Voya Financial, Inc. (VOYA) Business

Item 1.         Business

For the purposes of this discussion, the terms "Voya," "the Company," "we," "our," and "us" refer to Voya Financial, Inc. and its subsidiaries.

We are a leading provider of workplace benefits and savings solutions and technologies to U.S. employers, enabling better financial outcomes for their employees and for those who depend on their employees through our retirement solutions, retail wealth services, and a comprehensive portfolio of benefits products. We are also a leading international asset manager, built on a foundation of institutional-quality fixed income and private asset strategies, with a well-established presence in U.S. markets and a large and growing business managing retail and institutional equity, fixed income and blended strategies for clients in Europe and Asia.

Voya has over 18 million individual customer relationships and more than 50 thousand employer and institutional client relationships across its businesses, as of December 31, 2025. We are committed to business practices centered on a culture of service to our customers, clients, colleagues and communities. Our approximately 11,000 employees (as of December 31, 2025), throughout the U.S. and in our global services capability center in India, are united by our Company's purpose: together we fight for everyone's opportunity for a better financial future.

We offer our products and services through a broad group of financial intermediaries, independent producers, affiliated advisors and dedicated sales specialists throughout the U.S., and also offer investment management services to international clients. We provide our workplace benefits and savings products to employers across every segment of the U.S. economy, in private, public, and tax-exempt markets, from small businesses with fewer than 50 employees to the largest corporations and public-sector employers in the country. Through our retirement platform and associated retail wealth capabilities, we reach nearly 10 million workplace retirement plan participant accounts as they enroll in retirement plans, choose contribution amounts, manage investment options, build wealth and improve financial wellness. We are also a leading provider of benefits administration services, through which we engage directly with approximately 12.2 million employees in the U.S. as they enroll in and use workplace benefits on our open-architecture, product-agnostic, desktop and mobile administration platforms.

We have strong market positions across both Retirement and Employee Benefits, with a full spectrum of solutions to serve the needs of employers and their employees. In Retirement, our award-winning retirement administration platform allows employees to plan for retirement and achieve better financial outcomes via leading financial wellness solutions such as our myVoyage decision support tool. Also within Retirement, our Wealth Management business offers advisory services to help individuals plan, protect and invest to and through retirement, with products and services provided through our registered investment advisor and broker-dealer, Voya Financial Advisors ("VFA"). In Employee Benefits, our comprehensive portfolio of group insurance and health account solutions helps protect employees and promote financial security during life's unexpected events, while our subsidiary Benefitfocus, Inc. ("Benefitfocus") provides our Benefitplace benefits administration platform to help employees select and use the best benefits options for their individual circumstances. For employers, these capabilities maximize the value of benefits spending and promote a healthier and more financially secure workforce.

In our Investment Management business, our strong culture of client service and specialized capabilities for institutional clients have established us as a leading manager for institutional mandates, especially in the insurance and pension fund markets. Our private asset capabilities, with particular strength in private fixed income and secondary private equity coupled with strong distribution capabilities, distinguish us in both the institutional and intermediary markets. Our strength in international retail markets, especially in Asia, is driven by scaled and highly competitive investment strategies distributed through our partnership with Allianz Global Investments.

Now well into our second decade as a public company, we continue to demonstrate consistent organic growth, prudent capital management, and delivering for our customers. We have transformed Voya to create a diversified, capital light, growth oriented, high excess capital generation company built for resilience through various economic cycles. We have significant diversification across businesses, geographic markets, and revenue types, including fee-based, spread-based and underwriting.

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Our Segments

We report our financial results in three segments: Retirement, Investment Management and Employee Benefits.

As of December 31, 2025, on a consolidated basis, we had $1.1 trillion in total assets under management ("AUM") and assets under administration ("AUA") and total shareholders' equity, excluding accumulated other comprehensive income/loss ("AOCI") and noncontrolling interest, of $6.7 billion.

For the year ended December 31, 2025, we generated $837 million of Income before income taxes, and $1,038 million of Adjusted operating earnings before income taxes. Adjusted operating earnings before income taxes is a non-GAAP financial measure. For a reconciliation of Adjusted operating earnings before income taxes to Income before income taxes, see the Segments Note to our Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ORGANIZATIONAL HISTORY AND STRUCTURE

Our History

Prior to our initial public offering in May 2013, we were a wholly owned subsidiary of ING Groep N.V. ("ING Group"), a global financial institution based in the Netherlands.

Through ING Group, we entered the U.S. life insurance market in 1975 with the acquisition of Wisconsin National Life Insurance Company, followed by ING Group's acquisition of Midwestern United Life Insurance Company in 1976 and Security Life of Denver Insurance Company in 1977. ING Group significantly expanded its presence in the U.S. in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the acquisitions of Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa (1997), Furman Selz, an investment advisory company (1997), ReliaStar Life Insurance Company (including Pilgrim Capital Corporation) (2000), Aetna Life Insurance and Annuity Company (including Aeltus Investment Management) (2000) and CitiStreet (2008). We became a public company in May 2013 and ING Group completely divested its ownership of Voya Financial, Inc. common stock between 2013 and 2015.

We have evolved as a company through the divestiture of substantially all of our closed block variable annuity, life insurance and legacy non-retirement annuity businesses and related assets. These divestitures align with our strategic focus on a capital light, high excess capital generation business that maximizes value for our shareholders through capital return and accelerated profitable revenue growth while proactively managing risk.

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Our Organizational Structure

We are a holding company incorporated in Delaware in April 1999. We operate our businesses through a number of direct and indirect subsidiaries. The following organizational chart presents the ownership and jurisdiction of incorporation of our principal subsidiaries as of December 31, 2025:

This chart shows our principal intermediate holding company, Voya Holdings; our principal insurance operating entities, VRIAC and RLI; and Voya IM, the parent company of the various entities through which we operate our Investment Management segment. We hold our interest in Voya IM through an intermediate subsidiary in which an affiliate of Allianz SE holds a 24% equity interest.

Recent Acquisition Transactions

OneAmerica

On January 2, 2025, we completed the acquisition of the full-service retirement plan business of OneAmerica Financial through the purchase of legal entities and an indemnity reinsurance agreement. The acquisition adds scale and a broader set of capabilities to the Company's full-service business in Retirement, including incremental assets in emerging and mid-market segments, employee stock ownership plan capabilities, and new distribution partnerships. The purchase consideration included $50 million in cash paid at closing and contingent consideration of up to $160 million based on plan persistency and transition incentives to be paid in 2026.

For further details, refer to the Business, Basis of Presentation and Significant Accounting Policies Note, the Deferred Policy Acquisition Costs and Value of Business Acquired Note, the Reserves for Future Policy Benefits and Contract Owner Account Balances Note, and the Reinsurance Note in our Consolidated Financial Statements in Part II, Item 8. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

OUR BUSINESSES

Retirement

Our Retirement segment provides retirement plan solutions and administration technology and services to employers through our Retirement business. It also provides individual retirement accounts and financial guidance, planning, and advisory services

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through our Wealth Management business. Retirement had approximately $796.5 billion of AUM and AUA as of December 31, 2025, of which approximately $84.7 billion was in proprietary assets.

Revenue is earned from a diverse and complementary business mix and consists primarily of fee and investment income. Fee income is generated from asset based and participant based administrative, recordkeeping and advisory fees. Investment income derives from our general account assets and other funds. Because a significant portion of our revenues is tied to account values, our profitability is determined in part by the amount of assets we have under management, administration or advisement. This in turn depends on sales volumes from new and existing clients, net deposits from retirement plan participants, asset retention, and changes in the market value of account assets. Our profitability also depends on the difference between the investment income we earn on our general account assets, or our portfolio yield, and crediting rates on client accounts. Retirement generated Adjusted operating earnings before income taxes of $959 million for the year ended December 31, 2025. Our Investment Management segment also earns market-based fees from the management of the general account and mutual fund assets supporting the Retirement business and certain Wealth Management products and advisory solutions.

