Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

(Check one):

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes [ ]☐ No [X]☒

The aggregate market value of the shares of the registrant's common stock held by non-affiliates (based upon the closing price of these shares on the New York Stock Exchange) as of the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second fiscal quarter was $10.5$3.4 billion. As of February 20, 2018,12, 2021, there were 221,261,100203,731,259 shares of the registrant's common stock outstanding.

Portions of the information required by Part III of this Form 10-K are incorporated herein by reference from the registrant's definitive proxy statement for its 20182021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Regulation 14A under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, within 120 days after the end of the registrant's fiscal year ended December 31, 2017.2020.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the Act) provides a "safe harbor" to encourage companies to provide prospective information, as long as those statements are identified as forward-looking and are accompanied by meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those included in the forward-looking statements. Certain information contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (including certain statements in the business description in Item 1, Management's Discussion and Analysis in Item 7, and the consolidated financial statements and related notes in Item 8), or in any other written or oral statements made by us in communications with the financial community or contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), may be considered forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act. Forward-looking statements are those not based on historical information, but rather relate to our outlook, future operations, strategies, financial results, or other developments. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made. We undertake no obligation to update these statements, even if made available on our website or otherwise. These statements may be made directly in this document or may be made part of this document by reference to other documents filed by us with the Securities and Exchange Commission,SEC, a practice which is known as "incorporation by reference." You can find many of these statements by looking for words such as "will," "may," "should," "could," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "estimates," "plans," "assumes," "intends," "projects," "goals,” "objectives," or similar expressions in this document or in documents incorporated herein.

These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. We caution readers that the following factors, in addition to other factors mentioned from time to time, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements:

All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section.

Unum Group, a Delaware general business corporation, and its insurance and non-insurance subsidiaries, which collectively with Unum Group we refer to as the Company, operate in the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, and, to a limited extent, in certain other countries. The principal operating subsidiaries in the United States are Unum Life Insurance Company of America (Unum America), Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company (Provident), The Paul Revere Life Insurance Company (Paul Revere Life), Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company, Starmount Life Insurance Company (Starmount Life), and in the United Kingdom, Unum Limited.Limited, and in Poland, Unum Zycie TUiR S.A. (Unum Poland). We are a leading provider of financial protection benefits in the United States and the United Kingdom. Our products include disability, life, accident, critical illness, dental and vision, and other related services. We market our products primarily through the workplace.

We have three principal operating business segments: Unum US, Unum UK,International, and Colonial Life. Our other segments are the Closed Block and Corporate segments. These segments are discussed more fully under "Reporting Segments" included herein in this Item 1.

The benefits we provide help the working world thrive throughout life's moments and protect people from the financial hardship of illness, injury, or loss of life by providing support when it is needed most. As one of thea leading providersprovider of employee benefits, in the U.S. and the U.K., we offer a broad portfolio of products and services through the workplace.

Specifically, we offer group, individual, voluntary, and voluntary benefits, eitherdental and vision products as well as provide certain fee-based services. These products and services, which can be sold stand-alone products or combined with other coverages, that help employers of all sizes attract and retain a stronger workforce while protecting the incomes and livelihood of their employees. We believe employer-sponsored benefits representare the single most effective way to provide workers with access to the information and options they need to protect their financial stability. Working people and their families, particularly those at lower and middle incomes, are perhaps the most vulnerable in today's economy yet are often overlooked by many providers of financial services and products. For many of these people, employer-sponsored benefits are the primary defense against the potentially catastrophic fallout of death, illness, or injury.

 

We have established a corporate culture consistent with the social values our products provide. We are committed not only to meeting the needs of our customers who depend on us, but also to operating with integrity and being accountable for our actions. Our sound and consistent business practices, strong internal compliance program, and comprehensive risk management strategy enable us to operate efficiently as well as to identify and address potential areas of risk in our business. We have also applied these same values to our social responsibility efforts. Because we see important links between the obligations we have to all of our stakeholders, we place a strong emphasis on operating with integrity and contributing to positive change in our communities. Accordingly, we are committed not only to meeting the needs of our customers who depend on us, but also to being accountable for our actions through sound and consistent business practices, a strong internal compliance program, a comprehensive risk management strategy, and an engaged employee workforce.

 

We believe our disciplined approach to providing financial protection products at the workplace puts us in a position of strength as we seek to capitalize on the growing and largely unfilled need for our products and services. We protect people when they need it most, and we believe the need for ourstrength. The products and services remains strong. We intendwe provide have never been more important to continue protecting our solid marginsemployers, employees and returns through our pricing and risk actions. We also continue to invest in our infrastructure and our employees, with a focus on quality and simplificationtheir families, especially given the emergence of processes and offerings.the COVID-19 pandemic. Our strategy isremains centered on market expansion, enhancinggrowing our core businesses through investing and transforming our operations and technology to anticipate and respond to the customer experience, providing an innovative product portfoliochanging needs of financial protection choices,our customers, expand into new adjacent markets through meaningful partnerships and investing in new solutions to further improve productivity. Accordingly, we continue to identify ways to expandeffective deployment of our product offerings, which we believe will allow us to strengthencapital across our brand through both new and existing customer relationships. portfolio.

Although the low interest ratecurrent environment continues to place pressure on our profit margins, and could unfavorably impact the adequacy of our reserves for some products, we continue to analyze and employ strategies that we believe will help us navigate thisthe current environment and allow us to maintain solid operating margins and significant financial flexibility to support the needs of our businesses while also continuingallowing us to return capital to our shareholders. Improvements in the U.S. labor market and consumer confidence levels will have positive impacts on our business. We have substantial leverage to rising interest rates and an improving economy which generates payroll growth and wage inflation. Long-term, we believe that consistent operating results, combined with the implementation of strategic initiatives and the effective deployment of capital, will allow us to meet our long-term financial objectives.

Our reporting segments are comprised of the following: Unum US, Unum UK,International, Colonial Life, Closed Block, and Corporate. The percentage of consolidated premium income generated by each reporting segment for the year ended December 31, 20172020 is as follows:

Financial information is provided in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained herein in Item 7 and Note 13 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8.

Our Unum US segment is comprised of group disability insurance, which includes groupour long-term and short-term disability insurance,products, our medical stop-loss product, and our fee-based leave management services and administrative services only (ASO) business, group life and accidental death and dismemberment products, and supplemental and voluntary lines of business. The supplemental and voluntary lines of business, are comprised ofwhich include individual disability, voluntary benefits, and dental and vision products. Unum US products are issued primarily by Unum America, Provident, and Starmount Life. Paul Revere Life previously issued products reported in our Unum US segment and continues to service the in-force policies, but Paul Revere Life no longer actively markets new business. These products are marketed through our field sales personnel who work in conjunction with independent brokers and consultants. Our market strategy for Unum US is to effectively deliver an integrated offering of employee benefit products in the group core market segment, which we define for Unum US as employee groups with fewer than 2,000 employees, the group large case market segment, and the supplemental and voluntary market segment.

The percentage of Unum US segment premium income generated by each product line during 20172020 is as follows:

We sell group long-term and short-term disability products to employers for the benefit of employees.

Group long-term disability provides employees with insurance coverage for loss of income in the event of extended work absences due to sickness or injury. We offer services to employers and insureds to encourage and facilitate rehabilitation, retraining, and re-employment. Most policies begin providing benefits following 90 or 180 day waiting periods and continue providing benefits until the employee reaches a certain age, generally between 65 and 70, or recovers from the disability. The benefits are limited to specified maximums as a percentage of income. Also included in our long-term disability product line is our medical stop-loss product, which is designed to protect self-insured employers if their employees' medical claims exceed certain agreed upon thresholds.

Group short-term disability insurance generally provides coverage from loss of income due to injury or sickness for up to 26 weeks, and is limited to specified maximums as a percentage of income. Benefits are effective immediately for accidents and after one week for sickness,sickness.

