collateralized through assets held in trust, in the event of any default by SLD of its reinsurance obligations to us, or any loss of credit for such reinsurance, there can be no assurance that such assets will be sufficient to support the reserves that our subsidiaries would be required to establish or to pay claims. If a reinsurer does not have accredited reinsurer status, or if a currently accredited reinsurer loses that status, in any state where we are licensed to do business, we are not entitled to take credit for reinsurance in that state if the reinsurer does not post sufficient qualifying collateral (either qualifying assets in a qualifying trust or qualifying letters of credit ("LOCs")). In this event, we would be required to establish additional statutory reserves. Similarly, the credit for reinsurance taken by our insurance subsidiaries under reinsurance agreements with affiliated and unaffiliated non-accredited reinsurers is, under certain conditions, dependent on the non-accredited reinsurer's ability to obtain and provide sufficient qualifying assets in a qualifying trust or qualifying LOCs issued by qualifying lending banks. If these steps are unsuccessful, or if unaffiliated non-accredited reinsurers that have reinsured business from our insurance subsidiaries are unsuccessful in obtaining sources of qualifying reinsurance collateral, our insurance subsidiaries might not be able to obtain full statutory reserve credit. Loss of reserve credit by an insurance subsidiary would require it to establish additional statutory reserves and would result in a decrease in the level of its capital, which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability, results of operations and financial condition. Our reinsurance recoverable balances are periodically assessed for uncollectability. The collectability of reinsurance recoverables is subject to uncertainty arising from a number of factors, including whether the insured losses meet the qualifying conditions of the reinsurance contract, whether reinsurers or their affiliates have the financial capacity and willingness to make payments under the terms of the reinsurance contract, and the degree to which our reinsurance balances are secured by sufficient qualifying assets in qualifying trusts or qualifying LOCs issued by qualifying lending institutions. Although a substantial portion of our reinsurance exposure is secured by assets held in trusts or LOCs, the inability to collect a material recovery from a reinsurer could have a material adverse effect on our profitability, results of operations and financial condition. For additional information regarding our unsecured reinsurance recoverable balances, see Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk-Market Risk Related to Credit Risk in Part II, Item 7A. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The premium rates and other fees that we charge are based, in part, on the assumption that reinsurance will be available at a certain cost. Some of our reinsurance contracts contain provisions that limit the reinsurer's ability to increase rates on in-force business; however, some do not. If a reinsurer raises the rates that it charges on a block of in-force business, in some instances, we will not be able to pass the increased costs onto our customers and our profitability will be negatively impacted. Additionally, such a rate increase could result in our recapturing of the business, which may result in a need to maintain additional reserves, reduce reinsurance receivables and expose us to greater risks. In recent years, we have faced a number of rate increase actions on in-force business, which have in some instances adversely affected our financial results, and there can be no assurance that the outcome of future rate increase actions would not have a material effect on our results of operations or financial condition. In addition, if reinsurers raise the rates that they charge on new business, we may be forced to raise our premiums, which could have a negative impact on our competitive position. Our business performance and growth plans may be adversely affected if we are not able to effectively apply technology in our business and operations or to adapt quickly enough to disruptive technology or innovations. Conversely, investments in innovative product offerings may fail to yield sufficient returns to cover their costs. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to develop and implement new or revised solutions that anticipate and keep pace with rapid and continuing innovation, changes in technology, industry standards and client preferences, including changes that result from developments in artificial intelligence and big data analytics. Rapid developments in the applications of generative artificial intelligence may be especially challenging to keep pace with. We may not be successful in anticipating or responding to these developments on a timely and cost-effective basis. In addition, our innovative solutions may not be accepted in the marketplace. Such technology, including artificial intelligence and big data analytics, may develop in unanticipated ways that could harm customers, the Company or our business models or that could lead to increasing regulatory scrutiny. Additionally, the effort to gain technological expertise and develop or apply new technologies requires us to incur significant expenses. All of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete or to obtain or retain client engagements. If our clients are not satisfied with our services, we may face additional cost, loss of profit opportunities and damage to our reputation or legal liability. We depend, to a large extent, on our relationships with our clients and our reputation to understand our clients' needs and deliver solutions and services that are tailored to satisfy those needs. If a client is not satisfied with our services, it may be damaging to our business and could cause us to incur additional costs, impair our profitability or reduce our AUM. Accordingly, poor service to one client may negatively impact our relationships with multiple other clients. Moreover, if we fail to meet our contractual obligations, we could be subject to legal liability or loss of client relationships.

