lincolns3.htm
PROSPECTUS
SUPPLEMENT
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Filed
Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
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(To
prospectus dated September 20, 2007)
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Registration
Statement 333-146213
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$10,000,000
LINCOLN
NATIONAL CORPORATION
DEFERRED
COMPENSATON OBLIGATIONS
Offered
as set forth in this Prospectus Supplement pursuant to the
LINCOLN
NATIONAL CORPORATION
EXECUTIVE
DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN
FOR
AGENTS
This
Prospectus Supplement relates to shares of our Deferred Compensation Obligations
under the Plan to be offered and sold to a select group of "Participants",
consisting of highly compensated individuals holding a full-time agent's
contract with The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, or LNL, and of
similarly situated individuals associated with affiliates and subsidiaries of
Lincoln National Corporation.
The
filing of this Registration Statement is not an admission by us that the
Deferred Compensation Obligations as defined below are securities or are subject
to the registration requirements of the Securities Act.
Investing
in our securities involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on
page 3 of this prospectus.
Neither the Securities and Exchange
Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of
these securities or passed upon the adequacy or accuracy of this prospectus
supplement and the accompanying prospectus. Any representation to the contrary
is a criminal offense.
November
18, 2008
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
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Page |
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About
this Prospectus Supplement
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iii
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The
Company
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1
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Forward-Looking
Statements–Cautionary Language
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1
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Risk
Factors
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3
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Plan
Overview
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21
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Definitions
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22
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Plan
Description
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24
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Eligibility
& Participation
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24
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Deferral
Provisions–Your Contributions to the Plan
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25
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Company
Contributions to the Plan
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25
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Vesting
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26
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Choosing
a Beneficiary
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26
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Distribution
and Taxes
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27
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Other
Important Facts about the Plan
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32
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Participant
Communications
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33
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Investment
Elections
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33
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Trading
Restrictions & Other Limitations
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34
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The
Investment Supplement – Summary Information on the Investment
Options
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34
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Experts
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57
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Legal
Matters
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58
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Where
You Can Find More Information
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58
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Documents
Incorporated by Reference
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59
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REQUIRED
DISCLOSURE FOR NORTH CAROLINA RESIDENTS
THE
COMMISSIONER OF INSURANCE OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA HAS NOT APPROVED OR
DISAPPROVED OF THIS OFFERING NOR HAS THE COMMISSIONER PASSED UPON THE ACCURACY
OR ADEQUACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS.
ABOUT
THIS PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT
This
Prospectus Supplement also constitutes a Summary Plan Description, and
highlights the key features of the Plan. This Prospectus Supplement does not
describe all the details of the Plan. The Plan Document explains your benefits,
rights and responsibilities in more detail, and is the controlling document in
the case of any discrepancy between this Prospectus Supplement and the Plan
Document. It is important for you to read and consider all
information contained in this prospectus supplement in making your investment
decision. You should rely only on information in this Prospectus
Supplement, the Plan Document or information to which we have referred you. You
should also read and consider the additional information under the caption
“Where You Can Find More Information.” We have not authorized anyone
to provide you with information that is different. We are not making
an offer of these securities in any state or jurisdiction where the offer is not
permitted. The information contained or incorporated by reference in
this prospectus supplement is accurate only as of the respective dates of such
information. Our business, financial condition, results of operations
and prospectus may have changed since those dates.
If you
have any questions about the Plan that are not answered in this Prospectus
Supplement, or if you would like a copy of the Plan Document, such additional
information can be obtained (without charge) from Nolan Financial Group by
calling Nolan’s Deferred Compensation Customer Service Line at this number:
888-907-8633.
IRS CIRCULAR 230 NOTICE: As
required by the IRS, we inform you that any tax advice contained in this
Prospectus Supplement was not intended or written to be used or referred to, and
cannot be used or referred to (i) for the purpose of avoiding penalties under
the Internal Revenue Code, or (ii) in promoting, marketing, or recommending to
another party any transaction or matter addressed in this Prospectus
Supplement. Individuals should seek tax advice based on their own
particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor.
Unless
otherwise indicated, all references in this prospectus to “LNC,” “we,” “our,”
“us,” or similar terms refer to Lincoln National Corporation together with its
subsidiaries and affiliates.
THE
COMPANY
LNC is a
holding company, which operates multiple insurance and investment management
businesses through subsidiary companies. LNL is its wholly owned
subsidiary. Through our business segments, we sell a wide range of
wealth protection, accumulation and retirement income products and
solutions. These products include institutional and/or retail fixed
and indexed annuities, variable annuities, universal life insurance, variable
universal life insurance, term life insurance, mutual funds and managed
accounts. LNC was organized under the laws of the state of Indiana in
1968. We currently maintain our principal executive offices at 150 N.
Radnor Chester Road, Radnor, Pennsylvania. “Lincoln Financial Group”
is the marketing name for LNC and its subsidiary companies. As of
September 30, 2008, LNC had consolidated assets of $173.3 billion and
consolidated stockholders’ equity of $9.5 billion.
We
provide products and services in four operating businesses and report results
through six business segments, as follows:
(1)
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Retirement
Solutions, which includes the Annuities and Defined Contribution
segments,
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(2)
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Insurance
Solutions, which includes the Life Insurance and Group Protection
segments,
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(3)
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Investment
Management, which is an operating business and segment,
and
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(4)
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Lincoln
UK, which is an operating business and
segment.
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We also
have Other Operations, which includes the financial data for operations
that are not directly related to the business segments, unallocated corporate
items (such as investment income on investments related to the amount of
statutory surplus in our insurance subsidiaries that is not allocated to our
business units and other corporate investments, interest expense on short-term
and long-term borrowings, certain run-off business and certain expenses,
including restructuring and merger-related expenses) and the ongoing
amortization of deferred gain on the indemnity reinsurance portion of the sale
of our former reinsurance segment to Swiss Re Life & Health America Inc.
(“Swiss Re”) in the fourth quarter of 2001.
The
results of Lincoln Financial Network (“LFN”) and Lincoln Financial Distributors
(“LFD”), our retail and wholesale distributors, are included in the segments for
which they distribute products. LFD distributes our individual
products and services primarily through brokers, planners, agents and other
intermediaries. At December 31, 2007, LFN offered LNC and
non-proprietary products and advisory services through a national
network of approximately 7,300 active producers who placed business with us
within the last twelve months.
The
following description of the Plan is a summary of its key terms and provisions.
The statements contained in this prospectus concerning the Plan are qualified in
their entirety by reference to the terms of the Plan itself, which is the
legally controlling document. Eligible participants and their beneficiaries may
obtain copies of the Plan upon request, or review them at our principal
executive office.
FORWARD-LOOKING
STATEMENTS—CAUTIONARY LANGUAGE
Certain
statements made in this prospectus supplement are “forward-looking statements”
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
(“PSLRA”). A forward-looking statement is a statement that is not a
historical fact and, without limitation, includes any statement that may
predict, forecast, indicate or imply future results, performance or
achievements, and may contain words like: “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,”
“estimate,” “project,” “will,” “shall” and other words or phrases with similar
meaning in
connection
with a discussion of future operating or financial performance. In
particular, these include statements relating to future actions, trends in our
business, prospective services or products, future performance or financial
results and the outcome of contingencies, such as legal
proceedings. We claim the protection afforded by the safe harbor for
forward-looking statements provided by the PSLRA.
Forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to
differ materially from the results contained in the forward-looking
statements. Risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to
vary materially, some of which are described within the forward-looking
statements, include, among others:
·
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Continued
deterioration in general economic and business conditions, both domestic
and foreign, that may affect foreign exchange rates, premium levels,
claims experience, the level of pension benefit costs and funding and
investment results;
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·
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Continued
economic declines and credit market illiquidity could cause us to realize
additional impairments on investments and certain intangible assets
including a valuation allowance against deferred tax assets, which may
reduce future earnings and/or affect our financial condition and ability
to raise additional capital or refinance existing debt as it
matures;
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·
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Uncertainty
about the effectiveness of the U.S. government's plan to purchase large
amounts of illiquid, mortgage-backed and other securities from financial
institutions;
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·
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Legislative,
regulatory or tax changes, both domestic and foreign, that affect the cost
of, or demand for, LNC’s products, the required amount of reserves and/or
surplus, or otherwise affect our ability to conduct business, including
changes to statutory reserves and/or risk-based capital (“RBC”)
requirements related to secondary guarantees under universal life and
variable annuity products such as Actuarial Guideline VACARVM (“VACARVM”);
restrictions on revenue sharing and 12b-1 payments; and the potential for
U.S. Federal tax reform;
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·
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The
initiation of legal or regulatory proceedings against LNC or its
subsidiaries, and the outcome of any legal or regulatory proceedings, such
as: adverse actions related to present or past business
practices common in businesses in which LNC and its subsidiaries compete;
adverse decisions in significant actions including, but not limited to,
actions brought by federal and state authorities and extra-contractual and
class action damage cases; new decisions that result in changes in law;
and unexpected trial court rulings;
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·
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Changes
in interest rates causing a reduction of investment income, the margins of
LNC’s fixed annuity and life insurance businesses and demand for LNC’s
products;
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·
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A
decline in the equity markets causing a reduction in the sales of LNC’s
products, a reduction of asset-based fees that LNC charges on various
investment and insurance products, an acceleration of amortization of
deferred acquisition costs (“DAC”), value of business acquired (“VOBA”),
deferred sales inducements (“DSI”) and deferred front-end sales loads
(“DFEL”) and an increase in liabilities related to guaranteed benefit
features of LNC’s variable annuity
products;
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·
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Ineffectiveness
of LNC’s various hedging strategies used to offset the impact of changes
in the value of liabilities due to changes in the level and volatility of
the equity markets and interest
rates;
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·
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A
deviation in actual experience regarding future persistency, mortality,
morbidity, interest rates or equity market returns from LNC’s assumptions
used in pricing its products, in establishing related insurance reserves
and in the amortization of intangibles that may result in an increase in
reserves and a decrease in net income, including as a result of
stranger-originated life insurance
business;
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·
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Changes
in GAAP that may result in unanticipated changes to LNC’s net income,
including the impact of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards
(“SFAS”) No. 157, “Fair Value Measurements” (“SFAS 157”) and SFAS No. 159,
“The Fair Value Option for Financial Assets and Financial
Liabilities”;
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·
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Lowering
of one or more of LNC’s debt ratings issued by nationally recognized
statistical rating organizations and the adverse impact such action may
have on LNC’s ability to raise capital and on its liquidity and financial
condition;
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·
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Lowering
of one or more of the insurer financial strength ratings of LNC’s
insurance subsidiaries and the adverse impact such action may have on the
premium writings, policy retention and profitability of its insurance
subsidiaries;
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·
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Significant
credit, accounting, fraud or corporate governance issues that may
adversely affect the value of certain investments in the portfolios of
LNC’s companies requiring that LNC realize losses on such
investments;
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·
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The
impact of acquisitions and divestitures, restructurings, product
withdrawals and other unusual items, including LNC’s ability to integrate
acquisitions and to obtain the anticipated results and synergies from
acquisitions, including LNC’s ability to successfully integrate
Jefferson-Pilot Corporation businesses acquired on April 3, 2006, to
achieve the expected synergies from the merger or to achieve such
synergies within our expected
timeframe;
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·
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The
adequacy and collectibility of reinsurance that LNC has
purchased;
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·
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Acts
of terrorism, war or other man-made and natural catastrophes that may
adversely affect LNC’s businesses and the cost and availability of
reinsurance;
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·
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Competitive
conditions, including pricing pressures, new product offerings and the
emergence of new competitors, that may affect the level of premiums and
fees that LNC can charge for its
products;
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·
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The
unknown impact on LNC’s business resulting from changes in the
demographics of LNC’s client base, as aging baby-boomers move from the
asset-accumulation stage to the asset-distribution stage of life;
and
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·
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Loss
of key management, portfolio managers in the Investment Management
segment, financial planners or
wholesalers.
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The risks
included here are not exhaustive. “Risk Factors” below as well as
LNC’s annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current
reports on Form 8-K and other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (“SEC”) include additional factors that could impact LNC’s business
and financial performance, which are incorporated herein by
reference. Moreover, we operate in a rapidly changing and competitive
environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time, and it is not
possible for management to predict all such risk factors.
Further,
it is not possible to assess the impact of all risk factors on our business or
the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual
results. In addition, we disclaim any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after
the date of this prospectus supplement.
RISK
FACTORS
You
should carefully consider the risks described below and those incorporated by
reference into this Prospectus Supplement before making an investment decision
in the Plan generally, or in the LNC Common Stock Account
specifically. The risks and uncertainties described below and
incorporated by reference into this Prospectus Supplement are not the only ones
facing our company. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently
known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business
operations. If any of these risks actually occur, our business,
financial condition and results of operations could be materially
affected. In that case, the value of our Common Stock could decline
substantially. In addition, there are risks
in
investing your money in the investment choices offering under the
Plan. These risks are discussed with the description of each
investment option.
Adverse
capital and credit market conditions may significantly affect our ability to
meet liquidity needs, access to capital and cost of capital.
The
capital and credit markets have been experiencing extreme volatility and
disruption for more than twelve months. Over the last month, the
volatility and disruption have reached unprecedented levels. In some
cases, the markets have exerted downward pressure on availability of liquidity
and credit capacity for certain issuers.
We need
liquidity to pay our operating expenses, interest on our debt and dividends on
our capital stock, maintain our securities lending activities and replace
certain maturing liabilities. Without sufficient liquidity, we will
be forced to curtail our operations, and our business will suffer. As
a holding company with no direct operations, our principal asset is the capital
stock of our insurance and investment management subsidiaries. Our
ability to meet our obligations for payment of interest and principal on
outstanding debt obligations and to pay dividends to shareholders and corporate
expenses depends significantly upon the surplus and earnings of our subsidiaries
and the ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or to advance or repay
funds to us. Payments of dividends and advances or repayment of funds
to us by our insurance subsidiaries are restricted by the applicable laws of
their respective jurisdictions, including laws establishing minimum solvency and
liquidity thresholds. Changes in these laws can constrain the ability
of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or to advance or repay funds to us in
sufficient amounts and at times necessary to meet our debt obligations and
corporate expenses. For our insurance subsidiaries, the principal
sources of our liquidity are insurance premiums and fees, annuity
considerations, investment advisory fees, and cash flow from our investment
portfolio and assets, consisting mainly of cash or assets that are readily
convertible into cash. At the holding company level, sources of
liquidity in normal markets also include a variety of short- and long-term
instruments, including repurchase agreements, credit facilities, commercial
paper, and medium- and long-term debt.
In the
event current resources do not satisfy our needs, we may have to seek additional
financing. The availability of additional financing will depend on a
variety of factors such as market conditions, the general availability of
credit, the volume of trading activities, the overall availability of credit to
the financial services industry, our credit ratings and credit capacity, as well
as the possibility that customers or lenders could develop a negative perception
of our long- or short-term financial prospects if we incur large investment
losses or if the level of our business activity decreased due to a market
downturn. Similarly, our access to funds may be impaired if
regulatory authorities or rating agencies take negative actions against
us. Our internal sources of liquidity may prove to be insufficient,
and in such case, we may not be able to successfully obtain additional financing
on favorable terms, or at all.
Disruptions,
uncertainty or volatility in the capital and credit markets may also limit our
access to capital required to operate our business, most significantly our
insurance operations. Such market conditions may limit our ability to
replace, in a timely manner, maturing liabilities; satisfy statutory capital
requirements; generate fee income and market-related revenue to meet liquidity
needs; and access the capital necessary to grow our business. As
such, we may be forced to delay raising capital, issue shorter tenor securities
than we prefer, or bear an unattractive cost of capital which could decrease our
profitability and significantly reduce our financial
flexibility. Recently, our credit spreads have widened considerably
which increases the interest rate we must pay on any new debt obligation we may
issue. Our results of operations, financial condition, cash flows and
statutory capital position could be materially adversely affected by disruptions
in the financial markets.
Difficult
conditions in the global capital markets and the economy generally may
materially adversely affect our business and results of operations and we do not
expect these conditions to improve in the near future.
Our
results of operations are materially affected by conditions in the global
capital markets and the economy generally, both in the U.S. and elsewhere around
the world. The stress experienced by global capital markets that
began in the second half of 2007 continued and substantially increased during
the third quarter of 2008. Recently, concerns over inflation, energy
costs, geopolitical issues, the availability and cost of credit, the U.S.
mortgage market and a declining real estate market in the U.S. have contributed
to increased volatility and diminished expectations for the economy and the
markets going forward. These factors, combined with volatile oil
prices, declining business and consumer confidence and increased unemployment,
have precipitated an economic slowdown and fears of a possible
recession. In addition, the fixed-income markets are experiencing a
period of extreme volatility which has negatively impacted market liquidity
conditions. Initially, the concerns on the part of market
participants were focused on the subprime segment of the mortgage-backed
securities market. However, these concerns have since expanded to
include a broad range of mortgage-and asset-backed and other fixed income
securities, including those rated investment grade, the U.S. and international
credit and interbank money markets generally, and a wide range of financial
institutions and markets, asset classes and sectors. As a result, the
market for fixed income instruments has experienced decreased liquidity,
increased price volatility, credit downgrade events, and increased probability
of default. Securities that are less liquid are more difficult to
value and may be hard to dispose of. Domestic and international
equity markets have also been experiencing heightened volatility and turmoil,
with issuers (such as our company) that have exposure to the real estate,
mortgage and credit markets particularly affected. These events and
the continuing market upheavals may have an adverse effect on us, in part
because we have a large investment portfolio and are also dependent upon
customer behavior. Our revenues are likely to decline in such
circumstances and our profit margins could erode. In addition, in the
event of extreme prolonged market events, such as the global credit crisis, we
could incur significant losses. Even in the absence of a market
downturn, we are exposed to substantial risk of loss due to market
volatility.
We are a
significant writer of variable annuity products. The account values
of these products will be affected by the downturn in capital
markets. Any decrease in account values will decrease the fees
generated by our variable annuity products.
Factors
such as consumer spending, business investment, government spending, the
volatility and strength of the capital markets, and inflation all affect the
business and economic environment and, ultimately, the amount and profitability
of our business. In an economic downturn characterized by higher
unemployment, lower family income, lower corporate earnings, lower business
investment and lower consumer spending, the demand for our financial and
insurance products could be adversely affected. In addition, we may
experience an elevated incidence of claims and lapses or surrenders of
policies. Our policyholders may choose to defer paying insurance
premiums or stop paying insurance premiums altogether. Adverse
changes in the economy could affect earnings negatively and could have a
material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial
condition. The current mortgage crisis has also raised the
possibility of future legislative and regulatory actions in addition to the
recent enactment of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the
“EESA”) that could further impact our business. We cannot predict
whether or when such actions may occur, or what impact, if any, such actions
could have on our business, results of operations and financial
condition. A further material deterioration in economic conditions
may require us to raise additional capital or consider other transactions to
manage our capital position or our liquidity.
There
can be no assurance that actions of the U.S. Government, Federal
Reserve and other governmental and regulatory bodies for the purpose of
stabilizing the financial markets will achieve the intended
effect.
In
response to the financial crises affecting the banking system and financial
markets and going concern threats to investment banks and other financial
institutions, on October 3, 2008, President Bush signed the EESA into
law. As enacted, the EESA authorizes the U.S. Treasury to, among
other things, purchase up to $700 billion of mortgage-backed and other
securities from financial institutions for the purpose of stabilizing the
financial markets. The U.S. Treasury has stated that it will not be
purchasing distressed securities and instead will invest directly in banks,
thrifts and bank and savings and loan holding companies under the Capital
Purchase Program (“CPP”). The Federal Government, Federal Reserve and
other governmental and regulatory bodies have taken or are considering taking
other actions to address the financial crisis. There can be no
assurance as to what impact such actions will have on the financial markets,
including the extreme levels of volatility currently being
experienced. Such continued volatility could materially and adversely
affect our business, financial condition and results of operations, or the
trading price of our common stock.
The
impairment of other financial institutions could adversely affect
us.
We have exposure to many
different industries and counterparties, and routinely execute transactions
with counterparties in the financial services industry, including brokers
and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, and other
institutions. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk in
the event of default of our counterparty. In addition, with respect
to secured transactions, our credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral
held by us cannot be realized upon or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to
recover the full amount of the loan or derivative exposure due to
it. We also may have exposure to these financial institutions in the
form of unsecured debt instruments, derivative transactions and/or equity
investments. There can be no assurance that any such losses or
impairments to the carrying value of these assets would not materially and
adversely affect our business and results of operations.
Our
participation in a securities lending program subjects us to potential liquidity
and other risks.
We
participate in a securities lending program for our general account whereby
fixed income securities are loaned by our agent bank to third parties, primarily
major brokerage firms and commercial banks. The borrowers of our
securities provide us with collateral, typically in cash, which we separately
maintain. We invest such cash collateral in other securities,
primarily in commercial paper and money market or other short term
funds. Securities with a cost or amortized cost of $481 million and
$612 million and an estimated fair value of $435 million and
$634 million were on loan under the program at September 30, 2008, and
December 31, 2007, respectively. Securities loaned under such
transactions may be sold or repledged by the transferee. We were
liable for cash collateral under our control of $463 million and
$655 million at September 30, 2008, and December 31, 2007,
respectively.
