Barbara A. Turner

In November 2020, I wrote that 2020 was a year that no one saw coming. We had experienced a global pandemic, continued low interest rates and increased market volatility. Many believed that things had to improve for 2021, that the pandemic would wind down, and the new year would bring great things to our industry and economy.

Unfortunately, 2021 presented many of the same challenges as 2020—and a good deal more. While I was hoping for a calmer year, I remain very optimistic about the future of our industry. Life insurance will continue to play a valuable role in supporting the nation’s economy and, most importantly, our policyholders.

I am proud to have the opportunity to lead an organization like Ohio National, where our Mission centers on helping individuals, families, businesses and communities achieve financial security and independence. I am also excited about what lies ahead for us.

In March 2021, Ohio National announced it had entered into an agreement to be acquired by Constellation Insurance Holdings, Inc., a U.S.-based company backed by two of the world’s largest long-term institutional investors, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP). CDPQ and OTPP together manage over CA$550 billion in net assets, including over CA$106 billion in private capital investments, and bring long-term, patient capital and a successful track record in the insurance industry.

Ohio National has a strong history of taking a long-term view to continually ensure we are well positioned for the future and our policyholders and associates are part of a stable and growing company. The transaction with Constellation will provide Ohio National with additional capital and a more flexible capital structure, which will enable us to further unlock growth opportunities and invest in the future of the business while managing market risk and interest rate volatility.

We anticipate the transaction will close early this year. After closing, Ohio National policies will remain in force and unchanged per the terms of the contracts, and we will continue to support and service our policyholders. Additionally, Ohio National will have additional resources to grow its customer offerings, enhance its ratings profile and attract additional distribution partners. Ohio National’s brand, mission, company name, leadership team, home office location, infrastructure (including associates) and commitment to the community will remain intact. Our valued relationships with independent entrepreneur financial professionals will not change.

As we look forward to our new ownership structure, I cannot predict the future of interest rates, pandemics, market volatility, or work as we know it. But I have complete confidence in the Ohio National promise, Life Changes. We’ll be there. Our policyholders can count on us to deliver their policy benefits when they need them. Our business stands committed to providing protection and accumulation products to more individuals, families and businesses. We will work with financial professionals to distribute our products to those who need them. There will be no pause in our tradition of helping build strong communities and supporting business growth and entrepreneurship. We will honor diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our business. We will help protect dreams and secure financial futures.

The future of work
In March 2020, 95 percent of our associates transitioned to a remote work environment without service interruption to our policyholders or distribution partners. Almost two years later, approximately 90 percent of our home office staff are still working remotely. While we anticipate welcoming everyone back to our home office headquarters in the first quarter of 2022, we expect that about half of our associates will continue to work remotely full time or adopt a hybrid work model. We are excited about the opportunity to provide continued flexibility to our associates and are thankful for their hard work and dedication.

Competitive protection products
The global pandemic caused many to consider their mortality and morbidity for the first time. The products we offer are needed now more than ever. Our robust life and disability income offerings are well positioned during a time when we believe there is greater appreciation for these products and their ability to protect against risk. Our portfolio is designed to meet the current and future needs of policyholders while providing them with exceptional value.

Innovation
We are committed to being easy to do business with and leveraging technology to help us exceed service expectations. Robotics, automated underwriting, straight through processing, you name it! Ohio National will continue to explore and embrace technology and tools that improve the customer experience.

Our 2021 accomplishments reflect our focus on providing value to our policyholders:

• Paid dividends for 98 consecutive years to eligible policyholders*
• Paid benefits to policyholders and their beneficiaries totaling more than $1 billion through the third quarter of 2021**
• Deployed robotics, straight through processing and electronic policy delivery tools
• Adopted accelerated underwriting for life and disability income policies
• Introduced new, improved and competitive protection products

Our diversified product portfolio continues to provide our customers with the benefits and protection they need. We are proud to offer solutions and services that help them achieve financial security and independence now—and for generations to come. [BT]

*Dividends are not guaranteed.

**Benefits paid to policyholders and beneficiaries include cash payments for life insurance benefits, systematic withdrawal transactions on deferred annuity contracts, annuity lump sum death claims and disbursements, monthly disability income benefits and retirement plan benefits.

Our Products And Services Are Needed Now More Than Ever

After one of the most challenging years our industry has ever experienced, I feel optimistic about our future and opportunities heading into 2021. Our products and services are needed now more than ever.

