CNO Financial Group, Inc. (CNO) Business

ITEM 1.     BUSINESS OF CNO.

CNO is a holding company for a group of insurance companies that develop, market and administer health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance and other insurance and financial services products. The terms "CNO Financial Group, Inc.", "CNO", the "Company", "we", "us", and "our" as used in this report refer to CNO and its subsidiaries. Such terms, when used to describe insurance business and products, refer to the insurance business and products of CNO's insurance subsidiaries.

We focus on serving middle-income pre-retiree and retired Americans, which we believe are attractive, underserved, high growth markets. We sell our products through exclusive agents, independent producers (some of whom sell one or more of our product lines exclusively) and direct marketing. As of December 31, 2025, we had total assets of $38.8 billion and shareholders' equity of $2.6 billion (which included an accumulated other comprehensive loss of $1.1 billion). For the year ended December 31, 2025, we had revenues of $4.5 billion and net income of $229.3 million. See our consolidated financial statements and accompanying footnotes for additional financial information about the Company and its segments.

We view our operations as three insurance product lines (annuity, health and life) and the investment and fee income segments. Our segments are aligned based on their common characteristics, comparability of profit margins and the way the chief operating decision maker ("CODM") makes operating decisions and assesses the performance of the business. Our CODM is the Chief Executive Officer.

We market our products through the Consumer and Worksite Divisions that reflect the customers served by the Company. The Consumer and Worksite Divisions are primarily focused on marketing insurance products, several types of which are sold in both divisions and underwritten in the same manner. The Consumer Division serves individual consumers, engaging with them on the phone, virtually, online, face-to-face with agents, or through a combination of sales channels. The structure unifies consumer capabilities into a single division and integrates the strength of our agent sales forces with one of the largest direct-to-consumer insurance businesses with proven experience in advertising, web/digital and call center support. The Worksite Division focuses on the sale of voluntary insurance benefits, including supplemental health and life insurance products in the workplace for businesses, associations, and other membership groups, interacting with customers at their place of employment and virtually.

We centralize certain functional areas, including marketing, business unit finance and sales support, among others. We primarily market our insurance products under our three primary brands: Bankers Life, Washington National and Colonial Penn.

OTHER INFORMATION

Our executive offices are located at 11299 Illinois Street, Carmel, Indiana 46032, and our telephone number is (317) 817-6100. Our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act are available free of charge on our website at www.CNOinc.com as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. These filings are also available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Copies of these filings are also available, without charge, from CNO Investor Relations, 11299 Illinois Street, Carmel, IN 46032. Except for the documents specifically incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K, information contained on our website or that can be accessed through our website is not incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Reference to our website is made as an inactive textual reference.

Our website also includes the charters of our Audit and Enterprise Risk Committee, Executive Committee, Governance and Nominating Committee, Human Resources and Compensation Committee and Investment Committee, as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines and our Code of Conduct that applies to all officers, directors and employees. Copies of these documents are available free of charge on our website at www.CNOinc.com or from CNO Investor Relations at the address shown above. Within the time period specified by the SEC and the New York Stock Exchange, we will post on our website any amendment to our Code of Conduct and any waiver applicable to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer or principal accounting officer.

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In May 2025, we filed with the New York Stock Exchange the Annual CEO Certification regarding the Company's compliance with their Corporate Governance listing standards as required by Section 303A.12(a) of the New York Stock Exchange Listed Company Manual. In addition, we have filed as exhibits to this 2025 Form 10-K the applicable certifications of the Company's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer required under Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 regarding the Company's public disclosures.

CNO became the successor to Conseco, Inc., an Indiana corporation (our "Predecessor"), in connection with a bankruptcy reorganization, which became effective on September 10, 2003. Our Predecessor was organized in 1979 and commenced operations in 1982.

Data in Item 1. are provided as of or for the year ended December 31, 2025 (as the context implies), unless otherwise indicated.

MARKETING AND DISTRIBUTION

Our insurance subsidiaries develop, market and administer health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance and other insurance and financial services products. We sell these products through exclusive agents, independent producers (some of whom sell one or more of our product lines exclusively) and direct marketing. We had premium collections of $4.6 billion, $4.4 billion and $4.1 billion in 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Our insurance subsidiaries collectively hold licenses to market our insurance products in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and certain protectorates of the United States. Sales to residents of the following states accounted for at least 5 percent of our 2025 collected premiums: Florida (12 percent), Iowa (6 percent), Texas (6 percent), California (5 percent), and Pennsylvania (5 percent).

We believe that most purchases of life insurance, accident and health insurance and annuity products occur only after individuals are contacted and solicited by an insurance agent. Accordingly, the success of our distribution system is largely dependent on our ability to attract and retain experienced and highly motivated agents.

We market our products through our two sales organization divisions – the Consumer and Worksite Divisions that reflect the customers served by the Company.

Consumer Division:

The Consumer Division serves individual consumers, engaging with them on the phone, virtually, online, face-to-face with agents, or through a combination of sales channels. This structure unifies consumer capabilities into a single division and integrates the strength of our agent sales forces with one of the largest direct-to-consumer insurance businesses with proven experience in advertising, web/digital and call center support. In 2021, we began selling our direct-to-consumer products through third party distributors.

Exclusive Agents. At December 31, 2025, we had an exclusive agency force of approximately 4,600 producing agents (monthly average of agents that have submitted at least one policy in the month) and financial representatives working from approximately 230 branch and satellite field offices throughout the United States. The field agents establish one-on-one contact with potential policyholders and promote strong personal relationships with existing policyholders. Field agents sell Medicare supplement, supplemental health and long-term care insurance policies, life insurance and annuities. These agents also sell Medicare Advantage plans through distribution arrangements with third-party insurance companies. After the sale of an insurance policy, the agent serves as a contact person for policyholder questions, claims assistance and additional insurance needs. In addition, we have tele-sales agents that are primarily engaged in the sale of our graded benefit life insurance policies and the sale of Medicare Advantage plans of third-party insurance companies using direct response marketing techniques. New policyholder leads are generated primarily from television, print advertising, direct response mailings and the internet. Financial representatives are able to buy and sell securities for clients and may provide ongoing investment advice for clients.

Independent Producers. Supplemental health and life insurance products are also sold through a diverse network of independent agents, insurance brokers and marketing organizations. The general agency and insurance brokerage distribution system is comprised of independent agents licensed to sell our products in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and certain protectorates of the United States.

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Worksite Division:

The Worksite Division focuses on the sale of voluntary insurance benefits, including supplemental health and life insurance products in the workplace for businesses, associations, and other membership groups, interacting with customers at their place of employment and virtually. Through our Optavise brand, we guide employers and their employees through their healthcare choices with a suite of voluntary insurance products as well as benefits administration technology, education, and advocacy, and communications services to reduce costs and increase benefits engagement. In November 2025, we announced our intention to exit the fee services business within our Worksite Division to sharpen our focus on the core insurance business. The exit is expected to be substantially completed in the first half of 2026.

Exclusive Agents. At December 31, 2025, we had approximately 400 exclusive producing agents working across the United States. These agents establish relationships with employers and have one-on-one contact with potential policyholders primarily at their place of employment and primarily sell supplemental health and life insurance products.

Independent Producers. Supplemental health and life insurance products are also sold through a diverse network of independent agents, insurance brokers and marketing organizations. The general agency and insurance brokerage distribution system is comprised of independent agents licensed to sell our products in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and certain protectorates of the United States.

Marketing organizations typically recruit agents by advertising our products and commission structure through direct mail advertising or through seminars for agents and brokers. These organizations bear most of the costs incurred in marketing our products. We compensate the marketing organizations by paying them a percentage of the commissions earned on new sales generated by agents recruited by such organizations. Certain of these marketing organizations are specialty organizations that have a marketing expertise or a distribution system related to a particular product or market, such as worksite and individual health products.

Total premium collections

The Consumer and Worksite Divisions are primarily focused on marketing insurance products (including annuity, health and life products), several types of which are sold in both divisions and underwritten in the same manner. The following table summarizes premium collections by segment for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024 and 2023 (dollars in millions):

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Annuities

During 2025, we collected annuity premiums of $1,943.3 million, or 42 percent, of our total premiums collected. Annuity products include fixed indexed annuity, traditional fixed rate annuity and single premium immediate annuity products. Annuities offer a tax-deferred means of accumulating savings for retirement needs, and provide a tax-efficient source of income in the payout period. For fixed indexed annuities, our major source of income is the spread between the investment income earned on the underlying general account assets and the cost of the index options purchased to provide index-based credits to the contractholders' accounts. Our major source of income from fixed rate annuities is the spread between the investment income earned on the underlying general account assets and the interest credited to contractholders' accounts.

The following describes our major annuity products:

Fixed Indexed Annuities. These products accounted for $1,739.9 million, or 38 percent, of our total premium collections during 2025. Our fixed indexed annuities include single-premium deferred annuity contracts and flexible premium deferred annuity contracts offering a fixed credit option and at least one indexed option, generating an interest return tied to the price return of an external index (typically the S&P 500). Our fixed indexed annuity contracts are designed so that the guaranteed contract value meets regulatory requirements such that the contract holder receives no less than 87.5 percent of deposits paid, compounded annually at a rate of up to 3 percent, which establishes a floor value for the contract in the event of cash disbursement (full surrender, death claim payout, or annuitization). Within each contract issued, each fixed indexed annuity specifies:

•The index to be used.

•The time period during which the change in the index is measured. At the end of the time period, the change in the index is applied to the account value. The time period for most contracts is one year, but can range up to four years for some older inforce contracts.

•The method used to measure the change in the index.

•The measured change in the index is multiplied by a "participation rate" (percentage of change in the index) before the credit is applied. Some policies guarantee the initial participation rate for the life of the contract, and some vary the rate for each period.

•The measured change in the index may also be limited by a "cap" before the credit is applied. Some policies guarantee the initial cap for the life of the contract, and some vary the cap for each period.

•The measured change in the index may also be limited to the excess in the measured change over a "margin" before the credit is applied. Some policies guarantee the initial margin for the life of the contract, and some vary the margin for each period.

