Guardian Life Announces Largest Dividend in its 162-Year History, with its Dividend Interest Rate increasing to 5.75%

The company raises its dividend allocation for 2023 with a $1.26 billion payment

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian®) announced that its Board of Directors approved a record dividend allocation of $1.26 billion to eligible individual life policyholders and increased its Dividend Interest Rate to 5.75 percent. The 2023 dividend marks the largest payout in the company's 162-year history and is 11.7 percent higher than the 2022 dividend.

"Guardian continues to deliver remarkable results year after year for our policyholders," said Andrew McMahon, Guardian Chief Executive Officer and President. "We are all faced with mounting economic uncertainty and the pressures of high inflation, yet Guardian stands out in the industry with an increased dividend allocation for 2023, underscoring the important steps we have taken as a mutual company to meet and exceed the financial well-being expectations of our policyholders."

Guardian's increased dividend rate reflects its strong financial position, supported by a multi-year strategy of growing complementary businesses, sound underwriting, and long-term investment approach. The company has also taken steps to unlock greater value for consumers by managing capital efficiently and optimizing its business portfolio for growth. Recent key transactions include the divestiture of ReedGroup and the reinsurance of Guardian's variable annuity business.

Guided by its Purpose to inspire well-being, Guardian continues to evolve its business to expand how it serves its consumers, colleagues, and communities. With a commitment to service excellence and differentiated product offerings to support consumers' financial, emotional, and physical well-being, Guardian's recent achievements include:

• J.D. Power recognized Guardian Life for the 12th consecutive year for providing "An outstanding customer service experience" for phone support.¹
• Enhanced financial strength reaffirmed by three independent ratings agencies, including an upgrade by Moody's,² resulting in a composite Comdex score³ increase to 99 that places Guardian in the one percent of carriers based on claims paying ability.
• Launch of emotional well-being and mental health benefits and an enhanced core Dental product for Guardian's Group Benefits customers.

Guardian makes a difference in the lives of people when they need us most. With more than160 years of stability and fiscal integrity, we are a trusted partner to 29 million consumers, helping them prepare and plan for a bright future and recover and thrive in times of unexpected loss. We believe in inspiring well-being across mind, body and wallet, and in driving value beyond dividends. We invest in our colleagues, are building a progressive and inclusive culture and are helping to uplift communities through thoughtful social and environmental programs. Guardian is a Fortune 250 mutual company based in NYC and a leading provider of life, disability, dental, and other benefits. Our 7,700 colleagues and 2,500 financial representatives serve with care and experience, and our commitments rest on a strong financial foundation, which at year-end 2021 included $10.7 billion in capital and $1.9 billion in operating income. For more information, please visit guardianlife.com or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

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Dividends are not guaranteed. They are declared annually by Guardian's Board of Directors. The total dividend calculation includes mortality experience and expense management as well as investment results.

Financial information concerning Guardian as of December 31, 2021, on a statutory basis: Admitted Assets = $72.1 Billion; Liabilities = $63.5 Billion (including $51.8 Billion of Reserves); and Surplus = $8.6 Billion.

¹ J.D. Power 2022 Certified Customer Service Program^SM recognition is based on successful completion of an evaluation and exceeding a customer satisfaction benchmark through a survey of recent servicing interactions. For more information, visit www.jdpower.com/ccc.

²Source: https://www.moodys.com/research/Moodys-upgrades-Guardian-Aa1-IFS-outlook-changed-to-stable--PR_1000006661

³ Comdex is another strong metric used in evaluating insurance companies. A Comdex is a composite score averaging the ratings of the major insurance rating organizations, including A.M. Best, Fitch, Moody's and S&P. Comdex is not a rating, but rather, a ranking based on the average of all the different ratings these different organizations give an insurance company. Comdex percentile ranks the companies on a scale of 1 to 100 (with 100 being the best). Ratings are as of 12/9/2022 and are subject to change.

SOURCE Guardian