Our leave management services provide administrative services on behalf of employers to ensure the protected leave eligibility and status for up to 26 weeks, limited to specified maximums as a percentage of income.employees are in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. ASO products provide administrative services

Premiums for group long-term and short-term disability are generally based on expected claims of a pool of similar risks plus provisions for administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. In some cases, coverage for large employers will include retrospective experience rating provisions or will be underwritten on an experience-rated basis. Premiums for experience-rated group long-term and short-term disability business are based on the expected experience of the client given its demographics, industry group, and location, adjusted for the credibility of the specific claim experience of the client. Both group long-term and short-term disability are sold primarily on a basis permitting periodic repricing to address the underlying claims experience. We also offer fee-based administrativeFees for our leave management services only (ASO) products, whereand ASO business are generally based on the responsibilitynumber of covered employees and an agreed-upon per-employee, per-month rate. Premiums for funding

We have defined underwriting practices and procedures. If the coverage amount for our disability policies exceeds certain prescribed age and amount limits, we may require a prospective insured to submit evidence of insurability. PoliciesOur disability policies are typically issued, both at inception and renewal, with rate guarantees. For new group policyholders, the usual rate guarantee is one to three years. For group policies being renewed, the rate guarantee is generally one year, but may be longer. The profitability of the policy depends on the adequacy of the rate during the rate guarantee period. The contracts provide for certain circumstances in which the rate guarantees can be overridden. Our medical stop loss contracts are renewable on an annual basis and rates are not guaranteed beyond one year. There is no requirement for prospective insureds to submit evidence of insurability because coverage levels are determined for the group as a whole.

Profitability of group long-term and short-term disability insurance and our medical stop-loss product is affected by sales, persistency, investment returns, claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses. Morbidity is an important factor in disability claims experience, and many economic and societal factors can affect claim incidence for disability insurance. We routinely make pricing adjustments on our group long-term and short-term disability insurance products, when contractually permitted, which take into account emerging experience and external factors.

Group life and accidental death and dismemberment products are sold to employers as employee benefit products. Group life consists primarily of renewable term life insurance with the coverages frequently linked to employees' wages and includes a provision for waiver of premium, if disabled. Accidental death and dismemberment consists primarily of an additional benefit amount payable if death or severe injury is attributable to an accident.

Premiums are generally based on expected claims of a pool of similar risks plus provisions for administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. Underwriting practices and rate guarantees are similar to those used for group disability products, and evidence of insurability is required for benefits in excess of a specified limit.

Profitability of group life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance is affected by persistency, investment returns, mortality and other claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.

Individual disability products are offered primarily to multi-life employer groups to supplement their group disability plans and may be funded by the employer, but the policy is owned by the employee and is portable. Individual disability insurance provides the insured with a portion of earned income lost as a result of sickness or injury. The benefits, including the underlying group disability coverage, typically range from 30 percent to 75 percent of the insured's monthly earned income. We provide various options with respect to length of benefit periods, product features, and waiting periods before benefit payments begin, which permit tailoring of the multi-life plan to a specific employer's needs. We also market individual disability policies which include payments for the transfer of business ownership between partners and payments for business overhead expenses, also on a multi-life basis. Individual disability products do not provide for the accumulation of cash values.

Premium rates for individual disability products vary by age, product features, and occupation based on assumptions concerning morbidity, mortality, persistency, administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. We develop our assumptions based on our own experience. Our underwriting rules, issue limits, and plan designs reflect risk and the financial circumstances of prospective insureds. Individuals in multi-life groups may be subject to limited medical underwriting. The majority of our

individual disability policies are written on a noncancelable basis. Under a noncancelable policy, as long as the insured continues to pay the fixed annual premium for the policy's duration, we cannot cancel the policy or change the premium.

Profitability of individual disability insurance is affected by persistency, investment returns, claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.

    

Voluntary benefits products are primarily sold to groups of employees through payroll deduction at the workplace and include life, disability, accident, hospital indemnity, cancer, and critical illness offered on both a group and individual basis.

Premium rates for voluntary benefits products are based on assumptions concerning morbidity, mortality, persistency, administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. We develop our assumptions based on our own claims and persistency experience and published industry tables. Our underwriters evaluate the medical condition of prospective policyholders prior to the issuance of a policy on a simplified basis. Underwriting requirements may be waived for cases that meet certain criteria, including participation levels. Individual voluntary benefits products other than life insurance are offered on a guaranteed renewable basis which allows us to re-price in-force policies, subject to regulatory approval. Group voluntary benefits products are offered primarily on an optionally renewable basis which allows us to re-price or terminate in-force policies.

Profitability of voluntary benefits products is affected by the level of employee participation, persistency, investment returns, mortality and other claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.

Group dental and vision products are sold to employers as employee benefit products. Individual dental and vision products are offered to individuals through independent agents and direct-to-consumer channels. Our group dental products include a variety of insured and self-insured dental care plans including preferred provider organizations and scheduled reimbursement plans.

Premiums for small case group dental and vision products are generally based on expected claims of a pool of similar risks plus a provision for administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. Premiums for large employer groups are underwritten on an experience-rated basis. Premiums for individual dental and vision products are generally guaranteed issue with standard industry rates that vary by age and region.

Profitability of our dental and vision products is affected by persistency, investment returns, claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.expenses, and to a lesser extent, investment returns.

OurThe Unum UKInternational segment includes our operations in the United Kingdom and Poland. Unum UK's business includes insurance for group long-term disability, group life, and supplemental lines of business which include dental, individual disability, and critical illness products. Unum Poland's business primarily includes insurance for individual and group life with accident and health riders. Both Unum UK's and Unum Poland's products are issuedsold primarily by Unum Limited and are sold in the United Kingdom through field sales personnel and independent brokers and consultants. OurThe market strategy for Unum UKthe segment is to offer benefits to employers and employees through the workplace, with a focus on the expansion of the number of employers and employees covered in our Unum UK core market segment, which we define for Unum UK as employee groups with fewer than 500 employees.employees, and the growth of the existing Unum Poland business through the incorporation of our benefits and distribution expertise.

The percentage of Unum UKInternational segment premium income generated by each product line during 20172020 is as follows:

Group long-term disability products are sold to employers for the benefit of employees. Group long-term disability provides employees with insurance coverage for loss of income in the event of extended work absences due to sickness or injury. Services are offered to employers and insureds to encourage and facilitate rehabilitation, retraining, and re-employment. Most policies begin providing benefits following 90 or 180 day waiting periods and continue providing benefits until the employee reaches a certain age generally between 60 and 67.or reaches the end of the limited period specified in the policy terms. The benefits are limited to specified maximums as a percentage of income.

Premiums for group long-term disability are generally based on expected claims of a pool of similar risks plus provisions for administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. Some cases carry experience rating provisions. Premiums for experience-rated group long-term disability business are based on the expected experience of the client given its demographics, industry group, and location, adjusted for the credibility of the specific claim experience of the client. Policies are sold primarily on a basis permitting periodic repricing to address the underlying claims experience.

We have defined underwriting practices and procedures.  If the coverage amount exceeds certain prescribed age and amount limits, we may require a prospective insured to submit evidence of insurability. Policies are typically issued, both at inception and renewal, with rate guarantees. The usual rate guarantee is two years but may vary depending on circumstances.  The profitability of the policy is dependent upon the adequacy of the rate during the rate guarantee period. The contracts provide for certain circumstances in which the rate guarantees can be overridden.

Profitability of group long-term disability insurance is affected by persistency, investment returns, claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses. Morbidity is an important factor in disability claims experience. We routinely make pricing adjustments on our group insurance products, when contractually permitted, which take into account emerging experience and external factors.

Group life products are sold to employers as employee benefit products. Group life consists of two types of products, a renewable term life insurance product and a group dependent life product. The renewable term life product provides a lump sum benefit to the beneficiary on death of an employee. The group dependent life product, which we discontinued offering to new customers in 2012, provides an annuity to the beneficiary upon the death of an employee. Both coverages are frequently linked to employees' wages. Premiums for group life are generally based on expected claims of a pool of similar risks plus provisions for administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. Underwriting and rate guarantees are similar to those utilized for group long-term disability products.