Our fixed indexed annuity contracts are usually surrendered prior to the specified maturity date (typically the policy anniversary after the customer's 99th birthday). At surrender or maturity, they are provided various annuitization options allowing for periodic payments (paid over various periods such as their remaining life or a term-certain period). However, the majority of contracts remain in the accumulation phase until the customer surrenders the contract or has a death claim. Policyholders can surrender the contract at any time, at which point they receive their account value, as specified in the contract, less any applicable surrender charges, subject to the floor value defined above. Nearly all policies also allow for one penalty-free withdrawal of up to 10 percent of the premium paid each policy year (after the first year only for some contracts).

Our fixed indexed annuities credit interest on an annual basis. Depending on the credit option chosen, that interest is based on a fixed interest rate, guaranteed for the annual crediting period, or the price return of the underlying index (typically the S&P 500 index or the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Barclays 5 percent VC index) subject to a participation rate (receiving a portion of the appreciation) or a cap rate (receiving all appreciation up to the cap); any indexed option return is subject to a 0 percent floor. All crediting rates are subject to contractual guaranteed minimums. We have a disciplined rate-setting approach that allows the Company to set crediting rates consistent with the investment return earned on the net premiums received and (if applicable) the current option cost to fund the indexed benefit.

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In 2016, we began offering a guaranteed lifetime income rider to our fixed indexed annuity contracts, which allows policyholders the option to elect to receive a guaranteed income stream for life, without having to annuitize their policy. In 2021, an optional benefit was added to the rider which enhances the guaranteed income stream payout amount for a two-year period if the policyholder meets certain conditions related to the ability to perform activities of daily living. These benefits are often referred to as guaranteed living withdrawal benefits ("GLWB"). During 2025, we launched a death benefit rider, available on our guaranteed lifetime income products, that guarantees at least a return of premium death benefit provided only guaranteed income withdrawals and/or Required Minimum Distributions are taken. This rider includes an explicit fee that is deducted from the account value to maintain the benefit.

In recent years, a significant portion of our new annuity sales were "premium bonus" products. These products specify a bonus rate, that is applied to the premium deposited. This provides an immediate increase in the account value but the premium bonus becomes eligible for withdrawal, or vests, over a number of years. In 2023, we launched a flexible premium bonus indexed annuity ("FPBIA") product that offers a premium bonus (expressed as a percentage of the premium deposit) for each premium deposit made, subject to contractual terms. The current range for the premium bonus is 4-5 percent.

Commissions, underwriting, sales and contract issuance and processing costs are incurred when a fixed indexed annuity contract is issued. When such costs are incremental costs directly related to the successful acquisition of a new insurance contract, they are capitalized and amortized on a constant level basis over the expected term to approximate straight-line amortization.

We have generally been successful at hedging increases to policyholder benefits resulting from increases in the indices to which the product's return is linked.

Fixed Interest Annuities. These products include fixed rate single-premium deferred annuities ("SPDAs") and flexible premium deferred annuities ("FPDAs"). These products accounted for $194.3 million, or 4 percent, of our total premium collections during 2025. Our fixed rate SPDAs and FPDAs typically have a crediting rate that is guaranteed by the Company for the first policy year, after which we have the ability to change the crediting rate to any rate not below a guaranteed minimum rate. The current guaranteed rate on annuities being issued is 3 percent, and the guaranteed rates on all policies inforce range from 1.0 percent to 5.5 percent. As of December 31, 2025, the average crediting rate on our outstanding traditional annuities was 3.39 percent.

The initial crediting rate is largely a function of:

•the interest rate we earn on invested assets acquired with the new annuity fund deposits;

•the costs related to marketing and maintaining the annuity products; and

•the rates offered on similar products by our competitors.

For subsequent adjustments to crediting rates, we take into account current and prospective yields on investments, annuity surrender assumptions, competitive industry pricing and the crediting rate history for particular groups of annuity policies with similar characteristics.

Withdrawals from fixed interest annuities we are currently selling are generally subject to a surrender charge of 8 percent to 10 percent in the first year, declining to zero over a five to 10 year period, depending on issue age and product. Surrender charges are set at levels intended to protect the Company from loss on early terminations and to reduce the likelihood that policyholders will terminate their policies during periods of increasing interest rates. This practice is intended to lengthen the duration of policy liabilities and to enable us to maintain profitability on such policies.

Penalty-free withdrawals from fixed interest annuities of up to 10 percent of either premiums or account value are available in most fixed interest annuities after the first year of the annuity's term.

Other Annuities. These products include single premium immediate annuities ("SPIAs"). SPIAs accounted for $9.1 million of our total premiums collected in 2025. SPIAs are designed to provide a series of periodic payments for a fixed period of time or for life, according to the policyholder's choice at the time of issuance. Once the payments begin, the amount, frequency and length of time over which they are payable are fixed. SPIAs often are purchased by persons at or

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near retirement age who desire a steady stream of payments over a future period of years. The single premium is often the payout from a fixed rate contract. The implicit interest rate on SPIAs is based on market conditions when the policy is issued. The implicit interest rate on our outstanding SPIAs averaged 6.6 percent at December 31, 2025. Other annuities also include closed blocks of structured settlements, which were last sold over 25 years ago.

Health

Supplemental Health. Supplemental health collected premiums were $744.5 million during 2025, or 16 percent of our total collected premiums. These policies generally provide fixed or limited benefits. Cancer insurance and heart/stroke products are guaranteed renewable individual accident and health insurance policies. Payments under cancer insurance policies are generally made directly to, or at the direction of, the policyholder following diagnosis of, or treatment for, a covered type of cancer. Heart/stroke policies provide for payments directly to the policyholder for treatment of a covered heart disease, heart attack or stroke. Accident products combine insurance for accidental death with limited benefit disability income insurance. Hospital indemnity products provide a fixed dollar amount per day of confinement in a hospital. The benefits provided under the supplemental health policies do not necessarily reflect the actual cost incurred by the insured as a result of the illness, or accident, and benefits are not reduced by any other medical insurance payments made to or on behalf of the insured.

Our supplemental health products include a critical illness insurance product that pays a lump sum cash benefit directly to the insured when the insured is diagnosed with a specified critical illness. The product is designed to provide additional financial protection associated with treatment and recovery as well as cover non-medical expenses such as: (i) loss of income; (ii) at home recovery or treatment; (iii) experimental and/or alternative medicine; (iv) co-pays, deductibles and out-of-network expenses; and (v) child care and transportation costs. In addition, these products include a hospital indemnity product that provides payment in the event of a hospital stay. The product is designed to help cover expenses which may not be covered by private insurance or Medicare such as deductibles and co-payments.

Approximately 64 percent of the total number of our supplemental health policies inforce were sold with return of premium or cash value riders. The return of premium rider generally provides that, after a policy has been inforce for a specified number of years or upon the policyholder reaching a specified age, we will pay to the policyholder, or in some cases, a beneficiary under the policy, the aggregate amount of all premiums paid under the policy, without interest, less the aggregate amount of all claims incurred under the policy. For some policies, the return of premium rider does not have any claim offset. The cash value rider is similar to the return of premium rider, but also provides for payment of a graded portion of the return of premium benefit if the policy terminates before the return of premium benefit is earned.

Medicare Supplement. Medicare supplement collected premiums were $626.8 million during 2025, or 14 percent, of our total collected premiums. Medicare is a federal health insurance program for disabled persons and seniors (age 65 and older). Part A of the program provides protection against the costs of hospitalization and related hospital and skilled nursing facility care, subject to an initial deductible, related coinsurance amounts and specified maximum benefit levels. The deductible and coinsurance amounts are subject to change each year by the federal government. Part B of Medicare covers doctor's bills and a number of other medical costs not covered by Part A, subject to deductible and coinsurance amounts for charges approved by Medicare. The deductible amount is subject to change each year by the federal government.

Medicare supplement policies provide coverage for many of the hospital and medical expenses which the Medicare program does not cover, such as deductibles, coinsurance costs (in which the insured and Medicare share the costs of medical expenses) and specified losses which exceed the federal program's maximum benefits. Our Medicare supplement plans automatically adjust coverage to reflect changes in Medicare benefits. In marketing these products, we currently concentrate on individuals who have recently become eligible for Medicare by reaching the age of 65. Approximately 56 percent of new sales of Medicare supplement policies in 2025 were within the seven month open enrollment period that begins three months before an individual reaches age 65.

Long-Term Care. Long-term care collected premiums were $292.2 million during 2025, or 6 percent of our total collected premiums. Long-term care products provide coverage, within prescribed limits, for nursing homes, home healthcare, or a combination of both. We sell long-term care plans primarily to retirees and, to a lesser degree, to older self-employed individuals in the middle-income market.

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During 2025, 99 percent of new sales of long-term care products had benefit periods of two years or less. From 2009 through September 30, 2024, we ceded 25 percent of most new sales to a third party under a reinsurance agreement. Effective October, 1, 2024, we discontinued ceding 25 percent of long-term care new business under the reinsurance agreement. At December 31, 2025, 65 percent of our long-term care policies have benefit periods of one year or less, 81 percent have benefit periods of two years or less, and 95 percent of our long-term care policies have benefit periods of four years or less. In 2018, we ceased sales of home health care only long-term care policies. In addition, we ceased sales of comprehensive and nursing home long-term care policies with benefit periods exceeding two years in the majority of jurisdictions. Comprehensive policies cover both nursing home care and home healthcare. Home healthcare benefits included in comprehensive policies cover incurred charges after a deductible or elimination period and are subject to a weekly or monthly maximum dollar amount, and an overall benefit maximum. We monitor the loss experience on our long-term care products and, when appropriate, apply for actuarially justified rate increases in the jurisdictions in which we sell such products. Regulatory approval is required before we can increase our premiums on these products.

Life

Life products include traditional and interest-sensitive life insurance products. During 2025, we collected life insurance premiums of $984.5 million, or 21 percent, of our total collected premiums.

Interest-Sensitive Life. These products include universal life and other interest-sensitive life products that provide life insurance with adjustable rates of return related to current interest rates. They accounted for $255.8 million, or 6 percent, of our total collected premiums in 2025. The principal differences between universal life products and other interest-sensitive life products are policy provisions affecting the amount and timing of premium payments. Universal life policyholders may vary the frequency and size of their premium payments, and policy benefits may also fluctuate according to such payments. Premium payments under other interest-sensitive policies may not be varied by the policyholders. Universal life products include fixed indexed universal life products. The account value of these policies is credited with interest at a guaranteed rate, plus additional interest credits based on changes in a particular index during a specified time period.