?Potential requirements to reduce the carrying value of our deferred income tax assets or establish an additional valuation allowance against them. ?Potential limitations on our ability to use certain beneficial deferred tax assets. ?Changes in tax laws and interpretations of existing tax law. ?Potential failure to comply with regulations governing our business and our products or those of our affiliates. ?Potential failure to comply with regulations governing our insurance businesses in particular, enforcement actions and regulatory investigations. ?A decrease in the RBC ratio of our insurance subsidiaries. ?Litigation or potential litigation. ?Changes in accounting standards.

Interruption or other operational failures in telecommunication, cybersecurity, information technology and other operational systems, including as a result of human and process error or a failure to maintain the security, integrity, confidentiality, or privacy of such systems, could harm our business. We are highly dependent on automated and information technology systems, including off-premises systems provided by various cloud services providers, to record and process both our internal transactions and transactions involving our customers, as well as to calculate reserves, value invested assets and complete certain other components of our U.S. GAAP and statutory financial statements. Despite the implementation of security and back-up measures, our information technology systems may remain vulnerable to disruptions, including disruptions due to events that are wholly or partially beyond our control (such as natural disasters and electrical/telecommunications outages) or to physical or electronic intrusions, viruses or other attacks. Businesses have increasingly become the targets of "cyberattacks," "ransomware," "phishing," "hacking" or similar illegal or unauthorized intrusions into computer systems and networks. Such events are often highly publicized, can result in significant disruptions to information technology systems and the theft of significant amounts of information as well as funds from online financial accounts. In addition, they can cause extensive damage to the reputation of the targeted business and lead to significant expenses associated with investigation, remediation, regulatory scrutiny and customer protection measures. Like others in our industry, we may experience cybersecurity incidents in the ordinary course of our business. Although we seek to limit our vulnerability to such events through technological and other means, it is not possible to anticipate or prevent all potential forms of cyberattack or to guarantee our ability to fully defend against all such attacks. In addition, due to the sensitive nature of much of the financial and other personal information we maintain, we may be at particular risk for targeting. We rely on industry standard commercial technologies to maintain the security of our systems, but such protections may not be sufficient to prevent unauthorized individuals from circumventing our security measures and penetrating our systems to access, view, misappropriate, alter, or delete information in such systems, including personal information and proprietary business information, or to misappropriate funds from online financial accounts. Information security risks also exist with respect to the use of portable electronic devices, such as laptops, which are particularly vulnerable to loss and theft. Our transition to work-from-home or hybrid working environments also increases our vulnerability to cybersecurity threats and other fraudulent activities. Certain state and federal laws require that individuals be notified if a security breach compromises the security or confidentiality of their personal information. Any attack or other breach of the security of our information technology systems that compromises personal information, or that otherwise results in unauthorized disclosure or use of personal information, could damage our reputation in the marketplace, deter purchases of our products, subject us to heightened regulatory scrutiny, sanctions, significant civil and criminal liability or other adverse legal consequences and require us to incur significant technical, legal and other expenses. All of these risks exist where we rely on third party service providers to provide services to us and our customers, including service providers to which we outsource certain of our functions and including providers of information security services used by businesses acquired by us. The failure of any one of these systems for any reason, including due to errors made by our employees or agents or due to cybersecurity incidents, could cause significant interruptions to our operations or result in substantial costs and other negative consequences such as harm to our reputation, adversely affect our internal control over financial reporting, or have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. For additional information about specific cybersecurity regulations that we are subject to, see -Regulation-Other Laws and Regulations-Cybersecurity Regulatory Activity in Part I, Item 1. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Our risk management policies and procedures, including our cybersecurity incident response plan, may not be adequate for the operational risks we face, and in particular, for the increased operational risks posed by costly and time-consuming integration of acquired businesses. Our risk management methods depend on the evaluation of information regarding markets, customers, catastrophe occurrence or other matters that is publicly available or otherwise accessible to us, as well as on timely escalation of critical information regarding our operations and systems. This information may not always be accurate, complete, up-to-date or properly evaluated. Management of operational, legal and regulatory risks requires, among other things, policies and procedures to record and verify large numbers of transactions and events, as well as technology, policies and procedures to manage increasingly complex and large amounts of information, including unstructured data, retained electronically. These policies and procedures may not be fully effective. Any failure to protect the privacy and confidentiality of customer information could adversely affect our reputation and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our business and relationships with customers are dependent on our ability to maintain the privacy, security and confidentiality of our and our customers' personal information, trade secrets and other confidential information (including customer transactional data and personal information about our customers, the employees and customers of our customers, and our own employees and agents). We are also subject to numerous federal and state laws, as well as certain non-U.S. laws such as GDPR, regarding the privacy and security of personal information, which laws vary significantly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Numerous state regulatory bodies and the U.S. Senate have proposed and enacted legislation and regulations regarding privacy standards and protocols. As data privacy and protection laws continue to proliferate, including due to increased focus on data use by artificial intelligence or other innovative technology, we may incur significant technological, administrative and other expenses and face other difficulties in complying with an increasing number of legal obligations with respect to data privacy and security, or with balancing competing requirements that may be inconsistent across jurisdictions. Many of our employees and contractors and the representatives of our broker-dealer subsidiaries have access to and routinely process personal information in computerized, paper and other forms, including on legacy systems or on systems that may not yet be fully integrated in our systems. We rely on various internal policies, procedures and controls to protect the privacy, security and confidentiality of personal and confidential information that is accessible to, or in the possession of, us or our employees, contractors and representatives. It is possible that an employee, contractor or representative could, intentionally or unintentionally, disclose or misappropriate personal information or other confidential information. If we fail in the future to maintain adequate internal controls, including any failure to implement newly-required additional controls, or if our employees, contractors or representatives fail to comply with our policies and procedures, or if we fail to implement or maintain such controls and policies and procedures when integrating acquired businesses, misappropriation or intentional or unintentional inappropriate disclosure or misuse of personal information or confidential customer information could occur. Such internal control inadequacies or non-compliance could materially damage our reputation, result in regulatory action or lead to civil or criminal penalties, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition. For additional risks related to our potential failure to protect confidential information, see risk factor Interruption or other operational failures in telecommunication, cybersecurity, information technology and other operational systems, including as a result of human and process error or a failure to maintain the security, integrity, confidentiality, or privacy of such systems, could harm our business. Our business success depends on our ability to attract and retain qualified employees. Our ability to attract and retain qualified employees is critical to our success. As a financial services organization, our employees are our most important resource. In addition, some of our most critical functions rely on the employees of our strategic partners and outsourcing vendors. In many areas of our industry, competition for qualified personnel has intensified in recent years. If we or our strategic sourcing partners are unable to continue to attract or retain qualified employees, including successors to key officers and other positions, our ability to compete could be adversely affected. The occurrence of natural or man-made disasters may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. We are exposed to various risks arising from natural disasters, including hurricanes, climate change, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes and pandemic disease, as well as man-made disasters and core infrastructure failures, including acts of terrorism, military actions, power grid and telephone/internet infrastructure failures, which may adversely affect AUM, results of operations and financial condition by causing, among other things: - Losses in our investment portfolio due to significant volatility in global financial markets or the failure of counterparties to perform;- Declines in fee revenues from lower AUM/AUA and plan participant counts, as a result of increased unemployment and furloughs, lower asset prices, suspensions or reductions in participant plan deposits or employer matching contributions, and an increase in plan loans and withdrawals;- Decreased spread-based revenues due to lower interest rates;- A decline in fund management carried interests and performance fees in our Investment Management business;- Increased impairments or credit rating downgrades within our general account portfolio, which could consume our excess capital, reduce the dividend capacity of our insurance subsidiaries, trigger requirements for additional statutory capital within our insurance subsidiaries;- Extraordinary assessments on our insurance subsidiaries, due to requirements in jurisdictions where those subsidiaries are admitted to transact business requiring life insurers to participate in guaranty