Globe Life (GL) 10-K2020 FY Annual report

Globe Life and the Company refer to Globe Life Inc., an insurance holding company incorporated in Delaware in 1979, and its subsidiaries and affiliates. Its primary subsidiaries are Globe Life And Accident Insurance Company, American Income Life Insurance Company, Liberty National Life Insurance Company, Family Heritage Life Insurance Company of America, and United American Insurance Company.

Effective August 8, 2019, Torchmark Corporation changed its corporate name to Globe Life Inc. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) ticker was changed to "GL" on August 9, 2019. The name change is part of a brand alignment strategy which will enhance the Company's ability to build name recognition with potential customers and agent recruits through the use of a single brand. The underwriting companies owned by Globe Life Inc. (the Parent Company) will continue to exist as legal entities, but over a period of time will go to market under the Globe Life name to leverage branding initiatives implemented at Globe Life And Accident Insurance Company in recent years.

Globe Life's website is: www.globelifeinsurance.com. Globe Life makes available free of charge through its website, its annual report on Form 10-K, its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports as soon as reasonably practicable after they have been electronically filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other information included in Globe Life's website is not incorporated into this filing.

 

The distribution channels for life insurance products include direct to consumer, exclusive agents, and independent agents. These methods are described in greater detail within the primary marketing distribution channel chart as seen above. The following table presents annualized premium in force for the three years ended December 31, 2020 by distribution method:

Globe Life's insurance subsidiaries write a variety of nonparticipating ordinary life insurance products. These include traditional whole life, term life, and other life insurance. The Company does not currently sell interest-sensitive whole life products. The following tables present selected information about Globe Life's life insurance products.

The following table presents Globe Life's health insurance annualized premium in force for the three years ended December 31, 2020 by distribution channel.

Globe Life offers Medicare Supplement and limited-benefit supplemental health insurance products that include primarily critical illness and accident plans. These products are designed to supplement health coverage that applicants already own. Medicare Supplements are offered to enrollees in the traditional fee-for-service Medicare program. Medicare Supplement plans are standardized by federal regulation and are designed to pay deductibles and co-payments not paid by Medicare.

The following table presents supplemental health annualized premium in force information for the three years ended December 31, 2020 by product category.

Annuity products include single-premium and flexible-premium deferred annuities. Annuities in each of the three years ended December 31, 2020 comprised less than 1% of premium. The Company does not currently market annuity products.

Premium rates for life and health insurance products are established using assumptions as to future mortality, morbidity, persistency, investment income, expenses, and target profit margins. These assumptions are based on Company experience and projected investment earnings. Revenues for individual life and health insurance products are primarily derived from premium income, and, to a lesser extent, through policy charges to the policyholder account values on annuity products and certain individual life products. Profitability is affected by actual experience deviations from the established assumptions and to the extent investment income varies from that required for policy reserves.

 

Collections for annuity products and certain life products are not recognized as revenues, but are added to policyholder account values. Revenues from these products are derived from charges to the account balances for insurance risk and administrative costs. Profits are earned to the extent these revenues exceed actual costs. Profits are also earned from investment income in excess of the amounts required for policy reserves.

 

The underwriting standards of each Globe Life insurance subsidiary are established by management. Each subsidiary uses information obtained from the application and, in some cases, telephone interviews with applicants, including, but not limited to inspection reports, pharmacy data, doctors’ statements and/or medical examinations to determine whether a policy should be issued in accordance with the application, with a different rating, with a rider, with reduced coverage, or rejected.

 

 

 

Globe Life competes with other insurance carriers through policyholder service, price, product design, and sales efforts. While there are insurance companies competing with Globe Life, no individual company dominates any of Globe Life's life or health insurance markets.

 

Globe Life's health insurance products compete with, in addition to the products of other health insurance carriers, health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, and other health care-related institutions which provide medical benefits based on contractual agreements.

 

The Company effectively competes with other carriers, in part, due to its ability to operate at lower policy acquisition and administrative expense levels than peer companies. This allows Globe Life to have competitive rates while maintaining higher underwriting margins.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), insurance companies are examined periodically by one or more of the supervisory agencies.