Traditional Life. These products accounted for $728.7 million, or 16 percent, of our total collected premiums in 2025. Traditional life policies, including whole life, graded benefit life, term life and single premium whole life products, are marketed through independent producers, exclusive agents and direct response marketing. Under whole life policies, the policyholder generally pays a level premium over an agreed period or the policyholder's lifetime. The annual premium in a whole life policy is generally higher than the premium for comparable term insurance coverage in the early years of the policy's life, but is generally lower than the premium for comparable term insurance coverage in the later years of the policy's life. These policies combine insurance protection with a savings component that gradually increases in amount over the life of the policy. The policyholder may borrow against the savings component that may be at a rate of interest lower than that available from other lending sources. The policyholder may also choose to surrender the policy and receive the accumulated cash value rather than continuing the insurance protection. Term life products offer pure insurance protection for life with a guaranteed level premium for a specified period of time - typically five, 10, 20, or 30 years. In some instances, these products offer an option to return the premium at the end of the guaranteed period.

Traditional life products also include graded benefit life insurance products. Graded benefit life insurance products are offered on an individual basis primarily to persons aged 50 to 85, principally in face amounts of $400 to $50,000, with limited or no medical examination or evidence of insurability. Premiums are paid as frequently as monthly. Benefits paid are less than the face amount of the policy during the first two years, except in cases of accidental death.

Traditional life products also include single premium whole life insurance. This product requires one initial lump sum payment in return for providing life insurance protection for the insured's entire lifetime. Single premium whole life products accounted for $23.7 million of our total collected net premiums in 2025.

INVESTMENTS

40|86 Advisors, Inc. ("40|86 Advisors", a registered investment advisor and wholly owned subsidiary of CNO) manages the investment portfolios of our insurance subsidiaries, including investments held by variable interest entities ("VIEs"), that are included on our consolidated balance sheet. Our general account investment strategies are to:

•provide largely stable investment income from a diversified high quality fixed income portfolio;

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•maximize and maintain a stable spread between our investment income and the yields we pay on insurance products;

•sustain adequate liquidity levels to meet operating cash requirements, including a margin for potential adverse developments;

•continually monitor and manage the relationship between our investment portfolio and the financial characteristics of our insurance liabilities such as durations and cash flows;

•manage the capital efficiency of our investments through active strategic asset allocation and investment management; and

•use outside managers in specialized investment classes to add value to our overall strategy.

Investment activities are an important and integral part of our business because investment income is a significant component of our revenues. The profitability of many of our insurance products is significantly affected by spreads between interest yields on investments and rates credited on insurance liabilities. Also, certain insurance products are priced based on long term assumptions including investment returns. Although substantially all credited rates on SPDAs, FPDAs and interest sensitive life products may be changed annually (subject to minimum guaranteed rates), changes in crediting rates may not be sufficient to maintain targeted investment spreads in all economic and market environments. In addition, competition, minimum guaranteed rates and other factors, including the impact of surrenders and withdrawals, may limit our ability to adjust or to maintain crediting rates at levels necessary to avoid narrowing of spreads under certain market conditions.

We manage the equity-based risk component of our fixed indexed annuity products by:

•purchasing options on equity indices with similar payoff characteristics; and

•adjusting the participation rate to reflect the change in the cost of such options (such cost varies based on market conditions).

The prices of the options we purchase to manage the equity-based risk component of our fixed indexed annuities vary based on market conditions. All other factors held constant, the prices of the options generally increase with increases in the volatility of the applicable indices, which may reduce the profitability of the fixed indexed products, cause us to lower participation rates, or both. Accordingly, changes in volatility of the related indices is one factor in the uncertainty regarding the profitability of our fixed indexed products.

Our invested assets are predominately fixed rate in nature and their value fluctuates with changes in market rates, among other factors (such as changes in the overall compensation for risk required by the market as well as issuer specific changes in credit quality). We seek to manage the interest rate risk inherent in our business by managing the durations and cash flows of our fixed maturity investments along with those of the related insurance liabilities. For example, one management measure we use is asset and liability duration. Duration measures expected change in fair value for a given change in interest rates. If interest rates increase by 1 percent, the fair value of a fixed maturity security with a duration of 5 years is typically expected to decrease in value by approximately 5 percent. When the estimated durations of assets and liabilities are similar, absent other factors, a change in the value of assets related to changes in interest rates should be largely offset by a change in the value of liabilities. We calculate asset and liability durations using our estimates of future asset and liability cash flows.

COMPETITION

The markets in which we operate are competitive. Compared to CNO, many companies in the financial services industry are larger, have greater capital and technological and marketing resources, offer broader and more diversified product lines, have greater brand recognition, have larger staffs and higher ratings. Banks, securities brokerage firms and other financial intermediaries also market insurance products or offer competing products, such as mutual fund products, traditional bank investments and other investment and retirement funding alternatives. We also compete with many of these companies and others in providing services for fees. In most areas, competition is based on a number of factors

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including pricing, service provided to distributors and policyholders and ratings. CNO's subsidiaries must also compete to attract and retain the allegiance of agents, insurance brokers and marketing organizations.

In the individual health insurance business, companies compete primarily on the basis of marketing, service and price. Pursuant to federal regulations, the Medicare supplement products offered by all companies have standardized policy features. This increases the comparability of such policies and intensifies competition based on other factors. See "Insurance Underwriting" and "Governmental Regulation" for additional information. In addition to competing with the products of other insurance companies, commercial banks, mutual funds and broker-dealers, our insurance products compete with health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations and other health care-related institutions which provide medical benefits based on contractual agreements.

Our principal competitors vary by product line. Our main competitors for agent-sold long-term care insurance products include Northwestern Mutual, Mutual of Omaha and New York Life. Our main competitors for agent-sold Medicare supplement insurance products include United HealthCare, Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans, and Mutual of Omaha. Our main competitors for life insurance sold through direct marketing channels include Mutual of Omaha, Globe Life, Inc., TruStage, AAA Life Insurance, and Gerber Life. Our main competitors for supplemental health products sold through our Worksite Division include AFLAC, subsidiaries of Unum, MetLife, Chubb/Combined, and Voya.

In some of our product lines, such as life insurance and fixed annuities, we have a relatively small market share from a total industry-wide perspective. Even in some of the lines in which we are one of the top writers, our market share is relatively small. Based on a 2024 Medicare Supplement Earned Premium report, we ranked seventh in direct premiums earned for Medicare supplement insurance with a market share of 1.7 percent. The top writer of Medicare supplement insurance had direct premiums with a market share of 34.2 percent during the period. When looking at the 2024 Individual Long-Term Care Insurance Survey, one of our subsidiaries (Bankers Life and Casualty Company ("Bankers Life")) is ranked second in new annualized premiums of individual long-term care insurance with a market share of 25.8 percent. The top writer of individual long-term care insurance had new annualized premiums with a market share of 37.2 percent during the period.

Many of our major competitors have higher financial strength ratings than we do. Industry consolidation, including business combinations among insurance and other financial services companies, has resulted in larger competitors with even greater financial resources. Furthermore, changes in federal law have narrowed the historical separation between financial institutions and insurance companies, enabling traditional financial institutions to enter the insurance and annuity markets and further increase competition. This increased competition may harm our ability to maintain or improve our profitability.

In addition, because the actual cost of products is unknown when they are sold, we are subject to competitors who may sell a product at a price that does not cover its actual cost. Accordingly, if we do price our products to maintain profitability, we may lose market share to other companies. If we lower our prices to maintain market share, our profitability will decline.

Our direct to consumer channel has faced increased competition from other insurance companies who also distribute products through direct marketing. In addition, the demand and cost of television advertising appropriate for our direct to consumer campaigns fluctuates from period to period and will impact the average cost to generate a television lead.

We must attract and retain sales representatives to sell our insurance and annuity products. Strong competition exists among insurance and financial services companies for sales representatives. We compete for sales representatives primarily on the basis of our financial position, financial strength ratings, support services, compensation, products and product features. Our competitiveness for such agents also depends upon the relationships we develop with these agents.

An important competitive factor for life insurance companies is the financial strength ratings they receive from nationally recognized rating organizations. Agents, insurance brokers and marketing companies who market our products and prospective purchasers of our products use the financial strength ratings of our insurance subsidiaries as an important factor in determining whether to market or purchase. Ratings have the biggest impact on our sales of supplemental health and life products to consumers at the worksite. Financial strength ratings provided by Fitch Ratings ("Fitch"), S&P Global Ratings ("S&P"), Moody's Investor Services, Inc. ("Moody's") and AM Best Company ("AM Best") are the rating agency's opinions of the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay policyholder claims and obligations when due. They are not directed toward the protection of investors, and such ratings are not recommendations to buy, sell or hold securities. The

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current financial strength ratings of our primary insurance subsidiaries from Fitch, S&P, Moody's and AM Best are "A", "A-", "A3" and "A", respectively. For a description of these ratings and additional information on these ratings, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Consolidated Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Consolidated Financial Condition - Financial Strength Ratings of our Insurance Subsidiaries."

INSURANCE UNDERWRITING

Under regulations developed by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (the "NAIC") (an association of state regulators and their staffs) and adopted by the states, we are prohibited from underwriting our Medicare supplement policies for certain first-time purchasers. If a person applies for insurance within six months after becoming eligible by reason of age, or disability in certain limited circumstances, the application may not be rejected due to medical conditions. Some states prohibit underwriting of all Medicare supplement policies. For other prospective Medicare supplement policyholders, such as senior citizens who are transferring to our products, the underwriting procedures are relatively limited, except for policies providing prescription drug coverage.

Before issuing long-term care products, we generally apply detailed underwriting procedures to assess and quantify the insurance risks. We require medical examinations of applicants (including blood and urine tests, where permitted) for certain health insurance products and for life insurance products which exceed prescribed policy amounts. These requirements vary according to the applicant's age and may vary by type of policy or product. We also rely on medical records and the potential policyholder's written application. In recent years, there have been significant regulatory changes with respect to underwriting certain types of health insurance. An increasing number of states prohibit underwriting and/or charging higher premiums for substandard risks. We monitor changes in state regulation that affect our products, and consider these regulatory developments in determining the products we market and where we market them.

Most of our supplemental health policies are individually underwritten using a simplified issue application. Based on an applicant's responses on the application, the underwriter either: (i) approves the policy as applied for; (ii) approves the policy with reduced benefits; or (iii) rejects the application.

