Each quarter, UBA's Senior Director of Strategic Solutions, Brian Leighton, conducts calls with UBA's Strategic Carrier Alliances (SCAs) together with John Behn, UBA's Senior VP of Partner Relations, and a member of the Strategic Partner Committee. The purpose of these calls is to maintain an open line of communication with our SCAs and discuss financial performance and opportunities for improvement.

This is a brief summary of the calls for each of our carrier alliances.

Colonial

• Colonial had a very strong year with UBA – 2018 sales at $10.2 million, up 18.75% year-over-year. Their year-end block of business stands at $18.9 million, up more than 5% compared to last year.
• Colonial is offering all UBA Firms enrollment in the Preferred Partner Program, which pays a bonus above their standard plan. Information will be sent to Partners soon.
• The focus in 2019 is on growing Colonial's dental business, which is helping them drive higher participation o other lines of coverage.

Guardian

• Guardian had an exceptional new sales year with UBA – 2018 sales at $26.9 million, up 34.4% year-over-year. The 2018 year-end block of business stands at $107.3 million, up 5.5% year-over-year.
• The focus in 2019 is on enhancing their service offering in the 500+ space, while maintaining quality service for their under 500 life business.

The Hartford

• The Hartford had a solid year with UBA – 2018 sales were $5 million, up 14.4% year-over-year, with a year-end block of $39.6 million, up 6.4% over last year.
• An exceptional year overall for The Hartford, with 60% sales growth due to the Aetna acquisition, large case sales, and voluntary benefits growth.
• The Hartford continues to have success with their self-quote platform in the <50 market, with most occurring in the <10 market.

Mutual of Omaha

• Mutual of Omaha had a very strong year with UBA, particularly in growing their block of business. 2018 sales were $10.9 million, up 14.2% year-over-year, and their year-end block stands at $49.8 million, up 20.4%.
• 2019 initiatives include improving their dental product, growing vision sales, adding Hospital Indemnity, developing real-time EOI and creating an online portal for employers and their employees..

Principal

• Principal did not have a strong 2018 with UBA, with sales of $10.7 million, down 1.1% year-over-year, but did have an excellent fourth quarter.
• We discussed at length UBA Partner Firms with blocks of business but who are not writing much new business and an outreach effort to discover the reason and drive more sales activity.

Reliance Standard

• RSLI enjoyed a good year with UBA – 2018 sales of $3.5 million, up 21% year-over-year, and a year-end block of business of $22.2 million, up 11.7% compared to last year.
• They hired a new Head of Claims, who has successfully improved accuracy and claim decision times. Also recently hired was a new Head of Underwriting to improve case pricing and performance.
• 2019 initiatives include enhancing voluntary benefit products and improving technology.

The Standard

• The Standard reported has a mediocre year with UBA – 2018 sales of $3.3 million, up just 1% year-over-year. Their block of business stands at $31.1 million, up 3.9% year-over-year. They are disappointed with these results.
• Overall, while The Standard didn't each their total goal, they did write $300 million and consider 2018 a success.
• Initiatives in 2019 include repricing their voluntary benefit products to be more competitive in the market.

Sun Life

• Sun Life had a solid new sales year with UBA, with 2018 sales of $26.5 million ($17 million of that is stop loss), up 14.7% year-over-year. Their block of business is $105.4 million, which is flat compared to last year.
• We discussed, and the Strategic Partner Committee later approved, a change that will allow Sun Life to sell a case into the UBA Stop Loss Coalition without the excess risk reimbursement (ERR) component if that allows Sun Life to be more competitive, or if requested by the UBA Partner Firm.

Symetra

• Symetra had a mediocre year with UBA, with 2018 sales of $17.9 million, down 1.3% year-over-year. Their block of business is flat at $43.6 million.
• Symetra's effort to get more competitive with stop loss with $75,000 to $150,000 deductibles proved successful with UBA – 14 new cases were written with deductibles in that range.
• Symetra is now offering their premium refund program for UBA on a case level vs. block level basis, allowing those cases performing well (<65% loss ratio) to be eligible for a refund.
• Symetra writes $10 million in premium for cases using reference-based pricing (RBP) and will continue to monitor the performance of these cases to determine long-term strategy with RBP.

Unum

• Unum had a good new sales year with UBA, but a poor year for block growth. 2018 sales were $12,319,781, up 13.7% year-over-year, but their block stands at $69.3 million, which is down 12.7% year-over-year.
• Unum is working on "journeys" to improve services, and in 2018 focused on implementation and creating greater automation through e-signatures.
• Initiatives for 2019 include enhancements to their voluntary benefit products, due for completion in Q2, and, as part of their "journey" effort, improvements to their claims area.

Voya Financial

• Voya enjoyed a solid year with UBA, with 2018 sales at $10.7 million, up 9.2% year-over-year. Their block of business stands at $35.8 million, up 14.4% year-over-year.
• They right-priced" their stop loss business in 2018 and successfully improved profitability, setting themselves up for  strong 2019 sales year.
• Voya recently reached an agreement with ADP to be their primary voluntary benefits carrier of choice on its platform.
• 2019 initiatives include investing heavily in their cost containment strategies for stop loss and enhancing their data analytic capabilities.

VSP

• VSP is not yet able to report on UBA financials, but it is a work in progress.
• VSP is introducing "Easy Option," a point-of-sale product that allows customization for each family member.
• VSP's bonus for UBA for 1/1/2019 business proved successful, and they intend to announce a similar program for 7/1/2019 new business.
• UBA Partner Firms are being offered a 30% discount for their own offices.

Overall, UBA's production for 2018 with all of our Strategic Carrier Alliances reporting combined is up more than 14%, with a total of nearly $138 million in new premium. It's gratifying to know that UA Partner Firms are supporting our carrier partners, who are very supportive of UBA and its Partner Firms. Please continue to work with our SCAs to the greatest extent you are able.

Our SCAs have all expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to share what's new and learn about UBA initiatives on these quarterly calls.

Special thanks to the Strategic Partner Committee members who participated in the calls:

• Kevin Rush, The DeHayes Group
• Jack Hemb, Hemb Insurance Group
• Lambert Hsu, Benefit Pro Insurance Services
• Rich Kosinski, Brio Benefits
• Scott Clemons, The Clemons Company
• Paul Lambert, 360 Corporate Benefit Advisors
• Brian Luciani, Blueprint Benefit Advisors
• Charlie Crowder, Managed Benefits

 Questions? Contact Brian Leighton at bleighton@ubabenefits.com or 312-416-3675