As of
September 30, 2008, approximately all securities on loan under the program
could be returned to us by the borrowers at any time. Returns of
loaned securities would require us to return the cash collateral associated with
such loaned securities. In addition, in some cases, the maturity of
the securities held as invested collateral (i.e., securities that we have
purchased with cash received from the third parties) may exceed the term of the
related securities loan and the market value may fall below the amount of cash
received as collateral and invested. If we are required to return
significant amounts of cash collateral on short notice and we are forced to sell
securities to meet the return obligation, we may have difficulty selling such
collateral that is invested in securities in a timely manner, be forced to sell
securities in a volatile or illiquid market for less than we otherwise would
have been able to realize under normal market conditions, or both. In
addition, under stressful
capital
market and economic conditions, such as those conditions we have experienced
recently, liquidity broadly deteriorates, which may further restrict our ability
to sell securities.
Our
reserves for future policy benefits and claims related to our current and
future business as well as businesses we may acquire in the future may
prove to be inadequate.
Our
reserves for future policy benefits and claims may prove to be
inadequate. We establish and carry, as a liability, reserves based on
estimates of how much we will need to pay for future benefits and
claims. For our life insurance and annuity products, we calculate
these reserves based on many assumptions and estimates, including estimated
premiums we will receive over the assumed life of the policy, the timing of the
event covered by the insurance policy, the lapse rate of the policies, the
amount of benefits or claims to be paid and the investment returns on the assets
we purchase with the premiums we receive. The assumptions and
estimates we use in connection with establishing and carrying our reserves are
inherently uncertain. Accordingly, we cannot determine with precision
the ultimate amounts that we will pay, or the timing of payment of, actual
benefits and claims or whether the assets supporting the policy liabilities will
grow to the level we assume prior to payment of benefits or
claims. If our actual experience is different from our assumptions or
estimates, our reserves may prove to be inadequate in relation to our estimated
future benefits and claims. As a result, we would incur a charge to
our earnings in the quarter in which we increase our reserves.
Because
the equity markets and other factors impact the profitability and expected
profitability of many of our products, changes in equity markets and other
factors may significantly affect our business and profitability.
The fee
revenue that we earn on equity-based variable annuities, unit-linked accounts,
VUL insurance policies and investment advisory business is based upon account
values. Because strong equity markets result in higher account
values, strong equity markets positively affect our net income through increased
fee revenue. Conversely, a weakening of the equity markets results in
lower fee income and may have a material adverse effect on our results of
operations and capital resources.
The
increased fee revenue resulting from strong equity markets increases the
expected gross profits (“EGPs”) from variable insurance products as do better
than expected lapses, mortality rates and expenses. As a result, the
higher EGPs may result in lower net amortized costs related to DAC, DSI, VOBA,
and DFEL. However, a decrease in the equity markets as well as worse
than expected increases in lapses, mortality rates and expenses depending upon
their significance, may result in higher net amortized costs associated with
DAC, DSI, VOBA and DFEL and may have a material adverse effect on our results of
operations and capital resources. For example, if equity markets
continued to decline by 20% and remained at those levels during the fourth
quarter of 2008, we may have to reset our “reversion to the mean” (RTM) process
that we use to compute our best estimate of long-term gross growth rate
assumption. We estimate that such a reset would result in a
cumulative unfavorable prospective unlocking in the range of approximately
$200-$300 million.
Changes
in the equity markets, interest rates and/or volatility affects the
profitability of our products with guaranteed benefits; therefore, such changes
may have a material adverse effect on our business and
profitability.
Certain
of our variable annuity products include guaranteed minimum benefit
riders. These include guaranteed minimum death benefit (“GDB”),
guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefit (“GWB”) and guaranteed minimum income
benefit (“GIB”) riders. The amount of reserves related to GDB for
variable annuities is tied to the difference between the value of the underlying
accounts and the guaranteed death benefit, calculated using a benefit ratio
approach. The GDB reserves take into account the present value of
total expected GDB payments
and the
present value of total expected assessments over the life of the contract and
claims and assessments to date. The amount of reserves related to GWB
and GIB for variable annuities is based on the fair value of the underlying
benefit. Both the level of expected GDB payments and expected total
assessments used in calculating the benefit ratio are affected by the equity
markets. The liabilities related to GWB and GIB benefits valued at
fair value are impacted by changes in equity markets, interest rates and
volatility. Accordingly, strong equity markets will decrease the
amount of GDB reserves that we must carry, and strong equity markets, increases
in interest rates and decreases in volatility will generally decrease the fair
value of the liabilities underlying the GWB and GIB benefits.
Conversely,
a decrease in the equity markets will increase the net amount at risk under the
GDB benefits we offer as part of our variable annuity products, which has the
effect of increasing the amount of GDB reserves that we must
carry. Also, a decrease in the equity market along with a decrease in
interest rates and an increase in volatility will generally result in an
increase in the fair value of the liabilities underlying GWB and GIB benefits,
which has the effect of increasing the amount of GWB and GIB reserves that we
must carry. Such an increase in reserves would result in a charge to
our earnings in the quarter in which we increase our reserves. We
maintain a customized dynamic hedge program that is designed to mitigate the
risks associated with income volatility around the change in reserves on
guaranteed benefits. However, the hedge positions may not be
effective to exactly offset the changes in the carrying value of the guarantees
due to, among other things, the time lag between changes in their values and
corresponding changes in the hedge positions, high levels of volatility in the
equity markets and derivatives markets, extreme swings in interest rates,
contract holder behavior different than expected, and divergence between the
performance of the underlying funds and hedging indices. For example,
the quarter ended September 30, 2008, we experienced a breakage between the
change in our guaranteed benefit reserve and the value of our hedges of $252
million. Breakage is defined as the difference between the change in
the fair value of the liabilities, excluding the amount related to the
non-performance risk component and the change in the fair value of the
derivatives. The breakage also excludes the amount we determine to be
the cost of hedging. In addition, we remain liable for the guaranteed
benefits in the event that derivative counterparties are unable or unwilling to
pay, and we are also subject to the risk that the cost of hedging these
guaranteed benefits increases, resulting in a reduction to net
income. We also must consider our own credit standing, which is not
hedged, in the valuation of certain of these liabilities. A decrease
in our own credit spread could cause the value of these liabilities to increase,
resulting in a reduction to net income. These, individually or
collectively, may have a material adverse effect on net income, financial
condition or liquidity.
Changes
in interest rates may cause interest rate spreads to decrease and may result in
increased contract withdrawals.
Because
the profitability of our fixed annuity and interest-sensitive whole life,
universal life (“UL”) and fixed portion of variable universal life (“VUL”)
insurance business depends in part on interest rate spreads, interest rate
fluctuations could negatively affect our profitability. Changes in
interest rates may reduce both our profitability from spread businesses and our
return on invested capital. Some of our products, principally fixed
annuities and interest-sensitive whole life, universal life and the fixed
portion of variable universal life insurance, have interest rate guarantees that
expose us to the risk that changes in interest rates will reduce our “spread,”
or the difference between the amounts that we are required to pay under the
contracts and the amounts we are able to earn on our general account investments
intended to support our obligations under the contracts. Declines in
our spread or instances where the returns on our general account investments are
not enough to support the interest rate guarantees on these products could have
a material adverse effect on our businesses or results of
operations.
In
periods of increasing interest rates, we may not be able to replace the assets
in our general account with higher yielding assets needed to fund the higher
crediting rates necessary to keep our interest sensitive products competitive. We
therefore may have to accept a lower spread and thus lower profitability or face
a decline in sales and greater loss of existing contracts and related
assets. In periods of declining interest rates, we have to reinvest
the cash we receive as interest or return of principal on our investments in
lower yielding instruments then available. Moreover, borrowers may
prepay fixed-income securities, commercial mortgages and mortgage-backed
securities in our general account in order to borrow at lower market rates,
which exacerbates this risk. Because we are entitled to reset the
interest rates on our fixed rate annuities only at limited, pre-established
intervals, and since many of our contracts have guaranteed minimum interest or
crediting rates, our spreads could decrease and potentially become
negative.
Increases
in interest rates may cause increased surrenders and withdrawals of insurance
products. In periods of increasing interest rates, policy loans and
surrenders and withdrawals of life insurance policies and annuity contracts may
increase as contract holders seek to buy products with perceived higher
returns. This process may lead to a flow of cash out of our
businesses. These outflows may require investment assets to be sold
at a time when the prices of those assets are lower because of the increase in
market interest rates, which may result in realized investment
losses. A sudden demand among consumers to change product types or
withdraw funds could lead us to sell assets at a loss to meet the demand for
funds.
Our
requirements to post collateral or make payments related to declines in market
value of specified assets may adversely affect our liquidity and expose us to
counterparty credit risk.
Many of
our transactions with financial and other institutions specify the circumstances
under which the parties are required to post collateral. The amount
of collateral we may be required to post under these agreements may increase
under certain circumstances, which could adversely affect our
liquidity. In addition, under the terms of some of our transactions
we may be required to make payment to our counterparties related to any decline
in the market value of the specified assets.
Defaults on our mortgage loans and
volatility in performance may adversely affect our
profitability.
Our
mortgage loans face default risk and are principally collateralized by
commercial and residential properties. Mortgage loans are stated on
our balance sheet at unpaid principal balance, adjusted for any unamortized
premium or discount, deferred fees or expenses, and are net of valuation
allowances. We establish valuation allowances for estimated
impairments as of the balance sheet date based information such as the market
value of the underlying real estate securing the loan, any third party
guarantees on the loan balance or any cross collateral agreements and their
impact on expected recovery rates. At September 30, 2008, no
loans were either delinquent or in the process of foreclosure for our mortgage
loan investments. The performance of our mortgage loan investments,
however, may fluctuate in the future. In addition, some of our
mortgage loan investments have balloon payment maturities. An
increase in the default rate of our mortgage loan investments could have a
material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial
condition.
Further,
any geographic or sector exposure in our mortgage loans may have adverse effects
on our investment portfolios and consequently on our consolidated results of
operations or financial condition. While we seek to mitigate this
risk by having a broadly diversified portfolio, events or developments that have
a negative effect on any particular geographic region or sector may have a
greater adverse effect on the investment portfolios to the extent that the
portfolios are exposed.
Our investments are reflected within
the consolidated financial statements utilizing different accounting basis and
accordingly we may not have recognized differences, which may be significant,
between cost and fair value in our consolidated financial
statements.
Our
principal investments are in fixed maturity and equity securities, mortgage
loans on real estate, real estate (either wholly owned or in joint ventures),
policy loans, short-term investments, derivative instruments and limited
partnerships and other invested assets. The carrying value of such
investments is as follows:
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Fixed
maturity and equity securities are classified as available-for-sale,
except for those designated as trading securities, and are reported at
their estimated fair value. The difference between the
estimated fair value and amortized cost of such securities, i.e.,
unrealized investment gains and losses, are recorded as a separate
component of other comprehensive income or loss, net of policyholder
related amounts and deferred income
taxes.
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Fixed
maturity and equity securities designated as trading securities, which
support certain reinsurance arrangements, are recorded at fair value with
subsequent changes in fair value recognized in realized gains and
losses. However, offsetting the changes to fair value of the
trading securities are corresponding changes in the fair value of the
embedded derivative liability associated with the underlying reinsurance
arrangement. In other words, the investment results for the
trading securities, including gains and losses from sales, are passed
directly to the reinsurers through the contractual terms of the
reinsurance arrangements.
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Short-term
investments include investments with remaining maturities of one year or
less, but greater than three months, at the time of acquisition and are
stated at amortized cost, which approximates fair
value.
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Mortgage
loans are stated at unpaid principal balance, adjusted for any unamortized
premium or discount, deferred fees or expenses, net of valuation
allowances.
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Policy
loans are stated at unpaid principal
balances.
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Real
estate joint ventures and other limited partnership interests are carried
using the equity method of
accounting.
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Other
invested assets consist principally of derivatives with positive fair
values. Derivatives are carried at fair value with changes in
fair value reflected in income from non-qualifying derivatives and
derivatives in fair value hedging relationships. Derivatives in
cash flow hedging relationships are reflected as a separate component of
other comprehensive income or
loss.
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Investments
not carried at fair value in our consolidated financial statements
— principally, mortgage loans, policy loans and real estate — may have
fair values which are substantially higher or lower than the carrying value
reflected in our consolidated financial statements. In addition,
unrealized losses are not reflected in net income unless we realize the losses
by either selling the security at below amortized cost or determine that the
decline in fair value is deemed to be other than temporary, i.e.,
impaired. Each of such asset classes is regularly evaluated for
impairment under the accounting guidance appropriate to the respective asset
class.
Our valuation of fixed maturity,
equity and trading securities may include methodologies, estimations and
assumptions which are subject to differing interpretations and could result in
changes to investment valuations that may materially adversely affect our
results of operations or financial condition.
Fixed
maturity, equity, trading securities and short-term investments which are
reported at fair value on the consolidated balance sheet represented the
majority of our total cash and invested assets. Pursuant to SFAS No.
157, we
have categorized these securities into a three-level hierarchy, based on the
priority of the inputs to the respective valuation technique. The
fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active
markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1) and the lowest
priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3). An asset or
liability’s classification within the fair value hierarchy is based of the
lowest level of significant input to its valuation. SFAS No. 157
defines the input levels as follows:
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Level
1 – inputs to the valuation methodology are quoted prices available in
active markets for identical investments as of the reporting
date. “Blockage discounts” for large holdings of unrestricted
financial instruments where quoted prices are readily and regularly
available for an identical asset or liability in an active market are
prohibited;
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·
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Level
2 – inputs to the valuation methodology are other than quoted prices in
active markets, which are either directly or indirectly observable as of
the reporting date, and fair value can be determined through the use of
models or other valuation methodologies;
and
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Level
3 – inputs to the valuation methodology are unobservable inputs in
situations where there is little or no market activity for the asset or
liability and the reporting entity makes estimates and assumptions related
to the pricing of the asset or liability, including assumptions regarding
risk.
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At
September 30, 2008, approximately .5%, 90.4%, and 9.1% of these securities
represented Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3,
respectively. The Level 1 securities primarily consist of
certain U.S. Treasury and agency fixed maturity securities and
exchange-traded common stock. The Level 2 assets include fixed
maturity securities priced principally through independent pricing services
including most U.S. Treasury and agency securities as well as the
majority of U.S. and foreign corporate securities, residential mortgage-backed
securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, state and political
subdivision securities, foreign government securities, and asset-backed
securities as well as equity securities, including non-redeemable preferred
stock, priced by independent pricing services. Management reviews the
valuation methodologies used by the pricing services on an ongoing basis and
ensures that any valuation methodologies are justified. Level 3
assets include fixed maturity securities priced principally through independent
broker quotes or market standard valuation methodologies. This level
consists of less liquid fixed maturity securities with very limited trading
activity or where less price transparency exists around the inputs to the
valuation methodologies including: U.S. and foreign corporate
securities — including below investment grade private placements;
residential mortgage-backed securities; asset backed securities; and other fixed
maturity securities such as structured securities. Equity securities
classified as Level 3 securities consist principally of common stock of
privately held companies and non-redeemable preferred stock where there has been
very limited trading activity or where less price transparency exists around the
inputs to the valuation.
Prices
provided by independent pricing services and independent broker quotes can vary
widely even for the same security.
The
determination of fair values in the absence of quoted market prices is based on:
(i) valuation methodologies; (ii) securities we deem to be comparable;
and (iii) assumptions deemed appropriate given the
circumstances. The fair value estimates are made at a specific point
in time, based on available market information and judgments about financial
instruments, including estimates of the timing and amounts of expected future
cash flows and the credit standing of the issuer or
counterparty. Factors considered in estimating fair value include:
coupon rate, maturity, estimated duration, call provisions, sinking fund
requirements, credit rating, industry sector of the issuer, and quoted market
prices of comparable securities. The use of different methodologies
and assumptions may have a material effect on the estimated fair value
amounts.
During
periods of market disruption including periods of significantly rising or high
interest rates, rapidly widening credit spreads or illiquidity, it may be
difficult to value certain of our securities, if trading becomes less frequent
and/or market data becomes less observable. There may be certain
asset classes that were in active markets
with significant observable data that become illiquid due to the current
financial environment. In such cases, more securities may fall to
Level 3 and thus require more subjectivity and management
judgment. As such, valuations may include inputs and assumptions that
are less observable or require greater estimation as well as valuation methods
which are more sophisticated or require greater estimation thereby resulting in
values which may be less than the value at which the investments may be
ultimately sold. Further, rapidly changing and unprecedented credit
and equity market conditions could materially impact the valuation of securities
as reported within our consolidated financial statements and the
period-to-period changes in value could vary significantly. Decreases
in value may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or
financial condition.
Some of our investments are
relatively illiquid and are in asset classes that have been experiencing
significant market valuation fluctuations.
We hold
certain investments that may lack liquidity, such as privately placed fixed
maturity securities; mortgage loans; policy loans; and equity real estate,
including real estate joint venture; and other limited partnership
interests. These asset classes represented 27% of the carrying
value of our total cash and invested assets as of September 30,
2008. Even some of our very high quality assets have been more
illiquid as a result of the recent challenging market
conditions.
If we
require significant amounts of cash on short notice in excess of normal cash
requirements or are required to post or return collateral in connection with our
investment portfolio, derivatives transactions or securities lending activities,
we may have difficulty selling these investments in a timely manner, be forced
to sell them for less than we otherwise would have been able to realize, or
both.
The
reported value of our relatively illiquid types of investments, our investments
in the asset classes described in the paragraph above and, at times, our high
quality, generally liquid asset classes, do not necessarily reflect the lowest
current market price for the asset. If we were forced to sell certain
of our assets in the current market, there can be no assurance that we will be
able to sell them for the prices at which we have recorded them and we may be
forced to sell them at significantly lower prices.
We invest
a portion of our invested assets in investment funds, many of which make private
equity investments. The amount and timing of income from such
investment funds tends to be uneven as a result of the performance of the
underlying investments, including private equity investments. The
timing of distributions from the funds, which depends on particular events
relating to the underlying investments, as well as the funds’ schedules for
making distributions and their needs for cash, can be difficult to
predict. As a result, the amount of income that we record from these
investments can vary substantially from quarter to quarter. Recent
equity and credit market volatility may reduce investment income for these types
of investments.
The
determination of the amount of allowances and impairments taken on our
investments is highly subjective and could materially impact our results of
operations or financial position.
The
determination of the amount of allowances and impairments vary by investment
type and is based upon our periodic evaluation and assessment of known and
inherent risks associated with the respective asset class. Such
evaluations and assessments are revised as conditions change and new information
becomes available. Management updates its evaluations regularly and
reflects changes in allowances and impairments in operations as such evaluations
are revised. There can be no assurance that our management has
accurately assessed the
level of
impairments taken and allowances reflected in our financial
statements. Furthermore, additional impairments may need to be taken
or allowances provided for in the future. Historical trends may not
be indicative of future impairments or allowances.
For
example, the cost of our fixed maturity and equity securities is adjusted for
impairments in value deemed to be other-than-temporary in the period in which
the determination is made. The assessment of whether impairments have
occurred is based on management’s case-by-case evaluation of the underlying
reasons for the decline in fair value. In evaluating whether a
decline in value is other-than-temporary, we consider several factors including,
but not limited to: 1) our ability and intent to hold the security for a
sufficient period of time to allow for a recovery in value; 2) the cause of the
decline; 3) fundamental analysis of the liquidity, business prospects and
overall financial condition of the issuer; and 4) severity of the decline in
value.
Additionally,
our management considers a wide range of factors about the security issuer and
uses their best judgment in evaluating the cause of the decline in the estimated
fair value of the security and in assessing the prospects for
recovery. Inherent in management’s evaluation of the security are
assumptions and estimates about the operations of the issuer and its future
earnings potential. Another key factor in whether determining an
other-than-temporary impairment has occurred is our “intent or ability to hold
to recovery or maturity.” In the event that we determine that we do
not have the intent or ability to hold to recovery or maturity, we are required
to write down the security. A write-down is necessary even in
situations where the unrealized loss is not due to an underlying credit issue,
but may be solely related to the impact of changes in interest rates on the fair
value of the security. Where such analysis results in a conclusion
that declines in fair values are other-than-temporary, the security is written
down to fair value.
Our gross
unrealized losses on fixed maturity securities available-for-sale at
September 30, 2008, were $4.8 billion pre-tax and the component of gross
unrealized losses for securities trading down 20% or more for six months is
approximately $2.4 billion pre-tax. Related to our unrealized
losses we establish deferred tax assets for the tax benefit we may receive in
the event that losses are realized. The realization of significant
realized losses could result in an inability to recover the tax benefits and may
result in the establishment of valuation allowances against our deferred tax
assets. Realized losses or impairments may have a material adverse
impact on our results of operation and financial position.
A
downgrade in our financial strength or credit ratings could limit our ability to
market products, increase the number or value of policies being surrendered
and/or hurt our relationships with creditors.
Nationally
recognized rating agencies rate the financial strength of our principal
insurance subsidiaries and rate our debt. Ratings are not
recommendations to buy our securities. Each of the rating agencies
reviews its ratings periodically, and our current ratings may not be maintained
in the future. Please see “Item 1. Business - Ratings” in LNC’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 (as may be
updated in subsequent periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and
incorporated herein by reference) for a complete description of our
ratings.
Our
financial strength ratings, which are intended to measure our ability to meet
contract holder obligations, are an important factor affecting public confidence
in most of our products and, as a result, our competitiveness. A
downgrade of the financial strength rating of one of our principal insurance
subsidiaries could affect our competitive position in the insurance industry and
make it more difficult for us to market our products as potential customers may
select companies with higher financial strength ratings. This could
lead to a decrease in fees as outflows of assets increase, and therefore, result
in lower fee income. Furthermore, sales of assets to meet customer
withdrawal demands could also result in losses, depending on market
conditions. The interest rates we pay on our borrowings are largely
dependent on our credit ratings. A downgrade of our debt ratings
could
affect our ability to raise additional debt, including bank lines of credit,
with terms and conditions similar to our current debt, and accordingly, likely
increase our cost of capital. In addition, a downgrade of these
ratings
could make it more difficult to raise capital to refinance any maturing debt
obligations, to support business growth at our insurance subsidiaries and to
maintain or improve the current financial strength ratings of our principal
insurance subsidiaries described above.