Our life insurance products include policies that are underwritten individually and low face-amount life insurance products that utilize standardized underwriting procedures. After initial processing, insurance underwriters obtain the information needed to make an underwriting decision (such as prescription history, medical examinations, doctors' statements and special medical tests). After collecting and reviewing the information, the underwriter either: (i) approves the policy as applied for; (ii) approves the policy with an extra premium charge because of unfavorable factors; or (iii) rejects the application.

We underwrite group insurance policies based on the characteristics of the group and its past claim experience. Guaranteed acceptance life insurance policies are issued without medical examination or evidence of insurability. There is minimal underwriting on annuities.

LIABILITIES FOR INSURANCE PRODUCTS

At December 31, 2025, the total liabilities for insurance products was $31.1 billion. These liabilities are generally payable over an extended period of time. The profitability of our insurance products depends on pricing and other factors. Differences between our expectations when we sold these products and our actual experience could result in future losses.

Liabilities for insurance products are calculated based on numerous assumptions including, but not limited to, investment yields, mortality, morbidity, withdrawals, lapses, cash flow assumptions and discount rates. Such assumptions are based on our experience, and in cases of limited experience, industry experience. Such assumptions also consider future expectations in policyholder behavior that may vary from past experience.

THIRD-PARTY REINSURANCE

Consistent with the general practice of the life insurance industry, our subsidiaries enter into indemnity reinsurance agreements with third-party insurance companies in order to reinsure portions of the coverage provided by our insurance products. Indemnity reinsurance agreements are intended to limit a life insurer's maximum loss on a large or unusually hazardous risk or to diversify its risk. Indemnity reinsurance does not discharge the original insurer's primary liability to the insured. Our reinsured business is ceded to numerous reinsurers. Based on our periodic review of their financial

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statements, insurance industry reports and reports filed with state insurance departments, we believe the assuming companies are able to honor all material contractual commitments.

As of December 31, 2025, the policy risk retention limit of our insurance subsidiaries was generally $0.8 million or less. Reinsurance ceded to third-parties by CNO represented 9.0 percent of gross combined life insurance inforce and reinsurance assumed represented 0.2 percent of net combined life insurance inforce.

The principal third-party reinsurers to whom we have ceded life, annuity and health business at December 31, 2025 were as follows (dollars in millions):

________________

(a)    In addition to life insurance, certain long-term care business has been ceded to Wilton Re through a 100 percent indemnity coinsurance agreement. Such business had total insurance policy liabilities of $2.1 billion at December 31, 2025.

(b)    In addition to life insurance, certain annuity business has been ceded to Jackson through a coinsurance agreement. Such business had total insurance policy liabilities of $626.9 million at December 31, 2025.

(c)    A portion of the long-term care business of Bankers Life has been ceded to RGA Reinsurance Company on a coinsurance basis.

(d)    No other single reinsurer represents more than 1 percent of the reinsurance receivables balance or has assumed greater than 1 percent of the total ceded life insurance business inforce.

HUMAN CAPITAL

As of December 31, 2025, we employed approximately 3,300 full-time associates, nearly all of whom are located in the United States.

Currently, none of our associates are represented under collective bargaining agreements and we enjoy generally favorable employee relations.

CNO associates are among our most important resources. They are critical to achieving our mission to secure the future of middle-income America by providing insurance and financial services that help protect their health, income and retirement needs, while building enduring value for all our stakeholders. We rely on our associates to develop products, advise clients, service customers and support the efficient running of the organization. Therefore, we focus significant attention on attracting and retaining talented, experienced individuals to serve our customers and manage and support our operations.

The Human Resource and Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors oversees the development, implementation and effectiveness of our human capital management practices and receives regular updates from management on progress and developments. Our commitment to our associates is demonstrated through several areas of focus:

•Associate Development and Engagement

CNO provides a supportive environment designed to encourage all associates to pursue their professional goals and career objectives through one-to-one coaching, mentoring, continuing education, professional education and

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training. We also regularly collect associate feedback through surveys to better learn and understand associates' needs, priorities and issues of concern.

•Compensation

At CNO, we strive for a culture of exceptional performance. We believe in developing associates through a challenging work environment coupled with extensive support and training. We are committed to fair pay practices and pay equity. To support pay transparency, we provide education to associates on how pay decisions are made and share competitive market ranges for roles across the enterprise. Our compensation philosophy is focused on pay-for-performance. In 2025, we continued to offer annual cash incentives or sales incentive programs to all associates reflecting our performance philosophy at all levels of the organization. We reward overall and individual performance that drives long-term success for the company and our associates.

•Health and Well-being

Supporting associates' overall well-being is at the center of how we engage our workforce. Our comprehensive associate benefits include medical, dental and vision insurance coverage as well as an extensive well-being program. To promote healthcare affordability, we provide tiered premiums for CNO's health plan that align with an associate's salary level.

CNO's award-winning well-being program encourages associates and their families to engage in healthy lifestyle choices. Our program integrates physical, mental and financial resources–providing access to onsite and virtual health clinics, free and unlimited mental health counseling, caregiver resources and support groups, free financial coaching, access to student loan resources, and more. Associates can earn incentives by engaging in CNO's well-being program. All programs and resources are accessible on our well-being platform to help simplify navigation and improve engagement.

Paid time off benefits are offered and designed to support a healthy work-life balance, encouraging associates to take time off for self-care and overall well-being. We also offer flexible work arrangements for the vast majority of our associates, which includes working from home, working from the office or a mix of both options. We remain committed to delivering consistent service, while providing workplace flexibility to our associates.

•Ethical Business Practices

CNO's Code of Conduct outlines our expectations surrounding key issues and business practices, including anti-money laundering, political activities and contributions, conflicts of interest, fraud prevention, data security, confidentiality, gift giving and fair competition. Our associates are required to be familiar with, and to act in accordance with, this code.

•Our People-Focused Commitment

Doing what's right for our associates, agents, customers and communities is embedded in CNO's business operations and corporate values. We are passionate about creating a workplace environment that welcomes all associates, encourages them to bring their best selves to work and values the varied associate voices that represent the customers we serve. CNO believes this approach is a critical part of our culture to help us continue sustainable growth of our company.

By putting people first, we believe that we can choose among the strongest talent to find the best qualified associates to best serve our customers. This workplace environment creates benefits that are shared by our associates, customers and, ultimately, our shareholders.

•Community Involvement

CNO is committed to supporting community organizations that address the health and financial wellness of middle-income Americans and to providing ways for our associates to give back through our Team CNO volunteer program.

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GOVERNMENTAL REGULATION

Insurance Regulation and Oversight

Overview

Our insurance subsidiaries are licensed to transact insurance business and are subject to extensive regulation and supervision by insurance regulators of the jurisdictions in which they operate. Our insurance subsidiaries are domiciled in Illinois, Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Bermuda, and are collectively licensed in all 50 states of the United States, the District of Columbia, in four U.S. territories and Bermuda. The extent of regulation by jurisdiction varies, but most jurisdictions have laws and regulations governing the financial aspects and business conduct of insurers. This regulation and supervision is primarily for the benefit and protection of customers, and not for the benefit of our investors or creditors.

U.S. Insurance Companies

State laws generally establish supervisory agencies that have broad regulatory authority, including the power to:

•grant and revoke business licenses;

•define acceptable accounting principles;

•prescribe the form and content of required financial statements and reports;

•establish reserve requirements;

•determine the reasonableness and adequacy of statutory capital and surplus;

•regulate the types and amounts of permitted investments;

•regulate and supervise sales practices;

•approve policy forms;

•restrict the payment of dividends and other transactions between affiliates;

•approve premium rates and premium rate increases for some lines of business, such as long-term care and Medicare supplement insurance;

•perform financial, market conduct and other examinations;

•establish guaranty associations; and

•license agents.

The NAIC is the U.S. standard-setting and regulatory support organization governed by the chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories to coordinate the regulation of multi-state insurers. The NAIC assists state insurance regulators in their mission to serve the public interest and achieve their regulatory goals. State insurance regulators establish standards and best practices for insurers. They coordinate their regulatory oversight through the NAIC, and work with the NAIC to regularly re-examine existing insurance laws and regulations.

The Company's insurance subsidiaries are required to file detailed annual reports, in accordance with prescribed statutory accounting rules, with regulatory authorities in each of the jurisdictions in which they do business. As part of their routine oversight process, state insurance departments conduct periodic detailed examinations, at least once every five years, of the books, records and accounts of insurers domiciled in their states. These examinations are generally

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coordinated under the direction of the lead state regulator and typically include all insurers operating in a holding company system pursuant to guidelines promulgated by the NAIC.

Existing and future changes to accounting rules may also impact our results of operations or financial condition.

NAIC

The NAIC's mission is to support its state insurance regulatory members who set standards and ensure fair, competitive, and healthy insurance markets to protect consumers. The NAIC develops model laws and regulations, many of which are adopted by state legislatures or insurance regulators, relating to:

•reserve requirements;

•risk-based capital ("RBC") standards;

•codification of insurance accounting principles;

•risk management;

•group capital;

•investment restrictions;

•corporate governance;

•restrictions on an insurance company's ability to pay dividends;

•credit for reinsurance;

•product illustrations; and

•privacy, data security and cybersecurity.

The NAIC adopted amendments to its valuation manual containing a principle-based approach for the calculation of reserves for life insurance and annuity contracts, which reflect corresponding amendments to the NAIC Standard Valuation Law. Principle-based reserving replaced the prior formulaic approach to determining policy reserves with a design that more closely reflects the risks of life insurance and annuity products. The principle-based reserving ("PBR") approach has been adopted by all states, where it has been effective for life insurance and certain annuity products issued on or after January 1, 2020. Similar reserving requirements for additional products are expected to be implemented over time. The PBR framework for non-variable annuities is effective January 1, 2026 and companies have a three-year optional implementation period, as further described below. Although the impact of implementing this approach for our life insurance products has not been significant to date, the ultimate impact is unknown.

The NAIC's Risk Management and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment Model Act ("ORSA"), which has been adopted by all states, requires insurers to maintain a risk management framework and conduct an internal own risk and solvency assessment of an insurer's material risks in normal and stressed environments. The assessment must be documented in an annual summary report, a copy of which must be submitted to insurance regulators as required or upon request.

The NAIC's Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure Model Act ("CGAD") has also been adopted in all states. CGAD requires an annual filing by an insurer or insurance group that provides detailed information regarding their governance practices, including information on whether a diversity policy is in place for its board of directors, as well as sample documentation on their corporate governance structure and policies.

