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Valens Research

Valens Equity Weekly Insights - 2024 03 05

Unum (UNM) is one of the largest insurance companies in the world serving over 180,000 companies and protecting over 45 million individuals. Uniform Accounting highlights that the market is overly pessimistic given exaggerated fears surrounding its closed block business, suggesting the potential for equity upside.

Unum is one of the leaders in the insurance industry. The company provides group protection services to more than 180,000 companies and protects more than 45 million individuals across its four segments. Unum's growth strategy and a favorable interest rate environment has positioned this company for improved profitability, however the market fears losses from its closed block business and the potential for another event like COVID-19 that led to a massive number of claims being paid out will continue to hurt this business. As a result, investors are pricing this company's returns to collapse.

Unum's management is closely aligned to focus on growth, profitability improvement, and customer experience, which should push management to maintain its leadership position in the insurance industry.

Management confidence in the Q4 earnings call about growth and its ability to improve its capital strength suggest reason to believe in potential upside.

Integra LifeSciences (IART) is being removed from the Conviction Long List. The current CEO announced he will be retiring at the end of 2024. He was brought into the company to fix multiple quality control issues which plagued the company, and his retirement casts doubt over Integra's ability to put its shortcomings behind it.

UNUM
Underlying
UNUM GROUP

Unum Group is an insurance holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the company is a provider of financial protection benefits in the United States and the United Kingdom. The company has three segments: Unum US, which includes group long-term and short-term disability products, group life and accidental death and dismemberment products, and supplemental and voluntary lines of business, including individual disability and dental and vision products; Unum International, which includes its operations in the United Kingdom and Poland; and Colonial Life, which includes accident, sickness, and disability products, including dental and vision products, life products, and cancer and critical illness products.

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Valens Research
Valens Research

In 2009, just as the dust was settling from the last major equity and credit market crises, we launched a boutique research firm with the intention of breaking Wall Street’s biases and broken incentives:

  • GAAP and IFRS have failed to provide rules for reliable financial statement reporting
  • Stock analyst recommendations are not grounded in disciplined financial analysis
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  • Utter lack of willingness of major research firms to employ the the most advanced forensic analysis available

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Many years later, our business model remains because little has changed on Wall Street.

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