TOMS Capital urges insurer Voya to weigh sale options

TOMS Capital Investment Management has written to Voya Financial’s board, criticising directors for what it described arsenic a “failure to oversee absorption and code the company's persistent underperformance”.

The investor, identified arsenic 1 of Voya’s largest shareholders, called connected the committee to statesman a ceremonial appraisal of options, including a imaginable merchantability of the company.

It called connected the committee to “act with urgency”.

“Voya is astatine an inflection constituent – 1 that this absorption squad tin nary longer beryllium trusted to navigate,” the missive read.

The shareholder pointed to the Benefitfocus acquisition arsenic a cardinal origin successful Voya’s little valuation.

TOMS said Voya’s status and concern absorption businesses unneurotic correspond astir 89% of 2025 adjusted operating earnings, excluding corporate.

It said those units person continued to adhd nett assets portion rivals person recorded declines.

According to the letter, those inflows person positioned Voya arsenic a apical 5 defined publication recordkeeper, with astir 10 cardinal accounts crossed 45,000 employers and much than $1tn successful lawsuit assets nether administration.

Voya’s concern absorption limb has exceeded peers oregon benchmarks connected 78% of assets implicit a three-year play and 82% implicit 10 years.

It said the woody was completed astatine the commencement of Heather Lavallee’s play arsenic CEO and argued that, contempt shareholder enactment astatine the clip for stock repurchases, the committee backed management’s determination to wage a 49% premium for an plus it described arsenic financially dilutive and poorly aligned.

TOMS said that since the $570m purchase, Voya has provided little item connected Benefitfocus, portion different companies successful the assemblage person taken write-downs connected comparable assets.

TOMS besides cited nationalist comments from sell-side analysts saying that, successful aboriginal meetings, absorption had privately raised the imaginable of divesting the stop-loss business, aft defending it connected the telephone arsenic a continued “earnings grower” captious to “value instauration for shareholders”.

TOMS said the marketplace astir Voya is consolidating rapidly arsenic plus managers look rising interest pressure.

It said the institution needs clearer decision-making and argued that some absorption and the committee had fallen short.

"TOMS Capital urges insurer Voya to measurement merchantability options" was primitively created and published by Life Insurance International, a GlobalData owned brand.

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