In recent years, the NAIC's macro-prudential initiative was intended to enhance risk identification efforts through enhancements to supervisory practices related to liquidity, recovery and resolution, capital stress testing, and counterparty exposure concentrations for life insurers. In connection with this initiative, the NAIC adopted amendments to the Model

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Holding Company System Act and Regulation in 2020 which implement an annual filing requirement for a liquidity stress-testing framework (the "Liquidity Stress Test") for certain large U.S. life insurers and insurance groups. Life insurers are subject to this filing requirement based on criteria related to the amounts of certain types of business written or material exposure to certain investment transactions, such as derivatives and securities lending. The Liquidity Stress Test is used as a regulatory tool in the jurisdictions that have adopted the Holding Company Act amendments, which includes all of our insurance subsidiaries' domiciliary states.

The NAIC has also developed a group capital calculation ("GCC") tool using an RBC aggregation methodology for all entities within the insurance holding company system. The goal is to provide state insurance regulators with a method to aggregate the available capital and minimum capital of each entity in a group in a way that applies to all groups regardless of their structure. The NAIC's amendments to the Model Holding Company System Act and Regulation in 2020 adopted the Group Capital Calculation Template and Instructions, and the amendments implement the GCC's annual filing requirement with an insurance group's lead state regulator, who adopted the Holding Company Amendments, effective January 1, 2026. The NAIC Financial Analysis Handbook provides guidance for insurance regulators on reviewing GCC submissions. We cannot predict what impact this regulatory tool may have on our business.

The NAIC is focused on enhancing regulatory oversight of insurers' investments in complex assets, such as leveraged loans and collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs"). The NAIC has expressed concerns related to the filing exempt status for certain securities or loans, such as CLOs, which generally allows the use of a credit rating provider's ("CRP") rating for purposes of capital assessment as opposed to requiring review by the Securities Valuation Office ("SVO"). Under the NAIC's amended Purposes and Procedures Manual (the "P&P Manual"), the NAIC's Structured Securities Group ("SSG") will assign risk weights to CLOs based on its own modeling, as opposed to credit ratings. The SSG will model CLO investments and evaluate tranche level losses across all debt and equity tranches under a series of calibrated and weighted collateral stress scenarios to assign NAIC designations. The goal is to ensure that the aggregate RBC factor for owning all tranches of a CLO is the same as that required for owning all of the underlying loan collateral, in order to avoid RBC arbitrage. The amendment to the P&P Manual requires insurers to begin reporting the financially modeled NAIC designations for CLOs with their year-end 2026 financial statement filings. The NAIC is collaborating with interested parties to refine the process for modeling CLO investments. It is possible that the NAIC may propose new regulations or changes to statutory accounting principles regarding CLOs.

In November 2024, the NAIC adopted an amendment to the P&P Manual, which sets forth procedures for the SVO staff to identify and evaluate a filing exempt security with an NAIC designation determined by a rating that appears to be an unreasonable assessment of investment risk. The procedures include, without limitation, sending an information request to insurers that hold the security under review and determining whether the NAIC designation is three or more notches different than the SVO's assessment, which allows the SVO to request the removal of the CRP credit rating from the filing exempt process. At any time during the process, an alternate CRP credit rating may be requested and if one is received, it will be incorporated in the filing exempt process. The amendment to the P&P Manual became effective on January 1, 2026.

In 2023, the NAIC's Financial Condition (E) Committee launched a holistic review of the insurance regulatory framework related to insurer investment risk regulation. The primary objective is to highlight areas where the insurance regulatory framework and the SVO can be enhanced in order to strengthen oversight of insurers' investments in complex assets. More specifically, the NAIC is focused on the SVO's discretion to review NAIC designations for individual investments, the appropriate extent of SVO reliance on CRPs and oversight of the development of new RBC charges for CLOs and other structured securities. The proposed changes to modernize investment oversight include: (i) reducing or eliminating "blind" reliance on CRPs while continuing to utilize them by implementing a due diligence framework that oversees the effectiveness of CRPs and (ii) bolstering the SVO's portfolio risk analysis capabilities by investing in a risk analytics tool and adding specialized personnel.

Insurance Regulatory Examinations and Other Activities

State insurance departments periodically examine the books, records, accounts, and business practices of their domiciled insurers, as previously noted. State insurance departments may also conduct examinations of non-domiciliary insurers licensed in their states.

State regulatory authorities and industry groups have developed several initiatives regarding market conduct, including the form and content of disclosures to consumers, advertising, sales practices and complaint handling. Various

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state insurance departments periodically examine the market conduct activities of domestic and non-domestic insurance companies doing business in their states, including our insurance subsidiaries. The purpose of these market conduct examinations is to determine whether an insurer's operations are consistent with the laws and regulations of the state conducting the examination. Market conduct has also become one of the criteria used by rating agencies to establish the financial strength ratings of an insurance company. For example, AM Best's ratings analysis now includes the review of an insurer's compliance program.

Most states mandate minimum benefit standards and benefit ratios for accident and health insurance policies. We are generally required to maintain, with respect to our individual long-term care policies, premium rates that either: (i) are adequate to support moderately adverse claims experience; or (ii) support minimum anticipated benefit ratios over the entire period of coverage of not less than 60 percent. The specific requirements vary by state. With respect to our Medicare supplement policies, we are generally required to attain and maintain an actual benefit ratio, after three years, of not less than 65 percent. With respect to supplemental health policies, several states require us to annually certify that the premium rates are set such that minimum lifetime loss ratios will be met. These minimum lifetime loss ratios vary by state and product. We provide to the insurance departments, where required, annual calculations that demonstrate compliance with required minimum benefit ratios for long-term care, Medicare supplement, and supplemental health insurance. These calculations are prepared utilizing statutory lapse and interest rate assumptions. In the event that we fail to maintain minimum mandated benefit ratios, our insurance subsidiaries could be required to provide retrospective refunds and/or prospective rate reductions. As of December 31, 2025, we believe that our insurance subsidiaries have provided retrospective refunds, prospective rate reductions, and/or benefit increases when required.

Guaranty Associations

Our insurance subsidiaries are required by the guaranty fund laws of the jurisdictions in which they transact business to participate in guaranty associations that are organized to pay certain contractual insurance benefits owed pursuant to insurance policies issued by impaired, insolvent or failed insurers. These laws require insurers to pay assessments up to prescribed limits to fund policyholder losses or liabilities of insolvent insurance companies. Typically, assessments are levied on member insurers on a basis which is related to the member insurer's proportionate share of the business written by all member insurers. Assessments can be partially recovered through a reduction in future premium taxes in some states.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

In addition to state regulations, we are subject to federal laws, regulations and guidelines issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") that place a number of requirements on plan sponsors and their agents in connection with the marketing and sale of Medicare Advantage plans. For example, CMS and state regulations and guidelines include a number of prohibitions regarding the ability to contact Medicare-eligible individuals and place many restrictions on the marketing of Medicare-related plans.

Insurance Holding Company Regulation

U.S. state insurance holding company system laws and regulations are generally based on the NAIC Model Holding Company System Act and Regulation. These laws and regulations vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but generally require a controlled insurance company (i.e., an insurer that is a subsidiary of an insurance holding company) to register and file reports with state regulatory authorities on its capital structure, ownership, financial condition, intercompany transactions and general business operations. They also require the ultimate controlling person of a U.S. insurer to file an annual enterprise risk report with the lead state regulator of the insurance holding company system. This report identifies the material risks within the insurance holding company system that could pose enterprise risk to the insurer or its insurance holding company system as a whole. Each of our insurance subsidiaries' domiciliary states has enacted laws to implement these requirements, including the enterprise risk reporting requirement.

The insurance holding company system laws and regulations also regulate the terms of surplus debentures and transactions between or involving insurance companies and their affiliates. Various reporting and approval requirements apply to transactions between or involving insurance companies and their affiliates within an insurance holding company system, depending on the size and nature of the transactions. Generally, all transactions between an insurance company and an affiliate must be fair and reasonable. The Company and its insurance subsidiaries are registered as a holding company system pursuant to the laws and regulations in our domiciliary states.

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In addition, the insurance holding company system laws and regulations regulate the acquisition (or sale) of control of insurance companies. Generally, these laws and regulations provide that no person, corporation or other entity may acquire control of a domestic insurance company, or any parent company of such domestic insurer, without the prior approval of the insurance company's domiciliary state regulator. Any person acquiring, directly or indirectly, 10 percent or more of the voting securities of an insurance company is generally presumed to have acquired "control" of the insurer. This statutory presumption may be rebutted by a showing that control does not exist in fact. However, state insurance regulators may find that "control" exists in circumstances in which a person owns or controls, directly or indirectly, less than 10 percent of the voting securities. The laws and regulations regarding acquisitions of control may discourage potential acquisition proposals or may delay or prevent a change of control involving the Company, including through unsolicited transactions that some of our shareholders might consider desirable.

State insurance holding company system laws and regulations also regulate the payment of dividends or other payments by our insurance subsidiaries to parent companies. A state insurance regulator may prohibit a dividend payment if the regulator determines that such a payment could be adverse to an insurer's policyholders or contract holders. The ability of our U.S. based insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends is based on their financial statements that are prepared in accordance with statutory accounting practices prescribed or permitted by regulatory authorities, which differ from financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP"). These regulations generally permit an insurer to pay a dividend from earned surplus without regulatory approval if the amount of the dividend, together with other dividends made within the preceding 12-month period, does not exceed the greater of (or in some states, the lesser of):

•    statutory net gain from operations or net income of such insurer for the prior calendar year; or

•    10 percent of such insurer's surplus as regards policyholders at the end of the preceding calendar year.

If an insurance company has negative earned surplus, any dividend payments require the prior approval of the company's domiciliary state regulator. In addition, the RBC and other capital requirements described below can also limit, in certain circumstances, the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends.

In accordance with an order from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Washington National Insurance Company ("Washington National") may not distribute funds to any affiliate or shareholder without prior notice to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, except pursuant to agreements with affiliates that have been approved by the insurance regulator.