Insurance holding company system statutes and regulations impose various limitations on investments in subsidiaries, and may require prior regulatory approval for material transactions between insurers and affiliates and for the payment of certain dividends and other distributions.

Globe Life's talent base encompasses a broad range of experience that possesses the depth of critical skills to efficiently and effectively accomplish our business purpose and mission, serve our policyholders, and protect our shareholders' interests. Maintaining superior human capital is a key driver to the success and longevity that our Company has experienced since its origins dating back to the early 1900s. As of December 31, 2020, the Company had 3,261 full time, part-time, and temporary employees. The Company engages over 13 thousand exclusive producing insurance agents, most of whom are classified as independent contractors. In 2020, we increased our employee headcount by 2% and grew our exclusive agency force by 21%.

As of December 31, 2020, the Globe Life employees, (excluding agents) are as follows:

We conduct a confidential survey biennially to give our employees the opportunity to provide candid feedback about their experiences at the Company, including but not limited to, confidence in the Company and leadership, competitiveness of our compensation and benefit package, and departmental relationships. The results are shared with our employees, reviewed by senior leadership, and used to identify areas for improvement and create action plans based on the employee feedback received.

At Globe Life, we believe investing in our employees through training and development is paramount to their success. We have developed a learning eco-system that includes a multitude of professional development opportunities, including online, self-directed, and instructor-led courses on a variety of topics. An education assistance program is also offered to facilitate growth in an area related to one's current position with the Company.

We strive to provide a safe and healthy work environment for every employee. We furnish employees with numerous tools and trainings throughout the year to help ensure they have at their fingertips the best information to safely engage with co-workers, customers, and third parties. In furtherance of our commitment to our employees, we offer a comprehensive employee benefits package that includes competitive monetary benefits, retirement benefits through a Section 401(k) plan and a qualified pension to eligible employees, fitness center reimbursement, paid-time-off (based on years of service), health insurance, dental and vision insurance, employee resource program, health savings and flexible spending accounts, family leave, and tuition assistance.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company remained committed to the well-being and safety of its employees, agents, customers, guests, vendors, and shareholders in our resolve to maintain a stable and secure business environment. In response to the pandemic, our crisis management and incident response teams guided the Company through an expedited, yet smooth, transition towards working remotely. We efficiently transitioned approximately 80-85% of the Company's total workforce, excluding agents, to working remotely. For the agency operations, most sales and recruiting agents transitioned to a virtual experience providing limited in-person exposure.

The insurance industry is a regulated industry, populated by many public and private companies. We operate in the industry's life and health insurance sectors, each of which has its own set of risks.

Recruiting, development, and retention of producing agents are critical to support sales growth in this market because our insurance sales are primarily made to individuals, and the face amounts of the life insurance policies sold are typically lower than those of policies sold in higher-income markets. If we do not provide compensation that is competitive with other career opportunities and that motivates producing agents to increase sales of our products, our growth could be impeded. In addition, a failure to effectively develop new methods of reaching consumers and realizing cost efficiencies in our Direct to Consumer Division business could result in reduced sales and profits.

We have several life distribution channels that focus on distinct market niches, two of which are labor unions and sales via Direct to Consumer solicitations. Deterioration of our relationships with organized labor or adverse changes in the public’s receptivity to direct to consumer marketing initiatives could negatively affect our life insurance business.

Our business is highly dependent upon the internet, third-party service providers, and information systems to operate in an efficient and resilient manner. We gather and maintain data for the purpose of conducting marketing, actuarial analysis, sales and policy administration functions.

Malicious third-parties, employee or agent errors or disasters affecting our information systems could impair our business operations, regulatory compliance and financial condition. Employee or agent errors in the handling of our information systems may inadvertently result in unauthorized access to customer or proprietary information, or an inability to use our information systems to efficiently support business operations.

More frequent and sophisticated cyber-attacks and more impactful regulatory oversight models could result in additional costs to protect against security breaches. Any breach of confidential information systems resulting from the above factors could damage our reputation in the marketplace, deter potential customers from purchasing our products, result in the loss of existing customers, subject us to significant civil and criminal liability, constrain cash flows, or require us to incur significant technical, legal or other expenses.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and U.S. and international responses, are wide-ranging, costly, disruptive and rapidly changing. The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in and is expected to continue to result in significant disruptions in economic activity and financial markets. COVID-19 has directly and indirectly adversely affected the Company and will likely continue to do so for an uncertain period of time. Because of the size and breadth of this pandemic and the impact of related government and regulatory actions, all of the direct and indirect consequences of COVID-19 on the Company are not yet known and may not emerge for some time.