Products and Services

Our Retirement business provides services to U.S. employers with nearly 10 million participant accounts as of December 31, 2025. Our diverse client base includes companies of all sizes, public and private school systems, higher education institutions, hospitals and healthcare facilities, not-for-profit organizations and state and local governments. We offer a variety of defined contribution plan administration and investment services through our Full Service, Recordkeeping and Stable Value businesses, as well as in-plan Managed Account services and tailored participant communications and education programs to help employers encourage plan participation and financial wellness for their employees. We also provide options for participant services that include financial guidance and personalized planning and investment advisory services offered through our Wealth Management business. In addition to solutions provided directly from these businesses, plan sponsors may choose to make our Voya Health Account Solutions products accessible through our retirement plan offerings. Furthermore, our digital capabilities power our market-leading customer experience for employers and employees alike, including through our Voya Retire mobile application, which provides a comprehensive guidance tool for employees to see their entire financial picture and engage with their workplace benefits and savings.

Full-Service. Full-service retirement products provide plan sponsors with options that meet their needs for both administrative and investment services, which include recordkeeping and plan administration support, trustee services and institutional and retail investments. Offerings include tax-advantaged retirement savings plans (offered through annuity contracts, group funding agreements, collective investments trusts or mutual fund products), non-qualified executive benefit plans and employer stock option plans. Plan sponsors may select from a variety of structures for the investment component of their plan, such as general account, separate account, mutual funds, stable value or collective investment trusts and a variety of underlying asset types (including their own employer stock and a private equity option within non-qualified executive plans). A broad selection of funds is available for our products in all asset categories from over 200 fund families, including the Voya family of mutual funds managed by Voya IM. An open-architecture investment platform is also available in certain products for larger plans.

Recordkeeping. Recordkeeping service solutions provide recordkeeping and plan administration support alongside a fully open-architecture investment platform. Plan sponsors may choose to use Voya investment options or only third-party investment options. Our non-qualified executive benefit plans and employer stock option plans are also available service options.

Stable Value. Stable value investment options may be offered within our Full-Service institutional plans, or as investment-only options within either our recordkeeping services plans or other vendor plans. Our product offering includes both separate account guaranteed investment contracts ("GICs"), synthetic GICs managed by either proprietary or outside investment managers, and pooled funds.

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The following chart presents our Retirement product/service models and corresponding AUM and AUA as of December 31, 2025, key markets in which we compete, primary defined contribution plan Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") sections and core products offered for each market segment.

(1) Excludes AUM and AUA related to Wealth Management (retail) clients and intersegment eliminations.

(2) Includes legacy assets associated with K-12 Education market products, primarily fixed annuities, issued by RLI that are no longer manufactured.

(3) Includes primarily non-qualified retirement plans and a small block of other guaranteed payout products.

(4) Includes Stable Value Investment-only Wrap and Stable Value Separate Accounts, some of which are also included in the full-service and recordkeeping assets identified above.

Our Voya Framework product is a mutual fund program for qualified retirement plans with a uniform and consistent product experience across multiple plan markets. Framework also offers Collective Investment Trusts ("CITs") and a self-directed brokerage account where participants have access to other investment options such as ETFs.

Our Voya MAP Select product is a group funding agreement/group annuity contract to fund qualified retirement plans.

Voya Framework and Voya MAP Select products both contain over 300 funds from well-known fund families for smaller plans or can be provided as an open-architecture investment platform for larger plans. These products also include our general account and various stable value solutions as investment options.

A variety of other products offered in the Full-Service Education, Healthcare and Government markets include the following:

•Voya Retirement Choice II and RetireFlex-MF, mutual fund products providing flexible funding vehicles and are designed to provide a diversified menu of mutual funds in addition to a guaranteed option (available through a group fixed annuity contract or stable value product).

•Voya Retirement Plus II and Voya Custom Choice II, registered group annuity products featuring variable investment options held in a variable annuity separate account and a fixed investment option held in the general account.

•RetireFlex-SA, an unregistered group annuity product featuring variable investment options held in a variable annuity separate account and a guaranteed option (available through a group fixed annuity contract or stable value product).

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Additional products and services are available through our Voya Cares® program, which serves aging people and people with special needs and disabilities, as well as their families and caregivers.

Markets and Distribution

We provide retirement products and services to employers and plan sponsors across a broad range of markets, including corporate employers offering defined contribution plans such as 401(k) plans; private and public education institutions offering 403(b) plans; healthcare organizations; and governmental entities offering 457 plans. We serve these markets across the full spectrum of plan sizes, ranging from start-up and small employer plans to some of the largest workplace and voluntary retirement plans in the industry. Our distribution model is aligned primarily by plan size and market needs. Our Emerging and Mid-Market teams serve employers across all markets with plans generally under $500 million in assets, while our Large Market team focuses on employers with more than $500 million in plan assets. In addition, our dedicated Government team is structured to address the distinct regulatory, operational, and service requirements of governmental retirement plans.

Our Retirement plans are distributed nationally through multiple unaffiliated channels with local support provided by our employee wholesale field force and dedicated sales teams and through other affiliated distribution such as our broker-dealer and investment advisor, Voya Financial Advisors ("VFA").

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Competition

Our Retirement business competes with other large, well-established insurance companies, asset managers, record keepers and diversified financial institutions. Our Full-Service business also competes on the breadth of our service and investment offerings, technical and regulatory expertise, reputation and industry experience, local enrollment and education support, and investment flexibility. Our Recordkeeping services business competes through our size and scale, strong sponsor relationships, flexible value-added services, ability to support the most complex plans to match client needs, along with strong technical and regulatory expertise. The following chart presents a summary of the current competitive landscape where we offer our retirement plans and stable value solutions:

Wealth Management

Products and Services

Our Wealth Management business offers a variety of investments and protection products, along with advice and guidance delivered to individuals through field-based advisory representatives and home office phone-based representatives. Our current investment solutions include mutual fund custodial IRA products, managed accounts and advisory programs, and brokerage accounts. The IRA products include certain tax-qualified mutual fund custodial products, which are also sold by our employee wholesale team that works directly with affiliated and unaffiliated brokers and advisers who sell to individuals or small businesses.

We use our Wealth Management business to deepen our long-term relationships with the defined contribution plan participants on our retirement platform. We believe that our ability to offer an integrated approach to an individual customer’s entire financial picture, while saving for or living in retirement, presents a compelling reason for participants to partner with us as their principal investment and retirement plan provider. Through our broad range of advisory programs, our financial advisers are provided with a wide set of solutions for building their clients' investment portfolios, including stocks, bonds and mutual funds, as well as managed accounts.

Markets and Distribution

Wealth Management products and advisory services are primarily sold to individuals through representatives licensed through VFA, our broker-dealer and investment advisor. VFA representatives help provide cohesiveness between our Retirement and Wealth Management businesses and are grouped into two primary categories: field-based and home office phone-based representatives. Field-based representatives are registered sales and investment advisory representatives that drive both fee-based and commissioned sales. They provide face-to-face interaction with individuals seeking retail investment products (e.g., IRA products) as well as planning and advisory solutions. Home office phone-based representatives focus on assisting participants in our workplace retirement plans, primarily for our larger recordkeeping plans, with rollover products and advisory services. They also provide financial advice that helps customers transition through life stage and job-related changes. Our custodial mutual fund IRA product is also sold to individuals by unaffiliated brokers and advisors.

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Competition

Our Wealth Management advisory services and product solutions compete for rollover and other asset consolidation opportunities against integrated financial services companies and independent broker-dealers who also offer individual retirement products, all of which currently have more market share than insurance-based providers in this space. Primary competitors to our Wealth Management business include LPL, SagePoint Financial, Kestra, Waddell & Reed, Securities America and Commonwealth.