Long-Term Care Regulation

The NAIC has adopted model long-term care policy language providing nonforfeiture benefits, and in April 2022, the NAIC adopted the Long-Term Care Insurance Multi-state Rate Review Framework (the "LTC Framework"). The LTC Framework's goal is to establish a consistent national approach to reviewing long-term care insurance rates in order to assist states in granting actuarially appropriate rate increases in a timely manner. The NAIC's Long-Term Care Actuarial (B) Working Group is developing revisions to the LTC Framework and the proposed changes include a single actuarial approach that can be used for multi-state long-term care rate increase reviews. We are evaluating our participation in the multi-state review process for our filings requesting actuarially justified rate increases, as discussed below. In addition, various bills are introduced from time to time in the U.S. Congress which propose the implementation of certain minimum consumer protection standards in all long-term care policies, including guaranteed renewability, protection against inflation and limitations on waiting periods for pre-existing conditions. Federal legislation permits premiums paid for qualified long-term care insurance to be tax-deductible medical expenses and for benefits received on such policies to be excluded from taxable income.

Our insurance subsidiaries that write long-term care business have made insurance regulatory filings seeking actuarially justified rate increases on our long-term care policies. Most of our long-term care business is guaranteed renewable. If we are unable to raise our premium rates because we fail to obtain approval for actuarially justified rate increases in one or more states, our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

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Surplus and Capital Requirements

Insurers are required to maintain their capital and surplus at or above minimum levels prescribed by the laws of their respective jurisdictions. Regulators generally have discretionary authority to limit or prohibit an insurer's sales to policyholders if the insurer has not maintained a minimum surplus or capital or if they find that the further transaction of business will be hazardous to policyholders.

IRIS Ratios

The NAIC annually calculates certain statutory financial ratios for most insurance companies in the United States to assist state regulators in monitoring the financial condition of insurance companies. These calculations are known as the Insurance Regulatory Information System ("IRIS") ratios. There are 12 IRIS ratios for life insurers and each ratio has an established "usual range" of results as a benchmark. An insurance company may fall out of the usual range for one or more ratios because of specific transactions that are immaterial or are eliminated at the consolidated level. Generally, an insurance company will become subject to regulatory scrutiny if it falls outside the usual ranges of four or more of the ratios, and regulators may then act, if the company has insufficient capital, to constrain the company's underwriting capacity. In the past, variances in certain ratios of our insurance subsidiaries have resulted in inquiries from insurance departments, to which we have responded. These inquiries have not led to any restrictions affecting our operations.

Risk-Based Capital

The NAIC's RBC requirements provide a tool for insurance regulators to assess the level of risk inherent in an insurance company's business and determine whether an insurer has insufficient capital, which could lead to regulatory intervention. The basis of the system is a formula that applies prescribed factors to various risk elements in an insurer's business to report a minimum capital requirement proportional to the amount of risk assumed by the insurer. The life and health insurer RBC formula is designed to measure annually: (i) the risk of loss from asset defaults and asset value fluctuations; (ii) the risk of loss from adverse mortality and morbidity experience; (iii) the risk of loss from mismatching of assets and liability cash flow due to changing interest rates; and (iv) business risks.

The RBC requirements currently provide for a trend test if a company's total adjusted capital is between 100 percent and 150 percent of its RBC at the end of the year. The trend test calculates a margin, which is the excess of total adjusted capital over authorized control level RBC, for each of the current year, prior year, and third prior year. The trend test assumes that such decrease could occur again in the coming year. Any company whose trended total adjusted capital is less than 95 percent of its RBC would trigger a requirement to submit a comprehensive plan to the regulatory authority proposing corrective actions aimed at improving its capital position. The 2025 annual statutory financial statements of each of our U.S. based insurance subsidiaries reflect total adjusted capital in excess of the levels that would subject such subsidiaries to any regulatory action.

NAIC developments related to the RBC framework are described below.

•Interest Maintenance Reserve ("IMR"). In 2023, the NAIC adopted an interim solution with regard to the accounting treatment of an insurer's negative IMR balance, which may occur when a rising interest rate environment causes an insurer's IMR balance to become negative as a result of bond sales executed at a capital loss. Previous statutory guidance required the non-admittance of negative IMR, which can result in lower reported surplus and RBC ratios. Interpretation 23-01, Net Negative (Disallowed) Interest Maintenance Reserve, the NAIC's interim statutory accounting guidance, which is effective until December 31, 2026, permits an insurer with a company action level RBC ratio greater than 150% (or an authorized control level RBC ratio greater than 300%) to admit negative IMR for an amount up to 10% of its general account capital and surplus, subject to certain restrictions and reporting obligations. The NAIC is developing a long-term solution for the accounting treatment of negative IMR.

•RBC Revisions. In 2023, the NAIC increased the RBC factor for structured security residual tranches from 30% to 45%, which is effective for year-end 2024 RBC filings. The NAIC is currently reviewing the RBC treatment of CLOs, as discussed below.

•Bond Project. The NAIC has undertaken a principles-based bond project, which includes consideration of factors to determine whether an investment in an asset-backed security, for example, qualifies for reporting on

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an insurer's statutory financial statement as a bond on Schedule D-1 as opposed to Schedule BA (other long-term investment assets), the latter of which generally has a higher risk charge. The NAIC adopted a new, principles-based definition of a bond that was effective in certain statutory accounting guidance as of January 1, 2025. This resulted in new reporting and disclosure requirements, including categorical changes in the regulatory reporting and RBC charges associated with these investments.

•RBC Task Force. In early 2025, the NAIC created a Risk-Based Capital Model Governance (EX) Task Force, charged with completing a comprehensive analysis to identify gaps in the current RBC framework and developing guiding principles for future RBC adjustments.

Although we are under no obligation to do so, we may elect to contribute additional capital or retain greater amounts of capital to strengthen the surplus of certain insurance subsidiaries. Any election to contribute or retain additional capital could impact the amounts our insurance subsidiaries pay as dividends to the holding company. The ability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends is also impacted by various criteria established by rating agencies to maintain or receive higher ratings and by the capital levels that we target for our insurance subsidiaries.

Actuarial Guideline for Reinsurance Asset Adequacy Testing

On August 13, 2025, the NAIC adopted an actuarial guideline (AG 55) requiring disclosure related to reserve adequacy for reserves reported as of December 31, 2025 in an insurer's annual statement. The guideline requires asset adequacy testing for reinsured long-duration insurance business that relies heavily on asset returns (i.e., "asset-intensive reinsurance transactions") within the scope of the guideline that either meet certain size-based thresholds or result in significant reinsurance collectability risk (as determined by the cedent's appointed actuary). Such asset adequacy testing is to be performed using a cash flow testing methodology. The actuarial guideline requires disclosure by the ceding insurer, meaning that it will not require that additional reserves be posted at the reinsurer level (although the ceding insurer may decide to post reserves). It is important to note that domestic regulators will continue to have the authority to take action on known issues, or issues that may become known as part of such new reporting (including requiring that additional reserves be held). CNO is not yet able to predict the effect of performing asset adequacy testing, if any, on CNO in connection with reinsurance transactions.

Principle-Based Reserving (VM-22)

On August 13, 2025, the NAIC adopted a PBR framework for non-variable annuities, similar to VM-20 for life insurance business and VM-21 for variable annuities, located in Section VM-22 of the NAIC Valuation Manual ("VM-22"). The framework for non-variable annuities applies to valuation dates on or after January 1, 2026 and companies have a three-year optional implementation period before the VM-22 PBR requirements become mandatory to all applicable blocks of business. The ultimate financial impact from PBR on CNO is uncertain, but could result in more volatile and less predictable statutory reserves and capital levels for these products.

Bermuda Regulations

In 2023, we formed CNO Bermuda Re, Ltd. ("CNO Bermuda Re"), a Bermuda exempted company, which is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of CNO. CNO Bermuda Re is registered by and subject to the supervision of the Bermuda Monetary Authority (the "BMA") as a Class C insurer under the Bermuda Insurance Act 1978 and its related rules and regulations, each as amended (the "Insurance Act").

The Insurance Act imposes solvency and capital requirements as well as auditing and reporting requirements. The capital and solvency requirements for a Class C insurer under the Insurance Act are summarized below.

The Insurance Act requires the value an insurer's statutory assets to exceed the value of its statutory liabilities by an amount great than their prescribed minimum solvency margin. The minimum solvency margin that must be maintained by a Class C insurer is the greater of : (i) $0.5 million; or (ii) 1.5 percent of assets; or (iii) 25 percent of its enhanced capital requirement ("ECR") as reported at the end of the relevant year.

A Class C insurer is also required to maintain available statutory economic capital and surplus at a level equal to or in excess of its ECR, which is established by reference to either the Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement ("BSCR") model or a Bermuda-approved internal capital model. The BSCR model is a risk-based capital model which provides a

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method for determining an insurer's capital requirements (statutory economic capital and surplus) by taking into account the risk characteristics of different aspects of the Class C insurer's business. The BSCR formula establishes capital requirements for certain categories of risk, including: fixed income investment risk, equity investment risk, long-term interest rate/liquidity risk, currency risk, concentration risk, certain insurance risks, credit risk, catastrophe risk, and operational risk. For each category, the capital requirement is determined by applying factors to asset, premium, reserve, creditor, probable maximum loss and operation items, with higher factors applied to items with greater underlying risk and lower factors for less risky items.

While not specifically referred to in the Insurance Act, the BMA has also established a target capital level ("TCL") equal to 120 percent of an insurer's ECR. The TCL serves as an early warning tool for the BMA and failure to maintain statutory capital at least equal to the TCL will likely result in increased regulatory oversight.

CNO Bermuda Re has entered into a Capital and Liquidity Maintenance Agreement (as amended, the "CLMA") with CDOC, Inc. ("CDOC"). Pursuant to the CLMA, CDOC will contribute funds to CNO Bermuda Re in the event: (i) CNO Bermuda Re's statutory economic capital and surplus is less than 150 percent of its ECR at the end of any calendar quarter; or (ii) CNO Bermuda Re's liquid assets are insufficient to meet its contractual obligations to ceding insurers, in each case, unless one or more ceding insurers has provided notice of recapture pursuant to the terms of the applicable reinsurance agreement between it and CNO Bermuda Re and such recapture will cause CNO Bermuda Re to meet (i) and (ii) above. Further, CNO Bermuda Re may not pay any dividends or make any capital distributions to its parent within the five years following the 2023 reinsurance transaction unless approved by the BMA.

