March 3, 2025 – On February 26, 2025, Globe Life released its 2024 10-K. While management conveyed that it was business as usual there are several red flags in the 10-K and accompanying earnings call.
- Massive share buybacks were substantially funded by expensive debt.
- Policy acquisition cost growth continued to outpace premium growth.
- Lapse rates continued to climb.
- Agent growth slowed significantly, and agent counts shrank in December.
- The company saw rising legal costs and increased financial impact of litigation.
- Risk disclosures have been significantly expanded due to IT system weaknesses.
This corroborates Viceroy’s views that Globe Life’s MLM-like operations are facing increasing headwinds from regulatory scrutiny and reputational problems. Operations are also beginning to suffer with life lapse rates increasing and policy acquisition costs continuing their upward trend.