Investment Management

With global distribution capabilities, we offer domestic and international fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset products and solutions across market sectors and investment styles through our actively managed, full-service investment management business. As of December 31, 2025, our Investment Management segment managed $286.9 billion for third-party institutional and individual investors (including third-party variable annuity-sourced assets), $35.9 billion in separate account assets for our other businesses and $37.3 billion in general account assets. We also offer a range of privates and alternative asset solutions across fixed income and alternative investment products with AUM of $100.9 billion for such privates and alternatives products as of December 31, 2025.

On July 25, 2022, we completed a transaction with Allianz SE ("Allianz") and Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC ("AllianzGI") , pursuant to which we acquired assets and investment teams comprising specified strategies previously managed by AllianzGI. The AllianzGI Transaction has increased Investment Management's international scale and distribution and provided us with new investment strategies that help us meet the needs of a larger and more global client base. As a result of the AllianzGI Transaction, we hold a 76% equity interest in Voya IM, and an affiliate of Allianz, the global parent of AllianzGI, holds the other 24%.

We aim to provide positive investment results that are repeatable and consistent, and deliver research-driven, risk-adjusted, client-oriented investment strategies and solutions and advisory services across asset classes, geographies and investment styles.

Through our institutional distribution channel and our Retirement and Employee Benefits businesses, we serve a variety of institutional clients, including public, corporate and multiemployer defined benefit and defined contribution retirement plans, endowments and foundations, and insurance companies. We are a market leader in providing third-party general account management services to insurance companies, with a focus on public and private fixed income asset strategies, and a client service model adapted for the particular needs of insurance company clients. We also serve individual investors by offering our mutual funds, separately managed accounts, and private and alternative funds through an intermediary-focused distribution platform or through affiliate and third-party retirement platforms. Our scaled and growing international retail business is conducted through sub-advisory agreements with investment vehicles sponsored by affiliates of AllianzGI and distributed in Europe and Asia.

Investment Management’s primary source of revenue is management fees collected on the assets we manage. These fees are typically based on a percentage of AUM. In certain investment management fee arrangements, we may also receive performance-based incentive fees when the return on AUM exceeds certain benchmark returns or other performance hurdles. In addition, and to a lesser extent, Investment Management collects administrative fees on outside managed assets that are administered by our mutual fund platform and distributed primarily by our Retirement segment. Investment Management also receives fees as the primary investment manager of our general account, which is managed on a market-based pricing basis. Finally, Investment Management generates revenues from a portfolio of seed capital investments in private equity, collateralized loan obligations and various funds. Excluding Allianz's non-controlling interest, Investment Management generated adjusted operating earnings before income taxes of $226 million for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Products and Services

Investment Management delivers products and services that are manufactured through our traditional, private asset and alternative investment capabilities. The traditional platforms are fixed income, equities and multi-asset strategies and solutions ("MASS"). Our private asset and alternative capabilities include investment strategies such as private equity, private credit (investment grade and high yield), commercial mortgage loans, mortgage derivatives, leveraged credit and collateralized loan obligations ("CLOs"). The onboarding of former AllianzGI investment strategies has increased our product offering across thematic and fundamental equity and added multi-asset fund offerings.

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Fixed Income. Investment Management’s fixed income platform manages assets for domestic and international institutional investors, retail investors and our general account. As of December 31, 2025, there was $242.7 billion in AUM on the fixed income platform, of which $37.3 billion were general account assets. Through the fixed income platform, clients have access to public fixed income strategies including money market funds, investment-grade corporate debt, government bonds, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), commercial mortgage-backed securities ("CMBS"), asset-backed securities ("ABS"), and high yield bonds. Our private fixed income capabilities include private placements, middle market private debt and syndicated debt instruments, leveraged credit, structured products (e.g., CLOs), commercial mortgages and preferred securities. Each sector within the platform is managed by seasoned investment professionals supported by significant credit, quantitative and macro research and risk management capabilities.

Equities. The equities platform is a multi-cap and multi-style research-driven platform comprising thematic, fundamental and quantitative equity strategies for institutional and retail investors. As of December 31, 2025, there were $102.8 billion in AUM on the equities platform covering both domestic and international markets. Our fundamental equity capabilities are bottom-up and research driven, and cover growth, value, and core strategies in the large, mid and small cap spaces. The AllianzGI Transaction added thematic and fundamental equity capabilities. Our quantitative equity capabilities are used to create quantitative and enhanced indexed strategies, support other fundamental equity analysis, and create extension products.

Alternatives. Investment Management’s largest alternatives platform is Pomona Capital. Pomona Capital specializes in investing in private equity funds: by purchasing secondary interests in existing partnerships; investing in new partnerships; and co-investing alongside buyout funds in individual companies. As of December 31, 2025, Pomona Capital managed assets totaling $8.8 billion across a suite of limited partnerships and the Pomona Investment Fund, a registered investment fund. In addition, Investment Management's alternatives platform includes privately-placed open-end and closed-end funds, the underlying strategies of which leverage our core private credit and mortgage loan investment capabilities. As of December 31, 2025, there were $14.6 billion in alternatives AUM.

MASS. Investment Management’s MASS platform offers a variety of investment products and strategies that combine multiple asset classes using asset allocation techniques. The objective of the MASS platform is to develop customized solutions that meet specific, and often unique, goals of investors that dynamically change over time in response to changing markets and client needs. Utilizing core capabilities in asset allocation, manager selection, asset/liability modeling, risk management and financial engineering, the MASS team has developed a suite of target date and target risk funds that are distributed through our Retirement segment and to institutional and retail investors. These funds can incorporate multi-manager funds. The MASS team also provides pension risk management, strategic and tactical asset allocation, liability-driven investing solutions and investment strategies that hedge out specific market exposures (e.g., portable alpha) for clients.

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The following table presents asset and net flow data, broken out by Investment Management’s five investment platforms as well as by major client segment:

(1) $29.8 billion of MASS assets are included in the fixed income, equity and alternatives AUM categories presented above. The balance of MASS assets, $19.3 billion, is managed by third parties and we earn only a market-rate fee on the assets. MASS Net Flows includes flows for both AUM and assets managed by third parties.

N/A - Not applicable

Markets and Distribution

We serve our institutional clients through a dedicated sales and service platform domestically and internationally. Our strategic distribution partnership with AllianzGI significantly enhances our distribution reach globally. We serve individual investors through an intermediary-focused distribution platform, consisting of business development and wholesale forces that partner with banks, broker-dealers and independent financial advisers, as well as our affiliate and third-party retirement platforms.

With the exception of Pomona Capital and certain structured products, the different products and strategies associated with our investment platforms are distributed and serviced by these Retail and Institutional client-focused segments as follows:

•Retail client segment: This segment consists of registered open- and closed-end funds and Separately Managed Accounts through affiliate and third-party distribution platforms, including warehouses, brokerage firms, registered investment advisors, banks, trust companies and independent and regional broker-dealers. Our international retail business is carried out through sub-advisory arrangements with UCITS vehicles and other pooled investment vehicles sponsored and distributed by AllianzGI. As of December 31, 2025, total AUM from these channels was $151.3 billion, including $1.7 billion of AUM managed on behalf of divested businesses.

•Institutional client segment: This segment consists of individual and pooled accounts, targeting defined benefit, defined contribution recordkeeping and retirement plans, multiemployer plans and endowments and foundations. As of December 31, 2025, Investment Management had 355 institutional clients, representing $171.5 billion of AUM primarily in separately managed accounts and collective investment trusts.

Competition

Investment Management competes with a wide array of asset managers and institutions in the highly fragmented U.S. and global investment management industry. In our key market segments, Investment Management competes on the basis of, among other things, investment performance, investment philosophy and process, product features and structure and client service. Our principal competitors include insurance-owned asset managers such as Principal Global Investors (Principal Financial Group), Prudential and Ameriprise and bank-owned asset managers such as "pure-play" asset managers including Invesco, T. Rowe Price, Franklin Templeton, Janus Henderson and Virtus Investment Partners.

