Earnings

Reinsurance Group Of America Earns $456 Million — Pension Deals Lift Premiums By 25%

Stronger investments and favorable claims helped earnings, but adjusted profit fell in the Asia Pacific traditional business.

Matteo Parrino Jonathan Ponciano

Matteo Parrino, Jonathan Ponciano

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Reinsurance Group Of America Earns $456 Million — Pension Deals Lift Premiums By 25%

Reinsurance Group of America, which takes on insurance and investment risks from other insurers for premiums, earned $456 million in the third quarter, up from $253 million a year earlier, according to its Thursday earnings release accompanying an SEC filing. Net premiums rose 25% to $5.4 billion, including approximately $800 million from single-payment pension risk transfers.

Pension Transfers And Investment Gains

The pension transactions contributed nothing to premiums in the year-earlier quarter. They sit within RGA’s U.S. Financial Solutions business; overall premium growth came despite a $16 million drag from currencies, the earnings release said.

RGA’s traditional business reinsures life, health, disability, long-term care and critical illness policies. Financial solutions cover investment-heavy insurance contracts, pension transfers and the risk that pensioners live longer than expected, alongside retirement guarantees and capital services.

Investment income outside businesses that earn an interest spread rose 17.5% from a year earlier. RGA credited a larger average asset base, stronger variable investment income and higher rates on new investments; the average yield reached 5.26%, versus 4.73%.

Diluted earnings were $6.92 a share, compared with $3.81. Adjusted operating income reached $558 million, or $8.49 a share, versus $310 million, or $4.66; excluding insurance-assumption changes, the prior-year comparison was $424 million, or $6.37. The annual assumption review had no net effect on consolidated adjusted pretax income.

Asia Pacific Claims Buck The Improvement

Asia Pacific’s traditional business posted adjusted pretax income excluding assumption changes of $111 million, down from $137 million. RGA attributed the decline to less favorable claims, while premiums fell to $863 million from $880 million.

The same profit measure improved in traditional insurance elsewhere: U.S. and Latin America earned $163 million versus $97 million, Canada $41 million versus $34 million, and Europe, Middle East and Africa $52 million versus $30 million. Better claims experience helped each business, RGA said.

Financial solutions improved across those regions. Excluding assumption changes, adjusted pretax income reached $127 million in U.S. and Latin America, $17 million in Canada, $151 million in Europe, Middle East and Africa and $96 million in Asia Pacific. Investment income helped the Americas businesses, while new business contributed in Europe and Asia.

Taxes absorbed more than management expected: the effective rate was 26.8% under standard accounting and 24.1% on adjusted operating income, both above the expected 22%–23% range. RGA cited the geographic mix of earnings and a larger allowance against tax assets.

Buybacks And A December Dividend

RGA paid shareholders $139 million during the quarter: $75 million through repurchases and $64 million through dividends. For the first nine months, payouts totaled $361 million, compared with $254 million a year earlier.

President and Chief Executive Officer Tony Cheng tied his outlook to prospective business, saying it supports confidence in RGA “continuing to deliver strong financial results for the remainder of 2026 and beyond.”

For the first nine months, profit attributable to RGA shareholders was $1,248 million, against $719 million a year earlier. Adjusted operating income excluding assumption changes was $1,606 million, versus $1,117 million.

The next quarterly dividend is $0.98 a share, payable December 1 to shareholders of record on November 17, according to the dividend terms.

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