Unum Group has completed a $3.8 bn long-term care (LTC) reinsurance transaction with Fortitude Reinsurance Ltd. (FRL), transferring a substantial portion of its individual long-term care insurance exposure.
Under the agreement, Unum Life Insurance Company of America will reinsure a closed block of approximately 50,000 individual LTC policies carrying $3.8 bn in statutory reserves and about $4.5 bn in best estimate reserves.
- Unum Group completed a $3.8 bn long-term care reinsurance transaction with Fortitude Re, covering approximately 50,000 individual LTC policies.
- The transferred portfolio carries $3.8 bn in statutory reserves and $4.5 bn in best estimate reserves, representing 52% of Unum’s individual LTC reserves as of March 31.
- Unum reported a $419.7 mn third-quarter net loss, including $853 mn in pretax investment losses primarily linked to the planned asset transfer supporting the transaction.
Unum will retain responsibility for servicing and administering the policies, maintaining its existing operational relationship with policyholders.
Fortitude Re transfers LTC insurance risks to global reinsurer
Alongside the transaction’s closing, Fortitude Re entered into a separate agreement to retrocede 100% of the long-term care insurance risks to a highly rated global reinsurance partner.
As a result, Fortitude Re will retain only the underlying spread-based risks associated with the transferred portfolio.
Unum said its remaining LTC business consists predominantly of group long-term care policies, which generally have simpler benefit structures than individual policies. The company also described the reserve margins supporting its remaining LTC portfolio as more robust.
Unum reports $419.7 mn third-quarter net loss
The transaction coincided with a significant deterioration in Unum Group’s reported third-quarter financial results.
The insurer recorded a net loss of $419.7 mn, compared with net income of $39.7 mn in the corresponding quarter a year earlier.
The result included $853 mn in pretax net investment losses, primarily attributable to impairment charges arising from Unum’s intention to transfer investment assets supporting the 2026 Fortitude Re LTC reinsurance transaction.
The company’s closed block segment also reported a net loss of $135.6 mn during the quarter.
Unum reduces long-term care statutory reserves by approximately 40%
When Unum initially announced the Fortitude Re agreement in July 2026, it said the transaction represented 26% of its total LTC reserves and 52% of its individual LTC reserves, based on balances as of March 31.
Combined with a separate reinsurance transaction announced in 2025, the latest agreement brings Unum’s cumulative reduction in long-term care statutory reserves to approximately 40%.
The completed transaction removes a substantial portion of Unum’s individual LTC insurance exposure, leaving the company with a remaining portfolio concentrated primarily in group policies supported by stronger reserve margins, according to the insurer.