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Employee Benefits

Our Employee Benefits segment provides workplace employee benefits including group life insurance, disability insurance, leave management services, supplemental benefit insurance, financial wellness, and decision support products and services to mid-size and large corporate employers and professional associations. We serve the employer market by providing stop-loss coverage to employer plan sponsors that self-fund their pharmaceutical and medical benefits plans. In addition, we provide Health Account Solutions (Health Savings Account ("HSA")/Flexible Spending Account ("FSA")/Health Reimbursement Arrangements ("HRA") and COBRA administration). Our Employee Benefits segment is among the largest writers of stop-loss coverage in the U.S., currently ranking third among direct providers of stop loss on a premium basis with approximately $1.6 billion of in-force premiums. We also rank third in our supplemental health benefits markets offering and are a top 15 provider of group life insurance.

As of December 31, 2025, Employee Benefits total in-force premiums and fees were $3.6 billion.

Our Employee Benefits segment also provides benefits and plan administration services to employers and health plans through our Benefitfocus business. Benefitfocus provides market-leading benefits enrollment and administration services to employers and plan enrollment services to health plans. It also provides a benefits marketplace through which employees can select and enroll in voluntary benefits offered by their employers. Our Benefitfocus platform is open-architecture and product-agnostic, enrolling and administering benefits from a variety of third-party carriers.

In addition, we also provide decision support tools through the Benefitfocus enrollment platform and through our MyVoyage application, which provides a comprehensive guidance tool for employees to see their entire financial picture including their workplace benefits and savings. We support employers by taking on the administrative burden of benefits enrollment and administration, leave management, COBRA administration, and other obligations.

The Employee Benefits segment generates revenue from premiums and fees, investment income, mortality and morbidity income, and policy and other charges. Underwriting income comprises the majority of revenues in this segment and derives from the difference between premiums and mortality charges collected and benefits and expenses paid for group life, stop loss and voluntary benefits. Fee income is generated from services provided on benefits administration, leave management, HSA/FSA/HRA and COBRA administration and proprietary decision support tools. Investment income is driven by the spread between investment yields and credited rates (the interest and income that is credited to the policies) to policyholders on voluntary universal life, whole life products, and HSA invested assets, as well as the spread earned on policyholder reserves and target surplus. Our Employee Benefits segment generated adjusted operating earnings before income taxes of $152 million for the year ended December 31, 2025.

Products and Services

Voluntary Benefits. Our voluntary benefits business involves the sale of whole life insurance, term life insurance, critical illness, accident and hospital indemnity insurance, while also servicing universal life insurance policies. This product lineup is mostly employee-paid through payroll deduction.

Stop Loss. Our stop-loss insurance provides coverage for mid-sized to large employers that self-insure their medical claims. These employers provide a health plan to their employees and generally pay all plan-related claims and administrative expenses. Our stop-loss product helps these employers manage their health expenses by reimbursing specified claim amounts above certain deductibles and by reimbursing claims that exceed a specified limit. We offer this product through individual stop-loss insurance and aggregate stop-loss insurance, which are both re-priced and renewable annually. Individual stop-loss insurance reimburses individual specified claim amounts that exceed a deductible whereas aggregate stop-loss insurance reimburses the amount of the collective eligible claims of the group exceeding a specified limit, potentially subject to a limit.

Group Life. Group life products span basic and supplemental term life insurance as well as accidental death and dismemberment for mid-sized to large employers. These products offer employees guaranteed issue coverage, options for additional underwritten coverage, convenient payroll deduction, affordable rates and conversion options.

Group Disability and Leave Administration. Group disability includes group long term disability, short term disability, voluntary long term disability and voluntary short term disability products as well as leave administration for mid-sized to large employers. This product offering is typically packaged for sale with group life products, especially in the middle-market. We also provide leave administration services. Through the end of 2025, we partnered with FullScopeRMS, a third-party insurer, to

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provide leave management and reinsure 100% of our group disability. Going forward, we will retain short-term disability risk and leave administration on new business and recapture our short-term disability and leave administration in-force block from the reinsurer through 2027. In 2026, we also launched a suite of Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) Private Plan options for employer clients. These products are offered on both an insured and administrative services only basis.

Benefits Administration. Through Benefitfocus, we provide benefits administration services to employers and health plan enrollment services to health plan clients. Employers have access to an online benefits enrollment experience for their employees, telephone enrollment support, and related billing and administration services. Our benefits marketplace enables employees to enroll in voluntary benefits chosen by their employers. For health plans, we offer a software solution for direct member enrollment. The Benefitplace platform delivers an advanced enrollment experience, including decision support powered by analytics from our MyVoyage application, helping participants optimize their workplace benefits and savings.

Health Account Solutions. This product line involves the sale of HSA, FSA, HRA, commuter and dependent care benefits, COBRA administration and direct billing services.

Financial Wellness and Decision Support. With our MyVoyage application, we offer a distinctive guidance tool that assists employees and their dependents to make more informed decisions in making enrollment decisions that span medical coverage, dental insurance, vision, HSA, FSA, retirement contributions and emergency savings. Premiums associated with Financial Wellness and Decision Support are included within Health Account Solutions.

The following chart presents the key Employee Benefits products we offer, along with annualized in-force premiums and fees for each product:

Markets and Distribution

Our Employee Benefits segment works primarily with national and regional benefits consultants, brokers, TPAs, enrollment firms and technology partners. Our tenured distribution organization provides local sales and account management support to offer customized solutions to mid-sized to large employers backed by a national accounts team.

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Competition

Our Employee Benefits business competition ranges in maturity depending on the types of products offered, and we compete across a variety of metrics.

Underwriting

Group insurance underwriting and pricing are essential components of our risk management framework and directly influence the profitability and sustainability of the group insurance portfolio. The process is designed to ensure that premiums charged to employer groups are commensurate with the risk presented, reflecting both the historical claims experience and the anticipated future risk profile.

Pricing for group insurance is primarily determined by a thorough evaluation of each employer group’s historical claims experience and risk characteristics. This experience rating approach enables the alignment of premiums with the actual risk presented by the group, accounting for both the frequency and severity of claims. In addition to claims data, a comprehensive risk assessment is conducted, taking into account the group’s demographic composition, industry sector, geographic location, and other pertinent factors that may influence future claims. Risk characteristics are systematically reviewed to identify trends or emerging risks that could impact loss ratios.

Group insurance contracts generally include a rate guarantee period, during which premium rates are fixed and not subject to adjustment. Rate guarantee periods commonly range from one to three years, depending on the product and negotiated terms with the employer group. At the end of the rate guarantee period, a comprehensive review is undertaken of the group’s claims experience and risk characteristics. Based on this analysis, premium rates may be adjusted to reflect changes in claims patterns, group demographics, or external risk factors.

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These regular pricing adjustments are fundamental to maintaining the financial stability of the portfolio and ensuring that premiums remain aligned with the underlying risk.

The underwriting process for group insurance incorporates a range of quantitative and qualitative criteria to evaluate and price risk effectively:

•Morbidity and Mortality Assumptions: Underwriters apply actuarially developed morbidity and mortality tables to forecast the expected incidence and cost of claims, tailored to the product type and covered population.

•Demographic Composition: Analysis of the group’s age distribution, gender mix, and dependent status provides insight into likely claims experience and helps refine pricing assumptions.

•Industry and Occupational Factors: The nature of the group’s business and the types of occupations represented can materially influence risk, with certain industries exhibiting higher or lower claims trends.

•Geographic Location: Regional cost variations, access to healthcare resources, and local regulatory environments are considered in setting appropriate premium rates.

•Economic Trends: Macroeconomic conditions, including employment rates and wage growth, are monitored for their potential impact on claims incidence, particularly for disability and supplemental health products.

•Plan Design: The specific benefit structure, including deductibles, copayments, and coverage limits, is evaluated to assess the potential for adverse selection or increased claims frequency.

•Prior Claims Experience: Historical loss ratios and claims volatility are key predictors of future risk and are weighted accordingly in pricing models.

