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Executives from Voya Financial NYSE: VOYA told investors they are entering 2026 with momentum after what they described as an “exceptional” 2025, highlighted by higher cash generation, strong commercial performance in retirement and investment management, and improved profitability in employee benefits.
Speaking at a UBS conference, CEO Heather Lavallee said the company generated $775 million in cash in 2025, up significantly from the prior year. She also pointed to record commercial results in the Retirement and Investment Management segments, which she said now total a combined $1 trillion of assets. CFO Mike Katz added that the company expects to grow cash generation further in 2026, supported by commercial momentum, expense efficiencies in retirement and investment management, and continued margin improvement in employee benefits.
Capital deployment: repurchases prioritized, M&A remains an option
Management emphasized balance sheet strength and flexibility in deploying capital. Lavallee and Katz reiterated that the company plans to direct more capital toward share repurchases in the first half of the year, describing a total of $300 million split roughly evenly between the first and second quarters.
At the same time, they said share repurchases do not preclude additional retirement “roll-up” acquisitions. Katz said the company is buying back stock in part because it does not see anything “imminent” on the deal front, but noted that market volatility can create opportunities. He also said Voya expects to end the year with approximately $400 million of excess capital, which he said includes an earnout the company expects to pay later in the year.
Retirement: record flows and OneAmerica integration progress
Lavallee said Voya’s retirement business delivered close to a 40% margin in 2025, above its guided range of 35% to 39%. She said the segment posted $28 billion of organic flows and added $60 billion of flows from the OneAmerica transaction, bringing total asset growth close to $90 billion. Lavallee also said the business added nearly two billion participants and now serves close to 10 million participants.
On OneAmerica, Lavallee said Voya set targets of $200 million of revenue growth, $75 million of earnings, and roughly 90% planned retention, and has “significantly exceeded” the revenue and earnings goals. She said two of four integrations have been completed and described retention as “incredibly strong.” She also highlighted added capabilities such as ESOP plan support and distribution through an Edward Jones relationship.
Management framed the retirement recordkeeping market as undergoing “secular consolidation,” noting there are roughly 60 providers and that the top 10 control about 80% of assets. Lavallee said Voya sits as a top-five provider and is positioned to pursue bolt-on acquisitions, while maintaining what she called a “very high bar” for M&A discipline.
Wealth management: expanding advice to a “captive audience”
Lavallee described Voya’s wealth management effort as an expansion of an existing business rather than a greenfield build. She said the company already has about $200 million of revenue coming from retirement-related wealth activity, which she characterized as roughly 10% of the retirement business.
Executives said a key opportunity is serving the “mass affluent” participant base—particularly workers transitioning out of 401(k) plans—through a mix of field advisors, phone-based advisors, and digital self-service tools. Lavallee said Voya benefits from an existing audience of retirement plan participants and does not face the same lead-generation and distribution acquisition costs as other wealth managers.
Katz said the company expects wealth management margins to be at or above retirement margins over time, although he noted a near-term “J-curve” as Voya invests. He said the company is working to “self-fund” as much of the investment as possible and is targeting 20%+ returns from the initiative. He also said Voya can adjust the pace of spending depending on conditions.
Lavallee also pointed to a proprietary product component that is distributed through third-party advisors, saying it represents a significant portion of the $200 million in revenue discussed.
Investment management and private markets partnerships
Management said investment management has delivered two strong years, outpacing the industry in organic growth with steady margin improvement. Katz reiterated a 2% organic growth long-term target and said the company is not relying on a single channel for growth, citing broad-based distribution across retail and institutional channels, domestic and international markets, and multiple client segments.
Lavallee outlined several growth pillars:
- Insurance channel growth, serving close to 80 insurance clients
- Expansion in private and alternatives, including within insurance client portfolios
- Growth in the U.S. intermediary market, including the launch of active ETFs
- International expansion through the Income and Growth franchise
On its partnership with Blue Owl, executives said teams are working toward a product launch in the first half of 2026 for a Multi-Manager Target-Date Fund. Lavallee said the strategy is already embedded into advisor-managed accounts and described Blue Owl’s private market capabilities as complementary to Voya’s existing strengths.
Employee benefits: stop-loss volatility, reserving actions, and pricing
Katz addressed recent reserve actions in the stop-loss business, describing a “once-in-a-generation” healthcare backdrop and a wider range of outcomes than pre-COVID experience. He said Voya’s typical target loss ratio range is 77% to 80%, but that the range of outcomes has expanded materially. Katz said the company chose to be on the higher end of its best-estimate reserve range to reduce the risk that stop-loss results “take us off course” in 2026.
Management said employee benefits improved materially in 2025, with $40 million of pre-tax adjusted operating earnings in 2024 rising to over $150 million in 2025. Katz said Voya expects further improvement in 2026 and described the recovery plan as focused on pricing, risk selection, and appropriate reserving.
Executives also described significant rate increases. Katz said Voya achieved a 21% rate increase on the January 2025 block, with persistency at about two-thirds, below the company’s typical 70% to 80% range. For the January 2026 block, he said Voya achieved a 24% increase, and that broader market repricing helped the company keep premiums “relatively stable” year over year.
Lavallee said the stop-loss book is about $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion, and that the company is willing to shrink the business if needed to improve margins. Katz added that Voya has held roughly a 4% market share in stop loss for a long period of time and emphasized the importance of scale in managing volatility.
Looking ahead, management said it expects continued elevated volatility in the near term and suggested that higher healthcare trend levels may persist, while emphasizing that Voya’s broader plan remains centered on growing cash generation and returning capital to shareholders.
About Voya Financial NYSE: VOYA
Voya Financial, Inc NYSE: VOYA is a financial services company headquartered in New York City, focused on helping Americans plan, invest and protect their savings. The company traces its roots to the U.S. operations of ING Group, which were spun off in 2013 and rebranded as Voya Financial in 2014. Voya’s operations are built around a customer-centric approach, drawing on decades of experience in retirement planning and risk management to serve both individual and institutional clients.
Voya’s core business activities span three key segments: Retirement, Investment Management and Employee Benefits.
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