Our
businesses are heavily regulated and changes in regulation may reduce our
profitability.
Our
insurance subsidiaries are subject to extensive supervision and regulation in
the states in which we do business. The supervision and regulation
relate to numerous aspects of our business and financial
condition. The primary purpose of the supervision and regulation is
the protection of our insurance contract holders, and not our
investors. The extent of regulation varies, but generally is governed
by state statutes. These statutes delegate regulatory, supervisory
and administrative authority to state insurance departments. This
system of supervision and regulation covers, among other things:
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Standards
of minimum capital requirements and solvency, including risk-based capital
measurements;
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Restrictions
of certain transactions between our insurance subsidiaries and their
affiliates;
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Restrictions
on the nature, quality and concentration of
investments;
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Restrictions
on the types of terms and conditions that we can include in the insurance
policies offered by our primary insurance
operations;
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Limitations
on the amount of dividends that insurance subsidiaries can
pay;
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·
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The
existence and licensing status of the company under circumstances where it
is not writing new or renewal
business;
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Certain
required methods of accounting;
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Reserves
for unearned premiums, losses and other purposes;
and
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Assignment
of residual market business and potential assessments for the provision of
funds necessary for the settlement of covered claims under certain
policies provided by impaired, insolvent or failed insurance
companies.
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In any
particular year, statutory surplus amounts and RBC ratios may increase or
decrease depending on a variety of factors – the amount of statutory income or
losses generated by our insurance subsidiaries (which itself is sensitive to
equity market and credit market conditions), the amount of additional capital
our insurance subsidiaries must hold to support business growth, changes in
equity market levels, the value of certain fixed-income and equity securities in
our investment portfolio, the value of certain derivative instruments that do
not get hedge accounting, changes in interest rates and foreign currency
exchange rates, as well as changes to the NAIC RBC formulas. Most of
these factors are outside of our control. LNC’s credit ratings are
significantly influenced by the statutory surplus amounts and RBC ratios of our
insurance company subsidiaries. In addition, rating agencies may
implement changes to their internal models that have the effect of increasing or
decreasing the amount of statutory capital we must hold in order to maintain our
current ratings. In addition, in extreme scenarios of equity market
declines, the amount of additional statutory reserves that we are required to
hold for our variable annuity guarantees increases at a greater than linear
rate. This reduces the statutory surplus used in calculating our RBC
ratios. To the extent that our statutory capital resources are deemed
to be insufficient to maintain a particular rating by one or more rating
agencies, we may seek to raise additional capital. On November 14, 2008,
we filed an application with the Office of Thrift Supervision to become a
savings and loan holding company and filed an application with the Treasury to
participate in the CPP. However, there can be no assurance we will be
approved as a savings and loan holding company or to participate in the CPP. If
we were not to raise additional capital, either at our discretion or because we
were unable to do so, our financial strength and credit ratings might be
downgraded by one or more rating agencies. See
“A downgrade in our financial
strength
or credit ratings could limit our ability to market products, increase the
number or value of policies being surrendered and/or hurt our relationships with
creditors.” above.
We may be
unable to maintain all required licenses and approvals and our business may not
fully comply with the wide variety of applicable laws and regulations or the
relevant authority’s interpretation of the laws and regulations, which may
change from time to time. Also, regulatory authorities have
relatively broad discretion to grant,
renew or revoke licenses and approvals. 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 us from carrying on some or all of our activities or impose substantial
fines. Further, insurance regulatory authorities have relatively
broad discretion to issue orders of supervision, which permit such authorities
to supervise the business and operations of an insurance company. As
of 2008, no state insurance regulatory authority had imposed on us any
substantial fines or revoked or suspended any of our licenses to conduct
insurance business in any state or issued an order of supervision with respect
to our insurance subsidiaries, which would have a material adverse effect on our
results of operations or financial condition.
In
addition, LFN and LFD, as well as our variable annuities and variable life
insurance products, are subject to regulation and supervision by the SEC and
FINRA. Our Investment Management segment, like other investment
management companies, is subject to regulation and supervision by the SEC,
FINRA, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board, the Pennsylvania Department of
Banking and jurisdictions of the states, territories and foreign countries in
which they are licensed to do business. Lincoln UK is subject to
regulation by the FSA in the U.K. These laws and regulations
generally grant supervisory agencies and self-regulatory organizations broad
administrative powers, including the power to limit or restrict the subsidiaries
from carrying on their businesses in the event that they fail to comply with
such laws and regulations. Finally, our radio operations require a
license, subject to periodic renewal, from the Federal Communications Commission
to operate. While management considers the likelihood of a failure to
renew remote, any station that fails to receive renewal would be forced to cease
operations.
Many of
the foregoing regulatory or governmental bodies have the authority to review our
products and business practices and those of our agents and
employees. In recent years, there has been increased scrutiny of our
businesses by these bodies, which has included more extensive examinations,
regular “sweep” inquiries and more detailed review of disclosure
documents. These regulatory or governmental bodies may bring
regulatory or other legal actions against us if, in their view, our practices,
or those of our agents or employees, are improper. These actions can
result in substantial fines, penalties or prohibitions or restrictions on our
business activities and could have a material adverse effect on our business,
results of operations or financial condition.
Our
reserves for future policy benefits and claims related to our current and
future business as well as businesses we may acquire in the future may
prove to be inadequate.
Our
reserves for future policy benefits and claims may prove to be
inadequate. We establish and carry, as a liability, reserves based on
estimates of how much we will need to pay for future benefits and
claims. For our life insurance and annuity products, we calculate
these reserves based on many assumptions and estimates, including estimated
premiums we will receive over the assumed life of the policy, the timing of the
event covered by the insurance policy, the lapse rate of the policies, the
amount of benefits or claims to be paid and the investment returns on the assets
we purchase with the premiums we receive. The assumptions and
estimates we use in connection with establishing and carrying our reserves are
inherently uncertain. Accordingly, we cannot determine with precision
the ultimate amounts that we will pay, or the timing of payment of, actual
benefits and claims or whether the assets supporting the policy liabilities will
grow to the level we assume prior
to
payment of benefits or claims. If our actual experience is different
from our assumptions or estimates, our reserves may prove to be inadequate in
relation to our estimated future benefits and claims. As a result, we
would incur a charge to our earnings in the quarter in which we increase our
reserves.
While
mutual funds are not rated, per se, many industry periodicals and services, such
as Lipper, provide rankings of mutual fund performance. These
rankings often have an impact on the decisions of customers regarding which
mutual funds to invest in. If the rankings of the mutual funds for
which we provide advisory services decrease materially, the funds’ assets may
decrease as customers leave for funds with higher performance
rankings. Similarly, a loss of our key portfolio managers who manage
mutual fund investments could result in poorer fund performance, as well as
customers leaving these mutual funds for new mutual funds managed by the
portfolio managers. Any loss of fund assets would decrease the
advisory fees that we earn from such mutual funds, which are generally tied to
the amount of fund assets and performance. This would have an adverse
effect on our results of operations.
Changes
in accounting standards issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or
other standard-setting bodies may adversely affect our financial
statements.
Our
financial statements are subject to the application of GAAP, which is
periodically revised and/or expanded. Accordingly, from time to time
we are required to adopt new or revised accounting standards or guidance issued
by recognized authoritative bodies, including the Financial Accounting Standards
Board. It is possible that future accounting standards we are
required to adopt could change the current accounting treatment that we apply to
our consolidated financial statements and that such changes could have a
material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of
operations.
Federal
and state regulators continue to focus on issues relating to variable insurance
products, including suitability and replacements and sales to
seniors. Like others in the industry, we have received inquiries
including requests for information regarding sales to seniors from
FINRA. We are in the process of responding to these
inquiries. We continue to cooperate fully with such
authority. In addition, we are, and in the future may be, subject to
legal actions in the ordinary course of our insurance and investment management
operations, both domestically and internationally. Pending legal
actions include proceedings relating to aspects of our businesses and operations
that are specific to us and proceedings that are typical of the businesses in
which we operate. Some of these proceedings have been brought on
behalf of various alleged classes of complainants. In certain of
these matters, the plaintiffs are seeking large and/or indeterminate amounts,
including punitive or exemplary damages. Substantial legal liability
in these or future legal or regulatory actions could have a material financial
effect or cause significant harm to our reputation, which in turn could
materially harm our business prospects. For more information on
pending material legal proceedings, see “Item 3. Legal Proceedings” in LNC’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 (as may be
updated in subsequent periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and
incorporated herein by reference) for a description of our reportable
litigation.
Changes
in U.S. federal income tax law could make some of our products less attractive
to consumers and increase our tax costs.
The
Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (“EGTRRA”) and the
Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (“JGTRRA”) contain
provisions that have and will (in the absence of any further legislation)
continue, near term, to significantly lower individual tax
rates. These may have the effect of reducing the benefits of deferral
on the build-up of value of annuities and life insurance products. EGTRRA
also includes provisions that will eliminate, over time, the estate, gift and
generation-skipping taxes and partially eliminate the step-up in basis rule
applicable to property held in a decedent’s estate. Many of these
provisions expire in 2010, unless extended. The Bush Administration
continues to propose that many of the foregoing rate reductions, as well as
elimination of the estate tax, be made permanent, and continues to propose
several tax-favored savings initiatives, that, if enacted by Congress, could
also adversely affect the sale of our annuity, life and tax-qualified retirement
products and increase the surrender of such products. Although we
cannot predict the overall effect on the sales of our products of the tax law
changes included in these Acts, some of these changes might hinder our sales and
result in the increased surrender of insurance products.
In
addition, changes to the Internal Revenue Code, administrative rulings or court
decisions could increase our effective tax rate. In this regard, on
August 16, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued a revenue ruling
which purports, among other things, to modify the calculation of separate
account deduction for dividends received by life insurance
companies. Subsequently, the IRS issued another revenue ruling that
suspended the August 16, 2007 ruling and announced a new regulation project on
the issue. The current separate account deduction for dividends
calculation lowered the effective tax rate by approximately 4% for the year
ended December 31, 2007.
Our
risk management policies and procedures may leave us exposed to unidentified or
unanticipated risk, which could negatively affect our businesses or result in
losses.
We have
devoted significant resources to develop our risk management policies and
procedures and expect to continue to do so in the
future. Nonetheless, our policies and procedures to identify, monitor
and manage risks may not be fully effective. Many of our methods of
managing risk and exposures are based upon our use of observed historical market
behavior or statistics based on historical models. As a result, these
methods may not predict future exposures, which could be significantly greater
than the historical measures indicate, such as the risk of pandemics causing a
large number of deaths. Other risk management methods depend upon the
evaluation of information regarding markets, clients, catastrophe occurrence or
other matters that is publicly available or otherwise accessible to us, which
may not always be accurate, complete, up-to-date or properly
evaluated. Management of operational, legal and regulatory risks
requires, among other things, policies and procedures to record properly and
verify a large number of transactions and events, and these policies and
procedures may not be fully effective.
We are a
holding company and we have no direct operations. Our principal asset
is the capital stock of our insurance and investment management
subsidiaries.
Our
ability to meet our obligations for payment of interest and principal on
outstanding debt obligations and to pay dividends to shareholders and corporate
expenses depends upon the surplus and earnings of our subsidiaries and the
ability of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or to advance or repay funds to
us. Payments of dividends and advances or repayment of funds to us by
our insurance subsidiaries are restricted by the applicable laws of
their
respective jurisdictions, including laws establishing minimum solvency and
liquidity thresholds. Changes in these laws can constrain the ability
of our subsidiaries to pay dividends or to advance or repay funds to us in
sufficient amounts and at times necessary to meet our debt obligations and
corporate expenses.
We follow
the insurance practice of reinsuring with other insurance and reinsurance
companies a portion of the risks under the policies written by our insurance
subsidiaries (known as ceding). As of December 31, 2007, we have
ceded approximately $351 billion of life insurance in-force to reinsurers for
reinsurance protection. Although reinsurance does not discharge our
subsidiaries from their primary obligation to pay contract holders for losses
insured under the policies we issue, reinsurance does make the assuming
reinsurer liable to the insurance subsidiaries for the reinsured portion of the
risk. As of December 31, 2007, we had $8.2 billion of reinsurance
receivables from reinsurers for paid and unpaid losses, for which they are
obligated to reimburse us under our reinsurance contracts. Of this
amount, $4.3 billion relates to the sale of our reinsurance business to Swiss Re
in 2001 through an indemnity reinsurance agreement. Swiss Re has
funded a trust to support this business. The balance in the trust
changes as a result of ongoing reinsurance activity and was $1.8 billion as of
December 31, 2007. In addition, should Swiss Re’s financial strength
ratings drop below either S&P AA- or A.M. Best A or their NAIC risk based
capital ratio fall below 250%, assets equal to the reserves supporting business
reinsured must be placed into a trust according to pre-established asset quality
guidelines. Furthermore, approximately $2.1 billion of the Swiss Re
treaties are funds-withheld structures where we have a right of offset on assets
backing the reinsurance receivables.
Included
in the business sold to Swiss Re through indemnity reinsurance in 2001 was
disability income business. Swiss Re is disputing its obligation to
pay approximately $47 million of reinsurance recoverables on this disability
income business. We are currently arbitrating this dispute with Swiss
Re. Although the outcome of the arbitration is uncertain, we
currently believe that it is probable that we will ultimately collect the full
amount of the reinsurance recoverable from Swiss Re and that Swiss Re will
ultimately remain at risk on all of its obligations on the disability income
business that it acquired from us in 2001. In addition, we are
disputing with Swiss Re the contractual terms for interest crediting rates under
two funds withheld reinsurance arrangements. One of these disputed
arrangements is part of the current arbitration, and any action on the other
disputed arrangement is pending the decision of the current arbitration
results. Our estimate of the maximum loss exposure on these open
matters is $45 million (pre-tax) as of September 30, 2008. Although
the outcome of these open disputes is uncertain, we currently believe that the
ultimate resolution will not result in a material financial impact to
us.
During
the third quarter of 2006, one of LNL’s reinsurers, Scottish Re Group Ltd
(“Scottish Re”), received rating downgrades from various rating
agencies. As of December 31, 2007, of the $800 million of fixed
annuity business that LNL reinsures with Scottish Re, approximately 71% is
reinsured through the use of Modco treaties, in which LNL possesses the
investments that support the reserves ceded to Scottish Re. For its
annuity business ceded on a coinsurance basis, Scottish Re had previously
established an irrevocable investment trust for the benefit of LNL that supports
the reserves. In addition to fixed annuities, LNL has approximately
$108 million of policy liabilities on the life insurance business it reinsures
with Scottish Re. Scottish Re continues to perform under its
contractual responsibilities to LNL.
The
balance of the reinsurance is due from a diverse group of
reinsurers. The collectibility of reinsurance is largely a function
of the solvency of the individual reinsurers. We perform annual
credit reviews on our reinsurers, focusing on, among other things, financial
capacity, stability, trends and commitment to the reinsurance
business. We also require assets in trust, letters of credit or other
acceptable collateral to support balances due from reinsurers not authorized to
transact business in the applicable jurisdictions. Despite these
measures,
a reinsurer’s insolvency, inability or unwillingness to make payments under the
terms of a reinsurance contract, especially Swiss Re, could have a material
adverse effect on our results of operations and financial
condition.
We
reinsure a significant amount of the mortality risk on fully underwritten newly
issued, individual life insurance contracts. We regularly review
retention limits for continued appropriateness and they may be changed in the
future. If we were to experience adverse mortality or morbidity
experience, a significant portion of that would be reimbursed by our
reinsurers. Prolonged or severe adverse mortality or morbidity
experience could result in increased reinsurance costs, and ultimately,
reinsurers not willing to offer coverage. If we are unable to
maintain our current level of reinsurance or purchase new reinsurance protection
in amounts that we consider sufficient, we would either have to be willing to
accept an increase in our net exposures or revise our pricing to reflect higher
reinsurance premiums. If this were to occur, we may be exposed to
reduced profitability and cash flow strain or we may not be able to price new
business at competitive rates.
Catastrophes
may adversely impact liabilities for contract holder claims and the availability
of reinsurance.
Our
insurance operations are exposed to the risk of catastrophic mortality, such as
a pandemic, an act of terrorism or other event that causes a large number of
deaths or injuries. Significant influenza pandemics have occurred
three times in the last century, but the likelihood, timing, or the severity of
a future pandemic cannot be predicted. In our group insurance
operations, a localized event that affects the workplace of one or more of our
group insurance customers could cause a significant loss due to mortality or
morbidity claims. These events could cause a material adverse effect
on our results of operations in any period and, depending on their severity,
could also materially and adversely affect our financial condition.
The
extent of losses from a catastrophe is a function of both the total amount of
insured exposure in the area affected by the event and the severity of the
event. Pandemics, hurricanes, earthquakes and man-made catastrophes,
including terrorism, may produce significant damage 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. Also, catastrophic
events could harm the financial condition of our reinsurers and thereby increase
the probability of default on reinsurance recoveries. Accordingly,
our ability to write new business could also be affected.
Consistent
with industry practice and accounting standards, we establish liabilities for
claims arising from a catastrophe only after assessing the probable losses
arising from the event. We cannot be certain that the liabilities we
have established will be adequate to cover actual claim liabilities, and a
catastrophic event or multiple catastrophic events could have a material adverse
effect on our business, results of operations and financial
condition.
We
may be unable to attract and retain sales representatives and other employees,
particularly financial advisors.
We
compete to attract and retain financial advisors, wholesalers, portfolio
managers and other employees, as well as independent distributors of our
products. Intense competition exists for persons and independent
distributors with demonstrated ability. We compete with other
financial institutions primarily on the basis of our products, compensation,
support services and financial position. Sales in our businesses and
our results of
operations
and financial condition could be materially adversely affected if we are
unsuccessful in attracting and retaining financial advisors, wholesalers,
portfolio managers and other employees, as well as independent distributors of
our products.
We sell
our annuity and life insurance products through independent sales
representatives. These representatives are not captive, which means
they may also sell our competitors’ products. If our competitors
offer products that are more attractive than ours, or pay higher commission
rates to the sales representatives than we do, these representatives may
concentrate their efforts in selling our competitors’ products instead of
ours.
Intense
competition could negatively affect our ability to maintain or increase our
profitability.
Our
businesses are intensely competitive. We compete based on a number of
factors including name recognition, service, the quality of investment advice,
investment performance, product features, price, perceived financial strength,
claims-paying and credit ratings. Our competitors include insurers,
broker-dealers, financial advisors, asset managers and other financial
institutions. A number of our business units face competitors that
have greater market share, offer a broader range of products or have higher
financial strength or credit ratings than we do.
In recent
years, there has been substantial consolidation and convergence among companies
in the financial services industry resulting in increased competition from
large, well-capitalized financial services firms. Many of these firms
also have been able to increase their distribution systems through mergers or
contractual arrangements. Furthermore, larger competitors may have
lower operating costs and an ability to absorb greater risk while maintaining
their financial strength ratings, thereby allowing them to price their products
more competitively. We expect consolidation to continue and perhaps
accelerate in the future, thereby increasing competitive pressure on
us.
Anti-takeover
provisions could delay, deter or prevent our change in control even if the
change in control would be beneficial to LNC shareholders.
We are an
Indiana corporation subject to Indiana state law. Certain provisions
of Indiana law could interfere with or restrict takeover bids or other change in
control events affecting us. Also, provisions in our articles of
incorporation, bylaws and other agreements to which we are a party could delay,
deter or prevent our change in control, even if a change in control would be
beneficial to shareholders. In addition, under Indiana law, directors
may, in considering the best interests of a corporation, consider the effects of
any action on stockholders, employees, suppliers and customers of the
corporation and the communities in which offices and other facilities are
located, and other factors the directors consider pertinent. One
statutory provision prohibits, except under specified circumstances, LNC from
engaging in any business combination with any shareholder who owns 10% or more
of our Common Stock (which shareholder, under the statute, would be considered
an “interested shareholder”) for a period of five years following the time that
such shareholder became an interested shareholder, unless such business
combination is approved by the board of directors prior to such person becoming
an interested shareholder. In addition, our articles of incorporation
contain a provision requiring holders of at least three-fourths of our voting
shares then outstanding and entitled to vote at an election of directors, voting
together, to approve a transaction with an interested shareholder rather than
the simple majority required under Indiana law.
In
addition to the anti-takeover provisions of Indiana law, there are other factors
that may delay, deter or prevent our change in control. As an
insurance holding company, we are regulated as an insurance holding company and
are subject to the insurance holding company acts of the states in which our
insurance company subsidiaries are domiciled. The insurance holding
company acts and regulations restrict the ability of any person to obtain
control of an insurance company without prior regulatory
approval. Under those statutes and regulations, without such approval
(or an exemption), no person may acquire any voting security of a domestic
insurance company, or an insurance holding company which controls an insurance
company, or merge with such a holding company, if as a result of such
transaction such person would “control” the insurance holding company or
insurance company. “Control” is generally defined as the direct or
indirect power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies
of a person and is presumed to exist if a person directly or indirectly owns or
controls 10% or more of the voting securities of another person.
I. PLAN
OVERVIEW
The purpose of the Plan is to recognize
the services provided by certain highly successful agents.