Pricing for our group disability products has historically been determined by our reinsurer, FullScopeRMS, and we have assumed limited underwriting risk in connection with such products. Going forward with business effective 2026, pricing of leave administration and short term disability will be determined by Voya similar to other group insurance products.

Stop-loss insurance is generally issued on an annual basis and is subject to renewal and full underwriting review each year. At each renewal, a comprehensive assessment is undertaken of the policyholder’s claims experience, current risk characteristics, and any changes in the underlying covered population. The annual underwriting review for stop-loss insurance includes an evaluation of the following key criteria:

•Medical Cost Trends: Analysis of prevailing healthcare cost inflation and utilization patterns to anticipate future claims exposure.

•Morbidity Assumptions: Application of current morbidity data to project the likelihood and potential severity of large claims.

•Claims History: Review of the policyholder’s prior stop-loss claims and large loss frequency.

•Group Demographics and Plan Design: Consideration of any changes in the group’s size, composition, or benefit structure that may affect claims risk.

•External Factors: Monitoring of regulatory changes, provider network dynamics, and broader market developments that may influence stop-loss risk.

Based on this analysis, premium rates and terms are set for the upcoming policy period, with the objective of ensuring that pricing remains adequate relative to the anticipated risk.

Reinsurance

Our Employee Benefits reinsurance strategy seeks to limit our exposure to any one individual which helps limit and control risk. Group Life, which includes Accidental Death and Dismemberment, cedes the excess over $750,000 of each coverage to a reinsurer. Group Long Term Disability cedes substantially all of the risk and the claims servicing, to a TPA and reinsurer. As of January 1, 2025, 2024 and 2023, Stop Loss has or had a reinsurance program that limits our exposure on any one specific claim to $5 million, with aggregate stop-loss reinsurance that limits our exposure to $5 million over the Policyholder's Aggregate Excess Retention. See Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Risk Management in Part II, Item 7A. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We also use several reinsurance arrangements which lower required capital of the Employee Benefits segment.

Human Capital Resources

Voya's human capital strategy strives to recruit the best talent to deliver exceptional service to, and meet the evolving needs of, our diverse customer base. We believe that attracting and retaining a high-performing and diverse workforce, as well as

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building an inclusive culture, are essential to effectively serving our customers and fulfilling Voya's purpose of fighting together for everyone's opportunity for a better financial future. We also prioritize building connections between our employees and their communities through support of employee volunteerism and giving. Our talent management strategy focuses on our talent review process, leadership development, succession planning, mentoring programs, performance management process, coaching and feedback. Voya's Learning Center offers training and tools to help employees develop as they advance their careers, including through transitions into different roles within Voya. Voya's Career Hub offers mentoring, networking, and the ability to create development plans or participate in short-term projects.

As of December 31, 2025, we had approximately 11,000 employees, 71% of whom are U.S.-based and 29% of whom are India-based. Our primary office locations are in New York, NY; Windsor, CT; Minneapolis, MN; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Scottsdale, AZ; Walnut Creek, CA; San Diego, CA; and Bengaluru, India. Approximately 86.5% of our U.S.-based workforce is fully remote, approximately 11.6% is hybrid (working in an office location for part of their time) and approximately 1.9% are office-essential workers.

Total Rewards

Voya offers market-competitive and equitable compensation and benefits in order to attract, retain, and motivate a talented and diverse workforce. Our Total Rewards offering is made up of direct compensation (base salary, annual and/or long-term incentives), company-sponsored benefits (retirement savings, health and welfare plans, paid time off, and work-life balance programs) and development opportunities.

REGULATION

Our operations and businesses are subject to a significant number of Federal and state laws, regulations, and administrative determinations. Following is a description of certain legal and regulatory frameworks to which we or our subsidiaries are or may be subject.

Voya Financial, Inc. is the holding company for all of our business operations, which we conduct through our subsidiaries. Voya Financial, Inc. is not licensed as an insurer, investment advisor, trust company or broker-dealer but, because we own regulated insurers, we are subject to regulation as an insurance holding company.

Insurance Regulation

We have three U.S. insurance subsidiaries – VRIAC, RLI and ReliaStar of New York, which are domiciled in Connecticut, Minnesota and New York, respectively. These are collectively referred to as "our insurance subsidiaries" and VRIAC and RLI are referred to as our "Principal Insurance Subsidiaries" in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for purposes of discussions of U.S. insurance regulatory matters.

Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to comprehensive regulation and supervision under U.S. state and federal laws. Each U.S. state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories and possessions have insurance laws that apply to companies licensed to conduct insurance business in the jurisdiction. However, the primary regulator of an insurance company is its state of domicile. Each of our insurance subsidiaries is licensed and regulated in each state in which it conducts insurance business.

Our insurance agencies and third-party administrators are also subject to regulation by insurance departments in the states in which they do business.

State insurance laws and regulations grant insurance regulators broad regulatory and administrative powers with respect to all aspects of the insurance business. State regulators enforce the requirements of insurance laws and regulations through periodic market conduct examinations and other examinations.

State insurance laws and regulations require our insurance subsidiaries to file financial statements with state insurance regulators everywhere they are licensed and the operations of our insurance subsidiaries and accounts are subject to examination by those regulators at any time. Our insurance subsidiaries prepare statutory financial statements in accordance with accounting practices and procedures developed by regulators to monitor and regulate the solvency of insurance companies and their ability to pay current and future policyholder obligations. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC") has approved these uniform statutory accounting principles which have in turn been adopted, in some cases with minor modifications, by all state insurance regulators.

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Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to periodic financial examinations and other inquiries and investigations by their respective domiciliary state insurance regulators and other state law enforcement agencies and attorneys general.

Insurance Holding Company Regulation

Voya Financial, Inc. and our insurance subsidiaries are subject to the insurance holding company laws of the states in which such insurance subsidiaries are domiciled. These laws generally require each insurance company directly or indirectly owned by the holding company to register with the insurance regulator in the insurance company’s state of domicile and to furnish annually financial and other information about the operations of companies within the holding company system.

Affiliate Transactions. Generally, all transactions between an insurer and another affiliate in the holding company system must be fair and reasonable and, if material, require prior notice and approval or non-disapproval by the insurance commissioner of the state of domicile of the relevant insurance subsidiary.

Change of Control. State insurance holding company regulations generally provide that no person, corporation or other entity may acquire control of an insurance company, or a controlling interest in any parent company of an insurance company, without the prior approval of such insurance company's domiciliary state insurance regulator. Under the laws of each of the domiciliary states of our insurance subsidiaries, any person acquiring, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting securities of an insurance company is presumed to have acquired "control" of the company. This statutory presumption of control may be rebutted by a showing that control does not exist in fact. State insurance regulators, however, may find that "control" exists in circumstances in which a person owns or controls less than 10% of voting securities.

Any purchaser of shares of common stock representing 10% or more of the voting power of our capital stock will be presumed to have acquired control of our insurance subsidiaries unless, following application by that purchaser in each insurance subsidiary's state of domicile, the relevant insurance commissioner determines otherwise.

NAIC Regulations. The NAIC insurance holding company model act and regulations, versions of which have been adopted by our insurance subsidiaries' domicile states, include a requirement that an insurance holding company system's ultimate controlling person submit annually to its lead state insurance regulator an "enterprise risk report" that identifies activities, circumstances or events involving one or more affiliates of an insurer that, if not remedied properly, are likely to have a material adverse effect upon the financial condition or liquidity of the insurer or its insurance holding company system as a whole.

In addition, the NAIC's Risk Management and Own Risk and Solvency Assessment ("ORSA") Model Act, which has been adopted by our insurance subsidiaries' domicile states, requires that insurers maintain a risk management framework and conduct an internal risk and solvency assessment of the insurer's material risks in normal and stressed environments. In accordance with statutory requirements, Voya annually prepares and submits the ORSA reports. Our insurance subsidiary domiciliary regulators have adopted some form of the Corporate Governance Annual Disclosure ("CGAD") Model Regulation, which requires insurers to make an annual confidential filing regarding their corporate governance policies; the CGAD filing is made at the holding company level.