Enduring a year that no one saw coming, with a global pandemic, prolonged low interest rates, and increased market volatility, was difficult and brought about an unprecedented scenario for both our industry and the global economy. Despite these headwinds we remain focused on executing our strategy and managing the things we control. We are mindful of the many ways we can fulfill our Mission to help our policyholders, field partners, associates and community achieve financial security and independence today and for generations to come.

In March we quickly transitioned to a remote workforce without service interruption, and continued to deliver valuable protection products and benefits to our policyholders and beneficiaries while continuing to attract new distribution partners.

Our 2020 accomplishments emphasize our commitment to providing great value to our policyholders:

• Paid dividends for 97 consecutive years to eligible policyholders.
• Paid benefits to policyholders and their beneficiaries totaling almost $1.3 billion in benefits in 2019 and more than 1 billion through third quarter of 2020.*
• Introduced a new fixed indexed annuity in May and further enhanced our offering in August with the addition of an annual S&P 500 (higher cap) point-to-point allocation option.
• Enhanced our indexed universal life policy with a new uncapped S&P 500^® indexed account.
• Added enhanced flexibility to our whole life portfolio by introducing term and paid up additions riders—available with our three limited pay whole life policies.
• Partnered with two external companies to offer life and disability income clients a wellness report that provides all lab results in an easy-to-understand format.
• ONESCO, our retail broker-dealer, launched the Envestnet Insurance Exchange, an insurance network featuring reputable insurance carriers and annuity products alongside traditional managed account investments.
• Added more than 630 new personal producing general agents as well as 12 builder general agents and 260 career agents.
• Made ongoing investments in technology for our field partners, making policy applications easier with an expanded eSuite (e-illustration, eApp and e-delivery) offering.
• Recognized among the top three whole life insurance providers and the top 15 life insurance companies by Forbes Advisor.

Our mutual heritage continues to guide us as we look ahead to 2021. We know challenges will continue but we remain resilient and are committed to delivering on the promises to our policyholders.

Looking ahead:
As many of us are glad to have 2020 in our rear view mirror, we look forward to what lies ahead. In 2021 we continue to be laser focused on serving the needs of our field partners and policyholders. The addition of fixed indexed annuities to our life and disability income insurance product lineup allows us to offer a depth and quality of products that give us a competitive advantage. We continue to focus on policyholder value and evaluate products and enhancements to provide solutions for their evolving needs. We are committed to making the customer experience better and we are determined to continue to deliver the service and support our customers expect.

Competitive protection products
We see opportunity in the current environment with our indexed universal life (IUL) product that offers strong accumulation potential while maintaining some of the lowest expenses compared to similar products in the market. With the passing of new illustration regulations (AG49A) we are confident our product stayed true to our mutual principles and avoided the competitive pressures to increase expenses and risk for the benefit of higher illustrated returns. We also see an increasing awareness among financial professionals of the benefits of a traditional low-cost IUL policy to meet client needs.

Our robust life insurance portfolio is well positioned during a time when we believe there is greater awareness of the need and value of life insurance and its ability to protect against risk. Our competitive whole life, universal life, indexed universal life and term products provide exceptional value to meet our clients’ needs now and in the future.

The need to secure income against the risk of disability became an even more sobering reality due to the pandemic. Our policyholders are better able to plan for and protect their future when they add a disability income (DI) insurance policy. To help our customers round out their protection, we continue to offer a permanent discount for the DI policy when purchased with a qualifying life insurance policy.

We expect our DI insurance line to continue to evolve, especially as our ContinuON Income Solutions^® II individual DI insurance product becomes available in California in 2021. It offers exceptionally attractive features, occupation classes and definitions, while maintaining attractive flexibility and pricing. Planned enhancements to offer greater flexibility include a student loan rider and lump sum retirement rider, addressing two specific client financial needs, as well as the third generation of this highly competitive product portfolio for individual and employer-sponsored multi-life DI.

Our annuity business remains a key part of our $39.8 billion (as of third quarter, 2020) in assets under management and provides earning diversification. While we no longer sell variable annuities (VA), we continue to service and support our annuity contract holders, and sales of our single premium indexed annuities (SPIA) remain steady.

The addition of our FIA product can help meet client retirement needs by providing the opportunity to accumulate assets by earning tax-deferred interest based in part on the performance of a selected market index. We continue to look at enhancements for the flexibility of this annuity for clients, including the potential addition of riders.

