utilization. The development of a secondary market for life insurance, including life settlements or "viaticals" and investor-owned life insurance, and third-party investor strategies in the annuities business, could adversely affect the profitability of existing business and the Company’s pricing assumptions for new business.
The Company’s risk management policies, practices and procedures could leave it exposed to unidentified or unanticipated risks, which could negatively affect its business or result in losses.
The Company has developed an enterprise-wide risk management framework to mitigate risk and loss to the Company, and maintains policies, procedures and controls intended to identify, measure, monitor, report and analyze the risks to which the Company is exposed. Many of the Company’s risk management strategies or techniques are based upon historical customer and market behavior, and all such strategies and techniques are based to some degree on management’s subjective judgment. The Company cannot provide assurance that its risk management framework, including the underlying assumptions or strategies, will be accurate and effective.
The risk management policies and procedures, including hedge programs at NLIC and NLAIC, utilize derivative financial instruments, and expect to do so in the future. Nonetheless, the Company’s policies and procedures to identify, monitor, and manage both internal and external risks may not effectively mitigate these risks or predict future exposures, which could be different or significantly greater than expected. As the Company’s businesses change and the markets in which the Company operates evolve, the Company’s risk management framework may not evolve at the same pace as those changes. As a result, there is a risk that new products or new business strategies may present risks that are not appropriately identified, monitored or managed. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to the Company, or that it currently deems to be immaterial, may adversely affect its business, results of operations and financial condition.
A large-scale pandemic or epidemic, natural and man-made catastrophes, climate change, the continued threat or acts of terrorism, or ongoing military and other actions may result in decreases in the Company’s net income, revenue, and assets under management and may adversely impact its investment portfolio.
A large-scale pandemic or epidemic, natural and man-made catastrophes, climate change, the continued threat or acts of terrorism within the U.S. and abroad, ongoing military and other actions, and heightened security measures in response to these types of threats may cause significant volatility and declines in the U.S., European, and other securities markets, loss of life, property damage, additional disruptions to commerce and reduced economic activity. As a result, the Company’s net income and/or revenue, and some of the assets in the Company’s investment portfolio, may be adversely affected by declines in the securities markets and economic activity.
The Company cannot predict whether or the extent to which industry sectors in which it maintains investments may suffer losses as a result of potential decreased commercial and economic activity, how any such decrease might impact the ability of companies within the affected industry sectors to pay the interest or principal on their securities, or how the value of any underlying collateral might be affected.
The Company operates in a highly competitive industry, which can significantly impact operating results.
The Company’s ability to compete is based on a number of factors including scale, service, product features, price, investment performance, commission structure, distribution capacity, financial strength ratings and name recognition. The Company competes with a large number of financial services companies such as banks, mutual funds, broker-dealers, insurers and asset managers, many of which have advantages over the Company in one or more of the above competitive factors. The Company’s revenues and profitability could be impacted negatively due to such competition. The competitive landscape in which the Company operates may be further affected by government-sponsored programs and longer-term fiscal policies. Competitors that receive governmental financing or other assistance or subsidies, including governmental guarantees of their obligations, may have or obtain pricing or other competitive advantages. Competitors that are not subject to the same regulatory framework may also have a pricing advantage as a result of lower capital requirements.
See"Business—Competition"for a further description of competitive factors affecting the Company.
The Company’s products and services are complex and are frequently sold through intermediaries, and a failure of such intermediaries to properly perform services, or their misrepresentation of the Company’s products or services, could have an adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations and financial condition.
Many of the Company’s products and services are complex and are frequently sold through intermediaries. In particular, the Company is reliant on intermediaries in its unaffiliated distribution channels to describe and explain its products to potential customers. The intentional or unintentional misrepresentation of the Company’s products and services in