Profitability of group life is affected by persistency, investment returns, mortality and other claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.    

Supplemental products are sold to individual retail customers as well as groups of employees and include individual disability, group and individual critical illness, and group dental. Individual disability products provide the insured with a portion of earned income lost as a result of sickness or injury. Critical illness products provide a lump-sum benefit on the occurrence of a covered critical illness event. Group dental products generally provide fixed benefits based on specified treatments or a portion of the cost of the treatment.

Premiums for our individual products vary by age and are based on assumptions concerning morbidity, mortality, persistency, administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. We develop our assumptions based on our own claims and persistency experience and published industry tables. Approximately one halftwo thirds of our individual disability policies are written on a noncancelable basis. The remainder of our individual disability policies and all of our individual critical illness products are offered on a guaranteed renewable basis which allows us to re-price in-force policies. Our underwriters evaluate the medical and financial condition of prospective policyholders prior to the issuance of a policy.

Premiums for group critical illness products are generally based on expected claims of a pool of similar risks plus provisions for administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. Underwriting and rate guarantees are similar to those utilized for group long-term disability products. Premiums for group dental products are generally based on standard industry rates that vary by age, with minor pricing variation based on the number of covered employees in the group.

Profitability of our supplemental products is affected by persistency, investment returns, claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.

Our Colonial Life segment includes insurance for accident, sickness, and disability products, which includes our dental and vision products, life products, and cancer and critical illness products. These products are issued primarily by Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company and marketed to employees, on both a group and an individual basis, at the workplace through an independent contractor agency sales force and brokers. Our market strategy for Colonial Life is to effectively deliver a broad set of voluntary products and services in the public sector market and in the commercial market, with a particular focus on the core commercial market segment, which we define for Colonial Life as accounts with fewer than 1,000 employees.

The percentage of Colonial Life segment premium income generated by each product line during 20172020 is as follows:

The accident, sickness, and disability product line consists of short-term disability plans, as well as accident-only plans providing benefits for injuries on a specified loss basis.basis, and our dental and vision products. It also includes accident health, and dentalhealth plans covering hospital admissions, confinement, surgeries, and dental services on an indemnity basis. Beginning in 2018, Colonial Life will offer expanded dental products and will also begin to offer vision products similar to those products offered in our Unum US segment.surgeries.

Premiums for accident, sickness, and disability products are generally based on assumptions for morbidity, mortality, persistency, administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. We develop our assumptions based on our own experience.experience and published industry tables. Premiums are primarily individual guaranteed renewable for which we have the ability to change premiums on a state by state basis. A small percentage of the policies are written on a group basis which are offered primarily on an optionally renewable basis which allows us to re-price or terminate in-force policies. Premiums for which we retain the right to change premiums at the individual account level.our dental and vision products are guaranteed renewable with standard industry rates that vary by age and region.

Profitability is affected by the level of employee participation, persistency, investment returns, claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.

Life products are primarily comprised of universal life, whole life, and term life policies.

Premium rates vary by age and are based on assumptions concerning mortality, persistency, administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. We develop our assumptions based on our own experience and published industry tables. Premiums for the whole life and level term products are guaranteed for the life of the contract. Premiums for the universal life products are flexible and may vary at the individual policyholder level. For the group term life products, we retain the right to change premiums at the account level based on the experience of the account.

Profitability is affected by the level of employee participation, persistency, investment returns, mortality and other claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.

Cancer policies provide various benefits for the treatment of cancer including hospitalization, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Critical illness policies provide a lump-sum benefit and/or fixed payments on the occurrence of a covered critical illness event.

Premiums are generally based on assumptions for morbidity, mortality, persistency, administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. We develop our assumptions based on our own experience.experience and published industry tables. Premiums are primarily individual guaranteed renewable wherein we have the ability to change premiums on a state by state basis.

Profitability of these products is affected by the level of employee participation, persistency, investment returns, claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.

Our Closed Block segment consists of individual disability, group and individual long-term care, individual disability, and other insurance products no longer actively marketed. Closed Block segment premium income for 20172020 was comprised of approximately 42 percent individual disability and 5868 percent group and individual long-term care.care and 32 percent individual disability.

We discontinued offering individual long-term care in 2009 and group long-term care in 2012, other than features contractually allowable on existing group policies.2012. Group long-term care was previously offered to employers for the benefit of employees. Individual long-term care was previously marketed on a single-life customer basis.

Long-term care insurance pays a benefit upon the loss of two or more activities of daily living and the insured's requirement of standby assistance or cognitive impairment. Payment is generally made on an indemnity basis, regardless of expenses incurred, up to a lifetime maximum. Benefits begin after a waiting period, usually 90 days or less, and are generally paid for a period of three years, six years, or lifetime.

Our long-term care insurance was sold on a guaranteed renewable basis which allows us to re-price in-force policies, subject to regulatory approval. Premium rates for long-term care vary by age and are based on assumptions concerning morbidity, mortality, persistency, administrative expenses, investment income, and profit. Premium rate increases continue to be implemented where needed and where approved by state regulators. We develop our assumptions based on our own claims and persistency experience and published industry tables.

Profitability is affected by premium rate increases, persistency, investment returns, mortality and other claims experience, and the level of administrative expenses.

Other insurance products not actively marketed include group pension, individual life and corporate-owned life insurance, reinsurance pools and management operations, and other miscellaneous product lines. The majority of these products have been reinsured, with approximately 80 percent of reserves at December 31, 20172020 ceded to other insurance companies.

Our Corporate segment includes investment income on corporate assets not specifically allocated to a line of business, interest expense on corporate debt other than non-recourse debt, and certain other corporate income and expenseexpenses not allocated to a line of business.

In the normal course of business, we assume reinsurance from and cede reinsurance to other insurance companies. In a reinsurance transaction, a reinsurer agrees to indemnify another insurer for part or all of its liability under a policy or policies it has issued for an agreed upon premium.premium or fee. We undertake reinsurance transactions for both risk management and capital management. If the assuming reinsurer in a reinsurance agreement is unable to meet its obligations, we remain contingently liable. In the event that reinsurers do not meet their obligations under the terms of the reinsurance agreement, reinsurance recoverable balances could become uncollectible. We evaluate the financial condition of reinsurers to whom we cede business

In general, the maximum amount of life insurance risk retained by our U.S. insurance subsidiaries under group or individual life or group or individual accidental death and dismemberment policies during 20172020 was $1 million per covered life per policy. The retention amount remains at $1 million for 2018.2021. For Unum Limited life insurance risk, during 20172020 we had reinsurance agreements which provided 75 percent quota share coverage up to £500 thousand per covered life for group dependent life benefits and 25 percent quota share coverage for most of our group lump sum benefits, as well as 100 percent coverage per covered life above that amount. These agreements wereIn April 2020, we increased the quota share coverage for group lump sum benefits with one of our reinsurers to 75 percent, which resulted in an aggregate quota share coverage for our lump sum benefits of approximately 36 percent. The same structures, including the increased aggregate group lump sum quota share, will be maintained for coverage during 2021 for Unum Limited. 

In December 2020, Provident, Paul Revere Life, and Unum America, collectively referred to as "the ceding companies", entered into a series of agreements (collectively referred to as the 2018 renewal.

Also in December 2020, prior to entering into this reinsurance coversagreement with Commonwealth, the ceding companies recaptured their respective reinsurance agreements with Northwind Reinsurance Company (Northwind Re) where substantially all of the ceding companies' Closed Block individual disability business had previously been fully ceded to Northwind Re. Northwind Re is an affiliated captive reinsurance subsidiary domiciled in the United States, with Unum Group as the ultimate parent.