Reaching more financial professionals
We continue to recruit new distribution partners with a value proposition best exemplified by our tagline, “Your business. Your vision. We’ll help.^®” Our relationship-oriented approach supports the entrepreneurship and independence each of our financial professionals exhibit. They are attracted to Ohio National for a partner that offers personalized service and support, an array of contract choices, a broad and competitive product portfolio, and an affiliated broker-dealer that respects and supports their independence.

The O.N. Equity Sales Co. (ONESCO) offers registered representatives choice, support and stability. We are in the process of enhancing ONESCO’s open architecture technology package with full e-signature capabilities without a mandated platform. The ONESCO relationship also helps our career channel builder agencies attract and retain top securities professionals and the payout-to-fee ratio remains among the lowest of independent broker-dealers.

We’re excited that our field distribution continues to become more diverse. By recruiting diverse talent, our organization aims to increase access to our product offerings to additional market segments and build competencies in how we do business. Focusing on improving diversity goes beyond metrics; inclusion, awareness and equality help us better execute our Mission, Vision and Values. Ohio National’s ongoing efforts to promote diversity and inclusion lead us to our recognition as a Leader in Gender Equity by Queen City Certified (QCC), the first data-informed and cohort-based leadership program for gender equity in the United States.

We continue to see the emerging need for life insurance in Latin America. Our subsidiaries in Chile and Peru and our joint venture in Brazil are poised for continued innovation in the boutique life insurance industry despite the challenging economic and political environments.

Additionally, we remain focused on selective strategic opportunities to expand distribution to serve the protection needs of more individuals, families and businesses.

Innovation
As so many businesses and industries faced restrictions with doing business during a pandemic, these challenges helped propel the need to find new ways to operate. That meant finding opportunities to increase our operational efficiencies to meet the expectations of our field force and policyholders and make it easier to do business with us.

We were able to adjust our underwriting guidelines for a period of time when traditional methods in the life application process were curtailed by social distancing guidelines. We took those lessons learned to continue to pursue a faster, more efficient experience for our application and underwriting while maintaining our hallmark disciplined approach toward long-term sustainability.

Our e-delivery capability expanded beyond our term life policies, and is now available with our whole life, universal life and indexed universal life products. This enhancement created an end-to-end digital experience for life insurance customers, improving the time for policies to be issued and delivered while also reducing costs. We look to expand this service to our DI policies. Technology enhancements on the horizon include e-bill, e-mobile pay, e-service forms and agent dashboard improvements.

We are continuing to implement robotics to automate low exception, high volume and repetitive processes to improve our business efficiencies.

Looking ahead, I continue to be very excited about how we are executing on our strategy. Our diversified product portfolio continues to provide our customers with the benefits and protection they desire.

I am both excited and proud to lead an organization that focuses on serving the needs of our policyholders working towards achieving financial stability and independence, while also cultivating mutually beneficial relationships with our field partners. We continue to offer products, solutions and services that help them achieve financial security and independence now and for generations to come. We also have actively supported our community in this time of need, including support of area Food Banks and a special United Way sponsored Covid-19 relief fund in addition to our annual support. [BT]

*Benefits paid to policyholders and beneficiaries include cash payments for life insurance benefits, systematic withdrawal transactions on deferred annuity contracts, annuity lump sum death claims and disbursements, monthly disability income benefits and retirement plan benefits.

Life insurance, disability income insurance and annuity products are issued by The Ohio National Life Insurance Company and Ohio National Life Assurance Corporation. Product and product features vary by state. Issuers not licensed to conduct business in New York or outside of the United States. The payment of dividends is not guaranteed.

We enter 2020 with a great deal of optimism and momentum following the launch of a new strategy built on our rich history and strength in life insurance and disability income (DI) insurance.

It’s been just over a year since I assumed the role of President and Chief Operating Officer at Ohio National and I’m extremely proud of how our company has executed. We have strengthened our capital position, reshaped our risk profile and delivered valuable protection products and benefits to our policyholders and beneficiaries while expanding our distribution footprint. As we look to 2020, our 2019 accomplishments are numerous and focused on providing greater value to the policyholder:

• Paid dividends for 96 consecutive years to eligible policyholders.
• Continued to pay benefits to policyholders and their beneficiaries—more than $1 billion in benefits to policyholders and their beneficiaries in 2018.*
• Rolled out a new whole life portfolio on the 2017 CSO table
  • Includes five new whole life products that range from low premium protection products to limited pay accumulation-oriented policies.
  • A new 20-pay product design provides high long-term cash accumulation features and the potential for strong dividend performance.
• Marked the 10th consecutive year of DI insurance sales growth last year.
• Solidified our relationship with Disability Management Services, Inc. to provide administrative and claims management support for our growing DI business.
• Our wholly owned retail broker-dealer, The O.N. Equity Sales Co. (ONESCO), named among the top ten growing independent broker-dealers by Investment News and Financial Planning (ranked sixth by Financial Planning).
• Reduced management fees for our variable product customers through fund manager changes and other actions.
• Added more than 500 new personal producing general agents and 12 new Career channel general agencies in 2019.
• Ranked #7 of U.S. companies with MDRT.
• Added new independent intermediaries (financial professionals) in our Latin American operations: Peru (205) and Chile (152). We continue to grow our builder agency model in our Brazilian joint venture.

Our mutual heritage is our guiding principle—our North Star. Every decision and action we take considers the long-term interests of all our policyholders. We are not beholden to the quarterly requirements of Wall Street. Our commitment now and in the future is to deliver on the promises we make to all our policyholders and beneficiaries.

Looking ahead:
In 2020 we continue to be laser focused on serving the needs of our field partners and policyholders. Life insurance and DI remain our core product focus, as the depth and quality of this product combination remains a differentiator. We are evaluating products and enhancements that align with our strategy and provide solutions for the evolving needs of our field partners and policyholders. The customer is where we choose to invest—making their experience better guides how we deliver operational efficiencies. We look forward to what’s ahead.

Competitive protection products
We’re starting off the year with the introduction of our new universal life portfolio, including the next iteration of our indexed universal life (IUL) product which offers strong accumulation potential while maintaining some of the lowest expenses compared to similar products in the market. We have stayed true to our mutual principles with this product and have not given in to competitive pressures to increase expenses and risk for the benefit of higher illustrated returns.

Creating a more flexible product design for our whole life portfolio is a priority so our financial professionals can customize solutions to each of their client’s needs. We continue to research new products and enhancements that will attract new distribution partners and provide those existing partners with more opportunities to choose Ohio National.

The combination of our competitive whole life, universal life, indexed universal life and term products creates a robust life insurance portfolio, well positioned to provide exceptional value and meet our clients’ needs now and in the future.

By including disability income (DI) insurance in their protection strategy, our policyholders are better able to plan for and protect their future. Currently, about 20 percent of our DI applications come through our life + DI combination offering, featuring a permanent discount for the DI policy when purchased with a qualifying life insurance policy.

We expect our DI insurance line to continue to grow at an industry-leading rate. Our top-shelf ContinuON Income Solutions® II individual disability income insurance product offers exceptionally competitive features, occupation classes and definitions, while maintaining attractive flexibility and pricing. We are currently working to offer greater flexibility and new features, including a student loan rider and lump sum retirement rider—addressing two specific client financial needs, as well as the third generation of this highly competitive product portfolio for individual and employer-sponsored multi-life DI.

Our annuity business represents over $21 billion in assets under management and provides another important source of revenue and fee income. While we no longer sell variable annuities (VA), we continue to service and support our annuity contract holders, and sales of our single premium indexed annuities (SPIA) remain steady.

Distribution
We continue to attract new distribution partners with a value proposition that expands beyond product. Our relationship-oriented approach is foundational to how we do business every day. Reflecting this philosophy is our tagline, “Your business. Your vision. We’ll help.®” This supports the entrepreneurship and independence our financial professionals desire. In addition, producers are attracted to Ohio National for the personal service and support they receive across our organization as well as an array of contract choices, and an affiliated broker-dealer that also respects and supports their independence.

ONESCO offers registered representatives choice, support and stability. We are in the process of enhancing ONESCO’s open architecture technology package with full e-signature capabilities without a mandated platform. The ONESCO relationship also helps our Career Channel builder agencies attract and retain top securities professionals and the payout to fee ratio remain among the lowest of independent broker-dealers. We are entering our 52nd year of uninterrupted ownership by Ohio National, something uncommon in the industry, which gives ONESCO’s registered representatives ongoing consistency in support, services and delivery.

We’re excited to see that our field force is growing more diverse, because it’s critical to our long-term success. By recruiting diverse talent, our organization aims to increase access to additional market segments and build competencies in how we do business. Focusing on improving diversity goes beyond metrics; inclusion, awareness and equality help us better execute our Mission, Vision and Values.