Dividend Payment Restrictions. As a holding company with no significant business operations of our own, we depend on dividends and other distributions from our subsidiaries as the principal source of cash to meet our obligations, including the payment of dividends and the payment of interest on, and repayment of principal of, our outstanding debt obligations. The states in which our insurance subsidiaries are domiciled impose certain restrictions on such subsidiaries’ ability to pay dividends to us. These restrictions are based in part on the prior year’s statutory income and surplus. In general, dividends up to specified levels are considered ordinary and may be paid without prior approval, although notice of the dividend is required. Dividends above these levels, or extraordinary dividends, are subject to approval by the insurance commissioner of the state of domicile of the insurance subsidiary proposing to pay the dividend.

For a summary of ordinary dividends and extraordinary distributions paid by each of our insurance subsidiaries to Voya Financial, Inc. or Voya Holdings in 2025 and 2024, and a discussion of ordinary dividend capacity for 2026, see Liquidity and Capital Resources—Restrictions on Dividends and Returns of Capital from Subsidiaries in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Part II, Item 7. of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Financial Regulation

Policy and Contract Reserve Sufficiency Analysis. Under the laws and regulations of their states of domicile, our insurance subsidiaries are required to conduct annual analyses of the sufficiency of their statutory reserves. Other jurisdictions in which these subsidiaries are licensed may have certain reserve requirements that differ from those of their domiciliary jurisdictions. In each case, a qualified actuary must submit an opinion that states that the aggregate statutory reserves, when considered in light of the assets held with respect to such reserves, are sufficient to meet the insurer's contractual obligations and related expenses. If such an opinion cannot be rendered, the affected insurer must establish additional statutory reserves by moving funds from available statutory surplus. Our insurance subsidiaries submit these opinions annually to applicable insurance regulatory authorities.

Surplus and Capital Requirements. Insurance regulators have the discretionary authority, in connection with the ongoing licensing of our insurance subsidiaries, to limit or prohibit the ability of an insurer to issue new policies if, in the regulators' judgment, the insurer is not maintaining a minimum amount of surplus or is in hazardous financial condition. Insurance regulators may also limit the ability of an insurer to issue new life insurance policies and annuity contracts. We do not currently believe that the current or anticipated levels of statutory surplus of our insurance subsidiaries present a material risk that any such regulator would limit the amount of new policies that our insurance subsidiaries may issue.

Risk-Based Capital. The NAIC has adopted RBC requirements for life, health and property and casualty insurance companies. The requirements provide a method for analyzing the minimum amount of adjusted capital (statutory capital and surplus plus other adjustments) appropriate for an insurance company to support its overall business operations, including the risk characteristics of the company's assets, liabilities and certain off-balance sheet items. State insurance regulators use RBC requirements to identify possibly inadequately capitalized insurers. An insurance company found to have insufficient statutory capital based on its RBC ratio may be subject to varying levels of additional regulatory oversight depending on the level of capital inadequacy. As of December 31, 2025, the Total Adjusted Capital of each of our insurance subsidiaries exceeded statutory minimum RBC levels that would require any regulatory or corrective action.

In 2024, the NAIC adopted the "Principles-Based Bond Definition Project," which is a principles-based framework to define and identify more accurately whether a debt security is classified as a bond for reporting. The guidance differentiates between traditional bonds and asset-backed securities and is effective January 1, 2025. Implementation of the Principles-Based Bond Definition Project did not have a material impact on our RBC.

IRIS Tests. The NAIC has developed the Insurance Regulatory Information System ("IRIS") to assist state regulators in monitoring the financial condition of U.S. insurance companies and identifying companies requiring special attention or action. Our insurance subsidiaries annually submit data under IRIS to the NAIC and the NAIC analyzes this data using prescribed financial data ratios. A ratio falling outside the prescribed "usual range" is not considered a failing result. Rather, unusual values are viewed as part of the regulatory early monitoring system. In many cases, it is not unusual for financially sound companies to have one or more ratios that fall outside the usual range. Regulators typically investigate or monitor an insurance company if its IRIS ratios fall outside the prescribed usual range for four or more of the ratios, but each state has the right to inquire about any ratios falling outside the usual range.

We do not anticipate regulatory action as a result of our 2025 IRIS ratio results.

Insurance Guaranty Associations. Each state has insurance guaranty association laws requiring insurance companies doing business in the state to participate in various types of guaranty associations or other arrangements. The laws are designed to protect policyholders from losses under insurance policies issued by insurance companies that become impaired or insolvent. Typically, these associations levy assessments, which can be meaningful, up to prescribed limits, on member insurers based on the member insurer’s proportionate share of the business in the relevant jurisdiction in the lines of business in which the impaired or insolvent insurer is engaged. Some jurisdictions permit member insurers to recover assessments that they paid through full or partial premium tax offsets, usually over a period of years.

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NAIC Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. Nearly all states have adopted the NAIC's Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation. The regulation's "best interest" standard requires all recommendations by insurance agents and carriers to be in the best interest of the consumer and that consideration of the consumer's interest must always be placed ahead of any financial interest that the agent or carrier may have in the transaction. To reflect this "best interest" duty, the regulation requires producers and insurers to satisfy requirements outlined in a care obligation, a disclosure obligation, a conflict-of-interest obligation, and a documentation obligation. The regulation requires agents to disclose and answer questions about their role in the transaction, their compensation, and any material conflicts of interest. The regulation is aligned with the SEC's Regulation Best Interest (described below).

Securities Regulation Affecting Insurance Operations

Certain of our insurance subsidiaries sell group variable annuities and have sold variable life insurance that are registered with and regulated by the SEC as securities under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). These products are issued through separate accounts that are registered as investment companies under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act"), and are regulated by state insurance law. Each separate account is generally divided into sub-accounts, each of which invests in an underlying mutual fund which is itself a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act. Our mutual funds and, in certain states, our variable life insurance and variable annuity products, are subject to filing and other requirements under federal and state securities laws. Federal and state securities laws and regulations are primarily intended to protect investors and generally grant broad rulemaking and enforcement powers to regulatory agencies.

Federal Initiatives Affecting Insurance Operations

The U.S. federal government generally does not directly regulate the insurance business. Federal legislation and administrative policies in several areas can significantly affect insurance companies. These areas include federal pension and retirement plan regulation, financial services regulation, federal tax laws relating to life insurance companies and their products, the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (the "Patriot Act") requiring, among other things, the establishment of anti-money laundering monitoring programs, and federal healthcare laws that may affect supplemental or stop-loss insurance.

Regulation of Investment and Retirement Products and Services

Our investment, asset management and retirement products and services are subject to federal and state tax, securities, fiduciary (including the Employment Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA")), insurance and other laws and regulations. The SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA"), the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC"), state securities commissions, state banking and insurance departments, the Department of Labor ("DOL") and the Treasury Department are the principal regulators that regulate these products and services.

Federal and state securities laws and regulations are primarily intended to protect investors in the securities markets and generally grant regulatory agencies broad enforcement and rulemaking powers, including the power to limit or restrict the conduct of business in the event of non-compliance with such laws and regulations. Federal and state securities regulatory authorities and FINRA from time to time make inquiries and conduct examinations regarding compliance by us and our subsidiaries with securities and other laws and regulations.

Department of Labor Rules Regarding Fiduciaries

In December 2020, the DOL adopted a revised interpretation to determine investment advice fiduciary status under Title I of ERISA, and a new prohibited transaction exemption (PTE 2020-02) that, subject to certain requirements, allows investment advice fiduciaries to receive compensation that might otherwise have been considered an ERISA prohibited transaction. Continuing compliance with the revised interpretation is not believed to have a material impact on us. We anticipate that other state and federal regulatory actions applicable to investment recommendations relating to other separate or overlapping investment products and accounts, such as insurance products and retirement accounts, may occur. If future amendments to these rules render them more onerous than Regulation Best Interest ("Regulation BI") as further described in —Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers, and existing DOL rules, or result in a conflict with Regulation BI or existing DOL rules, the impact on us could be more substantial.