Here is a
summary of the Plan’s key features (capitalized terms are defined
below):
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Each
year, you may elect to defer receipt of up to 70 percent of your
Pensionable Earnings into this Plan. Because the money you
defer is contributed before the imposition of federal income taxes, your
contributions to the Plan are referred to as your Pre-Tax
Deferrals. You must make your election to contribute
Pensionable Earnings earned during a calendar year before January 1st
of that year.
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The
investment performance of your Pre-Tax Deferrals will depend upon the
performance of the Investment Options that you select for the investment
of your Pre-Tax Contributions. Your Company Basic Match contributions and
any Company Discretionary Match contributions, and any Special Credit(s)
(together, “Company Contributions”) will be invested in a similar
fashion. The Investment Options available under the Plan are
described in the Investment Supplement in Section K, beginning on page 34
below.
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Your
Account balance is generally 100% vested at all times (unless you have a
special arrangement with other terms), although you may forfeit Company
Contributions (and any earnings attributable to Company Contributions) in
cases where you are involuntarily terminated for Cause. Your Account
balance is comprised of your Pre-Tax Deferrals, Company Contributions, and
any earnings/(losses) due to investment
performance.
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You
may not transfer any amounts credited to the LNC Stock Unit Fund into any
other Investment Option. Amounts credited or contributed to the
LNC Stock Unit Fund may only be transferred out or redeemed through a
distribution of your account, as described in Section
F.
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You
must elect for your Pre-Tax Deferrals to begin effective January 1st
of a Plan year. The “Delayed Deferral” option has been
discontinued due to changes in the tax
laws.
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You
may be eligible to receive a Company Basic Match contribution on certain
Pre-Tax Deferrals that you make to this Plan. The Company Basic
Match contribution is $0.50 for every dollar you contribute, up to
six-percent of the Pensionable Earnings that you elect to defer (e.g., up
to 3% of Pensionable Earnings).
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You
may also be eligible to receive a Company Discretionary Match contribution
with respect to certain Pre-Tax Deferrals if we decide to make one for a
particular Plan year. The Company Discretionary Match
contribution may range in amount from $ .01 to
$1.00.
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The
investment performance of your Account will depend upon the performance of
the Investment Options that you select from the Plan’s menu of available
Investment Options. Your Account will not actually be invested
in those Investment Options. Instead, the performance of the
Investment Options will be used solely as a measure to calculate the value
of your Plan Account, and eventual benefit. This is sometimes
referred to as “phantom” or “notional”
investing.
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The JOBS
Act changed the rules for making elections to defer compensation, and for making
distribution elections, generally making the rules more
restrictive. With the exception of the “haircut rule” described on
page 27, all of the rules for making deferral and distribution elections
described in Sections B and F apply to all non-qualified amounts accrued before and
after the effective date of the JOBS Act (January 1,
2005). Your entire Plan benefit is subject to the JOBS Act rules –
there is no “grandfathering” of benefits deferred or contributed prior to
January 1, 2005 – with the exception of the haircut rule, which was preserved
with respect to amounts deferred or contributed on or before December 31,
2004.
The Plan
is referred to as a “non-qualified” plan because it is not tax-qualified under
section 401 of the Code. Unlike benefits in the “qualified” 401(k) Plan,
benefits under this non-qualified Plan are not protected against our
insolvency. If we become insolvent, you would have no rights greater
than our other general unsecured creditors have to our assets. As a result, your
Account balance would not be guaranteed if we became insolvent.
This
Prospectus Supplement is intended to serve as a summary of Plan features and
does not detail every possible combination of circumstances that could affect
your participation in the Plan or your Account balance. The Plan Document is the
legal document regarding your benefits and is the primary resource for all Plan
questions. In the event of any discrepancies between this Prospectus
Supplement and the legal document, the Plan Document will govern.
II. DEFINITIONS
Account. The
term “Account” refers to the separate deferred compensation account that we have
established in your name. Each Account is a bookkeeping device only,
established for the sole purpose of crediting and tracking notional
contributions (and any earnings/losses thereon) credited to the various
Investment Options available under the Plan. We may establish various
sub-accounts within your Account for the purpose of tracking the amounts
credited to the various notional Investment Options you have chosen, for
tracking Pre-Tax Deferrals and Company Contribution amounts, investment
earnings/losses, and for other administrative purposes.
Benefits
Administrator. The Benefits Administrator is the Plan’s
fiduciary and plan administrator.
The
Benefits Administrator is the Vice President of Benefits and Human Resources
Administrative Services. The Benefits Administrator is responsible
for the day-to-day administration of this Plan and the authority to make
administrative decisions and to interpret the Plan.
Cause. In
the context of a termination for “Cause,” and as determined by the Benefits
Administrator in its sole discretion, Cause shall mean: (1) your
conviction for a felony, or other fraudulent or willful misconduct that is
materially and demonstrably injurious to the business or reputation of LNC, or
(2) the willful and continued failure to substantially perform your duties with
LNC or a subsidiary (other than a failure resulting from your incapacity due to
physical or mental illness), after a written demand for substantial performance
is delivered to your or your manager which specifically identifies the manner in
which the manager believes that you have not substantially performed your
duties.
Code. The
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
Company
Basic Match. The Company Basic Match is a “guaranteed” match
made on a bi-weekly payroll basis equal to $0.50 of every dollar of Pensionable
Earnings contributed to this Plan, up to a maximum of 6% of Pensionable
Earnings, to the extent such dollar cannot be contributed to the LNL Agents’
Savings & Profit-Sharing Plan (“LNL 401(k)”) due to IRS limits.
Company
Contributions. Company Contributions include any Company Basic
Match contribution, Company Discretionary Match contribution, or any Special
Credit contributed by LNC to your Account.
Company
Discretionary Match. The Discretionary Match contribution is
made entirely at our discretion, and in some years may not be made at
all. The amount of the Company Discretionary Match for a particular
Plan year is based on pre-set performance criteria, the satisfaction of which
must be approved by our Board of Directors before the Company Discretionary
Match can be credited to you. Even if pre-set performance criteria
are met, the Board reserves the discretion not to pay a Company Discretionary
Match contribution for a particular year.
Disability. You
will be considered disabled if you meet the definition of “disability” contained
in the Social Security Act, or you have been receiving income replacement
benefits for a period of at least three months under one of LNC’s accident or
health plans by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment
which can be expected to result in death or last for a continuous period of at
least 12 months.
Earnings. Earnings
are defined as Pensionable Earnings plus commissions on contract renewals paid
to you during the Plan Year from the sale of LNL and LNY life insurance and
annuity products while you have a contract with us.
Investment
Options. The term “Investment Options” refers to the menu of
investment options available under the Plan for you to invest on a notional or
“phantom” basis. A description of each Investment Option is included
in this Prospectus Supplement below. We reserve the right to add or
remove an Investment Option from the Plan at any time and from time to
time.
Key
Employees. Key Employees are defined under section 416(i) of
the Code (the “top heavy” rules), and would include up to 50 of the highest paid
officers of LNC. Under no circumstances may a payment under this Plan
be made to a Key Employee within the first six months following the Key
Employee's Separation from Service. Although it is unlikely that a
Key Employee would participate in this Plan, or have a balance credited to an
Account under this Plan, a determination of whether you are a Key Employee or
not shall be made solely in the discretion of the Benefits Administrator, and in
compliance with Code section 409A and any regulations promulgated
thereunder.
LNL. LNL
refers to The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company.
LNY. LNY
refers to Lincoln National Life and Annuity Company of New York.
Nolan. Nolan
refers to Nolan Financial Group, the Plan’s recordkeeper and third-party
administrator.
Open
Window Periods. Open Window Periods generally commence on the
later of (a) the second business day after our quarterly earnings release, or
(b) the first business day after the quarterly investors conference and end on
the fifteenth day of the last month of the quarter, unless we determine
otherwise. If such fifteenth day is not a day on which trading occurs on the New
York Stock Exchange, the window period shall end on the business day immediately
preceding such day.
Pensionable
Earnings. Pensionable Earnings may be deferred by you into the
Plan, subject to certain limits, as described in Section B,
below. Pensionable Earnings are defined as gross first year life
insurance commissions plus gross first year annuity commissions paid to you
during the Plan Year from the sale of LNL or LNY products while you have a
contract with us. By “gross” we mean before taxes and any deferrals
into the LNL 401(k) Plan that you may elect. Pensionable Earnings do
not include commissions on contract renewals.
Pre-Tax
Deferrals. Pre-tax Deferrals are the amount of Pensionable
Earnings that you have elected to contribute to this Plan in accordance with the
enrollment and/or election procedures established by the Benefits
Administrator.
Separation
from Service. The Benefits Administrator shall determine
whether you have experienced a Separation from Service from LNC; such
determination will be consistent with the definition of “separation from
service” provided in Code section 409A and in any regulations promulgated
thereunder.
Special
Credit. We may credit your Account with a special employer
credit at any time during a Plan year. Special Credits may have
special forfeiture, vesting, or other restrictions or conditions associated with
them, as determined by the Benefits Administrator.
Stock
Units. “Stock Units” refers to “phantom” units of the Lincoln
National Corporation common stock fund offered to employees in the Lincoln
National Corporation Employees’ Savings & Retirement Plan (“LNC Employees’
401(k) Plan”). You may direct Nolan to contribute all or a portion of
your Pre-Tax Deferrals and Company Contributions into the Plan’s Stock Unit
Account. However, amounts invested in Stock Units may not be redeemed
or transferred out of the Stock Unit Account until your Plan Account is
distributed to you.
Units. “Units”
means “phantom” or hypothetical shares of the Investment Options available under
this Plan, excluding the Stock Units. Units will be notionally
credited to your Account pursuant to your investment directions on file with
Nolan.
III. PLAN
DESCRIPTION
A. Eligibility
& Participation
This Plan
is being offered to select sales agents of Lincoln National Corporation and its
affiliates. You
will be
eligible to participate in the Plan if your Earnings during the prior calendar
year were at least $100,000, and you are classified as a full-time life
insurance salesperson under the Federal Insurance Contributions
Act. You must have also entered into an AG2K contract with LNL or a
NYAG contract with LNY.
Effective
July 1, 2005, experienced subsidy agents of LNL became eligible to participate
in this Plan, provided they also met the threshold Earnings requirement of
$100,000. District Agency Network Agents (DANs) and Agency Building
General Agency Agents (ABGAs) are not eligible to participate in this
Plan.
B. Deferral
Provisions – Your Contributions to the Plan
You will
not be eligible to make a deferral for a Plan year if you do not meet the
eligibility requirements described in Section A above.
If you
are eligible to participate, you may commence participation by making an
irrevocable election to defer up to 70% of your Pensionable Earnings into this
Plan, such election to become effective beginning on January 1st of the
next calendar year. You may make a valid election by complying with
the administrative procedures governing elections established from time to time
by the Benefits Administrator. You must make your election within the
time frame established by the Benefits Administrator, but in no event later than
December 31st of the
year prior to the year in which your Pensionable Earnings are
earned.
You are
not required to defer any part of your Pensionable Earnings into this Plan;
however, if you do not elect to defer at least 6% of your Pensionable Earnings,
you may not receive the full amount of Company Basic Match and any Company
Discretionary Match contribution that you would otherwise be eligible to
receive.
C. Company
Contributions to the Plan
General. During
2008, any amount of Pensionable Earnings that you defer into the Plan (“Pre-Tax
Contributions”) after you have earned a threshold amount of $175,000 in Earnings
(Pensionable Earnings plus
commissions on contract renewals for life insurance and annuity products
written by you for LNL and LNY) will be eligible for Company Basic and any
Company Discretionary Matches. While your deferrals in the LNL 401(k)
Plan may be matched until you have reached the IRS annual compensation limit
($230,000 in Earnings for 2008), your Pre-Tax Deferrals in this Plan will be
matched only after your Earnings exceed $175,000. In other words, you
will not receive any match under this Plan before your Earnings have exceeded
the $175,000 threshold amount.
Beginning
on January 1, 2009, the threshold amount of Earnings you must earn before your
Pre-Tax Deferrals will receive any Company Basic or Company Discretionary
Matches will increase to $245,000. On the other hand, your deferrals
in the LNL 401(k) Plan will NOT be matched once you have reached the IRS annual
compensation limit ($245,000 in Earnings for 2009).
Company Basic
Match. You will be eligible to receive a Company Basic Match
contribution on certain Pre-Tax Deferrals that you make to this
Plan. The Company Basic Match is $0.50 for every dollar you
contribute that is above the $175,000 threshold, up to six-percent of the
Pensionable Earnings that you elect to defer (e.g. maximum annual value = 3% of
Pensionable Earnings).
Example: Agent
Jones elects to defer 7% of his Pensionable Earnings into the Plan during
2009. His Earnings exceeded the $245,000 threshold amount on February
4, 2008. His Company Basic Match will be
determined
as follows:
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(A)
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(B)
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(C)
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1st
year
commissions
portion
of
(C)
(Pensionable
Earnings)
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Deferral
% |
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Deferral
Amount
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Basic
Company Match (3% of Pensionable Earnings)
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Cycle
Date
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Gross
Earnings
YTD
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Threshold
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Difference
(A)
– (B)
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2/04/2008
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$ |
247,
500.46 |
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|
$ |
245,000 |
|
|
$ |
2,500.46 |
|
|
$ |
2,500.46 |
|
|
|
7 |
% |
|
$ |
175.03 |
|
|
$ |
87.51 |
|
2/11/2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4,974.80 |
|
|
|
7 |
% |
|
|
348.24 |
|
|
|
149.24 |
|
2/19/2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3,803.29 |
|
|
|
7 |
% |
|
|
266.23 |
|
|
|
114.10 |
|
2/25/2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
208.18 |
|
|
|
7 |
% |
|
|
14.57 |
|
|
|
6.25 |
|
Your
Company Basic Match contributions will be invested in accordance with the
investment directions you have provided to Nolan with respect to the deferral of
your Pensionable Earnings (Pre-Tax Deferrals).
Company Discretionary
Match. Any Company Discretionary Match contribution that we decide to
make will be invested in accordance with the investment instructions you have
provided to Nolan. The Company Discretionary Match will be credited
to your Account as soon as administratively feasible after the Company’s Board
of Directors approves the Discretionary Match (typically in late March or early
April). The Company Discretionary Match may range in amount from $
..01 to $1.00.
Failure
to elect to defer at least 6% of your Pensionable Earnings directly into this
Plan could result in you not receiving the full amount of Company Basic Match
and Company Discretionary Match contributions that you would otherwise have been
entitled to receive.
Special
Credits. In addition to the Company Basic Match and Company
Discretionary Match contributions described above, we may credit your Account
with a special employer credit for any calendar year. Special Credits
may have a vesting schedule, or such other terms as determined by the Benefits
Administrator. Special Credits should not be confused with the Company’s Basic
Match or Discretionary Match contributions.
D. Vesting
Subject
to your involuntary termination for Cause, you are immediately vested in all the
amounts credited to your Plan Account, unless you have a special arrangement
with other terms: your Pre-Tax Deferrals, Company Basic Match contributions, any
Company Discretionary Match contributions, and/or any Special Credits described
above (unless the terms of the Special Credit specify otherwise) are all 100%
vested and non-forfeitable.
E. Choosing
a Beneficiary
When you
first enroll you will be asked to designate a beneficiary (a person or an entity
such as a trust who will be entitled to receive the value of your account if you
die before distribution). You may name anyone you wish as your
beneficiary.
You may,
if you wish, name more than one person as beneficiary. If you name
more than one person, however, you should specify the percentage you wish paid
to those persons. Otherwise, the beneficiaries will
share the
account value equally.
If you do
not have a beneficiary designation on file, or if your beneficiary dies before
you and you have not named a contingent beneficiary, the value of your Account
will be payable to your spouse, if living, and otherwise to your
estate.
At any
time you may change your beneficiary by filing a new designation of beneficiary
form. A Beneficiary Designation form can be obtained by contacting
the Nolan Financial Group at: (888) 907-8633. The change
will be effective on the date that you submit the form. You must mail
or fax the form to Nolan—this form cannot be submitted
electronically.
F. Distributions
and Taxes
Distributable
Events. Beginning in October 2007, distributions from this
Plan are permitted only upon the occurrence of the following
events:
♦
|
The
distribution date designated at the time of your deferral by electing a
“Flexible Distribution Year Account” (or during the special JOBS Act
election period offered by the Benefits Administrator in which you were
permitted to elect new “Flexible Distribution Year
Accounts”);
|
♦
|
For
Company Contributions made as matching contributions to deferrals
attributable to all products sold through the Lincoln Life & Annuity
Company of New York, thirteen (13) months after the earliest date on which
you have attained age 55 or older, and your age
and years of service with LNC combined is equal to the number “70” (for
example, age 55 with fifteen (15) years of service with LNC, or age 59
with eleven (11) years of service);
|
♦
|
The
Plan’s default distribution date (if you failed to make a valid Flexible
Distribution Year Account election) - February 5th
of the calendar year in which your 65th
birthday occurs;
|
♦
|
A
qualifying financial hardship
|
You may
not take a loan against the balance credited to your Account.
You may
not accelerate the receipt of any assets which are deferred or contributed to
your Plan accounts on or after January 1, 2005 (or any earnings allocable to
such amounts). This includes an acceleration of a distribution by
forfeiting a portion of your Account as a penalty (known as a
“haircut”). For amounts deferred or contributed to your Plan accounts
prior to January 1, 2005 (“grandfathered amounts”) you will still be permitted
to accelerate the distribution of your accounts by taking a
“haircut”.
You may,
however, elect to delay or “re-defer” the distribution of your Account beyond a
previously selected distribution date, subject to certain restrictions as
described in more detail below.
Termination Accounts—Default
Distribution Date. Prior to 2008, you were allowed to defer
Pre-Tax Deferrals (and any related Company Contributions) into a “Termination
Account,” to be paid out upon the termination of your AG2K contract with LNL or
LNY. However, in order to comply with changes to the tax rules made
by the JOBS Act, you were required to elect a more specific, objectively
determinable distribution date with respect to assets which were credited to
your Termination Account during a special election period. We
solicited elections from you during the special JOBS Act election period from
August 14, 2007 to October 5, 2007, requesting that you designate a “Flexible
Distribution Year” for your Termination Account assets. A Flexible
Distribution Year Account can be any calendar year beginning in 2009— it was not
necessary for the
year to
end in a “0” or “5”. If you did not make an election by the
deadline of October 5, 2007, any assets credited to your Termination Year
Account will be paid to you on the Plan’s Default Distribution Date. The Default
Distribution Date for converted Termination Accounts is February 5th of the
calendar year in which your 65th
birthday occurs. However, if your 65th
birthday occurs before January 1, 2009, your Termination Account will be payable
to you on February 5, 2009. Your Account will be valued as of the
close of business on February 5th or on the last business day
preceding February 5th
of the applicable
calendar year. Current Distribution Year Accounts were not
affected by this change. Further, agents with
Termination Accounts who terminated AG2K contracts between August 14, 2007 and
October 5, 2007 and who did not make a special JOBS Act election during this
period had their Termination Account assets paid out under the prior
rules. They were not subject to the Default Distribution Date
rules.
Termination Accounts -- Default
Distribution Form. If you did not elect an alternative form of
distribution for your Termination Account during the special JOBS Act election
period from August 14, 2007 to October 5, 2007, your converted Termination
Account will be paid to you in a lump sum distribution. Amounts
credited to your non-Stock Unit investment sub-accounts will be paid to you in
cash lump sum distribution on your Distribution Date (either the year indicated
by your elected Flexible Distribution Year Account, or your Default Distribution
Date, as described above). You will receive amounts credited to your
Stock Unit investment sub-account in shares of LNC Stock in a lump sum (with
fractional shares in cash) on your Distribution Date as well.
Flexible Distribution Year
Accounts. Beginning with the 2007 annual enrollment period
(for the 2008 Plan year), you could elect to defer your Pre-Tax Deferrals into a
Flexible Distribution Year Account that you designate at the time you elect to
defer amounts into the Plan. Flexible Distribution Year Accounts may
be any calendar year--it is not necessary for the year to end in a “0” or
“5”. You must make this irrevocable election at the time of your
deferral on your Distribution Election Form. In general, you must
designate Flexible Distribution Year Accounts that are later than the calendar
year immediately following the calendar year in which you make your Pre-Tax
Deferral election.
Any
Company Contributions made during a year will automatically be contributed to
the Flexible Distribution Year Account or Distribution Year Account (as
described below) that you have designated for that year’s Pre-Tax
Deferrals. Special Credits will be contributed to the Flexible
Distribution Year Account or Distribution Year Account designated by the
Benefits Administrator in his sole discretion.
You may
have up to three (3) different Accounts at one time: any combination of three
Distribution Year Accounts (elected prior to 2007), and Flexible Distribution
Year Accounts.
Distribution Year
Accounts. Beginning in 2008, Distribution Year Accounts will
be replaced by Flexible Distribution Year Accounts. Prior to 2007,
you may have elected to defer your Pre-Tax Deferrals into any one of the
following pre-established Distribution Year Accounts: the year 2010 Account,
2015 Account, or 2020 Account – or any fifth year afterwards. You
were not permitted to designate a Distribution Year Account that was earlier
than the calendar year immediately following the calendar year in which you made
your Pre-Tax Deferral election. You were required to
make this irrevocable election at the time of your deferral on your Distribution
Election Form.
Distribution Year Accounts elected
prior to 2007 will not be affected by these changes, but going forward, you will
elect to make Pre-Tax Deferrals into Flexible Distribution Year
Accounts.
Any
Company Contributions made during a year will automatically be contributed to
the Flexible Distribution Year Account(s) or Distribution Year Account(s) that
you have designated for that year’s Pre-Tax
Deferrals;
or, in the case of a Special Credit, to a Flexible Distribution Year Account or
Distribution Year Account designated by the Benefits Administrator in his sole
discretion.