In December 2020, Provident Life and Casualty Insurance Company (PLC), also a wholly-owned domestic insurance subsidiary of Unum Group, entered into an agreement with Commonwealth whereby PLC will provide a 12-year volatility cover to Commonwealth for the active life cohort (ALR cohort), which represents approximately 67five percent of that portionthe reserves ceded to Commonwealth. PLC will provide similar coverage to Commonwealth related to additional business ceded as part of the consolidatedsecond phase of the transaction. At the end of the 12-year coverage period, Commonwealth will retain the risk above a $4.9 billion retention limit.  The risk limit for the reinsurer grows over timeremaining incidence and claims risk on the ALR cohort of the ceded business. Under this volatility cover, annual settlements will be made equal to the difference between the actual and estimated cash flows and reserve changes during the year. Upon expiration of the 12-year period, a maximumterminal settlement will be made based on the final disabled life reserves. Due to the nature of $2.2 billion, after which any further lossesthe volatility cover, the ALR cohort will revert to us.be accounted for under the deposit method on a U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis.

We have global catastrophic reinsurance coverage which covers all Unum Group insurance companies and includes four layers of coverage to limit our exposure under life, accidental death and dismemberment, long-term care, and disability policies in regard to a catastrophic event. Each layer provides coverage for all catastrophic events, including acts of war and any type of terrorism, up to $1 million of coverage per person per policy for each U.S. and non-U.K. line of covered business, and up to £2 million of coverage for each U.K. covered line of business. For the 2018 renewal, the U.K. retention level was increased from £1 million to £2 million to reflect the underlying retentions after surplus reinsurance. We have the following coverage for 2018,2021, after a $100 million deductible:

In addition to the global catastrophic reinsurance coverage noted above, Unum Limited has additional catastrophic coverage via an arms-length, inter-company reinsurance agreement with Unum America, under similar terms as the global catastrophic treaties. Unum Limited has the following additional coverage for 2018, after a £75 million deductible:deductible for 2021 of £9 million or 12 percent.

Events may occur which limit or eliminate the availability of catastrophic reinsurance coverage in future years.

We have a quota share reinsurance agreement under which we cede certain blocks of Unum US group long-term disability claims. The agreement is on a combination coinsurance with funds withheld and modified coinsurance basis and provides 8090 percent quota share reinsurance on the ceded claims. We also have fourfive reinsurance agreements that collectively cede approximately 5565 percent of Unum US group life risk up to our per person retention limit for our U.S. insurance subsidiaries. These reinsurance agreements for Unum US group disability and group life allow us to more effectively manage capital in conformity with statutory accounting principles but do not meet insurance risk transfer in accordance with applicable U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)GAAP and therefore are not accounted for as reinsurance in our consolidated GAAP financial statements.

We also cede 30 percent of the risk for certain blocks of recently issued Unum US individual disability policies, as well as some related claims development risk for a limited period of time. The agreement is on a non-proportional modified coinsurance basis with a provision for experience refunds.

For further discussion of our reinsurance activities, refer to "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A; "Executive Summary," "Consolidated Operating Results," "Segment Results," and "Liquidity and Capital Resources - Cash Available from Subsidiaries" contained herein in Item 7, and Notes 1, 12, and 1516 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8.

The applicable insurance laws under which insurance companies operate require that they report, as liabilities, policy reserves to meet future obligations on their outstanding policies. These reserves are the amounts which, with the additional premiums to be received and interest thereon compounded annually at certain assumed rates, are calculated to be sufficient to meet the various policy and contract obligations as they mature. These laws specify that the reserves shall not be less than reserves calculated using certain specified mortality and morbidity tables, interest rates, and methods of valuation required for statutory accounting.

The reserves reported in our financial statements contained herein are calculated in conformity with GAAP and differ from those specified by the laws of the various states and reported in the statutory financial statements of our life insurance subsidiaries. These differences result from the use of mortality and morbidity tables and interest assumptions which we believe are more representative of the expected experience for these policies than those required for statutory accounting purposes and also result from differences in actuarial reserving methods.

The assumptions we use to calculate our reserves are intended to represent an estimate of experience for the period that policy benefits are payable. If actual experience is equal, or favorable, to our reserve assumptions, then reserves should be adequate to provide for future benefits and expenses. If experience is less favorable than the reserve assumptions, additional reserves may be required. The key experience assumptions include claim incidence rates, claim resolution rates, mortality and morbidity rates, policy persistency, interest rates, premium rate increases, and any applicable policy benefit offsets, including those for social security and other government-based welfare benefits. We periodically review our experience and update our policy reserves for new issues and reserves for all claims incurred, as we believe appropriate.

The consolidated statements of income include the annual change in reserves for future policy and contract benefits. The change reflects a normal accretion for premium payments and interest buildup and decreases for policy terminations such as lapses, deaths, and benefit payments. If policy reserves using best estimate assumptions as of the date of a test for loss recognition are higher than existing policy reserves net of any deferred acquisition costs, the increase in reserves necessary to recognize the deficiency is also included in the change in reserves for future policy and contract benefits.

For further discussion of reserves, refer to "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A, "Critical Accounting Estimates" and the discussion of segment operating results included in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained herein in Item 7, and Notes 1 and 6 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8.

Investment activities are an integral part of our business, and profitability is significantly affected by investment results. We segment our invested assets into portfolios that support our various product lines. Generally, our investment strategy for our portfolios is to matchmanage the effective asset cash flows and durations with related expected liability cash flows and durations to consistently meet the liability funding requirements of our businesses. We seek to earn investment income while assuming credit risk in a prudent and selective manner, subject to constraints of quality, liquidity, diversification, and regulatory considerations. Our overall investment philosophy is to invest in a portfolio of high quality assets that provide investment returns consistent with that assumed in the pricing of our insurance products. Assets are invested predominately in fixed maturity securities. Changes in interest rates may affect the amount and timing of cash flows.

We actively manage our asset and liability cash flow match and our asset and liability duration match to limitmanage interest rate risk. We may redistribute investments among our different lines of business, when necessary, to adjust the cash flow and/or duration of the asset portfolios to better match the cash flow and duration of the liability portfolios. Asset and liability portfolio modeling is updated on a quarterly basis and is used as part of the overall interest rate risk management strategy. Cash flows from the in-force asset and liability portfolios are projected at current interest rate levels and also at levels reflecting an increase and a decrease in interest rates to obtain a range of projected cash flows under the different interest rate scenarios. These results enable us to assess the impact of projected changes in cash flows and duration resulting from potential changes in interest rates. Testing the asset and liability portfolios under various interest rate scenarios enables us to choose what we believe to be the most appropriate investment strategy, as well as to limit the risk of disadvantageous outcomes. Although we test the asset and liability portfolios under various interest rate scenarios as part of our modeling, the majority of our liabilities related to insurance contracts are not interest rate sensitive, and we therefore have minimal exposure to policy withdrawal risk. Our determination of investment strategy relies on long-term measures such as reserve adequacy analysis and the relationship between the portfolio yields supporting our various product lines and the aggregate discount rate assumptions embedded in the

reserves. We also use this analysis in determining hedging strategies and utilizing derivative financial instruments for managing interest rate risk and the risk related to matching duration for our assets and liabilities. We do not use derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes.

Refer to "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A; "Critical Accounting Estimates" and the discussion of investments in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained herein in Item 7; "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" herein in Item 7A; and Notes 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for information on our investments and derivative financial instruments.

AM Best, Fitch Ratings (Fitch), Moody's Investors Service (Moody's), and Standard & Poor's Ratings Services (S&P) are among the third parties that assign issuer credit ratings to Unum Group and financial strength ratings to our insurance subsidiaries. Issuer credit ratings reflect an agency's opinion of the overall financial capacity of a company to meet its senior debt obligations. Financial strength ratings are specific to each individual insurance subsidiary and reflect each rating agency's view of the overall financial strength (capital levels, earnings, growth, investments, business mix, operating performance, and market position) of the insuring entity and its ability to meet its obligations to policyholders. Both the issuer credit ratings and financial strength ratings incorporate quantitative and qualitative analyses by rating agencies and are routinely reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis.

