Question-and-Answer Session
Thank you, sir. The question-and-answer session will be conducted electronically. [Operator Instructions]. We will go first to Darin Arita with Deutsche Bank.
Darin Arita - Deutsche Bank
Hi, good morning. Looking at the premium income trends and Unum is getting good growth out of Colonial, Unum UK, and the supplementary voluntary line, but was wondering when is it reasonable to expect premium income to grow in the group disability and group life and AD&D segments?
Thomas R. Watjen - President and Chief Executive Officer
Hi, Darin, it?s a good question. You are right. We are going through really some change actually as we said many times in terms of the way we're... if the markets we’re focused on and some of the dynamics of? that will have some impact in terms of the different premium composition and maybe I’ll ask Kevin actually to speak of it, it's only most prominent, I’d say in certainly our Unum US business.
Kevin P. McCarthy - President, Unum US
Thanks, Tom. Good morning, Darin. The short answer is that I’d expect to see some of that premium trend turn around in about the middle of 2009. The reason that the premium is basically flat in those lines today is, although we have growth in our core disability and group life market that's offset by terminations and disciplined underwriting renewal actions in our large-case market place. So we’ve got steady and improving growth in core and as you mentioned, a strong growth in supplemental and voluntary but the continued decline until it flattens out in 2009 in the large case.
Darin Arita - Deutsche Bank
Great, that's helpful. And in terms of Unum UK, how is the business there prepared for a slowing economy?
Thomas R. Watjen - President and Chief Executive Officer
Maybe Susan, I'll ask you to respond to Darin's question.
Susan Ring - Chief Executive Officer, Unum UK
Yes, Darin, and I think where I am very well prepared and enviably, the mix and make up of the book of business that we have got and where we have primarily the senior executives are covered within UK contracts over here, and so that does tend to make it more resilient in terms of the potential for a lot [ph] of people downsizing with regard to coverage that we have and so I would also say that with regard to the benefit performance and the potential impacts that a downturn could have a recoveries and we do have very strong case management disciplines in place and we achieved strong cap rates.
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