You may
have up to three (3) different Accounts at one time: any combination of three
Distribution Year Accounts (elected prior to 2007), and Flexible Distribution
Year Accounts.
Distribution Year Accounts – Default
Distribution Form. For those participating in the Plan
prior to 2007, you may or may not have made an election regarding the form in
which you wanted your Distribution Year Account distributed to you (e.g., lump
sum, or annual installments). In fact, you may have made separate
elections for your pre-2005 and 2005 contributions. Regardless of any
of your prior elections, you were required to make an election by October 5,
2007 regarding the form of distribution for any existing Distribution Year
Accounts. You were required to make a new election as to the form of
distribution for your Distribution Year Account, even if you had already made an
election. If you did not make a distribution form election by the
deadline of October 5, 2007—any assets credited to your existing Distribution
Year Account(s) will be paid to you in the Default Distribution Form—a lump
sum.
Flexible Distribution Year &
Distribution Year Accounts – Distribution Dates. Any Pre-Tax
Deferrals, plus any Company Contributions made with respect to such deferrals,
plus investment earnings/losses allocable to such amounts, will be distributed
to you as of February 5th of the
specified distribution year. For example, if you have a 2010
Distribution Year Account, your Distribution Date will be February 5,
2010. Or, if you have a 2017 Flexible Distribution Year Account, your
account will be distributed to you as of February 5, 2017. Your Account will be valued as of the
close of business on February 5th or on the last business day prior to
February 5th. Payment will made
to you as soon as administratively practicable, but in no event later than 90
days after the valuation date. If you have elected to defer Pre-Tax
Contributions and related Company Contributions to a pre-established Flexible
Distribution Year Account or Distribution Year Account with a date that is
beyond the date of your Separation from Service or the date on which your AG2K
contract with LNL terminates, distribution of the assets credited to such
Account will start in the year specified by your Account designation—not earlier
or later.
Special Rule for Company
Contributions Made with respect to the Sale of NY
Products. For Company Contributions made as matching
contributions to deferrals attributable to all products sold through the Lincoln
Life & Annuity Company of New York, the default distribution date is
thirteen (13) months after the earliest date on which you have attained age 55
or older, and your age and years of service with LNC combined is equal to the
number “70” (for example, age 55 with fifteen (15) years of service with LNC, or
age 59 with 11 years of service). These NY product related Company
Contributions will be paid to you in lump sum.
Alternative Distribution
Forms. If you do not wish to receive your Flexible
Distribution Year Account or Distribution Year Account in a lump-sum payment
(the default distribution form), you must elect one of the following alternative
payment options in either an “Initial Election” or a “Secondary Election,” as
described below. The alternative distribution forms available to you
are:
·
|
Five-year
installment payments
|
·
|
Ten-year
installment payments
|
·
|
Fifteen-year
installment payments
|
·
|
Twenty-year
installment payments
|
If you
choose five-year installment payments, you will receive 1/5 of your total
account balance the first year, 1/4 of the remaining account balance the second
year, 1/3 of the remaining account balance the third year,
1/2 of
the remaining account balance the fourth year and all of the remaining balance
the final year.
Initial Elections. Beginning with the 2007
annual enrollment period (pertaining to the 2008 Plan year), you will be
required to elect a Flexible Distribution Year Account, and the distribution
form for such Account, by completing a deferral election form at the time of
your deferral This will constitute your “Initial Election” under the
Plan. If you made a Flexible Year Distribution Account election for
an existing Termination Account, or an election regarding the distribution form
for amounts credited to an existing Distribution Year Account during the special
JOBS Act election period from August 14, 2007 to October 5, 2007, this also
constituted an Initial Election under the Plan. Finally, if you had
an existing Termination Account and you did not make a Flexible Distribution
Year Account election during the special JOBS Act election period, or you did
not make a distribution form election for your existing Distribution Year
Account, your Account became subject to Plan’s Default Distribution Date and
Default Distribution Form rules. In this case, the default will be
deemed your Initial Election.
If you
are a new participant, or you are electing a new Flexible Distribution Year
Account, you will be required to make a valid “Initial Election” when you
complete your deferral election form. You can do this by indicating
the desired Flexible Distribution Year Account as well as the distribution form
for such Account.
Secondary
Elections. Under any of the above scenarios, you will have
just one additional opportunity, or “Secondary Election,” to delay your payment
date by a minimum of five (5) years. Your Secondary Election is not
effective for one year—it becomes effective on the 366th day
following your election. If you choose to make a Secondary Election,
you will need to make it at least 366 days prior to the date on which your
account would have been paid under your Initial Election. At this
time you may also elect to change
the distribution form—from a lump sum to installments or vice-versa—with a
mandatory minimum five (5) year delay.
Example
One: Sue had a 2013 Flexible Distribution Year Account and her
contract with LFG will end in 2013. Sue’s Initial Election was to
have her Account distributed as a lump sum payment. Through a
Secondary Election, Sue can choose to delay her payment by five (5) years to
2018 and change her form of payment distribution from lump sum to 5 annual
installments. Sue will need to submit her Secondary Election at least
366 days prior to the original date in which the account is scheduled to be
valued for payment – i.e., election must be made by February 5,
2012. If Sue does nothing, her Plan Account will be valued on
February 5, 2013 and paid to her in a single lump sum within six (6) weeks of
that date.
Example
Two: Glenn had a 2011 Flexible Distribution Year Account and
his contract with LFG will end in 2008. Glenn made an Initial
Election to have his account distributed as installments over twenty
years. Although Glenn’s contract ended in 2008, his account will
still be paid starting in 2011. The first installment will be valued
on February 5, 2011 and paid to him within six (6) weeks of that
date. The second and all remaining installments will also be valued
on February 5th each
subsequent year and paid to him within six (6) weeks of those
dates.
Example
Three: Ron, who intends to end his contract in 2011, has a
2009 Flexible Distribution Year Account and made an Initial Election to have his
account paid as a lump sum. If Ron does nothing, his account will be
valued on February 5, 2009 and paid as a lump sum to him within six (6) weeks of
that date. If Ron decides he would prefer his payment distribution to
be in 5 annual installments instead of a lump sum, he must submit a Secondary
Election form at least 366 days prior to the original date in which the account
is scheduled to be valued for payment – i.e., election must be made by February
5, 2008. His Secondary Election will allow him to change his payment
distribution from lump sum to five annual installments; however, because this is
his Secondary Election, his distribution will also be delayed by a minimum of
five (5) years to 2014. If Ron makes a valid Secondary Election to
change his payment form to five annual installments starting in 2014; his
Secondary Election is irrevocable and he will not have any additional
opportunities to change his elections. Ron’s first installment from
his 2014 Flexible Distribution Year Account will be valued on February 5, 2014
and paid to him within six (6) weeks of his
Valuation
date. The second and all remaining installments will also be valued
on February 5th each
subsequent year and paid to him within six (6) weeks of those
dates.
Example
Four: Emily plans to retire from LFG in 2015 at age 65 and has
a 2015 Distribution Year Account with an Initial Election designating a payment
form of ten annual installments. Due to an unforeseen illness, Emily
will be leaving LFG in 2008 and is wondering if she can have quicker access to
her account. Through a Secondary Election she will have the option to
change her distribution from installments to a lump sum payment; however, she
must defer the payment of her Distribution Year Account by a minimum of five (5)
years to 2020. She would also need to make such an election at least
366 days prior to the original date in which the account is scheduled to be
valued for payment – i.e., election must be made by February 4,
2014. If Emily does nothing, her Plan Account will be paid to her
starting in 2015 as ten annual installments based on her Initial
Election. Her first payment will be valued on February 5, 2015, and
paid within six (6) weeks of that date. The second and all remaining
installments will also be valued on February 5th each
subsequent year and paid to her within six (6) weeks of that
date. (Note that Emily may not use her Secondary Election to
accelerate payment of her account from 2015 to 2008).
Upon Death. In the
event of your death prior to
the commencement of the distribution of your Account(s), your beneficiary will
receive a lump sum payment that will be paid as soon as possible after your
death (but in no event later than 90 days after the date of your death),
regardless of any distribution form election that you may have
made. Your Account(s) will be valued as of the date of your death for
distribution to your Beneficiary(ies).
In the
event of your death after the
distribution of your Account(s) (per your election of an “Alternative
Distribution Form”—as described above) has commenced, but prior to the complete
distribution of your Account balance(s) to you, your remaining Account
balance(s) will continue to be paid to your Beneficiary(ies) in accordance with
your elected distribution option.
Delays in
Distributions. As described in the Section above describing
“Initial and Secondary Elections,” you are allowed to make a one-time,
irrevocable election to delay the date on which your Account would otherwise be
distributed to you by making a “Secondary Election.” You must make a
Secondary Election at least 366 days prior to the date on which your Account
would have been paid under the Initial Election, and the distribution must be
delayed for at least 5 additional years.
Upon a Qualifying Financial
Hardship. In the event of a qualifying financial hardship, the
Benefits Administrator will direct that you be paid from your Account balance an
amount in cash sufficient to meet the financial hardship. Assets from
your non-Stock Unit sub-account will be used first. In the event that
the amount needed to satisfy the hardship is greater than the value of your
Stock Unit sub-account, the balance of your hardship distribution will be paid
to you in shares of LNC Stock. Hardship distributions will be
permitted only if you are faced with an unforeseeable financial emergency. An
unforeseeable financial emergency is defined as “severe hardship to the
participant resulting from a sudden and unexpected illness or accident of the
participant or a dependent of the participant, loss of the participant’s
property due to casualty or other extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances
arising as a result of events beyond the control of the
participant.” The Benefits Administrator determines if the hardship
qualifies under the appropriate standards. Please note that it is
very rare that a hardship meets these stringent criteria.
Taxes. Distributions
under this Plan are taxable as ordinary income in the year that you receive
them. Income taxes will be withheld, if required, in accordance with
federal, state and local income tax laws. Because of the nature of
this Plan (non-qualified), you cannot “roll over” distributions from this Plan
into a qualified plan such as your IRA or another employer’s savings
plan.
If your distribution includes LNC stock
and you do not have a cash distribution large enough for the tax withholding,
shares of stock scheduled for distribution will be sold to satisfy the tax
withholding requirement, or your non-Stock Unit sub-account(s) will be debited
to pay the necessary taxes, at the discretion of the Benefits
Administrator.
Cash Out of Small Account
Balances. If at any time the sum of your Accounts under this
Plan, aggregated with the sum of your accounts under any other account plans or
programs sponsored by us that are subject to Internal Revenue Code Section 409A,
is less than $15,500* you will be paid an immediate cash lump sum in all
circumstances. For example, if your Account balance is $30,000 and
you elect five annual installments and the sum of your Account balance after the
third installment is $12,000, you will receive a total distribution in that year
and no further installments.
*The
applicable dollar limit under section 402(g)(1)(B) in effect for the calendar
year.
G. Other
Important Facts about the Plan
Lincoln National Corporation
Securities. This Prospectus Supplement covers $10
million of Deferred Compensation Obligations registered under this
Plan. The Deferred Compensation Obligations represent our obligations
to pay deferred compensation amounts in the future to Plan participants (similar
to the repayment of a debt). Compensation deferred for a participant
under the Plan is notionally credited to various Investment Options (phantom
investments) selected by the Benefits Administrator that are used to value the
Plan Account we establish for the participant. Each Account is
credited with earnings, gains, and losses based on these notional investment
measures.
The
Deferred Compensation Obligations are our unsecured and unsubordinated general
obligations and rank pari passu with our other unsecured and unsubordinated
indebtedness. The Deferred Compensation Obligations are not
convertible into any other security except that Account balances treated as
invested in our common stock are distributed in shares of our common
stock.
For
information regarding distributions from the Plan, see
“F. Distribution and Taxes” above.
Unfunded
Status. This Plan is a non-qualified and unfunded benefit
plan. Unlike a qualified retirement plan, which is subject to strict
funding requirements under ERISA and the Code, your Account balance is not held
in trust and is therefore not protected against the claims of our general
creditors in the case of our insolvency. In the event of insolvency,
the rights of any participant in the Plan (as well as the rights of his or her
beneficiary or estate) to claim amounts under the Plan are solely those of an
unsecured general creditor of LNC. No trustee has been appointed to
take action with respect to the Deferred Compensation
Obligations. You, and each other participant in the Plan will be
responsible for enforcing your own rights with respect to the Deferred
Compensation Obligations. We may establish a “rabbi,” or grantor
trust to serve as a source of funds from which we can satisfy the
obligations. If a grantor trust is established, it will not change
the unfunded status of the Plan--you will continue to have no rights to any
assets held by the grantor trust, except as our general
creditors. Assets of any grantor or rabbi trust will at all times be
subject to the claims of our general creditors.
Amendment & Termination of the
Plan. We have the ability to amend the Plan prospectively at
any time. We also have the ability to terminate the Plan provided
that you and other participants and beneficiaries receive advance
notice.
No Assignment of
Interests. Your interests in this Plan are not subject
in any manner to anticipation, alienation, sale, transfer, assignment, pledge,
encumbrance, attachment or garnishment. Any attempt by any person to
transfer or assign benefits under the Plan, other than a claim for benefits by a
participant or his or her Beneficiary(ies), will be null and
void. Prior to the time that your Account is distributed to
you, you have no rights by way of anticipation or otherwise to assign or dispose
of any interest(s) under the Plan.
Plan Administrator & Plan
Fiduciary. The plan administrator and fiduciary for this Plan
is the Benefits Administrator. The Benefits Administrator shall
have complete authority to take any such actions that he believes are necessary
or desirable for the proper administration and operation of this
Plan. The Benefits Administrator has authority for the day-to-day
operation of the Plan, and the authority to make administrative determinations
and interpret the Plan (with the advice of counsel as necessary,
desirable, or appropriate).
If you
disagree with any decision, action or interpretation of this Plan, you may
submit in writing a full description of the disagreement to the Benefits
Administrator. Subject only to review by the Board of Directors of
LNC, the decision of the Benefits Administrator in reference to any disagreement
shall be final, binding, and conclusive on all parties.
As of the
date of this Prospectus Supplement, any correspondence to the Benefits
Administrator can be sent to:
William
David, VP of Benefits and HR Administrative Services
Lincoln
National Corporation
150 N.
Radnor Chester Road
Radnor,
PA 19087-5238
H. Participant
Communications
You will
receive quarterly statements that will show any activity in your Account during
the past calendar quarter (your “Participant Activity Statement”), including any
contributions, and dividends credited to your Account. You will also
receive a “Participant Benefit Statement” showing the opening and closing
balances for your Account for each calendar quarter, broken down or itemized for
each Investment Option or fund, and any deferrals or contributions, transfers,
distributions or other adjustments that may have taken place during the
period. This Statement will also include your investment results for
that quarter, also broken down or itemized for each Investment Option or
fund.
I. Investment
Elections
Investment
Directions. You will have the opportunity to make an
investment election directing the investment of your various Flexible
Distribution Year Accounts into which you have allocated your deferrals and
Company Contributions. If you are deferring Pensionable Earnings into
an existing account, your old investment directions will remain in place until
you change them.
Any
Company Matching Contributions credited to your Account(s) will be invested in
the same manner that you selected for your Pensionable Earnings. You
must make a separate investment election for any other special accounts you may
have. You are limited to one investment election per
account. So, for example, if you choose to direct all your
Pensionable Earnings into the same distribution account (e.g., or Termination
Account or 2015 Account), only one investment election will drive the allocation
of those contributions.
Nolan
will deem any investment direction(s) given to them to be continuing directions
until you affirmatively change them. Any changes to your current
investment directions, or transfers permitted among Investment Options, will be
effective on the date the transaction is approved and processed by
Nolan.
Default Investment
Direction. A failure to make an investment election for a
distribution account will result in amounts credited to that account being
invested in the Plan’s default investment option. The default
investment option for the Plan is the same as the Qualified Default Investment
Alternative (“QDIA”) designated for the LNC Employees’ 401(k)
Plan. Currently, the QDIA is the Delaware Moderate Allocation I
Fund.
Subject to
Change. LNC reserves the right to eliminate or change the
Investment Options offered under the Plan at any time. LNC is under
no obligation to offer any particular investment option or to effectuate a
selection by you. Any investment election by you shall be treated as
a mere expression of investment preference on your part.
J. Trading
Restrictions & Other Limitations
You may
not transfer amounts
credited to the LNC Stock Unit Fund into any other Investment
Option. However, you may transfer amounts credited to your Non-LNC
Stock Unit Investment Options into the LNC Stock Unit Fund, or make new
elections to increase your contributions into the LNC Stock Unit Account,
subject to certain trading restrictions described below, and in the “Insider
Trading and Confidentiality Policy” available to you on LNC’s intranet website
at the following address:
http://inside.lfg.com/lfg/docs/pdf/coc/rel/itp.pdf.
Transfers
from the Lincoln Stable Value account are not restricted in the same way as they
are in the qualified savings plan (transfers out of the Lincoln Stable Value
Account are subject to a “90-Day Equity Wash” requirement, as explained in the
Investment Supplement for that plan). However, if you were a
participant in the CIGNA deferred compensation plan and made deferrals into the
guaranteed fund investment option under that plan prior to 1996, those assets
were credited to a special CIGNA guaranteed fund account under the Plan (the
“CIGNA Account”). You will not be permitted to transfer amounts
credited to a CIGNA Account into any other Plan Investment Option.
In order
to prevent market timing, excessive trading, and similar abuses, the managers of
the various Investment Options may impose additional trading restrictions or
redemption fees triggered by certain kinds of trades or trading
activities. The same or similar trading restrictions may be applied
to your notional investments in this Plan, if, in the sole discretion of the
Benefits Administrator (the Plan administrator and fiduciary), your pattern of
investment is considered abusive. For mutual fund investment options, please see
the relevant prospectus for information on trading restrictions or applicable
redemption fees. For collective investment trust options, please
consult the relevant disclosure statements for such
information. These documents are available on Lincoln Alliance’s web
site at: www.LincolnAlliance.com,
or by requesting them through the Call Center: 800-234-3500. Neither
the Lincoln Stable Value Account investment option nor the LNC Stock Unit Fund
is subject to any market timing or excessive trading restrictions or redemption
fees.
K. The
Investment Supplement – Summary Information on the Investment
Options
In General. For
recordkeeping purposes, you will have an Account established in your
name. In addition, separate investment sub-account(s) may be
established within your Account, one for each Investment Option that you select,
including one for “phantom” units representing the LNC Stock Fund (your “Stock
Unit” sub-account). Please note, that your “investment” in the
various Investment Options offered under the Plan is
notional
only. The investments are "phantom" investments, and your account(s)
earnings/losses are based on “phantom” performance. That is, your
money will not actually be invested in the Investment Options you
select. However, the Plan record keeper will track investment
performance as if contributions were actually invested in the Investment Options
that you selected. All contributions (yours and LNC’s), and any
notional or “phantom” earnings on those contributions, will remain assets of LNC
until the time distributed to you. LNC reserves the right to change
the Investment Options offered in the future.
Types of Investment
Options. The Plan’s Investment Options include the LNC Stock
Unit fund, a variety of mutual funds and bank collective investment trusts, and
a stable value option—the Lincoln Stable Value Account.
Collective Investment
Trusts. A collective investment trust or “CIT” is an
investment fund that is similar to a mutual fund in that it invests in stocks,
bonds, and other investments. However, CITs are exempt from
registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) as an
investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”) and
are therefore not subject to the same fees, expenses and regulatory
requirements—or regulatory protections—as mutual funds. Collective
investment trusts may only hold the assets of qualified retirement and
government plans, including 401(k) plans, Taft-Hartley plans, profit sharing and
cash balance plans, and governmental 457 plans. An investor in a CIT
holds a “unit” of the trust. This investment is neither insured nor
guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government
agency, or entitled to the protections of the 1940 Act.
In
addition to the quoted net expense ratios, other expenses, including legal,
auditing, custody service and tax form preparation, investment and reinvestment
expenses may apply with respect to your CIT investment. The CITs
offered by the Plan are maintained by AST Capital Trust Company of Delaware, a
Delaware state chartered trust company. AST is an independent trust
company and is not an affiliate of Lincoln Financial Group. AST is a
wholly owned subsidiary of Wilmington Trust Company.
Participation
or investment in a CIT is governed by the terms of the trust and participation
materials. An investor should carefully consider the investment
objectives, risks, and charges and expenses of the CIT before
investing. The disclosure statement for each CIT contains this and
other important information and should be read carefully before investing or
sending money. For disclosure statements, please contact LRSC’s Call Center at:
800-234-3500, or visit its web site at: www.LincolnAlliance.com.
Mutual
Funds. Mutual funds invest in stocks and bonds and other
investments and are registered with the SEC as an investment company under the
1940 Act. Investors in a mutual fund are “shareholders” in a fund
with all of the rights and protections provided by the 1940 Act. With
respect to a mutual fund investment option, an investor should carefully
consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the
investment company before investing. The prospectus for the mutual
fund contains this and other important information and should be read carefully
before investing or sending money. For prospectuses, please contact
LRSC’s Call Center at: 800-234-3500, or visit its web site at: www.LincolnAlliance.com.
Insurance
Products. The Lincoln Stable Value Fund is a fixed annuity
issued by The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, Fort Wayne, IN, 46802, on
Form 28866-SV and state variations thereof. Guarantees are based upon the
claims-paying ability of the issuer. Contributions received in any
quarter will earn interest at the portfolio rate in effect for the quarter, with
a minimum guaranteed interest rate.