Rating agencies assign an outlook statement of "positive," "negative," or "developing" to indicate an intermediate-term trend in credit fundamentals which could lead to a rating change. "Positive" means that a rating may be raised, "negative" means that a rating may be lowered, and "developing" means that a rating may be raised or lowered with equal probability. Alternatively, a rating may have a "stable" outlook to indicate that the rating is not expected to change.

"Credit watch" or "under review" highlights the potential direction of a short-term or long-term rating. It focuses on identifiable events and short-term trends that cause a rating to be placed under heightened surveillance by a rating agency. Events that may trigger this action include mergers, acquisitions, recapitalizations, regulatory actions, criteria changes, or operating developments. Ratings may be placed on credit watch or under review when an event or a change in an expected trend occurs and additional information is needed to evaluate the current rating level. This status does not mean that a rating change is inevitable, and ratings may change without first being placed on a watch list. A rating is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold securities and may be subject to revision or withdrawal at any time by the rating agency. Each rating should be evaluated independently of any other rating.

 

See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Ratings" contained herein in Item 7 for our current outlook, issuer credit, and financial strength ratings. See also further discussion in "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A.

There is significant competition among insurance companies for the types of products we sell. We are operating in a dynamic competitive environment of both traditional and non-traditional competitors, with changes in product offerings, enrollment services, and technology solutions. We believe that the principal competitive factors affecting our business are price, quality of the customer experience regarding service and claims management, integrated product choices, enrollment capabilities, financial strength ratings, claims-paying ratings, and claims-paying ratings. Ina solution to allow our customers to comply with the individualchanging laws and group disability markets, we compete in the Unitedregulations related to family medical leave benefits.

States with a number of major companies and regionally with other companies offering specialty products. Our principal competitors for our other products including group life and the product offerings sold to groups of employees through payroll deduction, include the largest insurance companies in the United States.industry as well as regional companies offering specialty products. Some of these companies have more competitive pricing or have higher claims-paying ratings. Some may also have greater financial resources with which to compete.

In the United Kingdom and Poland, where we compete for thesell both individual and group products, we sellcompete with a mix of large internationally recognized providers and strong local carriers. We have observed some of these providers aggressively trying to maintain or grow market share in a difficult economic environment, characterized by very low interest rates and expense pressures on employers and individuals.

All areas of the employee benefits markets are highly competitive due to the yearly renewable term nature of the groupour products and the large number of insurance companies offering products in this market. There is a risk that purchasers of employee benefits productsour customers may be able to obtain more favorable terms or improved technology solutions from competitors in lieu of renewing coverage with us. The

effect of competition may, as a result, adversely affect the persistency of these and other products, as well as our ability to sell products in the future.

We must attract and retain independent agents and brokers to actively market our products. Strong competition exists among insurers for agents and brokers. We compete with other insurers for sales agents and brokers primarily on the basis of our product offerings, financial strength, support services, and compensation. Sales of our products could be materially adversely affected if we are unsuccessful in attracting and retaining agents and brokers.

For further discussion, refer to "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A.

We and our subsidiaries are subject to extensive and comprehensive supervision and regulation both in the United States, and in the United Kingdom.Kingdom, and Poland. The laws and regulations with which we must comply are complex and subject to change. New or existing laws and regulations may become more restrictive or otherwise adversely affect our operations. As a result of the financial market and economic challenges in recent years, regulation and the cost of compliance with regulation has continued to increase.

Our U.S. insurance subsidiaries are subject to regulation and oversight by insurance regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions in which they do business and by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on a national basis, primarily for the protection of policyholders. State insurance regulators in the U.S. generally have broad powers with respect to all aspects of the insurance business, including the power to: license and examine insurance companies; regulate and supervise sales practices and market conduct; license agents and brokers; approve policy forms; approve premium rates and subsequent increases thereon for certain insurance products; establish reserve requirements and solvency standards; place limitations on shareholder dividends; prescribe the form and content of required financial statements and reports; regulate the types and amounts of permitted investments; and regulate reinsurance transactions. Our U.S. insurance subsidiaries are examined periodically by their states of domicile and by other states in which they are licensed to conduct business. The domestic examinations have traditionally emphasized financial matters from the perspective of protection of policyholders, but they can and have covered other subjects that an examining state may be interested in reviewing, such as market conduct issues.issues and reserve adequacy. Examinations in other states more typically focus on market conduct, such as a review of sales practices, including the content and use of advertising materials and the licensing and appointing of agents and brokers, as well as underwriting, claims, and customer service practices, and identification and handling of unclaimed property to determine compliance with state laws. Our U.S. insurance subsidiaries are also subject to assessments by state insurance guaranty associations to cover the proportional cost of insolvent or failed insurers. The DOL enforces a comprehensive federal statute which regulates claims paying fiduciary responsibilities and reporting and disclosure requirements for most employee benefit plans.

Our U.K. insurance subsidiary, Unum Limited, is subject to dual regulation by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The PRA oversees the financial health and stability of financial services firms and is

The NAIC continues to review the state-based solvency regulation framework to identify opportunities to respond to national and international insurance regulatory and solvency developments. The topics of its review include capital requirements, governance and risk management, statutory accounting and financial reporting, and reinsurance. This ongoing review will likely result in significant changes to U.S. insurance regulation and solvency standards, including those for our U.S. insurance subsidiaries. One of the outcomes of the NAIC's review was the adoption of the NAIC Risk Management and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) Model Act which, following enactment at the state level, requires insurers to provide, at least annually, a group-level perspective on the risks of the current and future business plans and the sufficiency of capital to support those risks. All states where our traditional U.S. insurance subsidiaries are domiciled have enacted ORSA requirements, and we file an ORSA summary report annually with the applicable insurance regulators.

The NAIC has adopted a valuation manual containing a principles-based approach to life insurance company reserves.reserves for new business. The earliest effective date to begin a three-year implementation period was January 2017 and will apply onlywith a three-year optional period before mandatory adoption by January 2020. The Company elected a staged approach to the implementation of the new business. There will berequirements, with no material impact on our statutory reserves.

TheIn 2012, the NAIC established a subgroup to study the insurance industry's use of captive reinsurers and special purpose vehicles to transfer insurance risk and is considering ways to promote uniformity in both the approval and supervision of such reinsurers. TheMore recently, the NAIC continues to study this issue and most recently adopted a proposal to subject certain captive reinsurers and special purpose vehicles to the same capital requirements as traditional insurers. As the NAIC continuesand state insurance regulators continue to examine the issue,use of captive insurance companies to finance reserves required under current regulations, we cannot predict the ultimate outcome of their work.work, or how long or extensively they will continue to focus on this issue. Although we believe it to be unlikely, a potential outcome of thefuture NAIC studydecisions from its various committees, task forces, and working groups is that companies could be prohibited from using captive reinsurers. No changes in the use or regulation of captive reinsurers have been proposed by the NAIC, and we are unable to predict the extent of any changes that might be made. Accordingly, weAs a result of the recapture of the reinsurance agreements with Northwind Re, as of December 31, 2020, no insurance risk remains in Northwind Re and therefore Fairwind remains the only active captive insurer. We expect to continue our strategy of using captive reinsurers to manage risks and enhance capital efficiency while monitoring the NAIC's study and proposed changes in regulations. See "Reinsurance" contained herein in this Item 1 for further discussion.

The PRA has statutory requirements, including capital adequacy and liquidity requirements and minimum solvency margins, to which Unum Limited must adhere.  Asadhere as part of January 1, 2016,the provisions of Solvency II, a European Union (EU)an EU directive that prescribes new capital requirements and risk management standards that are the result of a fundamental review of the capital adequacy

Solvency II requirements relevant to insurance holding companies, while its subsidiaries, (the Unum European Economic Area (EEA) Group), which includes Unum Limited, are subject to group supervision under Solvency II.  The Unum EEAEuropean Economic Area (EEA) Group, which is comprised of the European holding company and its subsidiaries, received approval from the PRA to use its own internal model for calculating regulatory capital and also received approval for certain associated regulatory permissions including transitional relief as the Solvency II capital regime is implemented.  As a result, there was no material change to capital requirements or to solvency ratios for the Unum EEA Group. In June 2016, the U.K. held a referendum and voted to leave the EU. The U.K. subsequently invoked Article 50government is reviewing the regulatory framework of the Treaty on the European Union and is duefinancial services companies which may result in changes to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. Although there are currently no indications thatU.K. regulatory capital requirements for ouror U.K. operations will change, it is too early to predict what, if any, impact this may have on existing capital requirements and risk management standards for our U.K. entities, but economic conditions may cause volatility in our solvency ratios.tax regulations.

