Lincoln Financial Group Comments on Recent Coverage of New York Department of Financial Services Letter to the NAIC

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Sep 13, 2013, 01:23 ET

RADNOR, Pa., Sept. 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, September 11, 2013, the New York Department of Financial Services ("NYDFS") notified the Commissioners of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners ("NAIC") that New York would no longer implement the previously-agreed to NAIC solution that addresses the reserving for universal life policies with secondary guarantees ("GUL"). Media coverage of NYDFS's letter cited estimates of potential increases to GUL reserves for companies that conduct business in the State of New York.

With Lincoln Financial Group's total adjusted statutory capital of $7.5 billion and an estimated risk-based capital ratio of 485 percent as of June 30, we would not expect NYDFS's new approach to impact our capital plan that we have previously disclosed in our public comments. Lincoln Financial completed $100 million of share repurchases in the third quarter and, subject to market conditions, is planning to continue repurchases in the fourth quarter.

The impact of any of NYDFS's proposed changes would be limited to our New York subsidiary, Lincoln Life & Annuity Company of New York ("LNY"), which has an estimated 585 percent risk-based capital ratio as of June 30. This is a strong capital base to absorb a significant reserve increase. In addition, we discontinued the sale of GUL policies in New York earlier in the year. Finally, based on our understanding of communications between NYDFS and the Life Insurance Council of New York (our New York industry association), we anticipate that any impact of potential increased reserves for affected companies would be subject to a phase-in period over a number of years.

Lincoln Financial will continue to work with the NYDFS to resolve their concerns in this area.

About Lincoln Financial Group
Lincoln Financial Group is the marketing name for Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE: LNC) and its affiliates. With headquarters in the Philadelphia region, the companies of Lincoln Financial Group had assets under management of $189 billion as of June 30, 2013. Through its affiliated companies, Lincoln Financial Group offers: annuities; life, group life, disability and dental insurance; employer-sponsored retirement plans; savings plans; and comprehensive financial planning and advisory services.

For more information, including a copy of our most recent SEC reports containing our balance sheets, please visit www.LincolnFinancial.com.

Certain statements made in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 ("PSLRA"). A forward-looking statement is a statement that does not strictly relate to a historical fact. A forward looking statement includes any statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or achievements, and may contain words like: "believe", "anticipate", "expect", "estimate", "project", "will", "shall" and other words or phrases with similar meaning. Lincoln claims the protection afforded by the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the PSLRA. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results contained in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, legislative and regulatory changes and proceedings, substantial liability related to current or future legal or regulatory actions, prolonged low interest rates or a sudden change in interest rates, sudden or prolonged declines in the equity markets, deviation in actual experience regarding future persistency, mortality, morbidity, interest rates or equity market returns from Lincoln's assumptions used in pricing its products, in establishing related insurance reserves, and elevated impairments on investments and intangible assets; ratings downgrades; or deterioration in general economic or business conditions. These risks and uncertainties, as well as others, are described in Lincoln National Corporation's annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and other documents filed with the SEC include additional factors which could impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in a rapidly changing and competitive environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors. Further, it is not possible to assess the impact of all risk factors on our businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. In addition, Lincoln disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this report.

The reporting of RBC measures is not intended for the purpose of ranking any insurance company or for use in connection with any marketing, advertising or promotional activities.

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SOURCE Lincoln Financial Group