In this Inside RGA interview, Jeff Hopson, RGA’s Senior Vice President of Investor Relations, describes how he shares RGA’s story with the investment community, from our remarkable history to our bright future as one of the largest life and health reinsurers in the world.
A neighbor introduced me to stocks when I was 18 years old. I was a teenage stockholder of very limited means, but I was fascinated by the idea that your money could be out there making money. When I enrolled at Saint Louis University, I pursued a finance degree. After graduation, I tapped my analytical mind to become an analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., and continued that work at Stifel Financial Corp. In those roles, I followed the insurance industry for 25 years as an analyst, including the growth of RGA since it went public in 1993. In 2013, I flipped to the other side to become RGA’s first full-time Senior Vice President of Investor Relations.
My team manages financial communications around RGA’s status as a public company, so one of our objectives is oriented around the quarterly reporting period. We spend time preparing for each quarterly earnings report and call, gathering data and analyzing our financial performance from every angle. I work closely with our management team to prepare for the call and anticipate and field questions from investors and analysts.
We also manage relationships with ratings agencies to provide updates on RGA's financial health, strategic initiatives, and other relevant information. This helps ensure that the ratings agencies have the most current data to accurately assess the company's creditworthiness.
One of my favorite parts of my job is meeting with investors in different forums, whether at conferences, their offices, or RGA’s Investor Day in New York. Virtual meetings are great, too, but I find in-person meetings are the best way to help investors and analysts understand our business. Reinsurance is a complex industry, so I try to communicate in a way that is understandable about how we help clients manage their portfolios of risk, develop new products, and explore innovative financial solutions. Frequently I tell the story of RGA’s history – it’s extraordinary how this $19 billion in revenue, Fortune 500, global company originated in one small department of a midwestern mutual company 50 years ago.
Anyone in the investment community can page through RGA's Annual Report or quarterly results, but in many cases, they’re just reading numbers. I like to give an inside look at RGA and describe how we really work. Collaboration is central to our culture. We’re not here to advance egos or make individual gains; we’re here to work together to solve complex problems for our clients. From my decades in the business and investment world, I can confirm that truly collaborative approach is rare. People at RGA feel proud to be a part of this company. They believe RGA acts with integrity and cares about our clients, our employees, and our communities around the world.
When it comes to our business, we have competitors that handle large blocks of traditional risk, and others that manage financial transactions for insurers, but RGA is unique because we are an expert in both.
This is a special moment for RGA: Everything is coming together. We’re primed with new business activity, our balance sheet looks amazing, and our industry is benefitting from higher interest rates. RGA has strong momentum and our stakeholders appreciate that.
Investor Day, which this year will take place June 13, 2024, is a wonderful opportunity to connect with the investment community at a mid-year point. We host institutional investors and analysts for a half-day program in New York. Our executive team present the latest financial and business updates from RGA, which we webcast live. We share our strategies for creating long-term sustainable value and driving growth across the organization.
I enjoy pickleball, golf, and skiing. During COVID, my wife was busy as an oncology nurse, so I handled most of the cooking for our family. Italian is my favorite cuisine, which I supplement with herbs and tomatoes from our garden. My specialties range from chicken piccata to traditional red sauce.