We and our U.S. insurance subsidiaries (excluding captive reinsurers) are subject to regulation under the insurance holding company laws in the states in which our insurance subsidiaries are domiciled, which currently include Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, South Carolina, and Tennessee. These laws generally require each insurance company that is domiciled in the state and a member of an insurance holding company system to register with the insurance department of that state and to furnish at least annually financial and other information about the operations of companies within the holding company system, including information concerning capital structure, ownership, management, financial condition, and certain intercompany transactions. Transactions between an insurer and affiliates in the holding company system generally must be fair and reasonable and, if material, require prior notice and approval by the domiciliary insurance regulator.

In addition, such laws and regulations restrict the amount of dividends that may be paid by our insurance subsidiaries to their respective shareholders, including our Company and certain of our intermediate holding company subsidiaries. See further discussion in "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A and "Liquidity and Capital Resources - Cash Available from Subsidiaries" contained herein in Item 7.

There are a number of proposals to amend state insurance laws and regulations in ways that could affect us and our insurance subsidiaries. The NAIC has adopted or amended model laws on holding company regulation that provide for supervision of insurers at the corporate group level. The various proposals to implement group supervision include uniform standards for insurer corporate governance, group-wide supervision of insurance holding companies, adjustments to RBC calculations to account for group-wide risks, and additional regulatory and disclosure requirements for insurance holding companies, including a requirement that the ultimate controlling person of a U.S. insurer submit to the lead state insurance regulator an annual enterprise risk report, which identifies activities, circumstances, or events involving one or more affiliates of an insurer that, if not remedied properly, are likely to have a material adverse effect upon the financial condition or liquidity of the insurer or its insurance holding company system as a whole. The NAIC has adopted the Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure Model Act and the Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure Model Regulation, which require U.S. insurers to disclose detailed information regarding their governance practices. The model act and regulation must be adopted by individual state legislatures and insurance regulators in order to be effective in a particular state. All of the states in which our insurance subsidiaries are domiciled have adopted a requirement to file a corporate governance annual disclosure similar to the model act and regulations.

The laws of most states, including the states in which our insurance subsidiaries are domiciled (or deemed to be commercially domiciled), require regulatory approval of a change in control of an insurance company or its holding company. Where these laws apply to us, there can be no effective change in control of our Company or of any of our insurance subsidiaries unless the

These laws may discourage potential acquisition proposals and may delay, deter, or prevent a change in control of our Company, including through transactions, and in particular unsolicited transactions, that some or all of our shareholders might consider to be desirable.

We are subject to the laws and regulations generally applicable to public companies, including the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the New York Stock Exchange relating to public reporting and disclosure, accounting and financial reporting, corporate governance, and securities trading. Further, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and rules and regulations adopted under this regulation, have increased the requirements for us and other public companies in these and other areas.

We are subject to federal income, employment, excise and other taxes related to both our U.S. and our foreign operations.  On December 22, 2017, the U.S. Federal government enacted a tax bill, H.R.1, An Act to Provide Reconciliation Pursuant to Titles II and V of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget for Fiscal Year 2018, more commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The key provisions of the TCJA relevant to us are as follows:

See "Executive Summary" and "Liquidity and Capital Resources" contained herein in Item 7 and Notes 7 and 1516 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for discussion of the impact to our financial position and results of operations as a result of these changes.

Federal tax laws and regulations are subject to change, and any such change could materially impact our federal taxes and reduce profitability as well as capital levels in our insurance subsidiaries.  We continually monitor federal tax legislative and regulatory developments to understand their potential impact on our profitability.

For further discussion of regulation, refer to "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A.

Adjusted operating revenue, which excludes net realized investment gains and losses, for our Unum UKInternational segment was approximately 6 percent of our consolidated adjusted operating revenue in 20172020, 2019, and 2016 and 7 percent for 2015.2018. As of December 31, 2017,2020, total assets equaled approximately 6 percent of consolidated assets and total liabilities for our Unum UK segment each equaled approximately 5 percent of consolidated assets and liabilities.liabilities for our Unum International segment. Fluctuations in the U.S. dollar relative to the local currencycurrencies of our Unum UKInternational segment will impact our reported operating results. See "Risk Factors" contained herein in Item 1A and "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" contained herein in Item 7A for further discussion of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. See "Reporting Segments" contained herein in this Item 1; "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained herein in Item 7; and Note 13 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for further discussion of Unum UK'sInternational's operating results.

At DecemberUnum, we provide compensation and benefits programs which support our employees’ health, wealth and life. In addition to competitive pay, other programs (which vary by country/region) include: annual bonus and employee recognition; stock awards and stock purchase; life, medical, pharmacy, telehealth, health reimbursement accounts; dental, vision, voluntary benefits and disability insurance; tuition and fitness reimbursement; 401(k) plan, financial education, and planning support; student debt relief; employee assistance program, family building; paid time off and caregiver leave, paid parental leave; on-site health resource centers and fitness centers and subsidized healthy food choices.

We recognize that our employees are an important asset. Therefore, it is imperative that we hadcontinue to focus on the growth and development of our workforce in a meaningful way, and provide them with the necessary support to achieve their career goals.

To ensure our employees are engaged and are effectively delivering on our mission and meeting our customers’ needs, we regularly conduct confidential employee surveys to obtain feedback and gain insights from our employees. These surveys are thoughtfully considered and actioned by leadership. We are committed to our employees’ growth and development and embrace the diversity of ideas for improvement. In our employee survey conducted in 2020, a total of 9,910 employees responded and approximately 9,400 full-time employees.84 percent of those employees indicated favorable engagement and would recommend Unum as a great place to work.

Mr. McKenney became President in April 2015 and Chief Executive Officer in May 2015. He served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer from August 2009 until April 2015, having joined the Company in July 2009. Before joining the Company, Mr. McKenney served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sun Life Financial Inc., an international financial services company, from February 2007, having joined that company as Executive Vice President in September 2006.

Mr. Zabel became Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer in July 2019. He previously served as Senior Vice President and President, Closed Block Operations from July 2015 to July 2019 and as Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer from August 2013 to July 2015. Prior to joining the Company in August 2013, he served in various senior roles at Genworth Financial, Inc. from 2004, including Senior Vice President of Long-Term Care Insurance, Chief Financial Officer for Insurance Products, and Senior Vice President of Corporate Audit Services. Before that, he was responsible for financial reporting and rating agency relationships at Americo Life, Inc. and managed life and health insurance audit engagements at Ernst & Young LLP.

Mr. Simonds was named Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer in February 2020. Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President, President and Chief Executive Officer, Unum US from July 2013, after having served as Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Unum US from June 2012. He previously served as Senior Vice President, Growth Operations, Unum US from July 2010, and as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Unum US from March 2008. Mr. Simonds originally joined a Unum Group predecessor company in 1994, left the Company in 2000 to pursue his MBA, and rejoined the Company in 2003 after serving as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm.

Ms. Ahmed was named Executive Vice President, People and Communications upon joining the Company in October 2018. She served as Executive Vice President, Chief Human Resources Officer, at AmTrust Financial Officer of Genworth Financial,Services, Inc., a global financial securitymultinational insurance holding company, from May 2004 until2015 to October 2018. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Human Resources at Equity Trust Company, a financial services company, from May 2012 to May 2015, and as Senior Vice President of Human Resources at PNC Bank, a diversified financial services institution, from August 2006.2008 to May 2012.

