Voya 2014 Annual Report Download - page 107

There can be no assurance that our business continuation and crisis management plan or insurance
coverages would be effective in mitigating any negative effects on operations or profitability in the event of a
disaster, nor can we provide assurance that the business continuation and crisis management plans of the
independent distributors and outside vendors on whom we rely for certain services and products would be
effective in mitigating any negative effects on the provision of such services and products in the event of a
disaster.
Claims resulting from a catastrophic event could also materially harm the financial condition of our
reinsurers, which would increase the probability of default on reinsurance recoveries. Our ability to write new
business could also be adversely affected.
In addition, the jurisdictions in which our insurance subsidiaries are admitted to transact business require
life insurers doing business within the jurisdiction to participate in guaranty associations, which raise funds to
pay contractual benefits owed pursuant to insurance policies issued by impaired, insolvent or failed insurers. It is
possible that a catastrophic event could require extraordinary assessments on our insurance companies, which
may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
The loss of key personnel could negatively affect our financial results and impair our ability to implement our
business strategy.
Our success depends in large part on our ability to attract and retain key people. Intense competition exists
for key employees with demonstrated ability, and we may be unable to hire or retain such employees. Our key
employees include investment professionals, such as portfolio managers, sales and distribution professionals,
actuarial and finance professionals and information technology professionals. While we do not believe that the
departure of any particular individual would cause a material adverse effect on our operations, the unexpected
loss of several of our senior management, portfolio managers or other key employees could have a material
adverse effect on our operations due to the loss of their skills, knowledge of our business, and their years of
industry experience as well as the potential difficulty of promptly finding qualified replacement employees. We
also rely upon the knowledge and experience of employees involved in functions that require technical expertise
in order to provide for sound operational controls for our overall enterprise, including the accurate and timely
preparation of required regulatory filings and U.S. GAAP and statutory financial statements and operation of
internal controls. A loss of such employees could adversely impact our ability to execute key operational
functions and could adversely affect our operational controls, including internal controls over financial reporting.
If we experience difficulties arising from outsourcing relationships, our ability to conduct business may be
compromised, which may have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
As we continue to focus on reducing the expense necessary to support our operations, we have increasingly
used outsourcing strategies for certain technology and business functions. If third-party providers experience
disruptions or do not perform as anticipated, or we experience problems with a transition, we may experience
operational difficulties, an inability to meet obligations, including, but not limited to, policyholder obligations,
increased costs and a loss of business that may have a material adverse effect on our business and results of
operations. For other risks associated with our outsourcing of certain functions, see “—Interruption or other
operational failures in telecommunication, information technology and other operational systems, or a failure to
maintain the security, integrity, confidentiality or privacy of sensitive data residing on such systems, including as
a result of human error, could harm our business.”
We may not be able to protect our intellectual property and may be subject to infringement claims.
We rely on a combination of contracts and copyright, trademark, patent and trade secret laws to establish
and protect our intellectual property. Although we endeavor to protect our rights, third parties may infringe or
misappropriate our intellectual property. We may have to litigate to enforce and protect our copyrights,
trademarks, patents, and trade secrets or to determine their scope, validity or enforceability. This would represent
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