We continue our efforts in the emerging life insurance markets in Latin America. Our subsidiaries in Chile and Peru and our joint venture in Brazil are poised for continued innovation in the boutique life insurance industry despite challenging economic and political environments.

Our Latin America operations are responding to these challenges by focusing on improving productivity through measured investments in technology. Both Chile and Peru have embarked on initiatives to update platforms and migrate to a lighter more flexible cloud environment. These improvements are contributing to improved profitability in our individual life, credit life and mass consumer segments through three quarters.

Innovation
As the expectations of our field force and policyholders grow, so must our response. Therefore, we are focusing much of our innovation efforts on making us easier to do business with. We’re pursuing an application and underwriting experience that’s faster and more efficient but also supports our disciplined underwriting process.

We have taken the approach that our pursuit for ways to speed up business processes, providing short-term convenience, can’t come at the cost of risk management or delivering on the long-term promises we make.

Our e-delivery capability for our term life policies created an end-to-end digital experience for customers and has improved time to policy delivery and reduced costs. We look to expand this service to all our life and DI policies. Still to come are technology enhancements including e-bill, e-mobile pay, e-service forms and agent dashboard improvements.

We are also implementing robotics to automate low exception, high volume and repetitive processes to improve our business efficiencies.

Looking ahead, I continue to be very excited about how we are executing on our strategy. Our diversified product portfolio continues to provide our customers with the benefits and protection they desire.

I am proud to be part of an organization that focuses on serving the needs of our policyholders and cultivating mutually beneficial relationships with our field partners. We continue to offer products, solutions and services that help them achieve financial security and independence now, and for generations to come. [BT]

*Benefits paid to policyholders and beneficiaries include cash payments for life insurance benefits, systematic withdrawal transactions on deferred annuity contracts, annuity lump sum death claims and disbursements, monthly disability income benefits and retirement plan benefits. Benefits paid to policyholders for 2019 were not available as of publication.
Life insurance disability income insurance and annuity products are issued by The Ohio National Life Insurance Company and Ohio National Life Assurance Corporation. Product and product features vary by state. Issuers not licensed to conduct business in New York or outside of the United States. The payment of dividends is not guaranteed.

The start of 2019 represents new opportunities and an increased focus on what we do best at Ohio National—create and deliver valuable protection benefits for our policyholders.

We have rounded out our recent five-year strategy, which led us to renew our focus on our historic strengths in life and disability income (DI) insurance. As we prepare for this coming year and beyond, our mission remains unchanged: To make a difference in the lives of our policyholders by providing financial security and independence today and for generations to come.

As a mutual company, the decisions we make are for the long-term best interest of all our policyholders. This is in perfect alignment with our field partners’ desire to partner with a company that will best help them meet their clients’ needs.

In addition to focusing on life and DI sales, we are also expanding our presence in Latin America and continuing to offer a diverse portfolio of investment products through ONESCO, our retail broker dealer. From a product offering perspective going forward, we made the decision to no longer sell retirement plans and annuities. We will continue to service and support our existing customers.

Life insurance will always be a primary product focus for us. It is the foundation that protects holistic financial plans and a hallmark for us. With 110 years of experience providing quality life insurance products, including term, whole life, universal life (UL) and indexed universal life (IUL), as well as one of the leading DI products in the industry for individuals and businesses, our value proposition is unique and will continue to attract new distribution partners to our company.
Our increased focus on life and DI will also enhance our organizational agility. Our strategy is strengthened by new leadership and an organizational structure that aligns and integrates all strategic operations—everything including recruiting and onboarding new distribution partners, sales and marketing, underwriting, policy issue, service and claims. Greater focus also increases our long-term financial flexibility to invest in growth opportunities to support our policyholders, customers, business partners, associates and communities in which we operate.

Looking ahead to 2019, I believe our future is bright. We’ll be delivering new whole life products and enhancements and updates to our already competitive DI offering and have continued focus on expanding our distribution channel. Our energy is revitalized in fulfilling our value proposition to our field partners, helping them achieve their business goals by supporting their diverse needs and business models.

What’s new for life and DI
Because all products have to be updated with the 2017 mortality table, we have taken that opportunity to review our whole life portfolio. This review includes the introduction of Prestige 20-Pay, a fifth whole life product, adding depth to our already competitive portfolio.

