“In terms of growth, regional markets has grown two to three percentage points higher than the overall average, and we see a clear path for that growth to continue.”

In context

“lass versus others. Tom Gallagher: Okay, thanks. And then just a question on Group Benefits, the 100 basis point improvement in the margin target, or at least the loss ratio targets. Can you comment on what's driving that? Is that stable pricing, sustainably higher disability or lower disability loss ratios, and maybe a little bit on the Group Life side, what you're thinking? Thanks. Ramy Tadros: Good morning, Tom. It's Ramy here. And I would say at the highest level in terms of our near-term outlook here is, this is driven by the changing business mix, both in terms of the customer segments that we serve as well as the products that we offer. So from a customer perspective, we've executed well on our strategy to target higher growth in regional markets. We're seeing the benefits of that. In terms of growth, regional markets has grown two to three percentage points higher than the overall average, and we see a clear path for that growth to continue. And regional market is a segment that does carry a lower loss ratio across both the life underwriting ratio and non-medical health. And we're also seeing a shift from a product perspective. We've executed well on our employee paid strategy in general, and voluntary strategy in particular and in voluntary we've seen double-digit growth over many years and we expect that to persist in the future given customer needs and the opportunity to drive penetration in the workplace. And the loss ratio here tends to be also more favorable to the overall portfolio. So between that customer segment and that product view, if you think about this over time, we feel kind of a shift to the outlook is warranted. Let me tell you what it's not been driven by. On the Life ratio, this quarter was very favorable”