The Ledger ResearchPrivate

The Front Office

Scouting report · LNC

Ellen G. Cooper

  • Chairman, President & CEO, LNC since 2022-05src

Lincoln's CIO from 2012; President & CEO since May 2022, Chairman since May 2023

—thin record

Not ranked yet

Scouting sheet

as of 24 Sep 2026
Delivers guidance—1 beat · 0 met · 0 missed · 0 withdrawn — fewer than 4, not scored
Answers the question950 dodges in 10 answers on 3 calls
Capital allocation60company five-year record: neutral
Pay design5591% performance-conditioned · eps, revenue, strategic, roe, relative tsr, tsr, time only · 71.2% for · 2.38% of net income
Skin in the game50stake worth $27.6m, 1.0× last year's pay
Age
61src
In the role
4 yr
Promises scored
1
Hit rate
100%
Dodges / 100 answers
0.0
Airtime on calls
33%
Every promise, oldest firstB

What to weigh

Watch 5

  • Say-on-pay fell to 71.2% of votes cast at the May 2026 meeting, down from 94% in 2025. The vote covered her $28.0m of 2025 pay, which included a one-time $9m retention award (60% stock-price hurdles, 40% time-vested RSUs)src
  • A 2025 bonus goal (15% of her bonus) paid 175% of target on an RBC ratio of 460% that counts the undeployed Bain proceeds. The ratio given to investors on the call was 439%, which excludes themsrc
  • The CFO who set the 2026 outlook left in August 2026, and the Chief Accounting Officer is interim CFO while an internal and external search runs. That leaves her as the only remaining promiser on the 2026 targetssrc
  • She has combined Chair and CEO since May 2023. A 2026 shareholder proposal for an independent chair drew 28.6% of votes castsrc
  • 2025 perquisites included $148,980 of personal use of the corporate aircraft and $26,450 of extra personal securitysrc

In their favour 1

  • 91% of her 2025 target pay was at risk. She met the 7x-salary ownership guideline at 2025 year end, and company policy bans pledging and hedgingsrc

Career

  1. 2023-05 – now
    Lincoln National Corporationsrc
    Chairman, President & CEO
    Chair and CEO combined in May 2023; William H. Cunningham was independent Chair 2009-2022 and has been Lead Independent Director since 2022
  2. 2022-05 – 2023-05
    Lincoln National Corporationsrc
    President & CEO; director
  3. 2021-03 – 2022-05
    Lincoln National Corporationsrc
    EVP, Head of Enterprise Risk and head of the Annuity Solutions Group
    Head of Enterprise Risk from 2019; led Annuity Solutions from March 2021; CIO role ended November 2021
  4. 2012-08 – 2021-11
    Lincoln National Corporationsrc
    EVP & Chief Investment Officer
    Also Head of Enterprise Risk from 2019 (10K-2025, DEF14A-2026)
  5. 2008-07 – 2012-08
    Goldman Sachs Asset Managementsrc
    Managing Director
  6. 2006-05 – 2008-06
    Aegon USAsrc
    Chief Risk Officer
  7. 2005-05 – 2006-04
    Ernst & Young LLPsrc
    Principal
  8. 2000-06 – 2005-05
    Ernst & Young LLPsrc
    Senior Manager

Not located: 1985 (graduation) to June 2000 not located in any source searched; the ten-year window (2016 on) is fully covered by filings

Achievements

  • Board-cited record as CEO: the $28bn Fortitude Re reinsurance deal, the wealth-management sale to Osaic (about $650m of statutory capital), the Bermuda affiliate reinsurer LPINE and the Bain Capital partnershipsrc
  • The RBC ratio was rebuilt above the 420% goal: 439% at 2025 year end, excluding the undeployed Bain proceedssrc
  • The 2023-2025 performance shares paid out at 120.5% of target, with relative TSR of 43.31% at the 60th percentile of peerssrc
  • GAAP net income went from a $752m loss (FY2023) to $3,275m (FY2024) and $1,177m (FY2025)src
  • Spent a decade as Lincoln's Chief Investment Officer (2012-2021) after risk roles at Aegon USA and Goldman Sachs Asset Managementsrc