In April 2024, the DOL published changes to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14 (the "QPAM Exemption"). As a result of these changes, we will be required to notify the DOL prior to relying on the QPAM Exemption, in addition to satisfying new minimum qualification and recordkeeping requirements.

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SECURE 2.0 Act

Effective in 2022, the SECURE 2.0 Act ("SECURE 2.0") included numerous provisions affecting retirement plans that: expanded participant coverage; facilitated the establishment of retirement plans by smaller employers, the creation of emergency savings accounts, and opportunities for participants with student debt to begin building retirement savings; and simplified plan administration. While many provisions of SECURE 2.0 have taken effect, some regulations are still in the process of being finalized and will require numerous changes to retirement plan recordkeeping systems and processes. We continue to update our systems and processes to meet the obligations of SECURE 2.0 in our Retirement business, but do not expect such activities to have a material impact on us.

Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers

Our securities operations, principally conducted by our SEC-registered broker-dealers, are subject to federal and state securities, commodities and related laws, and are regulated principally by the SEC, the CFTC, state securities authorities, FINRA, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board and similar authorities. Independent contractor representatives and employees registered or associated with any of our broker-dealer subsidiaries are subject to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and to regulation and examination by the SEC, FINRA and state securities commissioners. The SEC and other governmental agencies and self-regulatory organizations, as well as state securities commissions in the U.S., have the power to conduct administrative proceedings that can result in censure, fines, cease-and-desist orders or suspension, termination or limitation of the activities of the regulated entity or its associated persons.

Broker-dealers are subject to regulations that cover many aspects of the securities business, including, among other things, sales methods and trading practices, whether investments for individual customers are in their best interest, the use and safekeeping of customers’ funds and securities, capital adequacy, recordkeeping, financial reporting and the conduct of directors, officers and employees. The federal securities laws may also require, upon a change in control, re-approval by shareholders in registered investment companies of the investment advisory contracts governing management of those investment companies, including mutual funds included in annuity products. Investment advisory clients may also need to approve, or consent to, investment advisory agreements upon a change in control. In addition, broker-dealers are required to make certain monthly and annual filings with FINRA, including monthly FOCUS reports (which include, among other things, financial results and net capital calculations) and annual audited financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

In June 2019, the SEC adopted Regulation BI. Among other things, Regulation BI applies a "best interest" standard to broker-dealers and their associated persons, including our retail broker-dealer, VFA, when they make securities investment recommendations to retail customers.

As registered broker-dealers and members of various self-regulatory organizations, our registered broker-dealer subsidiaries are subject to the SEC’s Net Capital Rule, which specifies the minimum level of net capital a broker-dealer is required to maintain and requires a minimum part of its assets to be kept in relatively liquid form. These net capital requirements are designed to measure the financial soundness and liquidity of broker-dealers. The Net Capital Rule imposes certain requirements that may have the effect of preventing a broker-dealer from distributing or withdrawing capital and may require that prior notice to the regulators be provided prior to making capital withdrawals.

Some of our subsidiaries are registered as investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act and provide advice to registered investment companies, including mutual funds used in our annuity products, as well as an array of other institutional and retail clients. The Investment Advisers Act and Investment Company Act may require that fund shareholders be asked to approve new investment advisory contracts with respect to those registered investment companies upon a change in control of a fund’s adviser. Likewise, the Investment Advisers Act may require that other clients consent to the continuance of the advisory contract upon a change in control of the adviser.

The commodity futures and commodity options industry in the U.S. is subject to regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, as amended (the "Commodity Exchange Act"). The CFTC is charged with the administration of the Commodity Exchange Act and the regulations adopted under that Act. Some of our subsidiaries are registered with the CFTC as commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisors. Our futures business is also regulated by the National Futures Association.

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Employee Retirement Income Security Act Considerations

ERISA is a comprehensive federal statute that applies to U.S. employee benefit plans sponsored by private employers and labor unions. Plans subject to ERISA include pension and profit-sharing plans and welfare plans, including health, life and disability plans. Among other things, ERISA imposes reporting and disclosure obligations, prescribes standards of conduct that apply to plan fiduciaries and disallows "prohibited transactions," such as conflict-of-interest transactions, self-dealing and certain transactions between a benefit plan and a party in interest without an approved exemption. ERISA also provides for a scheme of civil and criminal penalties and enforcement. Our insurance, investment management and retirement businesses provide services to employee benefit plans subject to ERISA, including services under specific contracts where we may act as an ERISA fiduciary. We are also subject to ERISA’s prohibited transaction rules for transactions with ERISA plans, which may affect our ability to, or the terms upon which we may, enter into transactions with those plans, even in businesses unrelated to those giving rise to party in interest status. The applicable provisions of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code are subject to enforcement by the DOL, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") and the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ("PBGC").

Trust Activities Regulation

Voya Institutional Trust Company ("VITC") and Voya Investment Trust Co. ("VINTCO") are trust subsidiaries chartered by the Connecticut Department of Banking and subject to its regulation, supervision and examination. Neither entity is permitted to accept deposits (other than incidental to trust or custodial activities). VITC’s activities are primarily to serve as trustee or custodian for retirement plans, IRAs, HSAs and trust and custodial accounts used by employers to fund health reimbursement arrangements, and VINTCO's activities are primarily to serve as trustee for and manage various collective and common trust funds. VINTCO is also subject to state fiduciary duty laws, and the collective trust funds it manages are generally subject to ERISA.

Other Laws and Regulations

Cybersecurity Regulatory Activity

The NAIC, numerous state and federal regulatory bodies, and self-regulatory organizations like FINRA are focused on cybersecurity standards both for the financial services industry and for all companies that collect personal information, and have proposed or enacted legislation and regulations, and issued guidance regarding cybersecurity standards and protocols. In addition, the SEC has promulgated more prescriptive investor disclosure rules regarding cybersecurity incidents, as well as cybersecurity risk management and governance.

Twenty-eight states have adopted versions of the NAIC’s Insurance Data Security Model Law (the "Model Law"), and other states may adopt versions of the Model Law in the future. Such laws govern cybersecurity and data protection practices of insurers, insurance agents, and other licensed entities registered under state insurance laws and are designed to ensure that licensees of the Department of Insurance in these states have strong and aggressive cybersecurity programs to protect the personal data of their customers. In February 2017, the New York Department of Financial Services ("NYDFS") issued final Cybersecurity Requirements for Financial Services Companies that is not based on the Model Law, that requires banks, insurance companies, and other financial services institutions regulated by the NYDFS, including certain of our subsidiaries, to establish and maintain a comprehensive cybersecurity program. The NYDFS requirements specifically provide for: (i) controls relating to the governance framework for a cybersecurity program; (ii) risk-based minimum standards for technology systems for data protection; (iii) minimum standards for cyber breach responses and business continuity and disaster recovery, including notice to the NYDFS of material events; and (iv) identification and documentation of material deficiencies, remediation plans and annual certification of regulatory compliance with the NYDFS. On November 1, 2025, amendments to the cybersecurity regulation, which include increasing mandatory controls and adding further cybersecurity requirements for larger companies, became effective.

Privacy Laws and Regulations

We are subject to laws, regulations and directives that require financial institutions and other businesses to protect the security and confidentiality of personal information, including health-related and customer information, and to notify their customers and other individuals of their policies and practices relating to the collection, use, and disclosure of customer information. In addition, we must comply with international privacy laws, regulations and directives concerning the cross-border transfer or use of employee and customer personal information. These laws, regulations and directives also:

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•provide additional protections regarding the use and disclosure of certain information such as national identification numbers (e.g., Social Security numbers);

•require notice to affected individuals, law enforcement, regulators and others if there is a breach of the security of certain personal information;

•require financial institutions to implement effective programs to detect, prevent, and mitigate identity theft;

•regulate the ability of financial institutions to make telemarketing calls and send e-mail, text or fax messages to consumers and customers;

•require oversight of third parties that have access to, and handle, personal information; and

•prescribe the permissible uses of certain personal information, including customer information and consumer report information.