The BMA has broad supervisory and administrative powers relating to granting and revoking licenses to transact reinsurance business, the approval of specific reinsurance transactions, capital requirements and solvency standards, limitations on dividends or distributions to shareholders, the nature of and limitations on investments, and the filing of financial statements in line with prudential and technical standards and permitted accounting practices. Future regulatory changes made by the BMA or other events may impact the capital efficiency of the reinsurance structures and could require the holding company to contribute additional capital to CNO Bermuda Re or the ceding reinsurers to recapture the ceded business.

We are in the process of completing CNO Bermuda Re's capital and solvency return in respect of the year ended December 31, 2025, which includes the BSCR. We believe that CNO Bermuda Re's level of capitalization will exceed the minimum solvency margin and result in its statutory economic capital and surplus being in excess of the TCL.

Regulation of Investments

Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to state laws and regulations that require diversification of their investment portfolios and limit the amount of investments in certain investment categories, such as below-investment grade bonds, ownership in joint venture interests in real estate and common stocks. Failure to comply with these laws and regulations would cause investments exceeding regulatory limitations to be treated as non-admitted assets for purposes of measuring statutory surplus, and, in some instances, would require divestiture of such non-qualifying investments. The investments made by our insurance subsidiaries complied in all material respects with such investment regulations as of December 31, 2025.

Privacy and Cybersecurity Regulation

Federal and state laws and regulations require financial institutions to protect the security and confidentiality of personal information, including health-related and customer information, and to notify customers and other individuals about their policies and practices relating to their collection, use, maintenance, disclosure and destruction of such information and their practices relating to protecting the security, confidentiality, integrity, and availability of that information. State laws regulate the use and disclosure of personal information, such as social security numbers and other identifiers, and federal and state laws require notice to affected individuals, law enforcement, regulators and others if there is a breach of the security of certain personal information, including social security numbers, financial information, and certain other identifiers. Federal and state laws and regulations regulate the ability of financial institutions to make telemarketing calls and to send unsolicited e-mail, fax messages, or SMS/text messages to consumers and customers. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has issued rules and regulations under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA"), as amended, relating to standardized electronic transaction formats, code

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sets, the privacy of member health information, and the implementation of data security controls to safeguard electronic protected health information.

Further, numerous state regulatory bodies are focused on security and privacy requirements for companies that collect personal information, and various state legislatures have proposed and enacted legislation and regulations regarding data protection standards and protocols; the area of cybersecurity has also come under increased scrutiny by state insurance regulators in recent years. For example, the New York State Department of Financial Services' ("NYDFS") cybersecurity regulation applies to banking and insurance entities under its jurisdiction, such as Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company. The regulation requires a company's cybersecurity program to include robust controls regarding: access privileges, application security, policies and procedures for the disposal of nonpublic information, regular cybersecurity awareness training, encryption of nonpublic information, third-party due diligence and an incident response plan. Companies subject to the New York regulation must also implement and maintain written policies approved by a senior officer of the company to protect its information systems and nonpublic information, appoint a chief information security officer, perform periodic risk assessments, and annually certify compliance with the regulation to NYDFS.

On November 1, 2023, the NYDFS adopted amendments to the regulation which include significant changes, such as: (i) implementing additional governance and oversight measures, including that a senior governing body (e.g., the board of directors) must have sufficient understanding of cybersecurity-related matters and regularly review management reports about cybersecurity matters; (ii) expanding the types of cybersecurity events that require timely notification to the NYDFS; and (iii) requiring enhancements to a covered entity's written policies and procedures related to remote access, vulnerability management, data retention and access privileges. General compliance was required by April 29, 2024, with certain provisions subject to other transition dates through November 1, 2025. We are required to file an annual Certification of Compliance with the NYDFS regarding our cybersecurity program.

Where enacted in a given state, the NAIC's Insurance Data Security Model Law applies to entities licensed under the relevant state's insurance laws. The model law requires such entities to establish standards for data security and the investigation of and notification to insurance commissioners of cybersecurity events involving unauthorized access to, or the misuse of, certain nonpublic information. The model law imposes significant regulatory burdens intended to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information systems and the non-public information stored thereon. Several states have adopted the model law (or a form thereof), including Illinois, Indiana and Pennsylvania. We are also required to file an annual Certificate of Compliance with departments of insurance, unless any of the exemption criteria in the model law are met.

In addition, certain state legislatures have adopted or are actively considering general consumer privacy legislation that may apply to us. For example, in 2018, California enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA"), which became effective January 1, 2020. CCPA provides for enhanced privacy rights for California consumers, including the right to know what personal information a business has collected and/or shared with third parties about the consumer, the right to delete personal information held by a business, and the right to limit certain processing or use of such information. CCPA provides for a private right of action with potentially significant statutory damages, whereby a business that fails to implement reasonable security measures to protect against breaches of personal information could be liable to affected consumers should such a breach occur. Certain data processing which is otherwise regulated, including under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ("GLBA") and HIPAA, are excluded from the CCPA; however, this is not an entity-wide exclusion. The California Privacy Rights Act, which established the California Privacy Protection Agency, amended the CCPA to include new consumer rights and came into effect on January 1, 2023. Various other U.S. states have enacted or are considering comprehensive privacy laws that adopt similar approaches to the collection, use, and sharing of personal information from state residents, but many include broader, entity-wide exemptions for organizations that process data subject to GLBA.

The NAIC's Privacy Protections (H) Working Group ("PPWG") is developing amendments to update the Privacy of Consumer Financial and Health Information Regulation (Model 672). The proposed amendments would expand the definition of nonpublic personal information; add consumer rights to request access, correction and deletion of nonpublic personal information; and add requirements for contracts with third-party service providers. At the 2024 and 2025 Fall National Meetings, the PPWG requested and received extensions until the 2026 Fall National Meeting to finalize the amendments to the model regulation; an exposure draft is expected to be circulated in early 2026.

As of January 1, 2025, the Bermuda Personal Information Protection Act ("PIPA") became fully effective. PIPA applies to all organizations that use personal information (meaning any information about an identified or identifiable natural person) in Bermuda. PIPA regulates the use of personal information across all industry sectors granting individuals'

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rights such as access, rectification and erasure of their personal information, and imposing organizational transparency and governance requirements including the appointment of a privacy officer. PIPA is enforced by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

These statutes, and any corresponding regulations adopted thereunder, affect our administration, marketing and sale of our products, and how we collect, store, use and disseminate personal information. Federal and state lawmakers and regulatory bodies may consider additional or more detailed regulation regarding these subjects and the privacy and security of personal information.

Innovation and Technology

As a result of increased innovation and technology in the insurance sector, the NAIC and insurance regulators are focused on the use of "big data" techniques, such as the use of AI, machine learning and automated decision-making. In December 2023, the NAIC's Innovation, Cybersecurity and Technology (H) Committee (the "(H) Committee") adopted the Model Bulletin on the Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers (the "AI Bulletin") after exposing a draft for comment. More than 20 states have adopted, and others may adopt, the AI Bulletin, which sets forth insurance regulators' expectations as to how insurers should govern the development, acquisition and use of AI technologies, as well as the types of information that regulators may request during an investigation or examination of an insurer in regard to AI systems. The NAIC's Third-Party Data and Models (H) Task Force continues to develop a regulatory framework for the oversight of insurers' use of third-party data and predictive models.

Further, the NAIC and state insurance regulators have been focused on addressing unfair discrimination in the use of consumer data and technology, and some states have passed laws targeting unfair discrimination practices. For instance, in 2021, Colorado enacted a law which prohibits insurers from using external consumer data and information sources ("ECDIS"), as well as algorithms or predictive models that use ECDIS, in a way that unfairly discriminates based on race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or gender expression. In August 2023, the Colorado Division of Insurance adopted the first regulation under the 2021 law, effective on November 14, 2023, requiring life insurers to adopt a governance and risk management framework – including board oversight and broad documentation requirements – for the use of AI, machine learning and other technologies that utilize ECDIS. In 2025, the Colorado Division of Insurance added private passenger automobile and health benefit plan insurers to the governance and risk management framework requirements, but have not promulgated testing regulations for any lines of insurance. Similarly, in July 2024, the NYDFS released a circular letter which applies to all authorized insurers in New York, such as Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company. The circular letter provides guidance on how such insurers should develop and manage their use of external consumer data and AI systems in underwriting and pricing so as not to harm consumers.

We expect big data to remain an important issue for the NAIC and state insurance regulators. We cannot predict which regulators will adopt the AI Bulletin, or what, if any, changes to laws or regulations may be enacted with regard to "big data" or AI technologies.

Federal Initiatives

We are subject to the U.S. federal laws and regulations generally applicable to public companies, including the rules and regulations of the SEC and the New York Stock Exchange relating to public reporting and disclosure, corporate governance, securities trading, and accounting and financial reporting. The U.S. federal government does not directly regulate the business of insurance, although the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (the "Dodd-Frank Act") generally provides for enhanced federal supervision of financial institutions, including insurance companies in certain circumstances, and financial activities that represent a systemic risk to financial stability or the U.S. economy. The Dodd-Frank Act created the Federal Insurance Office ("FIO") within the U.S. Treasury Department to monitor all aspects of the insurance industry. Its authority extends to most lines of insurance written by our insurance subsidiaries, although the FIO is not empowered with any direct regulatory authority over insurers.

The Dodd-Frank Act also established the Financial Stability Oversight Council ("FSOC"), which has the ability to designate certain non-bank financial institutions, including insurers, as systemically important (a "SIFI") if the FSOC determines that financial distress at the company could pose a threat to U.S. financial stability. Such a designation would subject a non-bank SIFI to supervision and heightened prudential standards by the Federal Reserve. In November 2023, the FSOC adopted guidance that establishes a new process for designating certain non-bank financial companies as non-

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bank SIFIs. Under such guidance, the FSOC is no longer required to conduct a cost-benefit analysis and an assessment of the likelihood of a non-bank financial company's material financial distress before considering the designation of the company. The revised process could have the effect of simplifying and shortening FSOC's procedures for designating certain financial companies as non-bank SIFIs.

The Dodd-Frank Act also provides for the preemption of state laws when they are inconsistent with covered agreements with non-U.S. governments or regulatory authorities, and the Dodd-Frank Act streamlines the state-level regulation of reinsurance and surplus lines insurance. In addition, under certain circumstances, the FDIC can assume the role of a state insurance regulator and initiate liquidation proceedings under state law.