The COVID-19 pandemic subjects the Company to various potential risks that could adversely affect the Company in different ways, including but not limited to the following:

A significant portion of our sales agents are independent contractors. Although we believe we have properly classified such individuals, a risk nevertheless exists that a court, the Internal Revenue Service or other authority will take the position that those sales agents are employees. The laws and regulations that govern the status and classification of workers are subject to change and differing interpretations, which we cannot predict.

If there is an adverse determination regarding the classification of some or all of the independent contractors at our insurance subsidiaries by a court or governmental agency, we could incur significant costs with respect to payroll tax liabilities, employee benefits, wage payments, fines, judgments and/or legal settlements, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any resulting reclassification could necessitate significant changes in our affected insurance subsidiaries’ business models.

Additionally, as the majority of our investments are long-term fixed maturities that we typically hold until maturity, a significant increase in interest rates or a market downturn could cause a material temporary decline in the fair value of our fixed investment portfolio, even with regard to performing assets. These declines could cause a material increase in unrealized losses in our investment portfolio. Significant unrealized losses could substantially reduce our capital position and shareholders’ equity. It is possible our investment in certain of these securities with unrealized losses could experience a credit event where an allowance for credit loss is recorded, reducing net income.

 

We cannot be assured that any particular issuer, regardless of industry, will be able to make required interest and principal payments on a timely basis or at all. Significant downgrades or defaults of issuers could negatively impact our risk-based capital ratios, leading to potential downgrades of the Company by rating agencies, potential reduction in future dividend capacity from our insurance subsidiaries, and/or higher financing costs at the Parent Company should additional statutory capital be required.

 

Declines in interest rates expose insurance companies to the risk that they will fail to earn the level of interest on investments assumed in pricing products and in setting discount rates used to calculate net policy liabilities, which

could have a negative impact on income. Significant decreases in interest rates could result in calls by issuers of investments, where such features are available to issuers. Any such calls could result in a decline in our investment income, as reinvestment of the proceeds would likely be at lower interest rates.

An increase in interest rates could result in certain policyholders surrendering their life or annuity policies for cash, thereby potentially requiring our insurance subsidiaries to liquidate invested assets if other sources of liquidity are not available to meet their obligations. In such a case, realized losses could result from the sale of the invested assets and could adversely affect our statutory income, required capital levels, and results of operations.

As a holding company with no direct operations, our principal asset is the capital stock of our insurance subsidiaries, which periodically declare and distribute dividends on their capital stock. Moreover, our liquidity, including our ability to pay our operating expenses and to make principal and interest payments on debt securities or other indebtedness owed by us, as well as our ability to pay dividends on our common stock or any preferred stock, depends significantly upon the surplus and earnings of our insurance subsidiaries and the ability of these subsidiaries to pay dividends or to advance or repay funds to us. Other sources of liquidity include a variety of short-term and long-term instruments, including our credit facility, commercial paper, long-term debt, intercompany financing and reinsurance.

The principal sources of our insurance subsidiaries’ liquidity are insurance premiums, as well as investment income, maturities, repayments and other cash flow from our investment portfolio. Our insurance subsidiaries are subject to various state statutory and regulatory restrictions applicable to insurance companies that limit the amount of cash dividends, loans and advances that those subsidiaries may pay to us, including laws establishing minimum solvency and liquidity thresholds. For example, in the states where our companies are domiciled, an insurance company generally may pay dividends only out of its unassigned surplus as reflected in its statutory financial statements filed in that state. Additionally, dividends paid by insurance subsidiaries are restricted based on regulations by their states of domicile. Accordingly, impairments in assets or disruptions in our insurance subsidiaries’ operations that reduce their capital or cash flow could limit or disallow the payment of dividends, a principal source of our cash flow, to us.

