Five Life Carriers Book Annual Assumption Reviews in Q3 Results

Corebridge Financial's annual actuarial assumption update cut adjusted pre-tax operating income by $99 million in the third quarter, all of it in Life Insurance. It was one of five annual reviews in the past week, and they ran both ways. CNO Financial released $56.3 million across its product margins, Equitable Holdings added $111 million to net income, Voya Financial booked a $12 million gain in Employee Benefits, and CNA Financial's long-term care updates cost $137 million after tax.

The third quarter is when most US life and annuity carriers refresh the assumptions behind their long-duration liabilities. Under ASU 2018-12, the long-duration targeted improvements standard, a change in those assumptions is booked in the period as a remeasurement of the liability for future policy benefits, which most carriers carry inside operating earnings, while a change to market risk benefits runs through net income outside operating earnings.

They come two weeks after Globe Life reported $29.1 million of pre-tax health remeasurement gains, $24.1 million of them from assumption updates, in its October 21 release.

Key Takeaways

Corebridge's update cut adjusted pre-tax operating income by $99 million, against $98 million a year earlier, with the whole charge in Life Insurance this year.
CNO's review added $56.3 million to its insurance product margins and cost $11.2 million in market risk benefits, a $44.9 million net gain after tax.
Equitable's update added $111 million to net income and $28 million to non-GAAP operating earnings, so most of the gain sat outside operating results.
CNA's long-term care assumption updates cost $137 million after tax on cost of care inflation and morbidity, against $7 million a year earlier.
Voya booked a $12 million favorable update in Employee Benefits, where the trailing-twelve-month aggregate loss ratio improved to 74% from 78%.

Two channels under LDTI

CNO's October 29 release shows the split most plainly. Its comprehensive annual actuarial review added $56.3 million to total insurance product margin, which was $333.0 million before the item and $276.7 million after it. That review also produced an unfavorable $11.2 million in market risk benefits, which CNO reports outside operating income. A year earlier the two figures were $41.3 million favorable and $14.3 million unfavorable.

Net of $11.4 million of tax, the significant items from the review added $44.9 million, or $0.48 a share, to net operating income, against $32.2 million, or $0.33, in the third quarter of 2025. Net operating income was $1.90 a diluted share, or $1.42 excluding significant items, against $1.29 and $0.96 a year earlier. CNO raised the midpoint of its 2026 operating EPS guidance by 9% in the same release.

Equitable's November 2 release shows the same two-channel result at a larger scale. Its annual update added $111 million to net income and $28 million to non-GAAP operating earnings, so about $83 million of the gain reached net income without passing through operating results. Net income was $1.1 billion, or $4.05 a share. Non-GAAP operating earnings were $595 million, or $2.13 a share, and $554 million, or $1.98, after removing $41 million of notable items that include the assumption update. Operating EPS a year earlier was $1.48.

In Equitable's Retirement segment, notable items of $23 million negative "include benefits from actuarial assumption and model updates," the release said, offset by lower net investment income from alternatives. The segment reported first-year premiums of $6.2 billion, up 14%, and net inflows of $1.1 billion.

Carrier	Release date	Operating impact	Net or non-operating impact	Where it sat
CNO Financial	Oct 29	+$56.3M pre-tax in product margins	$11.2M unfavorable in market risk benefits; $44.9M net after tax	Life $28.0M, annuity $20.5M, health $7.8M
Corebridge Financial	Nov 2	$99M charge to APTOI	+$2M to pre-tax income	Life Insurance, all of it
Equitable Holdings	Nov 2	+$28M to non-GAAP operating earnings	+$111M to net income	Retirement notable items include a benefit
Voya Financial	Nov 2	+$12M favorable	Not separately reported	Employee Benefits
CNA Financial	Nov 2	$137M after-tax charge to core loss	Within Life & Group core loss of $171M	Long-term care

Sources: each carrier's third quarter 2026 earnings release, dated as shown. CNO's segment figures are the pre-tax benefit by product margin.

Life blocks carried the swing

Corebridge's charge sat entirely in one segment. Its notable items table puts the Life Insurance impact at $99 million this year against $85 million a year earlier, when Individual Retirement took $7 million and Institutional Markets $6 million of a $98 million total. The decrease was "primarily due to updated life assumptions," the release said. Pre-tax income moved the other way: the update increased it by $2 million this year, against a $167 million decrease in the prior-year quarter, so the operating and net channels diverged by about $101 million.

Excluding variable investment income and the update, Life Insurance APTOI was flat on the prior-year quarter, Individual Retirement fell 4% and Institutional Markets rose 5%, the release said. Operating earnings per share were $1.22 against $0.96. Premiums and deposits were $8.8 billion, down 29% from the prior-year quarter. Net income available to common shareholders was $1.4 billion against $144 million.

CNO's life margin took the largest share of its benefit this year. The life margin was $96.0 million before the review and $68.0 million after removing the $28.0 million item, against $70.6 million and $67.0 million a year earlier, when the review contributed $3.6 million. Annuity took $20.5 million, up from $16.6 million. The health margin's share fell to $7.8 million from $21.1 million, leaving the health margin at $141.3 million excluding the item against $135.9 million. Neither CNO nor Equitable attributed its figure to a named assumption.

CNA's charge was the largest single item of the five. The Life & Group segment "produced a core loss of $171 million for the third quarter of 2026 versus $22 million in the prior year quarter," the company said in its November 2 release. "The assumption updates in the third quarter of 2026 unfavorably impacted core loss by $137 million after-tax," against $7 million a year earlier, "primarily driven by unfavorable cost of care inflation and morbidity assumption updates, partially offset by favorable premium rate action outperformance." Consolidated core income fell to $203 million, or $0.75 a share, from $409 million, or $1.50.

Both items are long-term care claim-cost assumptions. Rate action outperformance is the premium increase program on the in-force block running ahead of the assumption built into the reserve.

Smaller items in benefits and retirement

Voya's update was the smallest and the only one booked in a group benefits block. Employee Benefits adjusted operating earnings rose on an increase that "includes a $12 million favorable annual assumption update and lower expenses in the current period," the company said in its November 2 release. On a trailing-twelve-month basis the segment's total aggregate loss ratio improved to 74% from 78%. Consolidated after-tax adjusted operating earnings were $240 million, or $2.60 a diluted share, against $239 million, or $2.45.

Retirement and annuity blocks moved less than the life blocks at every carrier that split the figure. Corebridge's Individual Retirement and Institutional Markets, which together took $13 million of the 2025 charge, carried none of this year's. CNO's annuity margin benefit of $20.5 million was within $4 million of last year's. Equitable's Retirement segment folded its assumption benefit into a $23 million net negative notable item alongside lower alternatives income.

CNA's $137 million after-tax charge on the long-term care block was the largest figure of the five in either direction. Equitable holds its third quarter call on November 3.

Five Life Carriers Book Annual Assumption Reviews in Q3 Results

Key Takeaways

Two channels under LDTI

Life blocks carried the swing

Smaller items in benefits and retirement

Further Reading

Sources