The investment objective of the Stock Index Account is favorable long-term return from a diversified portfolio selected to track the overall market for common stocks publicly traded in the U.S., as represented by a broad stock market index. Of course, there is no guarantee that the Stock Index Account will meet its investment objective.

The Stock Index Account seeks a favorable long-term rate of return from a diversified portfolio selected to track the overall market for common stocks publicly traded in the U.S., as represented by the Russell 3000® Index, a broad market index (see "Russell 3000® Index" below). Although the Stock Index Account invests in stocks in the Russell 3000® Index, it does not invest in all 3,000 stocks in the index. Rather, we use a sampling approach to create a portfolio that closely matches the overall investment characteristics (for example, yield and industry weight) of the Index. This means that a company can remain in the portfolio even if it performs poorly, unless the company is removed from the Russell 3000.