 

Changes in laws or regulations in the states in which our companies are domiciled could constrain the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends or to advance or repay funds to us in sufficient amounts and at times necessary to pay our debt obligations, corporate expenses, or dividends on our capital stock.

Should interest rates increase in the future, the higher interest expense on any new issued debt may reduce net income. In addition, if the credit and capital markets were to experience significant disruption, uncertainty and instability, these conditions could adversely affect our access to capital. Such market conditions could limit our ability to replace maturing debt obligations in a timely manner or at all and/or access the capital necessary to grow our business.

 

In the unlikely event that current sources of liquidity do not satisfy our needs, we may have to seek additional financing or raise capital. The availability and cost of additional financing or capital depend on a variety of factors such as market conditions, the general availability of credit or capital, the volume of trading activities, the overall availability of credit to the insurance industry and our credit ratings and credit capacity. Additionally, customers, lenders or investors could develop a negative perception of our financial prospects if we were to incur large investment losses or if the level of our business activity decreased due to a market downturn. Our access to funds may also be impaired if regulatory authorities or rating agencies take negative actions against us. If our internal sources of liquidity prove to be insufficient, we may not be able to successfully obtain additional financing on favorable terms or at all. As such, we may be forced to delay raising capital, issue shorter term securities than we would prefer or bear an unattractive cost of capital which could decrease our profitability and significantly reduce our financial flexibility. If so, our results of operations, financial condition, consolidated RBC, and cash flows could be materially negatively affected.

 

We establish policy reserves to pay future policyholder benefits. These reserves do not represent an exact calculation of liability, but rather are actuarial estimates based on models and accounting requirements that include many assumptions and projections which are inherently uncertain. The reserve computations involve the exercise of significant judgment with respect to levels of mortality, morbidity and persistency, as well as the timing of premium and benefit payments. Even though our actuaries continually test actual-to-expected results, actual results may differ significantly from the levels assumed, which could result in increased policy obligations and expenses and thus negatively affect our profit margins and income.

Various rating agencies review the financial performance and condition of insurers, including our insurance subsidiaries, and publish their financial strength ratings as indicators of an insurer’s ability to fulfill its contractual obligations. These ratings are important to maintaining public confidence in our insurance products. A downgrade or other negative action by a rating agency with respect to the financial strength ratings of our insurance subsidiaries could negatively affect us by limiting or restricting the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to pay dividends to us and reducing our sales by adversely affecting our ability to sell insurance products through independent insurance agencies.

Regulatory changes could impact our Medicare Supplement and other supplemental health business. The nature and timing of any such changes cannot be predicted and could have a material adverse effect on our supplemental health insurance business.

A significant percentage of the supplemental health insurance premiums that our insurance subsidiaries earn is from Medicare Supplement insurance. Medicare Supplement insurance, including conditions under which the premiums for such policies may be increased, is highly regulated at both the state and federal level. As a result, our Medicare Supplement business is characterized by lower profit margins than life insurance and requires strict administrative discipline and economies of scale for success. Since Medicare Supplement policies are coordinated with the federal Medicare program, which experiences health care inflation every year, annual premium rate increases for the Medicare Supplement policies are typically necessary. Accordingly, the inability of our insurance subsidiaries to obtain approval of appropriate premium rate increases for supplemental health insurance plans in a timely manner from state insurance regulatory authorities could adversely impact their profitability and thus our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Negative publicity through traditional media, internet, social media and other public forums could damage our reputation and adversely impact our agent recruiting efforts, the ability to market our products and the persistency of in-force policies. The Company could be subjected to adverse publicity as a result of a significant security breach.

Our insurance policies are issued to and held by a large number of policyholders throughout the United States in relatively low-face amounts. Accordingly, it is unlikely that a large portion of our policyholder base would be affected by a single natural disaster. However, our insurance operations could be exposed to the risk of catastrophic mortality or morbidity caused by events such as a pandemic, hurricane, earthquake, or man-made catastrophes, including acts of terrorism or war, which may produce significant claims in larger areas, especially those that are heavily populated. Claims resulting from natural or man-made catastrophic events could cause substantial volatility

in our financial results for any fiscal quarter or year and could materially reduce our profitability or harm our financial condition.