Education

  • Temple University (Fox School of Business), BBA Actuarial Science (1985)src

Background

  • Family Item 404 related-person disclosure: her adult son has worked at Lincoln since 2018, now as a Senior Consultant in data science, and was paid about $167,000 for 2025 (salary plus bonus). The proxy says the terms are in line with comparable employeessrc
  • Boards Independent director of Cencora, Inc. since 2026-01-20src
  • Boards Trustee of Temple University, her alma mater, appointed October 2025 for a term through 2029src
  • Boards Co-chair of the ACLI Steering Committee on Prudential Issues and a member of the ACLI Executive Committee; chaired the Lincoln Variable Insurance Products Trust board 2015-2021src
  • Legal Named defendant in the Meade securities class action over Guaranteed Universal Life lapse-rate disclosures (class period 2021-12-08 to 2022-11-02). The suit was dismissed with prejudice in August 2025 and is on appeal to the Third Circuit. She is also named in stayed derivative suits on the same factssrc
  • Other Holds the Society of Actuaries fellowship (FSA), the CFA charter and the CERA risk credentialsrc
  • Other Temple's trustee announcement describes her as the first woman to lead Lincolnsrc

The promise ledger

1 scored · 0 open
ResultWhat was promisedWhere it is scoredHow
B Beatstanding · RBC ratio of 420% — a 20-point buffer over the 400% targetLNC row 1said it

Questions dodged

0.0 per 100 answers

None logged on the calls reviewed.

Calls reviewed

  • FY2025-Q3.roic.json — 4 answers, 31% of the words
  • FY2025-Q4.roic.json — 2 answers, 35% of the words
  • FY2026-Q1.roic.json — 4 answers, 33% of the words

Sources

14
  1. Filing Lincoln National Corporation DEF 14A (accession 0001193125-26-157983) · 2026-04-16
  2. Filing Lincoln National Corporation 8-K Item 5.07, 2026 annual meeting results (0000059558-26-000038) · 2026-06-01
  3. Filing Lincoln National Corporation 8-K Item 5.02, CFO departure and interim CFO (0001193125-26-341190) · 2026-08-10
  4. Filing Lincoln National Corporation 10-K for FY2025 (0000059558-26-000016): executive officers, legal proceedings · 2026-02-19
  5. Filing Lincoln National Corporation 10-K for FY2012 (0000059558-13-000034): Executive Officers of the Registrant · 2013-03-01
  6. Filing Lincoln National Corporation 10-Q for Q2 2026 (0000059558-26-000060): legal proceedings note · 2026-07-30
  7. Filing SEC XBRL companyconcept us-gaap/NetIncomeLoss, CIK 59558 (FY2025 10-K, 0000059558-26-000016) · 2026-02-19
  8. Filing Form 4, Ellen Cooper (reporting CIK 1555614), LNC PSA settlement and RSU grant of 2026-02-19 (0001214659-26-002269) · 2026-02-23
  9. Filing Form 4, Ellen Cooper, LNC option exercise with net share settlement of 2025-11-26 (0001214659-25-017400) · 2025-12-01
  10. Filing Form 4, Ellen Cooper as director of Cencora, Inc. (0001555614-26-000004); footnote gives the 2026-01-20 board appointment · 2026-03-09
  11. Call transcript LNC Q4 2025 earnings call (2026-02-12), ROIC.ai
  12. Call transcript LNC Q1 2026 earnings call (2026-05-07), ROIC.ai
  13. Web search result WebSearch: Temple Now, 'Temple University Trustee Ellen Cooper honored with Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia's 2026 Paradigm Award' (BBA Actuarial Science; CERA, CFA, FSA) · 2026-09-24
  14. Web search result WebSearch: Temple Now, 'Temple appoints three new trustees to its governing body' (Ellen Cooper, FOX '85; first woman to lead Lincoln) · 2026-09-24