Globe Life Inc. (GL) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning. It's 10:00 a.m. and time to begin the meeting. My name is Frank Svoboda.

And my name is Matt Darden. We are the Co-Chairmen of the Board, and we'd like to welcome you to Globe Life Inc.'s 44th Annual Shareholder Meeting. Thank you for joining us today. We are hosting a virtual meeting again this year to help facilitate attendance and participation by company shareholders. As is our custom, at the end of the meeting, we will answer any questions that were submitted in advance of the meeting in accordance with our Shareholders' Rights Policy. Throughout the meeting, if any registered shareholder wishes to submit a comment on issues reasonably related to management of the company, you may do so via the designated field on the web portal. Out of consideration for others, please limit yourself to one comment. At our discretion, we may not read each such comment, but we will post any unread pertinent comments on the Investor Relations section of the company's website following this meeting.

On behalf of Globe Life, we would like to acknowledge the members of our Board of Directors joining us today. But before we do so, we would like to recognize Steve Johnson, who is retiring from the Board today with more than 8 years of Board service, including a number of years spent as Chair of the Audit Committee. We thank Steve for his dedicated service as a valued member of the Board and his steadfast commitment to Globe Life's success. We wish him the best.

We would now like to recognize the other members of the Board of Directors who, along with Frank and me, have joined the webcast this morning, including Matt Adams, Linda Addison, Marilyn Alexander, Cheryl Alston, Mark Blinn, Jim Brannen, Alice Cho, Phil Jacobs, David Rodriguez and Mimi Thigpen. This meeting will be conducted in accordance with Globe Life Inc.'s Shareholders' Rights Policy and Robert's Rules of Order. We will now call upon Secretary Chris Moore to present proof that the meeting is duly commenced.

Chairman Darden and Chairman Svoboda, this meeting is held pursuant to a printed notice that was mailed on March 18, 2025, to each shareholder of record of the company at the close of business on March 3, 2025. A list of the shareholders entitled to vote at this meeting has been available at the principal executive office of the company as required under Delaware law. The count of shares immediately preceding commencement of this meeting indicated that approximately 89.55% of the outstanding common stock of the company is represented today, either in person or by proxy.

Thank you, Chris. I declare that a quorum is present and the meeting is open for business. As stated in the proxy statement, we have 3 proposals subject to shareholder vote. The first proposal is for the election of directors to serve on the Board for a term of 1 year. I will now call upon Chris to nominate the directors.

Chairman Darden and Chairman Svoboda, I hereby nominate for election as directors of the company Matthew J. Adams, Linda L. Addison, Marilyn A. Alexander, Cheryl D. Alston, Mark A. Blinn, James P. Brannen, Alice S. Cho, J. Matthew Darden, Philip M. Jacobs, David A. Rodriguez, Frank M. Svoboda and Mary E. Thigpen to serve for terms expiring on the date of the Annual Meeting of Shareholders of the company in 2026, with all to serve until their respective successors are duly elected and qualified.

Is there a second?

Second.

We have a second. The nominations are declared closed.

The second proposal relates to an advisory and nonbinding vote on the 2024 compensation of the company's named executive officers as set out in the company's proxy statement for the 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I will now call upon Chris to make the formal motion.

Chairman Darden and Chairman Svoboda, I move for the adoption of the following resolution: resolved that the company's shareholders hereby approve on an advisory basis the compensation of the named executive officers as disclosed in the company's proxy statement for the 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders pursuant to the executive compensation disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, which disclosure includes the compensation discussion and analysis, the compensation tables and related compensation disclosures.

Is there a second?

Second.

Next is the proposal for ratification of independent auditor for the fiscal year 2025. Deloitte & Touche has served as the company's independent auditor for fiscal years 1999 through 2024. The Audit Committee has appointed Deloitte & Touche as the company's independent auditor for the year 2025 and recommends that the shareholders approve this appointment. Joining us on the webcast today from the firm are partners Matt Thomson and Kristen Garner. I will call upon Chris to make a formal motion.

Chairman Darden and Chairman Svoboda, I move for the ratification and approval of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the independent auditor of the company and its subsidiaries for the year 2025.

Is there a second?

Second. If there are any shareholders who have not yet voted and wish to vote at this time, they may do so by clicking on the voting link in the e-mail received for admittance to this meeting and following the instructions on the voting website. Shareholders who have sent in proxies or voted via the telephone or Internet do not need to take any further action. We will now pause briefly to allow any shareholder who has not yet finished voting time to do so. [Voting]

Now that everyone has had the opportunity to vote, I declare the voting closed and ask Nancy Petersen, the representative of our stock transfer agent, EQ, to give us a tally. Nancy, are you on the line?

Yes, sorry for the delay. Chairman Darden and Chairman Svoboda, the ballots have been counted, and a majority of the voting stock of the company represented in person or by proxy at this meeting has been voted for the election of each of the director nominees. Further, on a nonbinding advisory basis, a majority of the voting stock of the company represented in person or by proxy at this meeting has been voted to approve the 2024 compensation of the company's named executive officers in the proxy statement. Finally, a majority of the voting stock of the company represented in person or by proxy at this meeting has been voted for the ratification of the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the independent auditor for the company for the year 2025.

Thank you. You have heard the results of the balloting. The company will be filing a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission following the meeting to report the final voting results. Now it is time for the question-and-comment period, and I will recognize Chris Moore.

Thank you. This year, we received one question from a shareholder submitted in advance of the meeting in writing in accordance with the Shareholders' Rights Policy. I would now ask Mike Majors, the company's Executive Vice President, Policy Acquisition and Chief Strategy Officer and the moderator for purposes of this meeting, to read the question aloud.

Question reads as follows: how are you working to prevent concerns brought up by Fuzzy Panda across the various divisions of Globe Life so we don't suffer another loss of confidence?

Thank you for the question. First of all, we think it is important to note that the allegations made by the short sellers contain false and misleading information and were merely attempts to harm the company's reputation and manufacture a drop in the stock price to reap short-term profits at the expense of our investors and the millions of individuals and families that we serve. Nevertheless, we do take allegations that question the company's management integrity seriously. Therefore, the Audit Committee of Globe Life's Board of Directors did conduct an independent investigation of these allegations. And as we have previously disclosed, this investigation, which was conducted with the assistance of law firm WilmerHale and forensic accounting firm, was thorough and did not identify any matters requiring adjustments to the company's previously issued financial statements. The Audit Committee also confirmed that the company has policies and procedures in place designed to safeguard the quality of the work experience. Please note that compliance with our code of conduct, both internally and in connection with our third-party relationships, is and will continue to be a key focus area for management.

At this time, I would ask Mike if there are any comments submitted by registered shareholders via the web portal on issues reasonably related to the management of the company.

There are no comments to be read at this time.

Thank you, Mike. If there is no other business this morning, I will entertain a motion for adjournment.

So moved.

Second?

Second.

Thank you. That concludes the meeting. Thank you for participating, and have a good day.