Insurance companies, including our insurance subsidiaries, are subject to extensive supervision and regulation in the states in which they do business. The primary purpose of this supervision and regulation is the protection of policyholders, not investors. Regulatory agencies have broad administrative power over numerous aspects of our business, including premium rates and other terms and conditions included in the insurance policies offered by our insurance subsidiaries, marketing practices, advertising, agent licensing, policy forms, capital adequacy, solvency, reserves and permitted investments. Also, regulatory authorities have relatively broad discretion to grant, renew or revoke licenses or approvals. The insurance laws, regulations and policies currently affecting our companies may change at any time, possibly having an adverse effect on our business. Should regulatory changes occur, we may be unable to maintain all required licenses and approvals, or fully comply with the wide variety of applicable laws and regulations or the relevant authority’s interpretation of such laws and regulations. If we do not have the requisite licenses and approvals or do not comply with applicable regulatory requirements, the insurance regulatory authorities could preclude or temporarily suspend some or all of our business activities and/or impose substantial

 

Changes to the Internal Revenue Code, administrative rulings, or court decisions affecting the insurance industry, including the products insurers offer, could increase our effective tax rate and lower our net income, adversely impact our insurance subsidiaries' capital, or limit the ability of our insurance subsidiaries to sell certain of their products.

 

The collection, maintenance, use, disclosure and disposal of personally identifiable information by our insurance subsidiaries are regulated at the international, federal and state levels. Applicable laws and rules are subject to change by legislation or administrative or judicial interpretation. Various state laws address the use and disclosure of personally identifiable information to the extent they are more restrictive than those contained in the privacy and security provisions in the federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 (GLBA), the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), and in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). HIPAA also requires that we impose privacy and security requirements on our business associates (as that term is defined in the HIPAA regulations). Noncompliance with any privacy laws, whether by us or by one of our business associates, could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation and results of operations and could result in material fines and penalties, various forms of damages, consent orders regarding our privacy and security practices, adverse actions against our licenses to do business, and injunctive relief.

 

As of December 31, 2020, Globe Life had no unresolved SEC staff comments.

Globe Life, through its subsidiaries, owns or leases buildings that are used in the normal course of business. Globe Life owns and occupies approximately 500,000 combined square feet in McKinney, Texas (headquarters) and at the Waco, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma campuses. Additionally, the Company leases other buildings across the U.S.

The principal market in which Globe Life's common stock is traded is the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: GL). There were 2,252 shareholders of record on December 31, 2020, excluding shareholder accounts held in nominee form.

The line graph shown below compares Globe Life's cumulative total return on its common stock with the cumulative total returns of the Standard and Poor’s 500 Stock Index (S&P 500) and the Standard and Poor’s Life & Health Insurance Index (S&P Life & Health Insurance). Globe Life's stock is included within both the S&P 500 and the S&P Life & Health Insurance Index.

On August 5, 2020, Globe Life's Board reaffirmed its continued authorization of the Company’s stock repurchase program in amounts and with timing that management, in consultation with the Board, determined to be in the best interest of the Company. The program has no defined expiration date or maximum number of shares to be purchased.

We caution readers regarding certain forward-looking statements contained in the foregoing discussion and elsewhere in this document, and in any other statements made by, or on behalf of Globe Life whether or not in future filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any statement that is not a historical fact, or that might otherwise be considered an opinion or projection concerning the Company or its business, whether express or implied, is meant as and should be considered a forward-looking statement. Such statements represent management's opinions concerning future operations, strategies, financial results or other developments. We specifically disclaim any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement because of new information, future developments, or otherwise.

 

 

 

"Globe Life" and the "Company" refer to Globe Life Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates.

The following graphs represent net income and net operating income from continuing operations for the three years ended December 31, 2020.

Net operating income from continuing operations declined 2% to $738 million in 2020, compared with $752 million in 2019. On a diluted per common share basis, net operating income per common share increased 2% from $6.75 to $6.88. Net operating income is the consolidated total of segment profits after tax and as such is considered a non-GAAP measure. Net income is the most directly comparable GAAP measure. We do not consider realized gains and losses to be a component of our core insurance operations or operating segments. Additionally, net income was affected by certain significant and unusual non-operating items in 2019 and 2020. We do not view these items as components of core operating results because they are not indicative of past performance or future prospects of the insurance operations. We remove items such as these that relate to prior periods or are non-operating items when evaluating the results of current operations, and therefore exclude such items from our segment analysis for current periods.