Employer
Securities. The primary purpose of the LNC Stock Unit Fund is
to allow you to invest in the securities of your employer, LNC. The
LNC Stock Unit Fund is a unitized fund. A unit of the fund represents
a pro-rata portion of all of the securities (shares of LNC common stock) held by
the fund, as well as a pro-rata
portion
of any cash or money market investment held by the Fund for liquidity
purposes. The cash or money market units are used to execute daily
transactions, thus avoiding the need for the manager to sell shares of stock on
the open market and wait to receive the cash proceeds from the sale to satisfy a
participants’ transfer or redemption transaction. The value of a unit
of the LNC Stock Unit Fund is calculated each day by dividing the current value
of all LNC common stock in the LNC Stock Fund invested in by participants of the
LNC Employees’ 401(k) Plan, plus any cash or money market investment, by the
total number of units allocated to participant investors. Currently,
this Fund holds units of a money market account rather than actual cash to
satisfy liquidity needs.
For
a description of the risks associated with investment in LNC, please refer to
the Risk Factors on page 3 and Lincoln National Corporation’s filings with the
SEC incorporated by reference herein (see “Documents Incorporated by Reference”
on page 59).
Self-Directed Brokerage
Account. Although it is offered in certain of our qualified
savings plans, we do not offer a self-directed brokerage account as an
investment option under the Plan.
Deferred Compensation Obligations.
This Investment Supplement covers Deferred Compensation Obligations
registered under this Plan. The Deferred Compensation Obligations
represent our obligations to pay deferred compensation amounts in the future to
Plan participants (similar to the repayment of a debt). As described
above, contributions made with respect to a participant under the Plan are
notionally credited to various Investment Options (phantom investments) selected
by the Benefits Administrator that are used to value the Plan account we
establish for the participant. Each account is credited with
earnings, gains, and losses based on these notional investment
measures.
The
Deferred Compensation Obligations are our unsecured and unsubordinated general
obligations and rank pari passu with our other unsecured and unsubordinated
indebtedness. The Deferred Compensation Obligations are not
convertible into any other security except that account balances treated as
invested in LNC common stock through the LNC Stock Unit Fund are distributed in
shares of LNC common stock.
Valuation. The
value of a hypothetical unit or share of an Investment Option under this Plan
“tracks” or is based on a unit or share of the Investment Option with the same
name in the LNC Employees’ 401(k) Plan. For example, the value of a
unit of the LNC Stock Unit Fund is based on, or ‘tracks”, a unit of the LNC
Common Stock Fund in the LNC Employees’ 401(k) Plan.
Investment
Options under the Plan will be valued each day that stock exchanges in the
United States are open for business.
The
valuation date for transfers into the LNC Stock Unit Fund is the date your
request is received and confirmed by Nolan, as long as your call is received
prior to 3 p.m. (Central Time) on a business day (otherwise the next business
day). The valuation date for all other distributions is provided for
under the Plan. The valuation date for new contributions into the LNC
Stock Unit Fund is the business day on which, or next following the date on
which your contribution to the Plan is credited by Nolan to your
Account.
Investment Decisions;
Diversification. Depending on your investment needs and
objectives, you may decide to concentrate or diversify the assets currently
credited to your various Flexible Distribution Year accounts, and any future
contributions that you and/or we may make to your accounts—your pre-tax
deferrals of Pensionable Earnings and your Company Contributions—among the
various Investment Options described below. Subject to the rules
restricting the trading activities of executives and other officers of LNC, and
any trading restrictions or other limitations imposed by the Investment Options
involved (described in more detail
above),
you may make elections directing the Nolan Financial Group (“Nolan”)—the Plan’s
record keeper and third party administrator—as to how to invest your future
Contributions, including elections to increase or decrease the rate of future
contributions into the LNC Stock Unit Fund.
In
deciding how to invest your Plan Account, you should carefully consider the
Investment Options that are right for you. You should read the following
information carefully when making Plan investment decisions. The
information below will help you to understand the investment choices and the
differences among them. The information provided to you in the
following description of Investment Options should not be construed as an
investment recommendation for any particular Investment Option.
As of the
date of this Prospectus Supplement, the Investment Options listed below are
available for you to invest in. These are the same investments
currently offered under the LNC Employees’ 401(k) Plan. For more
detailed information about each of the Investment Options (except for the LNC
Stock Unit Fund) please log onto your Account at the following website address:
www.Nolanlink.com. For
LNC Stock Unit Fund information, please log onto your Account under the LNC
Employees’ 401(k) Plan account at the following website address: www.LincolnAlliance.com,
or by requesting them through the Customer Contact Center:
800-234-3500. If you do not have a LNL 401(k) Plan or LNC Employees’
401(k) Plan account, please contact the Plan’s Administrator for this
information.
Comparative Performance of Investment
Options. The table below has been prepared to assist you in
making your investment directions under the Plan. However, the value of this
information is limited, and we recommend that you consult a qualified investment
adviser before making any investment decisions. Expressed in
percentage terms, the calculation of average annual total return is determined
by taking the change in price, reinvesting, if applicable, all income and
capital-gains distributions during that month, and dividing by the starting
price. Reinvestments are made using the actual reinvestment price, and daily
payoffs are reinvested monthly. The Investment management fees,
contract fees, and other expenses (the “Net Expense Ratio” shown on the chart
below) has been deducted from the performance data below. In cases where
additional fees and expenses have not been included in the performance data,
please note that the performance figures would be reduced if such expenses were
deducted from performance data. Please see the description of
“Expense” for each Investment Option for more detail about these additional fees
and expenses.
Fund
Performance - Average Annual Total Return*
|
|
|
Performance
as of
10/31/2008
|
|
Performance
as of Quarter Ending
09/30/2008
|
|
Ticker
|
3
Months
|
1
Year
|
3
Years
|
5
Years
|
10
Years
|
Inception
Date
|
1
Year
|
5
Years
|
10
Yrs
or
Since
Inception
|
±
Net
Expense
Ratio
%
|
Stock-Based Investments
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
American
Funds Grth Fund of Amer R5
|
RGAFX
|
-27.39%
|
-37.72%
|
-4.65%
|
1.94%
|
5.84%
|
May-02
|
-22.69%
|
7.24%
|
8.68%
|
0.35
|
Columbia
Acorn Z
|
ACRNX
|
-26.88%
|
-38.81%
|
-5.34%
|
3.15%
|
9.32%
|
Jun-07
|
-20.58%
|
9.73%
|
12.42%
|
0.74
|
Delaware
Intl Equity Trust
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
Oct-08
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
0.50
|
Delaware
Large Cap Growth Trust
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
Oct-08
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
0.40
|
Delaware
Lg Cap Value Trust
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
Oct-08
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
0.65
|
Delaware
Mid Cap Value I
|
DLMIX
|
-27.27%
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
Feb-08
|
---
|
---
|
-12.59%
|
1.00
|
Delaware
Small Cap Growth Trust
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
Oct-08
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
0.53
|
Dodge
& Cox International Stock
|
DODFX
|
-37.41%
|
-47.88%
|
-5.79%
|
5.75%
|
---
|
May-01
|
-28.37%
|
13.18%
|
8.99%
|
0.65
|
Harbor
International Growth Instl
|
HAIGX
|
-39.19%
|
-52.51%
|
-5.03%
|
1.44%
|
-5.21%
|
Nov-93
|
-30.15%
|
9.11%
|
-1.21%
|
0.89
|
Vanguard
Extended Market Idx Instl
|
VIEIX
|
-28.91%
|
-38.58
|
-6.16%
|
1.74%
|
3.96%
|
Jul-97
|
-19.80%
|
8.37%
|
7.11%
|
0.06
|
Vanguard
Institutional Index
|
VINIX
|
-23.08%
|
-36.07%
|
-5.21%
|
0.26%
|
0.43%
|
Jul-90
|
-21.97%
|
5.16%
|
3.10%
|
0.05
|
Allocation Investments
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Delaware
Conservative Allocation I
|
DFIIX
|
-12.53%
|
-19.12%
|
-1.40%
|
1.66%
|
2.51%
|
Dec-97
|
-10.82%
|
3.84%
|
3.59%
|
0.90
|
Delaware
Moderate Allocation I
|
DFFIX
|
-16.67%
|
-26.58%
|
-3.35%
|
1.30%
|
2.24%
|
Dec-97
|
-16.06%
|
4.40%
|
3.79%
|
0.90
|
Delaware
Aggressive Allocation I
|
DFGIX
|
-21.76%
|
-34.96%
|
-5.73%
|
0.69%
|
1.38%
|
Dec-97
|
-22.34%
|
4.74%
|
3.42%
|
0.90
|
Bond-Based Investments
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Delaware
Diversified Income Trust
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
Oct-08
|
---
|
---
|
---
|
0.65
|
Cash and Stable Value
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lincoln
Stable Value Account
|
---
|
1.21%
|
4.95%
|
4.50%
|
4.32%
|
5.18%
|
May-83
|
4.95%
|
4.31%
|
5.19%
|
0.09
|
Employer Securities
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LNC
Stock Unit Fund
|
LNC
|
-62.63%
|
-71.17%
|
-18.15%
|
-11.12%
|
-5.33%
|
---
|
-35.29%
|
5.68%
|
0.36%
|
---
|
*Average
annual total return for period specified or since inception if the fund's age is
less than the number of years shown.
± Expense
ratios are net of any temporary fee waiver currently in
effect. Please see the description of “Expense” for each option for
more detail.
Risks Associated with the Investment
Options. It is important to keep in mind one of the main
axioms of investing: the higher the risk of losing money, the higher the
potential reward. The reverse, also, is generally true: the lower the
risk, the lower the potential reward. As you consider investing in
the Plan’s Investment Options, you should take into account your personal risk
tolerance. Diversification within your investment portfolio can
reduce risk. Recent events in the financial sector and the
corresponding market volatility reinforces the importance of a well-diversified
portfolio, which is one of the most effective ways to ride out short-term market
fluctuations. When you diversify your portfolio – whether by
investing in a ready-mixed fund with exposure to a number of investment sectors,
or by investing in a number of funds representing different asset classes or
styles – you can potentially reduce risk and increase your exposure to various
market opportunities.
The
Investment Options are subject to one or more risks which are described in
summary fashion in the section entitled “Primary Risks” for each Option, and in
greater detail in the prospectus materials (for mutual funds), disclosure
statements (for collective investment trusts), and miscellaneous disclosure
materials referenced in this document. Please remember that this
Investment Supplement is only a summary of those primary disclosure materials,
and is not intended to replace or supersede those materials. Before
investing, you should review the full explanation of risks associated with each
investment before making a decision to invest. Copies of the
prospectuses and disclosure statements for mutual funds and collective
investment trusts are available by contacting Lincoln Alliance’s Call Center at:
800-234-3500, or visiting its web site at: www.LincolnAlliance.com.
The
following are summaries of the Prospectuses and Disclosure Statements related to
the various options available. You should read the full Prospectuses
and Disclosure Statements for an explanation of the Funds and risks involved in
investing in any one of the funds.
American
Funds Growth Fund of Amer R5 (Mutual Fund)
·
|
Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks to provide growth of capital. The Fund’s benchmark
is the Morgan Stanley Capital®
International, Europe, Australasia, Far East Index (MSCI®EAFE®). The
MSCI® EAFE® is
an unmanaged index of the world’s stock markets, excluding the United
States.
|
·
|
Investment
Strategies: The
Fund invests primarily in common stocks of companies that appear to offer
superior opportunities for growth of capital. The Fund may also
hold cash or money market instruments. The Fund may invest up
to 15% of its assets in securities of issuers domiciled outside the United
States and Canada and not included in Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite
Index. The Fund may invest up to 10% of its assets in lower
quality nonconvertible debt
securities.
|
·
|
Primary
Risks: This Fund is designed for investors with a
long-term perspective who are able to tolerate potentially wide price
fluctuations as the growth-oriented equity-type securities generally
purchased by the Fund may involve large price swings and potential for
loss. In general, Investment in the
Fund is subject to risks, including the possibility that the value of the
Fund's portfolio holdings
|
|
may
fluctuate in response to events specific to the companies or markets in
which the Fund invests, as well as economic, political or social events in
the United States or abroad. For specific definitions/explanations of the
risks associated with investments in this fund, please see the prospectus
for this Fund. |
·
|
Manager: Capital
Research and Management Company is the investment
advisor.
|
·
|
Expense:
0.35%. The Fund’s investment advisor is currently waiving 10%
of its management fees. The waiver may be discontinued at any
time but is expected to continue at this level until further
review. The estimated total
annual Fund operating
expenses without the waiver is
0.38%.
|
Columbia
Acorn Fund (Mutual Fund)
·
|
Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. The long-term
investment objective is compared to those of the Russell 2500 Index, the
fund’s primary benchmark, the S&P 500®
Index and the Russell 2000
Index.
|
Investment
Strategies: Under normal
circumstances, the Fund invests a majority of its net assets in small-
and mid-sized companies with market capitalizations under $5 billion at the time
of investment. The Fund may also invest up to 33% of its assets in
foreign companies in developed markets such as Japan, Canada and the United
Kingdom and in emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.
·
|
Primary
Risks: Emerging Markets Securities
Risk, Foreign Securities Risk, Industry Sector Risk, Investment Strategy
Risk, Market Risk, Small Company Securities Risk. For
specific definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
prospectus for this Fund. In general, investments in small- and
mid-cap companies may be subject to greater volatility and price
fluctuation because they may be thinly traded and less liquid, and may be
affected by stock market fluctuations due to economic and business
development. This Fund may invest in foreign securities, which
may be subject to greater volatility than domestic
investments.
|
·
|
Manager: Columbia
Wanger Asset Management, L.P.
|
Delaware
International Equity Trust (Collective Investment Trust)
·
|
Investment
Objectives: Trust
seeks long term capital appreciation without undue risk to
principal. The benchmark for the Trust is the MSCI®
EAFE Index.
|
·
|
Investment
Strategies: The
Trust is invested primarily in equity securities of issuers from foreign
countries. The sub-advisor for the Trust, Delaware Investment
Advisors (“DIA”), believes that the potential for strong returns can be
realized by assembling an international portfolio of fundamentally strong
companies that have superior business prospects and that are priced below
Dow Industrial Average’s (DIA) estimate of their intrinsic
value. In selecting foreign stocks, DIA’s philosophy is based
on the concept that adversity creates opportunity and that transitory
problems can be overcome by well-managed companies. DIA focuses
on out-of-favor stocks that have the potential to realize their intrinsic
value within a three to five year time horizon. The Trust may
purchase securities in
|
|
any
foreign country, developed or emerging; however, it is currently
anticipated to invest in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,
Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United
Kingdom. |
·
|
Primary
Risks: Call Risk, Credit Risk,
Currency Risk, Derivatives Risk, Emerging Market Risk, Foreign Government
and Supranational Securities Risk, High-Yield, High Risk Foreign
Fixed-Income Securities Risk Industry and Security Risk Inefficient Market
Risk, Information Risk Interest Rate Risk, International Risk, Liquidity
Risk, Manager Risk, Market Risk, Political Risk, Small Company Risk,
Transactions Costs Risk, Turnover Risk. For specific
definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
disclosure statement for this Trust. In general, foreign investments
are subject to risks not ordinarily associated with domestic investments,
such as currency, economic and political risks, and different accounting
standards. Securities of issuers from emerging market countries may be
more volatile, less liquid, and generally more risky than investments in
issuers from more developed foreign countries.
|
·
|
Manager: AST
Capital Trust Company (the “Trustee”) serves as the Trustee of the Trust
and maintains ultimate fiduciary authority over the management of, and
investments made, in the Trust. The Trustee is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Wilmington Trust FSB and a Delaware State chartered trust
company. The Trustee has engaged Delaware Investment Advisers,
a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, to act as the investment
sub-advisor to
the Trust.
|
·
|
Expense:
0.50%. For a limited time only, the fees and expenses will be
reduced by temporary fee waivers for the period from October 1, 2008
through June 30, 2009 only. The estimated expense without the
waiver is 0.90%. The Trust will be charged with additional
operating expenses, including, without limitation, audit expenses, custody
services fees, tax form preparation expenses, legal and other
fees.
|
Delaware
Large Cap Growth Trust (Collective Investment Trust)
·
|
Investment
Objectives: The
Trust seeks long term capital appreciation. The benchmark for
this Trust is the Russell 1000®
Growth Index.
|
·
|
Investment
Strategies: The
Trust is invested primarily in equity securities of large-capitalization
companies that the Trust’s sub-advisor, Delaware Investment Advisors
(“DIA”), believes have the potential for sustainable free cash flow
growth. The Trust currently considers a “large-capitalization
company” to be a company within the range of market capitalization of
companies in the Russell 1000 Growth Index at the time of
purchase.
|
·
|
Primary
Risk: Credit
Risk, Futures and Options Risks, Industry and Security Risk, International
Risk, Liquidity Risk. For
specific definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
disclosure statement for this Trust. In general, because
this Trust expects to hold a more concentrated portfolio of a limited
number of securities, a decline in the value of these investments would
cause the Trust’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than a less
concentrated portfolio. Foreign investments are subject to risks not
ordinarily associated with domestic investments, such as currency,
economic and political risks, and different accounting
standards.
|
·
|
Manager: AST
Capital Trust Company (the “Trustee”) serves as the Trustee of the Trust
and maintains ultimate fiduciary authority over the management of, and
investments made, in the Trust. The Trustee is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Wilmington Trust FSB and a Delaware State chartered trust
company. The Trustee has engaged Delaware Investment Advisers,
a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, to act as the investment
sub-advisor to
the Trust.
|
·
|
Expense:
0.40%. For a limited time only, the fees and expenses will be
reduced by temporary fee waivers for the period from October 1, 2008
through June 30, 2009 only. The estimated expenses without the
waiver is 0.65%. The Trust will be changed with additional
operating expenses, including, without limitation, audit expenses, custody
service fees, tax form preparation expenses, retirement plan platform
fees, legal and other fees.
|
Delaware
Large Cap Value Trust (Collective Investment Trust)
·
|
Investment
Objectives: The
Trust seeks long term capital appreciation. The benchmark for
this Trust is the Russell 1000®
Value Index.
|
·
|
Investment
Strategies: The
Trust is invested primarily in securities of large-capitalization
companies (with market capitalizations of $5 billion or greater at the
time of purchase) that the sub-advisor believes to have long-term capital
appreciation potential and are undervalued in relation to their intrinsic
value as indicated by multiple factors including earnings and cash flow
potential. The sub-advisor follows a value-oriented investment
philosophy in selecting stocks for the Trust using a research intensive
approach. The fund defines large-capitalization stocks as the
stocks of companies with market capitalizations of $5 billion or greater
at the time of purchase. The sub-advisor of the Trust, Delaware
Investment Advisors seeks securities it believes are undervalued in
relation to their intrinsic value as indicated by multiple factors
including earnings and cash flow
potential.
|
·
|
Primary
Risks:
Call Risk, Currency Risk, Derivatives Risk, Emerging Markets Risk,
Industry and Security Risk, Interest Rate Risk, International (Country)
Risk, Liquidity Risk, Manager Risk, Market Risk, Turnover
Risk. For specific
definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
disclosure statement for this Trust. In general, because
this Trust expects to hold a more concentrated portfolio of a limited
number of securities, a decline in the value of these investments would
cause the Trust’s overall value to decline to a greater degree than a less
concentrated portfolio. Foreign investments are subject to
risks not ordinarily associated with domestic investments, such as
currency, economic and political risks, and different accounting
standards. Securities of issues from emerging market countries
may be more volatile, less liquid, and generally more risky than
investments in issuers from more developed foreign
countries.
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Manager: AST
Capital Trust Company (the “Trustee”) serves as the Trustee of the Trust
and maintains ultimate fiduciary authority over the management of, and
investments made, in the Trust. The Trustee is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Wilmington Trust FSB and a Delaware State chartered trust
company. The Trustee has engaged Delaware Investment Advisers,
a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, to act as the investment
sub-advisor to
the Trust.
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Expense:
0.65%. The Trust will be charged with additional operating
expenses, including, without limitation, audit expenses, custody services
fees, tax form preparation expenses, legal and other
fees.
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Delaware
Mid Cap Value Fund (Mutual Fund)
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Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks capital appreciation.
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Investment
Strategies: The
Fund is invested primarily in medium-sized companies whose stock prices
appear low relative to their underlying value or future
potential. Under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the
funds’ net assets will be in investments of medium-sized companies (the
80% policy). Mid-sized companies would be those companies whose
market capitalizations fall within the range represented in the Russell
Midcap® Value
Index at the time of the fund’s investment. The fund’s 80%
policy can be changed without shareholder approval provided shareholders
are given notice at least 60 days prior to any
change.
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Primary
Risks: Industry Risk, Interest Rate
Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk, Security Risk, Small Company
Risk. For specific definitions/explanations of these
types of risks, please see the prospectus for this Fund. In
general,
investing in small- and/or medium-sized company stocks typically involve
greater risk, particularly in the short term, than those investing in
larger, more established
companies.
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Manager: Delaware
Management Company.
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Expense:
1.00%. The Fund’s investment manager has voluntary agreed to
waive all or a portion of its investment management fees and pay/or
reimburse expenses, in order to prevent the total annual fund operating
expenses from exceeding 1.00% of the fund’s average daily net assets. The
waiver may be discontinued at any time. The estimated total
annual fund operating expenses without the waiver is
2.06%.
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Delaware
Small Cap Growth Trust (Collective Investment Trust)
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Investment
Objectives: The
Trust seeks capital appreciation by investing primarily in securities of
emerging or other growth-oriented companies. The Trust’s
benchmark is the Russell 2000®
Growth Index.