associations, which raise funds to pay contractual benefits owed pursuant to insurance policies issued by impaired, insolvent or failed insurers;- Reductions in the carrying value of our deferred tax assets as a result of a need to establish an additional valuation allowance against such assets, which would decrease U.S. GAAP equity and increase our leverage ratios (which could result in increased scrutiny by insurance regulators and rating agencies), and could also affect the statutory surplus of our insurance subsidiaries if there is a reduction in the statutory carrying value of our deferred tax assets admitted for statutory purposes;- Changes in the rate of mortality, claims, withdrawals, lapses and surrenders of existing policies and contracts, as well as sales of new policies and contracts;- Reduced premium revenues in our Health Solutions Business due to increased unemployment;- Material harm to the financial condition of our reinsurers, including due to increased claims, which would increase the probability of default on reinsurance recoveries;- Reduced sales levels due to decreased RFP activity or delayed decision making by our clients or prospective clients;- Restricted activity to preserve liquidity at our holding company, including by reducing or eliminating planned share buybacks or our common stock dividend; and - Disruption of our normal business operations, including the ability to interact with existing or potential clients, due to catastrophic property damage, loss of life, or disruption of public and private infrastructure, including communications and financial services, or mandatory shutdowns and stay-at-home orders. A number of these risks materialized in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, which created material economic disruption worldwide and had significant effects on our business operations, including our operations in India and the overseas operations of our third-party outsourcing providers. In the event of any future disaster or disruption, there can be no assurance that our business continuation and crisis management plan or insurance coverages would be effective in mitigating any negative effects on operations or profitability in the event of a disaster, nor can we provide assurance that the business continuation and crisis management plans of the independent distributors and outside vendors on which we rely for certain services and products would be effective in mitigating any negative effects on the provision of such services and products. If we experience difficulties arising from outsourcing relationships, our ability to conduct business may be compromised, which may adversely affect our business and results of operations. As we continue to focus on reducing the expense necessary to support our operations, we have increasingly used outsourcing strategies for a significant portion of our information technology and business functions. If our third-party service providers experience disruptions or do not perform as anticipated, or we experience problems with a transition, we may experience system failures, disruptions, or other operational difficulties, an inability to meet obligations, including obligations to policyholders, customers, business partners and distribution partners, increased costs and loss of business, and such events may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. See risk factor Interruption or other operational failures in telecommunication, cybersecurity, information technology and other operational systems, including as a result of human and process error or a failure to maintain the security, integrity, confidentiality, or privacy of such systems, could harm our business. We depend on licenses of third-party software to provide our services. The inability to maintain these licenses or errors in the software we license could result in increased costs, or reduced service levels, which would adversely affect our business. Our applications incorporate certain third-party software obtained under licenses from other companies. We anticipate that we will continue to rely on such third-party software and development tools from third parties in the future. Although we believe that there are commercially reasonable alternatives to much of the third-party software we currently license, this may not always be the case, or it may be difficult or costly to replace. In addition, integration of the software used in our applications with new third-party software may require significant work and require substantial investment of our time and resources. To the extent that our applications depend on the successful operation of third-party software in conjunction with our software, any undetected errors or defects in this third-party software could prevent the deployment or impair the functionality of our own applications, delay new application introductions, result in a failure of our applications and damage our reputation. Our use of additional or alternative third-party software would require us to enter into license agreements with third parties which could result in increased costs, business disruptions and other complications. Our international operations may result in increased risks to our business. Our international operations, including our operations in India, expose us to a variety of political, legal, operational and other risks, including: changes in laws, their application or interpretation; increased or conflicting regulatory restrictions; political instability; non-compliance with anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws; economic or trade sanctions; dividend limitations; price controls; currency exchange controls or other transfer or exchange restrictions; difficulty in enforcing contracts; nationalization or expropriation of assets; imposition of limits on foreign ownership of local companies; and public or political criticism of our business and operations.