Globe Life's operations on a segment-by-segment basis are discussed in depth under the appropriate captions following in this report.

The life insurance segment is our primary segment and is the largest contributor to earnings in each year presented. The life insurance segment underwriting margin declined $29 million compared with the prior year, primarily due to higher claims related to COVID-19 offset by premium growth. The health segment contributed to growth in income in both years contributing $29 million of additional underwriting margin in 2020 and $8 million in 2019.

In 2020, the largest contributor of total underwriting margin was the life insurance segment and the primary distribution channel was American Income Life Division. The following tables represent the breakdown of total underwriting margin by operating segment and distribution channel for the year ended December 31, 2020.

Total premium income rose 6% for the year ended December 31, 2020 to $3.8 billion. Total net sales increased 7% to $662 million, when compared with the same period in 2019. Total first-year collected premium was $547 million for the 2020 period, compared with $492 million for the 2019 period.

Life insurance premium income increased 6% to $2.7 billion over the prior year total of $2.5 billion. Life net sales rose 13% to $484 million for the year of 2020. First-year collected life premium rose 13% to $371 million. Life underwriting margins, as a percent of premium, declined to 25% in 2020 from 28% in the prior year. Underwriting margin declined to $675 million for the year ended December 31, 2020, 4% below the same period in 2019. The decline in the life underwriting margin is primarily due to an estimated $67 million of claims related to COVID-19 incurred during 2020.

Health insurance premium income increased 6% to $1.14 billion over the prior year total of $1.08 billion. Health net sales fell 7% to $178 million for the year of 2020. First-year collected health premium rose 8% to $176 million. Health underwriting margins, as a percent of premium, increased to 24% in 2020 compared with 23% in 2019. Health underwriting margin increased to $272 million for the year of 2020, 12% over the same period in 2019.

Excess investment income, the measure of profitability of our investment segment, declined 5% during 2020 to $244 million from $258 million in the same period in 2019. Excess investment income per common share, reflecting the impact of our share repurchase program, declined 1% to $2.28 from $2.31 in the same period last year.

Insurance administrative expenses increased 4.4% in 2020 when compared with the prior year period. These expenses were 6.6% as a percent of premium during 2020, compared with 6.7% a year earlier.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company repurchased 4.5 million Globe Life Inc. shares at a total cost of $380 million for an average share price of $85.24.

A discussion of each of Globe Life's segments follows. A significant factor in the performance of our various segments has been the impact of COVID-19. In response to this crisis, our crisis management and incident response teams successfully guided the Company into a smooth transition of working remotely. We quickly transitioned those employees whose jobs did not require them to be in the office, averaging approximately 80-85% of the Company's total workforce, to working remotely. The Company has continued to operate effectively while taking steps to help ensure the health and safety of our employees through adherence to the CDC and local government work guidelines.

With over 13 thousand exclusive agents in the field, the Company was presented with a challenge to move from face-to-face sales presentations in customers' homes and businesses to a virtual sales process. Despite its challenges, the Company's agencies also had to move from in-person recruiting and training of new agents to virtual processes. The Company's exclusive agency divisions were able to quickly pivot and continue to write new business and hire new agents due in part to new and updated information technology systems put in place over the last several years. Through the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company has seen a 28% increase in agent count at American Income and a 14% increase at Family Heritage compared with the prior year comparable period.

Our Direct to Consumer Division continues to experience record high demand for its products through its internet and inbound phone call channels with a 31% increase in overall net life sales for year ended December 31, 2020 compared with the prior year comparable period. The Company believes that times of crisis highlight the need for basic life protection and this has proven true with this pandemic.

 

Life insurance is the Company's predominant segment. During 2020, life premium represented 70% of total premium and life underwriting margin represented 71% of the total. Additionally, investments supporting the reserves for life products produce the majority of excess investment income attributable to the investment segment.

 

The lower life insurance underwriting margins for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020 are primarily attributed to approximately $67 million of COVID-19 claims.

