Globe Life income surges 38%; insurer sets goal of 28K exclusive agents

Despite repeated controversies and investigations, Globe Life just keeps on delivering strong earnings growth.

The McKinney, Texas-headquartered insurer reported third-quarter numbers that trounced expectations. Income increased 38% over the year-ago period. Life and health premiums were up 5% to 13% across Globe Life’s four divisions. Life and health underwriting margins increased 24% and 25%, respectively.

Co-CEOs Frank Svoboda and J. Matthew Darden held a conference call Thursday with Wall Street analysts to discuss the company’s success.

Darden stressed the strong agent growth at Globe Life, which boasts more than 17,500 agents that “sell only for us.” The insurer’s goal is to surpass 28,000 exclusive agents and $1.4 billion in annual sales by 2030, Darden said.

“We typically recruit individuals who haven't previously sold insurance and are looking for a better opportunity,” he explained. “This provides us with an enormous pool of potential recruits that provides a tremendous growth opportunity going forward.”

Globe Life has four exclusive distribution divisions: American Income Life Division, Liberty National Division, Family Heritage Division, and a Direct-to-Consumer Division.

At American Income, life premiums were up 5% over the year-ago quarter to $451 million and life underwriting margin was up 18% to $261 million. Net life sales were $97 million, which was flat from a year ago.

The average producing agent count for the third quarter was 12,230, up 2% from a year ago.

“We are currently focused on initiatives to enhance our recruiting as growth in agent count will lead to future sales growth,” Darden said.

At Liberty National, life premiums were up 5% over the year-ago quarter to $98 million and life underwriting margin was up 57% to $70 million. Net life sales were $24 million, also flat, and net health sales were $8 million, up 4% from the year-ago quarter. The average producing agent count for the third quarter was 3,847, up 1% from Q3 2024.

"We have a few initiatives underway that we expect to have a near-term positive impact, we have developed a new worksite enrollment platform designed to improve agent productivity and training,” Darden said. “In addition, we are in the process of rolling out a new recruiting CRM, which will further enable the use of data and analytics to enhance the recruiting process."

At Family Heritage, health premiums increased 10% over the year-ago quarter to $119 million and the underwriting margin increased 49% to $51 million. Net health sales were up 13% to $33 million due to an increase in agent count and agent productivity, Darden said. The average producing agent count for the third quarter was 1,553, up 9% from a year ago.

Direct-to-consumer life sales were down 1% to $245 million, while life underwriting margin increased 29% to $114 million. Net life sales were $27 million, up 13% from the year-ago quarter.

“We have implemented new technology to enhance our underwriting process,” Darden said. “This technology is helping improve the conversion of customer inquiries into sales.”

In Other News

Investigations. The call was the first in several years that did not include a script reference to various investigations of Globe Life.

The insurer faced various inquiries from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Department of Labor, along with several civil lawsuits.

At least three short-sellers and other research firms have issued reports accusing brokers at subsidiary American Income Life of widespread sexual harassment and insurance fraud, including writing policies for dead and fictitious people, and an alleged kickback scheme that netted millions for senior executives.

Last year, Globe Life revealed that it is being extorted by a hacker who stole customers’ sensitive data.

The only reference to the recent trouble came from an analyst inquiring on the EEOC investigation, which is not binding, Darden said.

Quarterly Snapshot

• At the American Income Life and Liberty National divisions, life premiums increased 5% over the year-ago quarter.
• At the Family Heritage Division, health net sales increased 13% and health premiums increased 10% over the year-ago quarter. Additionally, the average producing agent count increased 9% over the year-ago quarter.
• Direct-to-consumer life net sales increased 13% over the year-ago quarter.
• Net sales of life insurance increased 2% for the quarter, and net health sales increased 21%.

Management Perspective

“We serve the lower middle to middle income market. This market is vastly underserved and has significant growth potential, providing us with a distinct competitive advantage. This advantage is protected due not only to our ability to efficiently reach this market through both exclusive and direct-to-consumer distribution channels, but also due to the tremendous amount of data and experience we possess as we have been in the same market for over 60 years with essentially the same products.”

Co-CEO Frank Svoboda

By The Numbers

• Total Revenue: $1.51 billion ($1.46 billion in Q3 2024)
• Net Income: $388 million ($303 million in Q3 2024)
• Earnings Per Share: $4.81 ($3.49 in Q3 2024)
• Share Repurchases: $113 million in Q3 2025
• Dividend Declared: $0.24 per share in Q3 2024
• Stock Price Movement: Stock was flat at $135.55 at midday Thursday.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.