While offering lifelong protection, Prestige 20-Pay focuses on providing competitive long-term values through guaranteed cash value accumulation and strong dividend potential. This product is ideal for those looking for flexible ways to supplement their retirement income and a preferred loan feature helps policyholders maximize the policy’s potential cash flows.

We’ll also be announcing additional enhancements to our portfolio of whole life, UL and IUL products in the months ahead.

Our life insurance strength is also bolstered by our average face amount, which is one of the industry’s highest for life insurance at $676,976, and our average annual whole life premium, which is the highest in the industry at over $13,100 per policy.¹

We are also pleased to maintain the same dividend interest rate for participating whole life insurance policies for 2019. We estimate the dividend total will exceed $100 million, its highest level ever.

For DI, we continue to experience success with the Multi-Life Guaranteed Standard Issue (GSI) market, which is the fastest growing area of DI today according to LIMRA. Multi-Life GSI provides field partners the ability to quickly grow their client base and revenue. We expect the multi-life area to become 40 percent of our overall DI sales in the coming years.

We continue to find ways to provide operational efficiencies with a new online life/DI combo application that saves time and accounts for half of our applications submitted online today. We also are looking forward to our partnership with Disability.

Management Services, Inc., to manage our DI administrative and claims management services. This partnership will ensure our DI customers continue to receive the quality customer service they expect.

Latin America updates
Ohio National’s Latin America unit achieved several important milestones last year. Life sales grew 4.4 percent and total production rose 28 percent year-to-date through November, 2018.

Most notably, we launched our initial life product administration platform in Peru. The online illustrator gives field partners a tool that is at the forefront of the local market and allows Ohio National Peru to formally enter the individual life market. Future rollout phases of these systems will bring full automation to the finance and accounting platforms, in addition to the capability for mass consumer products.

Ohio National Peru also formally entered the Peruvian individual life market with our first issued UL policy, an important milestone for our local subsidiary. We are the only current U.S. individual life company with a presence there. We are committed to building the life portfolio to scale and sustainability in this important emerging market in Latin America.

Ohio National Chile has successfully bid to participate in the sixth installation of the national disability and survivorship program, where we expect to help protect millions of families. Ohio National Peru is also continuing its participation in its national SIS program, having successfully bid to stay on risk through year end 2020.

Distribution updates
Last year was one of considerable growth for our distribution footprint with the addition of 24 new builder general agencies (GAs), 375 career agents and 359 brokers in the career channel and more than 1,000 producing general agents (PGA). Many of these independent producers joined us because of our competitive IUL and DI products. We have consistently grown our distribution over the past five years in numbers of producers and builder general agents as well as paid and submitted premium.

We continue to find success by offering a wide variety of contracts to best fit a general agent’s business model and agency objectives. Very simply, we support the entrepreneurial approach of all our distribution partners—it’s their vision, their business, we’ll help.

This philosophy has been important in attracting female financial professionals. In 2018 a record number of more than 340 new female field partners joined our career and PGA distribution networks. I am also honored and excited to be Ohio National’s first female president.

While we’re certainly undertaking efforts to support and celebrate diversity—which is critical to the success of our business and industry—some of the most exciting developments are coming from the bold vision of our financial professionals as well as diverse leaders in our home office. This seems particularly true for our female field partners. For example, we launched a new women’s study group to share ideas and make connections and plan to offer more in 2019. We are also actively involved in other organizations supporting diversity such as Women in Financial Services and the Conference of African American Financial Professionals.

Ohio National continues to attract top industry producers as evidenced by our company MDRT ranking, which is #7 of U.S. companies.

Our individual life sales were also strong with our traditional agent distribution selling more than $110 million of new premium through November. 2018 also marked the first full year of Ohio National offering IUL. This product has been very well received by our field partners and we were very pleased to have exceeded our first year sales goal by 33 percent.

Ohio National also continues to break company records in DI. We’re excited by the continued growth of our DI sales, which was supported by the 2017 introduction of ContinuON Income Solutions II®. This new product grabbed the industry’s attention with an impressive balance of strong protection features, design flexibility and competitive pricing.

2018 also marked nine consecutive years of DI sales growth, including our life/DI combo sales. DI sales are up 18 percent over 2017 as of November, 2018.

Looking ahead, I’m very excited about the strategy we’re rolling out and our distinct value proposition. We continue to offer high quality products with the benefits and protection our customers need. We are here to help our field partners best achieve success and ensure that they are delivering value to their customers.

I am honored to be part of a company with such a strong vision and clear path for the future. [BT]

1. Reference: LIMRA 2018