Life insurance products are marketed through several distribution channels. Premium income by distribution channel for each of the last three years is as follows:

 

 

Annualized life premium in force was $2.7 billion at December 31, 2020, an increase of 6% over $2.6 billion a year earlier.

The following table shows net sales information for each of the last three years by distribution channel.

A discussion of life operations by distribution channel follows.

Below is the average producing agent count at the end of the period for the American Income Life Division. The average producing agent count is based on the actual count at the end of each week during the year. The division continues to see a significant recruiting opportunity due to the current economic conditions and our ability to recruit virtually and in-person.

American Income continues to focus on growing and strengthening the agency force, specifically through additional agency office openings and focus on middle-management growth. In addition to offering financial incentives and training opportunities, the agency has made considerable investments in information technology, including launching a lead mapping and customer relationship management tool for the agency force. We anticipate this tool will help enhance agent productivity and agent retention. Additionally, this division has invested in and successfully implemented technology that allows the agency force to engage in virtual recruiting, training and sales activity.

While the juvenile market is an important source of sales, it also is a vehicle to reach the parents and grandparents of juvenile policyholders, who are more likely to respond favorably to a DTC solicitation for life coverage on themselves than is the general adult population. Also, both juvenile policyholders and their parents are low acquisition-cost targets for sales of additional coverage over time.

The DTC division saw record high demand of its life insurance products in the current year primarily through its internet and inbound phone channels as a result of the response from COVID-19. Our continued investments in technology have allowed us to successfully serve the higher demands for our products through the digital self-serve and phone channels.

DTC’s underwriting margin, as a percent of premium, was 14% for the twelve months ended December 31, 2020, which was lower than the 18% result during the same period in 2019 primarily due to $35 million of estimated incurred claims related to COVID-19 as well as elevated claims for other causes. In 2021, we are anticipating additional COVID-19 life claims at the DTC division.

Below is the average producing agent count at the end of the period for Liberty National Division. As the division gains momentum in the virtual sales environment, the agency will benefit from the abundant recruiting opportunities currently available for new agents.

The Liberty National Division average producing agent count increased 10% in 2020. We continue to execute our long term plan to grow this agency through expansion from small-town markets in the Southeast to more densely populated areas with larger pools of potential agent recruits and customers. Continued expansion of this agency’s presence into more heavily populated, less-penetrated areas will help create long-term agency growth. Additionally, the agency continues to help improve the ability of agents to develop new worksite marketing business. Systems that have been put in place, including the addition of a customer relationship management (CRM) platform and enhanced analytical capabilities, have helped the agents develop additional worksite marketing opportunities as well as improve the productivity of agents selling in the individual life market. Sales were hindered in the first half of the year due to difficulties in agents transitioning to a virtual work environment after the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown, as well as mandatory shut-downs of non-essential small businesses which hindered the ability of the division’s agents to prospect at the worksite. In the second half of the year, sales improved in the worksite market as businesses were able to reopen.

Health insurance sold by the Company includes primarily Medicare Supplement insurance, accident coverage, and other limited-benefit supplemental health products including cancer, critical illness, heart, and intensive care coverage.

Year-to-date health premium accounted for 30% of our total premium in 2020, while the health underwriting margin accounted for 28% of total underwriting margin, reflective of the lower underwriting margin as a percent of premium for health compared with life insurance. The Company continues to emphasize life insurance sales relative to health due to life’s superior profitability and its greater contribution to excess investment income.

Globe Life markets supplemental health insurance products through a number of distribution channels. The following table is an analysis of our health premium by distribution channel for each of the last three years.

Of total health premium ($1.1 billion), premium from limited-benefit plans comprise $588 million, or 52% of the total, for 2020 compared with $556 million in the prior year. Premium from Medicare Supplement products comprises the remaining 48% or $553 million for 2020 compared with $521 million in 2019. Annualized health premium in force was $1.19 billion at December 31, 2020, an increase of 5% over the prior year balance of $1.14 billion.

Of total net sales ($178 million), sales of limited-benefit plans comprise $113 million, or 63% of the total, for 2020 compared with $108 million in 2019. Medicare Supplement sales make up the remaining 37%, or $65 million for 2020 compared with $83 million in 2019.

The following table discloses first-year collected health premium by distribution channel.