Mr. Arnold was named Executive Vice President, Voluntary Benefits and President, Colonial Life in February 2020. Prior to that, he served as Executive Vice President, President and Chief Executive Officer, Colonial Life infrom January 2015, after having servedand before that, as Executive Vice President, President, Colonial Life from July 2014. He previously served as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Colonial Life from August 2012, as Senior Vice President, Chief Operations Officer, Colonial Life from July 2011, and as Senior Vice President, Integrated Underwriting, Unum US from May 2010. Mr. Arnold originally joined a Unum Group predecessor company in 1985.

Ms. FarrellMr. Bhasin was named Executive Vice President, Chief InvestmentInformation and Digital Officer in August 2013, after having joinedjoining the Company in March 2018. He served as Executive Vice President, Corporate Operations and Recycling at Waste Management, Inc., a waste management environmental services provider, from November 2015 to March 2017. While at Waste Management, he also served as Senior Vice President, Corporate Operations from November 2014, Chief Information Officer and Senior Vice President, Technology, Logistics and Customer Service from August 2012, and Senior Vice President and Chief InvestmentInformation Officer in April 2011. Before joining the Company, she held a number of executive-level investment positions within The Allstate Corporation, a personal lines insurer, including as Senior Managing Director of Allstate Investments, LLC and certain affiliated companies from January 2010 to April 2011, and as Managing Director of these companies from August 2004 to January 2010.December 2009.

Mr. JeromeO'Donnell was named Executive Vice President, Global ServicesUnum International in July 2013, after having served as Senior Vice President, Global Services from January 2012. HeFebruary 2020. As previously served as Senior Vice President, Risk Operations from July 2010, as Senior Vice President, Underwriting & Service Operations, Unum US from May 2010, and as Senior Vice President, Group Underwriting Operations from August 2006.announced, Mr. Jerome originally joined a Unum Group predecessor company in 1983. Mr. Jerome has announced his intention to retire fromO'Donnell will be leaving the Company in March 2018.

We face a wide range of risks, and our continued success depends on our ability to identify and appropriately manage our risk exposures. Discussed below are factors that may adversely affect our business, results of operations, or financial condition. Any one or more of the following factors may cause our actual results for various financial reporting periods to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company, including those in this document or made by us elsewhere, such as in earnings release investor calls, investor conference presentations, or press releases. See "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" contained herein on page 1.

Further declinesDeclines in interest rates and/or the continuance of the current level of low interest rates and yields on fixed income investments may cause the rates of return on our investment portfolio to decrease more than expected, leading to lower net investment income than assumed in the pricing and reserving for our insurance products. An interest, or discount, rate is used in calculating reserves for our insurance products. We set our GAAP reserve discount rate assumptions based on our current and expected future investment yield for assets supporting the reserves, considering current and expected future market conditions. If the discount rate assumed in our reserve calculations is higher than our future investment returns, our invested assets will not earn enough investment income to support our future claim payments. In that case, the reserves may eventually be insufficient, resulting in the need to increase our reserves and/or increase ourcontribute additional capital contributions to our insurance subsidiaries, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition. Similarly, we are required to perform annual adequacy testing, that considers multiple interest rate scenarios, to ensure our statutory reserves continue to meet statutory requirements, which could also require us to increase to our statutory reserves and/or contribute additional capital.

Our net periodic benefit costs and the value of our benefit obligations for our pension plans are determined based on a set of economic and demographic assumptions that represent our best estimate of future expected experience. Major assumptions used in accounting for these plans include the expected discount (interest) rate and the long-term rate of return on plan assets. We set the discount rate assumption at the measurement date for each of our plans to reflect the yield of a portfolio of high quality fixed income corporate debt instruments matched against the timing and amounts of projected future benefits. A lower discount rate increases the present value of benefit obligations and increases our costs. Our expectations for the future investment returns on plan assets are based on a combination of historical market performance, current market conditions, and future capital market assumptions obtained from external consultants and economists. The actual rate of return on plan assets is determined based on the fair value of the plan assets at the beginning and end of the measurement period. Increases or decreases in long-term interest rates as well as equity market volatility will impact the fair value of our plan assets and may result in a decrease in the funded status of our pension plans and/or increased pension costs, which may adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, or liquidity.

We are affected by conditions in the capital markets and the general economy, bothprimarily in the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland, and to a lesser extent, the broader global financial markets. Negative developments in the capital markets and/or the general economy could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

In particular, factors such as unemployment levels, consumer confidence levels, consumer spending, business investment, government spending, the volatility and strength of the capital markets, inflation, pandemics, and inflationthe threat of terrorism all affect the business and economic environment and, ultimately, the amount and profitability of our businesses. Given the nature of our products, in an economic environment characterized by higher unemployment, lower personal income, reduced consumer spending, and lower corporate earnings and investment, new product sales may be adversely affected. Our premium growth may also be negatively impacted by lower premium growth from existing customers due to lower salary growth and lower growth in the number of employees covered under an existing policy. In addition, during such periods we may experience higher claims incidence, longer claims duration, and/or an increase in policy lapses, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

Our investment portfolio consists primarily of fixed maturity securities. These securities are issued by both domestic and foreign entities and are backed either by collateral or the credit of the underlying issuer. Factors such as an economic downturn or political change in the country of the issuer, a regulatory change pertaining to the issuer's industry, a significant deterioration in the cash flows of the issuer, unforeseen accounting irregularities or fraud committed by the issuer, widening risk spreads, ratings downgrades, a change in the issuer's marketplace or business prospects, or other events that adversely affect the issuers of these securities may result in the issuer defaulting on its obligations.

Our mortgage loan portfolio has default risk. Events or developments, such as economic conditions that impact the ability of tenants to pay their rents or limit the availability of refinancing, may have a negative effect on our mortgage loan portfolio. Events or developments that have a negative effect on any particular geographic region or sector may have a greater adverse effect on an investment portfolio to the extent that the portfolio is concentrated in that region or sector.

A default results in the recognition of an impairment loss on the investment. A default may also adversely affect our ability to collect principal and interest due to us. The probability of credit downgrades and defaults increases when the fixed income markets experience periods of volatility and illiquidity.

Our exposure to credit spreads, which is the yield above comparable U.S. Treasury securities, primarily relates to market price and cash flow variability associated with changes in credit spreads. A widening of credit spreads may unfavorably impact the net unrealized gain or loss position of the investment portfolio and may adversely impact liquidity. Credit spread tightening may reduce net investment income associated with new purchases of fixed income securities.

We report our fixed maturity securities and certain other financial instruments at fair value. Valuations may include inputs and assumptions that are less observable or require greater estimation, particularly during periods of market disruption, resulting in values which may be less than the value at which the investments may ultimately be sold. Further, rapidly changing and unprecedented credit and equity market conditions could materially impact the valuation of securities as reported in our

We evaluate our investment portfolio for impairments.credit losses. There can be no assurance that we have accurately assessed the level of impairmentscredit losses taken. Additional impairmentscredit losses may need to be taken in the future, and historical trends may not be indicative of future impairments.credit losses. Any event reducing the value of our securities other than on a temporary basis may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

While we attempt to match our asset cash flows and durations with expected liability cash flows and durations to meet the funding requirements of our business, there may at times be a lack of appropriate investments in the market which can be

acquired. In particular, due to the long duration of our long-term care product, the timing of our investment cash flows do not match those of our maturing liabilities. In addition, we may, in certain circumstances, need to sell investments due to changes in regulatory or capital requirements, changes in tax laws, rating agency decisions, and/or unexpected changes in liquidity needs. There may also be a limited market for certain of our investments, such as our private placement fixed maturity securities, mortgage loans, and policy loans, which makes them more illiquid. In periods of market volatility or disruption, other of our securities may also experience reduced liquidity. If events occur wherein we need to sell securities in an unfavorable interest rate or credit environment or need to quickly sell securities which are illiquid, market prices may be lower than what we might realize under normal circumstances, with a resulting adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, or liquidity.