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Investment
Strategies: The Trust invests primarily in small
companies that the sub-advisor believes offer above-average opportunities
for long-term price appreciation because they are poised to benefit from
changing and dominant trends within society or the political
arena. The sub-advisor uses a bottom-up approach to stock
selection that seeks market leaders, strong product cycles, innovative
concepts, and industry trends. The sub-advisor relies on its
own research in choosing securities for the Trust portfolio, reviewing
price-to-earnings ratios, estimated growth rates, market capitalization,
and cash flows, ultimately investing in: common stocks, American
Depository Receipts (ADRs), repurchase agreements, restricted securities,
illiquid securities, convertible securities, warrants, preferred stocks,
bonds, and lending securities. The Trust may buy or sell
securities on a “when issued” or “delayed delivery” basis, borrow money
from banks as a temporary measure for extraordinary or emergency purposes,
or to facilitate redemptions, or take temporary defensive
positions.
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Primary
Risks: Company
Size Risk, Industry and Security Risk, Interest Rate Risk,
International Risk, Liquidity Risk, Market Risk. For
specific definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
disclosure statement for this Trust. In general, because
this Trust expects to invest in the
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stocks
of small and/or medium-sized companies typically involve greater risk,
particularly in the short term, than those investing in larger, more
established companies. Foreign investments are subject to risks
and not ordinarily associated with domestic investments, such as currency,
economic and political risks, and different accounting
standards. |
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Manager: AST
Capital Trust Company (the “Trustee”) serves as the Trustee of the Trust
and maintains ultimate fiduciary authority over the management of, and
investments made, in the Trust. The Trustee is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Wilmington Trust FSB and a Delaware State chartered trust
company. The Trustee has engaged Delaware Investment Advisers,
a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, to act as the investment
sub-advisor to
the Trust.
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Expense:
0.53%. For a limited time only, the fees and expenses will be
reduced by temporary fee waivers for the period from October 1, 2008
through June 30, 2009. The estimated expense without the waiver
is 0.75%.
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Dodge
& Cox International Stock Fund (Mutual Fund)
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Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks long-term growth of principal and income. A
secondary objective is to achieve a reasonable current
income. The Fund’s benchmark is the Morgan Stanley Capital®
International, Europe, Australasia, Far East Index (MSCI®EAFE®). The
MSCI®EAFE® is
an unmanaged index of the world’s stock markets, excluding the United
States.
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Investment
Strategies: The
Fund invests primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities
issued by non-U.S. companies from at least three different foreign
countries, including emerging markets. The Fund focuses on
countries whose economic and political systems appear more stable and are
believed to provide some protection to foreign
shareholders. The Fund invests primarily in medium-to-large
well established companies based on standards of the applicable
market.
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Primary
Risks: Emerging
Markets Risk, Equity Securities Risk, Fixed Income Securities Risk.
For
specific definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
prospectus for this Fund. In general, foreign investing,
especially in developing countries, has special risks such as currency and
market volatility and political and social instability. These and other
risk considerations are discussed in the Fund’s
prospectus.
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Harbor
International Growth Fund (Mutual Fund)
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Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks long term growth of capital. The benchmark for the
fund is the MSCI®
EAFE Growth
Index.
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Investment
Strategies: The
Fund is invested primarily (no less than 65% of its total assets) in
common stocks of foreign companies that are selected for their long-term
growth potential. The Fund may invest in companies of any size
throughout the world. The Fund normally invests in the
securities or issuers that are economically tied to at least four
different foreign countries. The Fund may invest up to 35% of
its total assets, determined at the tine of purchase, in securities of
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companies
operating in or economically tied to emerging markets. Some
issuers or securities in the Fund’s portfolio may be based in or
economically tied to the United States. Harbor International
Growth Fund's policy of investing in a narrowly focused selection of
stocks may expose the Fund to the risk that a substantial decrease in the
value of a stock may cause the net asset value of the Fund to fluctuate
more than if the Fund were invested in a greater number of stocks. The
Fund may also be subject to greater risks and higher brokerage and
custodian expenses than funds invested only in the U.S. Investing in
international and emerging markets poses special risks, including
potentially greater price volatility due to social, political and economic
factors, as well as currency exchange rate fluctuations. These risks are
more severe for securities of issuers in emerging market
regions. |
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Primary
Risk: Growth Style Risk, Emerging
Markets Risk, Foreign Securities Risk, Market Risk, Portfolio Turnover
Risk, Selection Risk. For specific
definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
prospectus for this Fund. The Fund’s policy of investing in a narrowly
focused selection of stocks may expose the Fund the risk that a
substantial decrease in the value of a stock may cause the net asset value
of the Fund to fluctuate more than if the Fund were invested in a greater
number of stocks. The Fund may also be subject to greater risks
and higher brokerage and custodian expenses than funds invested only in
the U.S. Investing in international and emerging markets poses
special risks, including potentially greater price volatility due to
social, political and economic factors, as well as currency exchange rate
fluctuations. These risks are more severe for securities of
issuers in emerging market regions.
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Manager: Harbor
Capital Advisors, Inc. maintains ultimate fiduciary authority over the
management of, and investments made, in the Fund, and has engaged Marsico
Capital Management LLC to act as the investment sub-advisor to the
Fund.
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Expense:
0.89%. The fund’s investment adviser has voluntary agreed to
limit the fund’s operating expenses to 0.89%. This agreement
may be terminated at any time, although the adviser has no intention to do
so. The operating expenses without the waiver is
0.98%.
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Vanguard® Extended
Market Index Fund (Mutual Fund)
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Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the
investment return of small- and mid-capitalization stocks. The
benchmark for this Fund is the Dow Jones Wilshire 4500 Completion Index,
Spliced Extended Market Index and the S&P Completion
Index.
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Investment
Strategies: The
Fund employs a “passive management” –-or indexing—investment approach
designed to track the performance of the Standard & Poor’s Completion
Index, a broadly diversified index of stocks of small and medium-size U.S.
companies. The S&P Completion Index contains all of the
U.S. common stocks regularly traded on the New York and American Stock
Exchanges and the Nasdaq over-the counter market, except those stocks
included in the S&P 500 Index. The Fund invests all, or
substantially all, of its assets in stocks of its target index, with
nearly 80% of its assets invested in 1,200 stocks in its target index
(covering nearly 80% of the Index’s total market capitalization), and the
rest of its assets in a representative sample of the remaining
stocks. The Fund holds a broadly diversified collection of
securities that, in the aggregate, approximates the full Index in terms of
key characteristics. These key characteristics include industry
weightings and market capitalization, as well as certain financial
measures, such as price/earnings ratio and dividend
yield.
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Primary
Risks: Investment Style Risk, Stock
Market Risk. For specific definitions/explanations of these types
of risks, please see the prospectus for this Fund. The Fund is subject to
stock market risk, which is the chance that stock prices overall will
decline. Stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of
rising or falling prices. The fund is also subject to
investment style risk, which is the chance that returns from small- and
mid-capitalization stocks will trail returns from the overall stock
market. Historically, these stocks have been more volatile in
price than the large-cap stocks that dominate the overall market, and they
often perform quite
differently.
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Manager: The
Vanguard Group, Inc. is the registered investment
advisor.
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Vanguard®
Institutional Index Fund (Mutual Fund)
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|
Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the
investment return of large-capitalization
stocks.
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Investment
Strategies: The
Fund employs a “passive management” –-or indexing—investment approach
designed to track the performance of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index,
a widely recognized benchmark of U.S. stock market performance that is
dominated by the stocks of large U.S. Companies. The Fund tends
to replicate the target index by investing all, or substantially all, of
its assets in the stocks that make up the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index,
holding each stock in approximately the same proportion as its weighting
in the Index.
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Primary
Risks: Investment
Style, Stock Market Risk. For
specific definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
prospectus for this Fund. In general, Vanguard funds classified as
moderate to aggressive are broadly diversified but are subject to wide
fluctuations in share price because they hold virtually all of their
assets in common stocks. In general, such funds are appropriate for
investors who have a long-term investment horizon (ten years or longer),
who are seeking growth in capital as a primary objective, and who are
prepared to endure the sharp and sometimes prolonged declines in share
prices that occur from time to time in the stock market. This price
volatility is the trade-off for the potentially high returns that common
stocks can provide. The level of current income produced by funds in this
category ranges from moderate to very
low.
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Manager: The
Vanguard Group, Inc. is the registered investment
advisor.
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Each of
the three Asset Allocation Options summarized below relies on active asset
allocation and invests in a diversified portfolio of securities of different
investment classes and styles as it strives to obtain its
objectives. The Asset Allocation Options offer varying levels of
income and growth potential and corresponding variations in risk:
“conservative,” “moderate,” or “aggressive.”
Delaware
Conservative Allocation Portfolio I (Mutual Fund)
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Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks a combination of current income and preservation of capital
with capital appreciation. The
benchmark for the Fund is the Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate
Index.
|
Investment Strategies: The
Fund invests in a combination of underlying securities representing a variety of
asset classes and investment styles, using an active allocation
approach. The Fund typically targets about 40% of its net assets in
equity securities (with a range of 20% to 50%), and 60% of its net assets in
fixed income securities (with a range from 50% to 80%). The following
provides the target percentages of the Fund’s net assets in each style of
underlying equity securities: U.S. equity, such as U.S. large cap core, U.S.
large cap growth, U.S. large cap value, U.S. small cap core (target 20%, with a
range of 5% to 30%); international equity, such as international
value and international growth (target 15%, with a range of 5% to 30%); global
real estate (target 0%, with a range from 0% to 15%); emerging markets (target
5%, with a range from 0% to 10%). The fixed income portion includes
cash equivalents (target 2%, with a range of 0% to 20%).
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Primary
Risks: The Fund has
significant exposure to Interest
Rate Risk, Credit Risk and Pre-payment Risk, due to its
greater focus in the fixed income asset class and moderate exposure to
Currency Risk due
to its international holdings. Additional risks
include Derivatives
Risk, Emerging Markets Risk, Foreign Government and Supranational
Securities Risks, Foreign Risk, Futures and Option Risk, High-Yield,
High-Risk Foreign Income Securities Risk, Industry and Security Risk,
Inefficient Market Risk, Information Risk, International Risk, Legislative
and Regulatory Risks, Liquidity Risk, Loans and Other Direct Indebtedness
Risks, Market Risk, Political Risk ,Real Estate Industry Risk, Small
Company Risk, Transaction Cost Risk, Zero Coupon and Pay-in-Kind Bonds
Risk, and Valuation Risk. For specific definitions/explanations of
these types of risks, please see the prospectus for this
Fund. In general, the Fund may invest
in international mutual funds, which are exposed to certain risks not
ordinarily associated with domestic investments, such as currency,
economic and political risks, and different accounting standards. The
Fund’s investments are subject to the risk that the portfolio,
particularly with longer maturities, will decrease in value if the
interest rates rise. High-yielding, non-investment grade bonds (“junk
bonds”) involve higher risk than investment grade bonds. Adverse
conditions may affect the issuer’s ability to pay interest and principal
on these securities.
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Manager: Delaware
Management Company, a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, which
is a subsidiary of Delaware Management Holdings,
Inc.
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Expense:
0.90%. On September 16, 2008, the Board of Trustees of
the Delaware Group Foundation Funds unanimously approved a proposal to
replace the "fund of funds" structure with a multiple portfolio manager
approach (the “Restructuring”). The current fee—0.90%—reflects
both a contractual waiver by the Manager through January 31, 2009, and a
separate contractual waiver by the Manager for the one-year period
following the Restructuring. The estimated total annual fund
operating expenses without both contractual waivers is
1.47%.
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Delaware
Moderate Allocation Portfolio I (Mutual Fund)
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Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks capital appreciation with current income as a secondary
objective. The Fund’s benchmark is the S&P 500 Index and
the Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate
Index.
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Investment
Strategies: The
Fund invests in a combination of underlying securities representing a
variety of asset classes and investment styles, using an active allocation
approach. The Fund typically targets about 60% of its net
assets in equity securities (with a range of 40% to 70%), and 40% of its
net assets in fixed income securities (with a range from 30% to
60%). The following provides the target percentages of the
Fund’s net assets in each style of underlying equity securities: U.S.
equity, such as U.S. large cap core, U.S. large cap growth, U.S. large cap
value, U.S. small cap core (target 30%, with a range of 10% to 40%);
international equity, such as international value and international growth
(target 22.5%, with a range of 10% to 40%); global real estate (target 0%,
with a range from 0% to 15%); emerging markets (target 7.5%, with a range
from 0% to 15%). The fixed income portion includes cash
equivalents (target 2%, with a range of 0% to
15%).
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Primary
Risks: The Fund has significant exposure to Foreign Risk and Currency Risk, due to
its international holdings and moderate exposure to Small Company Risk, Interest
Rate Risk, Credit Risk and Emerging Markets
Risk. Additional risks include Derivatives
Risk, Foreign Government and Supranational Securities Risks, Futures and
Option Risk; High-Yield, High-Risk Foreign Income Securities Risk,
Industry and Security Risk, Inefficient Market Risk Information Risk,
International Risk, Legislative and Regulatory Risks, Liquidity Risk,
Loans and Other Direct Indebtedness Risks, Market Risk, Political Risk,
Pre-payment Risk, Real Estate Industry Risk, Transaction Cost Risk, Zero
Coupon and Pay-in-Kind Bonds Risk, and Valuation Risk. For specific
definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
prospectus for this Fund. In general, this Fund may
invest in international mutual funds, which are exposed to certain risks
not ordinarily associated with domestic investments, such as currency,
economic and political risks, and different accounting
standards. Fund investments are subject to the risk that the
portfolio, particularly with longer maturities, will decrease in value if
the interest rates rise. High-yielding, non-investment grade bonds (“junk
bonds”) involve higher risk than investment grade bonds. Adverse
conditions may affect the issuer’s ability to pay interest and principal
on these securities. A rise/fall in the interest rates can have a
significant impact on bond prices and the NAV (net asset value) of the
Fund.
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Manager: Delaware
Management Company, a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, which
is a subsidiary of Delaware Management Holdings,
Inc.
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·
|
Expense:
0.90%. On September 16, 2008, the Board of Trustees of
the Delaware Group Foundation Funds unanimously approved a proposal to
replace the "fund of funds" structure with a multiple portfolio manager
approach (the “Restructuring”). The current fee—0.90%—reflects
both a
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contractual
waiver by the Manager through January 31, 2009, and a separate contractual
waiver by the Manager for the one-year period following the
Restructuring. The estimated total annual fund operating
expenses without both contractual waivers is
1.51%. |
Delaware
Aggressive Allocation Portfolio I (Mutual Fund)
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|
Investment
Objectives: The
Fund seeks long-term capital growth. The benchmark for this
Fund is the S&P 500 Index.
|
Investment
Strategies: The Fund
invests in a combination of underlying securities representing a variety of
asset classes and investment styles, using an active allocation
approach. The Fund typically targets about 80% of its net assets in
equity securities (with a range of 55% to 90%), and 20% of its net assets in
fixed income securities (with a range of 10% to 45%). The following
provides the target percentages of the Fund’s net assets in each style of
underlying equity securities: U.S. equity, such as U.S. large cap core, U.S.
large cap growth, U.S. large cap value, U.S. small cap core (target 40%, with a
range of 15% to 50%); international equity, such as international value and
international growth (target 30%, with a range of 15% to 50%); global real
estate (target 0%, with a range from 0% to 20%); and emerging markets (target
0%, with a range from 0% to 20%). The fixed income portion includes
cash equivalents (target 2%, with a range of 0% to 10%).
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|
Primary
Risks: The Fund
has significant exposure to Small
Company Risk, Foreign Risk and Currency Risk due to its
international holdings and moderate exposure to Interest
Rate Risk and Emerging Markets Risk. Additional risks
include
Credit Risk, Derivatives Risk, Foreign Government and Supranational
Securities Risks; Foreign Risk, Futures and Option Risk; High-Yield,
High-Risk Foreign Income Securities Risk, Industry and Security Risk,
Inefficient Market Risk Information Risk, International Risk, Legislative
and Regulatory Risks, Liquidity Risk, Loans and Other Direct Indebtedness
Risks, Market Risk, Political Risk, Pre-payment Risk, Real Estate Industry
Risk, Transaction Cost Risk, Zero Coupon and Pay-in-Kind Bonds Risks, and
Valuation Risk. For specific
definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
prospectus for this Fund. In general, the Fund may invest in
international mutual funds, which are exposed to certain risks not
ordinarily associated with domestic investments, such as currency,
economic and political risks, and different accounting standards. Note
that funds investing in small- and/or medium-sized company stocks
typically involve greater risk, particularly in the short term, then those
investing in larger, more established companies. The Fund
investments are subject to the risk that the portfolio, particularly with
longer maturities, will decrease in value if the interest rates rise.
High-yielding, non-investment grade bonds (“junk bonds”) involve higher
risk than investment grade bonds. Adverse conditions may affect the
issuer’s ability to pay interest and principal on these
securities. A rise/fall in the interest rates can have a
significant impact on bond prices and the NAV (net asset value) of the
Fund.
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Manager: Delaware
Management Company, a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, which
is a subsidiary of Delaware Management Holdings,
Inc.
|
·
|
Expense:
0.90%. On September 16, 2008, the Board of Trustees of
the Delaware Group Foundation Funds unanimously approved a proposal to
replace the "fund of funds" structure with a multiple portfolio manager
approach (the “Restructuring”). The current fee—0.90%—reflects
both a contractual waiver by the Manager through January 31, 2009, and a
separate contractual waiver by
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the
Manager for the one-year period following the
Restructuring. The estimated total annual fund operating
expenses without both contractual waivers is
1.63%. |
Bond
Options seek income or growth of income by investing primarily in
income-producing securities such as corporate bonds, mortgages, government
bonds, foreign bonds, convertible bonds, and preferred stocks. Bond
Options generally have a lower potential for capital growth.
Delaware Diversified Income Trust
(Collective Investment Trust)
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|
Investment
Objectives: The Trust seeks maximum long-term total
return, consistent with reasonable risk. The benchmark for the
Trust is the Lehman Brothers U.S. Aggregate Bond
Index.
|
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|
Investment
Strategies: The
Trust allocates its investments principally among the following sectors:
U.S. investment grade, U.S. high yield, international developed markets,
and emerging markets. Under normal circumstances, there is no
limit to the amount of the Trust’s assets that may be invested in the
U.S. investment
grade sector, with the Trust’s manager investing primarily in debt
obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or
instrumentalities, and by U.S. corporations. U.S. investment
grade securities include securities which are issued or guaranteed as to
the payment of principal and interest by the U.S. government and its
various agencies and instrumentalities, and mortgage-backed securities
issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government. Under normal
circumstances, between 5% and 50% of the Trust’s assets will be invested
in the U.S. high
yield sector, including domestic high yield securities having a
liberal and consistent yield and those tending to reduce the risk of
market fluctuations, domestic corporate debt obligations, including notes,
which may be convertible or non-convertible, commercial paper, units
consisting of bonds with stock or warrants to buy stock attached,
debentures, convertible debentures, zero coupon bonds, and pay-in-kind
securities. U.S. high yield sector investments may also include
rated and unrated bonds. The rated bonds purchase by the Trust
are generally rated BB or lower by Standard & Poor’s (S&P) or
Fitch, Inc., Ba or lower by Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., or similarly
rated by another nationally recognized statistical rating
organization. Investments in the international developed
markets sector and the emerging markets sectors may range from 5% to 50%
of the Trust’s total assets on a combined basis; however, investments in
the emerging markets sector will, in the aggregate be limited to no more
than 15% of the Trust’s total assets.. The international
developed markets sector investments are primarily the fixed income
securities of issuers organized or having the majority of their assets or
deriving the majority of their operating income in international developed
markets, and may include foreign government securities, debt obligations
of foreign companies, and securities issued by supranational
entities. Emerging markets
sector investments may include the securities of issuers in any
foreign country, developed and underdeveloped, as well as the direct
obligations of such issuers. The Trust may also invest in
sponsored and unsponsored American Depository Receipts (ADRs), European
Depository Receipts (EDRs), Global Depository Receipts (GDRs), and zero
coupon bonds.
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|
Primary
Risks: The
Trust has significant exposure to Credit
Risk, Currency Risk, Derivatives Risk, Foreign Government Securities Risk,
Futures and Option Risk , Interest Rate Risk, International
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Risk, Legislative and
Regulatory Risk, Liquidity Risk, Loans and Other Direct Indebtedness Risk,
Market Risk, Pre-payment Risk , Zero Coupon and Pay-in-Kind Bonds Risk,
Transaction Costs Risk, and Valuation Risk. For
specific definitions/explanations of these types of risks, please see the
disclosure statement for this Trust. In general,
investments in the Delaware Diversified Income Trust are subject to
the risk that the portfolio, particularly with longer maturities, will
decrease in value if the interest rates rise. High-yielding,
non-investment grade bonds (“junk bonds”) involve higher risk than
investment grade bonds. Adverse conditions may affect the issuer’s ability
to pay interest and principal on these securities. Foreign investments are
subject to risks not ordinarily associated with domestic investments, such
as currency, economic and political risks, and different accounting
standards. Securities of issuers from emerging market countries
may be more volatile, less liquid, and generally more risky than
investments in issuers from more developed foreign
countries. Diversification does not ensure a profit or
guarantee against a loss. The Trust will also be affected by prepayment
risk due to its holdings of mortgage-backed securities. With prepayment
risk, when homeowners prepay mortgages during periods of low interest
rates, the Trust may be forced to redeploy its assets in lower yielding
securities. If, and to the extent that, the Trust invests in forward
foreign currency contracts or uses other investments to hedge against
currency risks, the Trust will be subject to the special risks associated
with those activities. |
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|
Manager: AST
Capital Trust Company (the “Trustee”) serves as the Trustee of the Trust
and maintains ultimate fiduciary authority over the management of, and
investments made, in the Trust. The Trustee is a wholly owned
subsidiary of Wilmington Trust FSB and a Delaware State chartered trust
company. The Trustee has engaged Delaware Investment Advisers,
a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, to act as the investment
sub-advisor to
the Trust.