Certain of our activities are subject to the privacy regulations of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (the "GLBA"), along with its implementing regulations, which restricts certain collection, processing, storage, use and disclosure of personal information, requires notice to individuals of privacy practices, provides individuals with certain rights to prevent the use and disclosure of certain nonpublic or otherwise legally protected information and imposes requirements for the safeguarding and proper destruction of personal information through the issuance of data security standards or guidelines.

We are also subject to numerous state consumer privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 ("CCPA"). The CCPA established a privacy framework for covered businesses that collect and process the personal information of California consumers. It includes a broad definition of personal information, affords California residents certain individual rights of access and deletion regarding their personal information, and limits the "sale" of such information, which is also broadly construed to include making personal information available to third parties for valuable consideration.

The CCPA does not apply to data subject to the GLBA or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA"). However, a breach of California consumers’ personal information, to the extent it involves data not covered by GLBA or HIPAA, may expose us to liability under the CCPA. The CCPA was further supplemented by the California Privacy Rights Act (the "CRPA"), approved by California voters in November 2020, which established the California Privacy Protection Agency, authorized to promulgate new data protection regulations. Effective July 1, 2026, the CCPA regulations require covered companies to conduct an annual independent cybersecurity program audit. The first audit and certification of compliance must be completed and filed by April 1, 2028.

Certain of our products and services are subject to HIPAA, which establishes privacy and security standards that govern the use and disclosure of protected health information and requires the implementation of administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, availability, and privacy of such information. Voya may function as a "Covered Entity" or a "Business Associate," which requires compliance with HIPAA's Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules.

More broadly, the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") which regulates data protection for all individuals within the European Union ("EU"), including foreign companies processing data of EU residents, applies to our subsidiaries operating in the EU. The United Kingdom has also implemented the GDPR (the "U.K. GDPR"). The GDPR and the U.K. GDPR set out a number of requirements that must be complied with when handling the personal data of such EU and U.K.-based data subjects respectively including: the obligation to appoint data protection officers in certain circumstances; new rights for individuals to be "forgotten" and rights to data portability; the principle of accountability and the obligation to make public notification of significant data breaches.

The NAIC Privacy Protections (H) Working Group, formed in 2019, is currently revising the existing Model #672 (Privacy of Consumer Financial and Health Information Regulation) to modernize insurance privacy protections. The group's current focus is on updating Model #672 rather than creating a new Privacy Protections Model Act.

Additionally, we may be subject to privacy-related regulatory obligations of third parties with which we do business. For example, our use of certain vendors outside of the U.S. to perform services on our platform could subject us to additional data protection regimes and increased risk of non-compliance.

Data Regulation

There are emerging federal and state regulations and legislation that address the use of big data and artificial intelligence, including machine learning in the business of insurance. The NAIC issued a Model Bulletin regarding the Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems by Insurers, has been adopted by 24 states and is expected to be adopted by more. States such as Colorado,

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Utah, and California have AI-specific regulations governing a company's use of artificial intelligence, and comprehensive AI-specific legislation is pending in many state legislatures. While regulations and legislation generally mandate that companies develop an AI risk management framework that includes safeguarding individuals' privacy and protecting against discrimination, some impose more stringent requirements. These may include prohibiting specific use cases or recognizing individuals' rights to opt-out of data processing in AI systems. As Voya integrates and advances its use of artificial intelligence in business operations and customer offerings, these evolving regulations carry significant technological and legal implications.

Anti-Money Laundering, Sanctions, and Anti-Corruption Laws

The Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by the Patriot Act, contains anti-money laundering and financial transparency laws applicable to broker-dealers and other financial institutions, including, among others, insurance companies, trust banks and mutual funds. The Patriot Act seeks to promote cooperation among financial institutions, regulators and law enforcement entities in identifying parties that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering. Anti-money laundering laws outside of the U.S. contain provisions that may be different, conflicting or more rigorous. Internal practices, procedures and controls are required to meet the obligations of financial institutions to identify their customers, watch for and report suspicious transactions, respond to requests for information by regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies and share information with other financial institutions.

We are also required to follow certain economic and trade sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Asset Control that prohibit or restrict transactions with suspected countries, their governments and, in certain circumstances, their nationals. We are also subject to regulations governing bribery and other anti-corruption measures.

Environmental Considerations

Our ownership and operation of real property and properties within our commercial mortgage loan portfolio is subject to federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations. Risks of hidden environmental liabilities and the costs of any required clean-up are inherent in owning and operating real property. Under the laws of certain states, contamination of a property may give rise to a lien on the property to secure recovery of the costs of clean-up, which could adversely affect the valuation of, and increase the liabilities associated with, the commercial mortgage loans we hold. In several states, this lien has priority over the lien of an existing mortgage against such property. In addition, we may be liable, in certain circumstances, as an "owner" or "operator," for costs of cleaning-up releases or threatened releases of hazardous substances at a property mortgaged to us under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980 and the laws of certain states. Application of various other federal and state environmental laws could also result in the imposition of liability on us for costs associated with environmental hazards.

We routinely conduct environmental assessments prior to closing any new commercial mortgage loans or to taking title to real estate. Although unexpected environmental liabilities can always arise, we seek to minimize this risk by undertaking these environmental assessments and complying with our internal environmental policies and procedures.

Climate change, and the need to develop regulatory tools to ensure that insurers are managing the potential financial risks, has come under scrutiny by state legislatures, federal regulators, the NAIC, state insurance regulators, such as the NYDFS, the Connecticut Insurance Department, and other state regulatory agencies.

In 2020, the NAIC established a Climate and Resiliency Task Force to coordinate engagement on climate-related risk and resiliency issues. The Task Force has implemented the NAIC's annual Climate Risk Disclosure Survey and developed proposed enhancements to existing regulatory tools to address climate-related risks.

The NYDFS, in a "Circular Letter No. 15," dated September 22, 2020 and in "Guidance for New York Domestic Insurers on Managing the Financial Risks from Climate Change," dated November 15, 2021, provided that all New York insurers should start integrating the consideration of the financial risks from climate change into their governance frameworks, business strategies, risk management processes and scenario analysis, and develop their approach to climate-related financial disclosure.

In September 2022, the Connecticut Insurance Department issued Bulletin No. FS-44, "Guidance for Connecticut Domestic Insurers on Managing the Financial Risks for Climate Change." This guidance directs all Connecticut insurance companies to adopt a strategic approach to climate management that addresses both current and emerging risks. Insurers are expected to identify and implement actions that are proportionate to the nature, scale, and complexity of their operations, ensuring that climate risk is integrated into business planning and risk oversight processes.

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In October 2023, California's governor signed into law climate disclosure and financial reporting legislation entitled the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act and the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act. These laws impose new reporting requirements on companies doing business in California that generate over $1.0 billion in gross annual revenue. The new laws require applicable companies to disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions beginning in 2026 and Scope 3 GHG emissions in 2027. The laws also require applicable companies to submit biennial climate-related financial risk reports to the California Air Resources Board beginning in 2026. We are monitoring further guidance regarding implementation of the new laws but do not believe that the laws will have a material impact on our business and operations. The California disclosure rules are the subject of ongoing litigation which may affect their implementation timelines or whether they are ultimately implemented at all.

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We file periodic and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC, which may be obtained through the SEC's website (www.sec.gov).

You may also access our press releases, financial information and reports filed with the SEC (for example, our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Proxy Statement, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our Current Reports on Form 8-K and any amendments to those Forms) online at investors.voya.com. Copies of any documents on our website are available without charge, and reports filed with or furnished to the SEC will be available as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with or furnished to the SEC. The information found on our website is not part of this or any other report filed with or furnished to the SEC.