Aquisition of Dearborn Group's Life and Disability Business

See our press release: “Dearborn Group and Symetra Reach Agreement on Acquisition of Dearborn Group’s Life & Disability Business”

Under the reinsurance transaction, Symetra will assume Dearborn Group’s life and disability business, which includes group and individual life, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), group short- and long-term disability, paid family and medical leave (PFML) and absence management.

Upon closing, Symetra and HCSC will enter an exclusive, multi-year distribution agreement, during which time Symetra group life and disability products will be available to HCSC health care customers.

We expect the transaction to close sometime during Q4 2025. However, this is not a final date due to pending regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

Please continue working with your Dearborn Group team for any questions related to your policy.

As part of this transaction, Symetra will acquire a majority of the Dearborn team along with their life and disability book of business. Our goal is to minimize change and integrate the businesses in a thoughtful way. Naturally, there may be some minor differences due to the integration needs of the business, and these will be communicated to everyone following the close of the acquisition.

Symetra and HCSC have a long-term distribution agreement with a focus on delivering an exceptional customer experience. Both parties have an expressed interest in working together to promote cross-selling opportunities and deliver value to our brokers and customers.

This transaction greatly increases the scale of our Workforce Benefits business in terms of customers, policies and employees. It will position us to deliver more capabilities and leverage our size to compete more effectively in the market.

Symetra’s goal is to blend our organizations to provide enhanced solutions for our brokers and customers. We’ll look closely at the best aspects of each organization to develop the new, combined Workforce Benefits business. This will be a deliberate process, with an emphasis on maintaining very high service levels and strong broker and customer focuses throughout.

Maintaining high levels of service and consistency is a key focus. We're integrating the entirety of Dearborn's life and disability operations—including product, sales and claims—who are experts in serving and managing the acquired book of business. Teams supporting Dearborn's life and disability and current Symetra's life and disability—will generally run in parallel to start as we work to integrate the two businesses.

Symetra will support U100 business in the markets where Dearborn has been selling.

For now, Symetra will continue to maintain Dearborn’s in-force life and disability business on Dearborn issued contracts. Over time, we’ll migrate this business to Symetra paper while maintaining all current product features to ensure we continue to provide best-in-class coverage.

Yes. Symetra has reviewed the best path and timelines to migrate in-force business to Symetra paper and systems. This will be handled in a careful and methodical way to minimize disruption to in-force Dearborn customers and new sales.

Dearborn operates primarily in the U500 market, but does have some very large clients as well. Much of this business is written in partnership with the BCBS plans in five states. Going forward, Symetra will partner with these BCBS plans to collectively provide best-in-class solutions.

Dearborn/HCSC will manage the producer bonus programs for medical, dental, vision, etc., going forward in 2026. The existing broker bonus programs will stay in place through Dec. 31, 2025. Effective January 2026, Symetra will offer a very competitive producer bonus program that is separate from the HCSC/Dearborn bonus plan.

HCSC will continue to offer medical discounts for new business written through January 2026. For new business written for February 2026 and later effective dates on Symetra paper, the formal discount will not be offered. The combined Symetra sales team (including our Dearborn conveying sales team) will work closely with our BCBS partners to drive overall cost savings when medical, dental, vision, LAD and supplemental health products are sold together.

Symetra is evaluating the current contingent compensation plans in place through Dearborn and the broker partners. We will offer a competitive volume bonus program for the 2026 calendar year and expect to communicate this to all affected brokers by December 2025.

Post close, we’ll continue to operate the Dearborn and legacy Symetra businesses in parallel, maintaining as much continuity in sales and account management as possible. Our focus is on offering a consistent experience and a high level of service for our customers and brokers. We’ll communicate any changes as we integrate these businesses.

Symetra and Dearborn are evaluating both processes for onboarding new groups. Once we have a better understanding of best practices with each organization, our implementation workstream will document a process for effective dates 2/1/26 and after.

For RFPs received by Dearborn prior to closing and irrespective of the effective date, the current Dearborn onboarding process remains in place, and these groups will be written on Dearborn paper. For RFPs received post close and with 2/1 effective dates or later, a different process will be communicated post close to our internal teams and external partners.

An implementation team at Symetra will handle onboarding of new customers. This process relies on the broker and sales rep to provide specific details of a sale up front to start onboarding. There are many stakeholders at Symetra who support the implementation team, as it relates to tech integration, claims, underwriting, enrollment, account management, etc. This will all be communicated post close.

Yes. Brokers will need to be appointed and licensed with Symetra as soon as the closing occurs. We’re establishing a process to initiate this immediately following close. More information to follow.

RFPs with effective dates of 1/1/26 or prior are to be sent to the existing Dearborn mailbox. RFPs with effective dates of 2/1/26 or later are to be sent to SYARFP@Symetra.com, with a c.c. to the assigned sales rep.

This is being evaluated. Symetra intends to offer a competitive override/contingent compensation program for current brokers for the 2026 calendar plan year. For 2025, the broker override program will remain unchanged, and payments will be made in Q1-2026 in the same way and time frame as in prior years with Dearborn.

Once a client is migrated to Symetra systems and paper, any discounts available for packaging with stop loss may be applied at renewal with underwriting approval. Please refer to our guidance on when stop loss discounts apply with in-force LAD business.

We are still evaluating plan migrations and will share more information as decisions are made. At closing, customers will continue to access their coverage and service as they have in the past. Our intent is to offer plans that are similar when the clients migrate onto Symetra paper, but there may be small variations due to filing of specific language requirements and limitations.

Symetra’s goal is to maintain current service levels and existing technology feeds while a customer is on Dearborn paper and systems. Once a customer is moved to the Symetra ecosystem and paper, similar or improved services and tech integration will be provided.

We do not expect any proactive changes to rates prior to a customer’s typical renewal period.

There will not be any immediate changes to how we administer the business post close, as Symetra will be leveraging existing Dearborn billing systems and portal while on Dearborn paper. Once customers migrate to Symetra’s ecosystem, bills and portals will be through Symetra’s existing platforms. We will communicate any changes as they are made over the integration period.