See "Reserves for Policy and Contract Benefits" contained herein in Item 1, "Critical Accounting Estimates" included in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained herein in Item 7, "Interest Rate Risk" contained herein in Item 7A, and Notes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 49 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for further discussion ofdiscussion.

We compete based in part on the financial strength ratings provided by rating agencies. A downgradeHistorical results may not be indicative of our financial strength ratings may adversely affect us and could potentially,future performance due to, among other things, changes in our mix of business, re-pricing of certain lines of business, or any number of economic cyclical effects on our business. Reserves, whether calculated under GAAP or statutory accounting principles, do not represent an exact calculation of future benefit liabilities but are instead estimates made by us using actuarial and statistical procedures. Actual experience may differ from our reserve assumptions. There can be no assurance that our reserves will be sufficient to fund our future liabilities in all circumstances. Future loss development may require reserves to be increased, which would adversely affect our relationships with distributors of our productsearnings in current and servicesfuture periods. Life expectancies may continue to increase, which could lengthen the time a claimant receives disability or long-term care benefits and retention of our sales force, negatively impact persistencycould result in a change in mortality assumptions and new sales,an increase in reserves for these and generally adversely affect our abilityother long-tailed products. Adjustments to compete. A downgradereserve amounts may also be required in the issuer credit rating assigned to Unum Group can be expected to adversely affect our costevent of capitalchanges from the assumptions regarding future morbidity (which represents the incidence of claims and our ability to raise additional capital. If we are downgraded significantly, ratings triggersthe rate of recovery, including the effects thereon of inflation and other societal and economic factors); premium rate increases; persistency; policy benefit offsets, including those for social security and other government-based welfare benefits; and interest rates used in our derivatives financial instrument contracts may result in our counterparties enforcing their option to terminatecalculating the derivative contracts. Such an event mayreserve amounts, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or our ability to hedge our risks. It is unclear how rating agencies will view the impact to RBC as a result of the TCJA and there is a potential that rating agencies may require additional capital for tax reform RBC impacts in order to maintain credit ratings.

Disability insurance may be affected by a number of social, economic, governmental, competitive, and other factors. Changes in societal attitudes, such as work ethic, motivation, or stability, can significantly affect the demand for and underwriting results from disability products.

Both economic and societal factors can affect claim incidence and recoveries for disability insurance. Claim incidence and claim recovery rates may be influenced by, among other factors, the rate of unemployment and consumer confidence. Claim incidence and claim recovery rates may also be influenced by the emergence of new infectious diseases or illnesses. Claim durations may be extended by medical improvements which could extend life expectancies. The relationship between these and other factors and overall incidence is very complex and will vary due to contract design features and the degree of expertise within the insuring organization to price, underwrite, and adjudicate the claims.

Within the group disability market, pricing and renewal actions can be taken to react to higher claim rates. However, these actions take time to implement, and there is a risk that the market will not sustain increased prices. In addition, changes in economic and external conditions may not manifest themselves in claims experience for an extended period of time. The pricing actions available in the individual disability market differ among product classes. Our individual noncancelable disability policies, in which the policy is guaranteed to be renewable through the life of the policy at a fixed premium, do not permit us to adjust premiums on our in-force business. Guaranteed renewable contracts that are not noncancelable can be re-priced to reflect adverse experience, but rate changes cannot be implemented as quickly as in the group disability market.

Long-term care insurance can be affected by a number of demographic, medical, economic, governmental, competitive, and other factors. Because long-term care insurance is a relatively new product for the insurance industry and is long-duration in nature, there is not as much historical data as is available for our other products.products, especially at advanced ages. This creates a level of uncertainty in properly pricing the product and using appropriate assumptions when establishing reserves. Long-term

care insurance is guaranteed renewable and can be re-priced to reflect adverse experience, but the re-pricing is subject to regulatory approval by our states of

Voluntary products sold in the workplace may be affected by the characteristics of the employees insured, the level of employee participation and the amount of insurance the employees elect, our risk selection process, and our ability to retain employer groups with favorable risk characteristics.  OurA portion of our voluntary life insurance products generally include interest sensitive forms of insurance which contain a guaranteed minimum interest crediting rate. It is possible that our investment returns could be lower than the guaranteed crediting rate.  TheWhile a significant portion of our non-life contracts are optionally renewable, some are guaranteed renewable and can be repriced to reflect adverse experience, but rate changes cannot be implemented as quickly as for group disability and group life products.

See "Reserves for Policy and Contract Benefits" contained herein in Item 1 and "Executive Summary" and "Critical Accounting Estimates" included in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" contained herein in Item 7, and Note 13 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for further discussion.

We have devoted significant resources to develop our enterprise risk management program, which has the objective of managing our strategic, market, credit, insurance, and operations risks, which ultimately impact our reputational risk. However, our program may not be comprehensive, and our methods for monitoring and managing risk may not fully predict or mitigate future exposures. In this case, there may be a negative impact to our business, results of operations, or financial condition.

See "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk" contained herein in Item 7A for further information about our risk management program.

We are, and in the future may be, defendants in a number of litigation matters, and the outcome of this litigation is uncertain.  Some of these proceedings have been brought on behalf of various alleged classes of complainants. Plaintiffs in class action and other lawsuits against us may seek very large and/or indeterminate amounts, including punitive and treble damages. An estimated loss is accrued when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. An adverse outcome in one or more of these actions may, depending on the nature, scope and amount of the ruling, materially and adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition, encourage other litigation, and limit our ability to write new business, particularly if the adverse outcomes negatively impact certain of our ratings.

As part of our normal operations in managing claims, we are engaged in claim litigation where disputes arise as a result of a denial or termination of benefits. Typically those lawsuits are filed on behalf of a single claimant or policyholder, and in some of these individual actions punitive damages are sought, such as claims alleging bad faith in the handling of insurance claims. For our general claim litigation, we maintain reserves based on experience to satisfy judgments and settlements in the normal course. We expect that the ultimate liability, if any, with respect to general claim litigation, after consideration of the reserves maintained, will not be material to our financial condition. Nevertheless, given the inherent unpredictability of litigation, it is possible that an adverse outcome in certain claim litigation involving punitive damages may, from time to time, have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. We are unable to estimate a range of reasonably possible punitive losses.

See "Critical Accounting Estimates" included in "Management's Discussion"Reserves for Policy and Analysis of Financial ConditionContract Benefits", "Competition", "Regulation" and Results of Operations""Ratings" contained herein in Item 7 and Note 14 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for additional information on legal proceedings.

None

As of December 31, 2017,2020, we owned approximately 2.3 million square feet of office space comprised of five campuses located in Chattanooga, Tennessee; Portland, Maine; Columbia, South Carolina; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Dorking in the United Kingdom. In addition, as of December 31, 2017,2020, we leased approximately 0.2 million square feet of office space in Worcester, Massachusetts and approximately 0.6 million square feet in various other locations throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Ireland. AllPoland. Substantially all of the properties owned or leased are used by one or more of all five reporting segments, depending on the location. We believe our properties and facilities are suitable and adequate for current operations.

Refer to Note 14 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8 for information on legal proceedings.

Not Applicable

Common stock of Unum Group is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock symbol is UNM. Quarterly market prices and dividends declared and paid per share of common stock are as follows:

Our board of directors has the authority to declare cash dividends on shares of our common stock. In determining dividends, the board takes into account a number of factors including our financial condition and results of operations, regulatory limitations on the payment of dividends from subsidiaries, cash requirements, general economic conditions, and other factors the board may deem relevant.  For information on restrictions relating to our subsidiaries' ability to pay dividends to Unum Group and certain of its intermediate holding company subsidiaries, see "Liquidity and Capital Resources - Cash Available from Subsidiaries" contained herein in Item 7 and Note 1516 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" contained herein in Item 8. For information relating to compensation plans under which Unum Group's equity securities are authorized for issuance, see Item 12 contained herein.

As of February 20, 2018,12, 2021, there were 9,6508,495 registered holders of common stock.