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Stability
of Principal Investment Options
Stability
of Principal Investment Options are conservative investment options which seek
to hold the principal value of an investment so that it is stable or close to
stable through all market conditions. Stability of principal
investment options may credit a stated rate of return or minimum periodic
interest rate that may vary. These types of investments are often
referred to as a “guaranteed account” or “money market account.”
The
Lincoln Stable Value Account (Insured Product)
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|
Investment
Objectives: This Investment Option seeks to provide a
competitive current interest rate that translates into the highest
possible return with the lowest level of risk while also offering the
protection of principal. Contributions made to the Lincoln Stable Value
Account in any quarter will earn interest at the quarterly-set portfolio
rate. The portfolio rate is declared for the quarter and is in
effect only for that quarter. The portfolio rate is the
three-year average of the Lehman Intermediate U.S. Government/Credit
Index, plus 0.20%, as of one month prior to the beginning of each
quarter. The guaranteed minimum crediting rate for the Lincoln
Stable Value Account is 3.00%. The portfolio rate in effect for
the fourth quarter (4Q) of 2008 is 4.95%. This formula is
guaranteed for five (5) contract years (ending October 1,
2013). The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company will provide
notice of a new formula prior to October 1, 2013. If the Lehman
Intermediate U.S.
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Government/Credit
Index ceases to be published, The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company
will select a comparable index. |
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Investment Strategies:
The Lincoln Stable Value Account is part of the general account of The
Lincoln National Life Insurance Company and is backed by the general
credit worthiness and the claims paying ability of The Lincoln National
Life Insurance Company. The
general account invests in investment and non-investment grade
public companies, U.S. government bonds, high-quality corporate bonds, and
other high-quality asset classes in keeping with the investment policy
statement for the
portfolio.
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Primary Risks: Credit Risk (the chance
that the issuer of a security will fail to pay interest and principal in a
timely manner, or that such companies or individuals will be unable to pay
the contractual interest or principal on their debt obligations at
all); Inflation Risk
(the possibility that, over time, the returns will fail to keep up
with the rising cost of living); Interest Rate Risk
(the chance that bond prices overall will decline over short or even long
periods due to rising interest rates); Liquidity Risk (the
chance that the insured product is not backed by sufficient reserves to
meet participant withdrawals, or would incur a market value adjustment or
penalty for early withdrawal from one or more of its contracts); Manager Risk (the
chance that poor security selection will cause the Stable Value Fund to
under-perform other stability of principal investment options with similar
objectives); Market Risk
(the chance that the value of your investment will change because
of rising (or falling) stock or bond prices). There is no
government guarantee (such as the FDIC guarantee) protecting investments
in the Lincoln Stable Value
Account.
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Manager: Delaware
Investment Advisers, a series of Delaware Management Business Trust, is the registered
investment advisor.
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Expense: No asset
charges are deducted from participant accounts. 0.09% is paid
by The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company to Delaware Investment
Advisers as a management fee and has effectively reduced the rate of
return from the three-year average of the Lehman Intermediate U.S.
Government/Credit Index, plus 0.29% to that rate of return plus
0.20%.
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Lincoln
National Corporation Stock Unit Fund
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Investment
Objectives: This Investment Option is designed to
provide participants with the opportunity to invest in employer
securities.
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Investment
Strategies: To achieve its objective, this Fund invests
in hypothetical units reflecting the value of LNC Common Stock exclusively
(though a certain percentage of the Fund is held in cash, and therefore,
each Unit of the investment contains a similar percentage of
cash).
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Primary
Risks: Investment-Style Risk;
Inflation Risk; Liquidity Risk; and Market Risk. This Fund is a
non-diversified fund—it invests in the stock of a single
issuer. It is therefore a riskier investment than an investment
option that invests in a diversified pool of stocks of companies with
similar characteristics as this Account. For a description of
the risks associated with investment in Lincoln National Corporation, see
“Risk Factors” beginning on page 3 of this Prospectus
Supplement. It is a
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market-valued
account, meaning that both the principal value and the investment return
may go up and down on based the market price of the stock held in the
Fund. |
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Dividends: Dividends
paid with respect to your investment in the LNC Stock Unit Fund will be
automatically reinvested in LNC Stock Units-no action is
required.
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Share Ownership: If you
invest in this Fund you will not actually own or have the right to own
shares of LNC Common Stock. In addition, neither the Plan nor a
trust funding the Plan will own actual shares of LNC Common
Stock. Instead, your Plan account will be credited with
hypothetical LNC Stock Units equal in value to the amount of your
contribution. You may become a direct owner of the shares of
LNC Common Stock through the Plan only when you take a withdrawal or
distribution and receive our Common
Stock.
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Share Voting
Rights: You will not have
voting rights with respect to your investment in this
Fund.
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Trading Restrictions:
Officers and certain other employees of LNC (“Restricted Employees”) with
access to inside information are subject to regular quarterly trading
restrictions imposed by LNC on any transaction involving LNC securities,
including derivative securities that might cause an increase or decreases
in their interest in the Fund. Except for trading under a
written securities trading plan meeting the requirements of Rule 10b5-1,
Restricted Employees may only engage in fund switching transactions to
increase or decrease their interest in this Investment Option during
previously announced window trading periods described in LNC’s Insider
Trading and Confidentiality Policy.
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Account
Manager: Wilmington Trust
Company.
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PLAN
INTERESTS ARE SECURITIES
Persons
participating in the Plan acquire an interest in the Plan assets held and
administered by the Plan Trustee. This interest is itself a security and its
acquisition entails the risk of loss as well as the possibility of gain. The
character and extent of the participant’s interest in the Plan assets and his
rights and options in relation thereto are discussed in detail in this
prospectus supplement. Before deciding to participate, participants should
carefully read this prospectus supplement and consider and assess the risks and
opportunities in view of their individual situation.
LINCOLN
NATIONAL CORPORATION COMMON STOCK
AND
PREFERRED STOCK
General. Our
articles of incorporation currently authorize the issuance of 800,000,000 shares
of Common Stock and 10,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock. We may
issue our Preferred Stock from time to time in one or more series by resolution
of our board of directors. We have outstanding one series of
Preferred Stock, consisting of LNC’s $3.00 Cumulative Convertible Preferred
Stock, Series A (without par value), which
we refer
to as “Series A preferred stock.” At September 30, 2008, we had
issued and outstanding 255,855,009 shares of Common Stock and 11,568 shares of
Series A preferred stock.
The
following descriptions of the classes of our capital stock are summaries, do not
purport to be complete, and are subject, in all respects, to the applicable
provisions of the Indiana Business Corporation Law, which we refer to the IBCL
(described below), and our articles of incorporation (including a board of
directors’ certificate of resolution designating the rights and preferences of
the Series A preferred stock), our Registration Statement on Form 10 filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 28, 1969, including any
amendments or reports filed for the purpose of updating such description, which,
in each case, are included as exhibits to the registration statement that
includes this prospectus.
COMMON STOCK
Transfer Agent and
Registrar. Our Common Stock is traded on the New York and
Chicago Stock Exchanges under the symbol “LNC.” The registrar and
transfer agent is BNY Mellon Shareowner Services.
Voting
Rights. Except as set forth below under “Anti-Takeover
Provisions—Certain State Law Provisions, each holder of record of our Common
Stock is entitled to one vote for each share of our Common Stock held on all
matters submitted to a vote of the shareholders, including election of
directors. Holders of our Common Stock do not have cumulative voting
rights with respect to the election of directors or any other
matter.
Dividend
Rights. The holders of our Common Stock may receive cash
dividends, if and when declared by our board of directors out of funds legally
available for that purpose, and subject to preferential rights of the holders of
Preferred Stock or other special classes of stock.
Liquidation
Rights. In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding
up, holders of our Common Stock will be entitled to share ratably in all assets
remaining after payments to creditors and after satisfaction of the liquidation
preference, if any, of the holders of any Preferred Stock that may at the time
be outstanding.
Preemptive
Rights. Holders of our Common Stock do not have any preemptive
or similar equity rights.
PREFERRED
STOCK & SERIES A PREFERRED STOCK
General. Our
articles of incorporation authorize our board of directors to provide for the
issuance of up to 10 million shares of Preferred Stock, in one or more series,
and to fix by resolution and to the extent permitted by the IBCL, the relative
rights, preferences and limitations of each series of Preferred Stock, including
dividend, redemption, liquidation, sinking fund, conversion and other provisions
in the resolutions or certificate establishing or designating the series,
without a vote or any other action taken by our shareholders.
Shares
Outstanding. We currently have only one series of Preferred
Stock outstanding, the Series A Preferred Stock. All outstanding
shares of Series A preferred stock are duly authorized, validly issued, fully
paid and non-assessable.
Voting Rights. Each holder of
Preferred Stock of any series outstanding is entitled to one vote per share and
to vote together, as a single class, with holders of our Common Stock on all
matters submitted to a vote of the common shareholders.
Special Voting Rights With Respect to
Directors. In the event that six or more quarterly dividends,
whether
or not consecutive, on any series of Preferred Stock are in default, the holders
of any outstanding series of Preferred Stock as to which the default exists will
be entitled, at the next annual meeting of shareholders, to vote as a class to
elect two of our directors. This right will continue with respect to
shares of cumulative Preferred Stock, including the Series A preferred stock,
until all accumulated and unpaid dividends on all such shares, the holders of
which are entitled to vote at the previous special meeting of shareholders, have
been paid or declared and set aside for payment and, with respect to shares of
non-cumulative Preferred Stock, if any, until any non-cumulative dividends have
been paid or declared and set apart for payment for four consecutive quarterly
dividend periods on all such shares, the holders of which were entitled to vote
at the previous annual meeting of shareholders.
Other Special Voting
Rights. In addition, the approval of the holders of record of
at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of all series of our Preferred
Stock, voting as a class, will be required to take the following
actions:
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amend
our articles of incorporation to create or authorize any stock ranking
prior to or on a parity with the outstanding Preferred Stock with respect
to the payment of dividends or distributions upon dissolution, liquidation
or winding up;
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to
create or authorize any security convertible into shares of stock ranking
prior to or on a parity with the outstanding Preferred Stock with respect
to the payment of dividends or distributions upon dissolution, liquidation
or winding up;
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amend,
alter, change or repeal any of the express terms of any outstanding
Preferred Stock, or any series thereof, in any prejudicial manner
(provided only holders of two-third of the outstanding shares of the
series prejudiced by such change or repeal need consent to such
action);
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merge
or consolidate with another corporation where we are not the surviving
entity, if the rights, preferences or powers of the Preferred Stock would
be adversely affected or if securities would thereupon be authorized or
outstanding which could not otherwise have been created without the
approval of the preferred shareholders;
or
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authorize,
or revoke a previously authorized, voluntary dissolution of LNC, approve
any limitation of the terms of our existence, or authorize the sale,
lease, exchange or other disposition of all or substantially all of our
property.
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Dividend Rights. To
the extent permitted by law, holders of LNC Series A preferred stock are
entitled to receive, but only when and as declared by our board of directors,
cash dividends at the per annum rate of $3.00 per share, payable $0.75 per share
quarterly. Dividends on the Series A preferred stock are
cumulative.
Liquidation. Holders of Series
A preferred stock are entitled to a liquidation preference of $80.00 per share,
plus accrued dividends, before any assets may be distributed to holders of our
Common Stock or any other stock ranking junior to the Series A preferred
stock.
Redemption. The
Series A preferred stock may be redeemed at any time at the option of our board
of directors, in whole or in part, at a redemption price of $80.00 per share
plus accrued but unpaid dividends.
Conversion. Each
share of Series A preferred stock is currently convertible at the option of the
holder
thereof
into sixteen shares of our Common Stock, subject to certain further
adjustments. There is no conversion rate adjustment for a
merger.
ANTI-TAKEOVER
CONSIDERATIONS
Certain Provisions of LNC’s Restated
Articles of Incorporation. Our restated articles of
incorporation provide that the affirmative vote of the holders of three-fourths
of our voting stock is required to amend Article III, which deals with the
number, classification, qualifications and removal of directors.
Article III provides that the number of directors may be fixed in the
bylaws, that qualifications for directors may be set in the bylaws, and that the
bylaws may provide for classification of our board of directors. The bylaws can
be amended only by action of our board of directors. Article III also
provides that directors can be removed, with or without cause, at a meeting of
shareholders called expressly for that purpose upon the affirmative vote of the
holders of at least three-fourths of our voting stock.
The
provisions of Article III requiring the affirmative vote of three-fourths
of our voting stock to amend Article III could make it difficult for the
shareholders to change the existing provision of that article, which, in turn,
could discourage proxy contests and tender offers and make it more likely that
incumbent directors will maintain their positions.
Article IV
of our restated articles of incorporation also provide that no shares of the
common stock of The Lincoln National Life Insurance Company, our primary
insurance subsidiary, may be sold, leased, exchanged, mortgaged, pledged or
otherwise disposed of except by the vote of the holders of three-fourths of our
shares outstanding and entitled to vote thereon at an annual or special meeting
of shareholders.
Article V
of our restated articles of incorporation contains a “fair price” provision
which requires, subject to certain exceptions, the holders of at least
three-fourths of our voting stock to approve certain kinds of business
combinations involving LNC and any shareholder holding 10% or more of our voting
stock or certain affiliates of that shareholder unless:
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the
transaction is approved by a majority of the members of our board of
directors who are not affiliated with the 10% shareholder making the
proposal; or
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the
transaction meets certain minimum price and procedural
requirements.
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In either
of these cases, only the normal shareholder and director approval requirements
of the IBCL would govern the transaction. The “fair price” provision may be
amended or repealed only upon the affirmative vote of the holders of at least
three-fourths of our voting stock. The “fair price” provision is intended to
increase the likelihood that all our shareholders will be treated similarly if
certain kinds of business combinations are effected. The “fair price” provision
may have the effect of making a takeover of us more expensive and may therefor
discourage tender offers for less than three-fourths of our stock and
acquisitions of substantial blocks of our stock with a view to acquiring control
of us.
Certain State Law
Provisions. Chapter 43 of the IBCL also restricts
business combinations with interested shareholders. It prohibits certain
business combinations, including mergers, sales of assets, recapitalizations,
and reverse stock splits, between certain corporations having 100 or more
shareholders that also have a class of voting shares registered with the SEC
under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (which includes us)
and an interested shareholder, defined as the beneficial owner of 10% or more of
the voting power of the outstanding voting shares of that corporation, for five
years following the date the shareholder acquired such 10% beneficial ownership,
unless the acquisition or the business combination was approved by the board of
directors in advance of that date. If the combination was not previously
approved, the interested shareholder may effect a combination after the
five-year period only if the shareholder receives approval from a majority of
the disinterested shares or the offer meets certain fair price criteria. A
corporation
may elect
to opt out of these provisions in an amendment to its articles of incorporation
approved by a majority of the disinterested shares. Such an amendment, however,
would not become effective for 18 months after its passage and would apply
only to stock acquisitions occurring after its effective date. Our restated
articles of incorporation do not elect to opt out of these
provisions.
Chapter
42 of the IBCL includes provisions designed to protect minority shareholders in
the event that a person acquires, pursuant to a tender offer or otherwise,
shares giving it more than 20%, more than 33 1/3%,
or more than 50% of the outstanding voting power (which we refer to as “control
shares”) of an “issuing public corporation.” Unless the issuing public
corporation’s articles of incorporation or bylaws provide that Chapter 42
does not apply to control share acquisitions of shares of the corporation before
the control share acquisition, an acquirer who purchases control shares cannot
vote the control shares until each class or series of shares entitled to vote
separately on the proposal, by a majority of all votes entitled to be cast by
that group (excluding the control shares and any shares held by officers of the
corporation and employees of the corporation who are directors thereof), approve
in a special or annual meeting the rights of the acquirer to vote the control
shares. Unless otherwise provided in a corporation’s articles of incorporation
or bylaws before a control share acquisition has occurred, in the event that
control shares acquired in a control share acquisition are accorded full voting
rights and the acquiring person acquires control shares with a majority or more
of all voting power, all shareholders of the issuing public corporation have
dissenters’ rights to receive the fair value of their shares.
“Issuing
public corporation” means a corporation which is organized in Indiana, has 100
or more shareholders, its principal place of business, its principal office or
substantial assets within Indiana and one of the following:
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more
than 10% of its shareholders resident in
Indiana;
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more
than 10% of its shares owned by Indiana residents;
or
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10,000
shareholders resident in Indiana.
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An
issuing public corporation may elect not to be covered by the statute by so
providing in its articles of incorporation or bylaws. Our restated articles of
incorporation do not elect to opt out of these provisions.
Indiana
insurance laws and regulations provide that no person may acquire our voting
securities if that person would directly or indirectly be in control of us after
the acquisition, unless that person has provided certain required information to
us and to the Indiana Insurance Commissioner and the Indiana Insurance
Commissioner has approved the acquisition. Control of us is presumed to exist if
any person beneficially owns 10% or more of our voting securities. Furthermore,
the Indiana Insurance Commissioner may determine, after notice and hearing, that
control exists despite the absence of a presumption to that effect.
Consequently, no person may acquire, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of our
voting securities to be outstanding after any offering of securities pursuant to
this prospectus, or otherwise acquire control of us, unless that person has
provided such required information to the Indiana Insurance Commissioner and the
Indiana Insurance Commissioner has approved such acquisition.
The consolidated financial
statements of LNC included in LNC’s Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the year ended
December 31, 2007 (including schedules appearing therein), and the effectiveness
of LNC’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2007, have
been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, independent registered public accounting
firm, as set forth in their reports thereon, included therein, and incorporated
herein by reference. Such financial statements and management's
assessment of internal control over financial reporting are incorporated herein
by reference in reliance upon such reports given on the
authority
of such firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
The
validity of our Common Stock offered hereby was passed upon for us by Dennis L.
Schoff, Esquire, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Lincoln National
Corporation. As of September 30, 2008, Mr. Schoff beneficially owns
approximately 174,500 shares of our Common Stock including options exercisable
within sixty (60) days of the date of the Registration Statement. The
validity of the interests in the Plan to which this prospectus relates was
passed upon for the Plan by Karen F. Kanjian, Esquire, Second Vice President and
Senior Counsel of LNC.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE
INFORMATION
We
file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other
information and documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC.
You may read and copy any document we file with the SEC at:
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public
reference room maintained by the SEC in: Washington, D.C. (100 F. Street,
N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20549). Copies of such materials can be
obtained from the SEC’s public reference section at prescribed rates. You
may obtain information on the operation of the public reference rooms by
calling the SEC at (800) SEC-0330,
or
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the
SEC website located at www.sec.gov.
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This
prospectus supplement is a combined prospectus, which is part of Registration
Statements filed on Form S-1 and S-3 with the SEC under the Securities Act. This
prospectus supplement does not contain all of the information set forth in the
Registration Statements and the exhibits and schedules to the Registration
Statements. For further information concerning us and the securities, you should
read the entire Registration Statements and the additional information described
under “Documents Incorporated by Reference” below. The Registration Statements
have been filed electronically and may be obtained in any manner listed above.
Any statements contained herein concerning the provisions of any document are
not necessarily complete, and, in each instance, reference is made to the copy
of such document filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statements or otherwise
filed with the SEC. Each such statement is qualified in its entirety by such
reference.
Information
about us, including the additional information described under “Documents
Incorporated by Reference” is also available on our web site at
http://www.lincolnfinancial.com/investors. This URL and the SEC’s URL above are
intended to be inactive textual references only. Such information on our or the
SEC’s web site is not a part of this prospectus supplement.
DOCUMENTS
INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
The
following documents have been filed (File No. 1-6028) with the SEC in accordance
with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the
“Exchange Act”), and are incorporated by reference in this prospectus
supplement:
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LNC’s
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2007;
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LNC’s
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, June 30 and
September 30, 2008;
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LNC’s Current
Reports on Form 8-K filed with the SEC on February 13, April 1,
(except Item 7.01 on such Form 8-K shall not be deemed incorporated by
reference herein), May 6, August 18, September 30, October 10
(except Item 2.02 of such Form 8-K shall not be deemed incorporated by
reference herein), and November 17, 2008 (except Item 7.01 of such Form
8-k shall not be deemed incorporated by reference herein);
and
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The
description of LNC’s Common Stock contained in Form 10 filed with the SEC
on April 28, 1969, including any amendments or reports filed for the
purpose of updating that
description.
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Each LNC
document filed subsequent to the date of this prospectus supplement pursuant to
Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, prior to the filing of
a post-effective amendment which indicates that all securities offered have been
sold or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed
to be incorporated by reference in this prospectus supplement and to be a part
hereof from the date of the filing of such documents. Any statement contained in
a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated herein by reference shall
be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this prospectus
supplement to the extent that a statement contained herein (or in any other
subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by
reference herein) modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so
modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded,
to constitute part of this prospectus supplement.
We will
provide without charge to each person to whom this prospectus supplement is
delivered, upon the written or oral request of such person, a copy of the
documents incorporated by reference as described above (other than exhibits to
such documents unless such exhibits are specifically incorporated by reference
into such documents), copies of all documents constituting part of the
prospectus for the Plan, and copies of the Plan. Please direct your
oral or written request to: C. Suzanne Womack, 2nd Vice
President & Secretary, 150 N. Radnor Chester Road, Radnor,
PA 19342, 484-583-1400, or swomack@lfg.com.
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