The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 seeks to promote cooperation among financial institutions, regulators and law enforcement entities in identifying parties that may be involved in terrorism, money laundering or other illegal activities. CNO and its insurance subsidiaries support these goals by having adopted anti-money laundering ("AML") programs that include policies, procedures and controls to detect and prevent money laundering, designate compliance officers to oversee the programs, provide for on-going employee training and ensure periodic independent testing of the programs. CNO's and the insurance subsidiaries' AML programs also establish and enforce customer identification programs and provide for the monitoring and the reporting to the Department of the Treasury of certain suspicious transactions.

Federal legislation and administrative policies in other areas, including employee benefit plan and individual retirement account ("IRA") regulation, could also impact the insurance industry. In that regard, in April 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (the "DOL") issued a regulation that was intended to change the definition of "fiduciary" for purposes of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ("ERISA"), and parallel provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), when a financial professional, including an insurance producer, provides investment advice to plans subject to ERISA and IRAs subject to Section 4975 of the Code and issued amendments to various existing prohibited transaction exemptions ("PTEs") that financial professionals rely on when they make investment recommendations to such investors. Thereafter, two federal district courts blocked these changes, which prevented the changes from becoming effective. The DOL initially appealed these court orders, but on November 24, 2025, the DOL filed an unopposed motion to dismiss its consolidated appeals and has since indicated that it intends to revisit, and possibly revise or reissue, the "fiduciary" definition and related PTE amendments. We are monitoring these developments, including the potential impact on our business of any such changes.

Investment Adviser and Broker-Dealer Regulations

The asset management activities of 40|86 Advisors and Bankers Life Advisory Services, Inc. are subject to various federal and state securities laws and regulations. The SEC is the principal regulator of our asset management operations.

Our broker-dealer subsidiary, Bankers Life Securities, Inc., is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to federal and state regulation, including, but not limited to, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"). Agents and employees registered or associated with our broker-dealer subsidiary are subject to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and to examination requirements and regulation by the SEC, FINRA and state securities commissioners. The SEC and other governmental agencies, as well as state securities commissions in the United States, have the power to conduct administrative proceedings that can result in censure, fines, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders or suspension and termination or limitation of the activities of the regulated entity or its employees.

Numerous regulatory bodies are focused on enacting regulations requiring investment advisers, broker-dealers and/or agents to meet a higher standard of care when providing advice to their clients and to provide enhanced disclosure of conflicts of interest. For example, the SEC's Regulation Best Interest ("Reg BI") enhances the broker-dealer standard of conduct beyond existing suitability obligations and requires broker-dealers to act in the best interest of the customer when making a recommendation of any securities transaction or investment strategy involving securities to a retail customer. In addition, the Form CRS Relationship Summary requires registered investment advisers and broker-dealers to provide retail investors with simple, easy-to-understand information about the nature of their relationship with their financial professional. In addition to the SEC rules, the NAIC and several states have proposed and/or enacted laws and regulations requiring insurance producers to disclose conflicts of interest to clients and/or to meet a best interest standard of care when providing recommendations or advice to their clients. The NAIC revised the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation to apply a "best interest" standard for the sale of annuities. The amended model regulation has been adopted by four of our insurance subsidiaries' domiciliary states. In New York, the NYDFS amended Regulation – Suitability and Best Interests in Life Insurance and Annuity Transactions to add a "best interest" standard for recommendations regarding

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the sale of life insurance and annuity products in New York. In April 2025, the North American Securities Administrators Association ("NASAA") adopted an amendment to a model rule regarding broker-dealer conduct that is intended to account for revisions to federal conduct standards for broker dealers and agents arising out of the adoption of Reg BI by the SEC and other changes that have occurred in the financial services industry in recent years, including the blurring of brokerage and advisory service models. In addition, states may adopt these changes to the model rule.

Changes to the marketing requirements for registered investment advisers were adopted in December 2020 and became effective in November 2022. The amended rule imposes a number of new requirements that will affect marketing of certain advisory products, including, in particular, private funds. Our wholly-owned registered investment advisers have updated their policies and procedures for requirements effective in 2022 affecting marketing of certain advisory products, including, in particular, private funds.

Climate Change and Financial Risks

Climate risk has come under increased scrutiny by insurance regulators and other regulatory agencies. In New York, the NYDFS expects authorized insurers to integrate financial risks related to climate change into their governance frameworks, risk management processes and business strategies. The NYDFS issued guidance for New York domestic insurers, such as Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company, stating that they are expected to manage climate risks by outlining actions that are proportionate to the nature, scale and complexity of their businesses. For instance, such insurers should incorporate climate risk into their financial risk management (e.g., a company's ORSA should address climate risk). New York domestic insurers have implemented certain corporate governance changes and developed plans to implement organizational structure changes (e.g., clearly defining roles and responsibilities related to managing climate risk). With respect to the NYDFS' more complex expectations (e.g., using scenario analysis when developing business strategies), it will issue additional guidance on the implementation timelines. The board of directors of Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company approved a Climate Risk Policy in June 2022.

The NYDFS also amended the regulation that governs enterprise risk management, effective as of August 13, 2021, to require an insurance group's enterprise risk management function to address certain additional risks, including climate change risk. Our ORSA reports, which are filed with the NYDFS and our lead state regulator, include enhanced disclosure on the management of climate risk.

In September 2023, the California legislature passed a law that will require firms with annual revenues of over $1.0 billion that do business in the state to publicly report their greenhouse gas emissions, beginning in 2026 for calendar year 2025 subject to certain exceptions.

The NAIC is seeking to address climate-related risks through three areas of insurance regulation: financial risk analysis; insurance market availability and affordability; and consumer education and outreach. In 2022, the NAIC adopted a new standard for insurance companies to report their climate-related risks as part of its annual Climate Risk Disclosure Survey, which applies to insurers that meet the reporting threshold of $100 million in countrywide direct premium and are licensed in one of the participating jurisdictions. The disclosure standard is aligned with the international Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures' ("TCFD") framework for reporting climate-related financial information.

In addition, the FIO is assessing how the insurance sector may mitigate climate risks and help achieve national climate-related goals pursuant to its authority under the Dodd-Frank Act, as discussed above. In June 2023, the FIO released a report titled, Insurance Supervision and Regulation of Climate-Related Risks, which evaluates climate-related issues and gaps in insurer regulation. The report urges insurance regulators to adopt climate-related risk-monitoring guidance in order to enhance their regulation and supervision of insurers. No data has been requested from the life and health insurance industry.

Diversity

Insurance regulators and the NAIC are also focused on the topic of race, diversity and inclusion. In New York, the NYDFS issued a circular letter in 2021 stating that it expects the insurers it regulates, such as Bankers Conseco Life Insurance Company, to make diversity of their leadership a business priority and a key element of their corporate governance. As of early 2025, the NAIC Special (EX) Committee on Race and Insurance transitioned its work to standing committees to ensure the long-term integration of its initiatives, which included identifying barriers that disadvantage or discriminate against people of color or historically underrepresented groups and improving access to various insurance

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products in minority communities. They continue to collaborate with other NAIC groups on issues related to predictive modeling, price algorithms, and insurers' use of AI.

FEDERAL INCOME TAXATION

Our annuity and life insurance products generally provide policyholders with an income tax advantage, as compared to other savings investments such as certificates of deposit and bonds, because taxes on the increase in value of the products are deferred until received by policyholders. With other savings investments, the increase in value is generally taxed as earned. Annuity benefits and life insurance benefits, which accrue prior to the death of the policyholder, are generally not taxable until paid. Life insurance death benefits are generally exempt from income tax. Also, benefits received on immediate annuities (other than structured settlements) are recognized as taxable income ratably, as opposed to the methods used for some other investments which tend to accelerate taxable income into earlier years. The tax advantage for annuities and life insurance is provided in the Code and is generally followed in all states and other United States taxing jurisdictions.

Congress has considered, from time to time, possible changes to the U.S. tax laws, including elimination of the tax deferral on the accretion of value of certain annuities and life insurance products. It is possible that further tax legislation will be enacted which would contain provisions with possible adverse effects on our annuity and life insurance products.

Our U.S. based insurance company subsidiaries are taxed under the life insurance company provisions of the Code. Provisions in the Code require a portion of the expenses incurred in selling insurance products to be deducted over a period of years, as opposed to immediate deduction in the year incurred. This provision increases the tax for statutory accounting purposes, which reduces statutory earnings and surplus and, accordingly, decreases the amount of cash dividends that may be paid by the life insurance subsidiaries.

Our income tax expense includes deferred income taxes arising from temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities, capital loss carryforwards and net operating loss carryforwards ("NOLs"). In evaluating our deferred tax assets, we consider whether it is more likely than not that the deferred tax assets will be realized. The ultimate realization of our deferred tax assets depends upon generating future taxable income during the periods in which our temporary differences become deductible and before our NOLs expire. In addition, the use of our NOLs is dependent, in part, on whether the Internal Revenue Service ultimately agrees with the tax positions we have taken in previously filed tax returns and that we plan to take in future tax returns. Accordingly, with respect to our deferred tax assets, we assess the need for a valuation allowance on an ongoing basis.

On August 16, 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law which introduces a 15 percent minimum tax based on financial statement income. The Inflation Reduction Act also introduced a 1 percent excise tax on share buybacks, effective for tax years beginning in 2023. We continue to monitor developments and regulations associated with the Inflation Reduction Act for any potential future impacts on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 ("SECURE 2.0"), signed into law on December 29, 2022, makes significant changes to existing law for retirement plans by building upon provisions in the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019. SECURE 2.0 introduces new requirements and considerations for plan sponsors that are intended to expand coverage, increase savings, preserve income, and simplify plan rules and administrative procedures. Among other provisions, SECURE 2.0 directs the DOL to review its current interpretive bulletin regarding ERISA plan sponsors' selection of annuity providers for purposes of transferring plan sponsor benefit plan liability to such annuity providers. Such review could result in the DOL's imposition of new or different requirements on plan sponsors or on annuity providers or could make such selection process more difficult for the parties involved.

On July 4, 2025, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 was enacted in the United States, which among other things, provides permanent extension of certain expiring provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, modifications to the international tax framework and the restoration of favorable tax treatment for certain business provisions. The legislation has multiple effective dates, with certain provisions effective in 2025 and others implemented through 2027. These changes primarily impacted the timing of our tax deductions and did not have a material impact on our financial position or results of operations.